//------------------------------// // Epilogue: The Great and Powerful Sethisto // Story: The Great Brony Migration // by Laichonious the Grey //------------------------------// The soft crunch of hooves and wheels on the light gray gravel of a wide road broke the serenity of a green meadow. A light yellow unicorn was followed by a boxish, light blue wagon, much like a miniature house on wheels, that had painted in bold red letters ‘THE GREAT AND POWERFUL SETHISTO’ on both sides. The unicorn, who was in fact the Great and Powerful Sethisto, hummed to himself a little song from a long time ago. He timed his steps to match the beat of the tune, though some would say he was butchering it, he sang the words with something akin to a fond wish become a prayer. “Trixie! You’re the mare I love, girl you know it’s true There ain't no other pony like you! Trixie! You’re the one I want, no one can stop me now I’m gonna make you mine somehow...” He hadn’t yet figured out how to make a makina that could reproduce that song, though he was confident that he would. Eventually. He continued on his way down the gravel road, still astonished at how comfortable the gravel was to his hooves. Seth had been traveling similar roads for well over six months now, or at least most of it. Winter gave him some pause, but it was a fulfilling stay in Manehattan. He was able to perfect some of his makina designs and gather more information. Seth took in the crisp, clean, spring scent of the broad meadow. Rolling hills lay to his left and the distant blue haze of the Great Ocean to his right, the sun behind and a little town ahead. Two days of pulling his little house-wagon gave him plenty of time to plan his next move. While working as an emissary for Princess Luna, Seth had taken an interest in the work that Twilight and Laichonious had been up to, incorporating the magic of runes into existing makina. He had picked up the process and the art very quickly and, before he knew it, he had his cutie mark. It was of a cube in perspective with eight ellipses. The cube itself was grey and the red ellipses were arranged to look almost like a flower on every visible side of the cube. The only reason he was out here, on this particular road to Lincoltshire, and then on to Fillydelphia, was because of Cereal. At Seth’s request, Cereal had suggested to the Princess that Seth be relieved of his duties as emissary and to go out in Equestria to sell the new makina and teach others how to make them. The first part of that assignment was going quite well. He had been able to cover all of his expenses and even make a hefty profit. However, the second part was proving to be difficult; all of the unicorns he had tutored couldn’t get the runes to work for them. It didn’t matter if they carved every line perfectly, it just never worked. He had refunded them all of their money of course. But all of this was just a convenient cover for his search. The writing on his wagon, and the wagon itself, were part of his early plan to find her. The somewhat flawed reasoning was that perhaps he could provoke her into finding him. Naturally, a strong-willed mare like Trixie would have sought out her closest competition. After a few months of touting the title and being as loud about it as possible, he gave up. At first, he blamed it on not being able to find the right hat. He had scrounged all of Canterlot looking for the right hat, but every time he asked, either the pony in the store didn't have a clue what he was talking about, or they laughed him out of their shop. The last store he had been to was a particularly posh place. He remembered it quite vividly.... The bell above the door chimed cheerfully above him, sounding a little too much like the light, tinkling laughter of the mare in the last hat shop.The haughty, dusky mare behind the counter looked like the last one's sister. He steeled himself and bravely trotted up to her, putting on his best smile. "Good afternoon, ma'am," he said for perhaps the hundredth time today. "I'm looking for a particular kind of hat. I was, um, referred to your establishment by the store owner down the street." The dusky unicorn put on a satisfied smile and walked around the counter. "You have come to the right place, my good sir. Corner Brim's Brimming Corner is the best, most popular boutique of fabulous hats in all of Canterlot. What ever you are looking for, I would bet we have it." Seth wondered idly if all the hat store owners ever got together to come up with these corny names and taglines. "I hope so, miss..." he left it open for her to answer. Past experience at the other stores taught him that they didn't laugh quite as hard if they properly introduced themselves. "I'm Corner Brim, a pleasure," she said. "Sethisto," he finished for her. She looked at him appraisingly, taking in his wild mane and odd cutie mark. "You are the Brony Emissary, I presume." Seth blinked, this Corner Brim was the first pony to recognize his name. "Well, yes, I mean I was. I'm on, uh, holiday right now. This isn't official business or anything." "Hm," she tittered, "well, let's find what you are looking for, shall we Mr. Sethisto?" She approached the massive wall of hats displayed on colorful caricatures of pony heads. "What did you have in mind?" Seth took a deep breath. "A wide brim... and pointy." Miss Brim jerked to a halt, turning to look back at him. "I'm sorry I must have misheard. Did you say, pointy?" "Yes, pointy." Seth tried not to sound exasperated. "Snkk. Would you like stars... and crescent moons on it as well? Ha-pfff!" Seth could feel his cheeks getting warmer. "Well if you have it, then that would be fine." She puffed out her cheeks and little tears started collecting at the corners of her eyes as she strained to keep the laughter bottled up. "Pfffhe! Are you some sort of, heheHAHAHA! Wizard, M-mister Sethisto? HAHAHAHAHA!"  He had enough of this. Seth angrily pulled the door open, nearly obliterating the little bell.  "W-wait, HAHAHAHA! Sir, I can get you one, gihaHAHAHA if you pay me in Moonshine BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The she was on the floor, pounding her hooves against it as gales of laughter reverberated around the store and followed him out onto the street. He shook his head at the memory, a rueful grin creasing his face. It wasn’t the hat, or lack thereof, that made his initial plan fail. In the end, he started noticing a trend. Every town and city he went to reacted to him as if they had never seen his like before. Since he abandoned the act months ago in Manehattan, a seething dread had taken root in his chest. Things had not played out in Equestria as they had been depicted in the show. The ponies were all there of course, he had met several of the ‘background’ ponies from the show. After some enlightening talks with Twilight and the rest of the mane six, as well as the Princesses, he learned that there were some minor differences in events. Still, he firmly held to the belief that if a pony had been shown or mentioned, they existed in this Equestria. Twilight had confirmed that there was indeed a pony called Trixie Lulamoon, and that she had visited Ponyville, and the town being attacked by an ursa minor also happened. Trixie was still described as a braggart by Twilight and her friends, though Twilight didn’t quite say it like that. They hadn’t seen her since then. The traveling single showpony was something of an oddity. Perhaps Trixie only had a short run of it, since the trend quickly fell out of fashion in favor of traveling player companies. He picked Manehattan first because it was reputed to be a hotbed of the performing arts. If he was going to hear anything about who’s who and what company she might have joined, it was there. He got a few leads there, most of which turned up dead ends. A few retired players had heard her name and pointed him to Fillydelphia. The only problem was that Fillydelphia was not just a city, it was an entire territory. Seth had just left behind a little farming village, Hays, two days ago. He learned three things there; simple ponyfolk have no need for his “fancy-shmancy lazy-unicorn wonder boxes”, that there are apparently several different kinds of hay to be had, and Trixie was not there. Luckily, one of the farmers knew the Lulamoon name, which turned out to be a family name. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the traditions the ponies had. Some families passed on second names, others passed on first names, most didn’t even try to maintain any sort of naming tradition and just winged it for every foal. Hoping against hope, he started off for Lincoltshire, which the farmer said was where most Lulamoons started. And where most ended. Seth didn’t like the sound of that, or the sad look in the old earthpony’s wizened eyes. There was no reason for him to be worried. Trixie wouldn’t have met with a sad fate, this was Equestria, after all. The land of dreams... right? The road widened even further as he approached the town of Lincoltshire. Many of the eastern towns had very extravagant main entrances. A great archway of stone gracefully spanned the wide gravel road, intricate carvings of vines, accented by some of the real variety, climbing the tall structure. Cut from thin sheets of a blueish metal were the letters that made up the town’s name in High Equestrian.  A sheriff's deputy gave Seth a short nod, he returned the gesture before pausing to talk with the brown stallion. The deputy spoke with a light eastern accent, holding his r’s a little too long and dancing around his words like a song, “Good morning, how are you today, sir?” “I’m doing great,” Seth replied, only half-believing it. He put on a well-practiced smile and gestured grandly to his wagon. “I am a traveling salespony,” Seth announced. “I have some new makina straight from Canterlot designed by the Element of Magic herself! Is there an open market here in this fine town where I can set up for a few days?” The deputy gawked at Seth’s claim. “Yeh, don’t say there. I s’pose we have a spot you can use. Follow me.” The brown stallion tossed his head, gesturing for Seth to follow. The deputy led him into the town, nodding to most of the ponies they passed. Several passers by read the words on his wagon with curious expressions. After a few moments the sheriff’s deputy looked over at Seth, after eyeing the wagon himself. “So, I assume you are this... Great and Powerful Sethisto?” Seth grinned. “I am Sethisto, yes. Whether I am Great and Powerful is up to you to decide.” A little humility went a long way when it came to selling his wares. The deputy nodded pensively. “Aye. I jus’ find it curious.” Seth’s heart skipped a beat. “How so?” The other unicorn shrugged. “Some time ago, a lass from around here up an’ left her family, sayin’ she would be famous. She said she was Great and Powerful too.... Powerful enough to break her family’s curse.” “What happened to her?” he asked in as indifferent a voice as he could, struggling to keep his composure. The stallion turned south, looking out across the town. “See that mansion over there?” Seth followed the other stallion’s gaze. On a hill, perhaps a mile or two away, stood a tall, old house. Its silhouette reminded him of old, victorian-style houses that he had seen from Earth. The mansion’s large roof curved upward rather than slanting, topping out with a flat square, a few of its shingles out of place. He couldn’t make out many details but it had a grayish tinge to it, the walls looked to be made out of stone rather than wood. There were several additions to the house, mostly in the form of flat-sided, octagonal turrets, their pointed, conical roofs piercing the sky. “Yeah, I see it.” Seth didn’t like where this was going. The mansion looked neglected and abandoned. “Tha’s the house of the Lulamoons, the founders of Lincoltshire.” The deputy shook his head sadly. “Theirs is a mighty sad tale indeed. Prince Lincolt Lulamoon was the first Regent of Fillydelphia, a fine gentlecolt he was. It’s not clear whose son he was, Princess Celestia’s or Princess Luna’s, but it didn’t matter, everypony knew he was royalty and rightly so. Though rumor has it, he was Luna’s son and tha’s where the trouble starts. After he started this town, he built himself a summer home, right over there. Well, time went by of course, Lincolt got old, and he did somtin’ interesting; he had his family round up all the poor ponies from the city o’ Fillydelphia and brought ‘em here. As his dyin’ wish, he gave all those poor ponies their own land here in the town, for free. From then on, they called the town Lincoltshire.” The deputy nodded as if he had proved a point. Seth squinted at the mansion off in the distance. He raised an eyebrow at the brown unicorn. “That sounds like a pretty successful pony to me. How’s that a sad tale?” “I was gettin’ to that, laddie. Yeh’see, a couple generations after that, there was a civil war. Nightmare Moon threw the whole country into it. Well, a bunch of the Nightmare’s dark ponies came here, trying to get the Lulamoons to help their cause. They refused. Far as I know, the Lulamoons were the only family what descended from Luna that did. This didn’t sit well with the Nightmare, mmMM, not one bit, so she cursed them. She said, ‘What Lulamoon that draws breath and revels in the day, shall be followed forever by my dreadful bay. Unless they turn to a son of mine, they be doomed to the end of time.’ Didn’t take long for that curse to be made good on. The Lulamoons went to war, aiding Celestia. They were a powerful unicorn family, perhaps the strongest at the time, but every one that went against the Nightmare, well, they never came back. They had all sorts of accidents, freak occurrences that led to their doom. The Lulamoons started gettin’ a reputation, see. Nopony wanted to march with one, afraid their bad luck would rub off.” They arrived at the market at the center of town. It was a large square, approximately thirty or more sceptres along each side. Four cobbled streets made up the edges of the square and the market space itself was lined on all four sides by buildings. Colorful and happy stands occupied by equally colorful and happy ponies filled the square. Little winding paths through the many stands had sun-bleached lengths of canvas hung over them, providing shade for the patrons. The sound of hundreds of voices all talking over each other babbled in the pleasant spring afternoon. Seth didn’t pay much attention to it. The deputy took him along a wider path on the outside edge of the market. “So, what happened to the young mare? Was she able to break the curse? Did she ever come back?” Seth didn’t even try to hide his anxiety; after dreaming for so long, after searching tirelessly, he wanted desperately to know. The deputy widened his eyes at the yellow unicorn. “Whoah, boy. Goodness me, didn’t know I was such the story teller, hm? Aha! don’t look at me so, my young friend, I’ll tell you, don’ worry. She left that house there almost ten years ago. She left it full of family. The whole of the Lulamoons were living there at the time, and I guess she got fed up with believin’ she was doomed to fail. She left this town with fireworks and bold claims.... She came back a year ago, not even nearly the same mare. It took awhile for everypony else to notice she was back. I happened across her the night she did, in a sorry state, she was. Her father had passed away a month before, she tried to come see him one last time, but was too late. Heartbroken, she was. It only got worse. That week, her brother died. The week after, her mother died in an accident. Her other siblings blamed her, said she brought the curse down on them with her galloping around and being a showmare. They all left. She’s all alone now, up in that mansion. I visit her, I was good friends with her father and all... I jus’ don’ like seeing her like this.” They stopped at an empty part of the square with various sized boxes painted on the cobblestone. Seth felt numb as he came to a stop, the momentum of his wagon pushing him forward a few steps. Why hadn’t Luna done something about this curse? Did she know anything about it? The day was not so bright as it had seemed before. He felt that seething dread start to boil as his dreams crumbled. Could he help her? “Yeh alright there, laddie?” the deputy nudged him on the shoulder with a hoof. “Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m... fine,” Seth said as he unhitched himself from his wagon. The deputy gave him a skeptical look. “If you say so lad. Well, I’ll leave yeh to settin’ up. My name’s Fair Set, by the way. If you have any trouble, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll bring by the paperwork for your stand here in a while.” The brown unicorn turned and started back down the road again. “Wait.” Seth reached out to stop the other stallion. Fair Set turned back to him with an open expression. Seth took a moment to think about what he wanted to say. “Can I.... Do you think she would see anypony else.... Like, me?” Fair Set furrowed his brow. “Well, I don’t see why she wouldn’t.” His face split in a smile. “Tell yah what, I’ll take care of the paperwork for you. You go on and have a visit with her. It’d do her good to see a pony her own age, rather than humoring an old sod like me.  Oh, be careful around the house when you get there. It’s been covered in all sorts of protective spells and whatnot, yah wouldn’t want to set some of them off on accident.” Seth nodded and finished unhitching himself. “Thanks, Set.” He set off at a run towards the mansion. Seth maneuvered his way through the streets of Lincoltshire, weaving between  market stands, wagons and other ponies in his haste to reach his quarry. Soon he was on the edge of town, galloping to the sad silhouette of the Lulamoon estate. His heart pounded in his chest, more heavily than his running alone could account for. Visions of Trixie floated before his eyes, all of the possibilities making his throat tighten with anticipation. This was it, the moment his whole life had been leading up to. His lungs were burning as he slowed to a trot just before the grand stone steps of the mansion. The grim edifice towered before him. The paint that had once dressed the naked stone was faded and peeled, falling to the ground in colorless chips. Fresh mortar filled a few cracks and chips in the stone. The rest of the house seemed to be free of any major damage. Windows with shutters closed and curtains drawn, gave the house a foreboding mood. It was grey. It was lonely. It broke his heart. The Great and Powerful Sethisto, Emissary of the Court, Brony leader and dimension hopper, stood frozen at the threshold of an old mansion. Intimidated by the door to the home of the one pony he had always wanted to meet. He swallowed, trying to quiet the butterflies as they attacked his insides, and mounted the steps to the tall, dark double doors. The residual energy of all the protective spells washed over him as he stepped onto the porch. His breath barely filled his lungs as he raised a hoof to the ancient wood. His mind cleared with the first impact of his hoof against the door. His hoof struck the door again and the world felt as if it were clicking into place. At the third knock, a smile filled his face. He had no idea how long he stood there, seconds, minutes, it didn’t matter. He heard the latch click, he felt his mind tingle. On squeaking hinges the door turned, revealing a dim interior and the most beautiful mare he had ever seen. She looked at him with her deep, rose eyes. They were haunted and tired, but he could get lost in those eyes, and he wouldn’t mind at all if he were never found. She was just as he had pictured, and so much more. The door stopped suddenly, only wide enough for her to look out. “Can I help you, sir?” she asked in a voice that was cautious yet melodious to his ears. Seth’s brain melted. He stood grinning like a doofus for over a minute before he could put his mind back together. “Y-yes, I-uh-I.... My name is Sethisto,” he managed to say. When he didn’t continue, she raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m Trixie Lulamoon, A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sethisto. Now, is there anything I can help you with?” A shiver ran down his back when she said his name. “Um, I was... on my way here to sell makina. Some new designs, from Canterlot, and I... The truth is, Trixie, I came here to meet you.” She blinked and hid part of her face behind the door. “Why would you want to come see me? If you know anything, you know I’m bad luck. You should go... before anypony gets hurt. Goodbye.” Seth put his hoof up against the door. “Wait.” She peeked around the door again. “I’ve come a long way to find you, Trixie. I just want to talk. Can we do that?” The door opened a little more, the ghost of a smile on Trixie’s face. “I think... I would like that.”