Friendship is Puppies, episode 2, Epilogue
Twilight Gets a Puppy
By TDR
Friendship is Puppies, episode 2
Epilogue
[Ponyville, Golden Oaks library]
Celestia sighed leaning on the table before her, her hooves pressed to her temples. It had taken over an hour to get the ponies around her to leave her be, politely. Then it took another hour just to get them to stop checking up on her every five minutes. Her Guards had taken longer than that to get rid of, particularly after their failure to protect her from Nightmare Moon, not as if she expected them to be able to really. Still it clearly hurt their pride, so she let them do what they wanted for the most part.
The Royal Guard thankfully could take a hint and were currently outside the library simply stopping any one from coming in. Celestia needed a bit of time to think, something she was not going to get any time soon.
Pinkie Pie's party was still in full swing outside despite the night starting to come again. Something she had to assure her little ponies was natural and not the second coming of Nightmare Moon. The other Element bearers had long since gone home to bed , though the pink mare just kept going and going and going.
Luna had been fascinated by everything going on, though she was still reluctant to join in or eat anything she didn't understand, which at the moment, was nearly everything. So she mostly just watched the goings on until she dozed off not long after some Pegasus fillies had put a rose wreath around her neck. It confused her for a bit as to why one would wear food.
Currently her sister was asleep on a hastily scrounged up bed set up in the large room behind her.
Spike had wound up being the hero of the town oddly enough. Big Mac had foisted most of the attention off on the small Dragon despite his part in it. After the girls left, Mac went out into the panic filled streets and gathered up as many of the lost foals as he could find, keeping them all in the library for Spike to guard and entertain with the help of Applebloom until their parents calmed down enough to start looking for them. By the time everyone got back the only foals still present were Rarity's sister and Applebloom. Both of them were struggling to stay awake until their sisters returned. Spike managed to stay up the whole time, but as soon as the last of his charges were gone and he was sure his siblings were safe he passed out in the middle of the floor.
After putting Spike to bed, Rahs had opted to avoid Pinkie's party and follow his brothers lead. Big Mac had taken Applebloom home soon after. Rarity had brought her sister home as well though she joined the others for the party at least for a while.
Celestia could have taken Luna and left at any time, but the calm of the library was a nice change from how she was sure things were in Canterlot right now. She needed time to collect her thoughts before the chariot ride back home. There was also a pony she needed to talk to before she left and she had no issue with waiting as long as it took for her to show up. In truth she was wondering where her student had gotten off to. She expected Twilight to avoid Pinkie Pie's party, but the purple Unicorn had yet to return to the library where she was staying.
“......Yes, thank you very much, I am so allowed inside.... you know what forget it, I'm done arguing with you!” shouted someone from outside. A moment later a flash of light appeared on the other side of the door and an annoyed Twilight Sparkle popped into existence trudging across the room before the door was flung open by the panicked Guard.
“I see you've finally mastered teleportation Twilight.” Celestia smirked as her student looked over at her in surprise.
“Princess....” the Guard shouted, bursting in the door after Twilight.
“Calm down Captain Rex. Twilight is allowed in. Truthfully I'm the one intruding on her living quarters.” Princess Celestia sighed.
The Guard nodded looking over at Twilight a last time before pulling back out of the building shutting the door behind him.
“Is there a reason you told us not to tell any pony we're the Bearers of the Element's of Harmony?” Twilight asked glaring back at the door.
“You're smart Twilight. You've seen what happens when any pony in court thinks they can gain power over another. What do you think would happen to this town if the nobles found out six artifacts were found out here? While I expect Rarity might enjoy it, would the others like the hounding the media and nobles would be doing if word got out. If none of the others, think of Fluttershy's reaction.” Celestia explained as Twilight approached pulling a seat out across the table from the Princess and dropping down into it with a thud.
“Alright I'll give you that one. And why are you taking the Element's to Canterlot?” Twilight demanded.
“To put them somewhere safe. The last thing we need is for some pony to lose them, or for Rahs or Spike to try and eat them.”
“Two for two. Rahs already tried. He said it didn't taste like anything, but he only licked the crown.” Twilight sighed understanding that.
“I expect it's because it's part of your magic that it has no taste to him.” Celestia added.” The Element's will be available whenever you need them . After all you will not be far....... or will you?”
“That is what I have been thinking about....” Twilight admitted.
“And what have you discovered?”
“That I am very tired.” Twilight dead panned.
“Aside from that?” Celestia smiled.
“I don't know. I get the why of the situation, but I don't like the idea you guided us like pawns!” Twilight frowned.
“ I am always doing that Twilight. It is what I must do as a ruler, though you are hardly a pawn. You act as if I knew who the Bearers would be. I did not, I do not know everything. All I knew was that they were here and if you were the sixth Bearer that they would find you when the time was right. That is how they work, that is how they always worked before. Granted last time they were held by only two ponies.” Celestia explained looking over at the sleeping form of her sister. “ I bore Generosity, Compassion and Loyalty. My sister Magic, Honesty, and Laughter. When I was forced to banish her after the corruption had possessed her the Elements decided that I was no longer loyal enough to wield my half. And with what my sister did as Nightmare Moon, Laughter and Honesty left her.”
“What did happen?”Twilight asked.
Celestia paused frowning. She owed her student an explanation, but couldn't bring herself to say her biggest failure.” That is a long story Twilight one I am still not comfortable with telling. Suffice to say my sister has a right to be upset with me as it was my fault she became the nightmare. Not directly mind you, that falls on the shoulders of one long dead, but my inaction is the reason it happened at all. I will explain it another time if you ask Twilight, but it will not be today. I have a long road ahead of me reforging the trust lost between my sister and I. Let me get her settled in and perhaps then....”
“Well you are decidedly helping with my decision with your vagueness Princess. I think perhaps I would have accepted any answer you gave, 'except ask again later.'” Twilight muttered.
“I'm sorry Twilight. But even after all this time I am not comfortable talking about it. Much as you refuse to speak of your tenth birthday party.” Celestia sighed as Twilight winced..”At least thanks to you and your friends healing from it can begin finally. Thank you for that my faithful student.”
“........ If I am that after all.”
“Hmm?”
“I'm not happy with you Princess. You left us in the dark on this whole thing. Spike or Rahs could have gotten hurt and I was nearly killed twice out in those woods. More than that probably. Rainbow Dash was attacked directly and both she and Rahs were hurt. Spike attacked her to break a fear spell, she could have blasted him to nothing. Your Guards all got hurt and the entire town was sent into a frenzy. How many others got hurt in other parts of Equestria just from the panic that happened when the sun didn't rise?”
“What would you have had me do Twilight warn everyone she was coming? Think of how many would be heroes would have attacked her, how many of them she would have killed? Even had they killed her, there would be no guarantee that her death would have freed me. And my sister would have been dead. I had plenty of plans in place to stop her, many of them were little more than time sinks designed to give the Elements more time to draw their Bearers to them. But a few of them would have caused conflict and death. All of them were slated to take weeks or months to start. Had I told you everything would you have even bothered coming to the town or would you have gone straight for the castle to retrieve the Element's so you could try and force the activation? Would you have brought your school friends? How well would that have gone? Which of them would be Honesty? Which Laughter?”
“Lyra Laughter, Moon Dancer would be Honesty, Lemon Hearts Kindness.......” Twilight listed trailing off. “ I understand your point, but that does not mean I have to like it Princess.”
Celestia nodded.”Perhaps in time you will forgive me for this too. It is not the first time I have wronged you after all.”
“True, but how long I suppose will all depends on this next question's answer.”
“And what might that be?”
“How much did you keep from us about Rahs?” Twilight asked flatly.
“Only what I first suspected of him. Something which turned out not to be true after all.”
“That is not an answer.” Twilight's eyes narrowed.
“I thought he was a creature called a Witch Wolf. He is not. I do not know what he is, just that he bears a resemblance to the Witch Wolves and that they were called Moon Dogs by my sister and her followers, the Thestrils.” Celestia explained. “Luna is the one you should ask about them. I was under the impression that they had all died out long ago. I called him a Moon Dog because of that resemblance. Witch Wolves were monsters Twilight, pure and simple. Rahs is not a monster, he is your brother.”
“So that was why you kept checking me for abilities to manipulate the flow of time when I was younger.”
“Yes, I first expected you had pulled him from the past, but again that was not the case. I did not know where he came from and I still do not.” Celestia offered.
“Not the answer I wanted to hear.” Twilight grumbled.
“Again I am sorry, but that is all I know.”Celestia nodded.”So now it is my turn, my student. We will be leaving soon. Are you coming with us?”
Twilight frowned looking over to the sleeping Luna before shaking her head.
“No.... not right now. You'll be too busy helping Princess Luna to be much of a teacher to me and I need some time to cool down. I expect Rahs and Spike do as well. None of us are really happy with you right now. I understand the why for most of it but it still feels like a betrayal.”
“I understand. I will make arrangements for Golden Oaks to house you more permanently and I will see to it that you receive pay in regards to the position of head librarian here, with Spike and Rahs receiving pay as your assistants. Please let your friends know that a stipend will be gifted them for as long as they are the Bearer's of the Elements. It will not be much I am afraid, as this needs to be hidden from the Royal accountants and as such it will need to be masked as something else. I suppose a wildlife fund for Miss Fluttershy and a Heritage sight for Sweet Apple Acres will take care of some of it. I will need to think of something else for the others.”
Twilight nods. “I will.......I'm kinda going to miss being your student....”
“Who says you are not still my student? You have not graduated the school just yet. I can always send your assignments here.” Celestia smiled rising to her hooves with a stretch of her wings.”Besides, you are simply going to be studying something else. The magic of friendship.”
“That still sounds corny.” Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Never the less, it is how the Elements are wielded, and I would be far from against you studying how it works. Spike can send still send me messages if you need anything or have reports on your progress to give me.” Celestia moved over and gently picked up her sister, laying the smaller alicorn on her back. “I am afraid we need to go now. Canterlot is probably still in a panic, Cadence is going to give me an ear full when she gets back and I still need to get Luna acquainted with everything. I am also quite certain you need to go to bed my faithful student.”
“Yeah I suppose so...” Twilight smiled. “ I feel like I can sleep for a week.”
“Well get some rest we will be going now, be sure to keep in touch Twilight.”
“I will Princess.... good night.” Twilight stated as she rose from the chair moving to take over the bed Luna had occupied as Celestia stepped outside.
Celestia exhaled as she lowered her sun, bringing the moon up into the sky, hopefully this would be one of the last times she would need to do it now that her sister was back.
“Captain have the two Guards that accompanied Twilight here initially stay to Guard the library until she dismisses them when she wakes up. Aside from her brothers no one else is to go in or out until she allows it, Twilight deserves some rest.” Princess Celestia ordered.
“Yes Princess. Your chariot is ready to take you and Princess Luna back to Canterlot.” The Guard Captain nodded.”The rest of us will follow later once we are sure everything is secure...... and that that strange pink mare doesn't drop dead from everything she's doing.”
Celestia smiled,climbing onto her seat on her chariot setting Luna down before her and wrapping her wings around her sister as the Guards attached took off. Luna woke with a start at the sudden take off and flailed inside of Celestia's wings.
“Easy, easy now Lulu, it's alright. You're safe now.....Ooof...” Celestia winced as one of Luna's wings hit her in the stomach.
“Didst thou gain weight?” Luna questioned.
“You are 'relatively' safe now.” Celestia corrected.
Luna snorted in amusement as she settled down, not staying against her sister, but not pulling out of her embrace either. She instead looked up at the sky as the stars and the rested in the heavens like a great tapestry.
“Thou did not move anything......” Luna sighed.
“I never learned how. You have no idea how much trouble just moving the moon gave me. I never even managed to get it to do the phases thing like you did.” Celestia stated.
“So what happens now?” Luna sighed.
“Well we get you set up and accustomed to everything and turn the monarchy back into a diarchy for starters. Though that will be some time from now. You have a lot of catching up to do on modern politics and laws.”
“Ugh ist there not simply a country we can invade. T'would be much simpler.”Luna sighed.
“And that question is why you need a tutor. Perhaps one of my students. Moon Dancer may do in fact. Though before you think I am simply foisting you off on someone else, I will say I will answer any question you bring to me Lulu.” Celestia smiled. “ I know I have a lot to make up for …..”
“Tis fine sister, while we are far from over this, we understand thine nature better than any other and can only somewhat hold it against thee. And given what he did, he should stay gone so the issue is resolved. We will get over it we simply need time for everything.” Luna sighed.
“Well we have plenty of that.” Celestia chuckled.
“We do have one pertinent query for thee that hast been nagging us since our return however.” Luna considered.
“Oh and what is that?” Celestia asked.
“How did you get a Moon Dog outside of the Oneiroi?” Luna questioned.
“Outside of the what now?” Celestia blinked as Luna looked at her like she was an idiot.
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Bravo good sir that was a wonderful ending to act 1 now I cannot wait for the other Acts
is this going to be like 'an epilog after each season story' or is it going to have sequels focused on those seasons?
cause i wouldn't mind if you had an epilog for each 'season' you do.
I noticed you used Compassion instead of Kindness
8559050
fixed
8559037
More like one where it deserves it , though we might get a Celestia's journal chapter after each 'episode'
What is RAHs? Luna says he is a moon dog in fact she is sure she knows who his mother is in the last chapter. Celestia says he isn't or at least he doesn't act like she expects, though he does have some of the traits.. Maybe its that link to Twilight and Spike that makes the difference
8559080
You're getting warmer... except about the mother part. Sheeba is not related to Rahs
8559084 Well as I said Luna thought she knew who Rahs mother was not that we've seen any other moon dogs in the current time all we have is what Luna and Celestia know and legends
pbs.twimg.com/media/CYTyiFxW8AEPGdS.jpg
Pinkie Pie is scary
I fully agree. I think the only thing limiting her is consideration of the feelings of others and her own amusement
I like this Twilight for seeing the situation as it is - not prejudice by hero whorship.
Wait till the Crystal Empire return.
I like genre-savvy Twilight. Looks like she's taken a page from her brothers.
8559282
This is why Pinkie is my favorite pony. She's got the power of a god, but only when it's funny.
Come on Twilight, call the manipulative old nag out some more! I’ve got plenty of popcorn I need to go through.
Huh... so compared to canon, how nervous will Luna be? Will she be the same nervous wreck with everypony fearing or judging her, or will things flow more reasonably different?
I absolutely love this story and can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
8559105 She actually thought Rahs was a replacement for a Sheeba who was close having her puppies last time Luna saw her. She thought Rahs was a temp.
8559331
Oh the plans i have for THAT!
8559437
Like i said before she's not the star struck mare she was in the main series. She'd still jump off a bridge if Celestia asked , but she'd want to know why first and her brothers could probably talk her out of it.
8559467 I look at her as more a Toon from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. They can do anything, but only if it's funny.
8559738 Despite what it looks like i don't think of Celestia like that and it wasn't my goal to portray her as such. She's just been around a long time has seen what works and what doesn't and forgets that plans don't always work properly and can come back and bite her.
8559872
You'll see
8559876
with my writing style you likely won't have to wait long
8560046
I wish I had your drive.
8560049
I write fast and i'm bored at work a lot
Oneiroi... Google says that's the Greek word for "Dream", so Luna is probably referring to the dreamscape. Does this mean that Rahs is actually a living dream who somehow manifested in the physical world, kinda like Tidus from FFX?
8560106
maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe
8560123
...This fic had better not end with Rahs "disappearing" back into the void from whence he came after defeating some great evil who just happens to be responsible for his presence in the real world.
8560161
Yeah, no. That ending was stupid.
8560181
Meh, I personally loved it. I still cry like a b**** at some point during the end of every playthrough... But I'll admit that it only works because it's both well done, and it actually fits the story of the game.
This story?
Not. At. All.
8560191
Well i mean unless i want to make it a sob story..... i did that with SiS... often....
But nah light hearted light hearted that's the goal... i need to remind myself of that every so often.
8559145
Celestia even in the show acts as a magic 8 ball. Apt comparison.
8562781
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/%22It_is_certain.%22_~_The_Magic_Eight_Ball_%287246548230%29.jpg
8560106
Could it mean he was little Twily's imagination/dream friend made manifest during the magic surge?
Just love your sense of humor. It has made this story an enjoyable read. :)
As far as I know. Luna never controlled the stars. Plus the show always shown a full moon never anything else. Sure one eqg it changes but mlp it always a full ond every time. “ the stars will aid in her escape “ is like the only time we hear of stars ✨
8560106
Fun fact several months later (my first time reading through this), but in Greek Mythology the oneiroi (which does mean dreams as you said) are, among other gods, the sons of Nyx or, in other versions, Erebus. Meaning they are literally the children of the night and darkness, which is appropriate here since Luna created them.
Please please please find an editor or two to help you. Your grammar and punctuation are quite bad (Luna's "olde-timey" section was downright painful) and it seems to be gradually getting worse as the story progresses.
I am most definitely enjoying the story itself, but it's getting to the point where I may not be able to continue reading because the technical execution is just awful.
Is it just me or does anyone else hear the spongebob narrator whenever you read the word Epilogue?
Hmmmm, mixed feelings about this one, loved it up until the epilogue, but, not too happy about some of the stuff in that.
Okay, the good parts, nice work overall fitting Rahs into the scenes and making them tweaked just enough to feel rather fresh and fit with him there, without just randomly changing major things. Also really liked the expansion aspects, fitting in more stuff that could logically have been there, but simply not shown in the ep due to time and budget constraints, like their talking and spending some time bonding during the trip. Personally, I don't really think they needed any more 'bonding' like that to make the ending work, as simply going through those events together would have been enough to forge that initial bond, and we do see throughout the first few seasons, them spending the time really getting to know and accept each others full selves. But, it's also something that could very well have happened and does make sense, and was presented really well, kudos on that one. As well as on giving each of them a concrete reason for coming along beyond "We are."
The change to the 'Twi tells them what Element they are' scene felt, off. Think it's just making her speech a bit longer made it feel not quite as impactful, like she was over explaining a bit. Not a major thing at all, though did love the addition of AJ calling out how Twi can't let her feelings for Rahs blind her to legit potential issues, that was a very nice touch for proving her element, cause yeah, showing 'honesty' is kind of hard in this context, though the second "You said you knew the way and you did' felt, less well done and more reaching for anything to try and use for a second example.
Freaking loved the whole 'Rahs sided with NMM' cliffhanger and it's resolution. The whole Rahs subplot and the mystery about what he is and where he came from was the most engaging part of this and so damn eager to see where it's going, Luna's hints only adding to that. Also, NMM let's them get so far through the speech because she's busy petting the puppy-kitty was glorious. Though her bit about this having happened before is just... huh? I get it might be something that gets explained later but, can't say I'm all that excited for the implications, or how Luna acted, it seems to be painting the whole NMM thing as no fault of her at all, which kind of changes the entire... everything around it.
Okay, now to the final bit and, yeah don't really like the way this ended, with Twi doing that whole rant at Celestia. Now, to start, story did do a good job of coming off like this was just Twilight being frustrated and pissed, less hat it was going into full on Accusation fic territory of the "Celestia is a useless manipulative bitch' territory that I am so freaking sick and tired of. But even still it just, felt wrong. First, this is Season 1 Twilight, and just having Rahs around doens't really show what would have changed to make her that different at this point.
But we could debate this back and forth forever, and while it feels massively not right for Twilight at this point in time, my bigger issue isn't so much about that. It's that this scene wholly re conceptualizes the entire foundation of everything after it. Having this be why Twi is staying in Ponyville inextricably alters and changes everything else that will happen in the following episodes/chapters, and not for the better. Because it's changing the entire reason Twilight is here from her finally finding a place she feels she fits in among other ponies, and experiencing something amazing she wants to keep exploring, to just her wanting to not be near Celestia and this happening to be where she defaulted to since inertia and already being there. Her bond with the Mane 6 isn't presented as mattering at all here, this is just a place that's not Canterlot. It's making the basis on which all else is built from less about her idealism and learning to open up and learn about friendship, and more, her being bitter and wanting to have any excuse to not deal with Tia right now.
Also, on a more minor note...while I get who gets what Element among the Sisters can be debated, I refuse to accept any split that doesn't give the biggest troll in Canterlot Laughter.
(Also, the whole idea that the NMM incidence broke their connections to the Elements always feels wrong to me, given RoH explicitly says it was the Mane 6 forging their bonds that did it, thus breaking Discord's seal. Though do try to cover there here with it only being some of the element's that broke from them I guess.)
Still, sets things up, and I get what the story was going for, but, just, not a fan of the idea. But still very eager to see where things go and for more about Rahs and how he changes things, and what is going on with him.
Hold up. Wasn't it her ninth birthday that went to all blazes?
Also, that's usually spelled Thestrals.
Regardless of errors, this story has readily caught my attention. I look forward to finishing this. (As well as potentially working on something of a similar kind. Oh of all the ideas this has already given me.)
Did Rahs come out of the Hunter's Dream?!
As much as I'm enjoying the story thus far, I do have to point out your apparent struggles with grammar and punctuation. I hope this will become less of an issue in later chapters, and I have yet to read the sequel, but have you considered getting a proofreader?
pics.me.me/thumb_triggered-tbt-during-the-clone-war-this-was-my-captain-7237595.png
Bork!
Clone Wars
10657138
I hope that theme shows up more later.
I honestly do like the changes you've added.
Most stories are tied to the established background of the show and to the events of the show itself, but I like stories like this where the general plot points are there but the author takes liberties on how they develop.
And on the plus side, you got to make people a lot more interesting and have them interact with one another.
Very neat realism. Loved this chapter ♡
Exteamly well done chapter!
10726900
This os one of the very best storys i read. Easy to 10 from literally hundred of favorit storys in that regard!
8559032
Lucky at my points in time is done. But this story was sp great i had to re-reading it before moving on to the sequel
8559037
Indeed. Its a amazing story. Epic enough for every episode to earn a epilog
8559050
Also logic and reasoning
8559063
Why... It sounded great
8559145
Its probably better noone truly trust Celestia. As a leader she has the duty if need be to send her ressources against threats. Pony and Baby Dragons included. Also included Moondoggo's...
Now that’s a meta I can live with
10909001
I feel like I see you in the comments of almost ever fic I have read, which is a lot
Why do I find this funny, it's not that funny, not a bit, but I'm smiling like a doofus and snickering. xD
LOVE the clone wars, that was childhood and got to finish watching as an adult. such a sad end. Also, Rex is best clone, FIGHT ME!
pinkie is the energizer bunny she keeps going and going and going
Lore incoming