Epilogue
There came a knock on the frame of Pinkie’s bedroom door. She turned from the mirror to see Fine standing there, watching her with a calm confidence. “You ready?”
She looked in the mirror again. Her mane fell straight today. It was an intentional decision. Her friends knew to judge her mood by her manestyle, and this time she wanted them to know from the start that she hadn’t invited them here to discuss a party. “Do you think they’ll take it well?”
Fine stepped into the room to stand at her side, his rosewood eyes meeting her sapphire blues through the mirror. He nuzzled her just beneath the ear, giving it the faintest nip. “They’ll be surprised, I’m sure. But they were willing to accept me, and you have a supreme advantage over me.” At her querying look he added, “They actually like you.”
She turned her head to look up at him properly with an expression half-lecturing and half-amused. “They like you, silly. You’re just weird.”
“Huh. I suppose I am.” He turned his eyes away and scratched at his chin in a manner of faux-thoughtfulness. “And you’re dating me. Wonder what that says about you?”
“That you’re the right kind of weird,” she replied primly, facing the mirror once more. She tried to hold on to that confidence their banter had given her, but it flowed out like air from a balloon. She stared at the floor, at her legs that felt like lead. “Can I do this?”
He nuzzled her yet again, his touch gentle and reassuring. “You know you can.”
She leaned into him, burying her face in his shoulder. “What if they hate me?”
“I think you know they won’t.” When she said nothing to this, he wrapped a leg about her withers and started to hum. “You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul…”
He sang a few verses, rocking gently back and forth. She swayed with him, letting the words seep into her heart and still the waves of her emotions. What had threatened to be a storm grew into a calm, if overcast day. After a while, she stood up on her own once more and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. I think I’m ready.”
With that reassuring smile that melted her heart, Fine guided her silently out the door and down the stairs. Each step sounded loud to her ears, a drumbeat in the cavernous quiet. She could hear her friends conversing pleasantly in Sugarcube Corner’s dining room. It was almost enough to make her lock up, but Fine gave her a fresh squeeze and she found the courage to take those last few steps.
All went quiet. They all stared at her, clearly realizing that this wasn’t a mere social visit. Twilight, freshly returned from her work in Canterlot, shared fretful glances with Rarity and Applejack. Rainbow hovered over a table, a half-eaten cupcake in her hooves as her eyes flicked between Pinkie and Fine like she was unsure who she should be focusing on. Fluttershy stood up from the table beneath Rainbow, apparently to approach, but hesitated when Fine waved her back. Mr. and Mrs. Cake sat behind the counter, holding hooves and clearly trying not to look as worried as they obviously were. Her best friends, her family, all here to listen to what she had to say.
It was too much. She pressed against Fine, letting her mane fall before one eye and hoping she could hide from their stares. He ran his hoof along her neck in that way she liked and whispered in her ear. “It’s okay, Pinkie. It’s going to be fine.”
“Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow moved just a little closer. “What’s wrong?”
She didn’t answer. She couldn’t, not yet. She let Fine coo in her ear and sooth the anxiety from her system with his caressing touch. Her friends whispered among one another, and she folded her ears back to guard against the sounds. With slow, heavy breaths, she fought back the ball of sickness in her guts. She called on everypony within, the Pinkies and the Rarities and the Fluttershies, but they struggled to keep it down. At this rate she would surely fail. She couldn’t fail. This needed to happen. She’d promised it would happen. Fine trusted her, she couldn’t screw this up!
And then, She was there. All the struggling and fighting to regain control ended as every pony on Pinkie’s mental highway parted for Her. Marble Pie looked at the hideous wreck that was Pinkie’s courage and, with but a smile, loosened every ugly knot. She made it look effortless. And once the mass of nastiness was untangled, she met Pinkie Pie’s startled look with a proffered hoof and an expression of warmth.
Pinkie raised her head, smiling as she whispered a quiet thanks. Looking to Fine, she gave him a little peck on the neck and nodded before allowing herself to stand on her own. She walked into the dining room proper, her gaze meeting each of her friends’ eyes one at a time. “I’m sorry for worrying everypony, but I’m ready now. Everyone got their cupcakes? Comfortable? This is gonna take a while, and I’d really appreciate not having many interruptions, so it’s important to have everything you need.”
Fluttershy took a cautious step forward, her head low. “Are you alright?” The same question burned in the eyes of every one of her friends.
Licking her lips, Pinkie nodded. “I’m better than I’ve been in a very long time.” She gestured Rainbow back, and the pegasus reluctantly returned to her seat. At a long, reassuring look from Pinkie, Fluttershy did the same.
Fine appeared, setting down a cushion from upstairs for Pinkie to use. She just barely heard Rarity’s pleased muttering of “Such a gentlecolt.” Sitting on the cushion with an appreciative smile, she waved Fine back. She wanted to try to get as far along with this as she could without him. Not that she didn’t expect him to come swooping in when things got… hard.
Clearing her throat, she finally focused on addressing everyone in the room. “Thank you for coming, everypony. You’re all my bestest best friends… and family.” That last bit with a smile to the Cakes, who returned it affectionately. It gave her an extra dash of courage, more than enough to get started with this. “But I’ve been keeping a secret from all of you, and it’s long past time I ponied up. I… I know it may sound unbelievable and horrible, but I swear to you that everything I’m about to tell you is true.”
She paused, expecting some kind of interruption. There was none, and for that she was glad. She allowed herself one last opportunity to consider what she was about to do. One more chance to back out. But they were all here, she had Fine’s support, and deep within, she could feel Marble’s silent encouragement. It was finally time. She raised her head, sucked in a deep breathe, and began.
“When I was three years old, my twin sister Marble and I snuck out of bed to play in the barn.”
And so it finally ends. Two-and-a-half years is way too long for a writing project, so I am certainly glad it’s over. A warmhearted thanks to Grand_Moff_Pony, who stuck with me as pre-reader from beginning to end and always being encouraging. Thanks also to the few of you who finished this story. I know it’s been an agonizingly long wait.
Before anyone asks, I do have plans for more No Heroes stories. Plans, but not any concrete expectations. I’ll be honest: I don’t know if I will be continuing this series. I had at least three more stories planned, but with all my other projects and a need to start branching into original fiction I just can’t guarantee I’ll get back to it. Which is a shame, because I love these characters so much. Still, maybe someday I will return to No Heroes to explore the next phase of the story. I hope so, at least.
On a side note: I chose Collide to be the story’s theme song, but that wasn’t the first song I wanted. I only went with Collide after realizing how much more suitable it was. But the song that I started with was still a nice choice, so I figure I’ll throw it on here just for the acknowledgement:
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- PaulAsaran · 174k words · 61 3 · 1.6k views
- PaulAsaran · 124k words · 115 5 · 2.1k views
- PaulAsaran · 104k words · 113 4 · 1.9k views
- PaulAsaran · 20k words · 118 4 · 1.8k views
- PaulAsaran · 93k words · 120 1 · 2.1k views
- PaulAsaran · 13k words · 18 0 · 169 views
Stats
Page generated in 0.117 seconds
Total duration
749 users online
961,917 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
And so, the heartwarming journey of self-discovery and acceptance comes to an impactful close.
If you're looking to move into original fiction, I won't stop you. In fact, I'll encourage you. I'm like 30K words into the first draft of my own novel, and you'll probably still finish before I do, ha.
Well, it’s been an awesome story, I’ve been following it since 2013.
9600668
Actually I'm somewhere along the lines of 80k into that original fiction, although it's come to a grinding halt in the last couple months as I re-establish my priorities.
Anyway, glad you enjoyed the story! Here's hoping I can continue things sometimes soon.
9601877
And I am glad to hear it! Thanks for sticking around.
Happy to see the ending. IF you do more of this I will be sure to read it especially if it involves lots of Fine and Pinkie.
This story was really refreshing to read. The characters had depth, the story didn't drag along, and every scene was crafted with the intent of expanding on whatever the subject at that time was without becoming a heavy exposition dump or wild tangent.
The easiest way I could describe this story would be to call it satisfying. It checked every box; great writing, good pacing, excellent character interactions, great description of the setting, and perfect detailing of the character's emotions and the body language that shows it.
Bravo 👏. I sincerely hope that your muse drives you back toward this series in the future, even if it is selfish of me to wish it.
9796775
Considering it took two-and-a-half years to write and the vast majority of the non-major events were made up on the spot, I consider this high praise.
Just got done re-reading your no heroes series, it is one of my favorite long term fanfiction series, and I noticed something I hadn't noticed before. For most of the story, you spell it as Pinkamina. But in this one, you start spelling as Pinkamena, I'm curious as to why. I'm not complaining, I actually much prefer that spelling, something about Pinkamina has always just urked me.
I also do hope you intend to continue this sometime, Pinkie and Fine as a couple might be my favorite OC and Pinkie couple I've read. I also really really like this version of Pinkie you've made, It's very...unique and feels like a very good character. I feel as if there is still a lot of room for both them as a couple, and them as characters.
There is also one other thing I realized while re-reading this, something I'm sure you've noticed. If Pinkie and Fine do decide to have a child, and it is genetic like Fine believed, then it almost guarantees that their child would be a Bloodmane. This possibility may even prevent them from having children, which wouldn't be difficult since horses can self-abort, and they wouldn't want to curse someone else with something like that. At the very least, it sounds like it could be grounds to dig more into the truth behind Bloodmane's, as they may decide to see if there is a cure for it.
10359909
Glad to hear how much you enjoyed this series and this couple! In truth, I wasn't even sure Fine would get together with Pinkie until I finished Book 4. Once I properly committed and gave it a look in preparation for Beyond the Everfree and this story though, I was hooked. I love these two as a pair, they're a lot of fun to write around.
The name change came only because I didn't know I was spelling it wrong all that time. I tend to prefer to follow Hasbro's official spellings (except for when they were still calling her "Fleur Dis Lee", which, seriously, how did Hasbro itself make such a mistake and maintain it for so long? So glad they came to their senses on that one). I finally got a dose of my own common sense and actually checked the official spelling, after which I corrected it for future use.
I've thought about the 'genetic bloodmane' thing, and I even have a solution in mind that says their child is not guaranteed to be one, but never got into developing a story on the subject. To be honest, I don't see me writing another large scale story such as this for the series again. But I have considered writing short stories within it to answer questions of this sort. I've got ideas for all sorts of things, including: seeing some of Octavia's lessons with Luna; what was Jet Set and Upper Crust doing while Silma Ril controlled Canterlot?; will Nye Stone ever get over his discomfort of his own special talent?; can Rarity's and Jimmy's relationship last?; What is married life like for Rainbow and Nye?; What does Keen Arrow go on to be when she grows up?; How does the town of Ponyville evolve after the population influx from being a temporary refugee site?; and perhaps most importantly, if No Heroes is an alternate timeline to the Fleur-verse and Trixie vs. Equestria (which it is), at what point did it diverge and why?
And so on. So yeah, there's still lots of potential in the series, always has been. I don't know if I'll get to any of these, much less all of them, but I will not say 'never'. That's a promise I've broken before.
Well, here I am for the last in the series. Allonsey!
10559182
Oh? Beyond the Everfree wasn't worth a comment, eh?
10559575
Psst, check it out.
Ya know, just saying that after all this time I just realized that Fines mother wasn't killed by Rip Tide, she was killed by the mast and gobbled by the beast.
10559623
Ah, but would the mast have killed her if Riptide hadn't shown up?
10559661
Logic dictates that I answer no.
10685131
I'm not so much concerned about Trixie's profession or her age. It's just, as I see it Trixie gets up on stage and says "PREPARE TO BE AMAZED" and immediately AJ and Rarity piped up about toning down her performance with RD adding a totally unhelpful "what they said". Would Trixie acting like Fluttershy been better? "oh um, excuse me, but if you don't mind, I would like to perform some mediocre magic tricks for you. last I checked Rarity didn't get where she was by underselling her talent. And if a stage persona bugs AJ'S "honest streak" so much I gotta wonder how Applebloom was ever allowed to perform in the school talent show or go trick or treating in a costume of all things. I can just see it, AJ traumatizing a little bloom by telling her the honest truth about where babies come from, oh there's no such thing as Santa, and don't let me catch you evuh playin' pretend or any such dishonest foolishness.
Wow.
I had my hopes up pretty high for this one. Beyond the Everfree really opened my eyes to the possibilities that this relationship might have. I was a little worried, knowing that romance can be a difficult thing to pull off, on top of all the drama and trauma that were going to be on the table at the same time. It seemed like there were a lot of plates in the air, ready to fall down catastrophically one after another. I'm quite glad that my fears were proven to be unfounded.
The chemistry between Fine Crime and Pinkie Pie is wonderfully heartwarming. It was pretty easy to imagine that there were going to be a lot of feels to go through this time around with the two of them having to sift through Pinkie's emotional baggage, with them being able to bond with each other over their respective traumatic experiences. What I didn't expect was the way the two of them would have to warm up to each other and each get over their own doubts in regard to why they should be together. Fine Crime clearly has no idea how to deal with interpersonal affairs, as we've already seen plenty of times before now, but here we see how he just completely freezes up at even the slightest hint of intimacy because he has no idea how to react, because he can't admit to himself that he wants it. And even Pinkie Pie, for as much as she is a far more sociable pony, finds herself unable to handle this one stallion because she can't accept that she's good enough for him, she can't get over her damage and anxiety.
There are a great many fantastic moments between these two throughout this story. I love how important it becomes to Fine to see that Pinkie is happy, just because having her be miserable is so utterly wrong. The most standout to me though is when Pinkie Pie finally breaks out the dress and the aftermath that comes about as a result of it. It's here when it dawns on Fine Crime what the full scope of Pinkie Pie's affection for him is, and his own for her in turn, and just how beautiful he thinks she is. But, unfortunately, because he remains rooted in his uncertainties, his immediate reaction is stunned silence, an expression too vague for these circumstances, and Pinkie Pie immediately latches on to any doubt that is presented to her and assumes the worst, unable to believe that anyone could ever love a pony as inadequate and broken as her. The refusal to let him make a promise to her because she refuses to believe him, because he couldn't possibly be telling the truth, is utterly heartbreaking. And then, after all that, I can't think of a more appropriate way for Fine to mend and cement their relationship than by singing to her.
I had been a little skeptical when I started looking at this page and saw how long the story was, especially seeing how the chapter titles specifically denoted the extent of time over which the story takes place. I was confused as to how a trip to Pinkie's family home possibly could be stretched out so long, thinking surely it was just a matter of going over her backstory and what she had to go through. I was surprised when it turned out that it was actually a whole town they were visiting, but that made it all make a lot more sense, and it quickly opened up plenty of possibilities for what more could be done while Fine and Pinkie were visiting. I kept expecting a sudden turn where it would be revealed that someone knew what Pinkie had done and there would be some kind of conflict to worry about with that, but I suppose it was for the best not to have that, they already had enough to deal with on their own.
And Sunflower reappears! A huge and welcome surprise. I had those love triangle warning alarms going off early on from the way Pinkie Pie reacted to her, but it's quickly clear that that's mostly her internal anxiety acting up. Also Pinkie briefly latching onto "yellow" as a factor of attractiveness was hilarious. I loved how she (and a lot of the side characters, really) ended up being the in-universe shipper for Fine and Pinkie.
Boy, though, could you imagine how torn up Fine would have been if it turned out that Sunflower or even her parents had died in Riptide's rampage?Also, even though Rarity isn't truly a main character here, I appreciate that she finally has a distinct presence in one of these stories, through the impression she left on Pinkie Pie after giving her the dress and the information that she was involved in relief efforts after the events of Silma's coup.
I wonder if it might have served this story better to have some more flashbacks to Pinkie's childhood. Maybe a brief sequence at the start of each chapter relevant to what's about to happen, or perhaps an additional prologue in which an innocuous day of Pie family fun is interrupted by a strange vision. While great lengths are made to detail Pinkie Pie's trauma and guilt, I feel there could have been more done to show the relationships she had with each member of her family, to make it clear how important they were to her and, consequently, how much their deaths (at her hoofs) tear her up. As it is, the only ones we really get a good feel for are Marble and Limestone, for the others we're just getting the rough approximations of what Pinkie relays to Fine.
But I think that the character who is most distinctly lacking in this regard is Granny Pie. We do get quite a bit for how she loved Pinkie and her role in curing her Bloodmane condition, but there isn't really enough to feel an emotional attachment to her, and that's something a lot more vital to her since she isn't an established character like the rest of the Pie family (other than Surprise maybe). It's similar to how I felt about Gulfstream, in that it seems like Granny ought to be a significant part of Pinkie's character and motivations, but we don't actually see much of her at all until the part where she puts Pinkie through the Bloodmane cure, and then she's gone just as quickly and barely mentioned after that.
Also I really don't understand why Granny committed suicide. I guess it was because of guilt? Either for how she failed to notice what was happening with Pinkie sooner or for what she had to put her through to cure her, we have no way of knowing for sure since Pinkie wasn't there. There's no reason given though for why a loving grandmother would put her granddaughter through being an orphan, especially after suffering an ordeal like this, and considering that, as a former Bloodmane herself, they would have had a lot more reason to stick together. It seems like the only reason she did it was out of plot-mandated need for Pinkie Pie to be homeless and familyless. The best possible way to approach this that I can think of would be that Granny Pie had urged Pinkie to leave because she was going to take the fall for the deaths, and the suicide was out of necessity to force her to go--imagine what that might entail for Pinkie coming back home and hearing people calling her grandmother, the pony who saved her, a murderer, a heartless mare who went crazy and brutally killed her family, and having more guilt to deal with as a result.
Unrelated to any of the drama in of itself, can I just say the ghost of Marble was pretty damn terrifying? Just this figure that is sometimes inexplicably there, without explanation, wordlessly reminding Pinkie of what happened, the trauma that goes deeper even than her murders. The moment when Pinkie wakes up and finds Marble in the bed with her, staring with that rasping breathing, has big The Grudge vibes. And then in the end when Pinkie finally confronts Marble and she turns into a grotesque monster, the culmination of all her fears and guilt, only to then embrace her as she comes to her personal acceptance of what happened, is so intense and so...right.
I'm sad that the Octavia roadtrip story and its continuations never materialized in the end, though I suppose if I had to choose between the two I easily would have rather taken this story. The No Heroes series, the way I see it, is above all else the story of Fine Crime and his journey to becoming a better person, to becoming comfortable with his life and to accept other ponies into it. It feels more appropriate to me that it would wrap up with a story about him accepting romance, overcoming both his own trauma and helping Pinkie Pie to do the same with her own. And, of course, to finally close the door on his work in the shadows in Hot Chocolate at the Isekai. A beautiful way to round out the series.
...Although what happened to Day 13? Did they just rut for the rest of Day 12 and continue through the whole next day? Not that I would blame them.
10905316
A delightful bit of commentary, as always! As soon as I saw your first comment I went in and re-read a couple chapters for the sake of nostalgia. It reminded me of how much I love watching these two interact with one another.
It's also a firm reminder of the flaws of releasing chapters as they are written rather than waiting until the story is done. I saw so many issues in just those first few chapters! Luckily, Life of Pie was the last story to ever use that method. Indeed, it was the story that made me fully comprehend it's issues. Why the heck did I bring up Diamond Dogs so early and never once mention them again?
At the time I couldn't think of a way to incorporate more of Granny Pie without unnecessarily padding the length of a story that was already much longer than I originally intended. Which is a shame, because I too recognized how little attention she was receiving. Your suggestion of flashbacks might have been a way to solve that, but they never occurred to me. I was wary of doing the one with Marble, but since her death was the most important I felt it needed that extra "oomph".
Granny Pie was a Bloodmane. That means that all of this is happening because of her. Even if it's incidental, imagine how much that would weigh on someone. She only knew two things: "This is my fault." and "Pinkie needs to be cured." Once the second issue was dealt with... well, there was still the first one. What happens next wouldn't have occurred to her. She was too busy thinking about the horror that she had brought upon those she'd loved and how she needed to pay for that crime. Curing her granddaughter was her act of love, because she had to do it before putting herself out of everyone else's misery.
Or at least that's how she saw it.
Does it make perfect sense? Nope. But decisions made due to emotional weight have a tendency to not make sense. By all rights Granny was truly insane by the end.
Marble was a tricky subject for me. I wanted her to be terrifying, but I also wanted her to be a big mystery. Is she really there or is it all in Pinkie's head? I very carefully constructed her interactions with Pinkie to ensure that there was no evidence one way or the other, and thus readers could form their own conclusions. Regardless, I'm thrilled that you got so much out of her!
As to Day 13... at that point in the story I couldn't find anything worth expanding upon in the story that wasn't a pointless padding of the wordcount. The point of the story was done and I'd already explored so much. I figured it was time to skip ahead to the end.
Ah, I do so love this story. I'm going to be re-reading it, because I honestly can't resist now. Pinkie and Fine's little journey together make them such a fascinating pair for me.