Magic Song

by TwiLanes

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Twilight watched Corey and Vinyl Scratch bob their heads to the newly recorded “Overthrown” – what Laney had decided to call her song. Frankly, Twilight had been surprised when she’d agreed to record it, but rest of the band had been very enthusiastic, so she supposed Laney had given in for them.

It was Grojband’s final day in Equestria, and later the party of zebras who had arrived in Ponyville, including Zecora and Zuri, were going to perform the ritual that would send them home. Before that, though, Pinkie had insisted on throwing them a party, so the entire town had gathered in the square to celebrate something they didn’t fully understand.

But Twilight and her friends did, and that was what mattered.

Everypony had stayed at the library that night, and the zebras had arrived in the morning, and after that Pinkie had volunteered all of them to help with the party setup, so no one had really been home except Twilight and Pinkie. Applejack was a bit miffed about that, but everyone else, even Rainbow Dash, was pleased to have a little more time with Grojband. In the short time they’d been in Equestria, they’d really become quite close.

Twilight stood by the punch table with Fluttershy and Mina, sipping at a mug of apple cider. “You know, apart from the world being in danger, this last week has been pretty fun,” she said, smiling.

“I suppose,” Fluttershy said. “I’m just glad to be home.”

“You will miss us though, right?” Mina asked.

“Of course I will! But while we were in zebra country, I missed my animals, and the way the sun hits the windows in the morning, and my relaxing spa day with Rarity, and Angel’s tail-fluffing day…”

Twilight spotted Rarity and Rainbow Dash bickering quietly about something by Town Hall. Applejack was sticking her head in a bucket of apples while Kin and Kon watched, Zuri was showing Laney and Corey how to braid grass, and Pinkie bounced around to check up on all the guests like she normally did. Everything was as close as it could be to being normal.

She’d even written a letter to the princess about what she’d learned:

Dear Princess Celestia,

This week I learned a lot of different lessons about friendship. I learned that you can make friends with ponies from very different places than you, even when they seem weird or untrustworthy to others. I learned that even the most beaten down ponies can stand up for themselves if they get help from a friend. And I learned that sometimes you can’t see what you feel for a pony until you lose that pony – and that sometimes it’s hard to work through the pain when you do. But if you keep going, sometimes friends might just surprise you.

I know that normally ponies don’t return from the dead. I asked Laney how she did it, and even she doesn’t know exactly what happened – something involving music, and stopping in the middle of her fall. She probably didn’t actually die, either. I’m going to study up on it. But you can lose a friend in other ways, and it can still be hard. Sometimes, though, those friends can show their worth and redeem themselves for not just you, but everyone. And that is the greatest gift of all.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

“Excuse me, Twilight, but do you mind? Grojband is playing hard to find,” Zecora said, appearing at Twilight’s shoulder and knocking her out of her reverie.

The unicorn gave a sheepish smile. “Oh – yeah, sorry. Fluttershy, would you and Mina round up everypony? It looks like the zebras are ready. And don’t forget, you don’t need to find Trina – she’s already in the library.”

The two mares nodded and scattered. Twilight turned back to Zecora. “Thanks for all your help,” she said, setting down her mug. “If not for you, I’m not sure how Grojband would get home.”

“We were happy to assist. I understand they will be missed.”

Twilight sighed. “Of course. But it was good to know them for even this short a time.”

The pair stood in silence for a minute, looking out over the vast crowd dancing in the plaza. It was weird to look out at the same old Ponyville and feel something different in the air, that deep down somewhere, things wouldn’t be quite the same as before. Twilight glanced at Zecora again. “Are you going to go back with the Umawe?” she asked. “In some ways, it seemed like you might be needed there.”

“I have decided to return to the tribe, for I too have felt this vibe,” the zebra said, nodding her head gravely. “But I will visit, so do not fret. You have not seen the last of me yet.”

It didn’t take long for Fluttershy and Mina to return with most of Twilight’s friends and all of the band members. Twilight could feel the electricity of excitement surrounding the group, but it was tinged with sadness. The joy of Grojband’s return was going to be a little bittersweet on both sides of the portal.

The group started walking in the direction of the library, but they’d barely gotten a few yards when Laney reached up to tug on Corey’s beanie. “We totally forgot!” the green mare said. “Nick Mallory! He’s nowhere to be found.”

“Neither is Applejack,” Rarity noted. “Perhaps she’s still looking for him?”

As if by magic, Applejack came thundering up the cobblestones, her Stetson barely clinging to her head. “Gals,” she panted, “mah brother found somepony Ah think y’all should probably know about.” Pointing a hoof behind her, the Earth pony took a second to catch her breath. “They’ll be along…just a minute.”

Sure enough, a pair of stallions were walking toward them, one with the familiar red coat of Big Mac, the other a brown Pegasus with a red-and-green-striped mane and tail. Kin squinted. “Is that…”

“Who I think it is?” Kon squealed.

“It’s Nick Mallory!” Mina said. “I’d know that attractive smirk anywhere!”

The stallions approached. It was then that Twilight noticed that Nick had his wing wrapped around Big Mac’s back. “Boys,” Applejack said, “is there somethin’ you’d like to tell Grojband?”

The corners of Nick’s mouth twitched slightly. “Nick Mallory’s going to stay in Equestria,” he said in a medium-speed drawl.

“He sounds like Trixie,” Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight.

Corey cocked his head, confused. “Uh, that’s great, but…why?”

“Nick likes apples,” Nick said.

“What?”

“Nick likes apples,” Nick repeated, gazing fondly into Big Mac’s eyes. “But only the red kind.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said, nuzzling the Pegasus on the nose.

“That is weird,” said Kin to no one in particular.

Corey, however, turned to Laney and grinned. “I can’t wait to see how Trina reacts to this.”

With the newly established couple tagging along, the group arrived at the Golden Oak, where the final goodbyes began. Hugs were passed out all around and, in the case of Pinkie Pie, final slices of cake or glasses of punch. Rainbow Dash and Laney shared one final hoof bump, and Kin and Kon gave Applejack something they called an Oreo hug (whatever that meant). Mina and Fluttershy hugged softly. “Thanks for everything,” Mina said. “I’d never have stood up to Trina without you.”

“Oh, it was nothing, really…” Fluttershy murmured, but Twilight saw the ghost of a smile on her lips. She turned to Laney next. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

Laney smiled, but couldn’t seem to think of anything to say. She accepted Fluttershy’s hug with a happy little sob.

When she came up to Corey, Rarity put her hoof on his. “Once again, I’m very sorry for all my attempts to get you to notice me,” she said, flicking a tendril of her mane out of her eyes. “I see now that Laney’s the mare for you.”

Corey blinked. “Oh, that’s what that stuff meant. Hey, no harm done.”

Twilight got a little teary herself when she said goodbye to Corey and Laney. “I made something special for all of you,” she said, pulling a tightly wrapped scroll out of her saddlebags, which lay in a heap on the ground. Corey took it in his hoof. “It’s sheet music for ‘Overthrown’,” Twilight continued, “so you can play it when you get home. So you won’t forget.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” Corey said, a grin spreading across his face. “But just so you know, there’s no way we’re gonna forget this. Ever.”

Zecora pushed open the library door. “Would you care to come in? Then the ceremony can begin.”

With one last group hug for everypony, Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon followed the zebra into the darkened tree. “Thanks again for everything!” Twilight heard the orange stallion call.

“No, thank you!” Twilight called back, but the door had closed. The unicorn turned back to her friends and noticed that every one of them had glistening eyes.

The last she heard of Grojband, besides the singing of the zebras and the thrum of the portal, was a loud scream that might have come from Trina.

---

Corey groaned and opened his eyes, blinking out the bright light that shone above him.

Where am I?

There were faint murmurs coming from his right, then circling around to the left. Corey tried to sit up, but something felt different – the shape of his spine, the orientation of his arms and legs, how he could no longer feel the thrum of magic in the middle of his forehead. He brought up his hand to rub the crust out of his eyes.

Wait…he had hands.

The blue-haired boy pushed with all his might until he was sitting on his butt, shaking his head to clear his vision and hearing. The voices grew louder, and he realized that he recognized one of them: that of his doppelgänger, Carrie Beff.

“I don’t even – what the heck, Riffin?” Carrie yelled, throwing up her arms (but carefully, so as not to mess up her nicely tuned guitar). “Where did you even come from?”

Corey ignored her, instead scanning the area for his bandmates. He squinted – wait, no, those are the Newmans – and finally saw Kin, Kon, and Laney, laying in another dog pile a little ways behind him. There were some pretty rocking posters on the walls, and a sweet beanbag chair, but he didn’t recognize anything, except maybe a soft noise coming from outside the wooden walls.

“Is this your garage?” Corey asked, a little woozily.

“What do you care?” Carrie said, scowling. “I asked you, where did you even come from?”

“I know.” Corey experimentally wiggled his fingers, then raised himself to his feet. He was a little wobbly, but it wouldn’t take long to get used to being his beautiful old self again. Plus, we’ve got our clothes back! Phew, I was hoping this wouldn’t have to be any more awkward.

Carrie opened her mouth to ask something else, but Kin and Kon’s eyes snapped open and the pair leapt to their feet. “Did it work?” Kin asked.

“You bet it worked! We’re back in Peaceville, baby!” Corey exclaimed, taking a cautious step.

Kon relaxed, then proceeded to wiggle his feet in the air one at a time. “It feels really weird to be walking on two legs again.”

“Okay, I don’t know what you losers are talking about, but back to the important stuff here: HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY GARAGE?”

Corey turned to Carrie and patted her on the shoulder, ignoring her painfully obvious flinching. “If we told you, Beff, we’d have to kill you.”

The girl spluttered, then pointed an angry finger at Corey. “Well, whatever you’ve been doing, it’s totally taking away your practice time. You’ve been gone for a week! You’re gonna flop at the battle of the bands tonight! Newmans rule, Grojband drools!”

“I don’t think we’re gonna go to that after all,” Corey said, still mostly focused on relearning how to walk in a circle. “You guys have fun, though.”

Kin’s double, Kim, gasped aloud. “You can’t do that! We’re nemeses! It’s like, against the rules to miss out on showing each other up!”

“Then we should be friends instead.” Laney was still sitting on the floor, but she was awake, and spoke loudly enough to be heard.

“Excuse me? FRIENDS? I’d rather be friends with a troop of rabid squirrels than you,” Carrie scoffed. The rest of the Newmans snickered.

Corey grinned, then pulled Laney to her feet. “Actually, I think I could deal with that. Maybe we should set up a hangout session, new friends. After all, friendship’s a pretty magical thing.” Supporting the little bassist, he walked over to the garage door and expertly raised it. “See you around?”

Kin and Kon high-fived as they followed their frontman outside, leaving the now thoroughly confused Newmans and their grungy garage behind them.

“So we’re not going to the battle of the bands?” Laney asked. “I thought that was gonna be our next big break.”

“I think we could use an actual break, to tell the truth,” Corey replied, shifting his arms around Laney’s back. He suddenly realized that he was touching her, which made the familiar red heat creep up the back of his neck. “Maybe we’ll have a sleepover tonight at my place, just to hang out and blow off some steam after our little adventure.”

Laney smiled, making Corey’s heart melt into a bigger puddle of goo than it already had during their previous kiss. “I’d like that.”

A bundle of clothes and messed-up hair was huddled at the end of the driveway. As the band came closer, Corey started to make out Trina’s patent-leather shoes and Mina’s oversized glasses. “Is everything okay over here?” he asked, a little hesitantly.

Mina looked up at him. “She’s a little upset about Nick,” she explained, running her fingers through Trina’s pink hair. “She’s crying.”

A sob from the head in Mina’s lap confirmed this.

“She, uh, also apologized for the way she’s been treating me, so…” Mina blushed a tiny bit, then shifted her arm, allowing Trina to sit up.

“I – I’m really sorry, you guys…” Trina’s eyes were full of tears, and she kept sniffling, but she didn’t slow down. “I g-guess I just didn’t care b-before…About you, about anything except getting the p-perfect guy…I feel s-so stupid and shallow, but…c-can I try to fix that? Corey, c-can we s-start over?”

Corey cocked his head, trying to decide if she was for real or not. She’d used to do stuff like this a lot, to trick him into letting down his guard, but this time she seemed pretty genuine. She definitely had the pathetic, truly-sorry face going for her.

But what if she’s lying?

He shook that thought out of his head. What would Twilight and her friends do?

Using that philosophy, there was really only one thing he could do. With a smile on his face, Corey leaned down and hugged his sister for the first time in probably ten years. “I forgive you.”

Trina sobbed and squeezed the life out of him. For once, he didn’t really mind.

Back in their own garage, the band members were all over their instruments. Kon slapped his bongos around until his hand was sore, while “Oh, A flat!” Kin squealed happily as he played a note. “Oh, C major chord! Oh, F sharp!”

Laney strummed her bass. “Oh, it’s good to be back.”

“You said it,” Corey replied, slinging the strap of his own guitar around his neck. “Although I do miss our friends.”

Kon’s bongo-ing suddenly fell flat. “Pinkie Pie, Applejack…”

“Fluttershy,” Corey agreed. “Rarity.”

“Rainbow Dash.”

“Twilight…”

All four of the band members collectively sighed.

“So,” Laney said, breaking the nostalgically awkward silence, “Other than meeting all the ponies, and figuring out that I can write totally boss lyrics, what did we really get out of that trip? And another joke about Kin’s malfunctioning machinery doesn’t count.”

Corey stood up, hitching his guitar strap off of his shoulder. The lights seemed to dim around him as he took a breath. “Is the question really what we got out of the trip? Or what we got out of our real life experience? It might seem like a dream, but it was true. And it did teach us some pretty important stuff.

“Like, there isn’t anything you can’t overcome when you have your friends by your side. We all have our rough patches, but comparing us to sandpaper is like comparing the sands of time to a patchwork quilt. We can always learn enough from our mistakes to save the multiverse from mass destruction.” He paused, inspected his friends’ slightly baffled faces, then continued.

“Another lesson is that people can change if we just give them a chance. The chance of a lifetime could make or break your chances for a future. And sometimes, you can’t even make your own chance, so you have to trust the chance that someone else will make that chance. Whether it’s getting a hug from your sister or letting a misguided unicorn into your circle of friends, that chance might just be what everyone needed.

“Finally, I learned that love is a beautiful thing.” He checked to make sure that Laney was listening before he went on. “Love can bloom anywhere, with anyone, suddenly or slowly. When you love someone, you trust them with all you have, and they do the same. You stay with them through everything. You laugh with them, you cry with them, or you go on this crazy adventure with them. Whatever the cause of it is, when two people truly love each other, it lasts a lifetime."

Corey caught his breath, and also his heart, which felt like it was about to crawl out of his throat. He was so stuck in Laney’s eyes that he barely noticed the light return to the rest of the garage.

“Wow, Core,” Laney whispered. “That last part would make some great lyrics.”

“Yeah.”

“You know, when we kissed before, we were still ponies.” Laney took a step onto the stage, then smiled hesitantly. “You want to see what it’ll feel like here in our universe?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Corey said, leaning down so that he practically fell into the kiss, wrapping his arm around the shorter girl’s waist and lifting her into the air.

“Darn it,” he heard Kin mutter to Kon from the direction of the couch. “Here’s your ten bucks.”

“How was that, Core? More magical than friendship?” Laney laughed breathlessly as they finally broke apart.

Corey smiled, letting his girlfriend’s head lean against his chest. “Almost, Lanes. Almost.”

Author's Note:

Thanks for taking this long, abrupt, hiatus-filled journey with us! I'm sorry it took so long to make this edited story a finished and complete reality.

We will most likely not be on often for a while, as we haven't been able to write much lately, but you know what? That's okay.

Someday, I'm sure, we will write again. When that day comes, we hope you will check that out too!

Special thanks to FireWolfGoddess, our follower. Haha we sound pathetic, but we don't really care about that either - if our work brings joy to even one person we're glad. We appreciate your devotion to the story, FireWolfGoddess, and sorry again for all the waiting we made you do!

Thanks for coming out, everyone!

Comments

[Pimp_Bowser]

Thank you for this. I was getting a bit antsy about it. I really enjoyed it.

[Pony_Crossovers]

This just made my night. It kind of sucks that this is the only grojband story on fimfiction, but it still rules! You guys are pretty good at writing. Thanks for making this awesome story

Also, the Big Mag and Nick Mallory thing just made me laugh, that was amazing.