A Sparkling Gem

by Havok SCOUT

Epilogue: How About a Hayburger?

Dawn breaks as your party exits the Everfree. As you break free of the foliage on the outer edge, you notice that most of the lights in town are still lit, and what looks like all of the police and guards are out in full force. As you get closer to town, you notice a commotion on the bridge. Apparently, the town had seen all of you coming out of the forest, and decided to meet you at the bridge.

A large crowd is gathered there. You suspect that all of Ponyville is there to see their friends, family, neighbors, and princess come back. There are so man ponies gathered there that some of them are on the bank of the river, and all of the pegasi that can fly are currently doing so. Twilight walks up to the crowd, and they respond with a thunderous cheer. Foremost in the crowd are four fillies and a mare. Three of the fillies rush towards Scootaloo, the fourth one jumps into the arms of Berry Punch, and the mare runs into the tear-filled embrace of Lyra. Twilight calmly walks to where her friends and Spike are standing, and all sense of decorum is gone as they form a giggling pony pile on their purple friend.

Eventually, the crowd calms down as it notices the two odd ponies out: you and Quick Study, both of you getting shocked glances from the townspeople. The mayor walks up to where Twilight has separated herself from the tangle of her friends. She bows and says, "Princess Twilight! I'm relieved to see you return with the missing ponies. May I ask who the white mare is?"

Twilight clears her throat. "She is Quick Study, and she is under the protection of the crown. She is the mare responsible for the missing ponies, myself included. However, I have seen to part of her punishment already, and all that remains is her giving back what she stole."

"What did she steal, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asks.

"Twilight turns back to the crowd and asks, "Do you all remember Tirek?" When the town all nod, she continues. "Quick Study's special talent is copying spells that she sees only once. She was able to copy Tirek's power-stealing spell and use it on other ponies. She took the innate magic from Scootaloo, Lyra, Berry Punch, and Precious Stone. She was going to do the same to me when Precious Stone and I managed to escape. She was keeping us at the Castle of the Two Sisters, and as we tried to leave, we encountered a manticore. Quick Study and the manticore fought, and she would have been killed if not for the actions of Precious. We rescued the others from the castle and made our way back to Ponyville. Any questions?"

One voice rises from the back, "Yeah, why is Precious Stone a princess now?"

This prompts you to facehoof, while Twilight tries to suppress a giggle. You look at her, and she nods, allowing you to field the question.

"Well, I've always been an alicorn. I've just hidden it until now," you explain.

"Oh," the voice says. "That makes sense." The town nods its agreement.

Twilight turns to Quick Study and her horn flashes. You see the same sigil on Quick's forehead before it fades away. She gets up, able to stretch her limbs for the first time in hours. She reaches up to rub away the tear marks on her face. She is an intimidating site: standing as tall as Princess Luna and Princess Celestia and being covered in dried blood will do that to a pony. Twilight asks, "Quick Study, are you ready to fix what you did wrong?"

Quick bows, which barely brings her shoulders below Twilight's head. "I am, your highness," she says, no hint of the smirk that was present the last time she used Twilight's honorific.

She rises and she and Twilight turn to the four of you. Quick's horn glows and intense red-orange, and you see four strands fly from it to the four of you. One connects with Scootaloo's wings, one with Lyra's horn, one with Berry Punch's chest, and the largest one connects to your wings, horn, and chest. When your essence was taken from you, it was easily the most painful experience of your life. Now that it's coming back, it feels exquisite, like eating a home-cooked Hearth's Warming dinner, having a warm bath, and getting into bed after a long day all rolled into one. Before your eyes, you see Quick Study shrink back down to a mare of average size. She looks wearier than she was.

You look over to the rest of the victims, each testing out their newly-regained powers. Lyra lights up her horn and shapes her aura into what looks like a claw without the talons on the end, Scootaloo buzzes her wings for a few seconds, and Berry Punch bends her legs and jumps into the air. You're content with standing there.

Twilight turns back to Quick and says, "Now Quick Study, do you promise never to use your magic to harm another so long as you live, but live to help others find the strength that they have lost?"

Quick nods and says, "I do."

"Then I absolve you of your crimes, and declare you a free mare."

Quick rushes towards Twilight, and the guards all charge, ready to defend their princess. Instead, Quick wraps her arms around Twilight and breaks down into fresh tears.

"Thank you, so much," she says.

After the initial shock, Twilight waves the guards away and returns the embrace.

"You're welcome. Just remember that if I ever catch you stealing ponies' essences, a manticore will be the least of your worries."

Quick breaks the embrace and says, "Don't worry, I won't."

Satisfied with her answer, Twilight turns to the crowd.

"I know that most of you went without sleep last night. Everything is alright now, and you all may go to your home. Also, know that those who wish to stay home for today may do so. Nothing important needs to be done today except for spending time with your families."

At this a slightly quieter cheer comes from the crowd, and they start to disperse.

You walk up to Twilight and tap her on the shoulder.

"Yes?" she says as she turns around.

"When you were buying those things in Quills and Sofas yesterday, I was trying to ask you something, and I'm going to try again. Would you like to get breakfast with me?" you ask.

Twilight smiles and says, "I would like that very much."

Comments

[Havok SCOUT]

4636891

It's been nice talking to you,” here she looks down at the name tag on your shoulder, “Precious Metal Stone.”

Whatever are you talking about? I see no glaring mistake in the introduction of the main character.
Thanks for pointing that out; I would have really been embarrassed if that had gone unnoticed!

[Dude With No Life]

Short but cute. There were a few things that could have gone better, but all in all, I liked it.
You did the characters fairly well, you were nice and descriptive, but the dialogue seemed a little forced. I think a bit more time spent on the abduction bit, maybe spread it out over a day or so in the story. And there didn't seem to be much buildup at all with the romance side of it aside the single scene in the first chapter. It just seemed too quick and easy. In the end though, it's a nice little adventure with a dash of romance.
7/10
Not bad though, I am pretty picky.
I'll be looking for more from you!
DWNL