//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Return of the Mare // by Victoria //------------------------------// EPILOGUE Two months had passed since our victory, but Equestria was still recovering after that short, but bloody war. The pegasi were making progress in taming the wild weather that had been disrupted by the windigo to ensure a good harvest, while courts over the ex-rebels were being held every day. Most of the common fighters got just a few years of community service. While some ponies had been calling for harsher punishment, the government reserved it only for those who had committed the most heinous crimes. I knew it all from Twilight and the occasional paper I had read, having spent all of that time in Ponyville, away from the big world. It was nice to finally return to a quiet job at Rarity’s boutique, instead of having to risk my life fighting powerful foes. Today was another routine day on the job, when somepony burst in, almost startling me out of my chair. I quickly put the book I was reading behind the counter and turned to face the client with my official wide smile. “Welcome—” “Sundae, you won’t believe what happened!” the client interrupted me. I relaxed after realizing it was just Marcus, though his appearance at the boutique was quite unusual. However, his voice certainly sounded happy, so he wasn’t bearing any bad news at least. I raised my eyebrows expectantly, inviting him to continue. “Twilight has fixed the portal!” My eyes widened. Twilight had been putting all her effort into doing that for the last few weeks, but the news still took me by surprise. “Wow, that’s great!” I smiled as the new information sunk in. “Wait...Does that mean you’re going to leave?” Marcus’ smile lost its energy. “I guess so. As much as I like it here, home is home,” he said, shrugging. “Though I don’t know how I’ll explain your disappearance to the police...” “Ah,” I drooped my ears. My last phone talk with my stepmum had gone pretty poorly, since she hadn’t been able to recognize my changed voice, siccing the police on our heads. Obviously, I couldn’t have revealed myself as a pony, so Marcus and I had decided to hide at his place until we had figured that out. But when we had become stuck in Equestria and the portal behind us had closed, the police had likely assumed the worst. If Marcus were to appear out of the blue without me in tow... “I’ll go with you then,” I suggested. Marcus shook his head. “We can’t risk it, Sunny,” he said. “You’re a pony; you belong in Equestria. What would you do if the portal broke again and you got stuck on the other side this time? Besides, nopony would even recognize you as Annie there.” “I thought the portal would transform me into a human?” “Nope, Twilight couldn’t fix that part,” Marcus shook his head. “Nothing would change if you went through it.” “Well, she’s smart. She’ll figure something out,” I waved my hoof dismissively. “Let’s go.” Having said that, I first went upstairs to warn Rarity about what I had to do. As much as I liked having Marcus in Equestria, I knew he didn’t want to live here forever, so I was ready to do everything it took to help him get home. When Rarity learned the news, she decided to go along, closing the shop for the day. The three of us trotted to Twilight’s Castle together. “Hello, ladies,” Sturdy, one of the two Royal Guardsponies at the entrance, greeted us. I nodded in return. Sturdy had been allowed to stay in the Guard – despite being a changeling – for his help against Tenebris. Besides, he’d already passed the exams to join the Guard when he had infiltrated it, so he had every right to be here, though nopony except for his close friends knew of his true form. We walked past the guards and split up. Marcus and Rarity went downstairs to Twilight’s lab, while I went to fetch Ruby from the kitchen. The mare had been spending a lot of time there, making every meal in the castle a culinary delight — it had helped her deal with the loss of her limb. “Sup, Sunny,” she threw at me, not taking her attention off her task. When I had explained the situation and my intentions to help Marcus, however, she became alarmed. Ruby stopped slicing up apples and turned to face me with a worried expression. “You’re coming back after you’ve helped him, right?” “Of course,” I smiled gently. “I wouldn’t leave you, silly.” Ruby gave me a long kiss in return. “You’d better not,” she warned me, waving her hoof in a mock threat. “I’ll go after you even with three legs, if I have to.” I glanced at her wooden prosthesis thoughtfully. I had been working on an enchanted replacement for it in secret, which would be as good as her real leg. It was almost done and I considered revealing it to Ruby right now, but in the end, I decided to leave it as a surprise. “You won’t have to,” I said instead, patting her on her shoulder. Ruby nodded seriously. She took off her apron and together we went to join our friends downstairs. The mare’s gait was weird, but she managed to keep up with my speed. The wooden leg wasn’t perfect, but at least it got the job done. Getting down the stairs was harder, but she did that too without my help. When we arrived, we saw Twilight arguing about something with Starlight, while Rarity, Marcus and Spike were watching them from afar. The mirror portal was standing on a podium in the center of the lab, its surface glistening with an inner light. Nopony seemed to have noticed us, until I cleared my throat loudly. “Ah, Sundae. Exactly the pony I need!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly; Starlight rolled her eyes behind her back. “Why do you need me?” I asked carefully, approaching to take a closer look at the portal. “You need to go with Marcus to settle his problem with the local law enforcement in his world, right?” I nodded, watching Twilight cautiously. I didn’t like that slightly manic gleam in her eyes. “Yeah, kind of. But I thought you hadn’t fixed the transformation spell yet.” “Oh no, making the portal cast such a complicated spell is too advanced, even for me,” Twilight shrugged, not looking upset in the slightest. “But I can cast it myself! It won’t last quite as long, but it would be enough for a few hours. I would have to recast it often. That’s why I need to go with you!” “You can’t go, Twilight,” Starlight said in a tone used to discourage foals from doing something dangerous. “You’re a princess, for Celestia’s sake. The portal is working fine for now, but what if something happens with it while you’re on the other side?” “It would be an invaluable opportunity to study a whole new world, with completely different laws and magic,” Twilight said, her gaze drifting somewhere far away, as she smiled dreamily. Starlight exhaled in exasperation and looked at us pleadingly. “I don’t see a problem with Twilight going, honestly,” I said, ignoring a hurt look in Starlight’s eyes. “She’s fixed the portal once; I’m sure she’d do that again if necessary. And it seems like I would need her help to look like a human.” “It took Twilight months to fix the portal! And she had all her books to lean on. She won’t have the same advantage out there,” Starlight argued. “I’m not saying Twilight can’t go at all, just not for the first run. I’ll go with you instead and make you look like a human if that is necessary. A simple illusion spell would do just fine, I think.” “Well, maybe you’re right,” I agreed after a moment of consideration. Twilight pouted, looking from one face to another and not finding any comfort. “Fine,” she said in the end. “I guess it’s reasonable if I stay here this time... but if everything goes fine, the next time I’ll go.” “Deal.” *** The preparations lasted until the evening. We would have finished them faster, but we were distracted by a goodbye party that Pinkie Pie had organized in a matter of hours. Now, after that was over, everypony had gathered in the lab before the portal, ready to go. Twilight’s horn was glowing, observing the portal’s status, while Marcus, Starlight and I waited for her approval. Marcus was wearing his old clothes, restored by Rarity a long time ago, and a backpack with memorable things he’d gathered while in Equestria. Soon ,Twilight nodded, giving us a signal to go. “Be careful, please,” Ruby told me one more time. I nodded and before I knew it, I had walked straight into the mirror’s glistening surface. After a sickening feeling of falling, I landed on all fours on the other side. The others arrived without any problems either a few seconds later. “Home, sweet home,” Marcus stated with a grin, taking a deep breath of fresh forest air. I didn’t relax, however, looking around at the trees carefully. The last time we’d been here, a mad hunter with his dog had assaulted us. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him stalking this place months later — he certainly seemed the crazy type. Thankfully, nopony was watching us. “So, this is Earth, huh,” Starlight said, poking the ground. “It looks kind of gloomy.” “It looks perfect,” interjected Marcus. “Come on, cast that illusion spell on Sundae and yourself and let’s go at last.” The unicorn shrugged and did as she was told. I was blinded momentarily by a flash of her horn, but when I opened my eyes, I didn’t feel any different. Starlight herself, however, looked like Marcus’ ugly brother. She was very similar in appearance to the guy, though her face had a few key differences from Marcus’, such as a bigger nose and thinner lips. The real Marcus stared at her and me in turns, with raised eyebrows. “What the hell is that?” he asked. “Sunny looks nothing like herself. She’s not even a girl now!” I looked at my hooves in surprise — for me everything looked exactly like before — until I realized that Starlight’s illusion must be invisible to the one who’s under it. “Well, I don’t know what she’s supposed to look like,” Starlight said in her defense. “It’s just a temporary disguise, until I see some photos of her human form.” “Cast a disguise on me, then,” Marcus said. “I don’t want to be recognized by some cop.” When the disguise issue was sorted out, we moved to the edge of the forest. While it was evening in Equestria, here it was an early morning, so the forest was illuminated by a rising sun. No wild animal got in our way, though after our encounter with timberwolves, real wolves would be child’s play for us. I doubted any real wolves could be found in England, though. Soon, we had stepped onto the road, with walking becoming much easier. We reached the town within a few hours and went to look for a place with a free electrical socket straight away. Marcus had his old phone with him and my photos were on it, but it needed to be charged first. As we walked on the street, Starlight looked at the passing cars in wonder. Everything in this world was new to her, even though Marcus and I had talked about it in detail. But as the saying went — better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times. “Here’s some cafe,” Marcus said, pointing at a small place across the street. We quickly crossed the road and walked inside. Except for our company, the place was almost empty. A few guys were sitting behind the bar, having some coffee, but that was all. Starlight and I picked a table by the wall with a convenient socket, while Marcus went to order a meal. “So this is what a human city looks like,” Starlight said. “Everything looks so similar, but at the same time so alien to me...” “Yeah, I had the same feeling when I first got to Equestria,” I chuckled. “Just wait until you see London.” Marcus joined our table a few minutes later, carrying three cups of tea with cupcakes for us, and one big cheeseburger for himself. He quickly connected his phone to a charger and picked up the cheeseburger from his plate. Starlight looked at the guy with interest, as he took a massive bite. “What are you eating? Smells delicious,” she asked, taking a sip of her tea. “Oh, this? This is called a cheeseburger,” Marcus said between bites. “God, this tastes amazing. I haven’t eaten meat in months!” Starlight choked on her cupcake and had to drink half of her cup in one go to wash it all down. She watched Marcus devouring the cheeseburger with a mix of disgust and desire. “I didn’t know meat could smell that good,” she admitted. I realized that I liked the smell myself, despite being repulsed by it when I’d first transformed back into a pony. Maybe my body had still been rebuilding, so my senses had been all mixed up. I wondered what would happen if I took a bite... “I’ve heard of ponies who enjoy griffon food, but I’ve never tasted it myself,” Starlight said. “I didn’t know ponies could even eat meat,” I said, glancing at what was left of Marcus’ cheeseburger. He was finishing it already. “Oh, they can, though I wouldn’t say it’s very healthy,” Starlight shrugged. “I always thought the ponies who ate it were crazy, but if it smells half as good as this...” While we were discussing griffon dietary practices, Marcus’ phone had been charged enough to turn on. He whistled when he saw how many lost calls and messages there were. I noticed that most of them were from his parents. “Here she is,” he finally said, opening my old photo on fullscreen. Starlight and I examined it with interest. I’d already forgotten what my human face looked like — it was nothing like my pony one. We waited about half an hour until the phone had been charged some more, and then we left the place. Starlight was confident she could replicate my old appearance to make a perfect illusion, but we needed some private corner to do it, away from prying eyes. A yard behind the cafe was the perfect place for it. At least that was what I’d thought, until I noticed a couple of guys smoking there. I recognized them from the cafe. They ignored us, while we waited for them to finish and return to the cafe a few minutes later. As soon as they had done so, Starlight cast a new illusion on me. “Now that’s better,” Marcus nodded in approval. “That’s the Annie I recognize!” *** We arrived in London by noon. Marcus had had just enough money left to pay a local taxi driver to get us to the city. Starlight was quite impressed by the cityscape, and we weren’t even close to the center. “This city is so big...” I heard her murmur. The cab dropped us off at my foster parents’ house. It was a small manor at the city’s edge — this family was well off. I took a deep breath approaching the gate and ringed the doorbell. I repeated it a few times, until a familiar voice answered. “Yes, who is it?” “It’s about your daughter, Miss Brown,” Starlight said. “Let us talk inside.” “Are you from the Police? Get in then, please.” The gate buzzed and opened. We exchanged a glance and I walked inside in trepidation, as my friends followed. Crossing the yard, we stopped before the house and waited until my stepmum opened the front door. She gasped and her eyes widened in surprise. It was a little disconcerting that she was looking somewhere above my real head, though, fooled by the illusion. Mum looked just like I last remembered, which wasn’t surprising, considering I’d seen her less than six months ago. “Annie?!” she exclaimed, about to hug me, but I raised my hoof to stop her. “Let’s get inside first,” I said and she frowned. “What’s wrong with your voice?” my stepmum asked. However, she stepped to the side, allowing us to proceed into the house. I went straight to the guest hall, remembering the house layout from my life here, and jumped on the sofa, with my friends mirroring my move. My stepmum slowly followed, keeping her eyes peeled on me, and settled on the opposite sofa. “Now, where have you been for the last three months?” she asked, frowning deeply. Then her eyebrows rose in alarm. “You haven’t joined some gang, did you?” I chuckled. “No, mum, nothing like that. You see, my past has caught up with me...” I began telling her what had happened from the very beginning, but she interrupted me when I got to the “turning into a pony” part. “Have you been… using substances?” she asked in a small voice. “I thought we had taught you better than this.” “Using substances? No, I haven’t been using substances. I really am a pony,” I assured her. “What you’re seeing now is just an illusion.” “Oh my god, you’ve joined one of those sects,” my stepmum pointed an accusing finger at Marcus. “Was it this guy who recruited you? He’s a main suspect in your disappearance, you know.” “I know, but Marcus had nothing to do with it,” I shook my head. “All he did was to help me. Starlight, dispel the illusion.” In a flash of light, the illusion both on her and me was gone, and my stepmum saw our true forms. She jumped off her couch with a squeal of fright and tried to run, but Starlight caught her in her magic and kept her suspended until my stepmum had calmed down enough to listen to my explanations. “I told you it was the truth, mum,” I said to her when she was put back on the sofa. “Yeah, it’s still hard to believe,” the woman shook her head. “So there is a world out there full of ponies like you? And you’re one of them?” “Basically, yes.” I told her everything that had led to my transformation and me going to Equestria, though I skipped the details, like the war and such. This time she didn’t interrupt. She listened with a bewildered expression on her face, but seeing the ponies before her very eyes, it was hard to dismiss our story as some fiction. “As you can see, I didn’t kidnap your daughter,” Marcus said in the end. My stepmum sighed. “It seems that way,” she said. “I guess you’ll return to your Equestria now?” “Sorry, but yes,” I nodded. “I plan to visit you and dad quite often, though. Maybe I’ll even introduce you two to my biological parents. But not before I make sure the charges against Marcus have been dropped.” My stepmum gasped at my stepdad’s mention. “I should call him right away! Please, don’t leave until he gets here. He’ll be happy to see you.” I assured her that I wouldn’t and leaned back, ready to wait. *** The five of us were standing before the magical stone in the forest. Three humans and two ponies. My stepmum, stepdad and Marcus were saying their goodbyes to us, as we were ready to leave. It had taken a damn week, but in the end, we had been able to prove Marcus’ innocence and my well-being. We’d had to lie our flanks off to explain our disappearance, but in the end the case had been closed. “I’ll miss you, Sunny,” Marcus got to his knees to give me a hug. “Don’t,” I patted him on the head. “I’ll promise to visit at least twice a month on weekends. You know, Twilight would need somepony to explain how things work here.” “Don’t forget to visit us too, Annie,” my stepdad asked. “You don’t mind if I still call you Annie, do you?” I shrugged. It didn’t really matter to me — Annie was a good name. We exchanged a hug as well and then it was my stepmum’s turn to talk. “Can I visit your world sometime?” she asked pleadingly. “What you’ve told me about it sounds delightful. I used to travel a lot when I was younger, you know.” “I’ll have to ask Twilight, but I’m sure she won’t mind,” I assured her. We talked about small stuff for a few more minutes. I wasn’t quite ready to leave — having spent a week with them had made me remember all the good times we’d had together. It was hard to leave it all behind, but it wasn’t like I wasn’t going to see them again... “We should go, Sunny,” Starlight put a hoof on my withers. “Ruby must be worried sick about you.” That gave me the resolve I needed. “Well, this is it.” I turned to the stone and approached it, stopping very close but not quite touching it. I looked behind at the faces of my foster parents and Marcus as they waved. I felt a pang of sadness and then looked higher at the evening sun. It was warm and bright, but not quite the same as in Equestria. Turning away, I made a final step forward. It was time to go home.