A Princess's Trials - Epilogue
A Princess's Trials
by Present Perfect
Epilogue
Tempest let out a sigh of relief as her body lurched, the train beneath her chugging its way out of the station. Part of her had feared they would never leave Canterlot, but now here they were, on their way back to Ponyville. The company was sound, all was well, and she had to admit the new armor was not only comfortable but comforting.
And, sure, maybe it was a little stylish too. Silver, as it turned out, looked quite good on her, especially with that blazon of her cutie mark on the flanks.
"Come sit down, Tempest," Twilight said, giggling as she patted the seat next to her.
Tempest nodded, joining her princess, and appreciating how well the armor held up to being sat on.
Their car was empty save for the two of them. Twilight had wanted to ride with all of her friends, of course, but the others had ushered Pinkie Pie out shortly before their departure, at Pinkie's own behest. The mare had been positively vibrating, trying to keep some sort of secret to herself, and asked the others to not only escort her from the train, but to also keep an eye on her, lest she spill the beans.
Tempest could only wonder what lay in store for them in Ponyville.
"Well, it's all over now, Your Highness."
"Yeah." Twilight shook her head. "What a crazy couple of weeks this has been."
"Mm." Tempest gazed across the car, watching the spires of Canterlot disappear as they moved into the first dark tunnel. "I want to apologize."
"What? What for?"
"If my behavior during our... adventure was in any way untoward. I fear I may have been overbearing, toward both you and Princess Skystar."
"Tempest." The chiding came with a soft hoof against her arm. "Everything you did, you did to keep us safe. And you did a magnificent job! I couldn't have asked for a better guide for that whole trip."
Tempest was thankful the momentary darkness hid the warmth rising to her cheeks. "Thank you, Your Highness. That is relieving to hear. Though..." She swallowed. "I must admit a certain amount of... trepidation as we venture back into civilization and familiar climes."
The tunnel ended, and Tempest didn't miss the knowing look that passed over Twilight's features. "Oh? Afraid you're not going to be able to deal with pony problems as easily as wilderness problems?"
Tempest's ears went flat, and her eyes widened. "How did you...?"
Giggling, Twilight said, "I'm starting to figure you out, Captain. What you're going through is normal for a pony unused to friendship. But think about it.
"Every time we met somepony who knew you and knew what you had done in the past, you ended up winning them over with your actions. You've proven time and time again that you're changing, you're becoming a better pony." She smiled. "And remember, you can always trust in me and my friends to help you out when you're feeling out of your depth."
Tempest was quiet for a while, staring down at her hooves. Maybe she hadn't proven herself to the pirates, but even Captain Celaeno had been willing to bury the hatchet without much prompting. They all trusted Twilight to trust her in turn. Maybe she should start trusting herself more.
She drew in a long breath. "Friendship." She let it out. "Is that why you're not seeking any kind of retribution against Queen Novo? After all we've been through..."
"Of course," said Twilight in a tone that brooked no argument. "She was trying to do what she thought was best for her people, just like I was trying to do what I thought was best for Equestria. We were both wrong, so there's no need to cast remonstrations."
She sighed. "I talked to her a little bit the other day, here in Canterlot. It sounded like things weren't going very well for her, just in general." She shifted slightly in what might have been a shrug. "Maybe she's having just as much trouble readjusting to life on land as the rest of her people. Or maybe it's more like the trouble Dragon Lord Ember has having. Running the Dragolympics does sort of bring herding cats to mind, doesn't it?"
Tempest let out a snort, enough to cover the laugh she had almost loosed, if not the smile. Twilight's eyes twinkled for a moment, before she looked away.
"Admittedly, that all does make me kind of glad I don't have a kingdom of my own to run yet." She scraped her hoof along the windowsill beside her. "I can't imagine what it's like, having responsibility over that many people, trying to make edicts and decrees that will improve their lives while balancing the needs of the nation..."
She lapsed into a silence Tempest didn't feel the need to break. When Twilight next spoke, it was with a shake of her head.
"Well anyway, if we hadn't gone on that adventure, we wouldn't have stopped Ahuizotl and found the Crown." She gave Tempest a conspiratorial smile. "Unless you have any lingering regrets, I'd say it was a solid learning experience."
"No regrets, Princess," said Tempest softly. "I suppose it was quite lucky we were able to be in the right place at the right time, if what that beast said about his plans was true."
"I keep telling you, Tempest, it's destiny." Twilight smiled up at her, and Tempest saw pride and respect radiating from her in equal measure. "And I feel like it was destiny that we went on that adventure together. You were the right mare for the job. I may have missed my other friends, but I wouldn't have wanted anyone else alongside me."
The smile wobbled, withering as she swallowed hard. "Which is why I'd like to apologize now."
"What for?" asked Tempest, taken aback.
"I should have trusted you more during our friendship quest. I knew you'd never done one before, and I'd been so sure my plan would work..." She sighed. "But you saved the day. I'm sorry I didn't have more faith in you."
Tempest snorted. "For what it's worth, Princess, I didn't have much faith in myself. Nor was I particularly taking the whole thing seriously."
She hummed. "We did end up making a difference in those ponies' lives though, didn't we?"
Twilight nodded.
"Even if they were the most annoying ponies in Equestria."
Twilight let out a sound halfway between a snort and a guffaw. "Tempest!"
"Sorry." Tempest regarded her with mischievous smile. "I'm not exactly a friendship problem-solving master yet."
Twilight countered with a smile of her own, that same soft, knowing one. "But you did say 'yet'."
"Uhm..." Tempest nodded. "Well, apology accepted, Your Highness."
"You've got nothing to worry about, Tempest." Twilight grinned and touched her shoulder lightly. "You're already thinking like a true Guardian of Friendship."
It was near midnight when they stepped off the train. It was so late, in fact, that the conductor bid them good night and went to find a berth in the train station ahead of resuming his rounds in the morning.
"Is that some kind of net?" Twilight wondered aloud, eyes pointing skyward. Indeed, something thin and amorphous seemed to be superimposed darkly against the night.
"I can't wait!" shouted Pinkie Pie, racing ahead of them. "Is everypony ready?"
Tempest was about to inquire who she was speaking to when a brief flash of light illuminated a mob of ponies in front of them. It took only that flash for her to interpose herself in front of Princess Twilight, head lowered and legs spread.
The light was followed by another, and another, until all at once, dozens of fireworks, candles and other light sources had banished the darkness from Ponyville town square and illuminated the hundred smiling ponies waiting there. Tempest scoffed and shook her head, relaxing her defensive stance.
"It figures."
"WELCOME HOME!" shouted the crowd.
"Sorry we weren't quicker," said a lone stallion somewhere off to the right. "We kind of fell asleep while we were waiting."
"That's okay!" said Pinkie, giving him a hug. "'Cause now you've all got all the energy you need to party all night long!"
The crowd cheered. Tempest gave Twilight a questioning look, which the princess returned with a bemused one. Pinkie appeared in front of them, bouncing on her tail.
"Were you surprised, huh? Were ya? 'Cause my Pinkie Sense told me we were gonna be needing a huge party, so I decked the town out in my super-duper bestest decorations, and then the Cutie Map told us you were in Canterlot, and I said to everypony, just wait here for us! Then we got on the train, and I guess that was a few days ago, wasn't it?"
"We took shifts!" shouted a mare. She waved a sparkler around and high-hoofed another pony nearby.
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. "I knew I could count on you all! And now we can throw Tempest her super-dee-duper biggest party ever, because there's a whole bunch of parties I needed to throw right the hecksies now, so I rolled them all into one ginormundous one! Come on, everypony's waiting to say hi!"
She bounced off, and Twilight's other friends followed. Tempest hung back, and Twilight noticed after a few paces, stopping to turn and look back at her.
"Does she do that often?" Tempest asked, concerned.
"Occasionally." Twilight gave her a huge smile. "There's no time like the present to start getting used to it. Welcome home, Captain Tempest."
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A plot that hinges entirely on poor communication...
Sure, it wasn't the central focus after a while and the story did pick up afterwards, but you hit one of my bigger pet peeves dead-center. Still, it's over, and I'm eagerly looking forward to see where you go with Tempest now that the movie's aftereffects are resolved.
this better not be the end of the story
because we still have like
3 or 4 relics of Sacanas to find
Not bad, not bad at all.
9848936
It is still marked incomplete so I reckon you don't need to worry about that.
Who?
Who would possibly assume that?!
WHOOOOOO!
Oh well. It was kind of a stumbling block (although still in-keeping with the prevailing theme from the show and movie that the governors of the world stay in power and are generally successful despite their incompetence), but the rest of the adventure more than made up for it.
a grate story and i will be watching for more of this story line.
Yeah, I sort of figured this was the most likely way you were taking Queen Novo, and of course most of us guessed it at the start.
You have to understand, though, that Novo’s failure to properly tell Twilight that the punishment was only intended to be ceremonial, also means that the narrative failed to properly inform the audience — and as well, the audience was never really given any serious reason to doubt Novo’s words and actions as being anything other than genuine. So the anger and annoyance that the audience felt towards Novo over this is completely justified on the part of those of us who felt it. More to the point, because of how the story was being told, those feelings had time to fester. It’s not like a single episode or movie or even a single book where any indignation felt can be dispelled quickly — literal months, instead, were spent with the audience’s feelings towards Novo becoming entrenched.
True, it’s “not that kind of story”, but what exactly that means can be left up in the air. I don’t think that anyone seriously believed you were gonna kick off an Equestria-Seaquestria war arc. But a period of very poor relations between the two nations and them not getting along could easily have worked — and could also have played a part in the Friendahip School’s eventual founding.
To be honest my thoughts were that Novo had one of the Tschotchkies of Sacanas affecting her to explain things. But in any event, trying to balance keeping the audience informed with keeping the audience in the dark is a very delicate game...and I’m not sure you played that game well here.
Also your timeline still really doesn’t make sense.
Now that being said, once we moved past Queen Novo and went on a more straightforward series of adventures, the plot definitely picked up. We had good character development for Tempest, and Skystar was fun. It was nice to keep getting into Tempest’s head. So I can say that I enjoyed this, and am looking forward to more. I think the best way to view this is as a learning experience — but then I view everything as a learning experience.
Onwards and upwards.
9848922
You and me both, Fan. Well, I can get behind it in small doses, but I rarely like it when entire stories orbit around it.
9848987
In fairness it is something that a lot of people assumed back at the start of this when the hippogriffs first showed up. It was just quickly quashed when we actually heard Queen Novo speak.
This is awesome! I wonder what will happen when all of the relics are together if anything.
Nonetheless, a mustache for you.
So, what was the friendship problem that needed to be solved in Canterlot?
9849079
Cadance has plans for Tempest...plans within plans.
Dammit Raugos needs to update that!
should have taken the storm guard to ponyville.
if not as part of the twilight company, then as towns guards against the stupidity that is life in ponyville.
the everfree forrest has enough dangers to justify a contingent of strong guards being there alone.
and they would be well suited for construction and farm work as well.
bet flutters would like them being around her humble abode a bit too.
If it's an Epilogue then why is it incomplete?
9849306
There’s multiple parts to this story, and rather than publishing them as separate stories Present Perfect is publishing them all as one.
9848936
It's not over till it's marked complete. :) And actually, there's just one left. (Which surprised me, I'd thought there were at least two...)
9849084
See the author's note at the end of chapter 8! :)
9849281
Interesting idea. Doing it right now would be a bad idea, I think, but it's not like they'll disappear after they go back home...
9848922
Yeah, poor communication kills. Not literally in this case, thank Harmony, but any plot that hinges on poor communication had better have a really darn good justification for it. In this case, I'd say it was mostly worth it.
9848922
It wasn't even poor communication, it was characters doing one thing and saying they did another. This entire arc could be themed "What if no one reacted the way their character suggests they should?" Celestia, Novo, Tempest, Twilight...
9848987
Hey, props where it's due. You saw something that was never even hinted at during the story. I'd hate to play against you in a game of Clue.
9849042
I think the parts inside Tempest's head, showing actual conflict between learned behavior and expectations, were the only parts I enjoyed in this arc. Those were good, yeah. They would have worked extremely well in an Equestrian-Seaquestrian war, with Tempest fighting against the same nation she had attacked before but with a radically different motivation and different objectives. Instead of "scare the populace and leave some bodies", she'd have to "subdue the troops non-lethally and win the hearts and minds of the populace", since ponies wage war differently from the Storm King.
9805815
I'm not gonna drag this out, so I'll just say it bluntly. You asked me to have faith in you, and I liked the characters from the first arc and your other stories enough that I decided to do it. I don't feel, now, that it was justified here. This ending feels like a total ass-pull after painting yourself into a corner. It is very disappointing for how much your readers (including myself) got involved with the Novo/Twilight conflict to say at the end, "It was all innocent mistakes so no consequences happened for anyone". There's a comic...drawer. Tim Buckley. He had a long-running arc in his comic many, many years ago where two of his main characters (one being his self-insert) conceived a child and built up expectations for all the nuance and interesting conflict bringing a child into the dynamic would cause. He ended the arc via a miscarriage.
Best of luck on your future endeavors.
9850055
I am suddenly filled with a tremendous feeling of loss.
9850060
9850055
... I did?
9850219
Well, yeah, unless I'm mis-reading your comment. Were you saying that sarcastically to Novo, or rhetorically to reflect that you suggested that early on?
So is there another part coming? I just ask because you have this listed as a romance, albeit slow burn, but there hasn’t been any romance yet at all really.
9850055
All I can say is I'm sorry you got invested in that conflict, because I was not invested in it for a moment and never expected anyone else to be. It wasn't meant to be a major event. It certainly was never going to lead to war, recriminations, or anything else, because this is Equestria, and Equestrians forgive. I absolutely hate stories that are nothing but characters yelling at each other, I'm not going to write that.
But now, the plot is over, from here on out it's slice of life and romance until the next big world-ending threat rears its ugly head. Mea culpa.
9850313
The story won't be over till it's marked Complete! :) And yeah, you can expect quite a few more entries before any shipping starts taking place.
9850476
You didn't expect us to be invested in Queen Novo suddenly turning into a horrible tyrant queen, kidnapping a foreign national and condemning her to an unlawful fate in a show trial, forcing Twilight and company to embark on a desperate escape and lengthy danger-filled journey back home that nearly got Skystar killed, and then have her show up and say, 'What? No, there was a totally good explanation, you just didn't see it because you're dumb or I'm totally bad at explaining things, lol'?
9850476
It’s nearly as bad a retcon as Ahuizotl’s “I was a good guy all along and Daring is a tomb robber. Rings of scorchero? Evil Things I did outside the basin? No idea what you’re talking about.”
9850486
No, I honestly did not. I certainly did not anticipate a hew and cry for blood. I do not understand the reaction at all.
And yeah, I explained things badly. I kept making changes to these last two chapters based on all the feedback, but even then, I knew no one was going to take it and just be okay with it. The story the commenters wanted was not the story I wanted to write. :/ That doesn't make it okay, but I've at least learned something.
9850531
The only reason we want blood or some form of repercussions is because Novo did something pretty awful for flimsy reasons while acting like a total bitch. Otherwise the story was fine, but the inciting incident and explanation thereof made no sense. Was the whole thing being a misunderstanding always your plan?
9850611
Yeah. There was supposed to be a message about the trial's purpose, it got lost somewhere or someone forgot about it because bureaucracy and moving pains. Headcanon, admittedly, since it's not an explanation I could find a place for.
There was also a line I ended up cutting for similar reasons (it was shoehorned in really clumsily and I couldn't fix it) talking about how Novo is a single parent and suggesting the burdens of her various stations are just too much for her. Whether or not that makes her sympathetic at all is up to the reader, but it didn't make it in so it doesn't really count.
Part of me wants to write a side story addressing all these concerns a lot more directly, but I don't think I will just because it would be me talking to all the comments in fic form, and that feels petty. :/ We'll just move on, hopefully.
9853436
It's not cannon what sexuality Moondancer and Twinkelshine are along with most secondary characters, so they could be or become a couple. Heck most fics writers who I read often seem to hold the opinion that ponies are polyamerious by nature. You can decide Pinkie is an asexual, just as I can decide the idea Pinkie's not ready for romance and she and Skystar just aren't right for each other fits this story just fine.
Tempest would win in a 1v1 against chrysalis. Definitely would be fun to see.
9850476
...I can accept that first sentence in the beginning, but you had to learn pretty quick reading the comments that your expectations were a serious error in judgment. 'This is Equestria, and Equestrians forgive'. ...Uh-huh. Except when they don't. Sombra, Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis (the first time around), ...Discord wasn't 'forgiven' until it became expedient. Until then he was petrified and left for pigeons to shit on. Forgiveness requires contrition, not excuses and lies. ...You had Tempest beat the crap out of Garble for acting like an ass for a few seconds, and you even had Twilight enjoying it. But Novo gets a pass? You're inconsistent, sir.
...Really? At first I could get it, but you're using present tense here: you do not understand. Still??? All these comments pointing out how and why what she did was monstrous (not counting mine since they're new) and you STILL don't understand? 'At all'? Bucking wat? Are you being deliberately obtuse?
*deep sigh* Moving on...
I get that the Novo thing was supposed to just be the adventure hook you needed to fling Twilight and Tempest (with special guest Skystar!) across the world for a Grand Tour. I get that that's why you were 'not invested in it for a moment'. It was just a convenient excuse for you... much as Celestia is often used as a plot device in the show (leading to the consistent disdain with which she is viewed by many, as seen also in some comments here... they know who they are). The problem is... if that's the case, what was the point?! What was the conflict here? The Daring Do thing went by so fast I felt I was watching a youtube vid at chipmunk speed. There was no tension or conflict because it read like an after the fact synopsis: an incident report. The Griffon theft event was similarly speedily resolved... by basically having the crown do pretty much what they said it would, and then they got it back, The End. Then they get a Friendship quest, but we're not going to resolve that here, see the sidestory (which I will, later tonight). Instead they flew straight to Canterlot (rather than the Map for some reason). And here's the reason we're all thinking: 'Okay, we're flying through this stuff to get to the real resolution of this arc: a denouement with Novo. Good, looking forward to that at last!' ...But nope! 'Hahaha, soz, mah bad, implied hundred years, meant one day, derp! it happens, amirite? we good fam?'
No, no we're not. And the fact that you 'can't understand it at all' only makes this worse. See ya in the next chapter, I guess.
9877257
Glad someone got the reference.
Personally, as I read this thing, I got a subtext from Queen Novo's behaviors at the 'sentencing' that screamed: 'Going Through the Motions for the sake of satisfying said motions'. There were hints sprinkled all over her behavior that too a left turn from your typical Hard Case Justice Punishment types. For one, apparent sprinkles of poor attempts at humor, such as pointing out paper doesn't last under water. (Why point that out if you're trying to be serious? Unless you aren't, and trying to inject a little humor into the situation. Something you wouldn't do if you were actually going to be sentencing someone to a real punishment for their crimes.) There was also this lack of animosity that you would normally see in fiction for the situation. Even though it was a fast: 'Show up, get sentenced' situation, it felt too professional for the situation. Too calm. So I was half expecting them to get to the punishment and when the tension is all built up: *Slap on the wrist.* "The acused has been punished. They may now leave."
And after that didn't quite play out, I saw the sequence of events of sending Twilight to the Abyss as: "You drag her half way across the world to immediately banish her five minutes after she arrives... This is a deliberate farce, and it's going to be misunderstood. And Shenanigans will result."
I mean, just from the logic of the situation, I was seeing the loophole in this 'punishment' before the loophole was even pointed out in text. "Go away and don't come back" in the middle of the ocean just seems like: "Okay, I'll go swim out of sight, then make a beeline to the surface, swim to the coast, and go about my business back home. Later!"'
So, I wasn't really invested in Novo's actions. I was waiting for Tempest to come unglued at misreading the situation.
Ok, all caught up. It's been a good ride so far. I look forward to seeing what comes next. Thanks for creating and sharing.
Ah, magnificent! Can't wait for next chapters.
This has been a good read.
Like the other readers, I was ready to lynch Queen Novo. Her scene felt painful, petty, and cruel, with a queen humiliating and then practically executing her guests. But the explanation made sense. I can easily picture her plan to bring them back with a "Just kidding!", thinking incorrectly that they would have simply moped around in the safe zone all day. An innocent (if mean-spirited) joke that got waaaaay out of hand, which she was appropriately sorrowful for.
Must've been hella awkward.
Celestia: "Ah, Queen Novo! Good of you to come over. I trust that, as we've discussed, Twilight Sparkle received sufficient punishment to learn the severity of your anger to her, yet one brief and painless enough to show that you also forgive? I imagine she returned with you and is eager to report."
Novo: "Yeeaaaaaah, about that..."
Oh no, it looks like I've caught up too the current arc of the story. Whatever shall I do
Well, I guess I could distract myself with the entire side story you've already written