//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Running From Myself // by torrentialCAM //------------------------------// …And, after all, why not? Because right now, that me-time was the absolute last time on Twilight’s mind. *** Dear Princess Celestia, Normally, I give you my friendship reports from an objective perspective, a third-pony view. But this is something that I think should be spoken of as a personal matter. Years ago, you tried to help me overcome the problems of social interaction and the issues of peer bonding that had driven me further into isolation as a filly, and for that, I do thank you. But it turns out that this was something I needed to work through on my own. Some ponies came into town recently who I had hoped to never see again, and they brought to light some issues from my past that I had thought I had left behind me. But the fact was, I really hadn’t ever let go of it. I was so terrified of letting that mockery define me that, inadvertently, it did. They hurt me, Princess Celestia. I can’t deny that. And I don’t have any genuine desire to see them again. But if our paths do cross again, I won’t be afraid. Because wounds can heal, given the right equipment. So my friendship report is thus: We all have memories and experiences that we wish we could blink out of existence, but dwelling on them and letting them consume you will just lead you down dark roads and dead ends. It’s not always as easy as simply letting go, but when you feel you’re at your wit’s end, your friends will be there with open hooves. Keeping things bottled up inside just makes things worse, because sometimes the root of the problem is admitting that you have a problem in the first place. But at the same time, you can’t chase happiness by trying to micro-manage every facet of your existence. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle Twilight smiled softly as Spike rolled the letter into a perfect scroll, gave a great breath and huffed, sending the friendship report far to Canterlot. The unicorn had given Spike the letter to take mere minutes after her friends had left from Pinkie Pie’s spontaneous ‘Twilight having come home from being out’ party; streamers and various balloons had yet to be taken down. Spike turned away, only to find his foot pressing down on a ruby balloon. He was too far committed to the step to turn back, and the balloon burst under his weight, causing the baby dragon to cry out and stumble, his arms flailing. On his way, he smacked into several of Twilight’s bookshelves, sending various tomes clattering to the floor before he could stop himself. When Spike finally lost his footing and fell on his side, he spied a wide-eyed Twilight rushing to his aid. “Spike! Are you okay?!” “Peachy,” Spike grumbled as he picked himself up. But his eyes widened when he saw just how many of her books lay in jumbled, mussed piles. “Oh, uh – I’ll get these right away! Let’s see…” “Don’t worry about it, Spike. I’ll get them later.” Twilight said softly, an oddly contented smile on her features. The baby dragon blinked and mouthed out, ‘really?’, to which she picked up on and responded, “Really, Spike. Don’t worry about it.” As Twilight climbed to her bedroom, a cursory glance out the window reminded her that the pegasi had long-scheduled quite the rainstorm for tonight, to give the plantlife the nourishment denied over the relatively sunny week. Even before she opened up the window and stepped out onto the balcony, she could hear the gentle pitter-patter of the rain cascading from the leaves. But as Twilight stepped out to the railing, that soft and contented smile remained on her face, and was only amplified when she felt the cool, soothing rain droplets – not so hard, but almost like a fast-acting bath – falling along her body. As she leaned on the balcony railing, Twilight’s smile broke into a small laugh. “You know…” She said out loud to nopony in particular, and yet anypony, “I’m really happy to be me.” *** "Oh, my my...I've scarcely seen our Twilight looking quite so relieved." Rarity said to nopony in particular as she stepped back into the comforts of her Boutique. Her specialized saddle-and-umbrella had prevented her from enduring quite the soaking during the rain, but she nonetheless used a small magical surge to lift it off her and back with a stylish flair and onto its proper rack as soon as the door closed behind her. "Myyyaow!" "Opal, dear, is that you?" Rarity called out as she wiped her hooves. "Where-ever have you been all day? I should have you know I've just had the most splendid evening, and..." Her voice trailed off when she heard the faint sounds of that finicky snow-white cat scratching at something. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, but none the less Rarity cantered around the corner to investigate. "Opal, what in Equestria are you doing?" The unicorn's eyes bolted wide when she saw the mess that had become of her floor. The feline had evidently found two rather delicate and expensive instruments lying on the ground in this room...two top-of-the-line, Pony-Excel cameras. One was emblazoned with 'M.Treborne' in glittery lettering, and the other with 'B.Parapet' in much the same fancy script. The cat gave a hearty, contented meow as she ran her claws through the several days' worth of film, and it came back to Rarity in a flash: the mares Parapet and Treborne, putting their cameras down right before Ms. Parapet hit her with a memory-share spell, and being so intimidated afterwards that they had forgotten their equipment...and by the time they realized it, Rarity had already gone, and locked up shop. Cameras full of landscape footage that, due to the next few days being scheduled for rain, would be irreplaceable on their schedules. It was just quite unfortunate that such a posh magazine as Wings And Wonders would be unlikely to overlook such an error on the part of its employees. All in all, quite unfortunate. Such a shame, with nothing able to be done about it. Opal tilted her head as she looked up at Rarity. "....Do you believe that what goes around, comes around, Opal?" "....Myaow."