Epilogue 2: Mirror Dreams
Silence.
Mirror sat in a frozen moment of time, staring at the place where her only friend had lain just...
“Just a moment ago? Or an eternity?” She shook her head. None of it made much sense, but even then, it did make a sort of sense.
All around Mirror, the room where Rose had lain was still. If she breathed, or if her heart beat, Mirror didn’t know. She could breathe, but her heart stayed still, silent, and cold.
“But I’m not cold-hearted.” She pressed a hoof to her chest, feeling nothing as she spoke to the stillness. “I loved you, Rose; I hated you for what you showed me, but I loved you for what it meant. I am me.” But who am I?
The photographs on the shelf gave no answer, and her tumultuous thoughts were too garbled and fleeting for her to decide. Shaking her head, Mirror reached a hoof to stroke the frame of the photo showing Rose with her family. Raspberry, Post, Swift, and Lucky all sitting around the table with a first birthday cake laid out in front of them. Her hoof covered the one pony in the frame she didn’t want to see.
I’m not you. Not anymore.
“You have such a beautiful family, Rose.” Eyes closed, Mirror perked her ears and imagined what it must be like on the other side. Color pulsed in her mind and, for a moment only, it was as though she were there. “I can almost hear how happy they are to get you back.”
When Mirror opened her eyes again, flowers were everywhere: flowers in vases, flowers in baskets, and smaller bouquets of flowers with cards signed by many ponies that she knew from memories. They said: “Get well soon!” and “We’re thinking of you, Rose!” The rest, she imagined, had similar things written on them.
“Oh, Rose. I’m so glad that everypony is there for you!”
She turned, blinking away happy tears to look at the bed again. Three red roses sat on the bedside table, a splotch of color in the dark. She blinked, and they were gone. “But... they were there.” It didn’t matter. “Maybe I dreamed they were there... or hoped, or... something. But I’m glad that you’re not alone anymore.” I wish I could be there with you.
She squeezed her eyes shut against the traitorous thought. “You don’t belong, Mirror. You—”
“She is real! She matters! Mirror is special to me.” The voice, Rose’s voice, shattered the silence and jolted Mirror out of her self-pity.
“Rose?” The photos were all gone, as were the flowers, and a new trough was forming in the bed.
“Was it a dream? Did I imagine it all?”
Buildings stood empty, stalls untended, and the familiar silence was broken only by the flat sound of her hooves clumping on the cobblestones leading through town. It felt like a dream town should.
Mirror stopped in front of Rose’s stall, empty, and stared at the place she could have sworn a flagpole had once stood. Am I dreaming? Am I really Pinkie, and I’ll wake up, and none of this will exist? I won’t exist?
“No!” Mirror stamped her hoof and turned away to scream: “I’m real!” at the vast, uncaring world.
Her yell vanished into the silence. She said I was real...
“But... have I ever dreamed before?” It felt like an odd question since her memories held plenty of dreams, both good and bad. “Were they my dreams?” Do I deserve to have dreams? Or only this—
It wasn’t a nightmare. It just... was.
None of the buildings she passed held any answers in their windows or doors, only empty silence and the signs of life frozen between one moment and the next. The one building that might have answered her questions, Sugarcube Corner, she only stared at from a distance. It tempted her with answers, taunted her with possibilities, but it held no more terror for her.
Because I am real.
Mirror turned away from temptation, and towards the home of her friend. All around her, the world moved on. Step after step, tiny change after tiny change, it left her behind.
“And why shouldn’t it?” She took one last look at the town she remembered so vividly from another pony’s life. “It was never my home.”
“I’m so glad you’re home, Rose.” The broom in the corner of the front porch had moved, and new straws were stuck into the gap that had once been there. Mirror stopped at the front gate and closed her eyes. The memories of another pink pony swept over her, filling in the grey and emptiness with life and color. Green grass and delicately pink flagstones led up to the front door.
When she opened her eyes again, an afterimage of the color lingered on the house, and sank deeper into the grass and stone. Even through the windows and into the house, where Pinkie had never gone, Mirror could see colors. Faint, to be sure—faint enough that she backed up and looked at other houses up and down the street.
No other house had that same glow—only Rose’s.
“Why?”
The question hung unanswered in the silence.
Step after step, Mirror walked along the path leading behind the house, following the brightest colors. Nameless joy filled her, and the grass grew brighter. Almost, she could smell it under her hooves. But it remained still and frozen.
“Am I dreaming?” Not even the colorful lawn, or the cracked, light cream slats of the house held an answer. The world remained silent, but instead of a cold silence—telling her it didn’t care—the quiet solitude welcomed her.
She belonged. There, in Rose’s garden, she was loved.
Flowers bloomed everywhere. Color and light sprang from every leaf and every petal. Even the morning dew, frozen on the leaves, scattered back light that had no source. Warmth spread throughout her the longer she wandered the short pathways.
“Why? How?” Around and around she went, circling the plot in the center were a large rose bush spread its leaves and opened its blossoms. Every step she took opened them a little more, until she stopped.
“Rose, it’s beautiful. I... how? How am I seeing all of this in color?”
As if in answer, a glimmer of pink at her hooves drew her attention.
At the base of the bush sat a raised, rounded stone. Instead of fine, polished stone, it was rough and held no hint of a reflection, as though it had been freshly hewn from some boulder.
Engraved into it was a message.
“Mirror, I will always remember.”
The words came to her in Rose’s voice, repeated a dozen times, echoing as she brushed a hoof over the words. Her name... the one she’d chosen for herself, the one that had been meant as an insult to herself, had instead been turned into a monument.
“My name meant something else to you, didn’t it? You tried to tell me that my name didn’t mean what I thought. You said that I meant something to you. That I was my own pony. That you were my friend.” Tears pattered down onto the stone, darkening it, making a difference in the pink quartzite. “You meant it.”
Mirror lay down in the garden of color and wrapped a foreleg around the stone.
“Thank you.”
One last time, Mirror closed her eyes, smiling, and laid her head down.
For the first time, she fell asleep.
For the first time, she dreamed.
Rose pondered the dark, wet stain on the quartzite memorial.
“Mirror, I will always remember.” She smiled as she brushed a hoof against the words and gathered her thoughts. Memories of Mirror, of their time together, of the trials they had faced, and of their bonds of friendship swept through her mind and joined with the fresh memories of her family and her friends.
Her magic pulsed into the garden, flowing around and amidst the roots and stems of her flowers, carrying those happy thoughts to sink into the earth.
“I will always remember,” she repeated with a smile and closed eyes, feeling the joyous harmony echoed back to her. “Please remember me, too.”
Almost, she heard a voice echo back the same words, and then the wind shifted and carried the echo away. Rose listened as the wind sighed through her mane, then shook her head. Her family was waiting for her.
She looked back and whispered into the fading wind.
“Smile for me.”
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That was a wonderful story and I enjoyed every bit of it. Thank you for sharing this with us, and I'm eager to see what you will come up with next.
Playing through the back of my head through both epilogues:
Seriously, I... I- Hell, I can't even put two words together right now.
A fitting - and perfectly executed - final movement to what I can only think will go down as your magnum opus. Just beautiful from start to finish.
*standing ovation*
-GMP
PS: Why the hell have I not signal boosted this on my page? Let me fix that now.
5175057 I'll... do you one better...
Noble Thought, this story is fantastic all around. I admit to choking up at numerous points. The ending only made it better. Am happy for Rose and feeling hopeful for Mirror.
I can only imagine what a sequel will entail. Looking forward to it!
This was a great read before bed. And after that, I think I'll sleep better tonight.
This is, hands down, one of the best stories on the site.
A masterfully crafted story from beginning to end. Absolutely beautiful.
A perfect denouement to a damn-near perfect story. This is one of the best on all Fimfiction, and deserves to be acclaimed as such.
5175057
Thank you for the signal boost! I very much appreciate it and the kind praise. It means a lot to me to hear that you think it's as good as even non-fanfiction. That's amazing praise. Also, very pretty, slow piece. A perfect accompaniment to the ending.
5175378
Purty music, kind words. Thank you.
5175670
Sweet dreams. Smile, and thank you. I hope you slept better.
5175738
Thank you, waterpear.
5176165
Thank you! A lot of time, worry, and emotional investment went into this story. I'm so glad that it's getting the reception it has, thus far.
5176349
Thank you, Carabas. I had actually written about 4000 words of a longer last chapter... but it felt wrong. It fought me when I was trying to write it. When I gave it up and started working on the two epilogues as they are now, the words came as easily as pouring water.
As to the acclaim: I am working on it
It's been sent to EQD and submitted to the Royal Guard. Maybe that will help if it gets accepted.
Holy sweet jumping Christ that was amazing. This is, quite possibly, one of the best stories on this site. Very well done.
On a personal note, Noble: I totally didn't cry... At all... Stop looking at me like that. And stop smirking smugly at your computer screen...
5177629
That's pretty, and interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it, though. It feels very slice of life-y kind of half spoken word music.
5177020
You have no idea how strange it feels to have someone looking forward to having a piece of my work update. It's surpassing strange, but very, very heartening. I'm so glad that you've enjoyed it. I enjoyed creating it, to be very certain. This is my favorite story out of what I've written.
5177280
I'm glad you've enjoyed it, Zomg. It means a lot to me to hear that, especially considering how adamant you were stating you were steeled against the feels.
5177699 I felt it suited the story in a ways. Has some similar themes of melancholic reminiscing and a strained friendship.
Plus, it's pretty.
5177712 I was wrong... Muh feels are broken.
This was beautiful. Thak you for such a somber yet well told story
Oh, this was beautiful. A perfect ending to this wonderful tale. Just... damn. Right in the proverbial feels, this one.
5176837
Not if, Noble. When.
i.imgur.com/j8cG26r.png
Damn. Hard-hitting from the very beginning.
This was awesomely amazing.
There are no words that can do justice to how great this is.
I cried so much throughout this, and thats no small feat to achieve.
Publish this and I'll buy it, its that good.
5231701
Thank you! It's always heartening to hear such praise. Thank you for the follow as well! I hope I continue to write stories and blogs that are of the same calibre. Though... that will be hard, considering how much went into Ghost in terms of learning, time, and just plain emotional involvement.
This was a story that I truly put my heart into. I'm glad it shows.
Maybe one day I'll rewrite this as original non-pony fiction. I've been kicking around the idea of setting it in a fantasy world that's kinda a mish-mash of semi-modern technology filling in the gaps that magic can't fill. Maybe one day...
*glances at list of stories to be written*
5214012
Thanks! I hope to hear what ya think when you're all done.
5237395
I'd be curious to know what it was that set it outside of your cup of tea.
5182776 I'd certainly hope so.
Frankly, if EQD rejects this of all stories, I'll have lost all faith in their fic processing system.
5237406 It's a good fanfic, but I'm just not into m/f pairings. Or (almost) character death, or extremely sad and tragic stories. I am aware that may not be so in the ending, but I had dropped my phone and sat down for a few minutes feeling kind of sad and a bit tearful in the beggining when Pinkie thought Rose had died. I think it's good but not one of the things I enjoy.
5262146
Understandable, completely. Thanks for replying, haxorus.
I'd give you the usual spiel about what's going down, but I don't think you need to be told what's happening.
Anyway, Golden Oaks Book Club has voted to read Ghost of a Rose now. Discussion is in two weeks.
Enjoy the readership!
Hey Noble,
Finally got around to finishing Ghost of a Rose. I must say, your prose is top notch. Easy to read and tangible, I now have lots of ultra vivid memories of places I've never been... are they my memories, am I real? Gah! ^^
You also have a talent for names. I like how Swift Delivery is both applicable to delivering mails and birthing children, as helping Rose cope with motherhood was one of her main jobs in the fic. Also, Dr. Axon - brilliant!
Anyway, I'm glad I read it. :)
5357357
Glad to hear it, and thank you! I hope my scene setting skills come in handy in my upcoming stories.
I'm really glad I finally read this story. I had read some of your other works and enjoyed them and I figured I would give your longer work a shot too. I like your prose and character development; overall it was a very enjoyable story to read. That being said there were a few areas where I was either confused with or felt could have been handled differently or better. I say this only to offer my sincerest thoughts and criticisms, I promise I'm not flaming you. Like I said, as a whole I really enjoyed the story.
My first qualm is the contradictions throughout the story. It wasn't huge, but when there was the huge snow storm and Rose left for the meeting, Post told her that it would be fine for her to stay the night at the meeting house, but later she says that post will worry so she must go home. These little contradictions happened a few times throughout the story, I don't remember the instance but the lack of smooth transitions between the cause and effect of the characters actions would sometimes through me off the reading.
It took a while to understand what was happening in the "dead" realm with Rose and pinkie. There was often a lack of clear transition between finding one rose and the next. It seemed like Rose suddenly appeared in the next place sometimes. Also, often coming out of a memory it took a few sentences before it was made explicitly clear that Rose was out of a memory and back into the present.
` Also it was never really explained why the grave showed Rose's name in the first place. What was the point of that? And this is also why I don’t fully understand your point or reason for the pinkie/mirror character. It was never established why pinkie was even there in the first place. Then suddenly it turns out that Rose is not dead and pinkie is not really pinkie. Why? That was never clarified. We knew that "mirror" had been in that world for a while and she couldn't escape, and part of her knew rose, but it doesn't make sense. She suddenly says she's not really pinkie and Rose is not really dead, but there is now logical path or reason where there was a change in events. In the fantasy world that you've created all the facts do not clearly line up or agree with each other. I was left wondering the point of Pinkie/Mirror's character in the first place. All she really did to further the plot of the story was show Rose that the flowers were memories, and later carried her to the hospital when she was comatose. I feel like this story could have been written without pinkie's character.
Of course, this is all my opinion and you can take it or leave it; no harm, no foul. I enjoy reading and analyzing. So, with all this being said, please feel free to comment or message me back if you have any questions or anything else.
-Berrytone
5418889
First of all, thank you for the honest feedback! I appreciate it, very much. Knowing what it is that others stumble on my writing makes it easier for me to know where I can make things clearer or where I've missed something that was in my head that would have made more sense somewhere else. I am glad you enjoyed it overall. Perhaps I might be able to shed some light on the three points you brought up, or my reasoning behind them.
To the third, I think I can address that most directly:
Mirror Pinkie is the first clone Pinkie to come out of the Mirror Pool, and the last one to fail the "Watch Paint Dry" test from Too Many Pinkie Pies. This is also the reason why the tombstone shows Rose's name - it's a lie. Mirror believes that all reflections are lies in her world. She's not wrong, either. But she's not a reflection. She is her own pony. That was the point of her character. Even if her memories weren't her own, she could still be her own pony. Her journey was the mirror of Rose's throughout. Rose goes from uncertainty to certainty about her past, while Mirror goes from certainty about her identity to uncertainty and wanting that certainty back, even if it was a lie. The story was both about the importance of memory in making us who we are but, no matter who we think we are, we can only be ourselves.
The first:
Post said she could stay there. Rose never said it, and it wouldn't have fit in the narrative very well, but she knew that Post would have worried despite him saying that he wouldn't. One of those unspoken things that go between a couple. I could have made it more explicit, I suppose, and made that bit of tension a bit more explicit between them.
The second:
It was supposed to be a little confusing for when the transition happened, because it was jarring for Rose to come out of the memories. As for reappearing in different places, it came to light later that Rose actually played out the things she did in the memories. There were a couple places I had to fudge it because I didn't want to add another setting to the mirror realm. A cheap trick, I admit, but it wouldn't have added anything to the story.
This was a beautiful story. Thank you.
5502054
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
5502163
I accidently read one of your comments on one of the earlier chapters that said that not everyone was going g to get a happy ending...
I'm not sure that's entirely true.
I mean, it's sad that Rose didn't get to say goodbye to her Dad, but her story has a happy ending. She's reunited with her family. Her happy ending is her family.
What is Mirror's happy ending? To be rememebered. To be thought of as someone who existed at all. To be remebered and loved by those she loved.
I mean, what else can we really ask for?
I won't forget you either Mirror. Smile for me.
5502558
This is true. It's harder for me, as the architect, to see what the story looks like to others. Thanks for helping me see it from another viewpoint. You've actually given me some insight into how to handle a followup story I had wanted to do.
5503381
Followup story? As in a direct sequel?
5504413
Potentially. I don't want to promise something and not deliver. I'll only do it if the story fits within the framework of this one. I will work on developing a plot for it, though, and see where this new idea takes me.
5504624
I'll be watching just in case then.
5528701
5528751
Sure! I'm glad you enjoy my stories, and I'm glad to have ya watching me!
5528751 it's just so saddening
the feels their overwhelming
5530670
The "it" is meant to refer to the garden as a whole. Probably a bit confused, there, though.
Enjoy!
5530674
Here's a NEW ribbon!
i.imgur.com/od0xMCF.png
5639260
Glad to hear it! I hope the rest of the story continues to be as interesting.
This was absolutely worth the time it took to read.
5719239
Glad to hear it! It was a pleasure to write, too.
Welp, this has certainly been an adventure.
...Methinks I'll have a lot to say about this one.
5741175
I look forward to the review, Avox. I hope you found the story enjoyable throughout.
5741361
Boop.
Lemme know if you want me to elaborate on anything. Ordinarily I'd run through it once or twice to make sure I'm at least semi-coherent, but since this review is the same length as half my stories, I decided to screw it.
You can has review!
6732006
She's my favorite background pony. I love her even more than Sapphire Shores. She's... well, I spent a lot of time with her on this story.