Epilogue: Trust
Dear Princess Celestia,
Recently, I learned a very important lesson about friendship, and love, and all life. I learned about a treasure that is easy to break, difficult to repair, and infinitely precious. I learned about a gift that most ponies give warily, if at all; nothing else has such power to hurt its giver when rejected or neglected or misused.
I learned about trust.
Trust is powerful. It can blind a pony to doubts, and allow them to act with absolute clarity of purpose. When a pony puts a piece of their fate in another’s hooves, those two ponies are bound together by a thread both subtle and powerful. The bonds of trust between parents and their children, between rulers and their subjects, between goddesses and their devotees, these are the things that hold societies together. Smaller in scope but no less important is the trust between friends, which lets us share our worries and fears, our hopes and dreams, and the secrets of our innermost selves. With these connections to those we depend on, and to those that depend on us, we do not have to face life alone. A pony that cannot trust is cut off from others in a way that no physical isolation could ever match.
Trust is dangerous. It numbs the part of us that doubts: the part that is cautious when a pony is driven to rush in, the part that seeks understanding when a pony only wants to condemn, the part that holds back when a pony prepares to lash out. When I trusted too much in my own assumptions, my own perspective, I lost sight of the larger picture. I judged other ponies and their motives poorly, and I acted because I was afraid of my ignorance when I should have waited until I was assured of my knowledge. When a pony trusts too quickly or unwisely, they build their life on a foundation of sand, and risk it falling to pieces at the first brush with reality.
Trust is beautiful. It can quell our fears and make us feel safe. It can silence our doubts, and give us the confidence we need to succeed. It can shatter our suspicion, and leave us with the innocence required for love. Trust can bring two very different ponies together and inspire them to open their hearts to each other. A lack of trust can open an insurmountable gulf between two ponies that love each other very dearly. The deepest of connections can only be made with those we trust.
I have learned my lesson. I will be wise with my trust. I will recognize it as a kindness, and give it generously and joyfully. I will be loyal to those I trust, and to those who trust me. Above all, I will be worth trusting, and seek out others who are also worth that confidence. I will be proud to call such ponies my friends.
Just as I am proud to call you my friend, princess.
-Your once again faithful student,
Heavens Sparkle
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I'll be honest, I felt that the situation was a bit too easily resolved regarding both Heaven's and Twilight.
Still, the lesson is nice enough I suppose.
If we were still using the star system I'd probably give it something like a 3.5-4 as a final score.
Took a while but it was good
363496 i agree with you. I was expecting more closure of sorts not a simple i trust you. We never did know what exactly celly did
And so ends my favorite pony fic. Bravo sir! <3
Absolutely loved this ^^
Whelp, it's over.
...NOW what the buck am I going to read?
This story had quite the buildup, which is why the climax is somewhat disappointing to me. (there's so much in the exposition which made me wonder, which doesn't really get resolved.)
It was a good enough story though, kudos.
I want a sequel with AJxLuna and TwilightxCelestia to see how you play it out but I fear that you wouldn't use my head-canon "the elements of harmony can live forever" and you would kill them off and make me sad...that being said it would be nice and I'm glad it ended happily because in all honesty I didn't Ike when it turned a little grimdark with ever free but I'm glad I stuck around to finish it. Great story would read again.
cdn.overclock.net/5/50/5082f7ea_Slow-Clap.gif
That is my reaction to the whole fic. I mean:
It didn't look so good at first, and in no way is canon. I saw it a EqD and thought "meh, it is complete, might as well read." I now fell bad for not finding it sooner.
Fukken favorited. You are a very good witer.
it took me 5 hours and i read it in a row... twice
just... beautiful
meh i will say i have read better, and yes i expect to be stoned for saying that.
HOWEVER, this was one of the first fics i've ever read from this series, and it's a pretty good one at that. The ending was kind of quick but was good enough and it was nice to see Luna gain trust. Even is Twi never exactly seemed to come to terms with Luna, oh well she doesen't seem to hate her at least so i guess thats a plus.
Overall a pretty nice fic and i could definately see you being able to write more good things.
First off, thank you everyone for reading, especially those who were inspired to comment.
363496
Thanks for sticking around until the end, at least. I have a feeling that either you're hard to please or we have different taste in a lot of ways, but I'm glad you've shared so many of your thoughts with me; it's helped to have (relatively) critical voices in my comments.
363531
There were lots of romantic parts, silly. They were just mostly subtle about it.
363613
Glad you think so. I wish I'd been able to get it out quicker, but I suppose it's better to be slow and good than quick and bad.
363810
>We never did know what exactly celly did
That is precisely the point. Chapter 6 is told primarily from Twilight's point of view, and Twilight does not know what Celestia did. She has no guarantee that Celestia is telling the truth, and so I did not give that guarantee to the reader. You can decide for yourself whether you think Celestia is lying or not, but the more important question is: how much does it matter whether or not she's telling the truth?
363885
Thank you very much for reading, ScyStorm, and for all the support you've given me in comments. I'm glad the ending did not disappoint you, and I'm honored that you call this story, among all the amazing fics in this fandom, your favorite.
364141
Glad to hear it.
364186
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/16653/So-Be-It
364656
I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't really to your liking. It's not a typical form of climax and I don't expect everyone to appreciate it; I can see how people could perceive such a dialog-heavy fic as boring.
366216
I don't plan on writing a sequel. I'm glad you kept with it and enjoyed the happy ending; I find that a little extra darkness makes the dawn brighter.
367095
Thank you for the compliments and the fav. I can understand how it might not look that good at first; I wrote the first part over a year ago, and my writing has improved significantly since then.
367260
Twice? Impressive. Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
367413
To say you've read better fics in the pony fandom is no insult at all. I've certainly read better. I hope the things I write in the future will indeed be good.
367993
It's good to hear that my writing has impact. Thank you for reading and thank your friend for spreading the word.
363496
I will have to mirror this sentiment.
It was a good story, but not excellent and leaves a lot of things unanswered. The ending doesn't carry much impact, at least not with me.
To be honest, there was a bit of monologuing here at the end, which felt unnatural to me and everything was resolved a bit too easily to really be a satisfying conclusion.
Still, well done at finishing the fic after all this time. It was worth the read, and it's worth a thumbs up, even if it doesn't go all the way to "Pony Epic" status.
368593
the earlier chapters set the stage for a story of epic proportions which made the last ones seem rushed.
I never said it was boring, dialogue heavy stories allow for some wonderful exposition, which is what bothered me
(I was hoping for more
)
368593
...
*Grumble grumble*
Normally I'd skip a "humanized" ponyfic, but I DID kind of walk right into that one. Tracking. I'll read it after "Guilt and Hate" finishes up.
This just moved up to the hall of fame, together with Past Sins and The Empty Room, even thou the ending was a bit quick.
I've been following this fic from the beginning and I remember a time where I thought I would not receive a resolution of any kind. I am incredibly relieved to find that that is not the case. Even though a few people mentioned the rushed feeling of the resolution, I'd have to say that I rather liked the ending, and I felt incredibly relieved when things turned out for the better. Heaven Sparkles resolution seemed acceptable to me. Had so much of my lost memory been revealed to me suddenly by my old mentor, I'd be more willing to trust the one who restored my mind, than my own self. However, better than the dramatic storyline, was the burgeoning romance between Applejack and Luna that developed at an excellent and believable pace and finally came to fruition at the end. To me, that was perfect. Thank you for writing and finishing this story, it has been nothing less that a joy to read.
I just though of something funny.
Celetia here somewhat reflexes how the fanbase sees her.
The (first) prolong has been being clearly evilish who "recently" became goodish. But as the story went on she became the more sympathetic of the two sisters (as not remembering faces has to be a lot harder to become close to other than names) and you get the feeling that like Luna she's being too hard on herself. Like her word for tyrant means "cold and uncaring" but still did the same job at running the place as she does now. And you kinda get the feeling that if the alicorns didn't go horribly wrong she would be the one to first to developed emotion. Like the real reason why she never went to see Heaven was because she just couldn't work up the nerves to face him and was hoping with Twilight at her side she could (didn't work like she wanted it too but its there)
Beautiful. I learned a lot, actually. This was very insightful. Both Applejack's thoughts on trust and Rarity's thoughts on appearance were eye opening. Applejack's words rang true, and I had never thought of things the way Rarity expressed.
I think a defining factor of a good writer or just story is knowing when to withhold information. It can let the us fill in the blanks with our own speculations. It can build suspense for the moment that things are revealed, or add tension and mystery because we will never know something. Like any good artwork, writing is as much about the artist's intentions as the viewer's reaction and experience. So thank you, Ebon Mane, for not telling us everything. I absolutely loved this story.
Now I have to try and forget your mythology for the next story that involves the goddesses.
This looks really promising. I'm downloading it to Kindle and reading it at work. With English being a secondary language for me, this isn't exactly the sort of easy thing I'm looking for when killing time during the night shifts, but this seems like something too good to miss and best to enjoy at night. 50k words? Come at me, bro.
Damn. I actually gave up the little sleep I could've had to finish this and I was pretty much useless at work because I couldn't take my mind off it. Your work, albeit sometimes rough around the edges, is far beyond the scope of the usual fanfic and feels way too mature to be ranked with these. And labeling this as "shipping" feels almost like sacrilege. The end to Heavens' story might be a little bit too rushed and unexploited for my tastes and I had minor issues with the characterization and narration here and there, but none of that changes the fact I loved every part of it.
The warnings and disclaimer are a very valid point. I myself jumped into My Little Pony at the beginning of season 2 and the portrayal of Celestia (and especially Luna) has changed tons since then. I mean, a who-knows-how-old goddess trashed by a mere changeling queen? Have mercy...
Anyway, I have read some fictions from before season 2 and yours is the first that I read which so blatantly places Luna and Celestia as all-powerful and omnipotent gods and creators of pony kind. Wait, no, it's the second. Spark had something similar, if I recall correctly. Of course I don't regard this fact as the story's flaw. It's nice to see a refreshing idea from time to time (though I'm pretty sure that before season 2 there were many more).
To briefly summarize, let me thank you for sharing the story. It was a very enjoyable read.
Luna's even poorer, once you think of it.
But I do feel sorry for Applejack. How long will their romance last? A decade? Or will they stay faithful till the end.
Hah, finally finished it.
Took me long enough... It was interesting to say the least. Some parts were glossed over a bit to easily in my opinion, but hey, still well worth a fave and thumbs up.
I still firmly believe that Celly should drop that damned mask of composure and just be mare enough to be with Twilight. All those words in the last chapter sounds to me like an excuse to be a coward about it...
Oh, and you totally had me fooled with this chapter, you sneaky bastard you. Made me think it was Twilight writing.
629324
Well, at least you tried. I definitely made some poor decisions regarding characterization in this, especially early on. I wrote the first chapter back in April of last year, very early in my time as a writer, and it shows.
629840
We've all had those; it's fine.
I wasn't sure I'd like this when I started, but as with most fics rated so highly, I'm glad I gave this a shot. It's easily one of the best less-than-canon stories I've read. Beautifully written, two thumbs up, the whole shebang.
688642
I'm glad you gave it a shot and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
This was a really enjoyable read. You managed to impart some interesting philosophical ideas without being too heavy handed (though I wouldn't call it subtle either) or preachy. I especially enjoyed Applejack's point of view on trust and honesty, as well as the slowly developing romance between her and Luna. I found myself left wanting a little more of that at the end, but you provided a nice resolution anyway. In accordance with some other comments, I have to agree that I was A) totally fooled by the last chapter with this letter and thought Twilight was writing and B) a little dissatisfied that it wrapped up so tidily.
BUT! To differentiate myself from the other comments, I didn't feel like it was a bad ending. I wish that the two parts of the end, AJ and Luna, and Heavens' letter, were more together in tone. AJ and Luna were left pretty open ended and vague, while Heavens came together almost too cleanly and wrapped up (in a tidy letter no less!) in comparison. I would have been more satisfied with AJ and Luna if there hadn't been a more tidy ending with Heavens right afterwards. Vague endings aren't bad. Neither are tidy ones. I just generally prefer if a fic sticks with one or the other.
I'm starting to ramble though. I really enjoyed the fic, and I'm impressed with how your writing improved over the course of its writing. Definitely one of my favorite interpretations of the sisters.
This was absolutely fantastic. Very well organized, beautiful dialogue, powerful lessons, and an overarching, life-changing, applicable message. This is definitely one of my all-time favorites.
(You got me with Heavens Sparkle being the author of that final letter. I was expecting Twilight. To see Heavens' name instead made me tear up. Bravo.)
So happy I have read this story. The pace was perfect(imo) the plot interesting and the overall style of how you pulled this off just awesome. Thanks a lot Ebon Mane. I really enjoyed this story.
1093100
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reading.
The story was well built and delivered to my liking. However, it was not until the last chapter (love) that I truly could call the story a favorite. Thank you for writing it.
There were good parts and parts that were less good. But it was overall quite good. I have nothing negative of note to say.
Thank you for letting me read.
I'll be honest... I had started reading this on EqD, made it to the chapter where we learned of Ever Free (it had just been released), and never read it again. I favourited it on FiMfiction. It was the reason I made the account and i was iverwhelmed with all the pony words! I recently accidentally went to my oldest favourites page. How long has it been? A long time. How fitting that I forgot. My first reminder that I had read some of this before was the most powerful line I have ever read, fanfiction, published, or historical account.
"If I write an autobigraphy, will it end it up in the fiction section?" I remember commenting on this line on EqD. I think I'll go find the comment for nostalgia.
The fact that one line was enough to make me remember... I kind of had a moment of introspection. One of those moments when you realize things that others see in you easily. A powerful moment, but the story is meaningless to any but me.
#offtopic
A well written story, even if the end left something to be desired. These words are a little late coming, but better late than never, eh?
- Admiral_Sparkle from EqD.
Edit: I found the comment. August 17, 2011. 4:11 PM. So long ago its under my old Blogger account name of Tast rather than the new system's Admiral_Sparkle. I think I'll change back.
This has been quite possibly the most amazing fan written story I have ever read in my life. Everything was so masterfully done, words can barely convey the emotions this generated in me while reading. Spectacular work.
Pretty tremendous fic here, Ebon. :) The climax was a bit, "Well, we're done here!" but otherwise you handled everything pretty well. I'm also pleased to see someone came up with the LunaJack pairing prior to Luna Eclipsed, which is when I first considered it (and then only as a crack pairing).
I really like this story, but I can't help but feel like you've not really resolved some of the conflict with Heaven Sparkle.
While, granted, it's probably by design, it seems odd that no pony points out that Heaven's probably only going to get relatively few years out of his restored memory before he forgets again.
Feeling happy. But also violent!
This is my third or fourth time reading this wonderful story. Each time I still get swept away in the emotions. Luna and Applejack are my favorite ponies, so having them paired together just makes it that much better. I think it's about time I check out your other works.
A brilliant fic. Loved how the conflict resolved. Heaaven sparkle was a fantastic character, and Twilights doubts in celestia just pulled everything together so nicely. Loved it.
Luna and Celestia are, of course, quite out of character through parts of this story, given what we've seen post season 1. However, in consideration of the context of the time this was written in, I can easily overlook that and I feel like it makes enough sense for its period. This is an excellent story that really gets into the psychology of the characters, and does a great job with an interesting AppleLuna pairing that's virtually never seen in other work, which gives it a unique element that I enjoyed.
This story won't be everyone's cup of tea in light of the later canonical issues, but I nonetheless consider it well worth reading, and I'm sure that many people would agree. As such, I think that this ribbon is well deserved:
i.imgur.com/od0xMCF.png
5101711 I'm the opposite. I love Celestia and think Luna is a whiny brat that really needed a good smack.
Good stuff. 👌
9193153
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galago