Epilogue
Perspective: Private Eye
We got back just as the week at camp wrapped up. Some parents protested continuing the camping trip after what happened, but we still had the area reserved. So I spent the next four days with my brother and his friends. It was fun actually, camping with my brother. I should have taken him on camping trips more often.
The train took us back, and I found myself almost trampled by frantic parents, and siblings. I simply stepped aside and let the guardians get their kids. Big Mac walked out with Applebloom beside him. Applejack ran to her sister and hugged her tightly. “Yer all right!”
“Ah’m fine, Applejack!” Applebloom said, hugging her sister back tightly. “It’s great tah see ya'll again.”
“Our little bushel got back an apple,” Granny Smith said, rubbing the filly on the head. The old mare looked over at me and smiled. “I trust you are to thank fer getting her back.”
“I can’t take all the credit ma'am,” I said, tipping my hat and looking at Big Mac. “Introduce our other hero.”
Big Mac gestured with his hoof and Tyran walked nervously up to the rest of the Apple family. Granny looked over at Tyran, then at Applejack, “Get yer shotgun Applejack, we got a wedding' tah plan!”
“He ain’t mah colt, granny!” Big Mac answered frantically. “Ah swear!”
“Ah’m just messin' with ya,” Granny Smith said, smiling down at Tyran. “What’s yer name, sonny?”
“Tyran,” the scarlet colt said, after swallowing. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
Applebloom looked up at Applejack “Tyran here helped save us! You should’ve seen 'em come out and smash up that mean ole witch!”
“Did he now?” Applejack asked, smiling down at Tyran. “Sure could use a colt like ya on the farm.”
“You’ll take me, even though I’m not one of your family?” Tyran asked, with wide yellow eyes.
“Blood don’t always make a family young man,” Granny said, rubbing Tyran’s scarlet mane. “Now we’ll give ya a home if ya don’t have one, but we expect ya tah pull yer weight”
“Yes, ma'am!” Tyran exclaimed, hopping in the air in joy. “I promise I won’t ever forget your kindness!”
I left the Apple family to their new addition, and saw Rarity looking through the crowd of fillies and colts coming off the train. Her eyes fell on Sweetie Belle, and the sisters ran to each other. Rarity hugged Sweetie Belle tightly. “I feared I lost you again, Sweetie!”
Sweetie Belle smiled up at Rarity. “I’m fine, Rarity! Look at my flank!”
Rarity’s blue eyes fell on Sweetie Belle’s flank. My own grey eyes grew wide. There was a black musical eighth note on her flank. Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark!
Rarity nuzzled her sister affectionately. “I always knew you had a talent in singing! I just didn’t know it would be what would earn you your cutie mark.”
“Had you told me that earlier, I would’ve saved you from Gabby Gums,” Sweetie Belle said, with a grin.
“Again, I don’t know whether to hug you or smack you.” Rarity simply held her sister.
I smiled at the pair and I watched as Tailspin rolled out of the carriage. We managed to find his old wheelchair. Some of the steel was going to need replacing though. That’s going to take up most of the fee I earned today.
I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind when I saw Tailspin stop when Scootaloo walked beside him. He looked at Scootaloo a little guiltily “Hey listen, sorry you had to carry me around all day”
Scootaloo shook her orange head. Reached up onto her hind legs and planted a kiss on Tailspin’s cheek. My brother turned as red as a tomato as Scootaloo said, “I’d do it any day of the week.”
The orange filly went to join Rainbow as I walked to Tailspin. He was smiling dumbly at Scootaloo while rubbing his cheek. I smirked at him. “So, it seems the great Tailspin still has the touch.”
“Aww, stop it,” Tailspin said, rubbing the back of his head. I walked around him and began to push him away, levitating our luggage in my magic. Tailspin looked back at Scootaloo. “She’s amazing.”
You got some pretty amazing qualities yourself little brother.
I’m glad I kept you…
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I caught up with Fluttershy after everything settled down. I sat in her garden as Genova chased around Angel Bunny. The little Alicorn laughed and Luca watched from nearby. For some reason the wolf was looking awfully intently at Angel.
It might have something to do with the fact that damn rabbit kicked me in the leg when I tried to pet him. In that case, Luca can have him.
I looked over at Fluttershy. “So I sent a letter to Celestia about everything that happened at the mansion. She trusts you to hang onto Genova until further notice.”
“Oh I’m so glad she’s put such trust in me,” Fluttershy said, with a shy smile, “especially after Philomena.”
“Fluttershy,” I said, looking at the yellow mare, “how do you do it?”
“Do what exactly?” She asked, with curious aqua eyes.
“Be so,” I fought for the right word, “kind. Even with all that was going on you were only thinking about Genova. Despite her trying to hurt us you were going to give her a second chance without hesitation”
Fluttershy simply looked at me. “Private, not every animal is a monster you know. Luca proved that more than anything.” She looked over at my wolf, who was now licking Genova, affectionately. “Sometimes even the most evil of creatures can be tamed with a gentle hoof.”
“You really are something else,” I said, closing my grey eyes. “I don’t know if I could’ve done what you did in there.”
Fluttershy hovered and landed beside me. She put a hoof on my shoulder and looked at me with a smile. “Private, sometimes ponies don’t need vengeance thrown on them. You catch bad ponies all the time, but you have to remember, sometimes ponies only do bad things because they have no choice.” She looked down “Oh, I’m getting too heavy aren’t I?”
I shook my head. “Nah, if anything, you’re right. I guess it’s just easier to see the world in black and white. You and everypony else in this town showed me the grey areas…You’re a great friend to have Fluttershy.”
“Oh.” She blushed at my praise. “I’m nopony special really. I just try to do what I can.”
“Good thing you do,” I pulled her into a gentle hug. “You saved a life by doing what you do.”
I felt the Pegasus return the hug. Fluttershy really is something else, such a kind and gentle creature living in a slowly darkening world.
I only hope others can live by her example in the future…
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“That’s what happened,” Tailspin said, as I set his lunch on the table. He dug into his grilled cheese with a happy face. “You have no idea how good this is after having to live off chips and chocolate bars,”
“From the accounts of the others,” I said, sitting down opposite him, “you showed a lot of courage and leadership during the crisis.”
“I just did like you would do, bro,” Tailspin said, smiling. “You wouldn’t have sat in that cage all day.”
“I’m proud of you," I said, digging into my own grilled cheese.
“Hey, Private…”
“Yeah?” I asked, after swallowing my bite.
“It’s about the dance…” Tailspin said, suddenly putting down his sandwich.
“That’s a few weeks away,” I said, knowingly. “Scootaloo still on your mind?”
He nodded. “How am I going to dance with her?”
“I know you’ll think of something,” I said, encouragingly. “An Eye never lets anything stop him.”
“I know, but,” my brother’s blue eyes looked down, “what if I screw up, and she doesn’t like me anymore? I can’t do anything without legs or wings…”
I walked to my brother and looked at him with my grey eyes. “I got something I want to show you.”
We headed out to the living room and I pulled an old photo album and opened it. Inside was a picture of us two. Tailspin pointed to it and saw himself as a little baby. “That’s me.”
“Yep,” I said, smiling at him. “That was taken around the time we went to live at Potso’s place.”
“I loved that place,” Tailspin said, smiling. “It always smelled so good. Much better than the hospital I was at half the time.”
“I didn’t tell you this before,” I said, looking at Tailspin. “About three months after you were born our grandparents, on dad’s side, tried to claim custody of you.”
“They did?” Tailspin asked, looking up at me. “I’ve never met them.”
“You wouldn’t have liked them,” I said, frankly. “Grandpa Eye only wanted one thing only, an heir to the family. Dad broke tradition by marrying mom and having me. When I said I didn’t want to take over the family business. Well, Dad became obsessed with you, and that led him to do a terrible thing…”
“What do you mean?” Tailspin’s eyes grew wide.
“Tailspin, you’ve grown up enough. So, I figure you deserved to hear the whole story about how you came about,” I said, looking down. “Unless, you don’t want to hear it.”
“No,” Tailspin said, firmly. “I want to know everything.”
I sighed. “Well, Dad had mom take this nasty medicine called Mandrake, thinking it was ginseng root. It was supposed to help a baby grow strong while it’s still in the womb. Even though the two roots look similar they do very different things.”
Tailspin’s blue eyes held to my every word.
“The mandrake poisoned moon and induced labor.” I looked at him. “You were born premature, and Mom… died in childbirth.”
Tailspin looked at me and his eyes started to well up in tears. “Mom died because of me?”
“No,” I reached over and lifted him into my forelegs and holding him tightly. Tailspin clung to me tightly, burying his muzzle in my chest. “It’s not your fault how you were born. Tailspin, don’t blame yourself.”
“It’s hard.” Tailspin’s voice was muffled against my grey chest. “It’s hard hearing all of that.”
“I know it’s hard. I suffered as well when mom died.
“Then dad kicked us out.”
“Yeah.”
“What was he like?”
This was a hard question to answer. Three months ago I would’ve called my father a bastard and railed about how evil he was, but now that I thought about it…
“He was a good pony, that’s all I’ll say…”
“So what happened after all that?” Tailspin asked, after he'd calmed down
“I tried to leave you at an orphanage,” I said, frankly, “but I couldn’t do it. I loved you too much to leave you in there. Besides, you were all that was left of mom. So, I brought you to Potso’s place. He gave us a place to stay and me a job during high school.”
“That’s how you provided for me,” Tailspin said, looking down.
“Then, three monthes later...”
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Ten years ago…
“Your Honor, it’s perfectly clear that this boy is incapable of taking care of a child.” A grey stallion with a long white mane spoke from his position beside his lawyer. I noticed Dad wasn’t here, figures…
My lawyer, a tall black Pegasus with a combed back black mane looked over at me with a small smile of encouragement. This was Raiden’s brother, Sandā Bolt, Raiden managed to persuade him to help. He got up and spoke to the judge before me. “Your Honor, the only thing that’s perfectly clear is that my client actually cares for Tailspin’s welfare, unlike Adamus Eye.”
The Judge, a middle aged earth pony with a greying mane, looked at Sandā. “On what grounds do you base this, Mr. Bolt?”
“It’s obvious, judging by the records and reports from several schools, that Adamus Eye has a clear pattern of showing little love for his children.”
My grandfather glared at me, and I gave him a glare back. This jerk thinks he can just take Tailspin away from me? Fat chance, you geezer.
“This boy," Adamus Eye said, pointing at me, “is only just entering High School! How could he hope to provide for my grandson?”
“YOUR GRANDSON!” I cried, getting to my hooves. “You didn’t care about him one bit until he came out! Don’t you dare call him your own!”
“Private,” Sandā said, looking down at me, “don’t make things worse.”
The judge slammed his gavel down. “Order!” He looked right at me “Preventus, “
“Your Honor, I’d prefer Private, please.” I said, solemnly.
“Very well,” he said with a nod. “Why do you think I should place Tailspin in your custody?”
“I’ve already got a job lined up for myself,” I stated, firmly. “Also, I’m taking night classes to cover my school work. I swear, Your Honor, I’m doing everything in my power to make sure Tailspin has a good home.”
“You can vouch for this, Mr. Bolt?” the Judge asked, turning his gaze to my lawyer.
Sandā nodded. “I have confirmation of his position with the Rolls at their pizzeria. Your Honor, Tailspin is in capable hooves. Were he to live with Adamus, Tailspin would be little more than a pawn to his grandfather.”
“Your Honor, I object!” Adamus’ lawyer spoke up.
“Overruled,” the judge said, glaring back at the lawyer. “I want to hear if this boy capable.”
The lawyer sat back down grudgingly.
“Are you able to continue to provide for him, and include your school work?” the Judge asked me, skeptically.
“I’m an Eye, Your Honor,” I said, with a firm nod. “We don’t let anything get us down.”
“Very well,” the Judge said. “I’m giving custody rights to you Private. On paper, Tailspin is temporarily adopted into the Roll family, until you are of age. When you reach the age of 18, full custody rights will be handed to you, conditional upon your graduation from High School and your maintaining steady employment.”
“I promise, Your Honor.” I looked over at Adamus, who was clearly not happy with the results. “I won’t let my brother down.”
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Present Day
“Since then, I’ve looked after you every step of the way,” I said, with a smile. “If I can raise such a wonderful colt on my own, you can dance with Scootaloo at the dance.”
Tailspin smiled wide as he held me, “I can’t thank you enough for taking good care of me.”
I held my brother tightly. “Tailspin, you're my brother. I wouldn’t let you go for anything.”
Tailspin looked up at me. “I promise I’ll figure out a way to do this, and make you proud.”
I lifted my brother into the air, and fell on my back on the couch. He laughed as I flew him through the air in my hooves. I held my brother on my chest. “You already have, Tailspin, more then you’ll ever know…”
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