There was very little time to myself after we got Twilight's coronation ceremony in order, what with all the tasks to be handled. Chorion, Exonia. Arachni, and Namata would play the part of flag-bearers at the crowning ceremony, wearing a disguise that looked eerily reminiscent of Fluttershy ad Rarity's mutant offspring. Discord steered clear of me, though that was more a scheduling miracle than any malice. From the final recordings the Deceiver left to me, in perfect English, mind you, I could gather he and the Deceiver shared some bad blood over the eons. It was midnight before I had a moment to relax, and I did so in the one place I was sure to find peace.
“Well, dear friend, we've come a long way.” I patted the massive war machine that was Leviathan, feeling the spirit thrum happily at my touch. Poor thing had driven to Canterlot to find me, and Celestia bunked it in my old workshop. The tank and I had been through a lot, if you count an invasion and a desert skirmish as such. “Hard to believe we almost killed Chrissy once, isn't it?”
“Lord, if anyone saw this, they'd think I'd lost my mind.” I laughed, of course. Tomorrow was a wonderful day, if a bit unremarkable to me. I mean, I've seen a royal wedding already, so crowning a princess means nothing to me. Yep, a full year in Equestria and I'm still American, alright. Talking to centuries-old war machines was a bit of a wonderful hobby to have, really; it's not like they can judge you or anything. Unless they have a machine spirit, in which case, don't ever fuck inside one, because they see that. Take my advice on that one.
“... and that's how I met your mother, Scipia.” I looked at the changeling larva with adoration only a parent could know. Larva being the changeling equivalent to foal, it only made sense to be proud. I was nearing ten years in Equestria, and Twilight's coronation was the last time I'd been needed for anything short of the war about five years back. I still wore the Deceiver's armor when needed, though it mostly just collected dust in the master bedroom.
“Dad, couldn't you have stopped at the invasion?” My daughter was a bit green, and it wasn't from blushing. Apparently, the graphic nature and coarse language was a bit graphic for a changeling who just turned eight. With now Deceiver to change Grand Matrons, Scipia would likely live for thousands of years, and hopefully out live her mother and I by centuries. “And how did you know about the parts you weren't there for?”
“Ancient human secret, sweetheart; you wouldn't understand.” The only reason I really bothered telling her this was because she asked. She probably had a childhood crush on a classmate or some such, well, I actually knew she did, hivemind synapse and all that. However, the object of her affection was a young colt I had barely considered being a possibility before snooping through Scipia's little noggin. I was none other than Candied Apple, Applejack's own son and our nearest neighbor. He, like Scipia, was attending Ponyville's only school, though he was a year younger. Now he was quite the bitch conceiving; you wouldn't believe how much work I put into getting the genes to zip together to produce a viable foal that could in turn reproduce. “Now, aren't Candy and Gingersnap coming over soon?”
“That's right, I totally forgot!” The little hellion flew up the stairs as quickly as she could. She and Candied Apple, whom I often called Candy, had the common trait of being sired by primates. I'll allow three guesses to who fathered the colt, but I doubt they'll all be needed. Don't ask me how they hooked up; all I know is they approached me a week after Scipia was born and asked for my assistance. Now the tawny little shit is after my own flesh and blood, and I'm not being defensive for the same reasons most fathers would be. It's not her getting her young heart broken, but when she's just becoming an adult, Candy will either be old or dead, and that would be a terrible pain to her.
“I must say, I don't quite remember so much profanity in those days.” Chrysalis had developed the wonderful ability to slink around me and evade detection. She blew on my occipital uplink, sending a cold shiver down my spine as the cybernetics adapted for windy conditions. “But maybe I'm only remembering the nice parts.”
“Whats not nice about killing bandits in Cuatla, or being placed under an illusion while a cyberneticly-modified god puts his armor on you, then sends the room filling with lava as a last hurrah?” I joked of course, but there was something to be missed about those days. Adventure was merely around the corner, and Equus was much more dangerous. Nowadays even the warhawk griffins didn't raise hell, and I pissed on a patrol from our side of the border. I may be nearly thirty, but I still get up to shit now an then. “Well, we certainly have a bit more on our plates these days, anyway.”
“Well, a little fun every now and then would do us some good, maybe get the old band back together for some daring raids through ancient jungle ruins?” Chrysalis nuzzled into neck, a smile plastered across her features.
“Bye Mom, bye Dad!” Scipia rushed through the front door, completely killing the moment. She was good at that, having inherited my love of sneaking and Chrissy's adoration of sabotage. The Grand Matron and I shared a laugh.
$%$%$%$%$%$%
“Guys, I think my dad tried telling me where foals come from.” Gingersnap was the group's pegasus, and had lived in Trottingham before moving to Ponyville two years ago. She was a dark orange with a bright green mane and tail, with a single cookie displayed on each flank. As much as she like baking, she was actually pretty awful right now, but her cookies were pretty good.
“At least your dad didn't ramble on about his old mercenary days.” Candied Apple had nothing but respect for his father, but sometimes the old man cold really grate his nerves. Sure, his parents were heroes, so were Scipia's and nopony made a big deal about that. Candy had actually talked to Scipia's dad once, and he seemed more interested in the future than the past. “I can recite the reports from the Second Battle for Canterlot in my sleep.”
“And your dad never tries to make you right in Levy.” Scipia was referring to her family's tank, Leviathan, though it acted more like a dog than a war machine. The young queen was a bit frightened by the lumbering titan, but knew it would be destroyed before it allowed harm to befall her. “So, where to today?”
“I'm thinking No-Return Bog, myself.” Gingersnap had a love of dangerous things, and the fetid pools were one of the few places nopony had been in over a decade. Adventure must have run in the family, because Scipia and Candy agreed outright. Scipia's parents lived in a large chateau in the Everfree, and most animals ignored them, barring the occasional quarry wolf. Still, there were some things forbidden by the insectoid alicorn's oddly-lenient guardians.
“Fine, I'll race y'all to the water!” Candied Apple didn't wait for a response as he kicked up dirt in his wake. The two fillies did their best to catch up, but wings weren't allowed in these little competitions. The brown colt laughed as he gained a quick lead, his eart pony endurance showing as he sprinted for more than a hundred yards before stopping. The end of the race was not voluntary; something sticking out of the ground had tripped him.
“What is that?” Gingersnap was a smart cookie, but she didn't know what the half-buried, white cylinder was. In fact, the thing looked like a thermos without the cap, or maybe that was just underground.
“It looks like something from my dad's sketchpad.” Scipia had seen her father's take on the idea of a dream journal: a large artist's sketchbook filled cover to cover with hand-drawn schematics for everything imaginable. Green magic enveloped the unusual item, easily releasing it from its earthen prison. It was white, covered in dust, and almost as long as her dad's forearm.
At that moment, Scipia realized the importance of what she'd found.
Great choice of music, also, oh shit. Not THAT thing...
Well, off to earth kiddies! Stay away from vans!
...What the Fuck did she find?
and so the adventures begin anew
2181545 i believe it is the FTL gun or whatever the thing that brought them there was called
Stop this mind teasing with anticipation and suspense with mystery thrown in. No don't stop, don't listen to me. Loved this ending as well. Looking forward for the next!
2181543
NO! Not off to earth, bring that device to responsible adults ASAP. Move, move, move!
... They're going anyway, aren't they? Leave it to the ones with mercenary blood to disregard orders...
Start the sequel chants here.
See-quel! See-quel! YOU HEARIN' ME, BOY?!
2181550 I would say you are correct. Oh the horrors that will come now that these foals have a portal-gun.
Yes a sequel indeed I'd like an FNV one
An awesome story has come to an end my brothers! But fear not! We shall have a sequel in a matter of time...
Now off you go to the WH40K crossover/sequel. Make it bloody, make it hilarious, make it AWESOME!
And don't forget to bring Levy with you!
2181826
CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ARMAGEDDON CAUSERS YAY!!! and i'm just assuming that they're the new cmc
Thank you I am no longer depressed from the other ending!
2181545 She found the FTL gun that was in chapter one.
A great end to a great story. I enjoyed the nights I stayed up to read this.
2181927 I am almost positive that they are. Aside from the cute mark hunting part. The always getting into to trouble part still stands.
Awesome. That is the only word for your story.
Congrats on 700 likes and 1700comments btw
This ending screams for a sequel!
Dragon
I truly enjoyed this ending much more than the last one, even if the bad end was more 'realistic'.
This story grew from being one story in a crowd of many favorites, to being one of, if not , my favorite stories on this site. I know because now that it's finished, I'm getting the 'what am I going to do now?' feeling I get whenever I finish a really good game or book...
If you do write a sequel to this I would be very happy, though I will still happily read whatever you write after this story.
Off the top of my head I can think of four Spin-offs/Sequels to this story.
1)How Jay and Applejack got together.
2)Candied Apple and Scipia being born.
3)The 'Great War' that you mentioned.
4)The Relationship between Candied Apple and Scipia
Again this is entirely up to you I am just suggesting ideas.
Holy crap, cliffhanger set up for multiple sequels. Hats off to you sir, because now we're all looking forward to seeing what you pull next.
Moar Adventures YAY!!1!!111!
And so it comes full circle, this is definitely my preferred ending.
-Mis
Everyone calling out for a sequel, he already promised us at least one, remember?
An idea so you can do something extra. Like what you actually suggested doing in this chapter. Make another extra chapter where they get back together to go on a picnic in the everfree to find a hidden temple. Maybe even loot it for what it's worth and eat lunch.
Well...
eprmarketing.com/marketingblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/staples-easy-button.png
218154
2181711
Don't you have to make a reciever loop to open up an interdimensional portal through space time to earth? And not neccasserilly the earth they came from either. They could end up anywhere, but alas, you gotta have a reciever for the frackin thing to do any of the world hopping stuff.
Another story draws to a close, eh? How long have I been with this now...? I think I started reading around the time you began the Wedding arc. Can you imagine how long ago that was?
By the way, y'know what my favorite part of reading a story is?
Analyzing it at the end.
Well, let's see. The pacing of this story? It was good at times, but some parts were unbearably slow. I mainly refer to the beginning, and I know you had to introduce all the elements of the story, develop you and Jay as characters, and fill in personalities for unofficial characters, but at times I felt like things would've been better if either skipped or sped up a little.
You and Jay as characters by the way? Great. I loved the way you two interacted with the colorful, happy-land around you and added a dose of realism. And insanity, that part was pretty good too.
The plot itself? Wasn't bad. I feel like things really started to gain focus after the wedding, when you met Chrysalis. Though I'll admit, the plot was at times hard to follow, what with the Deceiver suddenly entering the picture and all, but you were able to explain the whole situation well.
Keeping characters in character? Very well done. I enjoyed how you and Jay's behavior started to influence a few of the ponies too, and that gave you a good reason to have made some ponies feel out of character when you made them so (namely, the Royal Sisters).
Oh, and the video game references were a nice touch.
My only question to you Whitestrake, is "wat do now?"
2185040 Focus on the Brewing Storm, maybe get rid of Old World Blues, and maybe work on a fic inspire by the original The Thing, Metallica's All Nightmare Long music video, and Scott Sigler's novel Infected
I'm fairly confident this is an original for our fandom, and my first non-HiE
Another fic ends and a huge cliffhanger to boot
I saw this story from the very beginning and I would like to say that you are probably the best writer I have met. Sure it was a tricky story from time to time but you threw in curve balls to keep me reading on. Although I am feeling sad that it ends with this I loved that Trixie never was mentioned again after you set yourself and Chrysalis on fire
BEST FIC I READ THIS YEAR
the whole damn story...
can't handle... heart stopping... call... help
story... too high... quality...
2185181
I like this one better than the other ending. But what if perhaps they are both true yes?
SEQUEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, I'd tag up this story with Mature and Gore... Just to be safe.
I certainly wasn't expecting Bon Bon in thwat warzone earlier.
Like I said.
Well played.
Alright, someone really needs to make a sequel! This is to great to end!
2216611
Do you even lift?
Hmm, three fillies and an ftl gun... What could go wrong?