The Number 22

by Blazing Shadows

Epilogue

Author's Note: This is the final chapter in the story. Thanks to all of you who've stuck by it.

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic or The Number 23, the cool movie this story is based on.

THE NUMBER 22

EPILOGUE

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February 11

I couldn't believe it......I was happy. For the first time since I got the book, I was completely, one-hundred percent happy. Me and the girls decided to leave the previous events behind us and never speak of them again. I was especially grateful to Rarity for forgiving me for punching her.

"Don't worry about it, Twilight. You had no control over your actions."

"Thanks, Rare."

That morning, I turned myself into the police. My friends disagreed with what I was doing, but I felt that, with all that had happened, it was the right thing to do. Everypony in Ponyville, and even Canterlot, was shocked to hear the news.

"My dear subjects," announced Princess Celestia, "My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has just confessed to the killing of Laura Toffee. She was taken into custody, but, because of her honest confession, has been allowed to return home and wait until her trial later this week."

I thought they would go easy on me since I just came out and confessed doing it to them. Maybe, at the least, I would get a year in jail....Plenty of time to reflect on what I'd done.

"Don't worry, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash, "No matter what happens, we'll be by your side all the way through this."

"Thanks."

I was relieved that Rainbow Dash survived. Seems the curse didn't expect that....Though,....it still managed to get Laura Toffee.....But, I've already got that taken care of. Using my one phone call, I dialed the local funeral home to prepare a funeral. Whose funeral?.....Laura Toffee's....With the Princess' permission, I had Laura's body moved to the local Ponyville Cemetary,....where it belonged. Everypony in Ponyville, including me, and almost all of Canterlot attended it. I'll bet she wouldn't have expected that turnout. However, nopony ever did notice Ned standing outside the Cemetary, looking in on the funeral......And, guess what else?....The professor that was framed for her death was released from prison the other day. That means he can finally continue his life the way he wants to. I believe I saw him at the funeral, but I'm not for certain.....Orlando got Dr. Lori to apologize to me for what she did. I forgave her and we've been friends ever since....As for me and Orlando,...well,...let's just say our relationship got a redo.

"I love you, Twilight."

"I love you too, Orlando....And, this time,...you won't ever let me go, will you?"

"Never."

That's what we said to each other as we made love to each other in the library after the funeral.....What? It seemed like a good time....However, neither of us prepared for what happened next.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Now who could that be, Twilight?"

"I don't know. I'm not expecting anypony."

I went to the door and opened it slowly. I was shocked at who I saw.

"Of course you weren't expecting somepony. You were expecting somedragon!"

"SPIKE!"

He had finally returned home from his business in Canterlot. Apparently, he could've stayed a little bit longer, but, once he heard the news of my arrest, he rushed straight home to see me.

"I'm so glad you're here!"

"It's good to see you too, Twilight. What's been happening while I've been gone?"

"You do not wanna know."

"Alright....Wait,...who is that?!"

"Oh,...uh....This is Orlando....He's my,....um...."

"I'm her coltfriend."

"....Yeah....That..."

"......Well, then....Since you two are busy, I guess I'm gonna....go say hi to the rest of the girls. Good? Okay, then bye!"

With that, he rushed outside, slamming the door behind him. We laughed at his reaction.

"Hey, Twilight!"

Rainbow Dash always had a knack for entering my house uninvited,...but she never seemed to notice.

"What, Rainbow? Can't you see I've kinda got some......company."

She looked past me at Orlando. He smiled and waved weakly at her. She gave him a stern look and then turned back to me, ignoring him.

"Look, you can worry about making out later. Right now, you've got to come to the Boutique."

"Why? What's going on?"

"There's somepony there who wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

".....Princess Luna..."

With that, all three of us immediately rushed towards the Boutique. If the Princess of the Night needed to talk to me, then whatever she had to say was very important. We arrived there quickly and walked inside. The rest of the girls were there. Luna was standing in the middle of the room, her dark mane flowing behind her as if a draft had flown into the room.

"Thank you for coming, Twilight Sparkle," she said without even turning her head, "Please sit. I have something important to discuss with you."

I did as she said, looking over at the girls as I did. They all had confused looks on their faces. Rainbow Dash and Orlando walked over to join them, the two staying far away from each other. Apparentley, Dash still didn't trust him one-hundred percent....and that made him scared to death of her. I mean, come on, she's the fastest flyer in all of Equestria...and one of the hardest trainers....She can be pretty menacing.

"How have you been doing today?" asked Luna.

"Oh,...fine."

"Good....Now, Twilight,...you've been going through a lot lately,....haven't you?"

"Oh,....yes...Yes, I have."

"Well, me and the researchers at the Palace have been doing some research into this curse you recentley acquired."

"Acquired and defeated."

"Yes.....We've not been able to track its origin, but we have concluded that it has indeed been passed down for many centuries."

"Centuries?!"

"What you've been dealing with is no ordinary curse, Twilight....It's far more dangerous..."

"Tell me about it. It made me hurt my friends, both physically and emotionally. It made me hallucinate.....It almost caused me to go insane...."

"I'm terribly sorry, Twilight. I can't even imagine all you've had to go through....But, the main reason I called you here was to ask you a question."

"Yes, Princess?"

"....Did you know that it was Daylight Savings Time?"

"....What?! What does that have to do with anyth-"

Then I remembered....On the night I read the third chapter, the clock read 10:22, 22:22 in military time. But, if it was Daylight Savings Time, it would've read 11:22, 23:22 in military time.

"But,...I mean, it still had 22 at the end of it. That being said, there's nothing wrong with the curse not getting me at every angle-"

"Think back to the other times."

Back in Mr. Bookworm's store, his clock read 2:22. Mr. Bookworm always had a tendency to forget things, especially dates of the year. So, the clock should've actually read 3:22.....That's 2:23 backwards.....There's that number again......23.

"And don't forget about your name."

My name? What about it?....Then I remembered. I told my friends my name was Twilight Mary Ann Sparkle......But, I was wrong. I must've been so worked up in the curse that I forgot the "Ann" in my name has an "e" at the end....So, instead of having 22 letters,...my name has 23 letters in it.

"Your birthday."

I was born on February 2nd at 12:11 A.M.....Wait? 12:11 A.M.? That's right! Me and my family had always confused my birthday. Since it was still night when my mom gave birth to me, she always considered my birthday to be on the 2nd,...when it was actually on the 3rd......2/3......And I was born at 12:11 A.M.! 12 plus 11 equals 23!

"And let's not forget the windows in your home."

My windows....I had 4 that split into 4 sections and one window by itself. 4 times 4 plus 1 plus the altogether 5 windows equals 22.....Then I remembered Spike's window....When he was little, he wanted a window by his bed, so he got a blue crayon and drew a window on the wall. We've left it on their ever since....It was a single window with no sections....That's an extra window! 22 plus 1 is.....23.

"Um, Princess," asked Applejack nervously, "Where exactly are you going with all this?"

"Twilight will explain it all,...won't' you, Twilight."

But I didn't respond. The memories of the past days were coming back to me in a flash. All the calculations I did were wrong....Sure, the 22 book Dr. Lori gave me had been right, but it was a distraction from my real problem.....The bus that almost ran over me and Applejack was Number 122, not 22. And 22 plus 1 is 23.....The 22 curse hadn't been after me.....It had been distracting me,...while it had evolved into something different.

"Um, Twilight," asked Fluttershy, "Are-Are you...feeling okay?..."

"No, I'm afraid she's not."

That voice.

"NO! What are you doing back in my mind?!"

"Well, I have to make time for my favorite mare."

"I AM NOT YOUR FAVORITE MARE!!"

"So mean-spirited...Is something bothering you?"

"You know what's bothering me!...All of this!...This-This is crazy!...It just can't be right!!"

"Well, didn't I tell you expect the unexpected?....If not, then....NOW'S AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY! HA HA HA HA!"

"Um, Twilight, hello?....Are you feeling okay?"

It took me almost two minutes to finally respond to the Princess...My mind was somewhere else, busy processing all of this....The curse had tried to trip me up with the number 22,...while the real horror was happening not far away.....When I acquired the curse, I didn't get the same one....I got an advanced version of it.

"TWILIGHT!!'

"Huh?!....Oh, yeah. Princess,....you're right..."

"Right?!" asked the girls simultaneously, "Right about what?!""

"....Twilight didn't get rid of the 22 curse.....She never had it to begin with...."

"WHAT?!!" they all shouted.

"But, that's impossible," shouted Applejack, "We all know what it's done to Twilight. This can't be right!"

"Oh, but it is."

Orlando walked over to me,...but I didn't notice. I was too busy staring into my own mind, trying to tell myself the Princess was wrong and that my life was going to get better.

"Twilight,....I-"

I held up my hoof to silence him.

"Orlando.....I know you and all the other girls love me and would do anything to help me...."

"Yes! You know we would!"

"Well, that being said, I want you to do one thing for me..."

"Sure, anything!"

"......Tell me what time it is..."

With that, he immediately glanced down at his watch. But, as soon as he did, his eyes widened and he started to sweat.

"What is it?"

"Well,....um,..-"

"WHAT TIME IS IT?!!"

".......2:23...."

"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The 23 End?

Author's Note: So, what a crazy twist ending that was, huh? Kinda ties it in to the movie it's based off of. So, did you like the overall story? Tell me in a comment or personal message. I guess, now that I'm done with this story, I'll see if I can come up with any other ideas. I tried one, but found out I couldn't do it. So, I'll try again, I guess. Rock on everypony!

Comments

[Padwan]

i liked it an- HOLY SHIT 23 VIEWS

[nodamnbrakes]

1282021

Posted 6 days, 23 hours ago

[Padwan]

1321556

[LadyGalena]

Holy mother 23 chapters

[Daring Cammie Do]

You're going to hate me, but most of those, I figured out on my own. Half the time, with he little information provided, came out as 23 instead of 22 while the other half was 22. I made sure I didn't add in any extra variables, like Day Light Savings, so most of that, I couldn't be correct about. I blame you. You could've hinted a little at the very beginning so most people would've thought it to be useless info but I would've cracked most of it.