//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: A New Line // Story: End of the Line // by Sunlight Rays //------------------------------// Word got fast to the Princess. After hearing everything from Twilight, Princess Celestia decided that it would be best if I returned to Ponyville, to my family. She wrote to my family, including enough detail for my parents to get a good picture of what was happening, yet not enough so that they would still have questions to ask me. And I agreed to all of this. Much easier than having to tell them the whole story. Plus, some of the things I had in mind would only work coming from me. I was packing my things in my dorm room when the hoofheld mirror vibrated. I picked it up with my magic and answered it. “Hello?” “Lux, it’s your mom!” shouted mom from the mirror. “And me too!” Aurora chimed in. “Count me in!” added dad. “We got Princess Celestia’s letter last night. We sent a reply that we understood everything and were okay with you dropping out… but Lux, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” asked mom, her tone implying that she was hurt, surprised, and sad by what I tried to do. “Yeah, Lux, if you were worried with disappointing us, we told you not to worry about it,” added dad. “It’s not that….” I murmured. A thought rose in my mind, but I quashed it. “Then what is it, Lux?” asked mom. “It’s just that…. Ugh….” I rubbed my face with a forehoof. I couldn’t bring myself to say it. “Yes, dear? We’re listening.” I hesitated, then decided to just wing it. “It’s just… I thought I couldn’t talk to you about it, because I thought you didn’t understand.” An awkward silence followed for a few seconds. Then, mom said, “What do you mean, sweetie? What do you mean by ‘we didn’t understand’?” “Mom, do you remember how you said that I should work harder after I screwed up my midterms?” “Yes, dear, but what does this have to do with this?” “Everything. After ending that call, when you told me to just work harder no matter what the situation was, I realized that you didn’t understand how the situation was going to Tartarus up here. And when I realized that, it combined with the ever-deteriorating mindset of mine to create an illusion. An illusion that told me that you wouldn’t — or couldn’t — care about my situation. And so for the next three months or so, I’ve kinda been on my own. Until New Year’s Eve, that is.” Silence again. “Look, mom, dad, Aurora, I’m sorry for not telling you this earlier. But, however stupid it may have been, I genuinely thought that nopony would care, that I was left alone again. In fact, all I needed to do was just call you and you would have listened to everything I had to say. So… I’m sorry about… everything. If I had just told you everything that day, maybe it didn’t have to come to this. Maybe things could have turned out better. I don’t know. All I know is that I didn’t tell my family about it, and now I regret it.” “Lux, we all agreed that this isn’t your fault.” Mom’s voice was quivering now. “If it’s anypony’s fault, it should be ours. we pushed you too harshly, while thinking that you would be just a-okay all the time. We should have listened to you and not just stubbornly tell you to work harder. I had… I had no idea what you were going through, Lux…. I’m so sorry….” With that, mom once again broke into tears. “Mom,” I said while trying my best to keep my voice steady, “it’s okay. It’s not your fault. I guess I had too high of an expectation and just pushed myself for it. It’s not like you knew what I was going through.” “Yeah, well, maybe this could have all turned out better if we had communicated better….” Aurora added, her voice faltering. “I’m certain it would have. Mom, please listen. I don’t see a point in regretting things that are already over. Such regrets will just make life harder, not unlike what happened to me, you know. So please, just leave the past as it is, and promise me that you’ll do your best in the future, as I’ll do mine.” My voice was trembling at this point as I struggled to hold the tears back. Mom sniffled. “Yes, dear. Of course we should. We all should do our best in the future.” “Well, look who’s becoming a grown-up now. I don’t think I’ll be able to catch Lux passing under my barrel for much longer,” said dad, also with a shaky voice. “Dad, come on! Th-that was, like, years ago! Besides, I’m fifteen now. What do you expect? Oh, and I think— I think what I experienced gave me an extra mental growth spurt as well, hehe,” I replied as tears began streaming down my face. I awaited the train to Ponyville at the train station. The castle was visible in the distance. I glanced at the station clock. Fifteen minutes until the train was scheduled to arrive. I sighed, and held the two luggage bags that sat by my side. Just then, I heard a loud ‘poof!’ as two ponies appeared right next to me. It was Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia. I immediately bowed, and so did the other ponies in the station. It was very unusual for the Princess to come out in public without warning, and even more so when she was with her personal student. “Rise, everypony. There’s no need to bow.” Princess Celestia spoke, and everypony rose from their bows. Then she turned to me. “Lux, Twilight Sparkle and I are here because we both had matters which we wanted to tell you in person. Personally, I would like to go first, but seeing Twilight’s state… I think it would be fit if I let Twilight speak first.” It was at this point that I noticed that Twilight was once again on the verge of freaking out. Poor thing must be tensed up all the time, ready to break if anything more than she can handle comes in, I thought. I wonder what’s worrying her so much this time. It didn't take long for me to figure out as Twilight began to speak at machine-gun speeds. “Lux! I know I’m the one who suggested it in the first place but I can’t believe it’s actually happening. You’re the only friend I’ve made ever since I came to Canterlot and it’s been only two days and now you’re going away, probably forever. What if we don’t get to see each other? And for how long? Months? Years? It could practically be forever! What would happen then? Will I lose the only friend I had? Will we just turn into nothing, living our lives as if nothing happened? What if….” On and on she went. At this point, somepony was generous enough to give me a brown paper bag, to which I thanked him and gave it to Twilight. She snatched the bag out of my hoof and began breathing in it. The sight would have been very funny if it weren’t for the context of what Twilight had said and the presence of the Princess. “Twilight,” I said as she seemed to be calming down a bit, “I can’t really promise when we’ll see each other. But remember this: there’s no way in Equestria that I’ll forget you. What you’ve done for me on New Year’s Eve changed my life, and it would take a very powerful spell to make me forget such a thing. If you want to keep in touch, though….” I digged through my saddlebag and pulled out a pencil and a piece of paper. I scribbled my name and address on the piece of paper and handed it to Twilight. “Feel free to send a mail to this address. Just… remember not to spam messages.” I smiled at her. “I can?” asked Twilight, her eyes glinting with excitement. “Sure. I mean, what’s not to with the two of us being friends?” “Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes!” And with that, Twilight pulled me into a tight bear hug. “Mrmph! Twilight… you’re… breaking my… ribs….” I choked, and Twilight immediately let go. “Oh! Sorry, sorry, heh.” Twilight apologized, a slight blush coming up to her cheeks. “Right, right…. So we got that out of the way. I remember there being something else?” I questioned a little breathlessly, smacking my upper forelegs to get the blood flowing. “Yes, there is. I would like to talk about your experience at the school,” said the Princess. “Oh? Okay, um, what… what about it?” I said, fidgeting; I was still less-than-comfortable when it came to discussions like this. It made something… bubble inside me, like a steamer pot that was building up pressure and ready to burst. “I would like to apologize to you on behalf of the school,” said Princess Celestia. “I— what?” I stammered, unsure of what I had just heard. “We, the faculty of the School of Magic, were supposed to teach you about magic, but they also had the obligation to make sure everyone was okay. We failed you in that task, and I, as the headmistress of the school, apologize to you, Lux.” With that, she bowed. “I… uh, I…,” I stammered. I seriously did not know what to do, not when the Princess herself was apologizing to me. So I said, “Uh… I accept your apology, your highness?” while repeatedly facehoofing myself internally for saying it. Princess Celestia rose and said, “Please, there’s no need with the formalities. This is not an official event, as you see. Anyways, as you can see, I’m terribly sorry about your experience. I hope you will be happier back in Ponyville with your family.” “Thank you, your highness— wait, I mean— ugh, ponyfeathers!” I stuttered, then actually facehoofed out of embarrassment. Princess Celestia and Twilight just laughed while I could feel my cheeks burning bright red. I wouldn’t have to say how grateful I was when the train pulled into the station. After saying our final farewells and heaving the luggage onto the train, I sat by the windowsill, where I could see Twilight and Princess Celestia on the platform. Twilight waved her forehoof as a goodbye; I waved mine back, displaying a small smile as the train began to leave the station. As the platform and the two ponies shrank away out of view, I leaned back into my seat. As the train rumbled through the countryside, I thought about the events that had happened during the past three days. From my anguish at the top of the tower to leaving the School of Magic, everything had happened so fast that it seemed like a blur. I thought back to the night when Twilight and I had held onto each other for a long time out on the balcony. Up there, I found out that I wasn’t the only one who had been hurt. Twilight had also suffered from other ponies’ rejection and neglect, and had to hide that pain for years, while herself hid from others. While consoling her and listening to her story — nevermind the fact that it didn’t have a whole lot of details — did make me sad and depressed, it also gave me a sense of… fulfillment? It gave me a feeling that somehow told me that it was the right thing to do, and that I was helping others. Maybe I should become a counselor, or a therapist, I thought. I honestly felt sort of happy, sort of fulfilled while on that balcony. Kind of weird considering that I also felt sad and depressed at the same time. I don’t know… I’m tired. Absentmindedly scratching an itch in my left flank, I drifted off to sleep. When the train arrived in Ponyville and I got off the carriage, I saw my family waiting on the platform. A moment later, a blur of fluorescent green and brilliant turquoise dashed towards me, tackling me to the ground. “Aurora, I know you’re—” I started, trying to speak despite having my wind knocked out of me. “You idiot! You big, dorky idiot!” Aurora screamed into my shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier? Why?” I could tell she was crying now. “Aurora… can we talk after we’re off the ground, please? I know you’re glad to see me but… there are others around….” I said awkwardly. "Okay...." She lifted her face, and soon got up on her hooves. Just as I got up on my hooves, however, I saw her staring at my flank as if it were the most mind-blowing thing in the world. “What?” I asked as I turned to see if there was something stuck on my fur. And then my jaw dropped. On my left flank was a red heart with an eight-pointed sun emblazoned on it. I turned to check my right flank. There it was, the exact same symbol. My own cutie mark. “Mom! Dad!” Aurora went screaming to my parents, not unlike how a filly would run to her parents to wail about a broken doll or something. Usually I would have been both amused and perplexed as to how her mood managed to shift so drastically, but I was too busy staring at my flanks to do that. Suddenly I found myself getting swept up in hugs and kisses on the forehead and whatnot. Mom and dad had came over and was hugging me as if I were the most delicate, most precious thing in the world. They congratulated me over and over, even as we made our way out of the station and towards our home. And during the entire trip, I couldn’t stop thinking, Only now? After all this time? Still, I was happy, and when I got home, I began to write a letter to my only friend in Canterlot. Dear Twilight, You wouldn’t believe what just happened! I got my cutie mark on the train! Yes, Twilight, on the train! Could you believe that? It’s a red heart with a sun emblazoned on it. Considering that I was thinking that I might be a counselor or a therapist on the train, I think I finally found the path I should take! I’m so happy that I got my cutie mark…. …and I can’t believe that you’re coming to Ponyville now! It’s been two months since we saw each other, and I couldn’t wait to see you again. I’ll be elated to see you! I’ll see you when you get to Ponyville! Best wishes Lux S. Cognito It had been five and a half years since I left Canterlot. I enrolled in psychology classes to become a therapist, and guess what? I aced the tests. I’m on my final stage to becoming a psychology counselor. Sometimes I think back to my days at the School of Magic, and wonder if things would have been different if I had made just one or two decisions differently. I wonder what would have happened if I had told my parents what was going on. But I leave the past as it is, and prepare myself for what’s to come. For the future holds much brighter things, brighter than I had ever experienced in the past. I’m drawing a new line in my life, a line that differs from the one I’ve previously drawn. It’s much smoother, much more graceful, much more peaceful. And at the start of the line stands a purple unicorn. It’s time to go meet a friend. THE END