Epilogue: It's only over for now...
Pinkie sat all by herself in the back of the train car. With the lights inside the cabin, the window became a mirror, preventing the viewing of passing countryside. All she was left with was no choice but to look at herself.
And this was absolutely not something she wanted to do just now.
As though this weren’t enough on its own, her reflection seemed to move on its own accord, coming to life entirely to mock her. It pointed and dryly laughed. “Wow, way to mess up your relationships like you always do. No wonder your family doesn’t write.”
Pinkie’s heart rate picked up. This was definitely not normal. She glanced around, desperate to see if anyone else noticed this. The only other passenger she could spot, however, was a dozing codger toward the front of the car. Lip quivering, she whispered: “You’re not real.”
“I’m as real as your inability to handle your problems in life.” With an unnatural pull, it wrenched Pinkie’s gaze back to her, even as she strained to look away. It grew a pair of fangs, and those pupils shrank and morphed into long, narrow lines. “No, no, come here. Get a good look at the monster.”
Pinkie clenched her eyes shut. “No,” she pleaded, “it’s not like that.”
“Oh, but it is.” mused the reflection. Hypnotically, it demanded her eyes open, and so they did. “So manipulative, and possessive.” Each word oozed with pleasure. “I love it.”
The unsteady breaths hissed through clenched teeth, and Pinkie teared up again. But as she tried to fight back, a knocking sounded over the rumble of the train, crisp and clear like a hoof on a door. Further confusion settled in.
The reflection lost all sense of amusement, however. Perturbed, it let her go, and hissed out: “Until next time, Pinkamena.”
When Pinkie yanked herself out of the invisible grasp, she wrenched herself out of her disheveled heap of bedsheets, and promptly fell flat on her back across the floor with a resounding thud. She writhed and groaned for a moment, pondering what just happened. Her words were low and guttural, air having escaped her. “A n-nightmare?”
“Pinkie Pie?” inquired Mrs. Cake from the other side of her loft door. “Are you alright, dear?”
“Yeah, ahem, I’m okay.” she coughed. Pinkie shakily got to her hooves and made to get the door.
“Well, one of your friends came to see you.”
Pinkie’s hoof halted, hovering just above the latch. After a moment’s hesitation, she withdrew it. “Um, you know, I actually don’t feel like seeing anypony right now. Can you tell them I’ll catch up later?”
A hushed muttering filled the pause, drawing Pinkie’s ear up to the door, difficult as it was to discern specific words. Mrs. Cake spoke up again. “I really think you should see this one, dear.”
“No.” she said quickly, firmly. It was so curt, she surprised even herself. She stepped back from the door and plopped down onto the floor, one hoof gripping at her gut, the other covering her mouth.
“I’ll take it from here, Mrs. Cake.” came a voice of a familiarity that delighted and hurt all at once. She took charge and came to the door. In a much more commanding voice, she said: “Pinkie? We should really speak. I won’t force you, and I won’t come in unless you want me to. But at some point, we need to talk.”
After a moment’s dithering, Pinkie drew a deep breath and scurried to the door, dragging Luna in and quickly closing it behind her to keep Mrs. Cake from being allowed to play audience further. Holding the door shut, she waited until she heard her turn and go back downstairs before letting go of a held breath. Then she turned, pushing some loose magenta hair back behind her ear. “Um. Hi.”
“Hi.” said Luna nervously. But then she screwed up her face. “Wait, sorry, did you brush out your hair?”
Pinkie felt it wispily flow over her shoulder with a dainty touch. It was limp and straight. She gulped and said: “Yeah, I dunno, I just… felt like messing with it last night, to distract myself.”
“I’m not sure I--” started Luna. She rubbed away the tension forming at the bridge of her nose. “This isn’t the point. I came by to chat for a moment, so let’s chat.”
Pinkie wrung her hooves over themselves, haunches raised in distress. Meekly, she said: “Alright.”
Wasting no time, Luna began. “When you first asked me out, you know, I felt really nervous. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give love another chance. Moreso than that, I was worried I’d fall back to my old ways, and cause you nothing but trouble. I didn’t want to do that to you.”
Pinkie Pie gulped. “I see.”
Luna backed up with a sigh, and took a seat on the edge of Pinkie’s messy bed. “But cruel irony follows me like a haunting spirit.”
Pinkie had nothing to say to that, though she had a feeling she was beginning to know what it means to be haunted. She thought that maybe she ought to tell her about the nightmare she’d had. But that felt like she would be making this about her. So instead, she said: “I’m so sorry for doing that to you. I think… deep down, I knew it was a bad idea. But it was like I’d gotten in so deep, I couldn’t stop myself, a-and like, had to justify it to myself.”
To the surprise of maybe the both of them, Luna let out a bitter laugh. “I’ve been there.”
“Right…” muttered Pinkie, eyeing the floorboards, rubbing at the back of her neck. And again, she said: “I’m sorry.”
“Listen…” Luna gave her a moment to finally look up to her, to really look her in the eyes. “I still care about you. All the good times, they haven’t just gone away. You’re still the bright mare who taught me to laugh again and be happy.” Tapping the tips of her hooves, she thought about how to put this next part. “And in that moment, on the back of the train, well… I wanted to kiss you very, very much.”
“Yeah?” Pinkie felt at her heart. It seemed to pick up again.
“But what you’ve done has hurt me, Pinkie.” She locked eyes with her and sat up straight. “It hurt me a lot.”
The tears welled up, and Pinkie blinked them away. “I really wish I could take it all back.”
Luna stood up. “While you can’t do that, you can at least learn from this. Do better. Be better than the monster you became.”
The nightmare reflection’s words echoed in her mind again. All of Pinkie’s words, phrases, and prepositions abandoned her head. Before her stood the mare she admired. But somehow, right then and there, she felt she really, truly understood her deep down.
Walking by, Luna took the the latch of the door, but didn’t open it yet. Without looking back, she said: “I definitely still need some time. Away from you, I mean. Away from us…”
A long, deep breath filtered through Pinkie Pie. Letting it all out, her head drooped again, and she agreed. “I think that’d be best, yeah.”
“But,” added Luna nervously, hearing Pinkie’s head whip around behind her, “maybe… we can try again, eventually.” She let out another dry little laugh. “I mean, if my sister can forgive all I’ve done to her, why not, right?”
Hoof trembling, Pinkie thought maybe she’d reach out, take her shoulder, turn her around, hug her tight, and never let go again. But no, now was not the time. She hadn’t earned it. Instead, her words became subdued. “Alright. Yeah, sure.”
“Well.” After a pause, Luna finally pulled the latch. “See you around.”
“Bye.”
With a soft click, Pinkie found herself alone again. After a tiny little deliberation, she went to her desk and flung open her notebook. She violently tore a sheet out, and ripped her quill from the drawer nearby. She had to get this done and dash to the post office right away if it was to get out on time.
In a few hours, a royal meeting over lunch would be awkwardly interrupted by a certain sky blue pegasus guard having found a letter adrift past the skybridge. When the queen, bemused, opens it up and smiles, she’ll confuse her trio of princesses. Then she’ll tuck away the note for the time being, and get back to her meeting about this crystal empire business. But she’ll feel so much better about the bittersweet night she’d had, knowing things might improve from here. And on that note, the rushed scrawl of words will read: “I am so sorry for everything. I hope you can forgive me someday.”
Luna, having left Sugarcube Corner not that long ago, made one last stop by Rarity’s boutique, before heading home. She had been so tired when they came in last night, she absentmindedly left behind not only the necklace she’d worn, but her magic crown as well. She pushed in through the door, open for business as usual, and the bell awoke Rarity.
“Zmnguh?” she gasped, head peeling away from the desk. Abashed, she wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. “O-oh, Luna, hello. Forgive me for dozing.”
“Heheh, it’s quite alright. I won’t keep you long.” She casually sauntered up and leaned upon the desk. “I just wanted to fetch my necklace, and the Element of Magic, if you don’t mind.”
“Ah, about that. I stayed up a touch late, but I was stricken with inspiration.” Upon the desk, Rarity placed a crown with no gem. “You seemed to have ongoing reservations about wearing a crown, so I thought: ‘Hey now, the gem is the magical artifact, right?’”
Luna wasn’t so sure that’s how that worked. She pursed her lip. “They’ve certainly had… several different forms.”
Rarity presented her necklace, with the prior regular stone replaced with the presumably magical one. “I may not be the best jeweler I know, but I managed to place the old stone into a new charm, and changed it out. There, now you have a magic necklace, just like the rest of us.”
“I had somewhat thought the magical artifact was the entire piece.” admitted Luna nervously.
Rarity’s mouth tightened with a “Hmm.” Setting that down, she produced the old charm and held it between her hooves. “I did make sure to keep this. Mayhaps it will still work fine if we put everything back the way it was?”
Before Luna could say much else on this, the stone from Galahad’s gift slipped through Rarity’s tired hooves. It hit the gem from the element, and bounced with a flash so bright, Rarity fell back and out of her chair with shock. Luna shielded her eyes reflexively, but peeked past her defensive hooves. The chain and crown and gems all glowed, and swirled together.
When the light show was over, Rarity peered over the top of her desk, and together with Luna observed a brand new accessory. Rendered all in gold, a wide, wide choker connected to a thick chain, which held a charm of smooth white stone, resembling not the crescent moon, but a full moon, the likes of which would draw all the magical creatures from their little shadows in the wood. And dangling from the choker, framed by the heavy chains on either side, rested a new stone, just as smooth, of onyx black, like a new moon which beckoned only the darkest of witching hours.
Rarity stood, exchanging a confused look with Luna. She prodded it, then braced for another magic blast. Nothing. So she said: “I’m sorry, but did the magic gem just eat the other accoutrements? Is that a thing it can do?” Her hooves clapped against the sides of her face. “Should I go check on my hiding spot for the Element of Generosity?”
Luna lifted it, and eyed the thing suspiciously. “No, but I’m beginning to believe my sister was absolutely right; these old magic artifacts are entirely too random.” Curiosity got the better of her, though. She tugged apart the clasps at the back, and fit it snugly around her bare neck. “But it is rather nice.”
Ever the scrupulous one, Rarity posited: “Should we maybe look into whatever it is this might mean?”
“Later.” scoffed Luna with a chuckle so healthy, the charms bounced and caught a bright shine off the lights. “For now, I’m going to try and settle back into a nice, quiet, normal life.” She made for the door. “Until next time, Rarity. Thanks again.”
Out the door she went. Not sure what else to do with herself, Rarity checked her itinerary, and pondered what she ought to start working on first. And in this way, a humble quiet settled back over the humble villa of Ponyville. Summer had ended, and fall began. Soon, the days would grow shorter and colder, and the nights, all the darker still. But at least they were peaceful once more, if a tad awkward.
For now…
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Saturni_Rose · 132k words · 140 4 · 2.7k views
- Saturni_Rose · 58k words · 419 12 · 8.1k views
- StuffBuddy · 1.9k words · 193 5 · 2.3k views
- Mystic Sunrise · 5.1k words · 69 19 · 2.9k views
- David Silver · 54k words · 132 10 · 2.2k views
- MagnetBolt · 68k words · 60 5 · 752 views
- Jest · 4.8k words · 19 1 · 230 views
- Cardinal Dan Productions · 2.1k words · 50 2 · 1.2k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.056 seconds
Total duration
769 users online
1,172,549 hits today, 2,561,572 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.®
These last three chapter (especially the epilogue) felt very rush and uninspired. You really should not have uploaded these three on the same day....
Honestly, when you said the next time might be the end of the story, I was concerned it was only going to be one big chapter.
So I can say I'm fairly pleased with how this played out. I think more than enough time was devoted to the majority of the proceedings, though, it did all come crashing down relatively quickly compared to the build up. A lot of ponies moving significant distances quickly, engaging in quick scenes, resulting in a really break neck pace that normally wouldn't be possible for non-ponies. That might be where some might find their disconnects with the pacing. I personally, though, have enjoyed your take on this universe, and I'm looking forward to whatever you have planned next. Take a well earned rest. If you're still unhappy later, there's always editing.
And so this arc wraps up with a lot of possibilities in the future. Seems like even if Luna forgives Pinkie, Pinkie will be battling her own inner demons next time. Maybe Luna can return the favor to her after having moved past her own problems. Seems like they might not be so different after all, in that respect.
Also liked how the tiara ate the items and made a new one. Really drove home how unpredictable they are and how that could be trouble. Now, Discord is chronologically supposed to come up, and thinking about that, I have no clue how he'll react to Luna being one of the elements of Harmony and not Celestia. Like, does he consider them a packaged deal, will he find it odd that he's battling one while the other is sitting out useless, will it be a grudge match, or what? Not sure, heck you might not even go that route with the final arc. You're doing more of a social friend-shipping drama here, so not like you have to follow everything that's happening in the canon plot. It just got me curious about Discord's reaction to how things have turned out.
Anyway, thanks for putting up the finale in one go instead of spreading it out, I appreciated being able to finally see the end of this chapter to the story. I'll be looking forward to the next one. Thanks again for writing and sharing this with us!
10329314
I think someone mentioned it is likely that sunset is attempting to push Luna away from Twilight as she hasn't learned her lesson in this AU
10938935
No, no I do not
10938947
It's a joke, I mean yo are aware about how much canon twi loves books....
10939206
I am aware it was a joke, I mean just saying that no, I did not mean to say anything different what had had said
The element of magic can assimilate other artifacts. Quick! We need to find more magic shit for it to eat we'll make it so powerful its presence alone will destroy anything that attempts to challenge it. Then we'll put it on the most powerful alicorn for maximum effectiveness.
The Twiluna lover in me is slightly salty about the one sided crush
Cute story though. Pretty rare to see Luna as the main character of non-romance stories.