[ OG ] Epilogue: One and the Same
This chapter is yet to be rewritten.
As such, it is only semi-canon in the TTO storyline.
If you wish to read on, please be aware that the writing quality is below that of my newer standard, and that some scenes, plot elements, and lines of dialogue are set to be altered.
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Thank you. 
- Mister Horncastle
A light breeze faintly whistled over the rocky walls that encompassed them, and with the tent deployed, the three injured ponies finally settled themselves down for the evening. With the fire pit ready, Rarity levitated a rune into it, which she activated with her magic. The little stone disc burst open, filling the pit with a fairly large smokeless flame that would keep them warm for the night. After getting situated, Rarity dug into her refrigerated saddlebag and created something of a dish out of some celery, some hummus, and a dash of yogurt on the side. It wasn’t very filling, but with all things considered, it was enough to be treated as a decent meal. Following that, she began to brew some tea.
“Rainbow darling, come sit with me.” the white unicorn insisted while the kettle boiled, “I need to take a look at that shoulder.”
“I’m fine, Rare.”
“If you’re fine, then it won’t take me very long, now get your tuchus over here!”
Muttering under her breath, Rainbow Dash reluctantly obeyed, plodding over to let her friend dote on her for a while. Removing the dressing, Rarity found the injury to be warm to the touch, and heavily inflamed.
“This needs to breathe, dear. It’s teetering on an infection.”
“Whatever…”
Sighing at Rainbow’s current disregard for her own well-being, Rarity gave the pegasus a friendly pat on the good shoulder, before diving into her saddlebag in search of something to cheer everypony up. After a bit of perusing, she found a bar of dark chocolate. It was still unopened, and had been given to Rarity by her little sister, Sweetie Belle, shortly before their departure to Earth. She had been saving it for a rainy day, and with today’s raptor attack being so close to utter disaster, it seemed like as good an excuse as any. Breaking off a perfectly even square with her magic, Rarity offered it to Dashie.
“Eat.” she commanded, “I promise, you’ll feel better for it.”
Grumbling, Rainbow Dash took the square and sucked on it, and although she would never admit it, she immediately started to feel a little better. Breaking off another square, Rarity passed some chocolate to Twilight, of whom had been awfully quiet since settling down. She was currently nose-deep in Sir Edmund Rockwell’s journal, as she had been for quite some time, downloading more and more information about this place, which Rockwell had come to name the Underland.
“Is everything alright?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry…” she responded, blinking rapidly, “I was just helping Callum find some food.”
“Ah, any luck?”
“Yeah, finally… I just helped him identify these.”
Showing the book to Rarity, she humoured her friend’s thorough nature, humming with vague interest as she scanned the entry on ripecap mushrooms.
“Well, now he has something to eat, you need to put that book down and get some rest. That leg of yours isn’t going to get any better if you don’t sleep, Miss Sparkle.”
“Ugh, yes Rare…”
Finally taking the chocolate and savouring it on her tongue, Twilight went to bed with the others. Curling up beside Rarity, she relayed her situation to Callum, sullenly reflecting on how poor Rainbow Dash was quietly crying in the corner. Soon enough though, the pegasus was spent, and began to drift off.
Just as Rarity was falling asleep, she felt Twilight sit bolt upright beside her.
“Is your leg hurting you, dear?” she murmured sleepily.
Ignoring her, Twilight left the tent in a hurry. Realising that something must have been up with Callum and Fluttershy, Rarity got up to follow, where she found Twilight urgently flicking through the pages of the journal.
“Darling, you’re the only one who can hear him. What’s going on?”
“Sshh!” Twilight shushed back, her eyes wide and fearful.
After a moment of speaking telepathically, she looked at Rarity with an expression of dread, and explained that Callum had eaten the wrong mushrooms, and was beginning to feel unwell, as was Fluttershy. Now equally fearful, she waited for more info, and observed as the unicorn went from panicked, to cautious, and then to dreadfully flustered. Shortly after that, Twilight’s brow began to furrow, and she glared angrily at the ground, pacing in figures of eight. And then, hissing through her gritted teeth, the mare suddenly wrangled with her collar and threw it to the ground, emitting a growl that was loud enough to wake Rainbow Dash. Rarity of course demanded to know what was happening, only to realise that Twilight was beginning to cry.
“Darling… what’s-”
Before she could continue, Rarity was interrupted as the lilac unicorn shoved Rockwell’s journal into her face, ordering her to read it with a wrathful hiss. She did just so, and as her eyes travelled across the page, they grew wider, and wider.
“Oh… Oh my… Oh goodness…”
“And before you ask, they didn’t eat them raw.” Twilight spat, just as the tears escaped her eyes.
The situation set in, and Rarity’s mouth fell agape. Rainbow then stumbled out of the tent and asked to know what was happening, only for Twilight to walk away from their camp and stand near the edge of their rocky overlook. With her face scrunching up, the mare collapsed to her knees as the tears came in full swing. Weeping to herself, Twilight started beating at the ground, not stopping until her hoof cracked. Gasping, Rarity rushed over and put a foreleg around the unicorn, which only made her cry harder.
“Twilight dear, please… talk to me.”
Burying her head into Rarity’s neck, Twilight spluttered what few words she could, shaking.
“He… He’s… He’s going to… He’s going to…”
“Sshhh…” Rarity said gently, “It’s alright, calm it down now… calm it down…”
“Alright?” Twilight croaked, “Alright!? How is this alright!? It’s Fluttershy!”
With an amused hum, Rarity decided to use the information she knew to defuse the situation. Although she had solemnly sworn to secrecy, the state of the poor unicorn deemed it necessary to spill the beans.
“Oh Twilight, is this because you think Fluttershy’s in some sort of danger?”
“I… I don’t know… Yes, I think?” she whimpered in reply, finally making eye contact.
Smirking, Rarity sat up straight and gazed up at the shimmering mossy cave ceiling.
“Darling, Fluttershy is far more of a little minx than you know. Let me assure you, it’s Callum who may be in a spot of bother tonight, and not the other way around.”
“Wh-What are you saying?”
Inhaling deeply, Rarity let the cat out of the bag, explaining that she knew about the true extent of Midnight Plume’s visits, and that Fluttershy couldn’t have been further from danger. Overhearing the conversation, Rainbow Dash gave a loud gasp and strutted forward to join them.
“Nuh-uh, no way! You’ve heard that wrong! If that was even the littlest bit true, I would know about it!”
Setting Dashie straight, Rarity confirmed that she had heard it directly from the yellow pegasus herself, and that Rarity had been the only one Fluttershy had trusted to know about it.
“You!?” Rainbow blurted out, “Why the heck would she trust you over me? We grew up together! I’m her best friend!”
“Because, darling, I’ve been privy to a few gentlecolt callers of my own over the years, and Fluttershy wanted some tips from someone who isn’t Ponyville’s most notorious blabbermouth.”
Rainbow’s aforementioned blabbermouth fell open, but knowing her own tendency to gossip, she realised that Flutters very well may have kept this a secret from her. With the truth setting in, their attention returned to Twilight, of whom was staring at Rarity with her own mouth agape, tears streaming down her face as though they were little waterfalls.
“But I… I just… I just said some really horrible things to him!” she whimpered, panicking, “Oh gosh! I need to tell him I’m sorry!”
Diving at her collar, she slapped it onto her neck and begged Rarity to fasten it for her. The clip clicked, and Twilight stared off into space, focusing entirely on Callum.
{Callum! Cal! Are you there? Please! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!}
Nothing, utter silence. He had already taken it off…
Dropping to her knees, Twilight tugged at it desperately and cried harder than ever before. After how she had spoken to him, she knew he would have imagined her as the old Twilight, hateful and malignant, twisted and cruel. Unsure as to why she was in such a state, her two companions sat either side of her and asked for the full story, and so Twilight confessed. She told them how viciously she had snapped at him, and how if he had any good sense, he would now hate her again, just as she rightfully deserved.
“Oh darling, need you be so dramatic?” Rarity scoffed, “Callum doesn’t hate you, you can be sure of that. Now, you may have some rather sincere apologising to do, but I promise you he doesn’t hate you. He’ll forgive you, alright?”
Backing Rarity up, Rainbow Dash told Twilight that Callum was a very understanding person, and would undoubtedly forgive her almost immediately upon receiving her apology.
“But he’s taken his collar off!” Twilight spluttered, “He doesn’t know I’m sorry! He’ll think I hate him, and then he’ll hate me! What if he never puts it back on? What if I never see him again!? What if something gets him out there, and he dies thinking I hate him?”
Putting her forelegs around Twilight, Rarity tried to calm the mare down, for she was getting herself more and more into a state. The poor thing was now hyperventilating, with tears, saliva, and snot all around the end of her muzzle. Using her magic to levitate her bag out from the tent, Rarity retrieved some tissues and helped her blow her nose.
“Now you listen here, Missy.” she instructed, “Nothing's going to get him, and nothing is going to stop you telling him you’re sorry, and making amends, do you understand? As Rainbow has just said, Callum’s very understanding, and if you just explain that you were fretting over Fluttershy’s safety, I can assure you, he’ll understand and forgive you.”
“But… But that’s not why I snapped at him…” she coughed, almost choking on her own spit.
Giving Twilight a moment, both ponies glanced at each other, raising an eyebrow in unison. Rarity then gently nudged her friend to go on, passing her another tissue. Ignoring the generous offer, Twilight whipped around and loudly spluttered her confession, before burying her face into her hooves and crying even harder.
“I SNAPPED AT HIM BECAUSE I WAS JEALOUS!”
{Finally…} Rarity mused in thought.
At long last, the blatantly obvious truth was coming to a head. Rarity had known for weeks, as had Applejack. They had talked about it in private, speculating over who might admit it first, or if either of them even knew. Applejack had even tried giving them a nudge just the other day, playfully suggesting for Callum to kiss the unicorn’s muzzle after grabbing it so forcefully. How neither of them had taken the bait was beyond absurd; it was as though the two of them were totally oblivious to their feelings for one another. If anything, it amused Rarity, for how could two of the smartest individuals be so resoundingly stupid? Callum was empathetic, affectionate, clever, and was very much in tune with the emotions of those around him. In turn, Twilight was more academically inclined than everyone else put together; she was observant, resourceful, poetic, and much like Callum she was deeply emotional.
And yet, by some absurd happenstance, neither of them could see the truth that dwelled within each other’s hearts. But at least now, Twilight was being honest with herself, and that was a start…
“Jealous?” Rainbow Dash inquired, before the penny dropped for her as well, “OH!”
She quickly put a hoof to her mouth, realising exactly what was going on here. Unimpressed by her friend’s slowness, Rarity looked across to her and pulled a blank expression.
“Seriously?” she scoffed bluntly, “You didn’t clock it?”
“Uh, if I had, then I wouldn’t have boned him!”
Hearing this, Twilight sobbed even harder and got to her hooves. She then staggered even closer to the cliff’s edge, while Rarity gave the pegasus a firm smack across the back of the head. Knowing this was the wrong time to argue, the two of them just sat there and watched things unfold.
With her mouth wide open, Twilight now cried so intensely that she ceased to make any sound, instead emitting something of a silent, broken scream. The mare had cracked, and in the throes of her grief she peered out hopelessly across the dark landscape, knowing that Callum was out there somewhere, now resenting her. He was probably rolling in the grass with Fluttershy at this point, without a care in the world. And what right did she have to be jealous? Twilight wasn’t even into such pleasures any more, Nah’Lek had seen to that. She certainly still wanted to be, but the mere thought of it always had her feeling sick to her stomach, and trembling with fear as grotesque memories of clawed black limbs and sharp jagged edges tore into her mind. But despite such an unfair twist to her fate, she still wanted to be desired in such a way, but not just by any old stallion… she wanted to be desired by him.
“I love him…” she croaked to herself, blinking away more tears.
Once her enemy, of whom she despised at the will of the Fel, Callum was now her world. He was her guiding light in the darkness, her warmth in the cold, her armour, her sword, and her shield. Callum was her home now, the only place she could feel safe, and after the way she spoke to him tonight, she felt as though she had signed her own eviction notice.
Overcome by the guilt of what she had done, Twilight couldn’t help but feel the temptation to jump, but she resisted it, for how could she be so selfish? How could she speak to Callum so harshly, and then abandon him without so much as an apology? No, she didn’t get to run away from this, she needed to live with the guilt, and do everything in her power to make things right. Besides, even if he didn’t forgive her, she could still be close to him at least, loving him from afar. To jump now would result in her never seeing him again, and by Celestia, she wanted to see him again, more than anything.
She needed to see him again, more than anything…
Turning around to look back at her friends, Twilight sniffed loudly, making peace within her heart as to how she truly felt. She wasn’t afraid to admit it any more, and with a deep breath, she spoke the truth.
“I am in love with Callum Horncastle.”
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well then, :/ it's gonna be interesting how it'll move on once the next book comes.
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Oh indeed, this mirrored realisation will definitely see a continuation in the fourth book.
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Scribbler does an Amazing Twilght Voice, you remember the "diary of a time looper" video?
Aaaaaaa my heart can only take so much!
Seriously though, what a touching finale.
Like I said on CH30, we all saw this coming, but the absolute fucking beauty in this duality between Cal and Twi made it so heart-warming that it didn't matter how obvious it was.
By all things good in this world, I pray this story turns out okay for them.
I NEED this to turn out okay for them...
I'm sure the wait for Book 4 will be long, but at least we'll get the Rising Storm rewrite to enjoy in the meantime.
Thank you for your nonstop work on this story.
Bah! I need to go dry my eyes...