Epilogue
Epilogue
The air was cold, and there was nary a sound to be heard except for the quiet breathing of two exhausted ponies. Everything was dark, still and quiet. Life had not been easy for these two ponies lately. They had been through so much in the past couple of weeks, seemingly more than they could both handle, and yet here they still were, pressing on.
It had been a personal journey through Tartarus for the both of them. They had gone through so many emotions and so much pain. There were so many times where it would have been easy to simply give up, but they both knew that they couldn't. Throughout it all, they both knew deep down that they had to be brave.
Sometimes, though, it was hard to be brave through all the tears and the suffering. Sometimes it was just too much to bear, but together they managed to pull through every time.
Twilight Sparkle groaned as she was roused from her sleep. She blinked her incredibly weary eyes until they eventually managed to focus on the pony who had woken her. An equally exhausted Princess Celestia gazed down at her.
"Mnn…?" Twilight muttered, not a drop of strength in her voice.
"You've been sleeping for quite a while," the princess replied, "Would you like something to eat?" Celestia spoke with no royal voice and without her familiar commanding presence. She had the voice of a young student who had just pulled an all-night study session.
Twilight sighed and sat up, simply nodding in response. As Celestia turned and trotted into the kitchen, Twilight's eyes roamed her library. Nearly everything was dark. All of the lights were out, and the light of the moon was all that would let her see. It was a cold, almost lonely feeling as she took in the dim, empty room.
Her eyes caught the relatively thin trail of magic connected to her horn and followed it to the right. She trailed it right up until it disappeared into the swirling vortex contained within her device, heading off to heavens knew where.
The beacon was still lit; a silver lining in a sea of despair.
Celestia returned, carrying in her mouth a tray with an apple, some stalks of hay, and a glass of water on it. She set it down next to Twilight on the couch, and the unicorn nodded in thanks. The princess' mane and coat were lacking upkeep, mirroring Twilight's own, and the two of them sported matching dark circles under their eyes.
She then followed the thin trail of magic connecting to Celestia's horn, watching as it flowed towards the portal and formed the powerful, impregnable barrier before it.
Twilight stared down at her food, but she couldn't bring herself to pick anything up. She was so exhausted, far too drained to grab with her magic. It was why Celestia had carried the food in with her mouth. The two ponies slumped in their respective spots, Twilight on the couch and Celestia on a few pillows on the floor, both slouching and sagging from incredible exhaustion.
"Celestia…?" Twilight spoke up weakly.
"Hm?"
"How long can we keep doing this for…?"
The alicorn didn't reply, and the two of them slowly turned to look at the portal. There was a long silence between the two of them, troubled looks on each of their faces. Finally, after a few minutes had passed, Celestia turned back to face her student with a heavy frown.
"I…" she spoke, pausing in uncharacteristic uncertainty, "I don't have the answer to that question, Twilight." When the tired unicorn looked up at her, Celestia sighed. "You've already done so much for them, Twilight. You've done so much more than anypony could have ever asked of you, short of throwing yourself right into that thing." She gave the portal another short glance.
"You've stayed awake for many hours," Celestia continued, "You've focused so long and so hard to keep your spell active, making sure it was strong enough to remain even if you drifted off to sleep."
Twilight frowned and glanced away. "Even if I do sleep, it's not very sound sleep. The buzzing in my head from the spell keeps me up…"
"And yet we're both still here, two weeks later. You've far exceeded my expectations, Twilight, and I can only humbly say that I am proud of you."
At this, the unicorn turned away and grimaced.
"Twilight…" Celestia spoke in a more soothing voice, "I know that you blame yourself for everything that happened, but you must stop beating yourself up. I'm sure that you didn't expect for any of this to happen. The fact that you're still here, trying to guide them home, says more about your character than any failure ever could."
Twilight sniffled, trying to hold back tears. "I never should have…I never should have built this stupid thing."
"Twilight, there is no sense in living in the past. We are here now, and we are doing what we can."
"I know, Princess…"
"I can honestly say that you have done your part. All of your friends have, but you especially." She paused again. "I know that you are exhausting yourself. If you wish to stop, I would not hold anything against you. I would put forth my own beacon and remain here for as long as I could."
The room was then filled with an icy sort of silence as Celestia's expression fell and her entire body sagged even more than it already had. "But…" she spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, "there is no sense in doing anything if it is ultimately futile. At some point, even in a situation like this, one must eventually give up."
Twilight let out a cry that she had been holding back. She took a few deep breaths for a moment, quivering as she sat. Silent tears fell to the couch and she whispered "I'm so sorry…"
"It's okay, Twilight…" Celestia spoke slowly, but softly, "I forgive you."
"I'm sorry…" The unicorn was shivering madly.
"Twilight, calm down. It's okay. Don't panic."
"I…I just…I…"
"You don't think you can do this anymore?"
Twilight slowly raised her head up to look at Celestia, many tears streaming from her eyes. She moved her mouth uselessly for a few moments, as if trying to figure out what to say. Then, finally, she let out a defeated sigh and slowly nodded her head.
Celestia bowed her own head. "I understand, Twilight. I do not blame you. There is no use getting yourself sick, or worse, over this. Go get some sleep."
Twilight's head hung low as she softly sobbed. "I'm sorry…" she whispered again.
"It's okay, Twilight," Celestia repeated, "I will stay here for as long as I can. With any luck, hopefully they can find their way home." Yet again she paused, slowly turning her head to the portal. "And if not…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
Celestia's expression then changed into one of intrigue. She blinked a couple of times. "Twilight?" she spoke, "What is it doing? Is it supposed to do that?"
"What?" Twilight said, turning to look at the portal as well. It hadn't changed very much, but the astute eye of the princess had picked up that the swirling pattern had changed just slightly. It had turned a darker shade, and the vortex seemed to be 'deeper' somehow.
Twilight had seen it a few times before. It had looked like this before a few strange and horrifying creatures had found their way through the portal, hence the reason Celestia was now here to keep up a shield.
Something was coming through.
Twilight relayed this information to the princess, and now the two of them were sitting up at attention. "It could be anything," Twilight continued to speak, "It might even be a rock that rolled through…" No level of skepticism could be seen on either of their faces, however. A sense of cautious anticipation filled the room.
Eventually, in the distance within the swirling vortex, a silhouette appeared. It was difficult to see, but it was quickly approaching the threshold. It was always nearly impossible to tell what was coming through the portal until it had reached them and passed through the barrier. It looked quite large, however, and it seemed to have a distinctive shape. The two waited with their breaths held. 'Is that…' Twilights lips said silently.
Finally, something tumbled through the portal and onto the library floor. "Luna…!" Twilight was immediately on her hooves. "It's Luna!! Drop the shield!"
Celestia's horn stopped glowing and the magic shield vanished into thin air, revealing the bloody form of Princess Luna laying on the floor. "Luna!!" she cried, scrambling to stand up.
Twilight was quickly upon her, eyes wide and frantic. The princess was in a really bad state, covered from head to tail in blood and injuries. She lay there with her eyes closed and unmoving. The unicorn shivered and seized up at the very sight of her, the beacon spell vanishing.
Celestia nearly tackled into them, leaning down and cradling Luna's head gently with her bare hooves. Her eyes darted back and forth quickly as she took in her sister and the state she was in. She too was shivering, and her breaths came in quick, short gasps, but it wasn't long before she began to exude a familiar air of control.
"Help me carry her," she instructed her student curtly, "Try to be gentle. Put her on the couch."
This seemed to snap Twilight out of her stupor, and she nodded and lit up her horn. Luna was surrounded in a mix of purple and golden glows and gently lifted off the ground. The two carried her the short distance across the room to the couch, leaving a trail of dripping blood in their wake.
"Is she breathing??" Twilight asked, her voice in a state of frenzy. Before she could even hear a response, her gaze drifted back to the portal and she noticed that something else had come through.
"Sweetie Belle!!"
Twilight rushed over to the collapsed body of the filly, who was also covered in a bit of blood but didn't seem to have any notable, visible injuries. She leaned down close to Sweetie's body, and a few seconds later she saw the filly's chest rise and fall slowly. The poor thing was knocked out, but still alive and breathing.
She picked up the filly with her magic and gently brought her over to the pillows that Celestia had been sitting on, carefully depositing her atop one of them. Twilight was panting heavily, shivering, and her eyes were wide with panic.
"They both made it through!" she shouted quickly, nearly stumbling over her words, "They're here! They- I- What do…?" Twilight had turned around to look at Celestia, and she gasped.
The elder alicorn was leaning over the laying body of her sister, one hoof on Luna's chest, and her face gritted tightly in exertion. Her horn was growing in an extremely powerful golden glow, the likes of which were gently enveloping Luna's body. Twilight stared for a few moments in agitated confusion until her eyes drifted to Luna's chest.
It wasn't moving.
Twilight held her hooves to her mouth in shock. She could only sit there and watch as seconds drifted past, eventually turning into agonizing minutes. Celestia was breathing heavily, her face screwed up in pain as she performed unbelievably powerful magic. Sweat poured from her brow, and tears from her eyes. Twilight held her breath as she waited for something to happen.
The room was filled with the glorious sound of Luna gasping loudly for air.
Twilight visibly deflated and she sighed in relief. Celestia's horn stopped glowing and she collapsed onto her sister as lightly as she could, facing away from Twilight and panting heavily. Behind her, Twilight could just barely see Luna's chest rise and fall slowly.
"Is she okay…?" Twilight said, only barely able to get above a whisper.
Celestia pulled herself up and eventually made it to a sitting position. She was still panting and out of breath. She wore upon her an exhausted expression of great turmoil. "No…" she panted, "But she is alive…"
Twilight gazed past the princess at the other one laying on the couch, making her shiver once more as her expression turned nauseous. She turned to look at the pony beside her. "Sweetie Belle made it too," she spoke quickly, "I don't think she's hurt, but she's passed out. I think the blood on her might be…Luna's…"
Celestia took a few deep breaths and then spoke authoritatively. "They're both here, and they're both alive. Shut off the portal."
Twilight gasped and wheeled to face Celestia again. "No!" she cried out, "Not now! I can't risk the thing going haywire again, especially with these two so close to it. I have to shut it down carefully."
Celestia closed her eyes for a minute, then turned her attention to Sweetie Belle. "Take her to the hospital," she commanded, "She does not appear injured, but she looks to be suffering from exhaustion and possibly malnutrition. Take her there now, as fast as you can."
As Twilight moved to lift Sweetie onto her back, she returned her attention to the couch which had become noticeably redder. "What about Luna?"
"I must heal her myself," Celestia spoke, her horn beginning to glow again, "Her injuries are incredibly severe. She has lost more blood than a mortal pony would be able to survive. If I don't do something immediately, we'll lose her."
Twilight gasped in horror.
As Celestia's golden glow enveloped the comatose alicorn, she turned to Twilight and put on a brave face. "She will live," she reassured her student, "As long as I remain with her, she will live. Go now. Sweetie Belle needs your help."
With the filly securely on her back, Twilight nodded. "Right. I'll run as fast as I can; it's too risky to teleport there." Without any further words, Twilight turned and dashed towards the library's front door. Moments later, the door slammed shut and the two ponies were gone.
Silent minutes drifted past as Celestia guided her magic into her sister's wounded body. For a few minutes, she remained brave-faced and focused on her task. However, it wasn't long before her expression began to falter.
Eventually, the alicorn found herself half-leaning over the couch, hugging her sister as tightly as she dared. She wept loudly, tears flowing from her eyes as she held her baby sister close. Her horn continued to glow, but her entire body shivered as it was wracked with powerful emotions. Celestia nuzzled herself against Luna's cheeks and chest, hugging her tightly and not caring how much blood stained her pristine white fur.
"I was so scared…" she said in a shuddering whisper, "I thought I had lost you forever…"
Luna didn't reply, though her breathing had become more stable and no further blood was leaking out.
"I love you Luna…" Celestia snuggled herself close to her sister like a frightened little foal, "I love you…
"Thank heavens you're all right…"
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So..Awesome!
Ahhhhh.......
Such..Such a satisfying ending...It will be alright..they will live....
I could ask for more, to show their recovery...but this...this is perfect..
Very nice epilogue.
Thanks for writing it, it satisfied several questions that the proper ending left me with.
My life is complete
Awesome epilogue! A very beautiful story indeed.
I kinda wish we could have seen Luna adjusting spells to compensate for the weird targets and being able to actually use more or less normal magic, but oh well.
Epilogue is very awesome and heart warming...
An interesting piece. Using Sweetie and Luna was a novel choice and one that worked well.
Personally, I do appreciate the little more closure that the epilogue brings, so thank you for that.
This... Was... AWESOME
I loved it, and one of the first fanfics I've ever read(having a special place in my heart). This is what told me about the literature in the fan made content of mlp.
Again, so awesome.
AWESOME-
*Tazered*
This story made me like Luna more
Also, thank you for the epilogue. I was like NOOOO NOT AN AMBIGUOUS ENDING, but then I read this and it put my mind to rest.
You wrote the epilogue AND THEN WROTE MORE IN BETWEEN?! WHAT KIND OF INSANE GENIUS ARE YOU?!
Is it bad that I wasn't satisfied w/the ending?
That was probably the scariest story that I ever haven't regretted reading.
I've read scarier ones, and more horrifying ones, but I regretted it every time, and wished the author had never written it, or written anything for that matter. This one though, this is okay...
I liked the story, a little short the epilogue but very good.
About half way through reading this it became a favorite. I am not certain what sort of comment I should leave.
I greatly enjoyed this story, the dark atmosphere, and the pairing of Luna and Sweetie for an adventure was wonderful. I originally started reading this because I tend to enjoy dark Sweetie Belle fics. There are a large number of them lying around, however niche they may seem. Often these fics deal with Sweetie Belle coming to possess some form of dark or forbidden magic. The immense power she obtains ends up either going to her head, or controlling her mind if it is some sort of living magic. She inevitably is either helped through it, or ends up so far gone they must stop her with any means necessary, up to and including death.
Similarly, Dark Luna fics almost exclusively deal with her Nightmare Moon persona taking over again, often stronger than it originally was. Different from Sweetie dark fics, Luna is normally returned to normal by the end of those stories. These things considered, I was surprised when I read the description for this story. Not only was there no mention of forbidden magic, or nightmare forces, but the story also seemed to be about escaping a strange land. I have not read many Adventure fics, so I had little to no expectations regarding that.
Now, this brings to mind the Silent Ponyville Series, and Silent Hill. As I do not know your opinion on those stories, I will refrain from too much comparison, though I will say that I personally liked the main series of them. Either way, the "Swirling Darkness" as described reminded me of the thick fog throughout the Silent Hill franchise. Albeit, your swirling darkness seems to be a bit worse than said fog, as it has a physical effect on those within it.
With these things in mind, I expected a similar sort of story to the Silent Hill plot. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the story stood on its own without reference to whatever may have inspired you. It felt like it's own work, as all good pieces of writing should, in my opinion. The pacing was done well. Cliff hangers were placed at good spots to maintain interest, and despite slight variation between chapter lengths, every chapter felt complete. I personally enjoyed the style you wrote it in. The personalities felt accurate to the source material and I felt like you handled their character growth well. Your grammar was good throughout, and your word choice was exceptional. Overall the story was very, very, very good.
I cannot call it flawless, because no writing I have read yet has been flawless. This story is pretty close though. The only problems I can see is occasional vagueness, and action scenes. When I say vagueness I mean things sometimes hard to figure out. Like certain aspects of how the world worked. I decided this was your intention, meant to show that the characters themselves did not really know how the world worked. My only other issue was that the action scenes were occasionally hard to follow. I could visualize them, and the state Luna and Sweetie or their pursuers were in, but the actual action was sometimes difficult to visualize. It showed the panic of battle well, but it did not feel like it was intended to be confusing. They were still well written.
My apologies for such a long comment. I really did enjoy the story. I do have a few questions though. I realize the epilogue was not the original planned ending, but was it more or less how you envisioned their journey ending? Another question is if you would mind if at some point I wrote a sort of pseudo-continuation thing to this? I do not know when I would do such a thing, but it is something I would be interested in doing someday.
Just to note, I considered a few possible scenarios of how the saga could end, following the ending of "Beast of the Darkness." If you are interested in seeing what I thought of, I will leave a few possibilities I considered below. These are not necessarily what I would write about if you were okay with it, merely ideas.
One possibility I saw was Luna making it back and Sweetie getting trapped in the portal and either being pushed back into the world of darkness, or somehow just trapped drifting through the portal. Luna's reaction upon learning this would be a mix of sadness, regret, and admiration for the selfless filly. Perhaps she would return in order to try and save, or try to find a way to save, her companion.
Another possibility was both making it back but Luna ending up either comatose, or dead as a result of the adventure. Sweetie upon awaking herself, having healed, would feel regret, sadness, and possibly a lack of self worth. She would feel like she was unable to do anything for Luna, and blame herself for the lunar princesses misfortune. Potentially she would get depressed and find herself visiting the comatose alicorn and/or grave of alicorn. Sweetie would be very contemplative in this possibility.
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Your comment was wonderful to wake up and read, and I am overjoyed that I could take you on this journey. I am not a very social person and can't do 'advertising' very well, so it's always a joy to me when someone manages to find my silly things buried somewhere in the internet.
I have read Silent Ponyville but not played the games (aside from Game Grumps playthroughs). You're right, though, in that those series had little to no bearing on how I shaped this world. Most, if not all, of my stories come straight from my dreams. On those nights when I cannot get to sleep, these things sometimes come to be so clear and visually that they must be written down. I get a thrill out of debilitating environments (like, for example, a harsh life-threatening snowstorm), so that is partially what the darkness was meant to convey. I find that characters tend to be at their best in stories when they are almost totally helpless.
The canon ending is the ending where there isn't an ending. How's that for a sentence?
It is somewhat my intention to say to the reader "Whatever pops into your head first after the end of the last chapter, well that's what happened." Some people hate that and the epilogue is intended as a little cookie for them. Is it the true ending? I don't know. No-one does. *Twilight Zone Music* Which one of those two censored paragraphs felt the most real to you?
Now, it's a free world and I'm not going to stop anyone from writing sequels to anything. I'm not the government.
If you want to get a little more involved, then send me some drafts once you get it going.
Now, finally, I know I've been saying this throughout the Author's Notes but it's important. If you really did enjoy my story this much, then I implore you to please share what you've found with others. Everyone clamours over likes, faves and follows, but just sharing with your friends really is the best way to help me out and I will always appreciate it.
Thank you very much for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed.
Derpibooru brought me here.
derpicdn.net/img/2015/10/9/998206/large.jpg
I don't have a time to read this story right now, but I should read it later. It sounds good.
I don't know if I commented on this story already... but if I didn't.... then this story is the best! I read this a year and a half ago... and loved it. Gave me a few heart attacks, feels, and I swear I shortened my lifespan a little from all the stress I had, but never mind that... I loved and adored this story. I always love excuses to read a good Luna story, and the fact that she is joined with second best filly, makes this probably on the better adventure stories I have read. Why didn't I favorite this sooner? Maybe I read this on a portable device and forgot... I have no clue.. but the point is, this should be more popular than it is. I mean 106 likes? This story is much better than 106 likes.
You should feel proud for writing something like this... and one of the few stories where it looks hopeless that I am glad I read it. The only thing I regret is I can't re-read it as I already remember my time with it, and I feel that it is just delaying the inevitable. So, I don't have any other fanboyish praise for you as it is just repetitive and no matter how much we like hearing good things about our accomplishments... do it enough times and even the most egotistical person gets bored of the same compliments over and over again using different words..
That's all I have to say! I wish there was a sequel maybe of a different duo of ponies accidentally visiting the shadow realm, but I doubt it. I just wish this was more popular than it is. 106 likes is criminal!
This is a very good, interesting and unique story. Some parts are funny, some parts - like the majority of the 1st chapter - are scary. Totally worth reading.
Make a sequel please. I want Twilight and someone else to wind up there and find out what made that world the way it was.
Phoooo... This story was a ride. Still, an excellent story with an abundance of cliffhangers.
Maybe add a bit more to the ending like what happens to luna and sweetie belle after they come back? anyways, it's very good!
Coming back to re-read this story, and it occurs to me in hindsight that this world is basically the Upside Down.
The way that Sweetie Belle and Princess Luna bonded like siblings over the course of this whole thing is so adorable.