//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: The Elements in Harmony // by No One and Nobody //------------------------------// Epilogue Lucas exited the classroom into the warm afternoon sun as his fellow classmates darted for the cafeteria. Standing there a moment, the dappled rays playing over his short black hair, blue eyes and warm brown complexion, he exhaled and cracked his neck. He turned as someone put their hand on his shoulder and greeted his chemistry professor. "Headed to tutoring?" Asked Landon, smiling. "Yes sir. Hopefully, more people show up today." "After my last test? You'd think they would, wouldn't you?" Landon chuckled. "See you later," Lucas called out as he dashed away, his legs pounding like pistons. Ever since an extremely vivid dream he'd had several years ago, Lucas couldn't help running. Something about the air flowing through his diaphragm, the rhythm of his strides and the physical freedom it gave him had captured his imagination. And now he was attending college as a chemistry engineering major on a track & field and two academic scholarships. As he flew past the fountain in the center of the college square and several art students sketching it, he thought back to how well his parents had taken his decision. His father had grumbled a bit and made a few implications about him. But Lucas had calmly outlined his thought process and explained that he'd made up his mind to try college first and if it fell through find a job and settle down. Then he'd pulled out the scholarships he'd applied for, explained them and thanked them both after his father gave his grunt of approval. Before he knew it he'd arrived at the chemistry building and, walking into the tutor lounge, he set up his computer, not really expecting anyone to show up. The tutor lounge was a large room with four tables in a circle and chairs scattered around them. Lucas had learned that, during the chemistry 101 tutoring hours, it was as silent as the grave. There was a knock on the door-frame and he looked up to see a rather skinny, blonde young man with large glasses standing there looking nervously in. "Ahh, is this tutoring for chemistry 101?" He asked, sheepishly. "Eeyup," replied Lucas, unconsciously mirroring his favorite pony. Lucas saw a quick flash of smile as if the young man had recognized something before he darted in like a small mammal and grabbed a chair near Lucas. Before he pulled it out, he stopped and asked, "Are you one of the tutors?" "Eeyup." "My name's Thomas Therrell, and I was hoping you could help me on some of the homework. I didn't do so hot on the last exam." Lucas scooted his laptop over and offered a handshake, "Lucas Edwards. Glad to help, you're the first person who's come in this semester." "Really, I thought more people would be looking for help," said Thomas giving Lucas a quizzical look. "Yeah, professor Landon, said they won't start coming in till after they bomb on the midterm." "I see," said Thomas, pulling out his 3-ring binder, "I guess I figured, after that last exam, people would just start trying to course-correct. Then again, I've learning things the hard way before..." "Me too," said Lucas, pulling out his text book and flipping to the last chapter they'd covered in class, "So what are you having trouble with?" "Could we start with Limiting Reactant and Theoretical Yield calculations? I don't quite get why I have to convert to moles to solve." Spinning the chemistry book around and flipping through a few pages till he found what he was looking for, Lucas began explaining. "Moles are just an alternative unit, kind of like a chemist's dozen of particles. Grams are mass units, and thus dependent on the atomic mass of each element, so if you wanna use stoichiometry you need to put it in moles. You follow?" Thomas was giving him the 'deer in the headlights' look. Slowly, he shook his head and replied, "Sorry, I don't speak Twilight. Could you slow down a little?" Smiling, Lucas responded with, "Are my fancy mathematics muddyin' the issue?" "Eeyup." Lucas tried again, "OK, so moles are just another way of saying 6.022x1023 particles. Think of it as saying, 'some number of moles', is like saying 'some multiple of that number of particles'. Like two dozen is two twelves is twenty-four. On the other hand a gram is mass, not number of particles. But if you want to use the chemical formula you need the number of particles. It's like..." Lucas looked around trying to come up with a good example. Then he got an idea and pulled out a can of peanuts from his backpack, "It's like calculating how many peanuts you have by container size. That's mass. Sometimes you get the shelled and sometimes you get the unshelled brand. If you want to do the math first you have to take brand out of the equation by putting the numbers in terms of straight peanuts." "OK, I think I get it," said Thomas, "By the way, do you mind if I ask how you became a brony? I love hearing peoples' stories." Lucas sighed and said, "Sure, but then we get this problem straightened out, OK?" Thomas nodded. "So a couple years ago, when I was in high school, a friend of mine suggested the show to me. I know now that he thought I was struggling with depression at the time and was just trying to help. Anyway, a few days after he told me about it and explained the show a little I had the craziest dream." Lucas could see Thomas's smile vanish, as his eyebrows knit together and he leaned forward, listening intently. "I dreamed I was in Equestria, fighting this big monster-" "A moon beetle?" Cut in Tom. Lucas's train of thought slammed head first into the wall as he turned to look at Thomas... The Thomas. The Tom from his dream, two and a half years ago. The nervous attitude had fallen away and Lucas could see the young leader and remember every feeling and sensation he'd left behind so long ago. "It was real..." He whispered. As though somehow, he'd never doubted in the first place. "Oh yeah, although I never thought we'd all meet up again so soon." Lucas blinked and shook his head, "You know Mira and her brother too!?" Laughing, Tom pulled out his phone and, after fiddling with it a little, showed Lucas a string of private messages from a "RedBedHed". "When we woke up back on Earth, both I and Mira's brother had souvenirs that helped us accept the whole thing as a real event. Neither of us knew the other but after I started writing this:" Tom navigated through the site, which Lucas recognized as fimfiction.net, to a story entitled The Elements in Harmony. "We ended up finding each other and reconnecting online. They're both doing great. In fact they were hoping their family could fly out this year to tour the US and I was planning on meeting up with them." "Did her brother ever...?" "Nah. But from what she's told me, he's a changed guy. Even freaked his parents out a little just how much he has changed. But then again not everyone has to be a brony. How 'bout you, what have you been up to?" Lucas's mind was still reeling from what he'd just learned. "Hold it. I'm still trying to internalize this all. What souvenirs are you talking about?" Tom grinned and, leaning back in his chair, pulled a small stone on a necklace from under his shirt. It looked to be two halves of a geode, joined by a hinge and held together by a small silver clasp. "Little gift from Boulder and Maud to me. As for Mira, her brother woke up with the carbide lamp in his hands." Lucas whistled. "What about the previous elements? You think, since we made it, they got back home too?" He asked. "They made it alright." "How do you know?" "Mira told me her great-grandfather emigrated at a really young age to Britain from Greece. His name was Nathaniel Chloros and he was apparently an eccentric poet who married early and raised Mira's mother with wild stories about talking ponies and a mythical land where the moon wove more stories than in the whole history of the world. Unfortunately, he died about 4 years ago at the age of 87. As for the rest, I think it's fair to assume they made it too." "Did he ever mention anything about... You know... What about what happened afterwards? You remember that?" Tom's face grew serious, "Yeah, I do." "What do you think that was all about? Who- what were- you know. What do you think it meant?" "I don't think that was really any of our business. I reckon we saw a bit more than we should have. The important part was what we saw afterwards." "Yeah. Even if I didn't believe it all happened, I'd be lying if I said it didn't change me," said Lucas, nodding his head and letting his gaze linger on the table as Rosy's life seamlessly wove itself back into his memories. "It changed all of us. Maybe that was the point. If some... outside force had intervened, nothing would have changed. There would certainly have been less suffering, Luna, Us... Rosy. But that outcome would have never arisen... At least, not in that form." "You think they're happy now?" "Are, were, will be? Who's to say? We did our best, and I get the feeling that was the important part. Anyway, you never did answer my question. How have things been going? What're you up to?" "Chem and Nuclear Engineering double major on a few scholarships. You?" "I'm going for a geological engineering degree. Guess you could say I'm getting my... Rocktorate? Eh-eh?" Lucas put head in his hands and sighed saying, "Leave the jokes to Pinkie Tom..." Several blocks into Canterlot there is a small fountain. Almost everypony in the city knows what it stands for. The story is etched into the base of the statue in magic runes that whisper the tale in the perpetual breeze that whistles through the stone and steel of the colossal figures. The two celestial princesses had ordered the rebuilding of the fountain to commemorate the heroes who had given their all for a world, not their own. A tall bipedal creature, constructed out of stone and metal, as though two separate statues had been merged into one, stands at the center of the fountain. The figure is not whole but made of pieces, some of which look cracked or broken. Water spurts through chinks in the statue and flows down the moss-covered sides into the pool below. Over the statue's right shoulder is a jar, so big it almost dwarfs the creature that holds it. And in it's left hand, outstretched, is a polished crystal that shines like a diamond in the daylight and glows like a torch at night. At the feet of the figure is a single flame, magically enchanted to never go out, despite the breeze that playfully nudges it to and fro. Resting by the side of the fountain today, was a young unicorn filly. It was approaching evening and from a distance it looked like the light blue coated pony with the long, luxurious red and pink mane was reading a book with her head resting on the edge of the fountain and a few strands of hair trailing in the water. But if you got close, you'd be able to see that she wasn't paying attention to the book or even staring at the statue, but rather staring past the statue, her mind elsewhere. As she stared into the distance, the wind whispering a long-familiar story to her, a blonde and brown coated earthpony colt started sneaking up behind her. Just as he was within reaching distance of her tail she absentmindedly said, "What do you want Snickerdoodle?" "Oh, COME ON!!!" Shouted the colt, stamping his hooves in anger, "I was that close." She turned her head to look at him and revealed a mass of faded pink scar tissue streaking the left side of her face and upper body. Strangely enough it did absolutely nothing to taint or even distract from her startling beauty. "Snickers, you'll never be that close." "Well then... Maybe I won't help you with your homework," he returned, pouting, "So there." Rolling her eyes the filly stood up, walked over to the young colt and said in an over the top beseeching voice, "Oooh, please Snickerdoodle, save me from the wicked homework. I cannot face it alone..." The colt backed up hesitantly then pursed his lips and swiveled his head away from her. "Great and wise Snickerdoodle. Please share thy vast and projiderous brainpower with I, a simple unicorn of low intelligence." The colt's face blanked for a second in a confused expression then he turned to say, "You mean prodigious?-" Almost too late, the colt whipped his head back around and closed his eyes to avoid those huge golden orbs that could usually get him to do anything. "Exactly. That is why you are the smart pony and I'm just the pretty pony," she continued, leaning up against his side. Despite the fact his hooves were, for some reason, rooted to the cobblestones, Snickerdoodle had his head and face swiveled and stretched as far away from the filly as they would reach. His face looked like he'd just eaten a load of pickled peppers it was so scrunched and red. "Rosy, dinner time." Called a voice from a nearby shop and she pulled away and started walking towards the edge of the square. The colt opened one eye and rolled it around to see if the coast was clear, then he relaxed and turned around to leave. That's when he noticed the book laying by the side of the fountain. Groaning and lowering his head, he picked it up in his mouth and trotted after her. As they neared the doorway to the shop, Snickerdoodle mumbled something with his mouth full to get Rosy's attention, but she seemed to be ignoring him. Stepping into the shop, Snickerdoodle looked around at all the pots, pans, jugs, jars and containers of all sizes and shapes. "Who's your friend?" Interjected a friendly voice and he looked up to see a tawny pegasus mare setting bowls of food on a table by the window. Rosy turned, gave him an absentminded look and magically took the book out of his mouth before saying, "Oh this is Snickerdoodle. He helps me with my homework sometimes." "Well if he's helpin' feed your head, then we'll help feed his stomach. Sit down fella, we don't bite. Your parents mind if you have dinner with us?" "Ah no-" he started to say before he was interrupted. "HEY JUGHEAD, GET YOUR FLEA-BITTEN CARCASS OUT HERE BEFORE YOU DRY UP AND BLOW AWAY!" Shouted the pegasus. From the other room Snickerdoodle heard a male voice shout back, "COOL YOUR HEAD YA OL' BATTLEAXE! I'M COMIN'. KEEP THE FOOD FROM DRYING UP AND BLOWING AWAY." Rosy intercepted his gaze, which were furiously darting back and forth between the pegasus and the doorway the voice had come from, and patted the seat next to her. Cautiously, as though he was sitting down on a live minefield, Snickerdoodle eased into the chair. "Hey," said Rosy, sticking her face towards him with a mischievous grin, "Wanna hear how I got these scars?" "No scary stories at the table," cut in the pegasus. "Oh, come on," said Rosy, her face falling. "Cut 'er some slack honey," said another unicorn who had just exited the other room, "It's a great story. Full of brave heroes and grand deeds. You know I'm in it too, right?" The two female ponies rolled their eyes and droned in unison, "Yes. We know..." "And I take it you were going to wait till after dinner to introduce me to your new friend Rosy?" "My name's Snickerdoodle, sir." The unicorn raised an eyebrow and said, "My father's a sir. I'm Jug. What can we do ya' for?" "I'm here..." Snickerdoodle sighed, "To help your daughter with her homework." Jug grinned and said, "Good, she needs it. Also, don't mind the shouting. Me, Rosy and Sandy really do love each other. But unfortunately... old habits die hard." "Remember the time the royal guards kicked us out of the castle 'cause we were disrupting a royal argument?" Asked Sandy, grinning devilishly. "You started that one," said Jug. "Well you made it worse," she returned. "And I helped," piped up Rosy, grinning from ear to ear. "Could somepony pass the butter please?" Asked Snickerdoodle, gingerly. "I can't help it if I'm loud and proud of what I accomplished for my country," returned Jug, puffing out his chest, "Besides, you didn't seem to mind when your parents were ecstatic to let you marry a genuine, one of a kind Equestrian Hero." "And I helped." "Of course not. It's a wonderful story dear. But if I let you tell it, you'd be running your big mouth till midnight. NOW BE QUIET AND EAT YOUR DINNER!" "I NEED A BIG MOUTH TO STOMACH YOUR COOKING!" Said Jug, levitating some of the delicious-smelling food into the air. Steam wafting gently into his nostrils as he took a long breath. Snickerdoodle could smell it from where he was sitting and his mouth was watering. All he needed was the butter. "Uh, butter please?" "WELL MAYBE YOU'D COMPLAIN LESS IF YOU HAD MORE OF MY COOKING IN YOUR MOUTH!" "I'M HELPING!" Sang Rosy, at the top of her lungs. "PLEASE PASS THE BUTTER!" Shouted Snickerdoodle. Then his eyes flew open and he ducked his head down, glowing the color of a tomato. Everypony stared at him, then they grinned and Jug said, "Not bad. I think we're going to get along just fine..."