The Monster in the Twilight
Epilogue
Once upon a time there was a tiny little town named Ponyville in a valley not far from Canterlot. In this town, the sun shone brighter, the stars sparkled more sweetly across the night sky, and sunrise and sunset were things of absolute beauty. The bearers of the Elements of Harmony lived in this small town, but were very reclusive, and did not like to visit with reporters.
The names of the Elements of Harmony were Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic, and they were borne by six of the town’s inhabitants: Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle. Whenever reporters visited, they never were able to find any of the bearers except Pinkie Pie, and after an hour or two of conversation with her, they were always glad to flee back to their newsrooms to finish their stories from the official accounts.
None of the reporters ever paid any attention to a group of small students who galloped happily around the town. Their leader was a colorfully-streaked young pony who lived just outside of town in a large tree with her foster parents, both zebra. If they had paid attention to the young ponies, they might have heard the young pastel pony called by the name of ‘Twilight.’ They might have noticed she spent a great amount of time in the town’s library, with Princess Celestia’s young protégé, Trixie, and her dragon, Spike.
They might also have noticed quite a few quiet visits by Twilight Sparkle’s parents, accompanied by their son, Shining Armor, and his wife, Princess Cadence, along with their beautiful newborn daughter.
Had they stuck around for a few days, they may have noticed Princess Celestia frequently dropping by during the day, or Princess Luna at night. But the reporters never did, and the citizens of the town were more than happy to keep that information to themselves.
As the years rolled on, the ponies of Equestria never found out just why whenever the Elements of Harmony were needed, the Princess’ student always substituted for Twilight Sparkle, and each of the bearers brought along a younger pony. Some thought it was a sort of apprenticeship program, or perhaps just a severe lack of foalsitters in their home town.
But nopony ever asked the young ponies, which was just fine with them as they laughed and played throughout the carefree days and nights of their youth, always ready for another adventure.
The End
- - Ω - -
Really. It’s over. You can go home now.
No, there’s nothing else down here.
Well, other than the cast party.
No, you can’t come in.
Oh, I suppose. Since you asked so nicely and stuck around until the end.
As production for Monster in the Twilight is winding up and the actors are all ready to go home, we managed to get them all rounded up for one last photo. Smile!
I hope you enjoyed the show. For those of you asking if I plan a sequel, the answer is Yes! This was a six-month project, and the sequel, Letters From a Little Princess Monster is flowing out in little pieces as I find time. If you want to write something in the Monsterverse, please feel free (just don’t forget to credit). And give Trixie wings. (Ok, I put that in. Can I have the keys to my car back now, Trixie?)
Credit for the cast photo goes to Inkscape, found at Inkscape.org. If I can draw using this, anybody can.
Resources used are mostly vector files found in DeviantArt's MLP Vector club including the Throne Room
Starting with the CMC+2, we have Featherweight, The Cutie Mark Crusaders Classic (the original, far better than the New Cutie Mark Crusaders), and the Element of Cute Kindness, Twist!
Moving along to the Original Mane 6-1, we have Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and hiding somewhere in the background is Pinkie Pie the Spy
Voted Best Supporting Actor by a bunch of people who don't really want to be eaten is Nightmare Moon, and the ever beautiful Queen... um, I mean Princess Cadence and Shining Armor to the right, and Optio Pumpernickel to the left.
The happy zebra couple does stand over by your left hand, as Tallgrass and Zecora (zecora_by_uxyd-d5djlmh.svg I can't find the source to this one)
Taking a bow are our stars of the show,
PrincessTrixie, and her future self (she hopes), The Grand and Magnificent Ruler Trixie the Great!And last, but certainly not least, the Princess of Friendship and Fun, Princess Twilight Sparkle, aka, Monster!
Let's have a big hoof of applause for our cast and crew! They'll be signing autographs in the lobby after the show as you leave the building. Good night, have a pleasant evening under Luna's beautiful stars, and don't forget to tell your friends.
Amazing job, the story in general was simply...
images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120812041418/thefanfictionwikiofgtfandphazon/images/6/69/Clapping_Magic_.gif
Bravo!
yes
Hmm.. All my favorite stories are ending. This, Voice Among Strangers, the Time loop trilogy, Families, Xeno: Advanced. Was there a planetary shift in the ponyverse?
- reading that out loud, it makes less sense than Pinkie, the point is: GREAT STORY.
-- now I have to go find some new favorites to feed my pony addiction.
wait is twilight the same size as the cmc?
So Twilight's actual parents survived? Because the epilogue does seem a bit confusing in that regard seeing as it says
I listened to this while reading the last three chapters
2998853
This guy just about sums it up
well that was an awesome story worth ever hour reading it
Glad to see that Twilight's first set of parents weren't forgotten. I'm kinda surprised they didn't decide to move to Ponyville, though.
Anyway, congrats on finishing the story. 'Twas great.
[aplauso]
mixed feelings love the story, sad that it is over.
2998853
Lol, your avatar reminds me of P-Theory by BlueShift(smack me if I'm wrong)
Absolutely adorable ending, you are lucky my heart didn't burst from the sheer amount of d'aww, or you'd be murderer......FOREVER!
And I am sooo re-reading the crap out of this one once i got some free time.
2998021 There may have been a *few* non-feather related changes in the braggart....
2998325 Out of the 16 characters at the ending (Mane 6, backup 6, Zecora, Tallgrass, two princesses), only the kids and Zecora had seen all of Twilight as an adult. The kids thought it was cool, and Zecora had been hoping it to happen anyway. Then there was Trixie....
2998104 I would love to see a pastel colored filly Princess Twilight vector.
2998786 I really wanted to put this bit in, but I couldn't do it without breaking the story:
Tallgrass (wincing)
Celestia: What's wrong?
Tallgrass: Your niece is celebrating your sister's return.
Celestia: So why are you wincing.
Tallgrass: Because noling has taught her how to keep her emotions from leaking out into the hivemind. Trust me, you don't want to know.
2998855 There is no zebra in this changeling's history, but his future with stripes is no real mystery.
2998868 I can't find a princess filly twilight sparkle vector that looked good, but yes. Headcanon has her about a year or two behind them, which is going to make Cherilee one busy pony.
2998881 Who ever says Celestia would let her quit
2998891 I was unable to wedge in a comment on how fame would destroy the little ponies friendship, and that's why the Mane5+Trixie were willing to act as "front ponies" for them.
Fantastic!!
2998996
I think you might have been responding to someone else's comment when you clicked the reply button on my post. I mean, I had assumed that the reason you gave was more or less why the older ponies were pretending to be the Elements (though I imagine AJ is at least somewhat conflicted about it), but I don't really see how it relates to my comment on Twilight's first set of parents.
I'm just going to be blunt and say that I'm kinda disappointed. I think that's a really tacky ending that tries to sweep any real radical results under the rug.
Just my two cents.
Wait.
If Cadence is the new Queen...
What happens at the royal wedding...?
2999145 Nothing out of the ordinary?
2999145 Didn't it already happen in the story?
2999145
Shining and Cadance got hitched earlier than in the canon timeline. Twilight's exile hurt them deeply, and they clung to each other because of it.
Chrysalis still showed up about the same time (2 years after the Sonic Rainboom and Twilight's exam), but had the misfortune of encountering Twilight.
End of an era, folks.
a beautifully done ending to a beautiful story. thank you for writing this.
And so we reach the happy ending... I'm glad everyone got one, as it was looking pretty dicey at times. I'm saddened that Twilight herself is so absent from these closing chapters though... I was really drawn to the story through her depiction as a scarred and frightened wrecking ball of a pony finding her soul through interaction with the others. That she comes back not just as a child, but as a multicolored Alicorn completely unfazed by what she went through may be a just reward for her, but as a reader it feels akin to simply replacing her with another. Thankfully the brief bit with her regifting Smartypants alleviated that some, but I really would have enjoyed more focus on her... The momentous reunion between her and Celestia, the meeting between her and her hunters Shining Armor and Cadance, the integration of Monster to Ponyville... While these are all things that were achieved, they were the kinds of pay offs I was wishing for her while reading the early chapters and then the ending focused on Trixie and the reunion of the royal pony sisters instead.
Plus, a non-purple Twilight Sparkle? Is... Is that even possible?
Regardless, as a whole the story brought me many hours of great entertainment, as it was full of clever ideas and extremely touching moments (the idea of "the homework monster" remains one of my all time favorite inventions of this fandom) and I am very grateful that you wrote and shared it with us all!
2999145
Well, Cadence would show up dressed in her finest gown, Shining would show up in his best suit and Celestia would preside over the whole thing. Ponies and Changelings would sit, mixed together haphazardly and in no particular sequence, in the crowd and watch with tears and celebrate the union of Pony and Changeling kind. Life would go on, with Changelings taking an active and helpful role in the Pony community, finding jobs, raising foals, and basically doing things existing well withing the realm of normalcy. Changelings would spread far and wide, neither feared or rejected, but welcomed and embraced as kin, and from the Crystal Empire, Cadence and Shining will watch over their subjects as they envelope themselves in the embrace of their new-found allies.
Normal shit, yo. That's what would happen.
I both love and hate it when a good story ends, and this is no exception...
Mind you, I'm a little confused as well about the mention of Twilight's parents. Did it turn out that they didn't die after all, or are they stand ins?
Cue the happy ending music:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this fic. Kudos to you.
I like happy endings.
2999077
I always feel a little disappointment when a long story that has really captured my attention comes to end. On the other hand, I myself did not find anything tacky about the ending, and any sweeping under the rug seemed to be in keeping with the story. I was delighted all the way through.
I do rather hope somepony takes Georg up on his suggestion of writing more in the Monsterverse. Li'l Twilicorn is going to be a quite different pony from her older, neurotic, canon self, and a Ponyville with a bunch of happily settled Changeling citizens ought to be an even more interesting place.
2999230
This. This a million times. have all of the favorites!
2999651
Yeah, Twilight was ousted pretty bad. But at least the author didn't make us sit through an entire story's worth of character development for her, and then have her forget it all in the end. I think this was the plan all along.
When i read the end of the last chapter you know what i visualized? One of those movie storybook endings where the old leather bound book reaches the end and all the pages flip back and the book closes, showing the title in big gold letters.
then i cried. because it closed
2998016 I CAN'T READ MORSE CODE YOU CRUEL BASTARD
No sequel? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!! But, um, you can just do whatever you want....
Hmmm. I adored this story and followed it right from the beginning, but I'm not totally sure about this ending. It just seems rather... empty, to me. It didn't really address much of Twilight, which was rather jarring.
While you said you wouldn't be writing a sequel, are you considering doing any short stories or oneshots in this world?
Wow, what a ride this has been. Loved every word written. This was an incredible story and you should feel very proud of what you have created here. Good luck with whatever you wright next!
That was a nice story.
Apparently becoming an alicorn brings your parents back to life. So she's got that going for her. Which is nice.
nice epilogue! I was kinda hoping for a reunion between Twlight, Shining and Candance but that'd take at least two more chapters which I doubt many of us would complain about thanks for never forgetting about this story
This was a fantastic story and i loved every chapter. I am very happy little Twilight gets a second chance to live out here childhood, and this time with actual friends. Thank you very much for an amazing read.
3001433 Her parents never died. This has been covered many times in the comments before.
And give Trixie wings.
I like that idea.
So, the CMC++(+) as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. The world may survive, but I suspect it'll look a little different in the end.
Wow, a very disappointing ending IMO. Very convoluted, confusing to follow and rushed.
The tacked on hint at romance with zecora and the changeling was out of left field and not hinted at at all before all this. The dramatic reveal of Trixies thoughts also came out of nowhere and not hinted at at all. Didn't we already have Trixies' moment of weakness earlier when she had a breakdown about not being trusted by Celestia and a failure, and then had her redemption when she kept the portal open? Why do we need the reveal of her wanting to be an alicorn and rule alongside celestia after knowingly killed her sister? If there had been buildup before this it would have worked, but there hadn't been.
The lack of closure with the children, who up to this point were the main characters, and how they randomly go off into the background. You even add a paragraph or two about why they left into the castle, and then just immediately forget about them until the brief mention in the epilogue. These are the heroes we rooted for, and yet they seemed more than left out in the final stages.
But the biggest mistake had to be what happened to Monster. I did not fall in love with a filly alicorn with Celestia hair. I fell in love with a beaten yet not broken purple unicorn with the body and strength of an adult but the innocence and lack of understanding of a child. I didn't want to see Monster changed like she needed to be fixed, because the character I fell in love with and wanted to read about did not need to be fixed. The mystery surrounding her in the first several chapters is what first got me interested. The way we see her changed by her friends, and the way we see the world through her eyes is why I kept reading. The pure emotions she expresses, whether it be joy, fear or uncertainty, was what gave the story tension in the final moments before the climax. And the answer she came to in that climax was unexpected yet still in character with whom she was. I wanted closure for that character, not her to be "fixed" and then thrown into the background. I wanted see her reunion with her brother and Cadence, and how she would handle it. I wanted to see her walking to school, scars and all, with her friends and being her usual "homework monster" self. I wanted the beast to not turn into a prince at the end, because that is not who we spent 90k words getting to know.
The ending lost focus on who we were reading about, and focused more on the characters we already knew. Such a shame too, cause it was a fun ride up till this point.
Fantastic from start to finish. Some more groundwork for Tallgrass's true nature would've been nice, but aside from that, a satisfactory end to a superb story. Twilight gets a second chance, Trixie gets to walk the scholar's path to alicornhood, and Pinkie performs paparazzi defense.
...Now what ever happened to Discord?
A fairly well done ending to a wonderfully done story. The only thing that saddens me is no plans for a sequel. However, since you did mention that the Monsterverse is open for others to play in... Perhaps I need to dust off my writing skills a bit more and see if I can produce a sequel worthy of Monster in the Twilight. Perhaps some lingering memories of Monster troubles the new Alicorn filly, and she has to sort out these memories while saving the world yet again. Not sure... This is going to take some thought.
I'll keep you posted on whether or not I want to attempt such a feat. Living up to the legacy of this story is one heck of a tall order.
3000105
I don't see why she should be any more or less neurotic than canon, since that's sort of an intrinsic personality trait. Honestly, being an alicorn might get her into trouble with that anyway since there are probably plenty of potential scenarios where end up being left out because of it.
Truly one of a kind story, this one. I'm sad to see it go, but it had a truly satisfactory end.
A beautiful ending to a brilliant story.
Hope all your future work is this good.