Epilogue: Mother Knows Better
Hold Your Color
by Quillery
Epilogue
Mother Knows Better
“Ma!” Dash whined, as Zephyr flitted about the room gathering Dash’s things. “I can pack my own stuff!”
It was early morning the following day. Twilight had gone to sleep at her parents place in town along with the rest of their friends. Zephyr, however, had returned bright and early directly from her hotel to prepare Dash to be released as soon as the doctors came about for their morning rounds.
Ditzy was already gone, most likely to fetch breakfast. Being a mail pony demanded early hours, a habit Ditzy seemed to hang onto even through the ordeal of the past two weeks. This of course left Dash alone with her mother, as she gathered things from the bedside and stuffed them into a luggage box.
“Nonsense! It’s the least I can do to help. You have a long recovery to get you back into shape. Isn’t the next Wonderbolts training session coming up soon? You want to be at your best, don’t you?”
Dash rubbed her cheek. Dealing with her mother’s overbearance was not how she wanted to spend her morning. “Ma, please. Twilight’s gonna be here soon to take me home.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll be out of your mane soon, once I get everything packed.”
“Its just a few cards, ma. You don’t need to fuss about those, there couldn’t possibly be anything else worth packing.”
Zephyr tilted her head. “But what about this? Isn’t this important?” She turned to the bed, producing a small box in her hooves. She opened it, revealing two small pouches inside. Dash recognized one of them as the few fragments of the Celestial Prism as it was scattered to the far corners of the world. The other though, was a mystery.
Dash pointed at the second pouch. “Let me see that one, ma.”
Zephyr hoofed it over. Dash tipped the silk container over and let a few shards of crystal roll into her hoof. She gasped. It was a broken amethyst, a bent metal housing and worn cord. “It’s my necklace…”
Zephyr stared at the broken amulet. “Oh dear. That’s the one you told me about, isn’t it? The one that led you to Twilight just before you two got together?”
Dash nodded. “I can’t believe its actually broken.” Sadness overcame her voice as she stared quietly at the shattered symbol of her and Twilight’s relationship in her hooves.
“Oh, it can’t be that difficult to repair. I’m sure there’s somewhere we can take it to be fixed.”
Dash shook her head. “It just wouldn’t be the same…”
Zephyr grimaced. “Because of an enchantment? Dear…” She sat on the bed and patted a spot next to her. Dash sighed and sat down next to her mother.
Zephyr wrapped a leg and wing over Dash’s back. “Oh, Rainbow Dash. There are many symbols in life that signify our love for another. You can’t just hold yourself the old ones. Love evolves, it grows, it blooms. There are times to move on, move up. If you hold too hard to the moments of the past, you never look forward to your future.”
Dash said nothing, she just kept staring at the gemstone.
“Dash?”
“It’s just… I don’t know how I feel about this anymore…”
Surprised drifted in Zephyr’s voice. “What do you mean? Is something else wrong?”
“Well, not really. I don’t think so. It’s just... during this whole mess, we had a fight. I want to believe it was a heat of the moment thing, but… it hurt. Like, it really hurt. I actually felt like Twilight was going to leave me because she couldn’t bear the thought of watching me get hurt.”
Her hooves trembled, but Zephyr reached over to steady them. She shared a gentle smile with her mother as she continued.
“And when she was taken from me, I thought I was going to lose her. I was just in this horrible, scary place that neither of us would end up coming out alive, or happy. Just… alone. It terrified me.”
Zephyr nodded. “That is life, my little bluebird. Life, love, they are both hard, they both take work, and they are both worth it in the end. It’s all a matter of what you put in.”
Dash grinded her teeth. “I just… I don’t want to push her away. I want to be with her forever, Ma. I know that’s the future I see for us, but… it just feels so fragile. These past few weeks have made me see that.”
“Then make her yours.”
Dash blinked and turned to her mother. “What?”
“You heard me. Make her yours. Stop thinking about it so hard. Stop wondering about the fragility of it. If you think its fragile, make it stronger. If its going to break, you can fix it. Stop keeping her at hoof’s length. Bring her close, and never let her go.”
“I… Mom?”
Zephyr smiled. “That’s all the advice I can give you, dear. The rest is up to you.” She leaned in and kissed Dash on the forehead.
At that moment, the door handle began to turn. Dash tilted her head as Rarity was the one who stepped in. “Good morning, Rainbow Dash!” she said.
“Hey, Rarity. I wasn’t expecting you.”
Rarity nodded. “Yes, I imagine you were expecting Twilight to come fetch you. She sent me to tell you she’d be a bit late. She’s speaking to the doctors about Miss Lulamoon’s condition. I imagine she’ll be a while.”
Dash looked down. “Oh, okay.”
Zephyr touched Dash’s shoulder and smiled, then she got up off the bed. “I’ll leave you with your friend and I’ll see you at the train station back to Ponyville.”
Dash smiled. “Okay, ma. I’ll see you there.”
Zephyr passed Rarity and offered a quiet courtesy before she disappeared into the hall. Rarity kept a close eye on her as she left, biting her lip as she did. Once she was certain Zephyr was out of earshot, Rarity approached the bed. “Your mother is a lovely mare, darling. She would be a prime model for my spring collection.”
“Uh, it’s almost fall, Rarity.”
Rarity waggled her hoof. “Oh, pish posh. One can never think too far ahead to stay competitive.” She cleared her throat. “Now, I’m certain we could sit here and gush in awkward conversation until Twilight arrives, but I don’t suppose you would like something to eat or drink? I would be happy to fetch you something.”
Dash stretched and yawned as she hopped off the bed and moved over to her luggage. “A coffee would be great.”
“Certainly.” Rarity smiled and turned to leave, just as Dash went to to return the two pouches to their box. She paused as she stared at the two containers, and the two crystalline objects they held within. Her mother's words echoed in her mind. Make her yours, and never let go.
Dash reached out her hoof. “Rarity, wait!”
Rarity turned, eyebrow raised.
Dash showed her the two pouches. “I need your help with something.”
*****
Dash winced slightly as she was exposed to the bright Canterlot sun. She sat in a wheelchair as she was ferried out of the main entrance. Twilight was pushing her gently into the terrace, humming all the way.
“It’s such a lovely day, isn’t it, Dash?”
“Uh, yeah. Great day to be discharged from a hospital.”
Twilight giggled. “Well, its all thanks to you. We will continue to have bright, sunny and colorful days because of what you did, and I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
Dash smiled half-heartedly. “Yep.”
“It’s just funny how we always seem to get involved in one more catastrophe after another. It’s a wonder how we find time to ourselves at all.”
“Oh, you know… we’ll manage.”
Twilight went silent as the wheelchair slowed. “Are you okay, Rainbow Dash? You seem… distracted.”
Dash tightened her legs around her barrel. “No, no. I’m fine. I… guess I just need some coffee. Not really an early riser, you know?”
“Oh!” The wheelchair began to move forward again. “Well, I know the perfect little cafe in town we can visit. Its on the way to the train station, so we won’t miss our ride home.”
“Cool.”
Dash jerked her head as she mentally chastised herself. Of all the times she needed to maintain her composure, this was it. It was bad enough that she didn’t have any room in her luggage for one last item, but Twilight seeing it now was the last thing she needed.
She loosened her grip around her barrel, revealing a small velvet lined box hiding under her legs. She turned her head slightly. Twilight was humming happily to herself, blissfully looking towards the distant morning sun.
Dash took a chance to examine the contents of the box once more. Carefully, she opened the lid and peeked inside. It may have cost her her dignity as one of Rarity’s living pincushions for a few dozen dresses, but what she had within the box was more than worth it.
A small golden coil sat on a satin cushion inside the box. A series of settings were embedded into the valuable metals, fitted with small shards of silvery diamonds and radiant amethysts.
Dash had to hoof it to Rarity, she knew her jewelry. Her design was immaculate, her refitting of the broken shards of Dash’s necklace and the last remnants of the Celestial Prism worked perfectly, and the coiled shape would fit perfectly on Twilight’s horn. It glimmered faintly in the small patches of light that drifted across it.
“Hey, Dash? Do you know why Rarity was so… giddy, earlier?”
Dash sucked in a breath and snapped the box shut. “Nope! No, I can’t think of a single reason she would be giddy. Not me. Nope.”
The wheelchair stopped again. “Dash…” Twilight said flatly. “Are you hiding something from me?”
Dash chuckled weakly and turned her head. “Nah, Twi. You’re acting crazy. Why would I hide something from you?”
Twilight shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
Dash sighed as she brought the box to her chest, directly over her heart. “Yeah. I’m sure, Twi. As long as I’m here with you, nothing could be better. Life is good.”
*****
~THE END~
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Bravo.
Fourquel, please! ^.^
And so the adventure continues.....
Perhaps the fourth story will be about Trixie's recovery.
Oh, that is beautiful. Amazing picture there at the end, too--did you commission that, or did you find it?
The coil like that seems like a far more elegant piece of horn jewelry to me than just a ring. I approve.
I am somewhat disappointed that we didn't get to see more happening between Twilight and Rainbow Dash's parents. The story alludes that they get along, but we don't get to actually see it, and the events of this story provided Khroma with a number of reasons to have a bad opinion of her.
Is this why breaking the amulet reinvigorated Rainbow Dash? Breaking the symbol of her holding onto her ideal of their relationship and not keeping up with... whatever, I'm just sort of bullshitting here. How did Rainbow Dash get that burst of power to defeat Nocturne? What did breaking the necklace accomplish, and how did that renew the Prism? Although I'm certain there are reasons for it, it comes off as a bit of a deus ex machina when we don't know what they are.
Complaints aside, however, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this series. Congratulations, and holy crap you write fast to come out with these final chapters in such rapid succession.
Loved the last chapter, especially the pictures that went with it. Remember reading you saying this was the end of the Disasterverse, but kinda hoping you can continue on. If not, a great way to end it.
I'm not going to lie, I squealed at the images at the end. Just the perfect happy ending right there.
6055537 remember back at the end of the second story, when Twi broke ver necklace? RD, desperate to find her, cleared the sky to search better, and charged the necklace with powerfull And largely unknown magic... A Sonic Rainboom.
She basically created super-charged magic batery full of the Prism's magic. That the nightmare made go boom in her face at point blank. A perfectly placed Chekhov Gun that had all the reason to be there And do what it did, And not even the characters realised it.
Nicely done, I'd say.
I do believe I speak for all of us when I say I'm expecting the 4th history ASAP. Chip chip, get to it, Quillery!
6056362 Ooooh, that's good. I know it doesn't mean much coming from someone who is always surprised by these things, but it's still impressive that you connected that.
No rush. But I cannot wait to see your take on a married Twidash. Seeing them finally be closer is going to be amazing. This story was fantastic! Hope you have a great time on your own disasterverse-trip. :D Seriously though, no rush on the next story if you decide to write it. Your world building is beyond great and I know you have to really plan it all out and be passionate about it.
Eeeeeeeeeeeee! They got married! YES! Happy ending!
Wait, I don't get what happen to the prism? did it fuse with RD or with the weather slash sun?
BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!!
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120228224010/mlp/images/e/ec/FANMADE_Twilight_Clapping.gif
ENCORE!!!
6057175 Essentially it shattered into billions of pieces and spread literally everywhere, ensuring that it's always in the sun and that no one can get all of it.
6058148 thanks, that make sense.
Oh man those pictures are perfect...who did them?
I put my music on shuffle to listen to while I read fanfiction. This is the song that was playing (and ending) as I finished this story (I found the song on youtube for this comment):
To think this all started from a night of stargazing......this has been an amazing ride and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
Keep up the awesome work!
6057175 It shattered into dust and was scattered throughout the globe by the rainboom. It is one with everything
6071030 Thanks. and what happened to the consious part, I mean the filly?
6071537
She shattered into dust and was scattered throughout the globe by the rainboom.
She is the Prism, after all.
Loved the story and picture at the end!
Sequel?
6134371 Why not?
6134391 perhaps simply because of how long I've spent following rainbow dash east.
6139600 Why is she going east, anyway?
6140266 That... Is not something I can answer in a single post, and even then not without significant spoilers, Suffice it to say if you are that curious, Read Austraeoh. I can understand the reluctance due to the lack of description and information, as well as the Immense size of the Story (Being only half finished and over 6 books long and Nearly 2 million words) but I guarantee That it's a story worth at least checking out, and (In my opinion at least) One of the best adventure stories I have found on Fimfics.
Hold your color against the wall...
Great adveturestory with the right amount of romance.
A thrilling story with a great fight against a very hateable villian, I couldn't stop reading. The romance part was fitted in perfect and brought the light in this rather dark adventure....
...literally.
A great TwiDash adventure, wich deserves a place in my Top 5 storys, just like it's prequel.
6205999 True. She's not Starlight Glimmer.
6205943 Twilight had enough negative emotions to use dark magic.
6206164
And Fluttershy has the ability to fly faster than Rainbow Dash in the direst of circumstances.
In both cases, one is more consistent than the other.
6206930 I was joking.
Huge fan of the first two stories in the trilogy... not so much this one. I don't mean to be slanderous, and this story is well-written and all, but i just feel like this entire story is unnecessary and has become something so different from the original story. Which is perfectly fine, but I just can't get behind this story as much... I feel as if the Twilight and Rainbow Dash from this story are not the same characters from Dreams and Disasters at all.
It's a good story and all, and I hope you keep writing for a long time to come, I just felt like I should voice my opinion
*Discovers Dreams and Disasters has a sequel*
*immediately favourites before I even start reading it*
Bloody rings
Bloody propositions
Bloody endings!!!
I loved this story!!!
I've only read straight shipping, but decided to give this series a go anyway...
I am now definatly a fan of Twidash...
Definatly not a bad thing to be converted to!
-X223blackwolf
I agree!
I take it back!
I really enjoyed this story!
Ok. Finally finished reading through all three of these stories, so now I'm ready to comment...
Holy Shit... That is all.
Ok, not really, but I had to get that out of my system.
I like to think I'm a Neutral Shipper. This means that while there are certain pairings I like to see they aren't a deal-breaker for me in any sense. Twi/Dash is one of the ships I enjoy watching sail out of port, true, but on the overall, I care much more about story quality and consistency with both the character's personalities when compared to Canon Material, as well as within the mythos that the story builds within itself. Stick with these points and a story makes its way into my "Rainy Day Shelf".
To get me to mark it as a "Favorite" Three things usually needs to happen:
1) The story in question either needs to be marked complete, or in the case of an incomplete story, be the Sequel or Side Story to a story that's already made its way into my Favorites Shelf. There are only Two Exceptions to this rule, partly because those two stories are what originally got me to give Ponies a try after months of my brother's pestering.
2) The Story in question needs to either make me think beyond its own scope, either on a philosophical level or as I imagine what could come next through its conclusion, leave me with a profound emotional impact that where calling them "The Feels" is a hollow and inadequate descriptor, attain supreme heights of Genuine "Epic" through its narrative either in its length or the scope of the plot (preferably both), or some combination of the above.
3) I have to actually Like the story in question, as even some stories that pass requirements 1 & 2 sometimes can leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth from disappointment of a wasted opportunity...
Congratulations. I just added Vanilla Twilight, Dreams and Disasters and Hold Your Color to my favorites Shelf.
I'm not really sure how I really feel about this particular fic, in truth. I really enjoyed Vanilla Twilight and Dreams and Disasters, but this fic really feels like it falls flat to me. Where the first two fics in the series were very much romantic slice of life, this story goes off as an adventure, and it really feels like it takes away from what made the first two stories so enjoyable to begin with.
I'm actually kind of reminded of how I felt when I was reading the section of your Dreams and Disasters story that took place in Prance. It just ended up feeling... out of place, the sudden adventure aspect of it. And the same feels very much true of this story on whole, relative to the other fics in the series; the whole 'my whole family is secretly KGB' thing, for example, just felt flat for me, and I actually liked Aurora as Rainbow's sassy russian aunt a lot more than as Rainbow's sassy russian aunt who is also a secret agent.
This chapter really feels like the best of all the chapters just because it really seems to get back to what was so enjoyable--what really worked--about the first two stories.
This is a great story. The characters fit for the most part, and they develop over the story, though not as much as the previous story. The action was great, and the overall idea was fascinating, all coming together into a fun ride, even with the grammatical and spelling errors. I would like to see a fourth story, but there's not much to do with what's left. You have the upcoming wedding and possible rehabilitation, which could make another great story, but that's about it.
So overall, if this is the ending to this series, well done. If not, I look forward to the next one.
I loved this series! Though sadly the picture at the end doesn't load, so I have no idea what all the comments about it were about :(
7989024
fixed.
looks like the original url of the image expired. oh well.
6071537
6076309
Oh, she's around... A little bit everywhere... Kinda all over the place...
Put that into physical terms, it kinda gets a little gross. :grenade:
Otherwise, this trilogy has been fun from the beginning to the end! Loved every bit of it! Kinda want to see Trixie's rehabilitation and how that would affect TwiDash's new married lives. But if you can't get one of those out, no biggy. This has been great! Even if I have compared it a bit much with Austraeoh. Probably just coinkidinkies.
Okay I guess it’s time to give my two cents about this story.
I’m a little late to the making of this beautiful trilogy (almost 4 years for this story), but still these 3 stories were very, very, very, very, very, good! And to think it started as just 2 mares stargazing long into the night. At first, I was a little hesitant about reading this story considering it felt like an unneeded prequel, but I can tell you I was satisfied with every chapter of this book. The ending was perfect in every way, leaving our imaginations to think of the rest of Twilight and Dash’s lives together, married.
I just want to to know that this was definitely the best trilogy I have ever read and probably be the best I ever will read. This story is definitely going on my favorite shelf and I don’t favorite just any story. Keep going strong even if you don’t see this very late comment. Just know that you brightened everyone’s life that read this story with your unique way of story telling.
I wish you the best of luck on stories and life to come,
-get_sniped_bro
Alright, this was every bit as good as Dreams and Disasters. I absolutely loved this series. I would love to see it continue but 4 years later I imagine you've moved on to other things.
Dear Quillery the Author,
Time to throw my hat into the ring about this story!
...
Darn, I missed.
Uhh, where was I... Oh yeah! Review time!
This. Was. SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUSLY GREAT! (The Mary Poppins doesn't make sense, but roll with it!)
THIS WAS GOOD! The ROMANCE! The ADVENTURE! That... One scene in the dream that I didn't really bother to read because i found it boring but that's a matter of personal opinion... YAY! All in all, this was a blast to read! There were so many scenes that gave amazing love advice, gave brilliant alt. Universe world building, and gave so much heart tugging and sinking! It was just... UGGGHH! IF ONLY I CAN DESCRIBE IN WORDS JUST HOW GOOD THIS ALL WAS. Not only was this entry good, the entire trilogy was! The first was the foundation of it all, which gave for a lot of interpretation and a lot of unknown-ness, as what love is. The second showed how that love began to bloom and also showed a lot about the characters that are present. This one gave it that adventurous and dark but still very hopeful and "love saves the day" story ending that you get from these kinds of stories. Not that it's a bad thing! It's like... Cheese! There are good cheese, bad cheese, smelly cheese, REALLY smelly cheese, cheese that just makes you go "Man, this is some good cheese," and cheese that makes you go "BEST. CHEESE. EEEVVVEEER!!!" This... Is that kind of cheese.
What I'm trying to say is, Quillery. You've done a beautiful, wonderful, so good that it was really really good job on this! This was a lot of fun to read!
Thanks! For the love, the pain, and the message.
That you really don't mess with a couple such as TwiDash.
Sincere thanks,
ImUnoriginal
P.S. I'm not sute if I followed you yet, BUT HAVE A FOLLOW ANYWAYS!!!
P.P.S. Sorry for yelling...