//------------------------------//
// Nope 08: Nope and the Final Encounter 
// Story: A Pony Named Nope 
// by Nyerguds 
//------------------------------//

"Can you do it?" Nope asked.

Sunset Shimmer, owner of her own travelling interdimensional bar, leaned her chin on her hand. "Finding someone like that... that's not easy. I'll have to contact some friends from the outside."

"I'll make it up to you," Nope said, solemnly.

Sunset chuckled. "Don't bother, kiddo. Your dad already said he's renting the whole place for the party. In fact, he insisted. So, consider it part of the service."

Nope sighed. "Thanks. Just, uh... make sure those friends don't scare anyone. Considering how it happened in the first place..."

"I know, I know. I'll make sure they're discreet."

Nope smiled. "Thanks."

"So," Sunset said, "who else will be there? Did Celestia find out?"

Nope nodded. "She visited me. You know we can't keep anything from her. She probably heard it from Cadance or Twilight. Add both her and Luna." She grinned. "The look on her face when I told her the location, though? Absolutely priceless!" She floated a photo out of her saddlebags. "And I came prepared for it."

Sunset laughed as she looked at the picture, caught exactly at the moment Nope had informed Celestia that her Cute-Ceañera would take place in an interdimensional bar ran by an alternate version of Celestia's own long-lost student. The only thing missing was some sort of beverage, and it would've been a picture perfect spit-take. Sunset gave Nope a mock-disapproving look.

"Hey, it's not often I manage to make Celestia utterly speechless," Nope said with a smug smile. "This was so worth it."

"Right, right." Sunset grabbed a piece of paper from behind the bar and added Celestia and Luna's names to the end of the list. "So, that's you, your dad, your friend and her boyfriend, Flurry and her parents, Twilight, and now the celestial duo. Anyone else?"

"There are three more people I'd like to officially invite," Nope said. She looked at Sunset and smiled. "One Lena Sabrewing, one Danielle Fenton, and one Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset gave her a warm smile. "I'm just the bartender, though."

Nope smirked. "No, you're not."

"Well, all right. What about your, eh, extra one?"

Nope shook her head. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. I'll just hop out."

"Very well. I'll see what I can do."

"Oh, there is one other person I'd like to have here," Nope said. "Can you deliver a letter to her first, though? She'll need some warning."





Sunset's Isekai was crowded.

In fact, it was exactly crowded enough to have a nice filled atmosphere, but not crowded enough to be too crowded.

Nope was fairly sure the place had sized itself exactly to create this effect.

At the bar, her father was chatting with Sunset. Somehow, whenever those two met, the subject always seemed to shift to supernatural pest control, and they got along really well from there.

Celestia was sitting a bit farther away, sipping her drink and looking at Sunset with a mix of bafflement and uncertainty on her face, content to order and sip her drink, but not quite ready to really talk to her. Nope felt a bit bad for Sunset; she had to have gone through that particular conversation quite a few times, now.

"Hey, Nope!" Sunshine shouted from the table where she and Blue Pine had been chatting with Lena and Dani. "You're not gonna believe this!"

"She's a shadow brought to life?" Nope said as she walked over.

"She's a sh— Aw. You already knew?"

"I invited her, Sunshine," Nope said. She nodded at Lena and Dani. "Hey, girls."

"So, what does this whole thing mean?" Lena asked. "The cutie... stuff. Sunshine seemed to think it was some life-changing experience, but I don't really get it."

"I guess it was, to her," Nope said. "Equestria's magic helps ponies find their place in life. For it to happen to someone who just popped into existence from leaked away destiny-potential, well, in a way, getting her cutie mark affirmed to Sunshine that she was a real person."

Lena frowned and nodded. She was all too familiar with doubts about her own existence and right to exist. She cocked her head. "And for you?"

Nope sat down at the table. "It's a bit of a mixed bag, for me. I've been chased by destiny my whole life. I've been avoiding this. Mostly, I'm relieved that I got it from a choice I made myself, not from getting swept up in some adventure I never asked for."

"So," Dani said, "we got a half-ghost clone, a living shadow, a destiny eater, a refugee from destiny..." She nodded at Blue Pine. "And then you. What's your deal?"

Blue Pine smirked. "Isn't it obvious? I'm the Token Normal Person."

Nope nodded. "He really is. Has parents and everything! Even an older brother! Completely, absolutely normal." He looked at Sunshine. "And he's Sunshine's boyfriend, of course."

"Why are you all just talking here?" a voice came from behind Nope. She turned around and saw Flurry Heart walking over. "Sunset made cake! Come on! Eating cake alone is no fun!"

"Have you met Flurry Heart?" Nope asked the group. "If you were wondering," she said to Dani, "she's the absolutely overpowered magical kid princess."

"Hi!" the twelve-year old pink alicorn said, waving a hoof. From behind her, a swarm of plates with cake floated towards the table, and landed neatly in front of all the people sitting there.

"Yea. Okay," Dani said. "I can see that."

"You're getting good at that, Flurry!" Nope said, petting the kid alicorn on the head. "Six plates, and not a single one blew up!"

"Actually, I took eight, just to be sure." Flurry nudged her head towards two blackened puddles on the ground behind her and grinned. "Still getting better! They didn't blow up! Just kind of, uh, melted."

"Maaaybe if you only took six you wouldn't have lost control, though," Nope pointed out.

"Meh," was Flurry's only reply. She was as carefree as ever. She floated a chair towards the table and sat next to Dani. "Hi! I'm Flurry Heart! What's your name?"

Nope spotted Luna at the other side of the room, looking pensively at the many photos hanging on Sunset's wall. "I'll be back," she said, grabbing her plate in her magic and floating it along with her. "Just need to say hi to everyone first."





"Hello, Princess Luna," Nope said.

Luna looked at Nope. "Ah, Pinions," she said. "I must... congratulate you. You have done quite well for yourself, it seems. And this is quite an interesting place you've found."

"Oh, I didn't find this place," Nope said. "As always, these kinds of places find me. And this is one of the least interesting ones I've come across. That's why I like it so much." She turned to the bar. "No offense, Sunset!" she shouted.

"Don't agree, but none taken!" Sunset shouted back.

"To be honest, I feel a bit... superfluous here," Luna said. "You proved us wrong; you managed to control your own destiny. It just feels like I'm here only to get that rubbed in my face."

"Well, you have Celestia to thank for kindly asking me not to forget to send an invitation to the rulers of the nation," Nope said dryly. "Though you can take some small comfort in the knowledge that your dear sister got a little more than she bargained for."

The pair glanced at Princess Celestia, who was still sitting at the bar, quite uncertain what to say to this alternate Sunset Shimmer.

"Did you foresee this?"

Nope smirked. "Somewhat. She'll never underestimate me again, that's for sure. One of the perks of being a destiny magnet is that you build up an interesting group of acquaintances."

She heard the tavern's door open behind her, and turned towards it. "Speaking of which..."

The adult Pinions slammed the door shut behind her and leaned against it, panting. Her hair, despite still being as wavey as Celestia's, was singed in several places, some glowing embers interweaving through the flowing pattern. Her flank was adorned with a green swirling portal cutie mark, quite different from Nope's own newly acquired one.

She looked at the room with an elated look on her face.

"Hahaaa! I did it!" she shouted.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai!" Sunset said from behind the bar. The appearance of the somewhat-bedraggled figure had silenced the entire room, so she didn't even have to raise her voice. "Have some cake!"

Pinions looked at Luna and Celestia, and her eyes widened. "Oh, wow." She turned to Nope. "I'm glad you got me that letter."

"So, what did you do?" Nope asked.

"I set them free!" Pinions said. "I no longer have to care about any of it! They can take their celestial bodies and shove them where they haven't shone before!" She laughed, relief washing over her. "And they never even noticed it was me who freed them!"

"Wouldn't it be better if they did know?" Nope asked.

"Oh, they'll figure it out," Pinions said, grinning. She stood upright, and studied the younger version of herself standing in front of her. Her manic grin mellowed to a soft smile as she saw Nope's cutie mark. "So, it worked, then?"

"So far," Nope said. "Though I have Blue Pine to thank for making me realise what you planned."

"I don't imagine you can sustain it yet, though."

Nope nodded. "I'll get there. For now, dispelling is enough." She watched as the last embers in Pinion's mane faded into wisps of smoke. "So... what will you do now?"

Sunset walked towards them. "She looks like she could use a drink. Don't you think so, Nope?"

Nope nodded. "Good point." She turned to her older self. "So, what do you want?"

"Sweet Apple Acres' Applejack," Pinions said resolutely. "They shut down their production after I dealt with the Elements of Harmony, you see." She shook her head. "Such a stubborn bunch, the whole Apple family." She glanced at the door. "I just hope they'll be okay."

Sunset nodded. "Yes, that would be quite a loss for your world." She poured the drink out and put it in front of the mare.

"Who is this?" Celestia asked Nope, quite hesitantly. She had caught some snippets of the conversation, but was probably still hoping she misheard it.

"Princess Celestia," Nope said, "meet Noble Pinions, a version of me who got pushed around one too many times, and pushed back." She couldn't help but grin. "All the way back."

Celestia swallowed.

"If it's any consolation," Pinions said to Celestia, "I know what a thankless mess it is to rule Equestria, now."

Celestia sighed. "It is, isn't it?" She glanced at Twilight Sparkle, who was playing with her niece and Dani, and smiled. "Well. I got some plans that might get Luna and me some free time, too. Just a couple more years..."

She looked at Nope. "Uh, but, please keep that quiet for now. You know she'd just panic if she realised."

Nope nodded, and looked at Sunset. "Did you manage to find the other person?"

Sunset gave her a short nod. "I did. Though I'm fairly sure you could just have asked Celestia."

"Asked me what?" Celestia asked.

Nope shook her head resolutely. "It wouldn't work, that way. I can't know the destination. It wouldn't be fair."

She turned to her older self. "Pinions?" she asked her older self. "Do you think you could cast your spell on me, now?"

Pinions nodded. "If you don't do it yourself it's got limited time, though."

"If I do it myself I collapse in about ten minutes. How much can you manage?"

"In my current state? I'm pretty exhausted, but I can give you about an hour."

Nope gave her a grateful look. ''That will be plenty." She glanced at Sunset. "Will that interfere with the door?"

Sunset shook her head. "In here, no. But you may need to dispell it before I can pick you up again."

Nope nodded. Her older alternate self lit up her horn, and touched it against Nope's horn. A ripple radiated out from it, distorting the air like a pebble falling into water.

"Good luck," Pinions said to her.

"Thanks," Nope replied. She turned to Sunset Shimmer. "Let's go."

Sunset nodded, and together, they walked towards the door. When Sunset pulled it open, it came out into a small garden that Nope had never seen in her life.

"You have your card on you, right?" Sunset asked.

Nope floated out the business card of Sunset's Isekai that allowed her to summon a door to the place, and gave Sunset a short nod.

"Then... good luck."

Nope walked through the door, and looked back one more time, exchanging a glance with her father, who was sitting at the bar. He gave her an encouraging nod.

Nope closed the door behind her. It vanished immediately.





Nope looked around in the small garden. Even though she had planned this out, she had no idea what to do now she was actually here.

Suddenly, the door of the adjoining house opened, and a pale blue earth pony colt, who looked like he was about six years old, ran out towards her. He stopped in his tracks as he saw her standing there. "Mom?" he shouted back towards the open doorway. "There's somepony here!"

"What?" a voice from Nope's distant past replied. "In the garden?"

"Well she's got wings," the kid said, sounding like he figured it all out. He looked up at Nope face. "Um. And a horn?"

Something clanged on the floor inside the house.

A bit later, a mare hesitantly peeked through the doorway.

Nope looked at her. "Hello, Mom."

The mare sighed. "Hello, Nope." She shook her head. "Come in, I suppose. Ignore the mess."

As they walked inside the small house, the kid looked at Nope with a puzzled look on his face. "Mom, you said other people don't call you mom."

Nope's mom nodded. "This one does, Sea Breeze. This one does." She turned to Nope, and gestured to the old sofa in the small living room. "Take a seat." 

Nope looked around hesitantly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I know you wanted to get away from all this. I just wanted you to know... I'm in control, now." She gestured at her cutie mark.

Her mom nodded. "That's good to hear. Look... I'm s—"

"Don't," Nope said. "Let's just not go there. I didn't come to ask you that, and I don't expect you to justify your actions. It was a mess, more than any pony could be expected to deal with, and I'm fairly sure you don't regret leaving."

"I'm still sorry I didn't see you grow up, though," her mom said.

"It was just more of the same," Nope said. "Portals, creatures, magic, meddling princesses, foreign princes, alien abductions. You didn't miss much except the stuff you were trying to get away from."

The older mare smiled. "That's not quite true. You're still my daughter, you know. And I did miss you." She sighed. "You were never the part I was trying to get away from."

Nope smiled. "That's nice to hear." She glanced back at the garden, and took a deep breath. She had planned this out, and wanted to stick to her script. "Look... the way I came here... made sure I don't actually know where this is. I don't know where you live, and if you don't want me around, I can perfectly understand that, and I can leave the same way and be none the wiser. If you decide that's for the best, I won't look you up."

Her mom shook her head and frowned. "You actually came here through one of these blasted portals."

"Sort of, but, not exactly. Right now, I have a spell running that prevents any portals from being created around me for the next hour or so. I didn't want to inconvenience you."

Her mom gave her a pensive look, and studied her cutie mark for a bit. "You're really serious, aren't you? You're really in control."

"Well," Nope said, reluctantly, "the spell was cast by a friend. I can't quite keep it going myself yet. But I'm getting there." She gave her mother a determined look. "I'm not going to let this rule my life anymore."

"Then, you're welcome to visit any time," her mother said. "Though, next time, dear, do take the front door."

Nope smiled, and let go of a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "I will."

"Sea Breeze?" the older mare called out. "I want you to meet your half-sister."





Nope closed the door behind her, and looked around in the tavern.

The room immediatley quieted down, and all eyes were aimed at her, but no one said a word. Then, her dad spoke up.

"So. She doing well?" he asked.

Nope nodded. "Remarried. Got a kid. A plain normal earth pony colt. I didn't meet the father; he was out to work."

"You two get along okay?" he asked, voicing the question that everyone in the room had wondered about ever since Sunset had told them where Nope had gone.

Nope smiled. "Well enough, " she said, finally breaking the tension that hung in the room. "I'll visit her again."

The cozy murmur of the party resumed as people went back to whatever they had been discussing or doing before Nope's return. Somehow, Celestia and the older Pinions had found common ground in complaining about orbital mechanics, and, for some reason, Discord. Luna was watching over Flurry Heart, who was taking turns with Dani in showing off their respective powers. Twilight Sparkle was in an animated discussion about magic with Lena. Shining Armor, Cadance and Sunshine were talking about the things that lurk inside portals.

Nope walked towards her father at the bar, hugged him, and sat down beside him.

He gave her a short nod. "Congratulations, Noble Pinions, on getting your cutie mark." He looked around. "And the party isn't half-bad either."

Nope took a bite from Sunset's delicious cake. "Yes... this went a lot better than expected." She smiled at her dad. "I wonder if I'll ever miss it. The random craziness, I mean."

"Come now, Nope," her father said. "Look around you. There's a reason you didn't actually invite your mother in here. Plenty of random craziness left, if you ever want some."

Nope snickered, and looked at her evil mirror self toasting together with Celestia ("To solar systems that run themselves!"), Flurry Heart playing peek-a-boo with a ghost ("Extra stress on the boo!"), the duck-girl disagreeing with Twilight on the influence of friendship on magic ("No, friendship hates magic!"), the mare who was never born laughing together with the rulers of the Crystal Empire ("A post card with my own writing, in Zebrican!"), and the human-shaped unicorn behind the bar calmly washing glasses.

She smiled. "Just the right amount, I'd say. Just the right amount."


[THE END]






Omake:

"Sea Breeze?" the older mare called out. "I want you to meet your half-sister."

"Half-sister?" the colt said, looking at Nope in astonishement. "But she's huge! She's gotta be a double sister, at least!"


---


"So, what will you do now?" Nope asked the older Pinions, who was ready to leave.

"This place can drop me off anywhere I want, right?" Pinions asked Sunset.

"I'm sticking to normal rules here, so you'll come out at the exact same time," Sunset answered. "But I'm guessing you'd prefer to come out in a safer spot, so if you want, I can drop you off somewhere else in your world."

"Good... good!" Pinions said, ominously. "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my plans." She grinned at the doorway. "To Zebrica!"