Epilogue
Thirty years in office and yet Twilight still marveled at the well-oiled machine of state Celestia and Luna had left behind. Most things worked without her direct intervention, leaving her free to deal with whatever fell outside the norm personally.
Truly a superbly engineered bureaucratic construct.
Which added to the mystery of why the laws contained in the pile of dusty books heaped on her desk were still part of it. The rules detailed in these books were abstruse, the language was archaic, and the formulation appeared to be willfully obtuse. Decrees referred to decrees that referred back to the first ones, and many invoked traditions she had never heard of and which had probably been forgotten by anyone younger than a millennium anyway.
Plus, he words for 'dashing', 'awesome', and 'death-defying' had been used far too much for anything not written by Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo.
Twilight smiled. She had a riddle on her hooves, one that could require time-travel and certainly would require tons of research through ancient tomes and obscure scholarly publications.
It sounded like a lovely evening reminiscent of her younger days.
The pop of teleportation and subsequent knocking at her door destroyed that plan. As well-designed as the system was, it still needed her attention now and then, and teleportation at that time in the evening meant something pressing had come up. "Come in, Fine Grain."
She closed the book and looked up.
It wasn't her secretary standing in the door.
Celestia had put on some muscle in the last few decades. It looked like life on the coast suited her. "Princess Twilight, still studying well into the night? I thought you would have learned to pace yourself better at this point."
"Why would you think that? She's your student. It's a miracle and a testimony to her character that she's as well adjusted as she is." Luna followed along, trailing the smell of fish. Aside from that, she hadn't changed at all.
"Luna! Celestia! What a pleasant surprise!" Twilight stood up and moved to hug the alicorns. "I didn't expect a visit. What brings you here? I hope nothing bad."
"No, nothing bad." Celestia nuzzled her. "My, have you grown some more? I swear, you’re going to be able to pat me on the head pretty soon."
"I'm waiting for that day,” Luna interjected. “It shall be wondrous, a tale the bards shall declaim for ages. Twilight, promise me you will invite me to it."
Twilight snickered. "I promise I will have a proper ceremony for it. Can I offer you something? Should I call for some tea? How's the ship coming along?"
"No, thank you. We had tea at home before coming here. As for the ship, it's going great. You only properly get a feeling for how much naval technology has changed once you try it out for yourself. So much to learn, it's wonderful." Celestia stepped back. There was some kind of nervous energy in her. "Oh, and we're rather in a hurry."
Luna nodded. "Yes, we came as soon as we knew what we had to do. We just thought to pop in as a professional courtesy."
The park was empty. Any families that had gone out for a walk in the warm summer night had just been ushered out by a group of guards with the promise that the Princess would personally explain what was going on later.
Twilight thought that would be nice, mostly because by then she would have an idea of what that was.
Now it was just her, Celestia, Luna, a smattering of guards, a grumbling Captain Gallus, King Thorax along with a massive amount of changelings, and the petrified forms of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow.
On second consideration, empty maybe wasn't the right word to describe the park.
"So, is there any hope of getting a few more details from you, Celestia?"
Celestia smiled in that sweet and slightly enigmatic way Twilight had come to know.
"I take that as a no." Twilight sighed. "Old habits, or do you have a good reason for not telling?"
Pegasi in armor flew in high circles above the park. Luna glanced up. "We have good reasons. There's also no need for, well—" She gestured to a pair of yaks covered in a hardware store’s worth of metal. "—all this."
"Lil' Cheese is graduating, and I have no intention of having Pinkie miss it. So if this can't wait and if I can't have my dearest friends used to this kind of thing here with me, then at least I can get a little peace of mind." The third unicorn shield-squad erected a wall of energy around the park.
"Don't worry, Princess. We understand. You have responsibilities and you take them seriously." Celestia looked sideways to King Thorax. "I think that should be enough, though. Can we proceed?"
Twilight took a deep breath and nodded.
Light shone from Celestia's and Luna's horns as they closed their eyes. Magic pulsed in the air, giving it almost a viscous quality. And then an instant later, it expanded in a wave, washing over guards, grass, and the statue
For a moment the world stood still.
And then it filled with angry screeching and furious shouting as Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek broke free.
The ex-queen of the changelings hissed, "Hah! You couldn't contain us. We will..."
The ex-queen of the changelings paused.
Cozy Glow flitted behind Tirek and poked her head out. "What are you waiting for?"
Multiple spells formed and interlocked in Twilight's mind in the silence that followed. Something strange was happening. Chrysalis was standing still, her head just tilting as if she was listening for something. Celestia and Luna simply stood there observing, neutral expressions on their faces.
Somewhere in the distance, crickets sang their song. Chrysalis lifted her head and said, "It's gone. It's... Is it really, truly gone?"
"What's going on?" Tirek took a step forward. "Chrys—"
A black tendril had shot out from Chrysalis and wrapped around Tirek's head, gagging him. "Shut up." Chrysalis looked around. "It's over. It’s over."
Twilight blinked. "Wha—"
Two moments had defined Twilight's relationship with speed. The first had been meeting Rainbow Dash, and the second had been when her ascension had kicked in completely and she had planted herself face-first against one of the marble walls of the palace. When Chrysalis moved it became Twilight’s third moment of enlightenment regarding the idea of speed.
Chrysalis hadn't moved fast. She had started melting sideways one instant, and the next she was in front of Luna and Celestia, forelegs reaching out, falling forwards.
There had been no in-between, Twilight was certain of that as the spells she had prepared finalized themselves into reality. The sisters weren't moving, they were not defending themselves. The Princess had to intervene.
Talent is, once the surface appearance of easy success is scraped away, a combination of hard work and opportunity. Twilight had been one of the most talented unicorns in generations. The decades since then had offered just more opportunities and time, and it showed in the ray of pure magic that shot from her horn towards Chrysalis. It was an essential expression of function over form. Simple, fast, not a tenth of a thaum wasted. It burned the air, raced forward, and then hit a golden shield, ricocheted off, shattered the shield the guards had erected, and vaporized a distant mountain peak.
Twilight blinked.
Under a shining, golden dome of Celestia's magic, Chrysalis hugged the sisters, who nuzzled her back.
There was a vein on Twilight's temple which, for an instant, bulged. It hadn't done that for a while. She would have to work on it. Later.
As Celestia, Luna, and Chrysalis huddled together, quietly chatted, hugged each other every now and then, and shared a whole palette of affectionate gestures, the rest of the plaza stood in a silent stupor. Tirek had stopped trying to remove the black substance from his mouth, Cozy Glow had frozen mid-step in her attempt to sneak away, and Captain Gallus, who had been ready to stop the escape by standing right in front of her, looked at the scene with his beak open.
No, not everyone had been bamboozled. The changelings were smiling and buzzing happily.
Right, time to be Princess-y. Head straight up, chest out, regal demeanor. Twilight walked over the trio and channeled Miss Harshwhinny's voice as best she could. "We will now have that cup of tea, and then I expect an explanation. A clear one. Without knowing smiles."
Traditions happen when ponies keep doing things after having forgotten the reason for them. In that sense, making tea wasn't a tradition at the palace. The reason why sat right across Twilight at the table and was animatedly chatting with a creature the Princess had thought of as a menace and the enemy for decades.
Turned out that enemy was a sleight of hoof. The jury was still out on the menace part.
The masterfully brewed tea stood cold in front of Twilight. "So, let me see if I understood everything. You—" She pointed her hoof at Chrysalis, cutting down the chattering, "—should eat the world but had too much fun in it and so you put up a... Let's call it a charade. You put up a millennium-and-a-half-long charade to keep your parent from finding out that you weren't eating well and growing up. And that meant behaving like a villain without ever truly winning."
Chrysalis shoved another scone into her mouth—number eighty-nine to be precise—and nodded.
"And to do this you had the help of your adoptive—" Twilight’s hoof moved to a radiantly smiling Celestia and a grinning Luna. "—sisters? The Old Ponish word you used doesn't quite translate."
Luna put her cup down. "‘Sisters’ is good. The old word doesn't make sense today and the subtleties are only important for formalities anyway."
"Right. So you've been this hidden power secretly in cahoots with Celestia and Luna. Care to explain a couple of things from back then?"
"If I can, I will. All those time-related shenanigans with Starlight have left a wonderful mess around this reality and at this point, Progenitor can't look through it. Won't be able to for at least a dozen millennia, and by then there should be enough immortals around as to not matter. I see no need for secrecy. So—" Chrysalis glanced over to Celestia and Luna, both smiling and waving for her to go on. "—ask away, I guess."
"Splendid. Let's start with Tirek."
"After the whole magic-eating plague, Tirek got better at it and learned to steal magic for himself. We befriended Scorpan. I'm the grey pony in the pictures. Starswirl was too cranky and spell-happy for that. The rest went down as told in the stories."
Twilight dropped another sugar cube in her cold tea and stirred it with the spoon. "Why are all the stories about the past so vague?"
"Cults. Well, cults, secret societies, secret organizations of the 'will do what has to be done and the princess hasn't the stomach to do' persuasion. Leave a hint that there's some unknown force in the background and they'll come up like mushrooms after a rainy day." Chrysalis' voice oozed contempt.
It was impressive. Twilight hadn't heard that much disgust since Rarity had to deal with Flim Flam Flash Fashion. "Uhm, was that a common problem?"
Celestia snickered. "Oh Princess, you have no idea. We let out those ponies Chryssi had shaved and lo and behold, six months later they formed the 'Children of the Changeling Queen'. Chryssi had to throw worshipping ponies out of her home for centuries. We never understood how they managed to find her every time."
"After that, we had the 'Sentinels'". A cookie flew up to Luna. "Tried to assassinate Chryssi a couple of times. That was manageable. When they tried with Torch, on the other hoof, it became really messy trying to get them back unchewed."
The groan which escaped from Chryssi told of centuries of headaches. "Right, then there were the 'Loyalists', the 'Most Excellent Unicorns', 'The Unicorns Most Excellent', 'The Truly Excellent Ponies', and the 'Really Excellent Unicorns of Excellency' which, for some reasons, accepted just pegasi and yaks. Look, Tia keeps a list somewhere."
"I do!" With a pop, an old book, bookmarks and strings popping out by the dozens, materialized at Celestia's side. "We even have bets on which old society will be restored next. I have three barrels of candied hibiscus on 'Guardians of Shadows'." She leaned toward Twilight and whispered. "There's always a 'Guardians of Shadows’. Consider it a tip in case you want to bet on something."
Twilight massaged her temple. "I'll consider it. Look, you don't seem to take this seriously."
"It's not." Luna put her half-eaten cookie down. "It's something you can't stop and you'll have to manage. It just stops being serious after the twentieth time it happens."
"Right. We'll talk about it some more another time. So, Sombra?"
Chrysalis sighed. "Tried to stop it without a war. Lulu and Tia kept up pressure, I kept smuggling ponies out in the meanwhile. Sombra was nasty and ready to do the unthinkable. His disappearing with the Crystal Empire was a failure, but at least it wasn't the worst case. When Discord brought him back it took everything for me to not eat him."
"And Discord?"
"I couldn't get at him directly. He's one of the fundamental forces of the world embodied as a jerk."
Celestia put her book back wherever she had pulled it from. "If Chryssi got at him, the world would have started falling apart in some way or another. Lulu and I had to work hard to rein him in and stop him from learning the truth."
"And before you ask, when I fell to the Nightmare, Chryssi's parent was already here-ish. She couldn't be as close to us as before. It...It was hard for me. Doesn't justify what came later, that's all on me, but, yeah..."
Chryss—Chrysalis and Celestia shuffled to Luna and hugged her.
It looked so sincere, it gave Twilight a bit of hope. It also made the next question so much harder to ask. "Right, then—" Twilight took a deep breath. "—how much of what I and my friends did was real?"
Chrysalis shot forward, hooves on the table, earthenware trembling and almost tipping over. "Everything! What you did was amazing, and I never helped you even once. I couldn't, I was under close scrutiny. And—and when we fought? I held back a bit, but you were great! The first time, at your brother's wedding? Things went well for me, and that wasn't the plan. I was scared I would win, even more so when that drama-queen—" She pointed at a grinning Celestia sipping her tea. "—lost!"
"I was certain the Princess would come through." A little parade of muffins floated up to Celestia. "And she and Cadance deserved the chance to get some flank-kicking done. It was horrible, there had to be some form of closure."
"That's wonderful to hear." Twilight ground her teeth. "My brother was traumatized for years. I'm glad you take it in such a good spirit."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Twilight brought up her cup and sipped. The tea was cold and bitter. Maybe some more sugar would salvage it.
"May I?" Celestia's voice was soft, caring, bringing Twilight back to a time of books read well into the night under her blanket. A golden glow surrounded her cup and an instant later a wisp of aromatic steam rose from it.
Chrysalis sounded somber as she said, "I'm truly sorry for how things developed with your brother. It all went out of control, and I was forced to keep up appearances. I'm not sure I could have done things differently, but it was too important that I at least faked some kind of ruthlessness and competence. I hope I'll be able to apologize personally, but—" She took a deep breath. "—if you decide to bring me to justice for that, I will not resist."
The tea tasted as if it had just been brewed. There was a metaphor in there, probably. Twilight sighed and put her cup down. "I will have to think about it. What you told me paints a picture that is... It's not simple, I suppose. I thank you for having saved the world, I guess. The methods, though, need to be examined." There were still traces of the spell on Twilight's cup. It was simple and elegant. Twilight would have to meditate a bit on it, maybe there was room for improvement. "I suppose that when you worked with Tirek and Cozy Glow, things went out of control again."
"More or less. They're keen observers. I couldn't really sabotage the operation without them knowing, and then they would have made a scene which Progenitor would notice." Chrysalis leaned on Luna. "I just managed to get a quick chat with Lulu right after your friends fled. After that, things got worse. It was harrowing. Getting petrified and sitting out the last few years was a relief."
Twilight blinked. "Really? That's quite a surprise. You looked truly furious and nasty. But I suppose you've done this for quite some time."
"And I'm a much better actress than she is." Chrysalis' accusing hoof pointed at Celestia and was met with a harumph. "Still oversells it. One would think that after a couple of millennia she would learn, but no. If it isn't some over-the-top drama involving swords and boasting from the top of a mast then she can't sell it."
Flashbacks from a simple theater production in Ponyville and three lines of spoken dialog ran through Twilight's mind. Decades had passed, yet the pain to her artistic sensibilities was still real. "I see..."
Luna twirled a bitten cookie on the plate. "Oh, by the way, we do admire how you finally got all the other species into Equestria. The School of Friendship was a touch of genius."
"Actually, from what you told me, when you were foals there seemed to be a lot more non-ponies around than when I was young. What happened?"
Celestia rolled her eyes. "As with many other things, Discord happened. After we defeated him everybody wanted to live among the least possible amount of variety."
"That was something that held up for a lot of time,” said Luna. “When I went through their dreams, it was obvious that it was the same for everybody. We didn't want to force things, and then, well..."
A sad smile crept across Chrysalis' face. "Inertia is powerful, and change is scary. Things settled down that way, and stuff kept happening until it was clear that we couldn't do anything about it."
"You becoming Princess was what we needed." Celestia sat straight and looked Twilight right in the eyes. "You were what the world needed, and I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am."
The tea was lovely, the smell of the pastries delicious, and the night was shifting into the early morning. Twilight felt a whirlwind of different emotions. Curiosity, anger, pride, annoyance, and hope all battled for supremacy. She needed some time to put some order in her soul. "Thank you, Celestia. I'm still a bit miffed, mind you, but I think I understand why you have done what you have done. I... I'll have to think about it and it's getting late. You can stay in the palace if you want."
The three sisters exchanged glances, then Celestia stood up and lowered her head. "If you'll allow us, we would prefer to return to our home along with Chryssi. It has been a very, very long time since we could simply do that."
Chrysalis said, "If you want me to face some form of justice for what I did, I will return. But until you made that decision, I would ask you to let me go with Tia and Lulu."
Luna simply looked at Twilight with giant eyes and a soft, "Please."
Something was different. Twilight looked at the former Princesses and the apparently former menace. She wasn't sure what had changed, maybe something in the way they stood or presented themselves, but now she saw the three fillies from the story. It was weird, it was unexpected, and, most of all, it was heartwarming. She considered the possibilities, but in the end, she couldn't find it in herself to break that up, if only for the night. For the first time since the petrification was broken, Twilight smiled. "You may go."
There had been hugs and nuzzles with the alicorns and a nod to Chrysalis. As Twilight looked at them walking away, her mind was in overdrive. There were things to do, missives to write, declarations to prepare, and most importantly, a lot of stuff to talk over with her friends. Rarity would be here soonest, which meant she could look forward to an indecorous abuse of ice-cream, sparkly discussions, and some deep insights.
That didn't sound too bad.
Celestia sounded giddy as she said, "So, remember that plan we had? Well, I almost finished building us a ship."
Her other friends could be there the day after, probably. Twilight wouldn't retell the whole story, but they had to know it if they were to give her some advice. If she had to guess, in the end, it would come down to some form of reparations. Considering the issue, there was every chance they would be emotional ones.
Chrysalis did a little dance as they turned the corner. Her voice echoed down the corridor, barely audible at that point. "So we can finally start our life of piracy?"
The most surprising comment would come from Pinkie. It always did, and in the end—
Twilight blinked, then shouted, "Wait, what?!"
Celestia put down the cup and contemplated it for a while. It looked like tea. She was sure of that. Well, almost sure. "Luna? Did tea taste like that?"
Her sister looked up from her own bowl of swirling oar'tha and raised an eyebrow. "Probably? You insisted on having it."
A frown drifted across Celestia's face. "It's just... I liked tea a lot. I drank it all the time. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong. It has been a while since I had it."
"About a billion four hundred sixty-three million seven-hundred twenty-one thousand five hundred and eighty-two years." Chrysalis melted out from the walls of the cozy room. "And that tea is as perfect as it's possible to have it. I remember it."
Celestia pushed the cup a bit, watching the liquid inside slosh and strike circles going back and forth. "Hmmm, then maybe I've changed."
Sparkling strings hung from Luna's chin as she slurped down the last of the oar'tha. She passed a hoof in front of her mouth and they dissolved in little clouds of magic. "Obviously you changed. I changed, Chryssi changed. Everyone and everything changes."
"Well, it's tiring. Fun, I concede that, but tiring." Celestia stood up and stretched. "Oh, well, no more of that. Is everything ready?"
Chrysalis nodded. "Yes, sorry if it took so long. You know, you could have gone along with the others."
"Don't be silly." Luna waved her hoof. "We wouldn't leave you alone right now. We're still sisters. So, have you had enough to eat?"
"Yeah, found another couple of dead universes. Sad little things, not very tasty, but they'll do."
The walls were covered in wooden panels with crystals emitting a soft light embedded between them. Celestia put a hoof on the wood. It was a lie. No, not a lie, not at this point, but it still was not what it seemed. It reminded her of something from a long time ago, but she couldn't say exactly what. "What comes now?"
"Something new. One of your students gave me an idea. Well, not directly. But meeting her meant I got the idea. Remember when I tried to get through the mirror and it felt like when you poke your liver through your spleen? Anyway, there'll be an end and then a new beginning, and this time it will be safe from my family ever after; they won't dare try and eat me." Chrysalis put a hoof on Celestia's shoulder. "Do you need more time? Can I do something for you?"
"This is the last room in existence, right? Everything else is just you, isn't it?"
Chrysalis leaned forward and hugged Celestia. "Yes."
"Then there's not much sense in waiting any longer. The world is tired. It’s been tired for a long time. And me? Memories carry a weight. I'm tired too. I'm really curious about what will come and I trust you'll do a good job. Just, this time, maybe try to keep it a bit simpler. I could do without all the apocalypses."
"I will do my best." Chrysalis nuzzled Celestia, then raised her head. "Luna, are you ready?"
"As ready as I will be. Will we meet again?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
The last giggle escaped Celestia. "We did good, didn't we? In the end, we beat the hunger."
Chryssi reached out to her sisters and hugged them. "See you later."
And then there was nothing.
Celestia liked fairy tales, the older and gruesomer the better. She considered herself far savvier than those girls in the stories, which was why she was exploring the woods with a good, solid stick in her hand. As far as she was concerned, that would solve most if not all the problems she could encounter, starting from sneaky wolves up to monsters lurking in the shadows. A whack of the stick and the sharpness of her wit were an unbeatable combo. And if that wasn't enough for whatever mysterious reason, she could trade in her little sister. She had just to convince the monsters to let her go home to get Luna, but that shouldn't be that hard.
Today she would finally finish exploring down the brook. And then—
Celestia froze. There was something, a sound, a... a girl crying?
Stick hold tight in her hands, Celestia crept forward. The trees opened up and there was the brook. And near the brook, sitting on a rock, was a small, crying girl.
A quick look around showed no signs of wolves, witches, or other monsters. Celestia stepped forward and called out, "Hello?"
The girl flinched and turned around. She had long, messy aqua-green hair and black skin. Tears marred her face and she raised her fists to wipe them away. "Hello."
Celestia walked up to the girl, all the while never losing track of her surroundings. "What happened? Why are you crying?"
"I--I'm lost, I think."
The girl didn't look like a mermaid or a spirit. Celestia, at this point, was pretty sure the girl was genuine. "Are there witches or fairies around?"
"I don't think so." The girl looked around. "Uhm, are there witches?"
"Maybe, one can't even be sure that there aren't witches. I'm Celestia, what's your name?"
The scrunch on the girl's face was adorable. "I...I think I'm Chrysalis."
Celestia relaxed her grip on the stick and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. I think I can help you get not-lost. Wanna come with me?"
~Fin~
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Orbiting Kettle · 3.2k words · 623 7 · 8.6k views
- Damaged · 382k words · 424 19 · 7.5k views
- Raugos · 137k words · 745 10 · 7.1k views
- Equimorto · 20k words · 434 57 · 7.1k views
- Harmlesskitten13 · 81k words · 356 27 · 6.6k views
- Kydois · 148k words · 681 13 · 9.2k views
- Chaospaladin · 32k words · 494 6 · 7.2k views
- Nameless Narrator · 165k words · 374 12 · 4.5k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.276 seconds
Total duration
796 users online
605,713 hits today, 2,156,967 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.®
*sniff* I'm not crying. Well, maybe a little.
Oh no. Such a good story well like everything in life good stuff must end.
But seriously it felt like you cut yourself out of tons of story just to wrap it up
Amazing!
Hope you luck as you invest your effort in other projects!
Good Luck!
curse you and that ending!!
Wait, what happened at the end there?
D'awwww, that ending~
The first bit, presumably contemporary to the finale, made perfect sense. The rest? Let's just say I understand why you posted that Q&A blog.
RIP that one universe.
Saw a chapter pop yesterday. Wanted to wait till I had time to enjoy it. Then another and its an epilogue.... Took a lunch. Now I'm crying at work. Great ending.
10433949
10434118
I'm really, really happy that you liked it that much.
10433950
Right from the beginning the story was planned as a form of Bildungsroman. It would show the crucial points of growth for Chrysalis up until what will be her maturing into her teens. I also get what you mean, because there is so much that could still be told, so many experiences and adventures that would be fun or touching or simply nice to read. But those deserve their own stories, this one wishes everyone a goodnight here.
Thank you for coming along the whole way.
10433972
Thank you!
10433983
Your curses nourish me
10434014
As happy as they come.
10434080
It didn't go to waste, though.
10434000
10434076
Chryssi absorbed the old, dying universe along with everyone who wanted to move on and created a new, young one. One where she and her sisters could be together once again. One where Sunset will pop up through a portal in a couple of years.
I've never had my complaints about a story only crop up after reading last chapter, so, hats off to you. This was excellent.
I loved reading A Bug on a Stick. It was one of the few stories where seeing a new chapter always managed to improve my day, even if it was already going well. I was never worried the author would handle a situation in a way that didn't fit the rest of the story. You managed to write the setting so consistently, interesting, wholesome and still show canon compliant. It was an all-round great experience to be a reader for once.
Being able to rely on an author is so wonderful I can't really convey it properly. Thank you for being consistent and excellent! has a pretty weird ring to it. Thank you doesn't really encompass it either. Nonetheless, Thank You.
Even stuff that was only alluded to has me hoping for more. They were only mentioned in a few paragraphs or a chapter at best but I'd love to read stories about your take on the griffon flocks, diamond dog cities, or even Starswirl. I was hoping the latter would have a small part in the epilogue. Aside from that, I'm hoping you'll return to your take on the setting. I'm not picky, it will be good regardless of whatever you choose to write about. Although I'm hoping for many more stories to come.
My complaints are very likely nothing special: It's over - on the one hand that is better than being abandoned but on the other hand also worse than being continued. It's a weird situation, now that I actually think about it. Still, it is at least something to complain about. Then there's the no ponies sequel to the universe. Which is
, who would possibly want that?
Overall this is a 10/10 - would accept memory altering surgery for the chance to read it again for the first time.
Wonderful story. Thank you for writing it.
Oh, i don't like it at all!
This epilogue is a mess.
Aside from characters never mentioned before being used without explanation, cutting story off immediately after first problem in the book, impling that Chrysalis did, in fact ate the whole world and just shapeshifted into it, and more...
The way you presented it, it's clear there is no sequel.
It appears that you run out of juice or got bored with the thing and decided "I'm gonna end it real quick" and slapped happy ending over it. Even if you would write anything else, you spoiled all the future events as well.
I liked the book, i really did. But the ending is really like "oh, it's so late already? Well, in short, story end with happy ending, everyone go home"
That what it feels like, anyway.
Heartwarming ending.
But I’ve been following this since the start and never went back for a reread so the overall story is... nice?
Obviously the story was never going to address EVERYTHING (the time skip alone made that obvious) the ending is very rushed. Heartwarming but rushed.
Thanks for this story and epilogue. It was a wonderful journey filled with adorableness and an amazing world.
And that bit with the piracy was perfect.
10434135
Wait a minute. Did you... Did you just create the EqG universe? You magnificent jackanapes. Oh, there is so much time effery involved, but that is nothing new.
Well congratulations, I haven't had this much emotional investment and raw emotions since I read Background Pony way back in the day. I'm very happy this story got a good end, but I also have a deep empty hole in me knowing there's no more. I'd give you my usual end of story upvote and favorite but as has been mentioned this site doesn't allow for repeated upvoting/favoriting.
10434172
I'm really glad you liked it, and I thank you for reading and keeping up with it. I tried to make the world feel alive, and it seems it worked, so I both understand the frustration in not seeing everything and, if you'll pardon my cheekiness, I'm glad it is there because that means I've done my job.
I debated having Starswirl in the Epilogue, but too much time had passed for him to not have at least retired.
But there's a couple of billion years before the new one where ponies are very much there. Well, maybe not in the exact same for all that time, but still ponies in the soul.
Thank you again for your kind words and for being here.
10434188
Thank you for reading.
10434217
I can live with nice
10434227
I'm glad you appreciated it. And yes, time is a mess.
10434189
I'm pretty sure it won't improve your opinion of the ending, but it was planned this way from the beginning, and it wasn't a question of slapping simply something on to close the story.
I understand your disliking for it though, even if I don't share the same opinion. Still, thank you for the comment and for having been here til the end.
10434270
Thank you for your kind words, the upvote and fav. And more importantly, thank you for having been here until the end.
10434135
So did Chryssi absorb the same universe this all started in, when it was at the end of it's life or is it a different one? To me this doesn't seem very clear but that might just be me.
Also, I assume Celestia, Luna, and Chryssi don't have their memories after the rebirth, but are they still immortal?
Thanks for clarifying all this stuff by the way.
10434290
I can expand a bit on it in the Q&A blog. Just so that people who prefer to not have me babble about it can enjoy the story in peace
BRAVO! BRAVO!
(pretend there's a gif of people clapping here (I don't know how to do gifs (sorry))).
Seriously though, this has become one of my absolute favourite stories on this site, nay, in general, and you and your editors have done a fantastic job. Congratulations, and well done and, most of all, thank you to all of you.
I wish all of you the best of luck with your future endeavors.
PS
Make sure ya'all congratulate yourselves too, a lot of people tend to forget that.
And so here we are. The story ends...
And already, we’re off to the races.
That was exceptional, thank you for this!
A great story and one I'm sorely going to miss. But like how the story ended it continues clever on. There is a lesson in that I think. Only thing I miss was finding out what happened to everyone after Chrissy stopped the attack. But that neither here nor there. Thank you for a most excellent read.
Nice
And after all that... they turned into HYOOMANS!!
Worst possible ending! A true nightmare!
lol
I gotta say, after spending so much time in one place in the story, to suddenly jump bajillions of years into the future, without any ending for the other main characters in the story... it does leave quite a bit hanging.
I'm not a fan of time-skip endings. They don't really add anything meaningful, and tend to end up leaving parts of the initial focus of the narrative unresolved.
We still don't even know where Chryssi's changelings came from, nor how they managed to turn into Skittles bugs or anything. If this story hadn't gone to the 'present' in Equestria, it could've worked as 'alt-universe', but now it's intrinsically-linked to the worst-written two seasons of the show.
I really wish people would just forget Seasons 8 and 9 exist... much like Star Trek fans are doing with STD and STP.
It's rare that I see a story end well, many have unsatisfying epilogues that don't give closure, or seem to just highlight that the author wanted to do more, but couldn't find the words, or the story just dies and leaves the readers forever wondering what would have happened if the story had continued.
This, however, was probably one of the best endings I've ever read, even if it does feel like it came a bit early. I'd also love to see some side stories of the shenanigans that those three got up to in between the end of the last chapter and this epilogue since it was a bit of an abrupt transition, but it was a wonderful ride nonetheless.
Alright, I love the story, but the ending, is well meh. I always hated huge time-skip. It like, I hate it when a book makes it seem like something interesting is going to happen and then suddenly it's 10 YEARS LATER. I'm talking about pacing.
They always same to be a lazy way to end the story.
Other then that, love it!~
The epilogue started out quite jarring - huge timeskips are very difficult to do - but I found myself rather enjoying it most of the way through! It was quite well done, the melding of Tia and Lulu and Chryssi with Queen Chrysalis and Princesses Emeritus Celestia and Luna, where you could see both the fillies they once were and the mares they had grown into. And it dealt quite finely with the divergence from canon, which is always great to see.
And then the end of the universe came, and it changed again from pleasant and satisfying to confusing, then deeply unsatisfying and... derivative is too harsh a word, but certainly predictable in an unpleasant manner. There's a lot of mention prior about how Chrysalis doesn't want to eat the world, and how she's worked so hard to avoid doing so... and then proceeds to eat the world and everything anyway. It ends up coming off like you were heavily inspired by Isaac Asimov and wanted to pay homage to that one short story, but couldn't find a smooth, natural, or even coherent way to do so and weren't about to let that stop you.
It's really a very beautiful epilogue up through Twilight's last line, then just sorta dives off a cliff and hits several rocks on the way down.
A fine epilogue for the story, and the show, in a fashion. Thank you for writing this!
Honestly, I was scared that this would disappoint me when I saw that the story was completed, but I really like how you wrapped things up. Good job :)
Imma be honest I wanted to see more of this. Like chrissy trying to teach lulu and tia to fly and making the changeling race. I'm also lazy and blogs scare me so will there be a sequel to this story?
aw
Awww, that ending... I liked it, and there's tons of space for extra shorts here and there. Like, a side story with what happened to Tirek and Cozy, the trio's pirating days, Twilight's numerous breakdowns trying to scientifically and logically analyse Chryssie, etc.
10433937
Thank you, and you're welcome; I'm glad. :)
"Plus, he words for 'dashing'"
"Plus, the words for 'dashing'"?
"grass, and the statue"
"grass, and the statue."?
"sat right across Twilight at the"
"sat right across from Twilight at the"?
"But until you made that decision"
"But until you've made that decision"?
"Yes, sorry if it took so long."
"Yes, sorry it took so long."?
(Though, depending on how exactly time is working in this... place? State? Whatever it is, maybe you did mean the first one.)
"Stick hold tight in her hands"
"Stick held tight in her hands"?
"one can't even be sure that there aren't witches"
"one can't ever be sure that there aren't witches"?
"I'm Celestia, what's your"
"I'm Celestia; what's your"?
...Huh. Well, I'm not sure what I was expecting with the epilogue (How does one end a story like this?), but most of it wasn't it, I think. Still, while a bit hard at the moment to tell how exactly I feel about it, some interesting, nice, and interesting-and-nice stuff in there. :)
And thank you for writing this story and taking us on that journey. :)
[continues reading author's note, ah, yes, those two are good, and--]
Uh. Well, my, thank you. :D
10434135
One where Sunset will pop up through a portal in a couple of years.
...So, on the one hand, I did wonder if it was that one, so there's one question answered. On the other, several others feel like they got bigger. :D
Huh. Didn't know we were that close to the ending. Sad to see it over, but it ended well enough. I would've liked to see more resolution with the other characters like Sottile before the timeskip, but it worked well enough, I suppose. If nothing else, the rest of the story was fantastic, so thank you for writing it.
10434610
Seconding that, my dude.
Just linking because I remember you read the season seven review and we agreed on a lot about that too, so...
I hadn't expected this story to end quite yet. Bit of a surprise to see the last chapter and epilogue pop up when I checked the site, but it's a very fitting end.
Over the past few years, stickbug has been one of those gems that I was always excited to see popping up in the inbox, knowing there'd be a lot of fuzzy feelings to find within.
Thank you for writing it. It's been a lovely ride.
I was really hoping to see Sotille's reaction to the sisters' ascension, but other than that I'm satisfied with the ending.
I really, really loved this story. Definitely one of my favorites from the last couple years. I love the worldbuilding you've done for ancient Equestria.
While I don't like the epilogue, I loved everything up til then. For the final push to alicornhood to be making friends with an eldritch abomination is a lovely climax, all the more so for the simple start of Celestia finding dear mushy Chrysalis and poking it with a stick. Their adorable lives, their learning experiences, and their growth were all great things to witness.
I did, however, enjoy the cyclical sense of her becoming friends with the soon-to-be principal Celestia. If you do end up writing a short story series, I would love to see that new trio becoming friends, thence to eat ice cream and watch horror movies together. :3 But even more than that, I would greatly enjoy seeing resolution with Copper Horn, Sotille and the others. They were a major part of the story, characters were really felt for, and for them to get a last act and reconcile with dear Chryssi would be a lovely thing to see.
All the same, congratulations on the completion, and thank you for bring this story to life.
10436365 Just because something becomes canon doesn't mean we have to like it.
I mean, just look at all the franchises that have been ruined and sent long-time and even newer fans fleeing: Doctor Who, Star Wars, Terminator, Indiana Jones. And then there are all the garbage remakes.
Accepting crap just encourages them to make more crap.
*applause* Oh, that was marvelous! Absolutely wonderful storytelling! Heartwarming messages and good humor and real danger that never felt sappy or overplayed. I fell in live with this version of the world, and in many ways it made the show story make more sense (I still cant buy the princesses retiring just a couple years after Luna got back, but after all that AND having to pretend their sister was evil, I can see the draw). Thank you for this truly splendid story, I’m so glad I found it right at the end so I could binge read. My inly question, which I’m sure I know the answer to: did her family accept her back? Finding out she hadnt eaten anypony surely would have helped, and they are good people, so I’m sure they did. But it’s nice to have confirmation. :) Thank you for putting sk much work into such a lovely story that is definitely going in my Favorites, and I hope to read more of your work in the future, whatever form it may take!
...
Ok, yeah...I...did not like the epilogue.
The first part of the epliogue was ok (aside from where I'm going to have to tell a friend not to read this story because of one little mention of starlight, who's actually triggered by starlight)...and ok, I knew SOME of that was going on because there's another story about that, but...
But then you went all "bajillion years have passed" and I'm like "hah nice hyperbole" only it wasn't hyperbole...
WTF.
You didn't even have chrysalis say something like "It's ironic isn't it? I promised not to eat your universe, but in the end, I ate it and then shapeshifted into it because you asked me to."
Which would at least have made that bit feel much more fitting.
...
I liked basically EVERYTHING ELSE about the story.
Just not the epilogue.
Adendum: I think the Epilogue you've written would have fit more as a standalone submission on existential stuff.
10438851
Not really sure if you caught it but these lines from "I don't want to grow up":
And these from the last chapter
Imply the universe was always going to end at some point without her and "the others" they "could have left with" left the universe as the universe is ending and Chrysalis consumes it probably keeping Celestia and Luna in gems to be reborn while the new one formed.
This has been an excellent story. I hope any little bits you may do in the future include Celestia and Luna scolding the others into being nice to Chrysalis, all she did was eat their fur.
Realizing you do not remember what tea tastes like in the end of time? I like it a lot.
10434314
10434349
10434399
10434502
Thank you all
10435990
I mean yes and? There's all of uneternity to teach her family!