Epilogue: Two Against Eternity
Twilight Sparkle:
A good way to describe the way I felt would be 'heavy'. Since I had returned home to Ponyville I had felt as rooted to the place as the castle itself.
Things had been a bit hectic at first too. Pinkie's homecoming party for Rarity and I had been just perfect! And, yes, it was pretty out of control too and maybe just a bit overwhelming, but to be together again surrounded by Spike and the girls... it was overwhelming too, and great. I was all teary-eyed and Rarity had to bring out her fainting couch... oh, it was something. Our journey had simply been so harrowing, and it was so lonely to only be able to talk with everypony through letters on the Celestial Divide. I was always worrying about something happening or somepony else.
Sometimes, I have these weird nightmares - they're just strange flashes of something in an otherwise dreamless slumber - where there's these rows of bookshelves that stretch up, up, up and it's very dark. Too dark. I'm never able to see the sun at all.
Despite how rare they've been, I still wake up feeling scared and with a cold sweat forming under my tidy bangs.
I wish things would hurry up and be tidy again. I'm sure everypony else does too.
My forehoof swipes out and grabs the topmost envelope from the pile of mail sitting on top of the cutie map. Unlike most of the others, the sender is familiar and isn't requesting specific help with a friendship problem - it's from my favorite pen pal, Starlight!
I'm tempted to tear it open right now and start reading about what Glimmy and her wife have been up to in the months my mail spent accumulating, but I'm afraid I can't; it's already late spring and that means that with all these... disorderly, chaotic, and sometimes even annoying grand adventure-quests have put something as important as maintaining order in the Castle Harmony behind schedule!
So instead, I grabbed a duster in the bucket of cleaning tools next to my throne after tossing down the letter, and I stood up and got to work. I could hear the distant sound of Rarity singing snatches of a Sapphire Shores song from somewhere in the castle. Even without the rest of the music, the catchy pop-iness of the song still traveled through the pastel purple crystal halls with ease. Spike was probably with her and working to keep Owlowiscious from getting too enthusiastic about his first chance to participate in the spring cleaning of my castle.
I pause my dusting and prick my ears forward to catch something that certainly isn't Rarity singing... it's a couple loud calls of 'hoo'.
Okay, so maybe Rarity will help him out.
I return to my dusting and find myself smiling. I don't know why, I just am, and ignore the feeling of my mouth curved into a perky grin. Levitating my duster higher, I resume my work and try to keep my thoughts from roaming too much. Outside of plans and organizing, or when I want it to happen, roaming thoughts are not enjoyable at all.
Today is a good day. Princess Celestia raised the sun, and Princess Luna lowered the moon. Coincidentally, there isn't a cloud in the sky today. Cliche, perfect, and normal. Pleasant.
I had breakfast with Spike and Rarity. She's finally thinking about moving in. We're going to have dinner with Applejack today and the Crusaders had something 'top secret' to show Spike in their clubhouse.
It's all so normal, and I love it. There's no unpredictable events, no unaccountable factors, and no danger. I don't have to worry about risks, just the books that I'm shelving and if there's anything a little troubling in the letters, especially if Sunny's been up to anything weird on the other side of the mirror.
Yet, nothing will be out of the ordinary. They're friendship problems.
There's going to be no surprises.
I've been so relieved to get back into routine. Ponyville is always so welcoming. Here, the sun is shining. There's no stormy seas or unexpected reasons to step outside my door that could lead to true danger.
I didn't have to worry about adventures, but that heavy feeling never left.
Pausing my dusting, I examined the way the crystal facets of the castle's crystal walls split and distorted my reflection.
A lot still felt wrong. So much happened that didn't add up, and even more that didn't make sense. Princess Luna was upset and left even though Princess Celestia cares about her so much and all of Equestria loves her, she just ran off because of some kind of emotional instability.
Somehow, Sombra knew. They must've met up. I'm not sure, but they went together.
Luna, a depressed mare who just needs some friends and ponies to look out for her and get her to open up, and Sombra, an unstable and violent sociopath who has little to no understanding of empathy and can't function properly...
They...
The duster clattered to the floor.
Why him?
Somehow, they were able to evade both the Celestia Divide and Pink Sunset... because Cadance was in contact with them... and...
Luna loves Sombra, or at least, she thinks she does. She probably thinks that she can change that horrible, horrible pony - if there's anypony in the world that I actually hate, it would be him - and he's not even a pony at all. He's something worse.
Twisted ponies can be dealt with. Some of them can even be helped, like Starlight and Trixie, who were deterred from their selfish, hurtful, and prideful ways... but Sombra?
He hasn't changed at all! I swear, if this was a game...
...It almost feels like I've lost something. Luna was afraid of love... and the one she chose to attach to ended up being Sombra.
I don't understand how even with Cadance's help, they managed to get as far as they did without friendship, harmony, and good to guide them. Everything they did was fueled by deceit, stepping out of line, and horrible, horrible pride.
They didn't win by uniting. They shouldn't have won, and they managed to... I don't understand how or why. They even got kicked out of the Pantheon for gods' sakes!
...And from what I've heard from Canterlot, Luna refused to leave Sombra. Princess Celestia sent me a letter saying that they had a little talk - gosh, there's been so many talks and letters since all this has ended - and she kindly suggested they split up, citing perfectly logical reasons why nopony should ever be in a relationship with him... especially since he's a monster. She was kind about it, and gentle, and... Luna refused them all.
It really doesn't make any sense. Princess Celestia has noted that she seems happy about it too, that she chose to stay, and there's no dark magic involved in keeping her like that.
None of it makes any sense. Every bit of this feels so unfair. Luna deserved to be helped. Did Harmony fail? Harmony doesn't fail. Why hasn't Sombra been defeated? He's the villain in this story, and not one like Discord or Starlight, who just needed to be shown friendship and change their ways... Sombra has refused all of that countless times, and is cold and heartless.
Princess Celestia can't be doing too well, not with this happening to Luna. I must confess that I'm not doing too well either. I'm certain things would have been different if all my friends had come along. Maybe if we had borrowed the Elements, we could've really saved somepony who needed it. Everything would be as it should be, and the sequence of events... well, it would make sense.
Sighing, I sat on the floor. This just hasn't happened before. Harmony unites ponies and helps them banish things like pride, greed, divergence, and all the things that would keep us from being what we are. Luna has been ignoring those lately, and I fear Cadance has been too. The both of us were taught under Princess Celestia and she's nearly tossed all her teachings away, losing the guiding light that has been with us both from such a young age, especially in my case.
What could Sombra possibly be telling her? I'd have believed her if there'd been mind magic involved, or some other dark art that had steered her to him and simply needed purged. Instead, there wasn't any. She's listened to him willingly. I saw them talking together at the Pantheon and she even hugged him like he was an old friend. She hugged a vicious murderer like he was an old friend and it was so... I felt so crushed watching it. Cady is my sister. We have so many memories and our sunshine dance... and I saved her from Chrysalis... there's so much that brings us together.
What does she have with Sombra? He's tried to kill us and those we love. He's an unnatural abomination. He's kidnapped us. He's violated the most basic ethics and says the most outrageous things. She's had to seen how terrifying he is when he's angry and how abusive he is when he tries to interact with others.
I even heard he's a recluse. Not the kind that just studies like Moondancer or I before we had exposure to how great friends really were, but the kind that removes themselves from society, the truest definition there is. I know that Sombra must be mentally ill. If he were a pony or anything like one, he'd have a healthy nature and good social habits without the need for any help. Even when my muzzle was stuck in a book that the princess had given me, I was always acknowledging Shiny, the princess, Spike, or somepony who might have just done me a favor, like a guard who might a hold a door open. Sombra never does that. He goes out of his way to avoid ponies and spite them, which is wrong.
I'm up everyday trying to help ponies locally or abroad with their friendship problems. The cutie map has been sending everypony on any place that's remotely far-flung less and less. There's destinations to worry about, not journeys, which is a relief. My friends and I find ourselves on diplomatic trips and proper errands more often. There's real ponies with real problems that need our help and could use a kind word and helping hoof, not chaos, brutal 'honesty', their lives thrown in disarray, wild adventures, and princesses who can't bother to be the face of the public and just say 'hi' to the everypony.
The words that should be spread are Celestia's. As a filly, they guided me alongside her. Even then, she tried to push me toward friendship and all sorts of good things. I didn't refuse to listen to her - I wouldn't have stayed her student if I did that - but matters involving friendship conveniently slipped past me until I moved to Ponyvile.
Sombra's words shouldn't be treated the same as Princess Celestia's. They're dangerous, but he's not something that should be silenced automatically. Ponies should be able to see why they shouldn't listen to him.
The things he said to be back at the Pantheon keep bugging me. They're the exact opposite of what Princess Celestia has taught me, and yet he acted like he was the honest one.
Princess Celestia has been there for me most of my life. She's seen every success and been there for so many of my failures. It was the princess who helped me when I was hurt and pushed me toward goals. She instructed me and told me what to discover and what I should learn. It was her who stuck around when I was doubting my lessons and directing me where I could have failed. She was the one who arranged for Moondancer and the others to be my friends. I strove to impress her in every way. Princess Celestia is a hero and I have every reason to listen to her.
Other ponies should too. There's hardly a pony in Equestria who grows up without hearing some of her famous sayings - they helped capture the values of Harmony and Equestria. How often had I heard about the wonders of friendship and had her words - things like 'Happiness is in other ponies' - said around me and just kept on reading? Ponyville opened my eyes to these things, and to the evil that was in the world: evils that Sombra practically embodies!
If Luna had talked to ponies a thousand years ago, Nightmare Moon wouldn't have happened. Since Luna was the only one who thought something was wrong, and the majority of ponies disagreed with her - including her own sister- her stand on the fictitious issue can be disregarded entirely: she was the problem, not ponies. If Discord had adapted to society instead of destroying it, he wouldn't have been turned to stone. Sombra's existence could have been avoided entirely if his summoner had been locked up for the rest of his natural life. Starswirl would have been a real hero if he had served others. Starlight Glimmer wouldn't have been driven to do the things she has done if she had accepted the outstretched hooves of others earlier. I know Trixie's pride wouldn't have driven her to obtain the Alicorn Amulet if she hadn't been a lonely traveler and instead lived healthily among ponies.
So much disaster could have been avoided if these things had happened and dangerous choices had been removed from ponies' hooves. If things like friendship had been realized instead of shunned, there'd be so many better things happening.
I kicked a hoof at the feather duster. I want to stop things like that from ever happening to anypony else, and to do that, I just needed to make sure that the one thing that wasn't in the lives of everypony that was hurt before was offered to all of the ponies here today: friendship!
With friendship, plagues like pride and indifference could be stricken down. I was already excited about my duties spreading friendship to other ponies, but what if I turned it into a devotion? I could write pamphlets and draw charts!
There was always more to do!
This wasn't an end, all of this was a beginning. It was almost like a new era was dawning, and one where Sombra would finally fail at the hooves of many. There were no more adventures to be had for me. I was going to settle down once and for all. I was going to be the princess that Equestria needed me to be. I had a lovely marefriend, a faithful assistant, the kindest mentor, and the best friends that a pony could ask for.
All the building heaviness seemed to dissolve under the possibility of no surprises. This was the life I wanted to be leading.
I lit my horn and levitated my feather duster and resumed dusting, ignoring my reflection. I had time to kill.
...
Cadance:
The Crystal Express finally pulled to a stop with a loud screech that managed to echo all the way to my car. Outside, the plains of Mustainia became still under the enormous sky. My breath was shaky as I rose from my seat, grabbing my saddlebags in my magic and nodding to the two guards with me to remain here. The faint chill as an effect from the chilling enchantments that kept the car's interior to the liking of me and the Crystalline guards whistled by as I pulled down a window. Fresh, pure prairie air rushed in, thick with the strong scent of foreign grasses and their healthy, rugged fragrance. It was so strong that when I gasped at the strength of it, I could feel the smell tickle the back of my throat and stick too it.
This far down south, the sky felt like an infinite, omnipresent force. The buffalo revere it in its own right, like an honorary god. Their kind are far more populous here, alongside the ponies who call themselves Mustangs as I call myself Crystalline-Equesrian. This is the ancient home of the minotaurs. Throughout my trip here - one that's taken me away from my northern empire for months - I've heard stories about mountains higher than Canterhorn being reduced to dust long ago and buried cities that had districts that could turn likes a clocks gears, buried under all this prairie.
The part about the sky has an ominous truth to it, like I'm just floating in its entirety. Everything here is so limited compared to the big blue sky with endless winds that threaten to tear my floppy sun hat from me. I almost have to force myself to restrain from marking myself out of respect, even if the same winds threatened to snag my cute designer sunglasses right off their little necklace at a rest stop a few days ago.
No matter how many clouds are in this sky, it never feels like enough. I look up to see the sun, but even it feels lost in this vast blue. Auntie Luna would love to see how numerous the stars are out here. It doesn't even feel like there's a horizon.
I don't know how true it is. I've really just been passing through and seeing some sites and heading toward the fringe of this country's central territory to see somepony. While I haven't spotted any digs - sometimes I like to bury my muzzle in a beauty magazine on long trips like this - there's occasional ridges that look like leftover attempts at building mountains by slapping a few large, rocky hills together in some weirdo perversion against the constant flatland and thousands of acres of farms that are spread across some portions of Mustainia.
What I do know is that they have plenty of good stuff down here... I mean, how could I not leave without souvenirs? This is a casual vacation... except for the fact that as a princess, a couple of the really chill guards are needed to accompany me from time to time. I brought those sunglasses for a reason too, and some of it has nothing to do with sunlight.
For now, they're clipped to their charm-ladden little necklace because it's pleasantly sunny today and I have a big, goofy smile on my face.
I hum a few snatches of a melody my mind is too distracted to place under my breath as I trot through the cars and out into the sunshine. I'm planning on staying for a while so the sound of my train chugging away doesn't bother me. I think I have to have some pretty serious chats with my friend. I've been working on a little defense magic since everything and I think I'm good to go, even without Shiny, my guards, two goddess aunts, and a certain aloof ally who I may have lent a small portion of my spare-of-my-spare autographed vinyls and an old gramophone to in hopes of him writing back about the wonders of alternative music.
According to those letters, he is indeed learning about what's more or less my second faith, and as I suspected, has some interest in psychedelia, which, by the gods, is so niche, I thought I'd never have anypony to talk to about it.
I'm sure that he's also keeping himself busy with his own trips - he mentions those in his letters, along with plenty about Luna - and some less than legal stuff. However, he's been kind enough to grow some grass for me on the side, but I wish he wouldn't send it in plain envelopes simply addressed to 'Pink One' in all-capital letters written in those glitter pens I got him. It's kinda rude when I'm in the middle of a meeting to have something so partially sealed just pop up in front of me... and maybe spill a little.
Other than that? Sombra is a true friend... in fact a little too true. The last time I shared any of my stash with him, he ran around lighting things on fire and started screaming to the void that he was going to murder it a thousand times over and demolish a thousand more worlds to get to it... at his tamest.
He's still a good friend. Crazy, but kinda good. Good enough.
...
To everypony around me, I feel out of place. I keep sneaking glances at the sky pressing down on me, and I have a stature above even a model. My curly bob of a mane spills out from under my sun hat and a touch of sun screen is smeared across each of my pink cheeks, like abstract globs of paint to draw attention to my casual smile. A camera hangs on the same necklace as my sunglasses.
I look around, obviously confused, and press my telekinesis on my hat to keep an unrestrained gust from snatching it. My tickets, passports, and other papers were also clutched in my sky blue aura and floating in front of me.
My personal saddlebags were adorned with a dozen jangly, beaded, neon charms. Some of them even glowed in the dark! Patches with dozens of band names were sewn on liberally and contrasted sharply with the polished crystal heart clasps. Poking out from the flaps that couldn't properly be fastened anymore were things that Twilight would be more likely to have on a regular basis than I, at least upon first glance.
Those really cool glitter pens with the fuzzy exteriors and the tassels on top, empty gum wrappers I didn't bother to throw away, tickets to ice archery events that I may have forgotten about, and double-double coupons gave way to the nasty habits I had picked up since the almost-end of the world.
Psychology.
Books on the subject poked out from the sea of partial trash. Sticky notes bookmarked pages with color codes I gave up on halfway through each pad before scribbling princess reminders and song lyrics on all of them. Scrolls were shoved where the could and arranged so that they didn't look too dog-eared at first. A lone highlighter found its way into the sun, but I quickly shoved it back when I realized it was the gross one I chewed on in secret when I was trying to look profound. It quickly disappeared among the rolled up magazines about cosmetics and beauty trends in Canterlot, a couple of sudoku sheets I was still stumped over, and an icky granola bar wrapper I didn't just want to toss on the ground.
Okay, and so maybe there were a few scribbled casual speculations about how I'm sure the new guard stallion in Car #3 was crushing on Platinum Laurel, another guard accompanying me on this trip.
I know I almost looked like a tourist. 'Almost' because I wasn't going to be annoying about asking for directions or mainstream.
I looked around again. This place was rural by Equestrian standards, but by Mustanian standards, where 'cities' were a few thousand and virtually lost among the plains? Then, this place was pretty big. Eight thousand creatures lived in Mustang City, in a country where the tallest building was six stories high, and worked in the buildings that were modest, but modern evolved soddies that spread out in an almost knowing circle, and never stretching past a certain point, like some kind of self-aware suburb.
Magic was just as common as it was in Equestria, but in the way of minotaurs, earth ponies, and buffalo who lived as the majority population. Unicorns and bovines made up significant minorities. A few ancient dragons almost as old as Auntie and Luna were known to roost in the desolate reaches of the plains.
The sound of many distant sprinklers and their enchanted hum caused my ears to prick forward, and so did the sound of a voice.
The open-air platform of Mustang City Station was fairly empty, but at the receiving booth where I would register my presence and get everything checked, a matronly minotaur cow with a crisp summer blouse and stylish reading glasses any librarian would feel a degree of envy for waved at me to come forward with a friendly smile and a sparkle in her eyes upon seeing such an unexpected tourist.
Returning the smile, I trotted forward as soon as I pulled out the last letter I received from my pen pal and peeked at the address written on it.
...
"Oh, it's just so good to see you again!" the yellow earth pony mare said. "It's about time you left that frozen north, hmm? Is it always so cold up there? It certainly was when I visited, and golly I have never felt anything like that in my life since!"
She tucked a strand of her pea green mane behind her ear as a temporary fix to where it had escaped her headband, and then, she stretched out the same forehoof to accept my saddlebags.
"Oh, no Mrs. Peachbottom I couldn't impose like that," I said with a polite, but sincere smile. "I'll carry my bags, and yes, it's usually that cold up north."
She waved a forehoof again. "We've been writing for years, Cadance! Just call me Chickadee! No professionalism needed!"
I pointed to the sign swinging quaintly in the prairie wind. It was attached to the three story building that would have looked like a sweet upper-class suburban home in any other city, architectural differences to suit the climate aside, but instead housed Chickadee's home and business, as the sign proudly advertised:
Dr. Chickadee Peachbottom, Psychiatrist
She had taken a trip to the Crystal Empire to attend a once in a lifetime event, visit a stunning empire, and so she could make observations on the mental state of the crystal ponies and how they were adjusting to their 'new temporal period'.
You wouldn't think a mare like her would know so much jargon, but our letters reveal otherwise.
Chickadee made a dismissive snort in the back of her throat. "C'mon Cadance. Chickadee or Chicky."
"Chickadee it is," I said with another smile, hoisting my bags onto my back again and stretching my slender legs a little while Chickadee fiddled with her house keys.
"So what's with the sudden interest in psychology that has been spilling through all your letters these past few months?" She turned the key again, frowning and pulling it out so she could examine it, only to look to the sky and snort before flipping through the jangly contents of the key ring to find what I assumed was the correct one.
"Okay, so I have this friend..."
"Mm-hm?" She focused on jamming the key into her door again. "And Cadance dear, I hope you like cornbread, because if you're going to be staying in Mustainia, and with me, you are going to be feasting on the stuff."
I couldn't resist a hoof pump. "I love cornbread! I hope you don't mind that I have a few Istallion family recipes written down too. With our love of cooking, I thought it'd be fun to try and be cooking buddies!"
Chickadee smiled and finally opened the door. The smell of tidy, cool, office, comfy furniture, and... chickens spilled out as I stared at a homely, but professional looking foyer.
"Chickens make the best pets," Chickadee explained. "So I hope you won't mind them. They're all such dears."
I giggled. "It'll be fine. Luna has a weird love of spiders, wolves, and cats, so I think I'll be fine."
Chickadee waggled a forehoof at me in mock-lecture mode and even propped the red reading glasses that had been hanging around her neck onto her muzzle. Her freckles crinkled with her faux-serious expression. "Girl, you better be a fan of folk music, too, because that's all I'll be playing. Now, in, in don't let the chickens out! I can't be losing such wonderful free labor to you leaving the door open like that, missy!"
I hurried inside as soon as I heard the sound of chicken feet scraping around inside a psychiatrist's office.
"Okay, but this friend I have-"
"They're a little more than odd?"
"Yeah," I said loud enough over the thud of the door closing. "I was hoping that by dabbling in this intellectual stuff with the vigor I usually reserve for new musical genres, I'd be able to understand him, and ponies like him a bit better and how they happen, since I don't know much outside of foalhood development."
Chickadee smiled and wiped her dusty hooves off on a welcome mat that simply read 'Wipe Yer Hooves' and was framed with a pattern made to mimic horseshoes embroidered hearts. Sunlight from a window lit the pleasantly dim foyer, highlighting her bright mane, freckles, and smile with no small amount of dust motes dancing around the wood paneled walls. A small collection of antiques, like weathered horseshoes, framed photos and postcards, pictures of chickens, pressed flowers and seed packets, vintage newspaper articles, and what looked like a glass case holding some kind of beat up high tech whirlygig.
"You came to the right place by going outside out Equestria, Cadance. I'm sure I'll be able to help you out if you're willing to accept some tea and cornbread while we chat."
"Oh, you betcha!" I pointed a forehoof at the oddity, ignoring the dust caking my pink hooves. "What's that?"
She blinked and readjusted her glasses. "That would be a relic I picked up on more local travels. A dig in the ruins to one of the Clockwork Cities gifted me with that little dear."
"So the stories are real?" I whispered, gasping.
Chickadee nodded. "You can admire all this while I head upstairs to the kitchen to get our snacks. Feel free to poke around a bit and put your bags in one of the guest rooms. I've got plenty of spare quilts for you to chose from. Can't have a proper house guest without letting them borrow a proper quilt."
I nodded and returned to looking slack jawed at a chunk of city the size of my face that was older than Auntie, Luna, and Sombra combined. I didn't hear Chickadee leave and go upstairs, but I heard the skittering from the neighboring rooms grow, and yet I didn't move.
I may not have heard Chickadee go, but gods know I heard the chickens descend.
...
I was surrounded by chickens.
Chickadee had brought me into a room very clearly used for her patients. Credentials and certificates hung from the dark, paneled walls, their shiny gold seals gleaming proudly alongside pictures and still lives of chickens. None of the places on each had the name of an Equestrian school, but there were a few Germane and Trottish ones in the mix.
Her floral print couch, which a pony would normally be instructed to lie down on, was currently occupied by a hat-less, necklace-free me and four chickens that sat calmly, perched around me like cats. They made small clucking noises that gave the room a weird, but cozy feel.
A couple books from my saddlebags had been taken out and placed on the coffee table between Chickadee and I. It currently was home to a petite chicken statue, and a tea tray printed with cute chickens. A chicken shaped tea pot and tea cups adorned with chickens sat alongside a chicken-adorned sugar bowl and small, chicken-plastered pitcher of cream.
The books were very amateur , but they were all I was able to find in Equestria and the Empire. Chickadee eyed them critically through her glasses, but not as critically as Sombra would've, so I was able to hold my tea cup and plate of corn bread with ease, knowing there was somepony far more judgemental out there.
The corn bread was delicious, and the plate it was on had chickens, of course. I had fed a few crumbs to the chickens roosting on the floor, like they were creepily herding me in here.
Across the table, Chickadee scooped up a book in her hooves and examined the cover. She sat in a large chair with the same floral print as the couch. The lack of chickens was honestly a little unnerving. A notepad and very fancy looking pen were resting on the chair's arm.
"This is the best that you could find?"
I nodded. "Yep. I was already really out of my Element on this. The Crystal Empire doesn't have many books on the subject... I think there might have been an incident with one of the royal libraries, but this doesn't seem to be a common profession within the Empire, so I didn't have any of my subjects I would be able to consult, and was left heading to Canterlot and some northern Equestrian cities for resources."
"Not Trotland?"
I shook my head and took another sip of tea. "No, I haven't had much dealings with them lately, so going over there for the purpose of borrowing books from a university or library under a royal decree felt weird."
"I see." She scribbled something down after placing the book on the chair's arm. I wonder if I should discuss any of my notes with her. "And what, exactly, were you looking for, missy?"
"I have a friend who is unlike anypony I've ever met. Well, he's a little like Luna, but there's so much of him that isn't just withdrawn like she is, y'know? He's become a really good friend in these past few years... but he's somepony I don't think I could ever properly understand, and as both his friend and the Princess of Love... that just really gets to me."
"So what's so different about your friend, then?"
I swallowed and reached out with my telekinesis to slice another helping of cornbread while the chickens looked on, waiting for any crumbs to fall. "...This won't be disclosed, will it?"
"Patient confidentiality," Chickadee said with a smile that quelled my worries... but not my hunger for corn bread.
"Gotcha. So my friend? He's insane. Actually insane, not some kind of raving lunatic caricature, but he's really gone fishing, eh?"
Chickadee just proceeded to scribble something down. "Okay. 'Insane' friend? Why is he 'insane'?"
"Well, one thing about him that's weird is how he's so antisocial, which is something that I've never thought was healthy in ponies."
"Not if you've been believing what Equestria and her goddess has been wanting you to."
I blinked again. "Whaddya mean?" I said through a mouthful of corn bread.
"What do you think antisocial ponies are supposed to be like?"
I paused and chewed my cornbread thoughtfully. "They're supposed to be... really delusional and cruel. Hypocritical and unloved, but they shun both love and friendship. I think that it would be best to say that they're 'supposed to be'... wrong? Ponies like that are supposed to be changed."
"That sounds Equestrian to me, alright. It's not exactly a wonder that you can't find anything about an antisocial pony in Celestia's Equestria that isn't utter hogwash."
I stared at her and she brought a hoof to her muzzle, smiling sheepishly. "Pardon my Prancian."
"That wasn't the worst shit I've ever heard, y'know."
The chickens around us stirred with ominous discontent.
Chickadee frowned. "Language. Please."
"Sorry!" I chirped, helping myself to a half-slice of corn bread. "So what's this about Equestrian resources being hogwash?"
"Censorship, dear. Outside of Equestria you'll find plenty of resources on antisocial ponies... at least, compared to what you folks have. They aren't exactly common enough for much work to be collected on 'em, so it's a very specialized thing. So few ponies have any antisocial tendencies. What's worse isn't that Equestria will censor these things, but that the majority of the populace would never believe otherwise."
I quietly chewed my corn bread. "So, um..."
"Your friend? Why don't you tell me about him?"
I laughed nervously. "Oh gods, I don't know where to start!"
Chickadee adjusted her glasses. "How about at the beginning?"
Nodding, I closed my eyes and let the chicken filled office disappear and let my mind relax. Storytelling was something I was okay at - being a foalsitter had improved my skills a little - but I think I at least had this one covered.
"Whenever I'm upset or worried, I have found that flying is always the best thing to help relax my mind..."
...
Onyx:
Everypony told me that Tartarus was real and I was gonna go there, but I didn't listen. Now, I'm here. I know I am. It's hot.
No, it's not hot. Tartarus is not hot, it's worse. Every second I'm here makes me feel like I'm on fire. It's agonizing and sweat pours down my face. I can feel again, and I don't want to. I just want somepony else to be hurt, not me. Now, here I am on the fringe of Tartarus and it's...
Sombra always had words for these kinds of things. Most of 'em were probably made up, but he always had a way to describe things. He'd go on about things he didn't even know. He'd describe everything but the name itself and say he didn't know it. He was stupid like that, describing exactly what something was but pretending not to know the name.
I'm surrounded by this hot cave. I can't think of any other way to describe it as I stumble through. The dark rocks are sharp and hot. They cut at my hooves and I shriek when I see my bloody hoofprints. This place is unbearably loud too. Fire roars somewhere, louder than anything. I can't imagine what kind of fire is that hot. Either it sounds like screams of agony or it's really, really hot and those are screams of agony.
This pain is like Starswirl all over again, but I don't want to think about him. Don't want to. Don't want to. I don't want to.
I wish that they're screams. I wish that they're Starswirl's. I wish that they're somepony I can hurt now that I have my body back.
It feels so empty.
I just want to see somepony in pain again. I'm just stumbling through this dark place because I'm supposed to walk on, not stop and think about stuff. That's what Sombra does. I hate Sombra more than ever. I don't need a fancy way to say it. He betrayed me. He hurt me, when I'm supposed to hurt him. I was supposed to be a king and use him and instead...
Instead, I'm here...
Some of it's not sweat that's pouring down my face. There's tears too.
I'm always lost somewhere.
...I just didn't want to be alone too. Never, never, never again.
I don't want this to be like the cold place that kept pulling me apart. I could always feel Sombra somewhere there, somewhere. He was always somewhere but I never knew how to find him. It just felt like I... why did slipping away hurt?
All those times there when I couldn't think was like eating mushrooms again. Or fever dreams, and they hurt so much.
And it was always so cold. I missed the feeling of warm blood running in my hooves or tearing into meat. I had so many horrible things I wanted to do to ponies. Sombra was under my control, and I still... ended up here.
I lurch forward and fall flat on my face, howling as the rocks cut into my coat. Were rocks always this stupid? If I kicked these ones, they hurt me instead of moving.
I want my magic back. This is all so empty. I want that dark, tempting force that was just a me who knew how to crush an entire empire of ponies. I mean, I still do. I can feel some of it still there, but it isn't the same. The dark magic isn't running through me anymore, it's just scarred me, but a good scar. I want more of them. I want it all back. I want that rush again. I want all that back. I just want everything again, and I don't care how or who would be hurt.
I don't care if I have to hurt a bit if I can have it all back. All my victims. My crown. Something other than this stupid body. I want to be a unicorn again.
Please.
Please.
Please?
I pull myself up from the ground and make the same gross sobbing noises as soon as I see how many cuts keep marking my body. Each and every one of them stings. I can feel rock-grit in some of them and it hurts so badly, just like being in that void did.
I'm shivering at the memory even though it's so hot here. Is this what all the ponies I burned felt like? I really hope it was worse for them, that would make me happy. My legs aren't the only things shaking. This isn't the place I want to be. The ground is always shaking and changing too. Or, if I could see something other than all these horrible rocks, I could tell it was changing. Here, I could only feel it.
Why did Sombra leave me?
Why did he leave me here?
How?
I want him back. I want to be the little thing rooted inside him that knows that body so well and could hurt it in so many ways without feeling the pain. I want to feel him have his panic attacks again and push his limits. I want to twist him up and break him inside. I want to mine deeper into his mind and hurt him. I want to finally break the barriers that he managed to hold and see every stupid little thing he's done and throttle and twist each memory of his.
He was already less than my slave, but I want to make it far worse for him.
I want to break him more than ever. He's the one that did this to me. I want to make him mine forever and ever. I want to hear him cry and whimper and destroy anything he's found solace in.
Out of every crystal pony, the way Sombra suffered was the best. He was the closest to me, and the most fun to take everything out on. Not being able to kill him at first felt awful... but when I realized how creative I could get, and the things I could drive him to do and how that stupid red stare could waver... oh, it was wonderful.
He was the lowest of the slaves. He was the unwilling accomplice. He was the forced test subject. He was my victim.
I want him back.
I don't want to be alone. I just want my Sombra back, and I want him to suffer all over again. He's, like, twenty now, isn't he? I want to have him for the rest of his life. I want us to be together. I want to feel how miserable and twisted up he is when he drinks and will say so, so much. I know he does, and he probably still will. That was such a horrible habit of his.
I couldn't ask for it any other way. He was a bag of vices, and I just wanted to stuff him full of all the ones he refused. I want him to make me happy again. I want my Sombra back so I can take everything from him. I want to restrain him more than any chain could. I want to see his face when nopony will believe him. I want my monster back, not because I don't want ponies to persecute him, but because I want to persecute him myself, because compared to me, ponies will show my monster mercy.
I don't want my Sombra to run anymore, I want to catch him because he has always been mine.
Everything inside of him I want to pull out as painfully as possible. Every memory of a stupid question or another night spent staring at the stars and poring over books, I want to rip from him.
He made me happy, and I should be happy. If something brings me happiness like that, I'm not going to ever think about it being wrong. I won't think about it at all, I just want it.
Standing here, shaking and alone, I just want my Sombra back. He's a monster anyway. Nopony else wants a piece of shit like him, and at least I'll always be able to remind him about how useless he is. Sombra is my weapon. He's my toy, and I'll break him if I want to.
Can't I just hear his scream and see those angry eyes one last time?
No. Forever. Can't I have my Sombra back forever? I want to whisper all the things that made his temper burst to him and had him cowering. He needs to have the knowledge of just how obviously unloved he is forced on him. I want him to be scared again.
I want my toxic creation back, and I want him to know that he'll never be getting away from me ever again. Nopony will talk to him other than cursing him. He could never be loved or cared for. I want to buck in his confidence and crack it so I can watch it fall.
I want him to feel all the worst things. He needs to have me slithering around again, pulling at his mind and his magic. Sombra needs that crown forced on him again because it's more damning than any collar could ever be. That crown was mine, and so was Sombra. He's my weapon and my victim, and I don't want him to ever know differently.
And instead of Sombra, I get this stupid cloud following me around. It isn't even a cloud, but it isn't anything like any fog I've ever seen. Whatever it is, it can't decide if it wants to be purple or blue. It sparkles like the stars on a dark night, and I hate dark nights. It's almost the same size as me.
It's not fair. None of this is.
I don't know if I should be afraid of this floating thing, but my knees are knocking anyway, which smudges the blood from one set of cuts onto the other.
I wish it had eyes so I could rip them off or drive something through them. This dark, reddish place probably has a sharp rock lying around somewhere.
"H-Hi?
It doesn't do anything because it is stupid.
"C-Can I hurt you?"
It floats.
"You're fucking useless."
It still floats.
"Go away."
It doesn't and it keeps floating and I hate it.
"I hate you."
Does it do anything but float?
"Are you a fart cloud or something?"
It floats a lot.
"Can you die?"
I'm bored.
"Uh... go kill yourself?"
It won't stop floating in place.
"Please?"
It does a dumb loopy thing that Sombra used to do in snowdrifts, except Sombra would always make these dumb trilling-shadow noises when he did this, and it was so stupid. He couldn't just learn to possess snow to do something useful, he'd whirl around in circles and make dumb noises. It's snow, and it's freezing cold. Why would somepony as stupid and grumpy as him play in it?
"I HATE YOU, YOU STUPID PIECE OF MAGIC SHIT! GO AWAY!" My voice still cracks when I scream but I pretended it doesn't and that I don't sound like a little filly. At least I'm getting better at screeching louder.
I miss Sombra. I miss hurting him. He had a horrible sense of humor, his mane was ugly, he never smiled, he made dumb growls, and his arrogance made him fun to abuse.
I'd trade this weird vapor thing for him. To punish the cloud thing for its retaliation, I smack it after walking toward the thing. It just does a cloud thing and my hoof sinks through some of it, which is gross.
"Eww! Eww! Eww!" I shriek, pulling my hoof out. Seeing nothing on it is nice. "You're dumb," I inform the starry fog beast.
It doesn't do anything other than make dumb cloud ripples. I wish it was Sombra because Sombra felt fuzzy, especially in winter and even if it was dumb and I hated when he got his winter coat, there was that dream...
...Yeah, I wanted to stab him, and worse, but he was fuzzy. I've never hugged a pony since... umm, the orphanage. I'd hug the other foals before kicking them and pushing them down and laughing at them. When Starswirl wanted me, I gave him a real hug. Sure, I tried to hug him tightly to make him feel uncomfortable because that was nice, but I didn't give him one with the intent to hurt him, which was boring.
I wanted to hurt Sombra in way worse ways, but his fuzziness was better than the funky smoke thing, even if he does this dumb thing with his tongue sometimes. I'd caught him poking his tongue out and holding it like that from time to time, but it was just another reason to do what I wanted because any kind of behavior could be a misdeed if I wanted it to, and I got to punish misdeeds.
Instead of giving the smoke-creature any more attention, I turn around and keep walking. I know that it's floating behind me, but I press on, feeling more exhausted, hungry, and alone with each step.
Ignoring the cloud is easy, and so is ignoring everything else other than the screaming heat, pain, and some other things. Everything looks the same here, just like it did up north, so I didn't have to pay attention to anything beyond not tripping.
Missing Sombra was an ache that wouldn't go away, just like the cloud. I wanted to get him back. He was made to be mine, and mine forever. Sombra wasn't going to get away with this. I owned him. I could find him and get my revenge.
I smiled at my next thought. I could hurt him again.
In my sudden happiness, I tripped again and screamed. The high pitched sound was lost, but the sharp pain from the scrape on my front right knee wasn't. The wound was deep for the minor tumble that I took, and blood was already flowing. Nearby, a sharp rock shorter than my foreleg but longer than a typical stone gleamed with the freshly spilled blood.
I quickly scooped it up in my hooves. If I held it in my mouth, I could actually use this as a weapon. It was sharp enough that if I bludgeoned a pony a little and then did some work with the point, they'd have their head bashed in soon or a leg crushed. Both thoughts made me shudder with delight. I'd gone far too long without hurting somepony and wasn't about to ignore this want any longer.
First, I looked at the amount of blood collected on my newfound weapon, while the magic cloud following my floated nearby. The sight of blood after so long was comforting and a reason to be cheerful, even if it was from an accident like this. I licked the blood of the rock and sighed. It wasn't meat, but it would do.
Ponies aren't supposed to eat it. They can't even eat it. It makes me sick to eat it and ingest things like blood, but I love the act of it. Knowing that I'm hurting something and tearing it up unnecessarily for the sake of it was amazing. If Sombra hadn't gotten in the way of so much, I would've tried to eat ponies. He had fangs, and the stomach for eating meat. He didn't have to be 'reduced to it'. He was even scared of eating it and repulsed by it.
But me? Forget taste or anything, none of that mattered. If I could tear some kind of creature apart and dismember them, then the experience was so rewarding and irresistible. To hurt ponies in all the worst ways was a temptation that there was no point in thinking twice about or resisting.
I tried to catch some of the blood running down my leg and get a taste of that too. I wanted it to be somepony else's blood, but here I was, alone. That wasn't possible. I wanted that, and I'd find somepony else... somehow.
But for now, I'm stuck with this, and the salty, metallic taste.
Resuming my journey hurt. There was no way to tell how much time passed and how far I went into this cave. The expanse of jagged, dark rock just kept going. I followed the heat and didn't question my path because that wasn't a good choice. I just kept going, and I wasn't sure for how long, but the cloudy creature kept tagging along, like a shadow would. There were so many shadows here.
My wounds itched and stung. Sometimes, I'd re-open one or two with the blade-like stone that I found and tell myself over and over again that I could do this to somepony else, but worse if I just waited. It just ended up hurting more and I cried.
Really, that's it.
One of the cuts really hurt when I stretched my leg. I couldn't see it, but it was on my left hindquarter. Everything here was a mess of shadows that hurt my eyes. I wanted to see sunshine again. I couldn't see myself, but I knew I looked pale and skinnier than usual, and was marked with cuts and scrapes in the way that Tribal ponies were marked with pox. My coat was dirty and grimy, but I didn't mind that. My mane and tail were just as tangled as I remembered. Even my teeth were exactly as I remembered before I cast the spell. One of the three that was finally rotten enough to be loose fell out yesterday. Or last week.
I don't remember. I can remember things like my life before the banishment clearly, the dark void in pieces of overwhelming nightmarish clarity, and seeing Sombra in the woods a few times, and meeting Selene once.
I missed Sombra so much.
I slept here, but it was always fitful and dreamless. When I did have dreams, it was in the forms of nightmares about Starwirl and the dark place, and I'd wake up thrashing, screaming, and crying, despite how vague they felt.
The cloud didn't stop following me. If I closed my eyes and tried to stop the ache in my head, I could imagine hurting Sombra, and I kept going.
One day, I heard a sound that had me grinning like a fool.
From a dark cluster of stone that stank of the same unbearable heat everything else here reeked of, there was the sound of a mare sobbing hopelessly. This was the sound of resignation that sent shivers down my spine. She'd lost everything, there was no hope.
Even better: the sound of her voice was familiar.
I trotted over and scrambled up the stone, my makeshift stone knife gripped in my mouth. Using one forehoof, I pushed my sweat drenched forelock out of the side with a wet, audible flick and looked down at the mare who was cowering on the ground.
What was left of a mare.
The broken corpse of a mare I know far too well wallowed about in the dirt. Her tattered cloak and blood-matted curls did little to hide who she was from me. All signs of her skin were hacked, cut, and scraped away, leaving no cutie mark or coat, but her identity was plain to me, after all, she was a particularly famous piece of work from when I was in such a gleeful mood.
Her bony, ghostly, grisly forelegs were wrapped above her head and rotting ears in an attempt to protect herself from something.
"Hi!"
Her sobs were suddenly filled with a gasp too as she lifted her head and stared straight at me. Her hollow eyes were wide with fear and her fiery pupils flickered with terror and she stared at me with her mouth hanging open.
She sniffled and lowered one hoof the ground. Something had been laying under her, something I also knew. When I was king, I wanted to try and use them for power.
Laying under her mauled chest was the Ice Star.
Opal Charm stared at me. "A c-colt?"
"You betcha!" I grinned at her, and a sad smile almost made its way across her muzzle, but it died, replaced by a scared, sad look.
"How did you get here, little one? Did the wicked usurper, Mi Amore Cadenza, send you here?"
My smile slipped a little and I blinked. "Uhh... who?"
"A pink mare with both wings and a horn, but not a true goddess."
I nodded anyway. That sounded kind of right. Or right enough, even if I didn't care, I was eyeing the Ice Star instead. "Yah. Her."
Opal still looked confused. "How young you must've been when you died. You would know so little of the reign before the sadistic King Sombra."
"That's him alright. Nothing but sadistic, merciless, and vicious." I grinned again, but Opal looked at me funny.
"Was he the one that killed you? Did Cadenza expel your spirit from the Empire?"
I shook my head back and forth rapidly, which caused my sweaty mane to make a dumb sound. "King Sombra didn't kill me."
"Oh, then who are you, dear?"
Still smiling, I scooped up my new weapon in my mouth again and looked right at her, the right of my mouth curved higher than the left, and my next words still clear before I pounced:
"I'm the King."
...
Sombra:
It was nearly dusk. The sun was already lowering over Canterlot and shadows grew longer in the dimming light. Wind whipped by the mountain, ruffling my mane and carrying the warm scent of summer.
My cloak billowed dramatically around me as I stood out and looked down at the city below me. With Fate stored in my pocket realm, which was anchored in its old spot again, the cloak's movement was even more wild. I watched as the glow of werelights that lit up the city at night alongside torches and lamps grew steadier. Magic emanated from all around, and I couldn't help but tilt my head up to enjoy the evening's strong breeze as it combed through my dark mane and the scruffy last remains of my winter coat.
The snowy tops of lesser peaks stretched out into the distance, cupping the sinking sun. Valleys and grassland below were already darkening. Thick clouds blew across the sky, forced into new shapes by the wind.
My scars would still itch under my cloak, but I didn't pay too much attention to them. The sound of splashing water caused my ears to prick backward in the direction of Fish's new pond. He must be catching some of the bugs that had been flying too close to the surface of the water - I felt their minor presences vanish and heard the wet gulp that belonged to Fish. Between bugs, potato chips, pizza crusts, and worms I wasn't exactly sure what to feed him, and he still seemed to get by.
I had just woken up a few hours ago and was disappointed to see that my experiment with freezing leftover pizza slices hadn't gone as I'd anticipated. Breaking the ice with three swords and a couple fireballs went as planned. Fish ate well today, and the ungrateful glutton still is gorging himself on insects.
The softer glow of the moon was already rising above the horizon and I sat back on my haunches to enjoy the sight of it. Luna would be here in an hour or two, ready for our first date.
I was curious if she had a favorite disguise in mind and just how much of herself I'd be able to see mirrored in the form of a mortal pony that nopony else would look twice at. Seeing how well we know one another, it'll be too difficult not to see telltale things bleed through and everything between lines stand out the most. The light in her eyes will never change, and her smile doesn't belong to anypony else. The way she looks at me isn't able to be copied, and her habit of combing through her thick mane with her hooves is something I could spot easily.
She probably has a postcard from Mustainia too. Pink One headed south almost as soon as everything settled a couple weeks ago, but promised to renew our meetings when she returns north. Of course the tabloids are still all over what Luna has to say about me. Of course every allegation, subtle or otherwise, is a lie. Of course ponies are still the plague of liars that they were before. Credit for anything that I did? The entirety of what happened over the past few months hasn't been said, and it likely never will. Instead, it's been thrown out in pieces... and largely ignored by the majority. Is that a surprise? Not in the slightest.
They don't know who I am, and barely have an idea to what I sound like. Ponies are glued to the image of the King, and I've continued to go unnoticed when I'm disguised. No pony common questions me.
Luna was swept up in duties for a while, and we kept in touch with letters. Many of them had been scribbled out between meetings and delegations and the snide remarks about the ponies she had to put up with had me smiling a crooked smile from time to time.
I like it here, but I don't always stay. The Crystal Empire isn't ever going to know me again, but maybe I'll venture to the north again one day. I only have all the time that this world will last, and while it'll shift and grow, the damn thing won't be changing one bit.
Same here. There's really nothing to suppose about something so definite. I have so much more magic to work on and to master, and so many things to learn. I'm not about to stop. I will always be stubborn. I will always be intelligent. I will always be one snarky bastard and the bluntest piece of demon and anything that'll likely ever be. My selfishness is amazingly irreversible. I'll always have a temper, and there will always be panic attacks, but I'm better than any pony; I'm Sombra and I wouldn't trade any of it, even in any moment of doubt I might have, now or from here onward.
I stay for Luna, for myself, for things to steal, and a city to explore. Stashing the amount of things I've acquired somewhere isn't the worst thing either.
But I've still been travelling. There's cities to see inside and out with my job, and all the underworlds to work myself into, surrounded by ponies and other creatures who will only know me in part. Luna knows it too, but I keep confessing piece after piece of myself to her, allowing her to know every part of me in one way or another, and that isn't going to change.
I won't stay forever. There's so many places to see and older ones to unearth. I want to cut the ruins up from this world and know every bit of them that I possibly can. All around are strange trails and lonesome places that I will see. It's only definite that I'll be there, just maybe not today.
I can't stop dreaming, but I really never did. Waking ambition and wanderlust, or nightmares I now wake screaming from, they don't stop. I don't want them to, the dreams, that is. Night terrors, on the other hoof...
I may not be able to do just anything forever, but I want to run forever.
I keep my eyes on the sky - they had never left - and I was drawn to the one sight I couldn't look away from. My horn flared brighter and with the best of the new magic I had been working on, script ran rampant across my vision and I saw red. My sight stretched and I saw the dark wings of a mare I could only describe as alluring in every way. She flew toward the mountain, searching.
My spell collapsed. She'd find me, in time. Luna always would.
I continue to look up at the dusk sky with a stubborn silence, poking the tip of my tongue out in the way that had Onyx absolutely pissed as I stared with wide pupils into the vast sky that now bore the first pale stars of night, winking into view, and the faint purplish outline of a tree painted in the sky beyond it, stretching over the world.
I stood up, expression unchanging and looked to the world.
I'm lord of it all, often ironically, and I have something to say about this lord-dom of mine, and everything that's ever happened to me and will happen in the eternity of my existence that stretched from the moment I was first spawned in that eternal second to the infinity that I will occupy.
This is what I have to say to the world, all thoughts of me of its common occupants, and everything about it, and all future worlds that will be graced with my fine, sassy, partially catastrophic presence:
"Fuck you," I hissed under my breath, tongue not retreating.
And then I moved on.
Thank you for reading. There will be a blog out soon detailing my plans for after this and all that jazz.
Stick around? This isn't the end of Sombra and Luna's story.
-Icy
If you don't want to wait for the sequel to come out, and are eager for some more stories with Sombra, Luna, Cadance, and others set Post-FA that are canon to this story, I've linked some omake below and other shorts you may be interested in.
This is a story about the relationship between Discord and Celestia.
The first moments of Sombra and Onyx are captured here.
A slice of post-FA life (and nextgen babbus) for Rarity and Twilight can be found here.
The incident with Celestia that Cadance mentions in chapter five is told in this story
A short scene of fluff was deleted from FA, and here's something else that was cut from the story.
The flashbacks in chapter thirty can be found here, with an expanded preamble and even a reading!
A six part comedic mini-series featuring more demon lore and zany interactions between Sombra, Cady, and Shiny starts here.
A cute drabble with Sombra and Luna shipping is here!
Some Discord and Sombra interactions are here.
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inhale
*muffled scream*
exhale
8327100
*patient smile*
Do you have something you want to share, Sammy?
8327119
Sombra is fucking
Life
or something poetic like that idk
8327127
He is a beautiful creature
8327133
Yah
That's it
8327135
He also makes derpy cat faces
8327142
makes him 100% better
8327146
Murp
i.redd.it/vn7gpbosm9rx.jpg
8327588
That's exactly what happened. Yep. Totally.
Anyway, I hope you'll stick around for more of my writing.
Awww, no Luna scene? Darn.
Still, I did enjoy this epilogue, as well as the story as a whole. Thank you for writing this, and I eagerly await the sequel. 👍❤️
8329324
Thank you so much for reading and commenting so often! I don't usually get that, and every comment and upvote means a lot to me. Luna did not get a scene because she will be narrating an upcoming story set Post-FA that will act as a long version of her epilogue.
But thank you for sticking around. If you didn't see it, I posted a blog with some hints of just what is to come in Arc Two while I try to get some new readers. Here's to hoping for that!
8413028
Yes absolutely totally.
Actually he's writing.
N/A
8448485
There's never enough horse Dickinson.
8448501
He's a curious stallion.
8448518
It's almost like I wrote Autophobia, huh?
8448533
The seaponies are also assholes. And of course I went there.
8448687
So was everyone in Rapture
8454406
Yeah, if Christians started floating around, I'd bet that they'd be assholes about it.
8512279
FEELINGS HAPPENED EVERYPONY PANICThings could get better maybe
8512324
she squashed all who oppose her with her big sunbutt obviously
8526270
h a
I win
8526803
Whoa! When did you get here?
8526815
Just now. I've been offline for a while.
8526853
I meant this comment section specifically since I'm certain you read this already.
8526862
Oh. Then I’ve actually been occasionally commenting on the story as it was updating.
8534224
That too
8548846
Cadance is the best shipping horse and dorky wingmare friend and if you say otherwise you're objectively uncool, obviously.
8645696
*gasps* That's really rude.
LOVE THIS STORY xD
8850439
Thanks for reading!
Took me a long time but DAMN was it worth it. This was an excellent read! Now time to read Enemy of mine.
9121430
Thank you so much for taking your time to read this series! Especially this one! I always adore comments and votes on it~
I hope you like that story too!
8273032
HEY I REMEMBERED WHERE DO AN ACTIVITY TOGETHER IS FROM
I'M STILL A DUMBASS FOR COMING THIS FAR TO REPLY TO A COMMENT THAT'S OVER A YEAR OLD WHEN THAT WASN'T EVEN MY INTENT but whatever i just want to prove a point
9124112
Aaaah you finally remembered! 😏
And that’s understandable.
9124114
sjkdhjhasbdnsad
y'know
you are probly the living embodiment of the Sombra you write (i've probably said this before but pfff imma say it again it's still tru)
9124133
You’re like the fourth person to say that and I don’t know why
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_de94rSr8m8
this song kind of reminds me of this entire fic
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I must admit I've never seen that anime before, but after listening to that, I have to say that the resemblance is pretty uncanny! Thanks for reading! I'm always happy to see this story get love.
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yeah no problem! i've been recently rereading a lot of the ice verse stuff and i have to say this is a very impressive and well thought out continuity you made!
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Somehow FimFic decided to fuck up and not give me this notification, so sorry for the late reply. Thank you for the compliments/votes/comments! I really do always adore getting that kind of stuff. Even fan effort of fan effort helps things go 'round. Sorry you didn't read the fully revised version of this; as of typing this I've only left off on chapter 46. I'm still glad you've enjoyed my stories enough to come back to them! I haven't been able to write quite like I used to in my first year(s) on this site, but I hope that my stories always show some of that thought and effort y'all see in 'em. C:
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What can I say, when I find something great I turn into a voracious reader. I must absorb it all, bath in the rich world being created by the words before. The joys and sorrows, the journeys oof the characters I will devour without restraint
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t r u e t h a t
Thanks for finding my stuff to be so devour-able! I've, uh, certainly got a lot of it to go through.
Finally done. I feel like lavender lack-wit with how long this one took me. I love how you portray Sombra in these stories. While I'm a Celestia fan you make some surprisingly good points about her in the final chapters and bring up some disturbing points about her relationship with Twilight (not that it kills my love for TwiLestia in the slightest). And aas for the purple pawn, she grew up in the show but she does have a creepy devotion to friendship.
Is it strange I really do agree with Sombra's world view more than Celestia's very limited and kinda damaging one. Seriously she can't see past her narrow view for her sister even, instead she tries to tie Luna down with all this kind nasty labels.
Well anywhoo, keep up the good work
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You're honestly probably among the people who read this story the fastest, as I recall.
Thank you! Sombra as a whole is one of my proudest accomplishments in these stories. Because of his pivotal role, I always love hearing what people think of the silly jerk horse.
I like Celestia too, and am most certainly a Twilestia fan to boot. I always do hope that people can find messages and points in these stories along with snarky demons and good adventures. This particular scenes was probably the most level confrontation I've written for them: while nothing dubious actually happened between Twi and Celestia, she's in the exact position to easily do very terrible things to a young mind and body. Sombra's not wrong for bringing it up, even with his aggressive and snide tactics, and tell her about these suspicions, among other things. The worst she would have actually done is lying.
Considering Celestia's canonical status as a goddess here and uncertain nature in the show, her devotion isn't unfounded. Based on her life and exact relationship with Tia, she's got further reasons behind what she does. However, while it is Twilight's choice to ultimately do a lot of what she does, it's how Celestia's to say no when she thinks that loyalty has reached its limits. Since she doesn't do that, it's irresponsible and leaves a lot of room for damage.
'Friendship' isn't even literally friendship. Twilight and a lot of other ponies live a certain way and have had their culture and what they know of their history relay this back to them, just like any other society has. Sombra's no honorable vigilante and he's not trying to win any crowd over with what he's been doing as of late. Twilight doesn't have a reason to believe him, and the ideals she expresses are easily wrapped up and conveyed by a lot of things that can be found in, well, friendship (even if it's clearer that what she views as opposing her and her life/society is the broad ol' thing of antisocial behavior). She still functions pretty healthily otherwise. The Twilight in the show has honestly gotten a much more fridge sinister angle to the whole 'friendship' thing, especially with how much more dogmatic it's become,
but that's a TED Talk for another day.Nah, it's not that strange, even if he's not very agreeable (especially in nature). They're both biased, but Sombra's are personal instead of harmful in the same way that shouting your favorite eatery in public is odd but not going to get you more than a few strange looks. His apathy prevents a lot of damage because if you aren't bothering much or damaging anything, he's not really going to care. Celestia really wants to regulate things in a way that makes her the whole nation's helicopter Alicorn mom. Most things she thinks are born out of fear, and that doesn't really justify any of what she does, but it does explain how and why she thinks of Luna the way she does. Luna has a very bad mental health record. Celestia is right to be fearful for her and protective. Celestia isn't right to never disbelieve anything she has already thought when there is evidence in front of her.
Thank you for the compliments, comments, and votes! It's great writer-fuel!
If you didn't know and were interested, the storyline here continues in Enemy of Mine, my current ongoing novel-length story. Sombra and Luna return, and Celestia does too. Thank you for reading!
Of course I'm interested. I haven't been this invested in a set of stories since I was introduced to the Dresden Files.
*dives into the next story headfirst*
Here I come Sombre, let's see you take down Tryant Lestia and her oppressive regime with snark and sardonic wit. Or possibly save the world from the yandere friendship lavender lack-wit we had foreshadowed
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Aaaah, well that's so great to hear! i tend to get months between comments on some of these stories, so notifications always make me so happy! There's also a group for all the stories in the series if you want to keep track of them.
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I'll go back then.
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reading is a primary pastime for us, so we've had lots and lots and lots of practice
also we took multiple breaks between the past few chapters, so this is actually slower than we could be, but is also about our norm since being distracted / taking breaks is the norm.
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reason for spades: ahhh, that makes sense
not aro: yeah suspected as such, we didn't realize the ace of spades meant specifically aro until after we'd typed that out and looked it up
oooh, neat variant!
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Gee, I wonder who she learned it from?
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Can promise that the horses will cuddle
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Yep, straight from Crystalline too!
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Cadance is a straight ally white bitch in horse form and has earned all the snuggles
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Fish is a good boy who appears in later stories
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beloved smother vibe intensifies
I've never actually head the term social paper clip optimizing, what's it mean?
Hell yeah she is
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i was combining the concept of a paper-clip optimizer with her sentence about "socially optimal"
"paper-clip optimizer" explanation: it's a term usually used for an AI whose sole purpose is to create the most paper clips in the most optimal way, and when given too much power will eventually turn the entire universe into paper-clips (since that is the upper limit to the possible paper-clips that can be made without invading other universes or dimensions)
now the general case is just "optimizer", but paper-clip optimizer is the most commonly known form of optimizer, though of course it can be pointed at things other than paper-clips, some more beneficial than others
so in other words i was comparing celestia to a ravenous being whose entire purpose becomes converting ponies into perfectly social extroverted beings, for that is the True Way
hopefully she doesn't actually do that, but she definitely seems to want to
awww yay!
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Okay that's a really good term to know! TIL!