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// Epilogue I:  A Letter 
// Story: I Would Give to You 
// by Jet Howitzer 
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(Epilogue I, for your reading pleasure.)

“To my dearest father,

Hard to believe that it’s been a week since I last saw you, and even longer since I’ve been able to tell you just what I’m feeling and thinking.  When you kicked me out of the house, I’m not going to lie, I felt betrayed, in a way.  You simply decided that I was no longer worth the trouble, and so you removed me from your life.  It hurt to think that you’d abandon me, but at the same time I could understand your reasoning, despite its twisted nature.

But, to be fair, I think that you did me a favor in the end.  You see, in my life I’ve had many choices to make, and so many of them were made for me.  I’m not, of course, talking about the small things, like what to have for dinner, but the larger things.  Things that change the way a pony lives their life.  You, and mother, chose to enroll me in the Wonderbolts training program, and I thank you for that.  It was probably one of the few things in life that you did for me that had a positive outcome, although not in the way you would think.

I certainly appreciate the chances that you afforded me through the program.  Don’t think that I’m ungrateful.  It’s simply that I didn’t really want to spend my whole life training, and then being a member of the Wonderbolts.  For many colts and fillies that’s a dream, but for me it wasn’t what I wanted.  And that wasn’t even the first choice you foisted upon me.  It started all the way back in Cloudsdale.  You see, when you and your brother fought it became clear quite quickly that mom and I would bear the brunt of your hotheadedness.

You forced both of us away from what we knew and loved so that you wouldn’t have to admit to your brother that you were wrong.  Sure, he was wrong too, but you’re the older brother, and so you should’ve been the responsible one.  But, I digress.

When you moved us from Cloudsdale to Fillydelphia you did more than just upset our family life.  You also hurt my cousin, your niece, Fluttershy.  She and I were quite close to each other, spending quite a bit of time together.  But then you moved us away, and Fluttershy grew even less outgoing, if that was at all possible.  I was trying to get her to live her life in a more outgoing fashion, but your actions kept me from helping her.  Now she’s barely able to meet new ponies, choosing instead to isolate herself from the world by living purely amongst the woodland creatures.

Now, I said that you kicking me out was a good thing.  Allow me to explain.  Before I came here, to Ponyville, I was spending all my time training with the program, up till I lost my wings, and after that I was spending all my time trying to save money to get back my flight.  I had no time to actually live my life, or make friends, or really do anything that I wanted to do.  I’d wake up, spend my day doing what you wanted, and every so often I’d sneak out to try and spend some time with my friends.

Those nights, when I snuck out, I got to live my life my way.  Now, though, I’m amongst my peers, rather than my superiors.  They don’t judge the way I act and live.  They even encourage me to do what I like to do with my time.  I was lonely back home, with you.  Sure, I had some attempts at romance, but we both know that I was never any good with the mares.  I either tried too hard, or I didn’t try hard enough, or I’d mess it up in some way.  But now I’ve actually done something right.

I’ve got a marefriend now, dad.  And I know that you always wanted me to become famous so that you’d be able to ride my coattails into the spotlight, so it might please you to know that the mare whom I’m dating is none other than Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, and the faithful student of Princess Celestia herself.  But I’m not going to use her fame to boost my own.  I don’t want to do that.  If I become known throughout the land I want it to be because of my own greatness, not because I know someone great.

And, for some reason, I’m okay with not being famous.  It seems like an awful lot of trouble for not as much gain as one might think.

So, this is it.  My formal, and final, good bye.  I don’t want to cut you out of my life, but I can see that in the one week that I’ve been away from you my life has changed for the better in every aspect.  Even the one that I never thought I would see improvement.  That’s right, dad.  I got my wings back, and this time I’m going to use them how I want to.

So long, dad, and thanks for all the lessons.

Your son,

Aerial Ace”

The scrabbling of the quill on the paper lasted just a few moments longer than you had spoken, and when you looked towards the purple dragon he had a determined look on his face as he finished writing.  He began rolling it up after you had looked it over, and he then affixed a small ribbon around it, before he melted a small amount of wax over the seal, assuring that it would reach its destination unopened.

“Ace, do you want me to send it through dragon flame, or through the pegasus mail system?”  Spike held the scroll in one hand, ready to send it off in a moment should you say the word.

“No, I want this to go through the regular mail.  Give it some time to sink in.”  The dragon shrugged before he put it on top of the small pile of accumulated letters and packages that Twilight needed to send out.  She’d left a short while ago to pick up some groceries, and so you had decided to write a letter to your parents, to let them know what was up, and how things were going with you.  As well as finally tell them that you were done with them.

You looked at the rolled up scroll now sitting atop the pile of mail, and you know that that letter is going to permanently change your relationship with your parents, and probably not for the better.  But you know that it’s something that has to be done, and so you let out an explosive sigh, and then you turn away from the pile, ready to move on with your life.

The door opens behind you as you begin to walk away, and so you turn to see who it is.  You feel a smile come to your face as Twilight enters, a small bag of groceries levitating beside her along with a small box that you suspect is from Sugarcube Corner.  She gives you a quick smile as she closes the door behind her, and then as she walks past you and towards the kitchen she gives you a quick peck on the cheek.

You follow her to the kitchen, not only because you wish to help with the groceries, but also because you wouldn’t mind another kiss or two.  With your help it only takes a short while to help put away all the groceries, and its while your doing that that you realize just how happy you are here.  As you put away the last of the groceries, you look at the lavender unicorn as she places the box she got from Sugarcube corner in the fridge.  Without a thought, you move over to her, and you give her a quick kiss.

She backs up for a moment as you kiss her, and then you break the kiss as she looks at you.  A smile quickly forms on her face, and then she pulls you into a deeper kiss.  As you get deeper into the kiss a few final thoughts pass through your mind.

There really is more to life than flying.





A suited stallion slowly approached the desk, a small smile written across his face.  The sound of his hooves echoed through the empty room, and he could just make out glowing eyes at the edges of the shadows.  Even with the menacing stares of countless monsters bearing down upon him he felt confident in what he had accomplished.  As he reached the desk he stopped, and lowered himself into a deep bow.  He rose at a sound from the seated figure, and then he waited for the first words to be spoken.

“You’ve returned to me, but I wonder.  Is the news you bear good enough for me to spare your life?”

“Yes, my lord.  Despite his earlier failures the red unicorn is proving most useful in death.  Perhaps more so than he could have been in life.”  The suited stallion knew that he couldn’t display a measure of sympathy for the red unicorn, since his lord would take that as a display of weakness.  “Some of your other minions aided me in casting his consciousness into one of the ponies of Ponyville.”

“I see.”  Despite only two words being spoken, the suited stallion couldn’t help but feel like what he had done was insufficient.

“This will be good for us, as we can use the red unicorn’s consciousness to-”

“I know what it will let us do, fool.  I’m far wiser, and far more powerful than you might think.  As is the Element of Magic.  Do you honestly think that she will miss the signs of a shared body?  Even now I can sense something brewing in that small town.”  The seated figure slowly rotated his chair as he came face to face with the suited stallion.  “It seems that the late Changeling queen was more fruitful than I was led to believe.  A new piece enters the game, and this is one we can bend to our plans far easier than any other pony.  A natural fear of his kind, along with still bitter memories of a failed attack.”  He paused for a moment, and the suited stallion felt a tingle as a wave of magic radiated away from the seated figure.  “And he’s still bitter.  Oh yes, he will work.  He will work far better than any pawn I could hope to control.”

(Oh my....  It seems our mysterious 'Lord' has plans for Quill.  MYSTERY!  INTRIGUE!  WAFFLES!)