Epilogue
Two and a half years later-
It was a beautiful fall day in Ponyville. It was cool and crisp outside, with a weak sun shining in the cloudless, cerulean sky. Multitudes of birds were chirping in the air, and the sharp, fresh smell of falling leaves was drifting in from the nearby Everfree. Ponies were moving all about the town by themselves or in groups, talking, working, laughing, going about their various tasks and errands, without nary a care in the world.
I was sitting on a pillow out on the back porch of the house I shared with the girls, a steaming mug of hot cider in my hooves. My attention was on the thin, wispy curls rising from the drink that caressed my face with gentle warmth.
“And that’s pretty much what happened,” I said without looking up. “I spent the next few weeks breaking the curse on everypony that’d been affected, as well as helping out with the cleanup wherever I could. Angie stayed and helped until the portal was closing, but then she went back to Earth to explain what’d happened. You both pretty much know what happened on that side.”
Sitting across from me on a shared pillow were a pair of older unicorns, one male, one female. The stallion had a white coat, green eyes, and a two-toned mane of brown and gray. His expression was stoic as his piercing eyes drilled into me. The mare had a white coat as well, though her eyes were indigo, and her mane was a faded shade of mauve.
Their eye shape, muzzles, and cheekbones all greatly resembled mine, and their expressions were shrewd as they sat in tense silence, digesting everything I’d just said.
When neither of them said anything, I took a sip of cider and continued talking. “We’ve just been rebuilding since then. Everything was damaged in some way, shape, or form, so it’s not like there’s been any shortage of work to do. And that’s not even mentioning all the destruction to--”
“You should’ve come back,” the mare cut in.
Her voice was soft, but it made my skin prickle and drew all my attention. I exhaled out my nose and sighed, finally looking up at her. “I couldn’t, Madre. There was no time.”
My human mother crossed her hooves and looked away, her lips pressed into a thin line. “You were gone for two and a half years, Magellan! Two and a half years! You could have at least even for just a day, just so we could say goodbye!”
I winced. “I know, I’m sorry--”
“We taught you better than to act like that! The last thing we hear from you is a message on your birthday, and then out of the blue, you and your friends just go and vanish off into thin air?!" Mother made a derisive snort. "We didn’t deserve that kind of treatment, and you know it!”
“Rose…” my human father said out the corner of his mouth.
Mother closed her eyes and grit her teeth. “We could’ve helped you. We could’ve helped you work through all of this. Instead you kept us all in the dark, not knowing that what you were going through!”
I shifted uncomfortably on my pillow. “We were scared! We didn’t know what to do!”
“You should’ve turned to your family!” Mother snapped. “You should’ve turned to US!”
“I didn’t think you’d understand!” I protested. “Shmangie knew all about ponies! I felt that she was the best possible choice! What would you guys have done that she didn’t?”
Mother glowered, but didn’t reply. Instead, she turned to Father, who took the hint and spoke up.
“You’re missing the point, Hijo.” He wet his lips and leaned forward, speaking clearly and succinctly. “You purposely kept your Mother and I out of the loop on all of this. Angie came back weeks after this all started with an outrageous story! We didn’t believe it until she showed us that jeweled necklace! And then she tells us that we’re not going to see you again for two and a half years?! You had us all worried sick!”
I felt a hole forming in my gut. I’d known that this was coming for months, but that didn’t make it any easier. “Things just happened so fast,” I said weakly.
Mother’s withering glare bore into me like a drill. “You spent weeks at Angie’s house. Weeks! You had plenty of time.”
I don’t know why I was protesting. Maybe it’s an inherent thing that all children do with their parents. I rankled at the idea of being scolded, and so I tried to defend myself automatically without even thinking.
Fortunately, I was smart enough to recognize that.
I hung my head with drooped ears. “You’re… you’re right. You’re both right. I kept you both ignorant on purpose. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Mother looked down at me and raised her chin. “You didn’t think we’d understand.”
“No, ma’am.”
“And you let your fear control your actions.”
“Very much so,” I mumbled.
“You made us both worry unnecessarily, put your sister in danger, and made things MUCH harder than they needed to be,” Father said.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I… don’t know what to say.”
Silence. Utter and complete silence. The two of them didn’t say a word, and they seemed perfectly content to let me stew in my own guilt. All I heard was the gentle rising and falling their breathing, and the soft, tinkling sounds of the wind blowing through the neighbor’s windchime.
“Tell me this, Honey,” Mother said quietly. “If something like this were to have happened to us, that your father and I woke up one day and we found bodies changing before our eyes, would you expect us to tell you and Angie about it?”
I bit my lip. “I... don’t know.”
“Yeah, well… join the club,” Father said. His eyes were off in the distance, watching the passersby. “We don’t, either.”
I looked up at him.
“We honestly don’t know how we’d to react to something like that,” Father continued, his expression neutral. “So we don’t know how to feel about your actions. Our anger now is more a natural reaction than anything else, that you were in such trouble, and you didn’t turn to us. You didn’t even give us the chance to help you, Mage. That’s what stings the most.”
Ouch. Leave it to your parents to rub salt in a wound.
“Angie’s already told us about everything that happened,” Mother said in a gentler tone. “And we’ve had time to process it. We’re not going to run you through the wringer too much. All things considered, you did a lot of things pretty well. I just wish that you would’ve trusted us.”
My posture sagged. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. It just kinda… did.”
“And apparently, you and your friends helped saved the day,” Father said, his eyebrows waggling. “Put your fencing skills to use, and got to play hero with some fancy magical doodads? Not bad, Bud.”
My spirits rose a little bit. “Yeah?”
“What exactly have you been doing?” my human mother asked. She looked around at the reconstructed Ponyville. “There’s no way you could have helped out with the construction as a little girl. Obviously it’s been enough for you and your friends to be given your own house.”
“Something similar to what I was doing at my old job,” I replied, leaning back a bit. “Managing others, making sure the construction teams have been collaborating and working with each other, resolving issues, that kind of thing.”
“Hmm.” Mother was squinting, as if she was trying to make sure it was all real. “It’s all still very hard to believe. I never would’ve thought… not even in my wildest dreams…”
I watched her for a moment in silence. Her expression was strange, almost whimsical as she took in the quiet serenity of the town. I couldn’t tell for the life of me what was on her mind, but if I had to take a guess, it didn’t seem like she disapproved.
Father cleared his throat. “So, uh… let’s change gears a bit, here. I assume your sister’s told you that she’s moving here?”
I nodded. “I’ve already spoken with a few ponies. She’ll be staying with me while her place is being built.”
Father fiddled with his hooves. “Well… I know that it’s on kinda short notice, but… you think you can house us, too?”
I raised an eyebrow, letting those words sink into my mind. “Meaning what, exactly?”
“We’ve given it some thought.” He motioned to himself and Mother. “And, well… to be perfectly honest, there’s not a whole lot left for us on Earth if the two of you aren’t there. Your grandparents are gone, your aunt and uncle have their own lives, and most of the people we used to keep touch with have moved away.”
“And I’m not going to only see my children every two and a half years,” Mother said flatly. She looked down at her pony body with a touch of uncertainty, but then, she set her jaw and hardened her eyes. “If the two of you are going to be here, then… there’s nothing for it. We will be, too.”
I sat up straight on my pillow. “Are you guys saying you want to emigrate to Equestria? For real?”
Father’s expression suddenly turned serious. “This isn’t going to be easy on us, Mage. We’ve already gotten our affairs in order, but that doesn’t mean that we’re thrilled about what all this is going to mean. We’re going to need help getting settled, and we were hoping you could give us a leg up.”
I was momentarily at a loss for words. I stared blankly at the two of them, my mouth moving without any sound.
“I can tell that this is a very special place to you,” Mother said. “You look happier than I’ve seen you in years. I imagine that you’ve probably struggled with what to do about this, and while we have, too, Angie wound up being the deciding factor. In the end, we’ve decided that we’d rather be here with the two of you than by ourselves back on Earth.”
“Even if that means we’re all colorful cartoon talking unicorns,” Father added, chuckling.
My throat was going tight. My vision was going watery. My breathing was becoming hitched, and I was completely and utterly speechless. This was a dream come true. I was going to get the best of both worlds. I wouldn’t need to worry about not seeing them so rarely, and with a few simple messages, I could get them situated and set for life.
Sniffling, I got up and went over to the both of them and hugged them, not caring as tears of joy fell from my face.
“I love you,” I murmured softly to both of them. “I love you, I love you, I love you…”
Mother and Father smiled and hugged me back. They were still slightly clumsily with their unfamiliar limbs, but they did well enough with what they had.
Mother leaned down and kissed my cheek. “We know, Sweetie. We know.”
***
“Your family tell you about their little ‘announcement’?” Scootaloo asked me later that day.
I yawned and leisurely stretched my legs. I’d been going through a growth spurt the last month or so, and my balance was all out of whack. “How’d you know about that?”
The two of us were walking down Ponyville’s main street on a grocery errand. The town was even more filled with ponies than normal, and it was quite interesting to see all the new faces. It was pretty obvious to see which ones were new arrivals through the portal, as their movements were jerky and their actions were unsure.
Scootaloo beamed from above me. Her wings had grown about a bit in the last few years, and she could now fly for a few minutes at a time. “Because my parents are coming over with them! I already talked to Dash, and we’re gonna build them a place by the hospital, since Dad hates commuting!”
I widened my eyes. “Really? For real?!”
“I know, right?!” Scootaloo squee’d and raised a happy hoof in the air. “It feels like a dream!”
“Did you cry?” I asked her smirking. “I’ll bet you did. You cried, didn’t you.”
Scootaloo blushed and looked away. “S-shut up! So what if I did?! I wasn’t expecting that!”
“Hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” I said casually. “I bawled like a little girl.”
Scootaloo gave me a flat look. “You are a little girl.”
“We both are,” I corrected her with a playful nudge. “That means we’re excused. May as well enjoy it while we can.”
“Ergghhghgh.” Scootaloo ran a hoof down her face. “Stupid female body and its… emotions. Bleh. I hate all this mushy stuff.”
I giggled. “Any news about Apple Bloom and Babs’ family? I haven’t heard anything.”
Scootaloo’s face fell. “Mom told me that they... they’re not coming. At all. Not even to visit.”
I stopped dead. “Seriously?!” I closed my eyes and stamped the ground. “Oh, for Luna’s sake!”
“That’s why Apple Bloom and Babs left early this morning.” Scootaloo landed beside me and folded her wings. “They wanna try talking to them one last time.”
I scoffed and turned my gaze to across the road. “I figured that they’d be stubborn, but this is just freaking pathetic!”
“Hey, you never know,” Scootaloo said with a weak shrug. “They might come around? Maybe see the light?”
“Hmph.” I rolled my eyes and kicked at a pile of dirt. “Well... at least they still have one family that cares about them.”
Scootaloo grunted acknowledgement. “And the better one of the two, if you ask me.”
“Mmm.”
“Shmage! Dylan!”
We both turned. Trotting up to us from the direction of the house was Shmangie, a pair of saddlebags bouncing at her sides. Her coat was immaculately groomed, she was wearing makeup and eyeliner, and her mane and tail were fancily curled.
“Hey, hey!” I said, brightening up a bit. “Don’t you look fancy. What’s the occasion?”
Shmangie slowed as she approached us. “I just got a letter. Twilight and I are running up to Canterlot.”
“Canterlot?” I repeated. “All the way up there? What for?”
“Princess Celestia and Luna want to see me,” she said. “They want me to get them up to speed with everything that’s gone on in the human world.”
I frowned. “You already did that with Twilight. Can’t she just relay the information to them?”
Shmangie shrugged. “They want firsthand information, I guess. And hey, it’s not like I mind. I really want to see the place!”
I clicked my teeth. I supposed that Canterlot wasn’t too badly damaged anymore, but still, I wasn’t sure what she was expecting. They were still very much working on repairs up there.
“Hmm. Wonder if they’ve finished with the new castle yet?” Scootaloo wondered aloud.
I snorted. “That won’t be for a while, yet. A few years at least, last I heard.”
Shmangie was undeterred. “Well, either way, it’ll still be fun! I can’t wait to see it!”
“You’ll have to tell us all about it when you get back, then,” I said. “Neither of us have been up there in a while. I wouldn’t mind an update.”
“I can do that,” Shmangie said. She suddenly shivered and danced in place. “Ooooh, this is so exciting! I get to meet the Princesses! Eeeeee!”
I snickered. “I think you’ll like them. Princess Celestia’s really funny, and Princess Luna’s really smart. You’ll enjoy talking to them.”
Shmangie composed herself, then took a deep breath and let it out. “I certainly hope so. Well, I gotta go! I’m meeting Twilight at her castle so she can teleport us! I’ll see you tonight!”
“Bye!” we chorused. We watched her run down the street with a spring in her step.
“It’s almost like she never left,” Scootaloo said watching her leave. “She’s really taken to being a pony, hasn’t she?”
“Almost frighteningly so,” I replied. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”
Scootaloo laughed. “Same here. I’m glad that she’s back.”
I paused as a passing thought struck me. “Do you ever miss any of it? Your life back on Earth, I mean. How about being a human? Any of it?”
Scootaloo didn’t respond to that right away. I watched her as she contemplated the question, her wings flicking slightly, eyes moving from side to side. The two of us stood by the side of the road unnoticed, the wind rustling softly with the sound of falling leaves.
“Some of it, I suppose,” Scootaloo said at last. “Certain pieces of technology, a few friends here and there, opposable thumbs… but nothing that I’d be willing to trade for what we’ve gained. This is who we are, Sweetie, this is who we were always meant to be. I don’t wanna ever lose it again.”
I supposed that was fair. I don’t know why I suddenly felt the need to ask that, but it was at least good to get somepony else’s input on it. I hadn’t actually expected Scootaloo to take the question seriously, but I was suddenly glad that she did.
“How about you?” she asked.
I looked up at the sky. “I think I’m the same. It’s different here, yeah, and not all those differences are preferable to what we had on Earth, but when it’s all said and done, this does feel like a better fit. I was a bit lonely before without Mom and Dad here, but if they’re gonna be here now… well, I don’t see any real reason to go back.”
Scootaloo smirked. “Aw, yeah. We be all straight up done with dem humans, dawg! Ponies fo’ life! Straight thuggin’ it up!”
I facehooved with a loud groan. “Even when you’re orange, you’re still white.”
“Ha! You know it.” Scootaloo jumped back into the air. “We gotta have somepony representin’ all the homeslices! Now let’s bounce it to the club! Shizzle!”
My horn flared green. “You’re asking for a zapping, featherhead.”
“...I’ll be good.”
Things were slowly returning to normal. I’d been anxious about my parents coming to visit, but things had seemingly worked out. Families were being reunited, places were being rebuilt, the land was healing, and relations with the humans were going smoothly. It’d been rocky at first, and there’d been days that my friends or life in general had made wanted to pull my mane out, but ultimately, everything had worked out for the best.
And I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.
“Yo! Sweetie!” Scootaloo yelled back at me. “You coming, or what? We gotta get groceries!”
“Yeah!” I ran after her, trying my best not to trip. “Let’s go!”
I smiled as the two of us walked together down the street.
It really was a beautiful day.
The End