Guest Epilogue: A Taste Of Home (By Midnight Shadow)
The
Taste
Of
Grass
Special Guest Epilogue by Midnight Shadow
Epilogue: A Taste Of Home
Amber Nova looked down at the letter. It was... disturbingly plain. It lay innocently on top of another letter, a far older letter.
The first bore the Royal Seal of the Pony Sisters. The second the seal of the First Bank of Clydesdale; the name on the back was well known to her - but to very few others. That the letters had both found their way to her meant it was the official sort of business which was hard to ignore, even for the Grand Mage of the Royal Unicorn Corps.
Amber Nova’s brow furrowed. Whilst the name on the back was well known to her, the name on the front was even more so.
Amber Nova stood up, stretching. At something over a hundred and twenty, even with the control of magic she possessed, such an age was nothing to be sneezed at. She idly wondered if she’d live to be as old as her famed predecessor, Comet Tail. She also wondered if she wanted to.
“Ma’am? Is... is something wrong? Do you wish to make your inspection early?”
“No, Star Jewel, no. There is a rather... personal matter I must attend to. I must journey.”
“Great Mage, I shall make the carriage ready.”
Nova huffed and scowled, “I thought I made it clear that this was personal business. I will not be requiring the carriage. I shall travel myself.”
“B-b-but Great One...”
“Enough! I was not asking your opinion, I was not seeking your approval. Am I some foal needing my nostrils wiped and my tail cleaned? Perhaps thou dost desire to check if my weaning has proceeded apace? Begone.”
Star Jewel fled.
Amber Nova relaxed, and snorted. She had yet to instill the kind of fear that could cause the expulsion of bodily fluids as her predecessor had, but there was time. Oh yes, there was time, for her. For others, time oft ran out.
She lifted the first letter in front of her with her magic, positioning the glasses upon her nose and squinting through them. One of these days, she thought to herself, I must learn that spell to bend the air like a lens, but then glasses are kind of an expected feature of mine, and far more intimidating to stare down.
A small smile played her lips as she reminisced about her rise to power - power, but never glory. No, she wasn’t one for glory, despite the position she held. She had it because she deserved it, not particularly because she wanted it.
The smile left her lips as her suspicions were confirmed.
“Mother.”
* * * * *
“Mommy! Why! No! I don’t wanna go!”
Caprice sniffed, weeping openly, “We must, my little one. We... we are no longer welcome in Summerland.”
“But I don’t wanna! Fluffy Stuff and Big Bear don’t have to move! Why do we?”
“Mommy...”
“And Daddy, not to be forgetting Daddy, Sweetness.”
Alexi, her Alexi. Her beautiful, proud Alexi.
“And Daddy,” Caprice leaned into her stallion, burying her head in his mane, “has to leave. That means you do too, love.”
“If you’re leaving, so am I!” Pumpkin said, trotting smartly up to the peach pony. A disappointed Blueberry followed her.
Strawberry skittered around Caprice’s hooves, bleating. She could talk, she’d been talking for a while, but today... today she felt sad, shocked, worried. Mommy wasn’t... wasn’t being Mommy like she should.
“There there, Strawberry. We’ll be alright.” Caprice bent down and licked her foal, her so very loved, so very special foal.
“We’ll all be alright. all of us. Together.” Pumpkin nuzzled Caprice, whose face lit up with the tiniest of smiles. Alexi curved a wing over his peach princess.
Caprice burst into tears again. She’d been doing that a lot, lately, ever since she’d been Venice one last time. She’d... she’d thought it was what everypony had wanted. There’d been cheers, hoof-stomps, celebrations, but then... no, Caprice, we don’t have any more pie. No, Caprice, we don’t have any fruit to spare. No, Caprice, I can’t watch Strawberry today. No, Caprice, Biscuit is sick and can’t play with Buttermilk.
Hopeful road now led somewhere, she realized, her heart heavy. This fact hadn’t brought joy, instead it had brought nothing but sadness.
Hopeful Road, she realized, led away.
Caprice’s eyes filled with tears as she took one last look back at the village. Her village, their village. Summerland. Lost in the wilderness of the Exponential Lands, they’d braved drought, they’d faced starvation. They’d made it rain like the ancient gods of old... and finally, they’d been found, rescued... and promised an easy life. The poison chalice, even here in Equestria.
Caprice hadn’t stood for it. No, Caprice had fixed everything with the help of her old self, Venice. She’d stared down a goddess, taunted a princess and had got her way, like so many times before... and Summerland, Only Mountain, The Galloping Gardens, even the forest, the cloud castle and the racetrack, had been moved, just like that, a distance so great she could barely imagine it - and all in a heartbeat. She hadn’t even noticed. Nopony had, at first.
Everypony in the village had been famous, of course, and for a time it was good. The stories started soon after however - the stupid newfoals had thought themselves lost in the Exponential Lands and instead had just been a few furlongs out of Salt Lick City.
Silly newfoals, foolish newfoals.
Caprice hadn’t cared. Nopony had cared, at first, but then the realities had hit home. They didn’t have money, they didn’t have resources. All they had was a fantastic tale that nopony would believe and a hill with pretentions.
The only other thing they had was somepony to blame.
Caprice.
The only thing Caprice had... was Alexi. And Pumpkin. And Strawberry, and Buttermilk.
Caprice lifted her head high, squared her shoulders and flicked her tail. She kicked her back hooves one after like she was cleaning them from an accident in the little mares’ room. Caprice would leave and never return, and she would take her family with her.
For the second time in her life, she left everything behind. Well no, not quite everything. This time she had everything she needed.
“Kyllä tämä tästä.” Alexi whispered.
“Is this all the great Alexi has to say for himself?” teased Caprice.
“Ah, my peach princess, such words as Alexi Venäläinen would say are not suitable for such sweet ears as yours.”
“Try me!”
Alexi had rolled his eyes, spread his wings, puffing himself up to be as big as possible. “Te saatte kaikki haista paska! Saatanan kusipäät!”
“And what did my big strong husband say to Summerland?”
“Alexi was, ah, wishing them well.” The pegasus seemed rather reluctant to explain the precise meaning, but Caprice wasn’t about to argue, for once.
“Then Caprice wishes they would haista paska as well.”
The family, the herd, set off trotting with nothing but what they carried.
As Summerland disappeared into the haze behind them, Caprice felt the sun on her back. She soon found herself in the wilds again. This part of the Exponential Lands was no longer the desert it had become just after its amazing creation as pristine wilderness from the dead husk of Earth. With the resurgence of ponykind, most of them newfoals, it had blossomed. From desert to paradise, to desert... to paradise again. Maybe there was a lesson there, she reasoned.
She let her mind wander, as her family, her herd, moved. When they called a halt, instinctively she bent her head and cropped the sweet grass.
Tears fell, again, but this time at something she’d forgotten. Summerland village had grown self-sufficient during it’s brief exile, and the need for such things had ended. Now, out of necessity, Caprice re-learned the simple truth. She had forgotten just how wonderful it was to just taste the grass.
* * * * *
Amber Nova walked out of Canterlot Castle, alone, nothing but two almost-empty saddlebags on her back. All marks of her station were left behind in that stuffy dungeon better known as the Sacred Guildhouse of the Royal Unicorn Corps. Those dundering blockheads known as the Royal Unicorn Corps would breathe a collective sigh of relief at her sudden holiday and disappearance. Likely they would share round the faint hope that she had left for good, so somepony a little bit less like Comet Tail the Insufferable could take over, and they could all get back to the quiet life they’d been enjoying before those blasted newfoals turned everything upside down.
Amber laughed to herself, and broke into a trot, then a canter, and finally a gallop. As she moved, she weaved a spell. This spell was rather important to her, and she mentally made a note to practice it more often. It was her spell, she had created it, it had given her her name. Its creation was what led to her getting accepted to Celestia’s prestigious School for Gifted Unicorns, and its perfection was what led to her almost meteoric rise to power.
Her horn burst into light, sparks spun from her hooves, and she began to really move. She moved without moving, her body slipping the mere bonds of space and time to jump kilometers at a time, bending the very fabric of reality around her to cross vast distances in moments. Very few unicorns could manage her spell for long, none could keep pace with her - save the princesses, but they didn’t seem to need to. Most unicorns had never given the idea any thought - if they wanted to go anywhere, they would teleport. Amber Nova was different. Amber Nova was a newfoal.
Amber Nova had another name, one she was returning to.
One her mother had given her, many years before.
Amber Nova, Great One of the Royal Corps, was better known to a very select few as Buttermilk.
Buttermilk was going home.
* * * * *
The house was small, modest, unassuming. Few knew that the pony who had lived here was a newfoal, let alone a newfoal who had had the temerity to face down a god. Amber idly wondered if her fate had been a curse or a blessing. As she nosed her way inside, she caught the faint whiff of decay and death. It caused her ears to flick back against her skull and she silently admonished herself for it.
“Madame, as first of kin, we alerted you. You... were not easy to find.”
“My mother and I did not always see eye to eye, she preferred to keep herself to herself.”
“According to your wishes, we have preserved her body, and-”
“Thank you, that will be all.”
“But-”
“I said thank you, that will be all.”
The constable pony bowed his head, nervously. This strange yellow pony with the burning yellow eyes quite turned his water. He skittered out of the house and excused himself on some makeshift errand. Amber watched him from the window and laughed. Then she turned to the old mare on the bed.
Once this mare had been peach-coloured, she had smelled of love and milk. Now, she was gone.
Amber bent her head reverently, and gave her mother one final kiss. “I’m sorry, Mama, please forgive me.”
* * * * *
“You never let me do anything I want! We always have to move! Don’t talk to the boys! Don’t stay out late! Don’t this, don’t that!”
“But Butter-”
“Clop off, Mom!”
Caprice had bit her tongue, shaken. She remembered her father, long, long ago in another life. She remembered, however briefly, her mother. Venice had been alone, even when surrounded by adoring suitors. Caprice on the other hoof had very few members of her herd, and she needed every single one of them. Now, one of them was seemingly leaving.
“Please, Buttermilk.”
“That’s not my name.”
Caprice had turned away so her daughter wouldn’t see her tears, “Then... what is?”
“I don’t know. I’ll tell you when I know. Goodbye, Mom.”
“Please...”
“I love you, Mom, but... I have to go.”
And just like that, she’d left. The stipend and scholarship in her bags, she’d left.
Oh, she’d made contact with her mother again, but briefly and infrequently. Then, slowly, not at all. Now, it was too late. Her father, Alexi Venäläinen, had consoled her mother at the loss of their eldest daughter. Eventually he too had passed on.
She’d shown up for the funeral, of course, and she’d done something she hadn’t understood until now. There were two jars in her saddlebags. One was empty, the other held nothing but ashes. She’d stolen the body of her father out from under the noses of everypony and had secreted his remains away. She hadn’t understood it. She’d loved her father, she’d loved her mother. She hadn’t been able to stand them, but she’d loved them.
“Mother,” she whispered, “I brought Father to see you. You’re going to be together again, forever.”
The mage-fire burned hot, far hotter than any fuelless fire had any right to burn. To some the scene would be grizzly, the stench unbearable. Amber Nova watched dispassionately as the body of her mother burned in the white-hot flames. It didn’t take long, and she didn’t flinch, not for a moment, as she held the body aloft. It was effortless for her to keep the fire going as she rendered the mortal remains of one of the ponies most dear to her to nothing but white ash.
Eventually the flames died out, the floating ball cooled, and Amber funnelled the ashes into the urn. Wordlessly, she sealed the top and placed the urn in her saddlebags.
Mother would go home where she belonged, and if those ridiculous ingrates in Summerland dared whisper so much as a smidgeon of disapproval she would turn them all to sheep and set the dogs on them. She’d buy dogs, train them specially and then set them on the sheep.
Amber Nova traversed Equestria in a blaze of light, sliding through some nether-corridor that so very few ponies understood. Within a few minutes she had crossed half a continent, and came to rest in the middle of a desert, just outside Salt Lick City.
There was a road. One road. The only road, still. Now, however and to her great surprise, this one lonely road was almost a megahighway of the sort she had learned had existed in Old Earth before it had been gobbled up like some gobstopper. She was an expert with her magic, and there was a distinct lack of explosions and screams from her sudden arrival - it was, after all, a rather dangerous spell to the uninitiated - but she could hardly have been more shocked.
“You stupid old mare,” she whispered to herself, “did you really think nothing would change in a hundred years?”
The village was a village no longer. Neither was it a town, it was practically a city. Amber stared up at the raceway, thronging with pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies alike. Cloud walking spells and smoke-powered elevators, all the crazy hallmarks of newfoals that other places, even places such as Manehatten and especially stuffy metropoli such as Canterlot, lacked.
Presently, she heard music, and had to jostle to pass through the growing crowds. Eventually she was stopped by a large red ribbon, set between two bollards.
No, she realised, it was a huge long makeshift fence. The main street lay beyond, and this was where the music was coming from. A marching band, some hundred strong, meticulously in time, paraded down Main Street to rapturous applause and an almost constant rain of confetti.
“Excuse me,” asked Amber of a passing pony, “I’m trying to get to Alexi’s Hill... what is all this?”
“Alexi’s Hill? No chance, miss, though you can hear the address from almost anywhere.”
“Address? Why... why can’t I get to Alexi’s Hill?”
“The ceremony - don’t you know about it? I thought everypony knew about the ceremony. It’s Capricious Day, don’t you know? What on Equestria are you here for if it’s not to celebrate Capricious Day?”
The pony moved off, ostensibly to get a better look. Amber, not to be denied, followed. She soon found herself heading in a general wave towards a hill in the distance.
That has to be it, she thought to herself, but what is all this... bedlam?
“My good sir, either you inform me what this... Capricious Day is, or I shall forcibly remove your hooves and stuff them in your ears.”
“It’s Founders Day, when we celebrate the founders of Summerland City, Summerland County. Look, listen, Mayor Mare’ll be along in a tick... there she is! Mayor Droplet the Third. Woohoo! Mayor! Go Mayor! I voted for you!” the un-named pony shouted, waving a hoof and stomping.
“That’s it! Founders Day or not, I have had enough!”
Amber Nova ducked under the ridiculous red ribbon and stormed past the carriage being pulled by four earth ponies. With her tail held high, she cantered up Main Street, through the band, who broke left and right, their melody falling away into squeaks and wild trumpets, and up to Alexi’s Hill.
She had been expecting to see nothing.
When she’d left, not that she really remembered, the hill had been nothing but a hill. Her family had stood their lonely, symbolic vigil on that hill, so very long ago. From it, Alexi and Caprice had pulled their little fledgling community together, before they had been so cruelly cast out.
Now though, now the hill was not just a hill. Upon it were two things.
One was a wall of black basalt with golden chicken-scratch Equestrian names on it, one hundred and fifty two of them, if her count was correct.
The other was a statue, or rather a monument - a collection of statues.
Amber fell on her rump, just as the cantering constable ponies surrounded her.
“Ello ello, what’s all this then?”
“Constables, my good sirs, I can handle this. Madame, please, are you quite alright?”
“What... what is all this?”
“That? That’s the wall. This side has on it every pony who lived in Summerland, during the five year exile, every pony, so that we do not forget. The other side... has the name of every victim of Windfeather’s plot. Once a year, my dear, we gather here and read their names.”
“And... what,” Amber’s voice faltered, “what is that?”
Mayor Droplet the Third cleared her voice, and activated the amplification spell, “That is the monument to our greatest folly, our greatest shame. That is the monument to the five, to Caprice, Alexi, Pumpkin, Buttermilk and Strawberry.”
“Shame? Shame? How dare you...” Amber’s voice was ice cold.
Mayor Droplet took a step back, “I don’t... I don’t think you understand. This is a monument to our founders, to honour their name. We tell the story every year, lest we forget. When this town was founded, one hundred and twenty five years ago, it was lost in the Exponential Lands. Five years they were out there, living off grass, fighting to build a community, braving the elements. They were newfoals, stranded by sedition and treason, left to die. Against all odds, they survived. They thrived, as true Equestrians would, better even! After the five long years of isolation, they were found.”
Amber spoke up, interrupting, “The princesses appeared on that day, to oversee the transferral. We were to be moved.”
“We?”
“They had decided, we were going to get a new home, and all we had to do was pay the price. Thirty pieces of silver, my mother called it. I don’t know what she meant.”
“Your mother?”
“Caprice. I remember, though I didn’t understand. She rolled around in the grass, pointing up at the sky, at all the buildings. They were such pretty colours. We lived in tents, you know, at first. Just one tent, to start with.” Amber started to cry, “We figured out how to make rocks, where to get salt from, how to make it rain. We grew our own food, made a forest... and they were going to take everything away from us. Everything we’d built. Mother couldn’t let that happen. She taunted the princess, and for her crimes, the whole village was moved, just like that. I know how she did it now, the princess. I’m one of the few who do. I could never do it, not on that scale...”
“You..?” Mayor Droplet was all but speechless.
“Do you know what they did to my mother, my family, to me? They kicked us out.”
“...Who are you?” asked Mayor Droplet, in a strained voice.
Amber walked up to the monument, to a small unicorn foal. The monument was some metal, dark with age, but the likeness was surprisingly accurate.
“My mother was Caprice, my father was Alexi. My name is Buttermilk. I have come to bring my mother and father home.” Amber floated the two urns out of her saddlebags, where they were taken by the astonished mayor.
The crowd grew silent. At the front of the throng were a whole host of ponies of all shapes, sizes and colours. As one, they stepped towards the butter-yellow unicorn, looked into her eyes, and bowed.
Mayor Droplet the Third, with tears in her eyes, spoke first, “My grandmother realised her error a long time ago, but it was too late, we could never find Caprice or her family to apologize. We always hoped we’d get the chance to... to say sorry, to beg her forgiveness. We’d let the same base pettiness we’d thought better left behind us overcome our better judgement. Caprice took away our ‘easy life’ when she arranged to have Summerland moved, but she gave us so much more. She gave us our dignity, our pride, and our home. In her honour we named her birthday as Founders Day, as Capricious Day.”
Mayor Droplet turned to the crowd, “She gave us Summerland!”
The crowd roared, and Amber Nova wept.
The Lost In The Herd Series:
One: The Big Respawn,
Two: Euphrosyne Unchained,
Three: Letters From Home,
Four: Teacup, Down On The Farm
The Conversion Bureau Novels:
27 Ounces: A story of eight and one half ponies
The Taste Of Grass
The Conversion Bureau: Code Majeste
The Conversion Bureau: The 800 Year Promise
The Conversion Bureau: Going Pony
The Novellas:
The PER: Michelson and Morely
The Reasonably Adamant Down With Celestia Newfoal Society!
The Short Stories:
Her Last Possession
The Conversion Bureau: PER Equitum
The Conversion Bureau: Brand New Universe
Tales Of Los Pegasus
The Non-Conversion Bureau Fanfics:
The Ice Cream Pony Summer
Around The Bend
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Now THAT'S what I call an epilogue. Bra-vo!
Isn't Midnight Shadow just the best? His writing is why I am here at all. Man, I needed this. I needed this.
Curse you MidnightShadow! You just had to make me cry again, right when I thought I'd gotten over chapter 29!
This is the perfect happy ending. It may not be the perfect ending but it makes me extremely happy.
It gives closing
Absolutely wonderful. This makes it quite a bit happier. Although it is still incredibly sad that it ended as such.
It duth so warm the coccles of me heart
Ok, yeah, I'm crying now. This is an excellent addition to an already wonderful story.
78579 maybe below the coccles, maybe in the liver, maybe in the kidneys maybe even in the colon....we don't know
It's an infinite inspiration loop! Friendship is magic.
Of course, this means that I have to have a shipping fic between Chatoyance and Midnight now. 
So, Chatoyance, have you changed your attitudes to Pony technology? Because by now Newfoal tech is totally fannoncannon. You have no excuse now not to reply to the comments on your blogs eventually, and I really want to hear what you think now.
This fic is good. Really good. As in, if you want to, I can try and argue with the others on the Ponychan Conversion Buerau thread to try and get this up on Equestria Daily eventually. (After Change of Life, though. That one deserves it just as much and is older than yours.) It's completely unique among the other CB stories, and each of the three endings (29, 30, and epilogue? Yikes!) are amazing pieces even if read completely out of context. Chapters 1-28 blow me away enough, but this is getting ridiculous.
Now THIS is why teamwork wins. This was...fantastic. The two of you constantly make me deeply grateful to have found my way into the Brony community.
Aerostatica is probably a wonderful place... if you're born there. I really want to read a fic based off this, first person Windfeather. But I think I'm probably the only one who would be willing to write something so out there, (and do all the work of fleshing out Aerostatica,) and when it comes to me writing the score is me-0 universe-alot. I would love to see you do a picture though Chatoyance!
Yeah, I got these two most recent comments mixed up. Derp!
78613
I now understand a new word, 'headcanon' and in grasping it, comprehend another aspect as to why I -and some others to be fair- was so upset over seeing things like a hydroelectric dam in episode 9 of season 2.
That said, my headcanon is based on actual canon, at least as first described by Lauren Faust; she later amended her statements about the Early Renaissance technology of Equestria to say that logic was not very important anymore in the show, but... the fact is that I fell in love with her first vision of the place, and I still argue that the issue isn't technology level per se - but rather world self-consistency. I think logic IS important, because having a stable, defined, non-looney tunes world is what makes MLP:FIM special.
Consider another animation series, one I respect a lot, Avatar, The Last Airbender. Wonderful world, wonderful story, wonderful characters. Now, imagine episodes of that show done up as parodies of big budget movies like Superman and Batman, with inappropriate technology tossed in to sell cheap gags. Sucks just to imagine it, doesn't it?
For me, Equestria isn't a funny gag cartoon like Animaniacs. For me, Equestria is a unique place with sapient equinoids who study friendship as a form of magic.
Now, the steampunk airships, oh, I have no problem with. MOAR. But cheap cultural references? That hurts. I prefer an Equestria that tries to seem as real a world as Avatar's pan-asian world, or, for that matter, the 1400's of The Seven Cities Of Gold. Or the modern day France of Code Lyoko.
I just want a self-consistent world, not cheap gags. That is my true issue. Bottom line: I LOVE Equestria. I couldn't write the kind of stories I do if I didn't.
If they had given a decent reason for the hydro dam, one that wasn't just a Superman The Movie gag, I wouldn't have had a problem in the world. It's all in how such things are used. I kind of demand thoughtful worldbuilding in my entertainment, unless the entertainment is labelled clearly 'wacky hijinks' like Tiny Toons.
As for wishing I could be recognized by Equestria Daily, well, I'd be a fool to not desire that. ED is kind of the most important focus of MLP fandom; being accepted by it would be almost as wonderful as if Blaze himself told me that he thought my take on the Conversion Bureau was his favorite of all. Sweet Luna, that would rock, wouldn't it? A pony can dream...
I'll never like episode 9, probably, but the writer of that episode did brilliantly with Hearth's Warming, which I adored.
Oh, I should mention; personally I don't see any conflict between the Hearth's Warming myth and the history of Discord and Celestia and Luna; I cannot imagine a world without mutually competing myths and stories filled with apocryphal details. Hearth's Warming doesn't have to be literally true to be useful to the society it exists in - just like any mythology.
78690
I agree with this, but what you're not saying is that everything else you stated in the original blog post is incorrect! Luna was TOTALLY- uh, that stuff should probably stay in the comments on the blog post, not this story. But to agree with you some more: Cheap gags and non-self consistency have bugged me alot too. Remember the mule joke in season one? I just ignore that stuff, but I wish it wasn't there in the first place.
Also, I think you meant episode 8, not 9.
78690
The way I reconcile the story of Hearth's Warming is that in the ancestral home, the ponies were ruled in a very loose sense by Dischord. When some of the ponies set out to be free of his divisive rule, they finally worked together, and the magical burst of harmony that their friendship brought about became a thing in and of itself, that burning heart became Celestia and Luna, their forms representing the union of the three tribes. Led by the personification of their friendship, avatars of goddesses of the realm, they returned to defeat Dischord and free the rest of ponykind.
78690
As a pre-reader for EqD, I'd happily vouch for this going up on EqD. I'm fairly certain Midnight would do the same.
Actualy, if you think about it, thay had created lots of things in that little town that would have made the lot of them rich, far more than what thay where being 'offered.' but no one thought about it. Just the lipping tabs was an invention with millions of bits, the cloud beds usable by non pegasi? Come on, that would have been sold everywhere! I am sure once thay had the chance, thay would have been able to really make something of themselves. But, its also easy to let a momants indiscression mess with you for the rest of your life.
78829
I do agree.
Well, the ponies of Summerland aren't the first set of equines to regret doing something motherblessed dumb and they aren't going to be the last.
77776
Oh good grief, I only just read this and I can't stop laughing! You monster!
78613
...shipping fic?
That's where Midnight and Chatoyance are sending packages to each other, yes?
I recall back in chapter 29 leaving a comment mentioning how I was saddened at the rest of Summerland's reaction to losing the fame and fortune. IF it had been left at that I would have had to believe that Windfeather was partly right due to this group of newfoals holding on to these really human feelings and reactions. It may not have been the total horror that Windfeather was probably thinking but there was that shred of humanity that came thru in that "ending".
This epilogue though...it is what proves Windfeather wrong about the newfoals. Not that they could survive where he thought they couldn't. Not that they actually made it back to Equestria proper and were welcomed into society. What really proves Windfeather wrong was that they could overcome their old humanity and realize that they truly made a mistake in how they treated Alexi's family. That was their shining achievement as Equestrians.
I am sorry to say this, and much as I love to see your work on EQD, it might not happen anytime soon.
recently, http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/11/story-conversion-bureau-last-man.html this was posted, suggesting a (temporary) stop on Conversion Bureau fics (it says so right next to the [sad] tag).
Still, for all it is worth, you have my vote to have this frontpage'd on EQD.
79260
There are a few more stories I think we'd do well to see on EqD, and to be honest this is one of the better ones. Change of Life, Mare's Tail, maybe my stuff, but Chatoyance's collection from start to finish is a definite yes.
You know what I want to know? What ultimately happened to Sweetpepper and Gold Rivet, and Summer Raincloud and Sandcastle. Sweetpepper and Gold Rivet the most, because I find it hard to believe that they'd participate in the other's negative reaction to Caprice, Alexi and the family
I can't remember how I first found one of your fics, but it was quite possibly the best chance discovery I have made in quite a while. You are an amazing writer, who can weave an interesting and intriguing story with likable characters that are so easy to become attached to. This is a rare and wonderful talent. I began reading from your first story through to this most recent one, and I have never failed to fall in love with your characters and the tales they reside in. You have become my favorite conversion bureau fic writer hands down, if not my favorite pony fic writer period.
Of course, that meant that chapter 29 of this story sort of broke me a little, since I had developed an attachment to Caprice, Alexi and their family. The loneliness I felt from Caprice’s end of life was rather heartbreaking. It was apparent that not even her daughters or adopted sister visited much if even at all, despite how close their family had been. I couldn’t understand the villagers doing a complete about face and turning on her after being so upset over the prospect of losing their village previously. It made me extremely sad that their greed and past human nature won out in the end, despite how close, satisfied, and ultimately happy they had been.
To see all of that swatted away so easily hurt my heart, as I had come to think better of them through their failures and triumphs during the five years they were stranded. They were, for all intensive purposes, a gigantic, wonderfully close and loving family, and to see them shun one of their own, one of their strongest pillars of support during their exile, over something so petty and shallow was downright sickening and crushingly depressing. (Windfeather’s comeuppance, though? Brilliant). The fact that I felt these things so strongly is a testament to your wonderful storytelling ability. I can’t imagine how it felt as the author to do that to your beloved characters if it made a mere reader like me feel like this.
This guest epilogue was a bit of medicine for me in this case, so I thank you for including it as part of your story. The villagers hadn’t been turned into a bunch of cold hearted flanks after all, and they had realized and lamented their mistake, as does Buttermilk. Certainly not a fairy tale ending, but it beautifully closes the story and feels right. It’s still sad, certainly, considering how far the villagers fell from their high, how easily their seemingly strong bond was broken, and how utterly sad Caprice’s end was as a result, but it still made me smile. Farewell Caprice, Peach Princess of Summerland. May you find supreme happiness with your Alexi and your perfect herd at long last.
Thank you for a beautiful story, and many before, that shall stick with me forever. You are so very much appreciated
May you continue to weave such wonderful, emotional tales.
Happy holidays.
I completely agree with Starstreak! I feel as if I have grown with these characters, and I can feel all of their triumphs and losses as they persevere through every challenge.
The end cinches perfectly, and Windfeather's comeuppance? Priceless! 
Thanks for creating these wonderful fanfics, and may the villagers of Summerland forever live on. 
Added image of Aerostatica. Repeated below for so you don't have to go searching.
jenniverse.com/images/aerostatica%20my%20little%20ponifaloon%20sm.png
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Is that a mandelbulb I spy?
I for one would befriend a ponifaloon. They look benevolent!
Best epilogue I've ever seen, period. Brought tears to my eyes.
I think you should try to submit this to EQD anyway. Your story is just too well written to be ignored. The Taste of Grass makes almost every other fic on this site (as well ad EQD) look like garbage.
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Eeeee! I didn't think you'd draw it!
Strangely enough, that looks almost exactly like what I thought it would. I guess that means you described it well! Now we just need a completely off the wall story about the PLF fighting back against the ponifaloons with hug bombs and cuddle-canons.
Happy your story continued.
Sad a about the lonely deaths.
And the late regrets.
You made me cry!
Send this to EQD and make em cry too.
BTW, caprice reminds me of one of your older characters.
She was also dragging her herd into a new era in order to survive an alien universe, and initially received shit for thanks.
Part of me wonders why those 3 kids didn't link caprice to the capricious day event held in the newpony city summerland.
But that's just me nitpicking. I am loving the story to shreds.
Well, Equestria Daily tends not to feature Conversion Bureau stories, but these are mentioned with honors in the introduction to the Conversion Bureau story index.
Introduction and Index
Conversion Bureau Compilation
Hey hey Chatoyance, what's the Multiversal Catalogue entry for Aerostatica? It distinctly looks Aeryx class from your illustration (would you consider Equestria to be Khex class?) and seems pretty likely to be D(4) though I could be wrong about that, but the rest of the entry could be anything.
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*Glomps Coda* Welcome multiverse traveler!
Being a long time Ren Geek (31 years and counting) I couldn't help but associate a little with Ren, in this story. Here's what my idea was of what he'd perhaps write. For those unfamiliar with Elizabethan/Shakespearean language: the words ending in 'd are pronounced like they would regularly be pronounced today, but are spelled differently because, back then, words ending in ed were pronounced as if there were another syllable there. The term Mores = Morals, the way of doing things, etc. Ken = those of the same kind, a little different from Kin, which are those that are directly related by blood.
Upon four hooves, I sweet grass tread
Where once was devastation
And flowered meadows, verdant, spread
Across my new-found Nation
The bubble gate, which open’d doors
Of hope, long cast aside
Dismiss’d away all human mores
And vanquished human pride
A new beginning, second chance
Was gifted to my ken
Compassion for our circumstance:
The plight of mortal men
And those who had the sight to view
Beyond all compass’d fear
Traverse’d the dangers to pursue
The better life found here
Equestria, the Fairest Realm;
Where dwells no earthly pain ~
Our Princesses are at its Helm
May They, forever, reign
If I weren't almost incapable of it physically, I'd be crying. I'm so, so, so glad for this. I didn't see it coming, I honestly didn't. I thought it had all ended in tragedy, because that seems to be how stories end, the ones that are written well. I thought it was like reading The Sigh all over again... except happy-sad and not just depressingly crushingly sad.
But... wow. I'm glad I read this. I'm really glad for this epilogue.
well, I am still undecided about what to comment on all of your TCB stories.
I loved what you ended up doing with the Tyrant-(slightly)Trollestia and Apart from you Breaking chapter 21 (which made me very sad) this story was Simply Amazing.
Now I need to note that on the last page of Midnightshadow's guest epilouge (which was also really fantastic) I noticed a major typo/error:
[...] “My mother was Caprice, my father was Alexi. My name is Buttermilk. I have come to bring my mother and father home.” Caprice floated the two urns out of her saddlebags, where they were taken by the astonished mayor. [...]
Note how this basically says that the now cremated pony just magically levitates her urn (and her husband(?)'s urn) out of Amber's (Buttermilk's) saddlebags (which are referred to as owned by the levitator) see it, fix it.
and now I have to leave this still not having said my piece about how I feel after reading all of your completed works.
At the moment in my fraught moment of indecision I must simply say that I agree with much and Disagree with a little of what you seem to project in your stories.
I think that you are being too damn pessimistic and I would love to talk in real time somewhere to explain my thoughts and feelings. (but I heard that you don't use IRC so that's not going to happen)
At the same time I feel that you have some amazing perspective when it comes to various situations in life and the world in general.
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Thank you for catching the 'Caprice' error, FourFire, it's the sort of thing that is so easy to miss. FIXED!
As for being pessimistic... I actually don't consider myself pessimistic. I just have observed the world to work the way I describe it. I write from my observations and experiences, and, well, that's what I honestly see in terms of the future of mankind - with a caveat.
I don't think the earth will ever reach nineteen billion people, because I do not see nanotechnology being used to provide food to every human. I don't think it is even an issue with any person in any real position of power. Us 'Useless Eaters' as we have been called, just aren't on the dance card.
What I think will really happen is that global economic collapse will be followed by horrific starvation and a true Malthusian nightmare with no fancy nanotech to bail us out. Most of humanity will just be left to rot, as it currently is at the moment. In other words, nothing whatsoever will change. There obviously won't be any Equestria to escape to, that's just a fantasy.
Since I don't see any change in business as usual, I expect my predicted ecodisaster to happen, or rather to continue - it's happening now, so, really it's inevitable because it's, well, happening - and that means more starvation. There will be food riots and plagues and it will be bad, except for the elite of the world, who will not be affected negatively. Already, many are living in fortress ships - you can find pictures of these wonders of engineering on the net, if you look.
However, they are kind of screwed too, because the end of oil will mean problems for the elite, and that means they will turn increasingly to nuclear, and that means more and more Fukushimas and Chernobyls and Lake Vladavostoks and Three Mile Islands and all the other ones too.
This may seem odd, but in my stories, the dystopia I write about is actually me trying to see the future in a positive light; I am projecting the very unlikely scenario that nanotech will come along and save our ass, and that the elite will actually bother to use it for the common man.
In my view, I am being silly there, because that is not what the elite of this world do. They just don't share like that. Oh, the petty rich do, sometimes, like Bill Gates playing with fighting malaria and such... but not the true elite.
I wish the world were like my Golden Age SF books, but... after my long life, I just don't see any evidence of that. I've actually met some of those who have some power in this world, and I can tell you this; they are all almost universally sociopaths to a greater or lesser extent. They just don't care about people. Other than themselves, and those they consider their... property, basically.
I don't see this as being pessimistic because it is what is real. It just is. That's how the world actually is. I wish it weren't that way.
Which is why I write fantasy stories about how the rich will one day use nanotech to feed billions out of the goodness of their hearts.
Man, writing that last line almost made me laugh. I must actually a secret optimist even to imagine a Basic Universal Guaranteed Ration for all human beings. Because in reality, I know the mass of humanity is getting BUGR all.
I was up all night reading my way through this. Spectacular. Poor Caprice, though. Poor, poor Caprice. She was so utterly convinced that nobody remained who loved her.
Buetiful
umm am wondering but happened to Pumpkin and her daughter? I hope they had a happy ending
Words do not describe (well, they did, but then my iPod decided to die -_-)
But know this: your fiction series... No, your work of literature is the best I have ever read, and ive read a lot.
Aside from that, there isn't really anything I can say, but thank you.
I cant even... the range of emotions I've felt reading about this family, from tears to idiotic grinning to d'awwwws of the highest magnitude. I cant do anything but thank you! /applause. This was worth so much more than the full night its taken me to read it. I wish I didnt read so darn fast so that i could have enjoyed it longer. I love everything about this story, I wish it didnt have to end! and i wish it could continue, but i know its over, this family's story is done, and it finished with a heartrending whimper(whimper is from me) .
Bravo! And keep them coming!
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"Did you miss me, Celestia? I've missed you. It's quite lonely being encased in stone. But you wouldn't know that, would you, because I don't turn ponies into stone!" - Discord, The Return Of Harmony Part One, MLP:FIM series one, script concepts taken directly from series creator, Lauren Faust.
I am not the first writer and artist to catch this little bit of pony canon. Equestria is filled with statues, and there is no place more filled with them than the Royal Maze and Statue Garden. Many writers and artists have explored this Final Sanction of Celestia's. That she turns ponies into stone is not in question. This is series canon; within this fictional universe, it is fact, as determined by the original creator.
A better thing to think about is not that Celestia, as loving as she is, can -and will- turn intelligent beings to stone, but rather why. The first thing to realize is that Celestia is a ruler. She rules. Ruling a land, a nation, or in this case an entire cosmos, is not something that can be done without some use of force. There always will be circumstances where nothing can be done but some final, permanent judgement.
In my writing, I have tried to explain some of these reasons. In my other stories, I explore this concept further. I reason that Celestia only turns ponies to stone when she has no other option, and that she does this rather than - as a human ruler would do - having the ponies outright executed. More than this, turning them to stone allows the chance to turn them back to flesh, as we have seen repeatedly in the series. This means that her Final Sanction is not truly permanent, as execution would be.
Sometimes there are those who would destroy a society, either deliberately, or because of circumstance that they cannot control. A ruler must deal with such matters, whether they like the notion or not. I would suggest to you the factual history of Queen Elizabeth the first, as an example of just this situation. It is also very appropriate, considering the social structure suggested in MLP; very much castles and princesses and knights and old England.
If Celestia could not rule, with all that such a matter implies, then she would end up being the destroyer of Equestria in the end; to do nothing when threat arises only permits that threat to win. And I do not mean merely Discord.
Imagine vast social uprisings, rebellions, the spread of dangerous religions or beliefs, dangerous inventions, and those with too much power and an absolute conviction in their own correctness - all of these things a ruler must control, contain, and stop. Sometimes the leaders of such things will not listen, and will not obey. They have conviction, they know they are right, and they will not back down.
What then? Put them in prison for life? That is a horrible fate. Execute them? Murder! Mind wipe them and erase the part you do not agree with? Identity murder. Put a spell on them that makes them do what you want? The murder of free will itself. All of these are pretty horrible. But they would work. Execution has been a favorite on Earth.
Celestia basically puts those that cannot be reasoned with in suspended animation. She puts them on ice, deferring the problem until later. Perhaps, when times change enough, she might release them, when there is no longer any possibility that they could raise an army, or claim an ancestral position, or sway the masses. A time when the world itself renders their opposition no longer relevant.
Is this not kinder than the tools used in our own world? Is this not better than simply killing ponies?
You must understand something that is true: a ruler RULES. That is their job, their curse, their burden, and often their misery. It is a dirty job, it is a difficult job.
At least Equestria has a truly benevolent pair of goddesses. That is more than any Earth civilization can claim.
But even the most benevolent ruler, must still protect their land, their people, and their realm from that which could destroy or disrupt it. To do less is to fail as a ruler, and nopony wants that.
I am sorry, but even Lauren Faust herself clearly understands the necessities of rulership. She's read history. So have I.
It may not be to our liking, but... a ruler... must rule.
Celestia has a severe side. Look for it in the series itself. It is clearly there. She would have to have such a side to her. She could not function as a ruler without it.
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The problem with the points you make are that they apply to a human way of thinking. I very much doubt that Celestia wants to be a ruler, and really, as a "ruler" what does she do? What does she ask? In the show, we see nothing that she demands, but see how everypony does their best to make her happy, or what they think will make her happy? Why? Because when you act in complete love, people want to be around you, and want to make you happy.
Being that Celestia is a goddess in your stories, the simplest answer to Windfeather's betrayal is to touch him with her horn and make him live the lives of the people that he sent to die: feeling the pain of their past, the joy of an impossible transformation, the gift of new innocence, the hope of their future, the scar of his betrayal, and the undeserved suffering he caused them. That would be all the punishment he would ever need, and like Carmine, he would make his life's goal to undo the suffering he had done.
It bothers me that you would write a Celestia who could forgive Carmine, a person who could look into the eyes of her victims as she tortured them to death, but not Windfeather, a pegasus so filled with compassion that the worst he could do, in his mind, is strand dangerous foreigners far enough away so that they won't be a problem. He probably realized that it could mean death to some of them, but again, in his mind, that would be because they were too lazy to work for a living, and even if it did, he believed he was acting for the safety of Equstria; not for the sake of evil.
After chapter ten, I stayed up all night to get to the end because Skybreeze, who asked me to read this story, said Windfeather would be turned back from stone, well I find his return chapter nothing more than a sick act of revenge. Maybe it's just how I imagine a goddess, but if I were one, I wouldn't want to keep cleaning up people's mistakes; I would want them to learn why not to do ugly things, and move on toward universal harmony, where I didn't have to play nanny to all the lessor beings, but be friends to beings made wise by great experience.
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Celestia didn't turn Discord into stone, the Elements of Harmony did. S2E1, Celestia tells Twilight that she can't wield the Elements to stop Discord because they are attuned to "the Mane SIx", and those six, not having the power to turn anything to stone, activated the mysterious force that can and did.
The Elements turned Discord to stone, because he is the embodiment of chaos and cannot be convinced to stop hurting others through emotional chaos, but that same force put Luna into suspended animation for a defined amount of time because she was on a rampage and just needed to cool down. Why a thousand years? Probably to prove to her that the world will work without her thus removing any illusion she had about being all-important. Why not just have broken her Nightmare Moon guise at the beginning? Because the gap in time, and change of ownership of the Elements showed her that the resistance to her plan would have happened with anypony and not just her "overbearing" sister thus allowing her to realized the problem was within herself.
I am not ignoring what Discord said, but neither am I ignoring the rest of the episode, and I just don't understand how people can use a single line from a character, that everypony agrees thrives on lies and deceit, as evidence greater than everything else that happened in that same episode.
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*facehoof* you do realize that Discord used that line as a way to attempt to breed mistrust and fear in Celestia, right?
Also, look at that garden. Lots of stone ponies there... as well as Discord. It's all about the company you keep. Every legend has a grain of truth to it. Celestia would not, could not allow Windfeather to run about, subverting her rule and her desires. Like earlier commenters said, how many hundreds, if not thousands of newfoals died because of his actions and hatred? Think about how close Elijah and the rest came to death, when they were saved.
There's a trope that I think Chatoyance invokes from time to time, and Celestia and Luna both embody it in some sense. Good Is Not Nice. More to the point, you do what you have to to maintain order and civility. If you have a pony like Windfeather thinking 'newfoals aren't real ponies and they don't deserve to share the same space with us', how long before he starts getting specieist towards ponies that are born in Equestria? Sure, it's a slippery slope, but that's the path he was on. Harsh measures must be taken to ensure prosperity of the whole. That's the facts of life. That's reality.