Mark of the Hourglass

by Starsong

Epilogue : Dear Princess Celestia...

Dear Princess Celestia,

Forgive me for writing out of turn, though I believe there may be something to report by the end. It is another rainy day and I can't stop thinking of the last storm. I need not remind you and I don't think I could bear to think it. We all mourned the loss of our neighbor. Yet I am filled with a great sadness I can't understand, a blank spot in my mind that I cannot seem to fill no matter how hard I try. But I cannot ask any more of you in terms of this.

My friends are helping me every day. Applejack brings me fresh greens and tells me about the things Applebloom is getting into. Her last adventure involved the girls trying to get their 'bee keeper cutie marks.' Suffice it to say, I had to look up an ointment for stings. Hopefully they'll stick to more tame ideas for a while! Pinkie keeps planning for Spike's birthday, which we're all looking forward to. Rarity asks me for my opinion on her new work all the time, even though she knows I'm not that good at it. Fluttershy showed me a Roc the other day! It was an incredible beast, and we even got to fly on it. Let me tell you, I don't like being up there without the balloon. Brings back bad memories, I suppose. Rainbow Dash is.... still Rainbow Dash. I suppose that should be enough to brighten anyone's day. She probably has the right idea. Cried at the funeral and the very next day she was back to her usual antics, but twice as hard. Something tells me that she just cranks it 'to eleven' (whatever that means) whenever something shakes her. She says she knows it's not her fault some pony stayed out in the weather, but I'm not sure if she believes it. We're all trying our best.

If I take anything away from all of this, I suppose it's that your friends will always be there in your time of need, and help you heal and move on. I thought I was there, myself, but something strange occurred yesterday.

It may have been my eyes playing tricks on me, but for a moment I thought I saw him in the streets. A strange yellow colt with eyes like sapphires. But he had his mark. A very strange one. I've seen ponies with the hourglass mark before, all a little different. The sands in his were like diamonds, and I could swear that they were actually flowing!

I must still be tired. But he was laughing with other strangers and he smiled at me like some kind of scamp before he disappeared into the crowd. Maybe I'll see him again. Maybe I won't. But I'd like to think that he'd been given that joy, somehow. I think somehow we all will, in time, and I hope you do as well.

Your student,

Twilight Sparkle

Comments

[Starsong]

702185
Ehehe, It's a screwball OC story with mild romance... any one of those things can do it. My only problem is getting downvotes is not getting any criticism to go with them.

But then, I think I've made some enemies on this site, too, so they might be gunning for me. Bang, haha!

702320
Erk, fixed. Thanks.

[Monochromation]

I must say, good sir, that this is quite Ingenious.

[darkmatterbutterflies]

Downright cinematic in execution. A beautiful and engaging magical mystery that shares a tragically transient cosmos. A less thoughtful author would have instead told the entire story, some novel-length epic of this, but you distilled it to a single experience that contains millions. This is not getting the attention it deserves.

I like how it defies expectations. It's as much, if not more, about the Twilight Sparkle and the decisions that she has made. I guess that might be a spoiler to those reading the comments, but it's one of those spoilers that could only garnish interest.

I'm not sure why you broke this into chapters. I think this ought to have been published as one, encapsulated chunk. Background Pony has 20K word updates, so I wouldn't be shy about dropping a textbook into the update queue.

Perhaps the hatuhs objected to the OC with amnesia? They likely saw that, downvoted and bailed. That's too bad, they missed out.

[mrmayortheiv]

Good sir I am astonished and impressed, you made a good compelling story and you didn't even need to give us the main character's name. That takes some skill, as well as for making a first person narrative i actually liked have a few mind f**ks and a smile

[Starsong]

718897

Does anyone know how to get a name in that reply instead of the silly numbers? Probably a noobtastic question. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it! I had a lot of reservations about finishing it every time I touched it, just because of the... weird flavor of it I guess. Or maybe the first person made it sound too self-insert, which it was most certainly not. For those of you in the know, there would be some key signs.

Maybe I should post a blog talking about my design decisions? That seems popular. I don't know. Splitting it was a bit of an experiment, and I don't know that it harmed it all that much... plus, when you have all those clever chapter titles, it seems weird to reverse. But more importantly /I/ have a hard time sitting through non-split stuff sometimes, and thought I'd give it a go.

Debating sending it to EqD, but I dunno.

723728
Thanks! And to anyone else I haven't responded too. It was certainly... different, and I'd enjoy doing more stuff in this flavor.

[MLP Lover]

Nice twist at the end weird and kinda hard to follow but worth it in the end.

[Wingnut]

This is silly. How are OC's terrible?

[paul]

I do not like tragedy, but this is great story.
As to the OC - I hope you will change your decision and write more OC stories later.

[Father Pie]

Still one of the best fics I have read.

[Fury of the Tempest]

A fascinating intriguing story that leaves much up to the reader, it's amazing what you managed in so few words. Well done.