Closure
"Then I opened my eyes again to see the ceiling of a hospital. The best surprise of my life, I might add."
Reflection fidgeted nervously as she finished her tale, sinking back into her seat. She spared a glance at the figure seated across the table from her, a female griffon the color of soot. Unimpressive physically, Reflection and Jars, who sat beside her, looked at the figure with a mixture of awe and fear. The room was cramped and sparsely decorated; other than the table, the only other furniture in the room was a bookshelf with a collection of old tomes and scrolls. The claw-and-lightning symbol of Eas hung from a purple banner behind the figure, covering the only window.
"So, you just hit yourself with a blast of the most powerful magic in Equestria? As you were literally breaking up from using it moments before?" the figure questioned, leaning forward.
Reflection rubbed the back of her neck, looking a little sheepish as she did so. "Well, yes, Princess."
"Just call me Vaernya." the figure said, sighing a moment later. "I know, you're expecting some griffon of great stature. Probably one with the colors of fire, too; it seems to be a recurring theme in the legends."
"Not exactly," Reflection began, only to be cut off by a frantic gesture from Jars.
"Hm?" Vaernya cocked her head.
"Well . . ." Jars trailed off, "oh, blast it. I already described you to Reflection, back in Canterlot."
"And . . ?" Vaernya asked with a soft, amused smile.
"He said you were really average. Physically." Reflection said bluntly, hastily adding, "but, he said you had a fire in you. The entire embassy seemed to admire you."
Vaernya nodded. "My thanks for not making me out to be more than I am. I swear, the Sultan of Saddle Arabia thought I was six feet tall before he met me." She waved a claw absentmindedly, continuing, "Anyway, we seem to have been sidetracked."
Reflection sighed. "Yeah. Getting back to what probably looked like suicide," Vaernya chuckled at that, then motioned for Reflection to continue, "I guess - I guess I don't really know why I hit myself with the Elements. Call it not wanting to suffer through slow death, just throwing my fate to the winds for once, maybe clinging to the hope the Elements would help me-"
"Which, they did." Vaeryna cut in.
Reflection perked up. "Yes, they did. Jars?"
"Right, when we got her to a hospital, a unicorn ran a test on her. Said the magic in her was totally her own now; the Elements had stripped away the last vestiges of Pinkie's soul, and saved her life." Jars explained.
Vaernya frowned. "You said her body was rejecting magic before. How is she different now?"
Reflection continued the explanation. "The doctors said, as far as they could tell, that my body was rejecting my own soul that was forming. The core was the shard of Pinkie's - the more and more I grew as my own pony, the more I hurt myself. The Elements, apparently, freed me."
"I must say, I still don't quite understand how that happened." Vaernya confessed. "Heir to Eas and Crown Princess, I guess you cross omniscient off the list."
"Truth be told, neither do I." Reflection said. "But really, I don't care."
"Still, you knew that using the Element of Laughter would kill you?" Vaernya pressed.
Reflection shrugged. "The thought was there, in the back of my mind. I guess I just accepted it. Nice to get swept along by the current once in a while, instead of fighting it. I was going to die anyw-"
Vaernya raised a claw. "No. No matter how you phrase that, it's selflessness that I hope I'll have, if it comes to that someday."
"Wow, uh, thanks," Reflection stammered, blinking at the Crown Princess.
"I get that a lot." Vaernya sighed. "Seems like nobody can fathom that leaders can compliment them."
"This is a dream come true," Jars whispered to Reflection.
"So," Vaernya began, "I have to get ready for my own trip to Canterlot soon. It's been good talking with you about the West, but before I lead Eas, learning about it first-hand ought to be useful. This Celestia seems like quite the ruler."
Neither Reflection nor Jars commented on the Crown Princess' musings.
"Before I leave, however," Vaernya said, looking back to the pair, "Two more questions. First, did a legal citizen of Eas actually save Canterlot?"
"Well, Celestia and Luna would probably have fought it off, eventually." Reflection said.
"But," Jars added, "A lot of ponies probably would've died."
Vaernya nodded, pleased. "Good. That'll be useful. Second . . .are you still the second Element of Laughter?"
"No," Reflection admitted, "Pinkie's not a part of me anymore."
Vaernya frowned, then shrugged. "I suppose that was asking for too much. Imagine, the Kingdom of Eas with control over Equestria's greatest weapon . . ."
"Princess?" a gruff voice called from outside. The door was pushed open, and an armored guard stood there. "The airship is ready."
"That's my call." Vaernya said, getting up from her seat. "Glad to meet you, Reflection - and good job, Jars. Complete failure of securing business contracts in the West aside, keeping a cool head in an insane situation is admirable."
Jars looked like he was about to faint.
"Faevl?" Vaernya called to another guard, who stood at the end of the hallway. "Escort these two down to Minister Dersj's office in the Citadel. He'll get them sorted out for life here."
And with that, she strolled out without a second glance. Jars grinned madly. "I just met Crown Princess Vaernya . . ." he muttered happily.
A few minutes of following the silent guard through the near empty halls of the Palace of Eas, they finally went out the great double doors and gazed down at Eas proper. It was certainly a different vista than Canterlot; built solidly on a great plateau, the city rose out of the ground grandly. The walls were covered in banners and cannon, the forms of guards visible through the morning mist. The buildings had none of the gilding and pomp of Canterlot; they were solidly built, each almost a fortress in their own right. The bustle of city just waking up filled the air.
Reflection sighed. It was a new life, far different than the one she would have had back in Equestria. However, every bit of attachment she had for the Land of West, as it was called here, had vanished with Pinkie's soul in her. She was her own pony.
She took a deep breath and exhaled, letting the weight of the week fall away. Her future beckoned - her future.
As she turned to follow Jars and the guard down the steps of the Palace, the greyness of the Eastern sky never looked so appealing.
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Awesome story, I enjoyed every moment of it!
.......AHHHH I GOT MENTIONED TIME TO HIDE.
Uh, I mean, that's totally great. Is this legal, concerning the contest?
Also, no Red.
I loved this story; worthy of my fav and my upvote. Oh and I personally like rushed stories, as it keeps my excitement level up if lots of things happen in little amount of words, so don't worry about your 'rushed' chapters, I loved them too.
Oh and congratulations for finishing your first multi-chapter fiction. I know from personal experience that that's not a small accomplishment and requires lots of effort and discipline. So good job!
I see what you did there.
- Servant Phoenix -
This was quite the interesting fic. It held my interest, was unique, and had a lot going for it, and I'm glad that Reflection is going to live. Good work.
Yay! I was hoping for a closure chapter. So glad Reflection lived!
4653000 Thanks, mate! I enjoyed writing it.
4653977 Thanks for reading, and, yes. You can go a little over the 15k word limit for the contest, and I'd already informed Obselescence that I'd be adding the epilogue after the deadline.
4658040 Fixed, thank you. And if I might ask, what exactly did my story "have going for it"? It's always nice to know my strengths.
4665069 I'm glad as well. This story also turned out to be something of a character introduction to Vaernya, for people who follow my story output. She'll be featured prominently soon . . .
And again, to all of you, thanks for you time. I hope you consider it well spent!
4672367
Your strengths are well written characterizations, realistic emotional responses, amazing group dynamics, a wonderful Pinkie derivative that I really want to see more of someday, good pacing, and all in all was a terrific read.
By the way, are we ever going to be seeing more of Reflection as a supporting / main character? I'd like to see more of her. Great character, and it was nice seeing the world through her eyes. Also great take on Laughter.
Good, but not great. It felt rushed to me, like the pacing was off.
5162508 Absolutely. It was written for a contest, and the deadline in both date and word count was toed rather alarmingly. Wholehearted concurrence, I'm kind of proud - but only in that I finished it, the product itself is lacking in many places. No dislikes though, so no one hated it that much. An excellent learning experience for me.
Still, thanks for the patronage, I hope future stories of mine you may happen to come across will be better paced and written.
Great story! I reviewed the story and you will be able to find the review here.
--Stahl
Please make a sequel in can be a romance thing between jar and reflection or something like that please i want need and must have more by the way 8 out of 8 mate for this story
That was pretty awesome, I can see why there's not a single downvote.
I didn't spot any mistakes, the entire thing pulled me in. Reflection is best pony.
And the way you presented griffons... Simply awesome. I wanna see more of them.
Cya
Raziel-chan
Wow. 0 dislikes and 109 likes. Dude, that is an accomplishment.
This was a great read! I loved this story!
Eyyyyy reference to another mirror ponk fic.
I am simple man.
I see good story.
I give thumbsup.
Great story. I honestly can easily assume that the clone Pinkies in the show weren't "real", but I prefer it if they are. Although we kind of did see a clone pinkie in the restaurant in that one episode...
Makes you think.