Breath of Fire

by Shahrazad

Breath of Fire epilogue

Written by: Shahrazad
Edited by: Level Dasher
Cover art by: TheNoodleFace

Breath of Fire, epilogue

~~~~~

He was in bed but he was awake. He acted like he was asleep but he had the feeling Twilight knew he was just faking it. It was late into the night. It had taken the rest of the day and evening to put the library back in order. Spike had to order a few new books for Twilight, but she never once made him feel guilty about what he had done. Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity were downstairs talking. He couldn’t help but eavesdrop.

“Why did you tell her Applejack?”

“What was ah supposed ta do? She asked why ma hat was on fire.”

“Couldn’t you have just lied to her instead of blaming Spike?”

“...Seriously?”

Spike heard the distinct sound of a hoof smacking into a face. “Right, Element of Honesty. What was I thinking?”

“It’s alright darling, you didn’t do anything wrong. You have nothing to apologize for. You did defend him when the Mayor accused him, right?” Spike’s heart fluttered at the sound of her voice.

“Course ah did. Told her he was jus havin’ a bad day s’all. ‘Cept when those fireballs started poppin’ up over the horizon... well...”

“Do you think you can keep the Mayor from trying to banish him again?” Rarity’s voice and concern made his heart flutter again.

“I don’t see why not. Spike isn’t a danger to the city anymore. And if he is banished I’m going with him.”

“You’d do that fer the little guy?”

“In a heartbeat.”

Spike sank into the covers. The bedroom was clean but bare. A new bed had been purchased for Twilight along with a new set of covers. It had taken quite a number of bits but their friends all pitched in to help. Spike was determined to pay back every last bit and said as much throughout the day while they restored the library. The bookcase had survived with little damage but the shelves held nothing. They awaited the arrival of new books. Twilight was almost giddy when she realized she had so much shelf space for new books; some of her old ones had done little more than gather dust. Spike suspected it was a front to keep him from feeling guilty but he allowed himself to believe the deception.

~~~~~

Dear Princess Celestia,

Hi, it’s me Spike. Yesterday I learned that eating and sleeping too much can get you into trouble. But you can’t just eat nothing and never sleep. You have to strike the right balance in your life. It’s always tempting to eat more, sleep more, and just indulge yourself without worrying about what will happen afterwards. But I found out it can drive away your friends and destroy your life. You just keep trying to find a little joy in all the wrong places instead of finding it in your friends. If it leaves you feeling empty afterwards, it isn’t the right sort of joy.

Your number one subject,

Spike

“Sister?” Luna looked at her sibling with one eyebrow raised.

Princess Celestia sighed as she finished reading the letter. Luna and Celestia sat at an overly long table covered in a white tablecloth with an ornate silver candelabra in the middle . The dishes on Luna’s side were many but not as many as those on her own. They both had a particularly difficult day and on a whim ordered what amounted to a feast for this meal. Celestia wanted to eat something good since she had to skip lunch in order to listen to the endless nobles and their frivolous complaints. While Luna had yet another bout of insomnia and needed something filing for breakfast to prepare her for the rest of the night.

Luna had finished her meal and had only a small tart for dessert. Celestia already had eaten four of those same tarts and a generous slice of cloud cake. She sighed and waved the serving pony away as he carried yet another slice towards her. “I am finished, I think I’ve had enough.” She finished her tea and decided it wasn’t quite time to retire for bed. Perhaps a book before sleep. Yes, that was a good idea. She passed her sibling, “Good night Luna.”

“I wish you sweet dreams.”

Comments

[OmniFox]

There's hardly any stories about Princess Celestia and Spike having quality bonding time like mother and son.

[Cold Spike]

SO much D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Right in the feels.

[SparityLoveisForever]

You know this story isn't bad I just find the climax and resolution in the third chapter a bit quick for my tastes and dare I say it leaves me feeling like a having a complete meal but with an empty belly afterwards. I like the letter to Celestia and the epilogue as a whole. Maybe it's just because it doesn't feel quite fully resolved despite Spike wanting to do better..Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic and wanted a more Sparity resolution somewhere, but am I the only one who didn't feel like quite everything was wrapped up at the end? Might just be a bit of . Either way hope to see a bit more maybe continue in the same Equestria different time.

[Fido]

A great little story. Nice work.

[Shahrazad]

2797208>>2797238>>2797295>>2797651

I appreciate the comments, both the good and the bad. I never intended for this to be a romance, so I apologize to anyone who was expecting/hoping for that. I did try my hand at writing a romance: Sweet N' Spicy which turned out fairly well. But that story was 45k words. And honestly that relationship is simple compared to the dynamics between Spike and Rarity. Were I to write such a story (and one day I might) it would be very complicated. It isn't that the romance is dead/alive, it's just one of the dynamics between Spike and Rarity that wasn't the focus of this story.

2798752

The focus of this story was Spike. It's one of my quirks of writing: like the great Scheherazade of legend, I like to leave readers wanting more. Those "loose ends" are actually threads of stories I'm writing/thinking about writing. AJ didn't get much screen time in this story. My next story is probably going to give her a little more of the spotlight. But I'll remember what you have said. Next time, I'll expand the epilogue a bit, make sure every story thread is at least addressed.

[Cold Spike]

I didn't mean romance, I meant the forgiveness aspect. They all love Spike that much to give up everything just to make sure he is safe. 2799171

[Ignaltus]

I like all!

[AL]

owwwww niceee

[Angelus Alvus]

This story was great, but the ending felt weird for some reason.

[Feather Storm]

5265133 Why do they need to be named? Plenty of writers do the same thing... Why does it count towards to anything story-wise?

[Shahrazad]

5265133

This was written "pre-name-my-chapters-era." All my new stories now on have chapter titles. I could go back and name them... nahh, this story is finished. If you find a grammar/spelling error I will correct it; otherwise I think I'll leave it be.

If that's the biggest gripe you have with this story, I'd say I'm in good shape.

[SShonix]

So basically, the moral of the story is to eat less and sleep less?

[PaulAsaran]

You can has review!