//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Darkness in the North // by Commissar Rarity //------------------------------// The trip back to town was thoroughly uneventful. When they arrived, Trixie had departed from the group to get her wagon out of hock, with only a few curt words towards Twilight. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten, Sparkle,” she had said. “One day I’ll come back and we’ll see who is truly the highest level unicorn!” Twilight just waved at her, doubting the other magician would actually take the time to come back to Ponyville just to settle a grudge. She may have been a braggart and overly arrogant, but there was no way she felt that strongly towards Twilight. Daydancer had elected to go to Canterlot with them. “There’s nothing for me here anymore,” she said softly. “It’s not like we can stop ya, sugarcube.” Applejack smiled at her. The other mare just returned her smile and disappeared for a while. When she returned, she bore a good deal of luggage. It took a bit of convincing to get the conductor to allow so much luggage aboard. Keeping room for his other passengers seemed to be at the front of his mind, regardless of the fact that the train had been sent special-order of Doctor Trotson, and that they were to be the only passengers. Finally, Twilight had convinced him to drop the matter, promising him a good reward of bits at the end. She had no doubt the princess would pay the price. So they departed. The dullness of the train ride was broken only by fitful sleep, dreams of fiery, slavering jaws or a quivering horror ending their rest prematurely. Almost as soon as the train arrived at Canterlot, the mares were taken to the princess’s private chambers. Twilight was the most surprised – in all her years she’d rarely seen the inside of the princess’s quarters. Maybe only once at all. She was not surprised to see that Celestia’s quarters were spartan for royalty. While other members of the royal family basked in elegant chambers with more frills than you could shake a pegasus at, Celestia simply had a basic room, albeit larger than the other quarters in the castle. The largest difference between hers and a servant’s was the absolutely massive bed Celestia owned. Twilight was fairly sure she and all her friends could fit snugly on the bed with room to spare which on second thought was a weird thing to think about. Celestia stood in the middle of the bedchamber, and Doctor Trotson sat in a recliner beside her. The recliner looked out of place, meaning Trotson had likely moved it. He was puffing away at his pipe again, blowing smoke rings at regular intervals. “My faithful student. Rainbow Dash. Applejack. And… I’m afraid I don’t know you.” “Daydancer, milady.” Her voice was muffled from the red rug she had buried her muzzle in while bowing. Twilight and her friends had already stopped, being on much more intimate terms than the mare. “Please stand, Daydancer. I don’t really care about such things in private.” Her soft, matronly voice now took on a harsh tone. “Now, I want to know what happened in the North.” Slowly, they told her. Every once in a while, Daydancer would interrupt Twilight to tell her side of things, or else Applejack or Dash would. It took several hours to tell the Princess everything: The meeting with Trixie, the direwolf ambush. Daydancer’s foalnapping, the attack on the Giant’s Tooth. And, of course, the Demon. “I can’t believe something like that exists,” Twilight said. “More evil than Nightmare Moon, more powerful than Discord, and more loathsome than Queen Chrysalis and her changelings. Knowing that something like that exists, and could break free into our world… I don’t know if I can get a good night’s rest again.” The other mares nodded their agreement, especially Daydancer. She had been the closest to the demon when it passed, and its death had shaken her deeply. She could hardly think about the demon without feeling ill. “Would it please you if I removed the demon from memory?” Celestia asked. This was a carefully calculated question. Tampering with somepony’s mind was a dangerous prospect, for both parties involved. But with knowledge of a demon comes a greater danger – the ability of a demon to slither in when the veils are weak. Twilight looked at her friends and Daydancer. They all nodded, looking faintly sick, probably still thinking about the changeling-demon. Her eyes turned back to meet Celestia’s. “Yes. It’d please all of us.” Celestia nodded. “Remain still then.” Her horn glowed with a bright power, and a mist seemed to appear from nowhere. The mist shone gold, then pink as the spell continued. Warmth filled the room, followed by cold. When the mist cleared, the mares blinked their eyes. “Oh! Princess, when did we get here? I’m so sorry – I must have dozed off on my hooves. Or we all did,” Twilight added sheepishly. “I suppose you’ll want to know what happened on our expedition?” With a beatific smile, the princess nodded. “Well, it was very interesting. To begin with, the druids weren’t really druids at all, just a group of ponies interested in magic and its properties…” When they left, Trotson shook his head. “I never thought I’d see the day when somepony asked for their memory to be wiped.” “You’ve never had the misfortune to encounter a demon, or witness its aftermath,” Celestia said softly. “True. True.” Trotson puffed thoughtfully. “I never have.” There is not much left to tell of this story. Of Trixie and Twilight, we should know the ending to that story: they did indeed have a magic duel, and Trixie became a changed pony. Daydancer moved to Ponyville, becoming the photographer of choice there. Needed glamour shots? Wedding photos? Or just a simple portrait? Call Daydancer. She never thought of her days in Bastion, except on cold, starlit nights. She would gaze across the horizon, waiting for somepony. She didn’t know who. She just knew she was waiting for him. And on these cold nights, she would feel like there was something important she was missing. But she could never put her hoof on it. It was happier this way. This way, she didn’t have to remember.