//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Here Comes the Sun // by JapaneseTeeth //------------------------------// Twilight slammed the library door behind her.  Or at least, she tried to. It swung about halfway closed before the wind tried to push it open again. She groaned and kicked it shut. “Spike! I need a-” He held out a towel. “I figured you’d need this. It’s coming down pretty hard out there.” “You’ve got no idea.” Twilight wrapped the towel around her head and started to soak up the water.  Her entire body was saturated, as if she had just had a swim. Even after she dried off, she felt like she was floating. “I told Rainbow Dash to hold off on the storm until I could see the Princesses off at the station!” “Hey, it’s not my fault! Storms have a lot of momentum. Once you get them going, you can’t just stop them!” “Then you shouldn’t have started them so… wait a minute.” She pulled the towel off of her head and found Rainbow Dash sitting at her table, munching on a bowl of popcorn. “Why are you here?!” “Trixie accidentally busted my house loose during her magic show, and I’m pretty sure it’s drifting somewhere out by Ghastly Gorge. I didn’t have time to tow it back and re-anchor it before the storm rolled in.” “So you thought you’d crash here?” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “It was closest.” “Ugh, fine. I guess it’s not a big deal.” Rarity poked her head out of the bathroom. “You wouldn’t happen to have any conditioner, would you dear?” “It’s on the second self of the cabinet,” Twilight answered as she sat at the table. “I’m guessing that she came here because her house is too far away and she didn’t want her dress to get ruined by the rain?” “Right on, Twilight,” Applejack said as she emerged from the kitchen. “I’m here ‘cause Rarity needed somepony to carry her umbrella.” She held up a plate. “Cheese and crackers?” “Sure, why not.” Twilight took a bite. “Let me guess. Pinkie is hiding on the ceiling?” “Nope! Just hanging out!” Pinkie appeared out of thin air next to Twilight.  “I would’ve gone back to Sugarcube Corner, but I had the cake leftovers with me, and it was starting to rain.” She nodded at the cake cart. Oddly, the quarter or so of the cake that remained was somehow still in pristine condition. “Although now that I think about it, it’s not like we really need to protect it anymore.” “Mmmhmm.” Twilight nodded. “And Fluttershy?” The pegasus poked her head out from behind the cake. “I, er, just followed everypony else here.” Rainbow Dash yawned. “It feels kinda weird to not have anything to worry about.” “Don’t worry, I’m sure there’s something,” Pinkie said. “We could worry about the-” “Don’t even go startin’ that, Pinkie,” Applejack interrupted. “We’re tryin’ to unwind a bit, you know?” “How about-” “And don’t even suggest some sorta after-party thing.” Pinkie made a sound like a deflating balloon. “Ahh, much better!” Rarity emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, her mane and tail both wrapped tightly in towels. “While I do like how my mane turned out, I do wish I would be able to pull it off without requiring so much hairspray.” “Did you use all of my towels?” Twilight asked. “Not all of them. I left one or two.” “Is there anypony else hanging around that I should know about?” Twilight asked wearily. “No, I think that it’s just us,” Fluttershy said. “You don’t mind us being here, do you? I know you probably wanted to relax by yourself after everything that’s happened.” “It’s fine,” Twilight said. “You guys can do whatever you want. I’m going to go upstairs, crawl in bed, and pass out. As long as you don’t wake me up or disorganize the library, you can do whatever you want.” “Sleepin’ does sound pretty good,” Applejack said. “Slumber party!” Pinkie bounded into the air, forcing Applejack to grab her tail and tow her back down. “I’m afraid not, dear,” Rarity said. “We’re all far too tired to have a party. But Applejack is right, the slumber part is quite appealing.” “I am pretty wiped out after getting the storm kicked off,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “I could go for a nap.” “Well, you’re welcome to sleep wherever,” Twilight said as she began to drag herself up the stairs. “Though if anypony starts snoring loud enough to wake me up, I will teleport you out into the rain.” “Do you mind if we borrow some of your blankets?” Fluttershy asked. “Blankets, pillows, chairs, couch, whatever,” Twilight answered from the top of the stairway. “Just don’t wake me up.” She opened her bedroom door, and stepped halfway through. Then she paused, and turned around. “Before I go to bed. I just want to thank all of you again for all of your help. The celebration wouldn’t have been possible without your help.  I know some things didn’t quite go as planned, but through the power of teamwork and friendship, we managed to overcome every obstacle in our-” “Twilight,” Applejack interrupted. “Why don’t you go get some shuteye?  You’re starting to get all sappy. You can thank us all tomorrow.” Twilight blinked a few times, then yawned. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Goodnight.” “Goodnight?” Pinkie cocked her head. “But it’s still morning!” “Whatever.” Twilight closed the door behind her. Spike was already there, fluffing his pillow in expectation of a long nap.  “Princesses on their way home?” he asked. “Yes. The train actually left on time for once.” “What? Really? I wish I could’ve been there to see that.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “You wish you could’ve seen the train leave, but you didn’t bother to show up to say goodbye?” “I said goodbye when they left for the station,” Spike retorted. “And I can send them a message whenever I want.” He coughed out a flame for emphasis. “Besides, we see them all the time. I’ve never seen the train actually depart on schedule. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” “I guess so,” Twilight answered with a shrug. “Maybe if I wasn’t so tired, I’d be more excited about it.” “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Spike began to curl up in his bed. “It’s been a long day. And night. And morning. I’m glad we’re done with everything.” “Well, we’re not quite done with everything.” Spike pulled his blanket over his head and made a groan that sounded kind of like “oh no.” “Don’t worry, it won’t take long. I just want to get the Friendship Report out of the way. Then I can really relax.” Spike poked his head out from his nest. “Or, you could just relax now and not do the friendship report. You know, since you were literally talking to Princess Celestia like twenty minutes ago.  And none of the problems we ran into were even friendship things. It was all stuff like cakes and explosions and dresses and dealing with Trixie. The last one is the only thing that was even kind of a friendship problem, and you only ‘solved’ that by making Princess Luna deal with it.  What lesson did you learn here, exactly?” “Uh…. teamwork?” “Oh come on. You already knew that. That’s why you gathered everypony to help you before things started.” Spike pulled his head back under the blanket. “Besides, you don’t want to write a report while you’re half asleep anyway. Remember what happened the last time?” “Eagh.” Twilight twitched at the thought. “You know what? You’re right. We managed to pull it off, and now we’ve earned some rest.” “Exactly!” “Oh, and one more thing.” “Mrrnng,” Spike grumbled. “Thanks for your help. Especially with the cheese. I still don’t know what I would’ve done with it.” Spike poked his head back out. “Eh, that was no problem. I just convinced Luna to have the Mayor take care of it. And you know how the mayor loves her fundraising projects.” “Well, however you did it, I really appreciate it.”  Twilight flopped into bed and pulled the curtains shut. “I couldn’t have done it without-” Spike started snoring. Twilight smiled. “You know, I think you’ve got the right idea.” She turned out the light and pulled the covers over her head.