“Twilight, I'm so, so sorry I killed you.”
Fluttershy whimpered, just barely holding back the inevitable. Firelight reflected off the tears already running down her cheeks. With the game wrapped up, Applejack had started a cozy bonfire in the middle of a clearing, while Pinkie Pie had produced the requisite ingredients for making s'mores. All and all, a perfect night-- except for the matter of Fluttershy's crying.
“It's okay!” Twilight smiled in a manner she hoped was reassuring. “The way you killed Tara was perfect.”
“But ... but I thought this game was important to you?” Fluttershy murmured.
“It is! Which is why I'm so glad I got a fitting ending to Tara's story.”
“But you-- she died. It was so sad!” Fluttershy sniffled again.
“Tara died saving someone she lo--” Twilight trailed off, glancing in Lyra's direction for a moment. Lyra still wore her fatigues, but had traded out her goggles and bandolier for a marshmallow roasting stick. “--Tara died saving a friend. And, y'know, she may have also created a time paradox that might change the timeline for the better.”
“Damn right you did!” Lyra's smiled a goofy smile and threw a buddy-buddy arm across Twilight's shoulders. “I'm just surprised it took six Clock Wraiths to take you down!”
“I've been playing Tara for awhile.” Twilight shrugged, humbly. “She has ... a fair amount of XP. Not to mention the fact that since she was from the modern-day juncture and had a really low Flux rating, it's not like I had to spend any XP on Anachronism points. So I could just keep building up my skills and advantages. It was honestly just a stroke of luck that Fluttershy got the killing blow in.”
“See, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash threw an arm around her friend's shoulders. “Twilight's talking all nerdy again, which means she's okay!”
“That--” Twilight held up a finger as she considered Rainbow's words. “--is a surprisingly accurate statement and I am not sure how to feel about it.”
“It just shows that I know you really well 'cause I'm an awesome friend like that! Just like I know Fluttershy's gonna feel better now that she got that whole 'nerd murder' thing off her chest.”
“It's true.” Fluttershy wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her Clock-Wraith robe and breathed in a deep, steadying breath.
“Wanna go make s'mores?” Rainbow Dash started steering Fluttershy around to the other side of the fire, where Pinkie Pie had set up a surprisingly robust s'more buffet, featuring no less than three kinds of chocolate, and four varieties of graham cracker. “Sugar makes everything better.”
Fluttershy nodded. “That sounds nice.”
“I'm just glad Sunset Shimmer put all this together.” Lyra beamed. “I haven't really had the chance to play since last ChronoCon. This was super fun!”
“We should be thanking you, Lyra. You're the one who actually knows the game.” Sunset Shimmer looked up from her seat on a large log set down by the fire.
“Maybe we should do it again sometime?” Lyra said. “I mean, that thing Twilight did with the paradox point gave us kind of a perfect opportunity to reboot everyone's characters for the new edition.”
“I did, didn't I?” Twilight mused aloud. “But honestly ... I think I'm gonna take a break from ChronoQuest for awhile. Ever since I transferred to Canterlot High, things have been ... busy. And crazy. More than crazy, honestly, if you think about the number of times we've actually saved the world. Like ... I may have done more world-saving in real life than I did in the LARP? Which ... is saying something.”
“I can see how that makes things ... different.” Lyra said.
“But we can still be friends, right?” Twilight said, sudden desperation in her voice.
“Uh, yeah?” Lyra said. “Why wouldn't we be?”
“Just ... you know, the whole loss of a common connection? And, um. It's not like we've really hung out much? “ Twilight bit at her lower lip.
“So? I mean, I don't know if we're good enough friends to do that weird glowy rainbow laser thing you guys do at, like, every other major school function. But we can still hang out sometimes, right? Heck, if you really wanted, I bet I could wrangle you a chair at Ditzy Do's Ogres & Oubliette's game.”
“Really? That'd be swell.” Twilight pushed her glasses further up her nose and smiled. “But ... this time it'll be Twilight Sparkle and Lyra Heartstrings hanging out, not Tara Sterling and Jennifer March.”
The purple haired girl stood up and pulled Tara Sterling's character sheet from her hoodie pocket. She rubbed her thumb over the crinkled paper, lingereing, as if she were soaking up memories y touch. then gently tossed it into the flames. Within seconds, the paper curled and blackened in the blazing fire, dissolving into char and ash.
Sunset and Lyra stared at the burning paper, then at the young woman who burned it.
Twilight, meanwhile, just smiled. “Sorry to get dramatic-- just ... seemed like an appropriate gesture. And, uh, I've got the character sheet backed up on my computer back home, it's the thought that counts, right?”
“So I guess it's really over then, huh?” Sunset Shimmer said. “No more ChronoQuest?”
“I'm ... taking a break. Not leaving it forever. And heck, just because I'm not playing doesn't mean other people can't have fun. No matter what the edition. So long as people keep enjoying themselves, they can play their own games and tell their own stories. Just ... on a smaller scale. As, uh, technically, this was an unofficial troupe game, not connected to the main plotline or anything.”
“It's connected enough for me.” Lyra patted Twilight on the shoulder, then circled around to the other side of the fire to raid the s'mores bar.
“Y'know Twilight, I'm a little jealous.”
“Jealous?” Twilight's eyes went wide, and she immediately leaned in close to murmur to Sunset. “Of me and Lyra? Because that was strictly an in-character--”
“Not that.” Sunset shook her head and poked Twilight in the chest. “I'm jealous of you and the game. You just get so excited over it, and ... well, sometimes I wonder if I'm too cynical to get that enthusiastic about ... well, anything.”
“What are you talking about, Sunset? You're a huge dork.”
“No I'm not.” Sunset said, quick and defensive. “I'm cool! Really! I play guitar and wear a neat jacket.”
“Uh-huh.” Twilight's lip curled up in a playful smile. “You also stood in line for hours just to get the latest Tirek game on release day.And you make squealy noises every time you hear a PostCrush song on the radio. And--”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Sunset Shimmer held up her hands in defeat. “I may be ... kind of a dork.”
“Everyone is, deep down. There's just something that they can go on about for hours on end, y'know? Rarity has fashion, Rainbow Dash has those old monster movies, Applejack has ... uh ... trees.”
“So what are you gonna go on about now that Tara Sterling is ... now that Tara's story is over?”
“Oh, lots of things! Science. Or magic. Or friendship, maybe? Because I've been told that's also magic. Or, really, the study of extradimensional energies which are popping up at an increasingly faster rate which could be a sign of impending universal collapse as the barriers between dimensions grow thinner and thinner until all possibilities are happening concurrently in some kind of chaos-singularity--” Twilight built up speed as the words tumbled from her lips-- only to rein herself in at the last moment. She looked back over at Sunset and forced a smile. “Also I like to read a lot.” A pause. “Maybe we could start a book club?”
“That's not a bad idea.” Sunset Shimmer glanced out at the other girls gathered around the blazing bonfire. “Good luck getting everybody to sit still, though.”
“I guess I can start with you.” Twilight sat back down on a sawn-off tree stump, and pulled Sunset down beside her. The stump was big enough for the both of them-- but barely. Twilight leaned contentedly against Sunset's side, and sighed, content. The two settled in, and silently watched Tara Sterling's proverbial funeral pyre.
It was a good way to end the night.
And a better way to begin something new.