//------------------------------// // Ch. 34; Epilogue // Story: Star Wars: A Second Chance // by Dorath //------------------------------// “I’m home!” The patter of tiny hoofbeats rang through the crystal halls as a four-year old, azure pegasus filly with a black-streaked, purple mane came scurrying out of a doorway, her wings flapping excitedly, “Momma!” “There’s my little girl!” crowed Revan as she scooped up the giggling filly and nuzzled her, “Where you a good girl for your Mommy today, Missi’?” “Uh huh! I pwayed with Pum’kin and Pound, and later I hewped Mommy and Spikey in the wibrary, and then Mommy, Spikey and me made a book fort!” “Sounds like someone had a busy day,” the Jedi observed as she carried her daughter deeper into the Palace of Friendship, “So where are your Mommy and Spike now?” “In the kitchen,” answered Mission eagerly, “Spikey is making vegetabwe stew and garwic bread for dinner!” The sound of wood smacking flesh and a cry of “Ow!” suddenly echoed down the halls, causing mother and daughter to exchange amused grins. “It sounds like your Mommy just tried to sneak some garlic bread,” Revan said as she tickled the filly in her arms, “Let’s go save her from your big brother’s wrath.” Walking through the halls of the nearly empty palace, they quickly came to a large kitchen that had be altered to serve double duty as a family dining room. Inside, Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, was embarrassedly rubbing one hoof while Spike, her Number One Assistant, glared at her from beside the stove as he shook a wooden spoon at her. A tray of bread was cooling on the counter near Twilight, filling the air with the smell of hot butter and garlic. Gently lowering Mission into one of the seats, Revan walked over to kiss Twilight, “Hey, pika.” “Hey, yourself,” the alicorn grinned up at her wife, “I was wondering what was keeping you, is everything okay at the Academy?” “Everything’s fine,” the twi’lek assured her, “Although Licorice and Nightfall will be ready for their Trials soon. No, I just stopped in at the Palace for a brief word with Celestia is all, and then I ran into Rarity and Rainbow at Canterlot Carousel.” “I know Rarity went back to Canterlot to work on her new line,” remarked Spike as he stirred the pot, “But what was she and Rainbow up to together?” “Apparently, there’s a reception at the Palace for the Wonderbolts tonight and an aerial show tomorrow,” Revan explained as she went to fetch cups and bowls from the cabinets, “And Rainbow invited Rarity along.” “So, what did Celestia want?” asked Twilight as she got up and helped set the table. “Oh, she just wanted to talk about getting you a personal guard detachment again.” “She’s still going on about that?” the alicorn gave an exasperated sigh, “Caddy didn’t have any guards assigned to her until she took over the Crystal Throne, so I don’t understand why Celestia is so eager for me to get some, and what would I do with guards anyway?” “They could assist the Ponyville gendarme and patrol the edges of the Everfree,” Revan suggested with a shrug. “And they can enforce the library return policies,” proposed Spike, causing the others to break out in a fit of giggles, “What? Some of those books have been overdue for months!” The room was filled with random small talk for a time as the family enjoyed their dinner, until Revan finally pushed her empty bowl away with a satisfied sigh and a word of thanks to Spike, before she turned a considering eye on Twilight, “You know, Twi’, I’m thinking we should take a little time to get away as a family.” “We could visit the other Equestria through the Mirror!” suggested Spike eagerly, which brought an enthusiastic “Yeah!” from Mission. “I don’t know ….” “Is something wrong, Twi’?” “Not wrong, really, it’s just …” Twilight suddenly became fascinated with her cup as a small blush spread across her muzzle, “I sort of asked Sunset to not mention that I was married or had a daughter to any of the other girls.” Mission’s muzzle fell, “Did I do something bad, Mommy?” she asked forlornly. “What? No! No, sweetie,” Twilight quickly moved over and wrapped her wings around her little filly, “It’s just that everyone is much younger through the Mirror because of the temporal distortion and they all think that what they’ve seen is my actual age, and I was uncertain about how understanding they would be.” The little pegasus frowned at her mother in confusion, before turning to Revan for a translation. “What Mommy is saying, Missi’, is that she got scared and forgot to trust her friends, and then she did something even more silly, and that she’s very sorry for what she did.” Mission’s eyes grew wide as she stared up at the alicorn, “Mommies get scared?” “Yes, sweetie,” chuckled Twilight as she nuzzled the filly, “Even Mommies can get scared. I’m sorry, Mission, I never meant to hurt you but I did anyway … can you forgive me?” “I forgive you, Mommy,” the pegasus said as she wrapped her forelegs around her mother, “But I stiww want to go meet my other Aunties,” Mission added, turning the full force of her big, pleading eyes on Twilight, with Spike quickly joining in. Revan had to give Twilight credit, she held out against the pouting younglings for almost a minute before she caved, “Okay, okay, I’ll write Sunset and start looking into when would be a good time for a visit.” “Whoo-hoo!” “Yay!” Revan reached across the table to ruffle Mission’s mane, “Who taught you how to do that with your eyes anyway, or is it just something all Equestrians can do?” “Appwe Bwoom was teaching Spikey and me.” “‘Spikey and I’, sweetie,” corrected Twilight, while Revan shook her head in amusement. “Of course she did,” the Jedi chuckled, “Trust your cousins to weaponize cuteness.” “So, we’re really going back through the Mirror to visit?” Spike pressed as he finished off the last of the garlic bread. “Well, not right away,” replied Twilight, “It could take a while to get everything scheduled, but, we will go, just as long as no major problems come up, of course.” Revan, Mission and Spike all looked at each other, before turning back to Twilight and, in perfect chorus, all three of them said “Murphy jar!”