-Music-
You walked back to your apartment in a state of shock. It was over...
After a trip to another dimension and over two thousand years, it was over...
...Just one more reason you can't stay.
You grabbed two of your magical pouches. One inlaid with the forth dimensional spell you had first made as a prison, you could fit practically your entire house in there. You threw some things inside it. Clothes, food, water, your marriage necklaces from every spouse you'd had, as well as a few texts on science and magic.
The other was the perfected version of your duplication spell, ensuring that you'd never run out of supplies. You dumped a couple crystals into that one, you'd probably need them.
Wherever you were headed...
You secured those and several other pouches on your belt and left your home unlocked as you left. There wasn't anything particularly valuable in there anyway
Mous was right about one thing, though. You had a responsibility that needed seeing to. You made your way to the Arcanium and jotted down some instructions on the operation of the Orbital Tether. The machine had never been too much of a hassle, but it was best to ensure that it would stay that way. Your Opus taken care of and your letter of resignation to the University sent, you make your way to the train station.
It had been here...two and a half thousand years ago that you had first arrived at Canterlot... Back with Twilight and Dash...and Mous...
You looked back at the city, taking it in one last time. You sigh and make your way to the ticket stand. "One for Ponyville...
You pause at the last hurdle, wanting desperately for things to go back to how they were. But they can't...not here.
"One way."
-Mous PoV-
You watched the train pull away. The 1:15 to Ponyville, right on the second every day.
That had been hard...
You could move the heavens, but getting trains to run on time was a feat.
You left your office for a walk around the castle, there being too much anger in there.
You weren't mad.
He wants to go? Fine.
If he wants to abandon you, that's his fucking choice.
Never mind the fact that we had fought for him in school.
And taken on that Manticore, Discord, the Diamond Dogs, and a whole shit ton of other stuff.
But no, this was a great fucking way to repay you.
Not that you were mad.
You blew past castle workers and guards alike as you weaved through the castle. Anon was banking on you being too scared to let him go. But you weren't scared.
You weren't.
You felt the grass crush underneath your boots as you kept walking.
It was fine losing your best friend. You could do all this yourself.
We could do even more by our self!
Think of all the stuff Anon held us back from doing.
All those scumbags we let off easy.
You could actually do all those things we wanted to do...Screw what other people said.
You stop on your tirade as you walk through the garden.
Before you stand two headstones. One with a single lotus petal on it, and the other with a small brown feather.
Eitri had always wanted to be closer to her...
Your wife and your son. The two people you knew would always be straight with you...
Apart from Anon...
You feel your legs give out underneath you as you drop to your knees in front of the graves.
"Hey Pretty Pony...hey Featherhead...I need some advice..."
Anypony walking by might think you're nuts, but you could give a damn.
"I... don't know what to do, guys. I have responsibilities to Canterlot, to...all the ponies who live here."
It was true, you were bored of Equestria. You had been bored of Equestria since your last friend died eight months ago.
But that didn't excuse you from your job.
"All my life I've been looking out for people. Protecting those who couldn't do it themselves."
You look up at the towers sprouting over the garden walls. "And now I've got an entire city to look out for..."
You thought back to what Anon had said.
"I...A-anon was right about a few things. We've made life good for the ponies who live here..."
You look up at the graves with blurring vision. "But if I were to leave here...I might not get back in time to see you both again..."
You felt a pang in your chest as you remembered the promise you made at Eden so long ago.
"I don't want Anon to go away...but...I just don't know what to do now..."
He had said that the city had grown up and didn't need a protector anymore. But what about him?
Had Anon grown up?
He had become Grand Magister, traveled to world, made it so you could see Lotus one more time, set the moon and the sun to his watch, and gotten a Princess to fall for him. He had come a long way from that scared little kid you knew back home He had probably gone farther then you did...
Did Anon deserve to be on his own? Make his life what he wanted of it without others mucking it up?
You...You'd be alone then.
The only human in a world of colorful ponies... Not aging, not dying, just watching as everything moved along.
On your own.
You shudder the thought out of your mind and look to the gravestones.
What would they say here?
You close your eyes and try to remember what they talked like. You can almost hear Lotus, full of fire and spunk. "The man I fell in love with wouldn't be dwelling on this when there was something he needed to do."
In the other ear, you heard Eitri. His voice full of the bravado and pride he showed as he got older. "My dad would have smacked me upside the head if he saw me worrying about something this obvious."
Dammit, you just wanted all of this to stop. All this talk of time changing you and people leaving.
...You hadn't changed that much...had you?
You decide to level with your hallucinations and try to remember what you were like when you first came to Ponyville, and before that even, on Earth.
What you find are a bunch of inspirational words you shouted to get people moving.
"Never let anyone tell you what you can't have."
"No stopping. Not while you have a heart left beating."
"Force your way down a path you choose to take."
You sit there on your legs as you consider past-you's words.
A path YOU choose to take...
-Anon PoV-
You stepped off the train into Ponyville. You knocked your feet on the station floor.
Still wood...
Stepping outside the station, you see that while the town had expanded, it still had its rustic charm.
Hay roofs...Unpaved roads...Happy ponies trotting to and fro.
You decided to walk through town a bit before you left. There was the old Sugarcube Corner building, now turned into a townhome..
Town Hall had been moved, in its place was now a fountain almost as tall. In front of it still stood the overgrown monument to the Diamond Dog victims.
You stepped inside an all too familiar building constructed inside a hollow tree.
"Still a Library..." you mutter.
An elderly librarian shushed you after you said that, reminding you of this places old owner. You walked around and glanced at the shelves you had spent so long organizing. Your eyes stung as you remembered all the good times you had here. From your first night in Equestria to all those hours as Twilight's assistant.
You left before the room got to you, making your way to your old house. Along the way, a shadow falls over you as something blots out the sun.
Something with purple scales.
You had seen dragons in the interim after you moved to Canterlot, but Spike put them all to shame.
"Hey there, Spikey Wikey." you say.
Spike snorts as he lands in the field next to you. "Anon, you know I haven't gone by that name in ages."
You walk up and rub his gargantuan snout. "Yeah, well, I was there when it was still cool. I'd say I'm entitled to it."
A sound escapes Spike's throat that sounded like a chuckle. "So, why are you here?"
You released a sigh. "I'm...leaving Spike. This world has... gotten too small for me."
Spike's eyes wavered. "Leave? How?"
Your hand dug into your pocket. "A last gift...from an old friend of ours."
Spike's eyes widened as you brought up his old caretaker.
You place a hand on his snout before he gets too emotional. "Take care of this place for me, will ya Spike?" You look into his great eye. "I left it as best I can for you."
"I..." Spike starts before his face hardens. "You can count on me, Anon." he says with a deep wavering voice that made you remember the little boy you knew.
Atta boy...
You head down the old road you used to take into Ponyville every day. The area your house had landed in had been turned into a park. You got a few odd looks from families enjoying their day, but none of them bothered you.
It wasn't long before you saw it. The old brick and mortar house had come a long way from getting ripped out of the universe and flung into a different one.
You for some reason began to wonder about your downstairs neighbors face when you left... You step up to the front porch and look in. The door had probably fallen off ages ago, leaving a clear view inside.
You take a few steps in and look around.
It was all here...The old kitchen, the living room...You step into your old empty room.
If you shut your eyes, you could almost feel the presence of the old furniture. The smell of someone cooking dinner. The feeling of hooves wrapping around your neck...
You're pulled back to reality all too quickly by a bird calling in the distance.
You shake your head and proceed to walk out of the apartment, being sure not to look inside Mous's old room as you left.
You stood on a hill a bit away from the old house.
Welp...time to go...
Best place as any, in the sight of the way you came in.
You reach into your pocket and grab one of the Waygate crystals you made. You kiss the crystal for luck as you toss it on the ground.
The crystal shatters and releases the spell trapped inside. Space ripples and bucks in front of you until a translucent portal stands before you.
Looks stable.
You stand on that hill for a while, just staring into the rippling portal in front of you.
Time to go...
You look back behind you, taking one last look at the kingdom you called home for the last two dozen lifetimes.
Maybe you'll come back one day...
Off in the distance, you see the mountain encircling city of Canterlot.
You turn back to the portal.
"Later, buddy..."
You begin to walk to the portal.
...
"Wait."
-Music-
"Wait up." a voice calls.
You turned around to see someone you never intended to see again.
"Mous?"
He trudged up the hill to you, his cape billowing behind him. "Sorry I'm late, chariot was a bit slow."
"Here to see me off?"
Mous ignores you and walks up next to you. "This it?" he asks.
You look to the portal and nod. "Yeah."
"Where to?"
"Somewhere else, I don't know where. New planet? New galaxy? New dimension?"
Mous glances to you. "You know, going through that could age you instantly."
"I also might not be able to breathe."
"It could let you out in the center of a sun."
You look at him. "It could do all that and more but...I have to do it. I can't stay here."
Mous's eyes shift between you and the portal.
"We'll go together." he says.
With that, Mous breaks the chain on his cape and lets it fall to the ground.
"Whoa what? What about all that that happened back there? What about Canterlot?"
Mous adjusts his knife on the back of his belt. "Anon, we can disagree and argue and fight, we can call each other names and scream..." He looks you in the eye with a small smile. "But I don't call you my bro because I think we're secretly related."
You smile as he speaks. "Your problems are mine, and my problems are yours. That's how we roll."
You extend your arms and embrace your brother on top of the hill. The two of you break away and look down the hill at all the ponies below.
"You ready to go Al?" Mous says.
You grin. "Let's go, Tom."
With that the two of you step through the portal, content that wherever it lead you, it would lead you together.
-Epilogue-
-Music-
Over the years in Equestria, there have been many legends. The Rise of Chaos. The Setting of the Moon. The Return of Harmony.
However, on that day, a new legend was told.
A legend of two beings from across the stars. They had started as men, fighting the beasts of the wild. They moved on to be champions, guarding Equestria from the forces of Chaos. They rose to become heroes, defending a city against legions of the darkest warriors. And then they transcended into legends, by dragging the world towards a better tomorrow on their own backs.
On that day, a new legend was told.
The Scholar and the Fighter. The Mage and the Trickster. The Mind and the Soul.
The tale of The Two Brothers.
-The End.
Bra freaking vo!
"Later, buddy."
My...Feels...MAAAAANNNDROOOOOOID!!!!
...Albert and Thomas...the two brothers...I wonder what happened to them?...
Soo... Where did they go?
1370764
They're still around doing dumb stuff across the stars.
And Anon's name is Albert. He was most certainly not named after Albert Wiley and I was DEFINITELY not listening to The Protomen when I wrote this.
1370783 It says... incomplete...and what do you know, the finale did have to do with Gurren Lagann.
1370775
It's really up to you what they did, man. I have a few chapters or post-portal stuff and they've shown up in a few stories on the threads just popping in. I just hold it in my personal canon that they go around to different universes having adventures.
1370789
I could never lie about Gurren Lagann.
1370809 You are a true friend for that.
so....many....feels
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb4z5ougxE1r96cg8o4_500.gif
FUCK! now what am i gunna read?
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4a49rXG8C1qlv6jf.gif
Great story and great way to end it
And the bittersweet conclusion to the lives of two legends ends... utterly demolishing my emotional constitution and driving me to tears. The Dead Island Theme just happened to be on...
I'll be watching and waiting for whatever you have planned next, Mandroid. You know how to rustle my jimmies in all of the right ways.
P.S. I wonder if Albert and Tom ever stopped back by "our" Earth or their crazy adventures. What would be double crazy is if no time passed at all there, and they were able to see everything from their past with ancient and wizened eyes.
1370939
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU NEVER HEARD OF STAR WARS!?"
omg why is finish but is still a realy good story
The perfect ending to a perfect story
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wtf will i read now? and what kind of post-portal chapters will there be?
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m41811Gbfc1r1io7p.gif
The Music is awesome and your ending is good ...you have to make a sequel otherwise you make fluttershy...oh already dead ok then i would cry -insert camo cry image-
(You know what would be funny?If that portal brought them into heaven/Valhalla/Nirvana ...etc you know where the dead people are)
CF out
Awesome awesome to the max
*clap clap clap*
I'll miss reading this story, and god i WILL miss the Anon+RDash+Mous+Lotus relationship.
This was problably the best fanfic i've ever read.
One thing bothers me though, i don't feel a thing about this story, i just feel like i will miss reading this, but i don't feel any emotions towards the characters, now that i think about it, i haven't felt anything at all these past couple of months, care to explain?
i say they should have taken a pony with them, just to see what would happen.
1371311
Maybe that's just the kind of person you are? I know I'm the same way, I can never get rustled when bad things happen to characters because I know they're fictional.
That ending... bravo mandroid, bravo
I have read around a hundred stories or more on this site, but this is by far one of the best stories ever. I clicked on this story by complete accident, and i have never felt more thankful to have messed up. You are an amazing author and deserve praise for writing such a great story. The happy moments made me smile, Mous made me laugh, the deaths made me sad, and i felt entertained the whole time. This story has been a great ride, and i'm sad to see it over, but you ended the story masterfully. So thank you taking the time to write this, on behalf of everyone who has read it.
1372563
Glad to be able to give you a story you enjoy, quite a happy accident for both of us.
1372763
"You can't interfere in your personal time stream." or something. Also, he was long gone before people even started dying.
Dude............you are one of the best damn authors I have ever had the pleasure to read from and I take back my earlier comments where I was complaining about the character deaths in this story. Your story should be considered to be one of the top ten ever to be created in fanon, right up there with My Little Dashie and My Second Life. Sir, just keep on keeping on for you are doing Celestia's work here. Good Luck to ya on any future ventures.
1373032
Why thank you, I get my supposed "skill" by having spent two years in college and being on Tvtropes for most of the lectures.
1373091
Yeah, this was around the time when I had the AiE threads pointing problems out.
And I'm glad you think so, even I have to admit that it looks sketchy as hell.
1373475
Well, there's her sist-No no. We're not going there.
1373506
Hmm. Sounds about right.
Aww BiE series finished? That's a fucken shame, ill just have to read it again i suppose.
Good shit mandroid you are best writer.... Pony... Person... Asshole.
i actcutly cryed....HOW THE F**K IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE
1371325
That's not all, i don't feel anything towards anyone, for example: My grandpa died, and i didn't feel anything and my parents broke up and i don't feel a thing. Even though i want to cry and want to be sad i can't
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmuaobv4T41qavlso.gif bravo sir. bravo.
A wonderful ending to a wonderful story. Brought tears to my eyes on multiple occaisions. You sir know what your doing. Bravo.
1373924
Sounds like someone's a little more human than they want to be~...
1375122
Ah yes, The Image of Infinite Sadness. Good choice.
1375203
I really don't, most of this story was me faffing around. But thanks for the compliment.
me feels have killed me.
static4.fjcdn.com/comments/oh+man...ouch...my+feels.+this+kinda+stuff+kills+me+because+my+_5752cc87d6ea16a6224beedf9f711b30.png
1371239 that gif is so overused that i never thought id see the day when that gif could so PERFECTLY mimick what im feeling right now.
Would you say that all the universes have the same afterlife? Because other wise Dashie, Lotus, and many other ponies are gonna be ticked if anon and mous eventually do die and they don't see each other.
1377801
I wanted to leave that up for the reader to decide. Maybe it is and it's a happy ending, or maybe they don't and the guys have one last adventure where they try and punch a hole from the afterlife they end up in over to the right one.
1378256 Is that a good or bad thing?
1378276
Those are just good jokes that I never got to use.
What to say that hasn't been said. It took me three days to read everything from start to end. I laughed enough at work that I am sure some of my co workers think I am nuts. I cried too at points. Hell I had to stop reading for twenty minutes when it looked like Mous was about to jump ship. I applaud you sir for doing such a fine job on this work.
This is off track but I need to say it. I only been into the show for maybe four months now. I have loved every moment of it. Since joining this wonderful site I have read some fics. I have ones I love a lot due to how well written they are. Thanks again for providing happy times for me. Ta Vare.
1378515 Haha! I slept all night without seeing this reply! You shall not tempt me into sleep deprivation, foul beast!
Now to finish teh arc!
nice 2-day read but what happened to derpy and dinky you should make a story of their adventures after they left
1380811
:3c
Maybe I diiiid~ Maybe it's just not here yeeet~
I've read many HiE fics, and this one fucking takes the place of my favorites, especially you've managed to get me to tear up from some chapters. Glad I stayed to finish this story.
All I can say.
Yes.
That is all.
1394305
Glad you enjoyed. It's really nice to see people still somehow finding this story even after it "finished".
So, this is how it ends.
Damn ..... this was one hell of a story.
You did it, you made a true work of art, a masterpiece.
And for that i thank you.
1394981
M-masterpiece? Oh dear.
1396185
Not kidding, You made a HiE and you went further with it than anyone ever has done (so far i know)
I really love it, i admit that not every chapter was great and there were quite a few spelling errors, but the storyline was sublime.
And when you went further with it, well damn, seeing everypony dying around you during the years and reading about that, playing it in your mind as part of the personal fable that the reader (me) creates while reading and progressing the story.
Long story short, its unique.