Epilogue
Scamp examined her once missing leg, not sure how to feel about it yet. Ominus had said it was some kind of living flesh, whatever that means. At least it didn't hinder her at all when moving around.
What she couldn't get over, however, was the twisting feeling inside of her as some of her organs and bones had been replaced with unnatural things that she didn't fully understand.
Sighing, she took her attention off of herself and looked up at the scenery before her; rolling hills and a little forest off to her left. From her position on the porch, she could barely make out the pond almost fully hidden behind one of the hills. It was her childhood home in Equestria. At least, an imitation of her home.
She was currently in a pocket dimension that could imitate anything you wanted it to.
Now that everything had come to a close, mostly, she finally had time to reflect on the past weeks events; the deaths of her friends, her mother, the many ponies she murdered, the colt, the Queen, and Strawell.
Her eyes clenched shut, as she recalled the palace assault. The mark on her leg almost burning at the memory.
"There you are," came the voice of Lance from behind her.
This snapped her back to the present and she wiped her eyes as she turned to him as he walked through the door and onto the porch.
"Oh, this is a nice place, your home?" he asked as he took the chair opposite of her, the one her mother would have sat in.
"Yeah," she sighed as she turned back to the scenery. "I took all this for granted growing up."
"People tend to do that," Lance remarked. "How are you feeling?"
Scamp let out a laugh as she turned to him, "I'm fantastic. I lost everything and killed innocent ponies. Dribble died, and so did all of my other friends."
Lance didn't respond right away, just let her sit there as they looked at each other. "Believe it or not, I understand exactly how you're feeling."
"How?!" Scamp snapped, but stopped herself. "I'm sorry. But in your book you clearly never did the things I did."
"Yeah, but did you ever wonder why I never finished the book and it just cuts off an entire arch and skips to the end?" Lance asked in an even tone.
This caught her attention, as she had always wondered why there was build up then it just skips eleven years.
"It's because I caused one of my friends to get killed," he sat back and looked out over the rolling hills. "I couldn't bring myself to write about it. It's one of my biggest regrets."
"What happened?" Scamp asked as she applied all of her focus on him.
Lance looked at her, looking to be deep in thought. "David got taken control of by an evil force that we were dealing with, and I entered his mind to fight it. I wasn't able to save him while inside his mind, but I promised him that I'd do anything and everything to break the curse. Everything was going well until he got a hold of my son."
He looked down and clenched his fist, "I could have done a lot of things; I could have backed off and let Twilight handle it, I could have talked him down, hell I could have surrendered. But I acted on instinct and killed my friend."
Scamp watched as he put his face in his hands, shaking at the memory. They stayed quiet for a moment before she finally broke the silence.
"He had your kid, and even though he was under the control of another, you did what you had to do to save Spark." She reached out and placed a hoof on his shoulder.
Lance looked up and sighed, "Honestly I know you're right, but it's still something I will have to live with for the rest of my life." He seemed to attempt to compose himself as he continued, "But see? You're not alone, and you will get through this. It just won't be easy."
She offered a smile at this, "Thank you, Lance." His words helped a bit, but she knew he was right, she'd be dealing with this the rest of her life.
The pair went back to sitting in silence, the tension in the air slowly dissipating.
"I'm curious," Lance began. "Why'd you care so much about me and my book? As far as I know you're the only one who read it and believed it."
Scamp thought about how to answer that. "As a foal I was fascinated with mysteries and solving cases, and I'd always go through my mothers cases and try to solve them myself. Then I read your case and book, and something inside me just clicked. I've never really understood it, but I've always felt like it was a part of me. That sound weird?"
Lance nodded along as he listened, "Not at all, I've seen and heard weirder." He then smiled, "You're mother though, was an amazing lawyer and mare."
"Believe me," Scamp said with a thoughtful look towards the hills. "I know. She was my inspiration to keep moving forward no matter what happened. Probably the reason I'm still alive."
"She was one tough no nonsense mare, that's for sure," Lance thought, thinking back on his meetings with her. "Meadow Glory is the reason I was just sent to prison and not worse."
Scamp smiled thinking about her mother. "She wasn't always like that, all serious and straight laced," she willed the pocket dimension to produce a copy of her mother out in front of them, a much younger version of her. A lime green mare with a black mane stood before them, looking goofy and happy. "Apparently, according to old videos and her friends, she used to be a ball of energy and happy going."
"What changed?" Lance asked as he looked at the mare with a bit of confusion, as the Meadow Glory he would have known never smiled and always wore a suit of some kind, with her black mane always up in a ponytail.
"My father was killed," she said suddenly. "While she was pregnant with me he was killed unfairly by police. She never told me why, or anything about him. We didn't even have pictures of him in the house growing up. I don't even know his name."
"I'm sorry," Lance offered, knowing what it was like to grow up without a father. He looked back to the mare before them, looking more and more confused. "You know, I feel like I know her. From before I came to your world."
"I guess you could have, during the beginning when Bronies first appeared she was just barely an adult."
He leaned forward and saw the cutie mark, which he had never seen before since she always wore a dress suit around him. "That cutie mark, huh, she looks like Adry."
"Adry?" Scamp asked with raised eyebrows. "That's my mom's nickname from when she was a filly?"
Lance looked at her surprised, then lifted his backpack up and pulled out his book he had written. It was the original copy, as Greg had saved it from the other dimension by bringing it with him.
"You've read this all the way through?" he asked slowly, seeming to be trying to figure something out.
"Yeah, more times than I can count, why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He opened the book and skipped to near the end, letting out a surprised sound, "There's a few pages missing, you do that?"
She shook her head, "No, my mom brought it home like that. It's always irritated me."
Lance seemed to be lost in thought as he looked through the book some more, "I handed this book over intact, and it was fine up till then." He looked at her, "Your mom removed a few pages in this book."
"She wouldn't, that's tampering with evidence," Scamp insisted, not understanding where this was going.
"One question then," he continued, "How'd your parents meet? Did she tell you?"
"Uh, yeah? She told me," Scamp sounded very confused. "She ran into him one day at his cabin, and fell in love with him at first sight. They got married and had trouble conceiving most of their marriage till she became pregnant with me."
"You're shitting me," Lance muttered as he rubbed his face. "Okay, what do you know of your father?"
"Uh, he was a really rough stallion, really tall, loved flowers, and my mom liked to call him 'Papito'," she replied, thinking back on what little she'd been told. "And he used to be a guard for the princesses, but that's all I really know. I haven't really cared about him so much, since I don't even know him."
"Scamp," Lance started, willing the pocket dimension to bring another pony into existence next to the younger version of Meadow Glory. "In my dimension, I know your mother. She married one of my friends, but in my dimension she and my friend never were able to have a kid."
She looked at the pony by her younger mother, her eyes slowly widening and her mouth falling open. "No, that can't be my father."
"In your dimension," Lance continued, "I know what really happened to your father, now that I realize who he is. The OEA in their early days found out about him and he was killed with the help of the Queen before she fully took over. He must have hidden his relationship with your mother, because otherwise they would have gone after her too."
"Lance, no, that can't be my father!" Scamp stood up and couldn't stop staring at the pair of ponies before them.
"Take my hand," Lance said, holding out his hand for her.
"Why?!" She asked, still overwhelmed at this being possible.
"We're going into my mind to visit a few memories," he replied.
This was enough for her to slowly reach out and let him take her hoof.
Everything went white as she suddenly found herself in an empty void with three ponies standing before her.
She already knew who they were. It was Lance and two other ponies. One was blue with glasses and white strips and mane, and the other the same but red and wearing sunglasses. Break and Dawn.
"Yo!" Break basically yelled as he stepped forward and held up his hoof, "Break, the cool one as you already know."
Scamp stared at him blankly before smiling and slamming hooves with him.
Dawn stepped forward as well and held out his hoof, "Dawn. Thank you so much for saving Lance and helping us be able to talk to him again."
"It was no problem," she replied as she slammed hooves with him, causing him to winch and step back, shaking his hoof. He had been going for a hoof shake, not hoof bump. "Sorry."
Lance smiled as he stood back and gestured to the computer screen behind them. "Normally we'd all talk more, but this is important."
She nodded as she walked up between all of them and watched as Dawn started clicking through menus.
"Damn, you're one muscled up mare!" Break suddenly said, getting a slap to the back of his head from Lance.
"Behave, Break," Lance warned.
"I am!" he snapped, then looked back at her. "I meant that with respect, Scamp."
"Sure you did," she couldn't help but chuckle.
Dawn brought up a video and leaned back for everyone to see, "Found it."
A video started playing, it was in the point of view of Lance. It seemed to be from a few years after the destruction of Ponyville, evident from the sign that was visible that read 'New Ponyville'.
"Heya, Lance!" a lime green mare yelled as Lance neared the town, running out to meet him. "Did you get the present I asked for?"
"Shit, that IS my mom," Scamp muttered, seeing her younger and happier looking mother smiling on the screen.
"I had to go to Manehattan to find it, but I got it," Lance replied, holding up a box with a bow on it.
"Oh thank you, Lance!" She replied, hugging him and grabbing the box. "He's going to love this!"
"Anything for you, Adry," Lance chuckled as the pair started walking for the little town.
Scamp watched intently, looking over her mother's younger self, amazed that Lance knew her.
"Adry in my world was nothing like the mare I met in your dimension," Lance said from beside Scamp. "I didn't even make the connection during the whole trial. Losing her husband really affected her."
"Which makes sense," Dawn added. "She was absolutely in love with him in our world, more than I thought possible to be honest."
Break started to say something but Lance shook his head at him.
On the screen, the pair reached a colorful building and entered.
"He got it?" a slightly younger Shadow Breeze asked as he walked up smiling.
"He did!" Adry said excitedly as she lifted the box above her head.
"Not a total screw up," Peter said from the corner, eating a pie.
"Hey now," Lance said back as he walked over to Twilight and nuzzled her cheek.
The screen fast forwarded a bit till it came back to all of them standing around the door in the dark.
After a few moments, the door opened and a very imposing stallion stepped in, his face showing no joy as he entered.
"Surprise!" Everyone suddenly screamed as the lights flashed on, causing the stallion to jump a bit.
"What is..." he began, but a smile slowly appeared on his face, a massive contrast to the cold look he had had previously. "You guys."
Adry ran forward and jumped up and hugged him around the neck, "Papito! We surprised you, huh?!"
"You got me good," the stallion said happily as he hugged her with one leg.
"Good to see you, Mr. Bleak," Lance said as he walked up and bumped the large stallion's leg.
"Likewise, my boy," Mr. Bleak replied as he let Adry down.
Adry ran off and came back with the box, "We got you this!"
Mr. Bleak took the box and opened it, a look of love flashing on his face. "By Celestia, are these..."
"Rare seeds from flowers that only existed four thousand years ago?" Lance finished for him. "They were not easy to find, so thank Adry for doing all the research and legwork to find those."
"My little Glory, you didn't have to do this," he said, leaning down and lifting her up into a large embrace.
"I'd do anything for you, my big Papito," she replied, nuzzling into his neck.
Scamp sat back, shocked at this. This confirmed it, her father had been Darkest Bleak, one of the most wanted stallions of her world that had been hunted down and killed by the OEA before she was born.
"That guy has always been looking out for me," Lance commented. "And that even means his daughter as well."
"My mom believed it was real," Scamp said quietly, looking straight ahead. "She removed the pages, that means she must have believed it."
"She probably did, more than once she hinted at believing me but always changed the subject," Lance reached over and patted her shoulder.
"But she always told me to drop it and that it was all a fantasy," Scamp's mind reeled as she thought back to her mother over the years.
"It was to keep you safe," Lance offered. "You know what the Queen and OEA did to anyone mentioned in my book. Just being married to him was enough for her to be arrested. She got lucky that anyone who read the book before the trial didn't notice she was Adry. So that means the copies of the book are missing these pages too. Huh."
Scamp walked away from the group and stared off into the void. "What does this mean for me?"
"Nothing, really," Lance said as he walked up beside her. "But at least you know now."
"I want out of here, please," Scamp asked, wanting to be back in the pocket dimension overlooking the hills.
Without a word, she found herself back in her body and sat back in her chair. She looked out at the rolling hills, tears in her eyes.
They sat in silence for a while, her mind going over her life. Her father being Mr. Bleak started to make sense as she thought about it, all the little comments her mother made over the years adding up.
"Thank you, Lance," she finally said, turning to him with a tear stained face.
He only waved her off, a pleased look on his face.
"It just makes me so sad to realize how happy my mother used to be," she remarked. "After my father died, she started going to school to become a lawyer."
"She's an amazing mare, in both worlds," Lance said as he too looked out over the hills.
"What was she doing in your world before the Watcher appeared?" Scamp asked.
"Ah," Lance leaned back, thinking back. "She and Darkest were traveling the world. And she's just as happy and in love as you just saw. The only difference is they haven't had kids yet.
"I want to meet her," she said with determination.
"Definitely, once we finish the Watcher, I'll introduce you to them. Trust me, they'll both love to meet you even if you're their daughter from another dimension."
Scamp looked out over the scenery, wiping the tears from her face. "Then we need to hurry up and kill this bastard."
Lance could only chuckle at this and reach over and pat her back. The pair staring out over the beautiful scenery.
After some time, the door opened and Calypso walked in, "Oh, I thought this one was empty, sorry you two."
"No no, stay," Scamp called after her.
Calypso sighed as she turned around and walked in and sat between the pair. "So what are you two doing in here?"
"Just talking," Lance said with a chuckle.
"I found out my dad is Darkest Bleak," Scamp suddenly announced, shocking Calypso.
"What?!" Calypso yelped and looked at Scamp with wide eyes, her dull white fur seeming to brighten to show her surprise.
"Yeah, apparently she and him were also together in Lance's dimension, and it all match's up for ours as well," Scamp said coolly, acting like it hadn't surprised her at all.
Calypso just stares ahead out over the porch, then sighed again. "Of course he was your dad. Any other revelations for me?"
"Not that I can think of," Scamp jokes, playfully slugging her shoulder.
"I've been meaning to ask," Lance started, looking at the two of them. "How'd you two meet?"
"We're teammates," Calypso answered. "Echo Team of the Manehattan Special Weapons and Arcane Tactics unit. I was there first, then Scamp came in afterward."
"She says team," Scamp adds. "But we are a family, with all that brings with it."
"Were a family," Calypso says grimly.
"There's still us," reassures Scamp as she reaches over and touches her shoulder.
She nods and pushes her dreads back, "I just wish they were here with us."
The three of them sat in silence for a bit before Lance decided to change the subject.
"I like your cutie mark," he gestured to Calypso's cutie mark; a band-aid over a planet.
"Oh thanks," she replied slowly, looking at him with a blank stare.
"What's it mean?" Lance asked, trying his hardest to engage with her.
"That I like helping ponies?" Calypso said as if that should be obvious.
"Oh, yes of course," Lance said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.
Scamp just smiled at the two. "Be nice, Cally," she teased the other mare.
"I am," was her simple response as she looked between the two.
"She's not being rude, this is just how she is," Scamp said to Lance, to the irritation of Calypso.
"What about yours?" Lance changed the subject quickly.
"Oh, I like to listen to music when under pressure, and I used to be called Ace by old friends," Scamp said, glancing at her own; a Ace of Hearts playing card with two white music notes on either side of it. She always wished she had something a little more fitting, but at least it fit her and she didn’t get stuck with something stupid.
Lance nodded, still a bit nervous of Calypso.
"I have a question," Calypso suddenly said, looking at Lance. "After killing the Queen's lover, why did you then go and write it into your book?"
"Oh, eh," Lance coughed, looking around. "The story didn't make sense if I left that out?"
She shook her head at him, "Idiot."
"I didn't claim not to be," he joked, getting a small smile from her.
"Speaking of questions about the book, what the hell happened to Zane?" Scamp asked as she leaned towards him, looking at him expectantly.
"Zane?" Lance asked, looking to be thinking about the question. "He went after a woman named Lauren Faust to try and meet her, but it turned out she had gone to another dimension and not Equestria."
"And Zorrow? Did he get with Applejack?!" she was starting to get excited finally getting answers to her questions.
"Eh, no. He blew it when he worked up the courage to talk to her and tried to impress her by showing her all his notes and pictures he'd taken of her. She put him in the hospital, four times actually. Every time he was released, she was there to put him back in. It was honestly pretty funny, but we eventually had to stop her from attacking him. He now spends his time bird watching."
Scamp was fan fillying as she only got more excited. But Calypso beat her to asking a question.
"Why did you include so much crude content and then read it to colts and fillies?"
"Oh, I just skipped over those parts when reading to anyone," Lance reassured.
"Didn't you also write about a friend having sex, in full detail?" she continued, getting a look from Scamp.
Lance coughed nervously, "Eh, I did. I thought it would be funny?"
"Uh huh," was her only response as she shrugged and let it go.
"I made a few questionable decisions when writing the book," Lance began, leaning back. "Included a few things I shouldn't have, revealed some things, and maybe forgot a few arc's that should have been finished. But honestly I wouldn't write it any other way."
"You could say that," Calypso said as she slugged his arm with a smile.
Scamp watched the two getting along somewhat and smiled.
"Do you like alcohol?" Calypso asked with a smirk.
"I can drink," was Lance's response, returning her smirk.
"Well buck yeah, let's go find a mini bar or something," she laughed as she stood up and headed for the door.
Lance started to follow, but turned to see Scamp still sitting in her seat. "Coming?"
Scamp took one last look out at the hills and forest, a look of peace on her face. "Yeah, I'm coming."
She stood up, stretched, and headed for the door. As she exited, she heard a sound and turned to see her mother and Mr. Bleak standing on the porch, standing side by side and waving to her.
"Be seeing you guys," she said with a smile as she stepped out and closed the door.