//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: You Wouldn't Believe Me if I Told You // by PinkiePiedPiper //------------------------------// I don’t own MLP: FiM. That belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro. You Wouldn’t Believe Me if I Told You Epilogue It was dark. Nights usually are. This night, however, was not spent in fear or pain, as many ponies had last night. No; tonight was a peaceful Equestrian night, governed by Princess Luna in a realm of relative safety. Ponies are not the kind of creature to hold a grudge. Despite what had transpired in the other realm, very few had any hard feelings to carry with them. It had been so short of a time ago, but already it felt to them as but an unpleasant nightmare; one that you wake up from in a cold sweat and a cry of alarm but soon realize that you are still in one piece and at home. Some ponies had no clue as to who had removed them from the game, such as Rarity, who had been taken out rather quickly and abruptly from behind. Others recognized that the offender had been possessed by Discord’s chaos mingled with a hearty dollop of Sauron’s hatred. But some had been wounded deeply by the affair. Fluttershy, though she would never admit it, loathed the twins Flim and Flam for what they had done to her. Even though she had been physically restored to her former state of being, she could not shake the feeling that they had not needed as much goading by higher powers than they admitted. Needless to say, Big Mac hated them as well, staring them down as they apologized to the pair for their misdeeds. They backed away slowly as both ponies glared them out of the room. Applejack never really cared much for Fleur de Lis. Her opinion of her had not changed. Fleur, however, had been given much to think about as she absent-mindedly mumbled a sorry to Sweetie Belle, and shuffled towards the door. Scootaloo, too, held some reserve against a certain blue unicorn mare. She had always been sensitive about her wings, but the horrible things that had happened to her at Trixie’s hooves still made her shudder. She leaned into Rainbow Dash’s side for assurance as Trixie made her rounds and apologized for her behavior. Trixie approached Twilight, her mouth open to begin seeking amends for wronging her yet again. Twilight placed a hoof against her mouth gently. “There’s no need,” she reassured. “I know how those two villains can get into your mind, warping who you are and making you do things you might have only dreamt of before and would never do.” Trixie smiled gratefully as Twilight continued. “You have never been the kind of pony to want to hurt anypony. You’re a show-off, erm, were a show-off. You’ve become a friend to lots of ponies in Ponyville since that Alicorn Amulet incident a few years back, and I’m sure they would all hate to see you up and leave your magic trick shop. Snips and Snails mostly!” she ended with a chuckle. “Well, they are my best customers,” Trixie smiled thoughtfully. “Maybe I should give them a job at the store. By now they probably know how to use my tricks better than I do!” The two giggled at the thought of the troublemaking duo. They had really smartened up lately, both mentally, magically, and behaviorally. Secretly, Twilight figured it was due to Trixie mentoring them after her reforming. Trixie calmed down slightly, and looking around, commented, “Have you seen that steel-blue pegasus around? You know, the red-maned one that had been hanging out with you? I wanted to say goodbye before I caught the next train to Ponyville.” Shocked, Twilight looked around at the dwindling crowd. “No, I haven’t! I should probably go look for him.” She about faced and bolted in the direction Party, the Princesses, and her best friends had gone. “Need any help?” Trixie called out. “No thanks!” she replied. “I have a hunch; you just catch your train!” * * * * * Twilight burst into the banqueting hall, where the aforementioned group sat around the table and partook of the leftover spread that had been laid out for their sudden influx of guests. Party Favour was cracking jokes and performing mild amusing parlor tricks, much to the delight of the others. Nopony seemed to take notice of the purple unicorn until Party looked over his shoulder to greet her. “Ah! There you are, Twilight! I was just about to come and find you! You’re missing all the…” The urgent look in her eyes told him that she was not in a humorous mood. She motioned for him to join her outside. Party nodded and turned back to his crying audience, who had just begun to get a hold of themselves. “It appears that I am needed elsewhere. We will now take a brief intermission.” He stood up and bowed. Spinning on his heel, he waltzed over to the other side of the door, which Twilight closed behind him. Before she managed a word, Party started, “I know what this is about; the human, right?” “Yes, and his name is Stalwart Bastion. Where is he?” she whispered harshly. He conjured up a chair for himself and a cushion for her, letting out a sigh. “Don’t worry, he’s fine. In fact, he is still here.” “Where?” Party began wringing his tail nervously; a tail with a single blue scale on it. “Remember when I said that everypony would go back to where they came from?” She nodded. “Well, it turns out… I have no idea how to get there. There are hundreds of realms inhabited by humans, so I would never be able to determine exactly which one was his! And because the realm he had been brought to was destroyed, and without the original trail to follow…” “Then you can’t send him back. But why don’t you just let him out here?” she inquired. “Think, Twilight! I’ve already told you this. My scale entrapment spell limits where I can send them. I honestly had not even considered the consequences for somepony who wasn’t originally a pony from Equestria. I can only give him a body if I can get him out of there. And quite frankly, I don’t know how to do that!” Party waved his hands as his voice grew more frantic, still being careful that the revelers in the other room didn’t hear them. Twilight closed her eyes in thought, searching her brilliantly learned mind for a solution. Then she had it. She knew one way that she could both extricate Bastion from the scale and give him a body; the solution to one of those problems required a lot of magic; the other, time. She held out a hoof. “I got it. Give me your tail.” Unsure, Party flicked his mostly red scaled tail onto her waiting hoof. Twilight readied the extrication spell, her horn glowing furiously. She placed her other hoof on top of the blue scale. “Wait,” Party said, the truth dawning on him, “are going to-“ A quick shush from Twilight silenced him as she bit her lip from strain. Party also bit his lip, both out of fear of disturbing her and for what she had in mind. He did his best to weaken his wards for her, and tried to help release Bastion’s essence. Within seconds, a blue mist emanated from the scale, leaching red back into its colour. The small cloud did not travel far, as it was immediately absorbed into Twilight’s hoof. Twilight made a small whimpering noise from the sudden needle-like pain that slowly worked its way up her leg, past her shoulders, and eventually settled in her gut. Only once the pain had stopped did she dare to cut off the spell, collapsing onto the cushion behind her and releasing a lungful of pent up breath as she did so. Party knelt beside her and placed his paw around her shoulders. He stuttered, “Did you…? I mean, is he…? Are you…?” He picked her up and cradled her in his arms on her back, her limbs curled in. He saw as the last glow of magic faded from her stomach. She placed a hoof on the spot. “My, my!” Party whispered softly. “He must have been some kind of friend for you to do something like this for him!” “He saved my life, a few times,” she said weakly. “He sacrificed himself to make sure I’d be ok. And even then, he gave us the means to defeat Sauron. That baiting into the mountain plan was his, by the way.” Party grinned. “I thought I detected a hint of human ingenuity…” She nodded. “He saved us; me, you, Cherry, and Pinkie. Not to mention all of the other beings in realms where he was influencing, including your own!” She looked down at her slender mid section. “He saved me, and I figure I should return the favour.” She waggled her legs helplessly in the air. “Now, if you don’t mind putting me down,” she said with a smile. “Oh, and do you think you could keep this a secret for now?” Party placed her back on her own four legs and motioned out the binding contract of a Pinkie swear. Blushing lightly, Twilight nodded and said, “if you would be so kind as to lead the way, I would like to get my hooves on some of those h’orderves in there. I’m starving!” Bowing lightly as he pushed the door open, he ushered her in. Twilight heard him say in a low voice, “Of course, milady. You are eating for two now, after all.”