//------------------------------// // If Fizzy Is Saved, and Heroes Are Victorious // Story: Ciderfest 2023 Mane Story Epilogue - "Fin, and Again." // by Nyronus //------------------------------// There was a great flash, and, much to the great shock of the citizens, the hotel in the center of Marewaukee reappeared just as it had mysteriously disappeared three days ago, with a whole host of strange ponies now milling about in front of it. Barley, Caramel, and Fizzy slowly stood up. “Whew!” Barley breathed. “Marewaukee air! It’s good to be back!” “Tastes like concrete and gasoline.” Caramel wrinkled her muzzle and stuck out her tongue. “Yeah.” Fizzy gave a lopsided grin. “Like home!” “Look!” a guest shouted. The three turned and saw that the crowd had parted. In the center was Twilight Sparkle, holding in the Book of All Stories, and arrayed across from her were all the evils of Equestria, new and old. “So, what now, Princess?” Sombra’s grin was venomous. “Blast us with rainbow lasers? Or perhaps you’ll simply write us all into being compliant and friendly?” “No, Sombra,” Twilight Sparkle frowned. “Stripping creatures of their free will is more your speed.” “Ah, a shame,” he said. His eyes suddenly shifted to some point behind Twilight. “A choice I hope you won’t regret!” His horn flared with dark magic– “‘And then Sombra returned to the state he had been before the stories of Equestria were altered.’” Twilight Sparkle’s statement was punctuated with a definitive stroke of her pen. Sombra’s scream distorted and echoed as his body boiled into a writhing mass of shadows, and then vanished. Twilight took another step forward. No one else tried anything. At least not immediately. “I hope one day, we can perhaps change what’s happened between us. You wouldn’t be the first people we’ve forgiven. Equestria is a kind place–” “Spare us!” Chrysalis snapped. “As long as we exist, we’ll oppose you, Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight sighed. “Very well.” She looked back down at the book. “‘And with that, one by one, the villains returned to their stories, as they had been before.’” The crowd watched as each of the villains, sneering in useless defiance, blurred, and were drawn into the book. The last to remain was Grogar. “You know, Twilight Sparkle, stories never really end,” he said, the edges of him beginning to blur. “The tales go on and on. Stories of victory… stories of defeat.” His voice echoed as he dissolved. The last parts of him to vanish were his glowing red eyes. “There are always more turns of the page.” The crowd was silent as he disappeared. Twilight Sparkle let out a huff and rolled her eyes. “Boy, don’t I know it.” She shook her head, turned, and addressed the crowd. “Greetings, everyone! I am sorry for the inconvenience, but things are settled now! Unfortunately, the book will be closing soon, and those of us called here by it will be leaving with it.” The crowd gave a disappointed “awww.” Twilight giggled. “Still, it was wonderful meeting you all! I know I’m going to remember this; all the help we received, and the new friends we made along the way. I hope we can all meet one day again, and remember; as long as the magic of friendship exists in our hearts, nothing can separate us, and nothing is impossible.” The crowd cheered. Twilight’s eyes widened slightly as Fizzy, Caramel, and Barley walked to the front of the crowd. “Alright everyone, say your goodbyes! If you excuse me, I have a couple things to tie up.” The crowd began dispersing and Twilight strode up to the trio of con hosts. “Well, that was an adventure!” “Sure was,” Caramel giggled. “I hope we all learned a valuable lesson about using magical artifacts we don’t understand,” Twilight said, giving Fizzy a pointed look. Fizzy gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of her head. “Uh, yeah, sorry about that, Princess,” she muttered. “And about communicating with friends?” Twilight turned to give an equally pointed look at Barley and Caramel. “Underlined and highlighted, Princess.” Barley nodded. Twilight gave a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good! Glad that all worked out!” Twilight caught something out of the corner of her eye and gave a small smile. “Well, if everything here is right as rain, I’ll leave you to it.” She began turning. “I have a friendship problem of my own to deal with.” And with that, Twilight strode off. Fizzy let out a breath of relief and then groaned. “Dang it! We’re gonna have to pack all that stuff up now! And we didn’t even use it!” Caramel put a hoof on Fizzy’s shoulder. “I think the AV stuff can wait for a bit, Fizz.” She grinned. “Huh?” “Right!” Barley’s eyes lit up. “Before all this started, me and Caramel were heading up to your room. We were gonna buy you dinner!” “How about it?” Caramel said, nodding towards the hotel. “I could use a good hayburger right about now.” Fizzy's smile was small and lopsided, but her eyes shone bright with understanding and acceptance. “Yeah,” she said. “That sounds great.” Twilight found Pinkie Pie and Discord lurking at the edge of the crowd. Pinkie was bouncing up and down, excitedly describing something or other. Discord though, stared at her as she approached, stance low, expression tense. “So, Pinkie,” Twilight said, half grumbling. “Had fun trying to destabilize reality?” Pinkie stopped mid bounce, eye looking up, as the gears in her head audibly cranked. “Oh!” She landed. “Was that what we were doing?” She gave a gigglesnort. “I just thought we were gonna throw the biggest party ever! Although your idea sounds fun too, haha! And I bet if we succeeded we could have thrown an even bigger party!” Twilight rolled her eyes, but her smile was warm with nostalgia. “Never change, Pinkie.” “Don’t plan on it!” Pinkie giggled. She suddenly seized up as random parts of her body ranging from her tail to her eyes began vibrating asynchronously. “Oh, that’s a doozy! Guess it’s time to go! Have fun talking about your mistakes, Discord, hah! Canon ball!” And with that, Pinkie leapt into the air, curled into a ball, and was promptly sucked into the Book of All Stories. Discord and Twilight stared at where she had been a moment before. Discord absentmindedly scratched the side of his face as he stared at where Pinkie had been in muted dismay. “Sometimes she even confuses me,” he muttered. “Why does that not surprise me, and still somehow fill me with dread?” Twilight replied. She shook her head and looked up at Discord. “The book’s closing soon, Discord. Want to walk while we talk?” “Oh, what’s the point?” Discord harrumphed, crossing several extra sets of arms for emphasis. “You won, I lost, Twilight. Go ahead and gloat!” Twilight gave a small smile. “Just humor me, Discord.” Discord curled up into the air alongside her, frown stretching his face like putty before rolling his eyes. “Fineee. I suppose I shall be gracious in my defeat and listen to at least one friendship speech.” “Glad to hear it!” Twilight said, turning to walk. As she did so, various ponies began glowing and growing indistinct. “So, I took some time to think about what you did.” “And?” “Well, for one, despite the harm you might have caused, I do understand why you did it. Or at least I think I do.” Twilight began writing in the book as she walked. Discord rolled his eyes again and made a gagging motion. “It wasn’t healthy for you to try and run away from your problems, but… maybe after what happened at the Battle of the Bell, we could have made it more clear that we had forgiven you.” All around them, ponies were starting to blur and fly into the book. Discord continued to say nothing, but he looked away, anger and shame clear on his face. “But, all that said, you have given me an idea.” Discord perked up. “Oh?” He said, leaning over, and then his brow furrowed. “What are you writing, anyway?” “Just my plans for when we get back.” Twilight grinned. “Wanna set them in stone now, before I forget.” “Oh, and what are those?” “Well, Discord, like I said, I think you had some fair points. There have been creatures in Equestria who’ve suffered, and even if we won’t rewrite the past for them, maybe there’s more we can do to help them have better futures,” Twilight’s grin was sharp, “and maaaybe we could stand to explore some new horizons. Have a little fun. Get a little… chaotic?” For one moment Discord was stunned, his mouth slightly open, and his eyes shimmering with honest appreciation for her gesture. And just like that, it was gone. “Ah, well, of course! Congratulations, Twilight Sparkle! You’ve gotten an A+ in my secret friendship lesson, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve!” He quickly leaned forward and slapped something onto her chest. Twilight looked down. It was a scuffed golden star sticker. Written on it, off-center and loosely scribbled, was the phrase “you tried.” Twilight laughed. “Naturally, you’re going to want some help with all that…?” Discord said, his tone perhaps a tad more leading than he intended. He was beginning to glow and blur at the edges. “Well, of course, Discord.” Twilight replied. She too was beginning to blur and glow. “I can always use the help of my friends.” For a moment, Discord allowed himself to honestly appear touched. His grin was lop-sided, but his eyes were soft and warm. “See you on the other side, Twilight,” he said. “See you on the other side,” she said back. And with that, the two of them were sucked into the book. The crowd of guests watched as it rose into the sky, glowing with a pastel rainbow of light, before it suddenly shot off like a comet, to parts unknown. Meanwhile, inside the hotel, huddled in a booth at a cozy, dimly lit pub, were three little ponies… Fizzy put down her fork and knife, and smiled. Then her smile slowly started to fade. She reached up to pat her cheeks. “Uh-uh!” Caramel interjected. “None of that!” Fizzy looked up, surprised. “Now is the time of celebration, hon.” She smiled. “We saved Ciderfest! And you, Fizz, put on a heck of a con!” “I mean, I almost got the world conquered by villains.” Fizzy’s grin was barely there, and her eyes wide and ashamed. “Yeah! And you think any other convention is gonna be able to top that?” Despite herself, Fizzy laughed. Her head lowered though, and she frowned. “I… I lost control, guys,” she said, not looking up. “I was so angry… at myself… at you. I just wanted to do something, anything, to prove I could make a difference.” Barley and Caramel exchanged a glance. “You weren’t the only one who screwed up, Fizzy,” Barley said, leaning forward. Fizzy shook her head and looked up. “You’re not the one who lost control or nearly got us all enslaved or drained of love or whatever!” “Yeah, Fizz, we didn’t.” Barley was frowning. “But you’re not the one who ignored her friend when she was hurting.” “Not to mention getting so caught up in our own little world of hype that you just plum forgot you were on a team.” Caramel leaned in. Fizzy looked at her two friends, and didn’t know what to say. “We should have guessed you were hurting.” Caramel went on. “We all were, I think, but you’ve got a big heart and a brave face, so we should have figured you were hurting just as much, even if you didn’t show it.” “Honestly, after the last few years… I think we were just so excited to be back into the swing of things… to feel a little normal after everything that happened, that we got caught up and forgot how to try something new,” Barley said, looking away. Fizzy gave a small smile. “Yeah, well… maybe I should have said something. I just… I wanted to be the one to make everypony happy. No, that’s not right. I thought if I could make them happy, could make them smile, I could do something about all the awful stuff going on… and about the awful things I felt about myself.” “Alright!” Caramel said, lightly slamming her hoof down on the table. “First motion as a reformed team, we are going to settle this democratically! On the count of three, point to the pony most to blame for what happened.” She looked at the other two. “Ready? One, two, three!” Barley's hoof instantly shot towards his own face. Caramel whipped her hoof off the table and pointed at her head in almost a mock salute. Fizzy’s hoof hung in the air, her gaze, wide eyed, looked back and forth at Barley and Caramel. “We’re waiting on your vote, Fizz.” Caramel grinned. Slowly, unsure, Fizzy lifted her hoof up, and turned it to point back at her. “Well, it’s settled!” Caramel said, lowering her hoof. “By vote, we are all equally to blame! Barley, you need to be better about making sure everyone is involved, Fizzy, you need to tell us when we’re screwing up, and Caramel, you need to watch out better for your friends! Meeting adjourned!” Caramel’s grin suddenly became mischievous. “Now, new meeting; plans for Ciderfest 2024!” Barley groaned. “We just saved the world!” He moaned. “Yeah, and Fizzy here promised Twilight we’d do a grand celebration of the history of Equestria. I’m not about to procrastinate on a promise to royalty!” Caramel and Barley continued back and forth for a bit, while Fizzy laughed. There were tears in her eyes, yes, but her laugh was a natural one. All the more reason for her relief. Fizzy Glitch was not a simple kirin, of course. She had many interests and talents. Many honest expressions and hidden scars, but in her heart was one simple joy; to love and be loved. And here, in this restaurant, listening to Barley and Caramel jokingly bicker, she was, perhaps for the first time in a long time, truly among friends.