//------------------------------// // Chapter Fourteen: End // Story: Tear of a flower // by Zephyr //------------------------------// Author's note: Thanks to Clockwork for the proof-reading and for BotB who did all the proof-reads before. 2nd note: you'll notice that it's in present - think about the beginning of the story. Get it now? It has to come. You can't do anything against it. The end... Will happen. Nothing matters. You can do your best, be the boldest, but it isn't a matter when the end comes. My story is coming to an end. Here I am, sitting in the kitchen in Dawnie's house. She ran away and I have a day to choose. Life is just... Not fair... I can do a lot of things back on Earth that I can't here... But she is here... I have to clear my mind. -Chapter Fourteen- .:End:. Silence has fallen. I'm unable to hear anything but the sound of the falling snow outside. 'It's snowing again.' I have to think. Suddenly, I get an idea. What if I go to the place where I woke up first? This sounds reasonable, I stand up and leave the kitchen, get my clothes on and get out of the house. Finding my own, old footprints in the snow was a bit of a challenge, but I found them. Now, I walk on the path to where I came from first. The forest isn't too familiar, maybe because I was about to die when I struggled through it first time. As the time passes I remember the things from my past. I had no life, but I know I have things to do on Earth. Important things. Then I arrive where the tracks start. A little, snowy clearing. The snow is falling, and I look up. Greyish, white clouds, same as everywhere else. I’m cold. I shake myself a bit and rub my hands together, I didn't noticed the real coldness until now. "How did I get here?" I ask to no one in particular. There is absolutely nothing here, just the snow and the sleeping vegetation. "Why am I here?" Now I'm a little louder. I feel the emotions roaming through my mind. Looking around once more, I notice the spot where I had originally lain when I woke up first. I lie down on the snow. "Why has all of this happened to me?" I have no idea. I close my eyes. The hidden emotions erupt and I began to cry. All my memories are coming up, and I can't do anything against it. I want to go home. About fifteen minutes passed. I'm covered in snow now. It’s familiar. I get up, and begin to move, back on the way to where I came from. My fingers and toes are screaming in pain, the freezing cold has taken its toll on me. 'I have to get back, fast.' I switch from walking to jogging. A few minutes later, I'm at the front door of Dawnie's house, staring at the doorknob. My thoughts are about Dawnie herself. Should I leave her alone? No. But I'm not the part of this world. I can't stay. Opening the door, the warmth of the house relieves me. I put off my shoes and walk to my room. I have no courage to speak with her now. My room is all the same, nothing changed, but what would? I just walk to the bed and collapse on it. I don't want to think. The time passes. Seconds, minutes, hours. At some point, I could fall asleep, because now it's dark outside. I turn my head to see the window. Faint, greyish light. Darkness everywhere. I have a sudden idea. I get up and walk to the door. Taking a last big breath I open it and head to Dawnie's own room. Opening it I find Dawnie in her bed, sleeping. I walk to her and notice that she cried, a lot. There are tears in her eyes now. 'I can't leave her... There’s no way I can... But...' I just silently lie next to her, embracing her and falling in a sorrowful sleep. The pain of the morning has come. I open my eyes and get a mini heart-attack. Dawnie is staring in my eyes. After realizing what the situation is, I blink a few times. "Uhm... G-good morning... Dawnie..." I say to her, very nervously. "Morning." She answers. Her voice is emotionless. But there is something else changed too. Her colors... Are those dark, grey ones? The vividness is gone. Just like her happiness. "Dawnie I-" She stops me, quickly getting up and leaving the room. "What have I done..." The rest of the day happens eventless. I tried to speak with her again and again, but she doesn’t even listen to me. At one point, she closed my mouth with magic. I... I think I was right. This isn't my place. It never was. The hour is coming. Celestia should be here soon. I walked back in the kitchen. She was already there, waiting. "Princess?" She nods, and then opens her mouth to ask, but stops. She sees that I'm a wreck. Finally, she speaks up. "Marty? What is your choice?" I look in her eyes. She looks so motherly, so understanding... "I... I think I have no place here." Her expression changes into a sad frown. I look down, to the floor, then up in her eyes again. "I need to go back to Earth. I have things to do." "Then... Let it be." Her horn begins to glow in the familiar magical aura. In the last second, a thing pops in my mind. "Wait!" I cry up. Celestia give me a questioning look, and her magic dies down. “I want you to do something for me..." I woke up in my own bed, in my own apartment, in my world, Earth. I look around and see that nothing changed according to my memories. Maybe there is a bit more dust but whatever, I'm not the cleaning type. I get up and check my mail. Surprisingly, there is just a dozen. Surprising, I think I was in Equestria for a longer amount of time. I walk to my PC and turn it on. A few minutes later, I'm on the internet, checking the mail and other stuff. "Well... Nothing happened." I think for a moment. "It's time to get a paper and a pen." I search through my table and, after a bit of rummaging, find the aforementioned items. I have a message to write, a message for everyone I know here. Ten minutes later, I'm done. The letter is finished; I fold the paper in half and leave it on my table. I need my cell phone now. It's in the usual place, on my night-stand. I check it: just 27 missed call. "Awesome. Boss is gonna be crazy. Wait... Hah." I start to write a SMS to my parents to come here. As soon as I finish, I send it. They will arrive seven hours later if they start now, so I have time. I lean on my bed, watching the ceiling. Plain. Just like my future here. I don't want to think so I get up and make my way to the PC: there are games to play with! I start up TF2, and enjoy the funny quotes of the Scout when I dominate a noob... Poor kid.. Hours pass. It's getting dark again. Soon my time comes. I look on the clock. "Five fifty-five. Hmm, it's just November here, but around January there.. Different timelines?..." My thoughts are broken when the electricity goes off. "Time has come...." I turn around and see a little sparkle in the middle of my room; it's in thin air. After a few seconds it begins to make a sizzling sound and grows. A minute later it's around a meter big. Then it stops, like if it froze or something. I feel the air filling up with electricity; the tiny hairs on my arm are standing up. The sparkle begins to widen. Then in a blink of an eye, it becomes a disk, pulsating in different shiny colors. I look around for one more time. "Good bye cruel word. Wait, not good bye, I don't want to see you again." And I jump in the disk. All I can see is pure whiteness and immense pain in every point in my body, then... I wake up. Opening my eyes reveals that I'm in a familiar place. I'm in Dawnie's home. In a bed... In Dawnie's bed. I feel a pleasant warmth at my left side. I turn my head and notice Dawnie lying next to me. And she is... Happy... Her colors are the bright ones again. She have even has smile on her face, and she is asleep. 'So she forgave me.' I think and begin to smile. 'Yes she is. But it wasn't an easy thing to convince her about your trip to your world!' My favorite troll princess' voice sounds up in my head. 'Where are you princess?' I ask her, imagining her making a troll face. 'In the kitchen! You won't believe what stuff she has here!' Her voice sounds excited, as if she found a treasure. 'Hey, get out of the kitchen it's the woman's place!' I say to her. 'Wait a second...' Strongest. Mental. Facepalm. Ever. I chose to wake Dawnie up. After a gentle poke on her side she wakes up, rubbing her eyes damn cutely. "Nice to see you again..." I say and smile. After she focused her eyes, and sees my smiling face, she begins to grin. Then with a sudden move she kisses me on the lips and doesn't let me go. After like a minute she breaks the kiss. "Don't you dare to leave me ever again!" She says, but her voice is more frightened than commanding. "Never. You know, I have a special plan." She raises an eyebrow. "All I need is the help of a CHEEKY PRINCESS!!" My shouting makes Dawnie cringe, but when Celestia opens the door a few seconds later, she is just confused. "Yes? Do you need me?" Celestia asks, like if she is innocent. "Yes..." I switch to mental conversation. 'Do you remember the plan?' She nods. 'Good. But if it doesn't works, then you are a dead princess.' She begins to grin and turns her head. Trollestiaaaa... "Marty? What's going on?" Dawnie asks. She is still confused, but her confusion is needed for this process. "You'll see my love, just wait a little." I caress her head as she likes it. She gave me a smile and I get out of the bed. "Are you ready, Martin O'Donell?" Celestia asks me. She tries to hide it, but she is excited. Just like me. "I was born to be ready!" I say and walk in front of her, looking straight in her eyes. Her horn begins to glow in magic and she lowers her head, touching my forehead with the tip of her horn. I feel the almost unbearable pain again and the soft darkness covers me again. My awakening is different this time. When I open my eyes, everything looks bigger. I turn my head and regret it immediately; I have the biggest headache I’ve ever had in my entire life. But the desire to look at Dawnie is bigger, so I move my head and see her, lying next to me, awake. She smiles and greets me. "Welcome to my world, Marty." She says. She looks very happy. "Uhm... Hi?..." I say, not sure about what I should say in this situation. But it doesn't matters for Dawnie, she begins to giggle then kisses me on the lips, it feels... Different this time. Struggling with pain, I feel a raise my right arm... And see a hoof on the end instead of a hand. "It worked." I look back on Dawnie. "Celestia isn't here anymore, right?" "No, she is still in-" "TIIIAAAAAA!!!" Dawnie made so funny of an expression, I wanted to laugh my head off, but the pain I felt prevented it. A few seconds later the princes opened the door and walked in. "You know Marty, I'm still the ruler of this world, and you are the part of it now." She says with a mischievous smile. "Yeah-yeah, sure, whatever. Can you please stop my everything to be in pain? It's killing me." She tilted her head then the usual magical aura glowed up on her horn. A second later all my pain was gone. "Good enough?" She asks, rising both of her eyebrows. "Yes, thank you princess, I owe you one." I give her a thankful smile. Then I hear her voice in my head. 'I think you can pay that to me in a way...' My eyes are widening when I see her expression. She licked her lips. 'Ewwww... Seriously?' She nods slowly. 'Aaaarghhhh, get out of my head!' She begins to grin. "Marty, what's going on again?" Dawnie is as confused as she used to when I speak mentally with the princess. "Nothing, nothing. Hmm, Celestia wanted to leave, I think we should show her the way out." I say and with a quick move I hop out of the bed, just to faceplant on the floor. "Ow... Right. I'm a pony now. Four legs." I say sarcastically. "And two wings!" Cheers Dawnie, when she sees me lying on the floor. "Wait, what?" "Yes, you are a pegasus." She smirks. "And a handsome one, I have to say!" "How... How do I look like? Colors?" I can't really see myself, what do you expect? New body and stuff... "Well, your coat is dark-tan, your eyes are light-green and your mane and tail are blue.. Hmm, royal-blue if I want to be accurate." "Oh? What the heck? I look awesome!" I try to stand up. Surprisingly, I can stand upright on the first try. "Alright, let's just walk slowly." I move my right foreleg and the left hind leg. "Uhm..." To learn walking again wasn't as hard as I expected. Actually, it was like riding a bike after a few couples of years, you know the basics and just have to practice a little, then it goes easy. After I relearned it, we said our last 'thank you'-s and 'goodbye'-s to Celestia, who (probably) teleported back to her castle. "So, what's next?" I ask Dawnie. She answers with a smile. "Dawnie...tell me what is in your mind..." She smiles even wider, then she... Winks... "Really?" She nods. "Heck yeah!" More than a year passed. Dawnie and I decided that we need a bigger place to live in, so we moved in a large family-house in the town. And you can imagine... Being a dad made me proud and happy more than I could ever hope for. We named the little one after his maternal grandfather. His name is Sunbeam. He is one hell of a little colt, just a few months old and already able to do magic! By the way, my name is Zephyr Verve. And this was my story.