//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Surrogate Light // by scootalooftw //------------------------------// I sighed as I turned to the last few pages of my book, pausing briefly in my writing to reminisce about the events that took place shortly after I had arrived in Equestria. It wasn’t until one of my friends had returned from a late-night trip to the bathroom that anypony noticed I was no longer unconscious. The commotion they caused upon their realization woke the entire room, and it wasn’t long before I was at the center of a large hug pile. I shook my head and smiled sadly as I remembered the events that followed. When I attempted to tell my tale, nopony would believe me. In fact, more than one of them demanded that the princesses subject me to more tests, fearing that the Elements had somehow fried my brain. It had taken weeks… and in some cases even months to convince them I still had my full mental faculties, much less that my story was true. The princesses, though… the princesses believed me right away. Despite only having a name and a message, they thanked me profusely for delivering the message once they finally had some time alone with me. Familiar as they were with the Elements, and Harmony’s will by extension, they didn’t take much convincing to believe what I had said. Although she had been deeply saddened by the passing of her student, Celestia still took me under her wing, as she had her student, and made sure I had everything I needed to adjust to my new life. Luna was just as supportive, though I soon found out for different reasons. Even though she hadn’t been in control of herself at the time, the fact that she had not only killed Twilight but was responsible for my being stuck in her body had been eating her up inside. Although Harmony had done a good job of harmonizing my mind and body the experience still left its scars, and Luna saw it as her duty to help me come to terms with what had happened. What had started as nightly visits to alleviate me of my nightmares soon blossomed into a close friendship, and it wasn’t long before the Night Princess found herself making excuses to visit me, both in the waking world and in my dreams. Looking down at the page I frowned slightly when I noticed that my quill had wandered with my memories, writing down every thought that had passed through my mind as I recalled my time spent recovering. The pages began glowing with a pale lavender light as I prepared to tear the pages from the book, but my frown slowly morphed into a smile as I made the decision to keep them. “Needs an epilogue anyways,” I giggled to myself, putting quill to parchment once more. My friends, although they didn’t quite believe me for some time, never faltered in their support. Each and every one of them took time out of their daily routines to stop by and make sure I knew I wasn’t alone, and that others cared for me. Spike, on the other hoof… “Twilight, you about ready?” Spike called from the hallway. Giving a quick knock, he cracked the door open and poked his head in. “Everypony’s here, we’re just waiting for you.” “Speak of the devil,” I mumbled to myself before turning to face him. “I’ll be down in just a minute, Spike. Just finishing up here.” “Oh, is that the book you were writing?” He asked, stepping into the room. “Yep,” I said, “just putting the finishing touches on it now.” “Oh, sweet! Can I read it?” Spike asked excitedly. “You can after dinner,” I said, giggling at his enthusiasm. “For now, though, we should get going. It’s bad enough that I’m running late for my own birthday dinner, it would be rude to make them wait any longer.” “Aww, ok, Twi,” Spike relented. Standing from my seat, I moved to follow Spike before pausing and looking back to my book. Glancing back at the open door, I turned around and returned to my desk. Spike, on the other hoof, hasn’t left my side. From what everypony told me, he refused to even leave the bed during my second hospital stay. For months after my release, he refused to let me out of his sight, stating that he needed to be around to help me with everything. Despite his childish looks and the way he was acting, I soon discovered a deep thinking individual hidden beneath the surface. One night a few weeks after we had returned to Ponyville, he had gotten fed up with me trying to convince him that I wasn’t the Twilight he grew up with and admitted that he had known for some time. He told me that he had lived with Twilight long enough to tell that I wasn’t her, or at least not fully and that despite knowing this, it would go against everything she had taught him if he didn’t do his best to help a pony in my situation. Needless to say, in the years that followed he and I became almost as close as he had been with Twilight… but I could never, nor would I ever want to, replace her. Surprisingly, Twilight’s family… my family was both the quickest to accept, and the first to open up to me. They did take time to mourn the loss of their daughter, and for most of my stay in the hospital I was afraid they’d reject me, but when it came time for my release they welcomed me into their home with open hooves. While we had had our fair share of awkward moments, they made it more than clear that I was welcome to stay until I was healthy enough to travel to Ponyville, and longer if I so desired. “Twilight Sparkle,” an agitated voice called out from behind me. Jolting in surprise, I turned just in time to see my mother stepping through the door. “You’ve got more than a dozen hungry ponies sitting downstairs, and we’ve been waiting more than twenty minutes for you to finish getting ready.” “I know, mom,” I said, smiling nervously. “I’m just…” “You’re just nothing,” Twilight Velvet scolded. “If you don’t march your plot out that door and down those steps this instant I will put you over my knee in front of your friends. Those wings don’t make you too grown up for a proper spanking.” “Yes, mother,” I conceded, giggling when I saw the poorly concealed smile on her face. Dipping my quill in its inkwell one more time I turned and made my way to the door, my book levitating in front of me as I wrote. Despite all of the fears and misgivings I had after my first trip to the Ethereal Plane, I have never once been made to feel like I didn’t belong. Even after ascending and being crowned a Princess of Equestria, I was never given anything but love and understanding from the ponies who knew of my origins. Despite everything I had been through I felt one-hundred percent the pony I had come to be. Equestria’s Surrogate Light.