Epilogue: The Last Goodbye
Epilogue
The Last Goodbye
One year after the end of the killing game…
I stood before the mirror in my brownstone apartment, smoothing out the wrinkles in my top, making sure to adjust my tie. Like a lot of my outfits these days, it was a more formal outfit, a black business suit. Fitting for what I was about to do.
Once my shirt was ready I slipped on the jacket, having to carefully tuck my prosthetic arm through the sleeve so I didn’t tear it. The bionics were a bit finicky at times, but it was better than the first couple of ones I’d tried. And I liked the smooth black finish, as if I was permanently wearing a superhero gauntlet. It got me a lot of compliments.
“Sunset, darling, are you ready yet?”
“Almost, Rarity,” I called. I checked my jacket in the mirror one more time, making sure it fit snug, then reached out for my hairbrush and gave my hair a few quick strokes. I kept it shorter these days. Less likely to catch on things, and it was more practical. Easier to cope with. Once I finished, I set my brush down and joined Rarity in the main living room.
“Oh, good, good,” Rarity murmured. She wore a black dress today, modest and loose, hiding most of her curves. She was curvier these days, especially around the middle. Too much ice cream. Sometimes she was self conscious about it. Like me, she kept her hair cropped short, with just enough length to let her tuck it into a short bob at the back. “Here, let me see your tie.”
“It’s fine,” I grumbled good naturedly, trying not to roll my eyes as she tugged and prodded at it until it had been adjusted maybe a millimeter to the left from where it started. “I’ve gotten better at tying them.”
“Maybe so, but we want to look good for the cameras, if there are any.”
At that I arched my eyebrows. “Rarity, it’s a private meetup. We’re just meeting our friends at the restaurant and then going to the cemetery. There aren’t going to be any cameras.”
Rarity tut-tutted. “There’s always cameras watching these days, Sunset. We can’t go anywhere without them anymore. You know that.”
I did. Ever since Equestria became public knowledge, paparazzi like to follow us around, snapping pictures of the magic women, hoping to catch video of us transforming or flying around the place. It was more than a little frustrating that I couldn’t go to the damned grocery store without having to put up with a flash in my face at least once before I left the freaking produce aisle.
“I know, I know,” I muttered.
She smiled up at me and patted my cheek before giving me a quick peck on the lips. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. Now come along. Would you like to drive today, or should I?”
“I can take the wheel,” I said as I grabbed for my purse off the table, making sure to check that my phone and keys were inside, then we left the apartment, making sure to lock up behind us.
As I walked out to the car, Rarity with me hand in hand, we passed by a nondescript man in a suit who held up his wrist to his mouth and muttered a quick, “They’ve left the building,” before giving us a polite nod and following at a distance. Like everything else we dealt with these days, having our own private security assigned to us was just something we had to live with. At least they were on Princess Twilight’s payroll.
“Sometimes I wish they weren’t necessary,” Rarity whispered to me as we got into our car, an ice blue four-door sedan, rather than the motorcycle I used to drive. I didn’t have the motorcycle anymore. It was stolen while we’d been on that ship, and I never bothered to replace it.
“You and me both,” I said as I stuck my key into the ignition and switched it on. The engine awoke with a quiet, barely audible whine rather than a roar. Being friends with Princess Twilight had its advantages, like getting to drive one of the first hydrogen fuel cell cars. “But you remember the riots.”
“I wish I didn’t,” Rarity said as she buckled herself in. “But, well…” She pointed a finger at her eyebrow, where a scar had permanently separated it in twain.
I patted her gently on the shoulder, then put my hands on the wheel and edged out into traffic. As I departed, another car followed behind, this one a black SUV with opaque windows. It was my least favorite thing, having that car in my rear-view mirror anytime I went anywhere. Occasionally made me feel like I was being watched by security cameras. Like on the ship.
We made fairly quick progress for the restaurant, though we were briefly stopped by a security cordon as we passed by Canterlot central park, where yet another protest was going on. Scores of angry people shouting about how we couldn’t trust the ponies, while counter protestors fought back with slogans of peace and tranquility. I knew people on both sides of that protest. Some of them used to be friends.
Used to be.
But after I handed over my ID and Rarity’s for a quick inspection, the police waved us on by. “Should’ve taken the back route,” I said as I glanced at the dashboard clock. “We’re going to be late.”
“I’m sure they’ll understand.”
When we reached the restaurant, I parked us in the back, then walked with Rarity, our hands interlaced, inside. The place was mostly empty, save for our usual table, where Applejack was sitting waiting for us.
“Howdy, y’all!” Applejack said with a great big smile as she rose up out of her seat. Similar to Rarity she wore a black dress, those hers was strapless and short cut. Unlike the two of us her hair was long, and allowed to hang, rather than being tied up. She still wore a stetson though. She’d never let go of that.
Rarity smiled warmly and opened her arms to give the farmer a strong hug. “Oh it’s good to see you, Applejack. It always is.”
Applejack chuckled as she gave Rarity one more squeeze then released her. “Well, what can Ah say? Ah ain’t about to pass up a chance to talk with mah ex-wife and her new fiance.”
“You really need to stop introducing me to people like that, you know,” Rarity laughed. “You give them the wrong impression when you do that.”
They joked about it like this all the time, but like always, I saw a brief shadow of loss and regret pass over their faces. But it’d been the right decision. They tried to get back together for a while, when we first got back to Earth. They really did. And for a while it seemed like it would work, until things broke down between their families. Big Macintosh and Rarity’s father ended up in a knuckle dragging fistfight after too many drinks on the third month anniversary of our return from the ship, and that was the last straw. They couldn’t remain together after that, not with the loss of their sisters.
But it didn’t stop them from being friends. In some ways they were even closer friends now than they had been when they’d been married. As if both were trying to make up for what they’d lost.
“I’m surprised Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo aren’t here yet,” I said as Applejack wrapped her arms around me next. Our hug was shorter than the one she’d given Rarity, but still strong enough to make me gasp just a little for air when she released it. Applejack liked to keep a low level of magic going at all times, so she could use her super strength whenever she needed it. She’d only needed to go down once in a fight during the riots to make that decision. At least she’d come out of it without any scarring. Sometimes I thought it was unnecessary, but I didn’t blame her. We all had plenty of anxiety these days. Whatever helped her cope.
“Oh they sent me a text sayin’ they was held up ‘cause of the court proceedins,” Applejack said with a withering look, though not aimed at us.
“What, again?” Rarity scoffed. “Honestly, when will her mother give up?”
One of the first things Diamond Tiara did when we were back on Earth was file a police report on her mother, over the animal abuse, claiming she could no longer cast a blind eye towards it just because it would make her family look bad. And it sure did, because it’d opened up a much larger can of worms involving all sorts of unethical deals and crimes her mother had perpetrated, and a far messier and far more involved divorce between Spoiled Rich and Filthy Rich. That, unfortunately, involved a lot of time spent in civil court, much more than Diamond Tiara wanted to spend. But it was worth it, she claimed.
“Ah don’t think she knows how, Rarity,” Applejack answered as we all sat down at the table. “But they said to go ahead and order, so, uh, let’s do that. Ah’m starvin’.”
Applejack was always starving, though unlike Rarity she wasn’t any thicker around the middle, probably because of all the calories she burned in her constant magic use. But it wasn’t just because of that. Food was an easy comfort when you’d been through the trauma we had. It helped.
When the server came by, we paused in our conversation long enough to put in our usual orders, then when she walked away I said, “So how’s your sleep been, Applejack? Gotten any better?”
“Ah think so,” Applejack said as she rubbed at the dark circles under her eyes, always present anymore. “Doc gave me some new medicine to try, and it’s been workin’. Least Ah ain’t havin’ as many nightmares about Apple Bloom. What about yours?”
My sigh was all the answer she needed. “I wish. I miss when we were in the hospital in Equestria. At least then Princess Twilight could watch over our dreams and disrupt the nightmares before they got too bad.”
“I never thought I’d miss that place,” Rarity said as she took a sip from her soda. “But you’re right. It certainly was easier.”
None of us had escaped without constant nightmares. Whether it was Applejack flashing back to Apple Bloom dying in her arms, Rarity watching her sister be tortured to death, or me locked in that damned archive room, we all had demons that wouldn’t leave us the hell alone when we tried to sleep. Medicines helped, but I didn’t want to rely too much on them. The execution nightmares were the worst. The ones where for whatever reason I became the blackened, and was sent off to die horribly, usually by fire. It was never the same way, but it happened far too frequently.
And I wasn’t the only one. Diamond Tiara had once privately confessed to me that she suffered from them all the time, dreams about being chased down a corridor by dogs while wearing gold-plated heels glued to the bottoms of her feet, only to be caught and torn apart. She told me she wasn’t sure exactly where that imagery came from, but unlike my dreams it stayed the same every time.
The most frustrating thing was that my magic wasn’t a help at all. Sure, I could go into a mindscape and ignore it all, but I couldn’t sleep like that, and if anything it sometimes made things worse when I did sleep, because my overactive imagination could manifest things that felt far more vivid and real than they had any right to, pain included.
But at least it did help me know when Rarity was suffering, and allowed me to help her out. She needed a lot of help, but I was happy to. Anything I could do to make things easier.
Sometimes I worried she still blamed me, no matter how often she insisted she didn’t.
“So Applejack, didn’t you say you were seeing someone?” I said. “What was her name… Strawberry something?”
Applejack snorted. “Nah, that didn’t go far. Turns out she hated apples. Can you believe that? Who could hate apples?”
Rarity giggled as she took another sip of soda. “You’d think she would’ve gotten the hint from your name.”
Applejack had tried dating plenty of people after divorcing Rarity. Sometimes it worried me, how quickly she went through lovers these days. Like she was desperately trying to fill a hole left in her heart. But when Rarity and I had a talk with her about it, she told us it wasn’t that. She was trying out new experiences, trying to enjoy life now that she had a new lease on it, and meeting lots of people was part of that. I’d been uncertain, but it was Applejack, and it wasn’t like she was lying to us. We would’ve known if she was. Which just made me worry she was lying to herself, but I didn’t press the matter after the first conversation. So long as she was happy with it, and she seemed to be.
I didn’t blame her for it. We all wanted to try and enjoy life, since we’d come so close to death numerous times, and only escaped by the skin of our teeth and the inability of a certain insane filly to properly predict personality interactions.
“So are you seeing anyone new, then?” I asked.
We paused for another moment as the server came by and dropped off our plates. The hot food smell filled my nostrils with the pleasant odor of crisp bread and melted cheese. I dug into my cheese sandwich with gusto, happily dipping it into my tomato soup. It was basic as all hell, but it was comfort, dang it.
After taking a few bites of her steak, Applejack replied, “Nope. But Ah’m sure Ah’ll meet someone eventually. You know me.”
“Why haven’t you given that one person a call, what was her name, Autumn Blaze?” Rarity asked as she took up a forkful of potatoes. “I thought you and her got along splendidly.”
“Ah’ve tried, but she never replied to any of my texts,” Applejack said with a roll of her eyes. “Apparently she had to go back to Qilin for some reason and Ah haven’t heard from her since. Ah hope she’s doin’ okay.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” I said as I took another bite of my sandwich.
“Ah hope so,” Applejack repeated. Then she paused and reached into her purse, pulling out her phone. “Oh, looks like they’re almost here.”
“Good, I was worried we’d be finished eating before they had a chance to order,” Rarity said.
The doors opened up just as she said that, allowing Scootaloo to walk in. “Hey guys!” she said with a wave as she held open the door. She was wearing a suit, like me, though she was sans tie, and opted for a skirt to go with it rather than slacks. She also wore heels, which was something I still found odd every time I saw her wearing them, no matter how often I saw them. But then, like Applejack, she liked to maintain a low level of magic, just enough to let her occasionally float. That girl liked flying way too much for her own good, it seemed.
Diamond Tiara entered next, her pace slow as she steadily moved forward one step at a time with her cane. She’d opted for a more formal dress than either Rarity or Applejack wore, though she, naturally, didn’t wear heels. She gave us all a big grin when she spotted us. “Heya!”
“Nice ta see ya, Diamond Tiara,” Applejack said with a laugh as she raised her drink to the younger woman. “Lookin’ good with that cane.”
Tiara had taken much longer than we originally expected to walk again, despite Princess Twilight’s original reassurances. She’d been a bit unlucky when it came to the transition between Earth and Equestria back when we were first rescued, and her spine had been more misaligned than first realized. They’d fixed the issue, eventually, but until recently she’d been wheelchair bound. Seeing her walking again was a massive relief, especially because it meant she had a lot less security hanging around her. Princess Twilight had gone a bit overboard with the protection for her, after the riots. More than once she’d complained about how she couldn’t hardly even take a piss without being watched by three different people.
“Sure is nice to have it,” Tiara said as she made her way carefully before sitting down next to Applejack with a loud sigh of relief. “That’s better.”
“Walking still wearing you out?” Rarity said as Scootaloo took a seat.
Tiara shrugged. “Not as much as it did at first, but yeah.” She eyed our food. “That smells good.”
I waved for the server to come over to take their order, who did so with swift efficiency before moving off again. “So what was your mom up to this time?”
“Oh, just the usual bullshit,” Tiara snorted. “She’s still arguing over who gets the yacht. I keep telling Daddy to just let her have it, but, well… he’s stubborn.”
Scootaloo took up Tiara’s hand and gave it a squeeze, in the process turning the ring on her left hand. “Forget about it. We’ve got our friends to focus on right now.”
Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara getting married wasn’t a surprise to any of us when it happened. They’d become fast flames before they got their memories back, and when I restored them it just sped up the process. They’d eschewed a large wedding in favor of a small ceremony, with friends and close family. Scootaloo’s parents had taken the time to return from their usual expeditions in Hosstralia and elsewhere to show up for it, which was nice of them.
Tiara, eyes twinkling, leaned over and gave Scootaloo a peck on the cheek. “Right. So, what’s up with you guys?”
“Well, I’ve been taking on a few new clients lately,” Rarity said as she took another bite of potatoes. “Wealthy elites in Applewood. They want fresh outfits for all sorts of occasions. They’re paying quite a lot of money for it too.”
“Nice,” Scootaloo said. “Glad to hear business is picking back up for you finally.”
Between the recovery from the plane crash following our escape and the amount of time we’d been missing to begin with, Rarity’s business had effectively flushed itself down the toilet. She’d had to more or less start over, thanks to the quick pace of the fashion world, and it had been hard going, especially during the riots, when almost no one wanted to buy a thing from her because of her association with Equestria. Nowadays, however, there were plenty of people with money to burn who wanted a premium outfit from her because they had the misimpression that she used magic in the process of making them, and that somehow made them special. She didn’t, but she didn’t bother to correct them either.
That lack of business was one reason she’d moved into the brownstone with me, referring to it as charmingly rustic. Eventually we’d get a house, but neither of us were that keen on moving out just yet. Change was… hard these days. Familiar surroundings were important.
“It’s certainly kept me busier than I used to be,” Rarity admitted.
“What about you, Sunset?” Scootaloo said. “What’re you doing lately?”
In response, I pulled up something on my phone to hand over. “I’ve started writing a book.”
“Oh wow,” Scootaloo replied as she took a look at what I’d written so far. “It’s… it’s about us, isn’t it? What we went through?”
“It is. Still trying to figure out a title, but I’m sure it’ll come to me eventually,” I said. “I’m… still not sure if I’ll be allowed to publish it when it’s done. Princess Twilight still wants to keep some things secret.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to be writin’ that, sugarcube?” Applejack said with more than a touch of concern on her face. “Ah wouldn’t want you to be makin’ yourself feel worse.”
“I worked this out with my therapist,” I replied as I tucked my phone away. “She said it’s one of the best ways for me to cope with it. Get my feelings out on paper. Besides… I feel like people deserve to hear our story.”
I’d taken a lot to writing since we returned home. Despite being something I only rarely did in the past, as I preferred to draw comics or paint, I found that the written word called my name. Maybe it was easier than drawing, or maybe there was something else to it. But for whatever reason, drawing didn’t interest me the way it used to.
“So are you doing it like an autobiography, or are you writing it like it’s a story?” Diamond Tiara asked as she took a bite of her food.
“Kind of both?” I shrugged. “I’m writing it as a story, but I’m going to include a forward and an afterword, so people understand it’s what really happened. Or at least it’s what I remember happening.”
“Well, Ah guess if you need any help with it you can always ask me,” Applejack muttered before shoving a forkful of steak in her mouth. “Ah remember things pretty well.”
“I know I can’t forget,” Scootaloo admitted, slumping at her chair. “Sometimes I try, but…”
Diamond Tiara set down her fork and hugged her wife. “I don’t think we’ll ever forget, Scootaloo.”
I gave them a couple of moments and then said, “So what’ve you been doing lately, Scoots? Last I heard you were headed back to school.”
“I am,” she answered, happy to be on a different subject. “I’ve decided to go into medicine. I’m going to become a physical therapist.” She glanced over at her wife and smirked. “I’ve had plenty of practical experience.”
“You’re good at it too,” Tiara said as she picked her fork back up. “And I’m not just saying that.”
“That’s quite the career change from what you were doing… before,” I said.
She shrugged as she tucked into her food. “I want to help people. Feel like that’s a lot more meaningful than doing a bunch of scooter tricks or whatever.”
“I’m proud of you for doing it, Scoots,” I said, injecting plenty of sincerity into my tone. “And I’m glad you took a while to think about it too. Rushing decisions like that isn’t good for anyone.”
Scootaloo had spent a great deal of time after we returned home doing little else but caring for Tiara and staying near her. When she’d gotten her memories back, she’d been hit especially hard by the loss of Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, not just because they were friends on the ship, but because of the years of friendship they’d had prior to that. Between that and losing Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and all our other friends, she was so overwhelmed she could barely process it all. It was enough that I met with her a few months after giving her memories back to offer to wipe them again, or at least make them fuzzy, easier to cope with. She became so angry by my offer, however, that she almost punched me before I managed to calm her down, saying she’d never, ever want to have her memories taken away again. As hard as it was for her to deal with, she said, it was better to know than to have them taken away, and be sad without even knowing why.
And she was right. I apologized for offering, and we made up over drinks. I never brought it up again, and neither did she. But it still took her far longer to get back to something approaching a normal life than it had for the rest of us.
She smiled back at me. “Well, I had a lot of great support from Diamond.”
“You mean, I paid the bills,” Diamond said teasingly.
“Well, I mean, you’ve got to get some use out of all that money, right?” Scootaloo quipped.
Diamond Tiara had been the luckiest among us when it came to finances. Being from wealth carries many privileges, and despite a great deal of her stock portfolio nose-diving into the drink with the collapse of RECL as a company, she’d managed to pull it together and kept herself afloat, thriving even. Certainly luckier than some of us, who’d been close to losing apartments, or who had lost one, in Rarity’s case. Sweet Apple Acres had lost a lot of its profit margins too, and if it weren’t for some generous donations from Diamond, Applejack might’ve lost the farm.
It said a great deal about how Applejack had changed that she didn’t let her pride stop her from accepting the charity when she needed it. Oh, she vowed to pay it back eventually, but we all knew that wasn’t likely to happen, nor would Diamond Tiara ever insist on it. And if Tiara hadn’t done it, Princess Twilight would have, so it was just as well.
And it was nice to know that we had a friend we could all rely on if we lost our jobs or something. Not that I planned to abuse it--I would never--but having the safety net was nice. Helped me cope a little better with some of the struggles. Everything was harder these days. Some days I could barely get myself out of bed. Other days I’d have to practically IV feed myself coffee just to stay awake. But I still managed. Somehow.
“Yeah, yeah,” Diamond said with a low chuckle.
“So Sunset, ya heard anythin’ from Princess Twilight lately, about what’s been goin’ on?” Applejack asked after a few moments of silence passed.
“You mean, with the protests?” At her nod, I continued, “No, not anything new. She’s still in deep negotiation with the U.N., last I heard. They’re finally ironing out where to put the embassy.”
“Well we all knew it would be in Canterlot, since there’s nowhere else it could be,” Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t understand what the issue was with that.”
“It’s because Canterlot is on the opposite coast,” Diamond TIara grumbled. “And it’s because most embassies are located in a nation’s capital, and Canterlot isn’t our capital. It’s not even the capital of the state. So there’s a lot of posturing involved.”
“No, I understand that much,” Rarity said. “But how difficult was it for them to understand she couldn’t move the portal’s exit?”
Applejack snorted. “Same as everythin’ else is for them politicians.”
“Actually, I think what helped them decide was that Princess Twilight did figure out a way finally,” I said. “Starswirl’s been working on the problem ever since Equestria made official first contact. He managed to bind it to the statue, but the bind only holds if it stays within a certain range of the statue’s origin, or something like that; the details were beyond me. So they’re going to move the statue into the embassy itself.”
“Oh thank goodness for that,” Scootaloo said, sighing in relief. “I’m sure the kids at Canterlot High are sick of all the security around the main entrance.”
When Princess Twilight first announced Equestria’s existence to the world, it took everything the Canterlot PD had in them to keep things safe at Canterlot High. Crazies from all over the country and beyond flocked to the area, of all stripes. Some of the first riots were started because people were so worried about the ponies “corrupting their children.” It didn’t help that some hate groups had sprung up practically overnight to fan the flames.
Sometimes I swear if it wasn’t for Shining Armor working for the Canterlot PD things would’ve gone far worse than they did. He was the only thing keeping Spitfire on our side, after everything that had happened. When she found out that Twilight had eschewed the secrets only to go public anyway, she was downright apoplectic, ranting for days about how there’d been a pointless waste of lives because Twilight had held off from telling the government from the beginning. She eventually came to an understanding about it, but she was never happy, and interacting with her was a pain at the best of times.
She wasn’t the only one with those feelings. None of the families of those who died were mad at us for surviving; indeed if anything they’d all tried to become closer friends with us. But they were mad with Princess Twilight, for the decisions that, some of them felt, cost unnecessary lives, and a few of them had joined some of the more moderate, reasonable anti-pony groups, the ones that just wanted limited to no contact with Equestria. Most of the others kept out of things. Aria and Sonata were two of the only ones to go pro-pony, but then… they were biased.
“I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be, going to a high school effectively under semi-permanent lockdown,” Rarity nodded.
“You say that every time we bring this subject up, Rarity,” Diamond Tiara pointed out. “We get it already.”
“I… I do?” Rarity paused, her fork held halfway to her lips. “Oh. I suppose I do. Sorry.”
On occasion, we’d all have moments like this. Moments where we’d say something that we’d said countless times, thinking it was the first time. It was some residual after effect of the memory wipes and restoration. Something to do with the neurology of the brain and how memories work that was beyond my understanding. Whatever caused it, it was just another thing we dealt with. Part of life for us now.
“Diamond, come on, don’t be insensitive,” Scootaloo chided gently.
Tiara glared at her wife for a moment before sighing and nodding. “Right, sorry Rarity. Been a stressful day.”
“Has been for all of us, sugarcube,” Applejack said with a sage nod. “Since today’s the anniversary and all.”
“I hate calling it that,” Scootaloo grumbled as she attacked her food. “Makes it sound like it’s something to celebrate.”
“We got off that ship, didn’t we?” I pointed out as I finished off the last bite of my sandwich. “That’s worth celebrating.”
Scootaloo looked up at me, her eyes full of pain. “I… I know, but… I miss them, Sunset. And it’s, it’s not easy dealing with them being gone, especially today of all days.”
“Don’t think of it as missing them, darling,” Rarity said with a reassuring smile. “Think of it as celebrating who they were to us. Their memory. The friendships we had, they live on with us.”
“And we’re doin’ everythin’ we can to honor that memory,” Applejack added.
“I know you’re both right,” Scootaloo replied as she stared back down at her plate. “Doesn’t make it any easier though.”
Despite that grim comment, we managed to carry on a bit more friendly meandering conversation until we’d all finished up with the food. “Welp,” Applejack said, patting her stomach. “Ah think it’s about time we get over there.”
“We’ll meet you there,” Diamond Tiara said as she stood up with Scootaloo’s help. “Going to make a quick pit stop first.”
Rarity and I said a temporary farewell while we headed for our car. Traffic was much lighter on our way to the edge of town, where the cemetery we’d chosen lay, but that was why we chose it. We didn’t want one of the larger cemeteries, where there’d be visitors all the time potentially messing with the memorial. This was a small one, not too many buried here save for family of long-time locals.
Thus there was no one around when Rarity and I arrived first. Applejack pulled in right behind us and parked her truck nearby, while our security detail kept their distance. We waited patiently for Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo, and only once they’d joined us did we head through the gates as a group.
The burial plot chosen was near the far edge of the cemetery, far away from the other plots. It was a large one too, but it needed to be, for the size of memorial we’d chosen. I still remembered the first time we gathered here, in front of this tombstone. It had been commissioned and paid for with contributions from the families of everyone who’d been aboard the ship, and then further reinforced and enchanted by Princess Twilight personally to stand the test of time. The materials involved were expensive, but well worth the results. It was made of fancy jasper, cut from various slabs seamlessly blended together in a gorgeous earth-tone rainbow. And it bore the names and cutie marks of all eleven victims of the killing game, alphabetically. Each one was read off by the family member or person closest to the deceased, who also took the time to make a speech for them.
I had to speak for Trixie, since we never found her father. Not that I’d stop trying. I was going to bring him the news about his daughter sooner or later, come hell or high water.
Then once we’d finished with all the speeches, the five of us survivors got together and sang a song Scootaloo and Applejack had written, while Rarity, Applejack and I played our instruments for it, as the last hurrah of the Rainbooms. It was a fitting tribute, but after it was all over, all I could think was that I wish we hadn’t had to have done any of it, that those eleven souls ought to still be with us here today.
I was asked once, by Princess Twilight, if I ever regretted leaving Cozy behind, when she tried her last minute apology. My answer was and always will be a single word: no.
The five of us had dedicated ourselves to biweekly meetups ever since. Oh we saw each other more frequently than even that, between going to visit our therapists in Equestria, our respective lines of work, and just plain old hanging out, but we made sure to make the time to meet every two weeks. Sometimes at the restaurant where we ate, sometimes at one of the local bars, and sometimes at Sugarcube Corner, but we always met up. And we’d sworn to come visit the gravesite once a year, every year, together.
So here we were, as we approached the tombstone. Just seeing it brought tears to my eyes, even now. The pain was still fresh, despite the passage of time.
Scootaloo was the first to step forward, carrying with her a bouquet of yellow roses. She knelt before the stone, set the bouquet down before it, then pressed her hand against it. “Hey there, guys,” she said, her voice shaking. “Been a while. I keep meaning to come by but, it’s hard to find the time, with everything we have to do these days. But I wanted to let you know you’re always in my thoughts. I miss you guys. Wherever you ended up, after, after the end there, I hope you’re okay. I love you. All of you. Very much.”
She then knelt her head against the rock, brought up her hands, and whispered a few prayers. Scootaloo had become more spiritual, in the past year, more than she used to be. Following in her aunt’s footsteps with their beliefs.
When she finished, she helped Diamond Tiara approach the tombstone next. Diamond opted to stand rather than risk falling over and hurting herself kneeling at it. “Hey everyone,” she said quietly. “Like Scootaloo said, been a long time. I’m doing a lot better than I used to. I can walk again, see?” She held up her cane and tapped it against the tombstone. “I’ve been keeping busy, but I think about you guys a lot. I still wish I’d gotten to know some of you better, while we were on the ship. I know I was a bit… bossy, let’s put it that way. And sure, I got my memories back--we all did--but that just made me realize how distant I was from most of you. Even though I’ve got good friends now, I… wish I’d been able to make more, when I had the chance. I do have one bit of good news. I’ve started up a new charity for animals around town, to help fund the veterinary shelters. I’ve named it in your honor, Fluttershy; I hope that’s okay. Take care.”
She and Scootaloo made room for Applejack next, who got down on both knees and whispered a quick prayer. “Apple Bloom, Ah can’t tell you enough how much Ah still miss you. Ah know Ah try to come by every once in a while, but it keeps feelin’ longer and longer between each visit now. It ain’t cause Ah don’t love you, Ah’m sure you know that. It’s just ‘cause life’s been keepin’ us so busy. ‘Course Ah wanna pass along Big Mac and Granny’s love too. As for the rest of y’all, don’t worry, Ah’m here for you too. Ah miss you all very much. Sometimes Ah still think of a funny joke Ah wanna share with you, Pinkie, or find mahself itchin’ to challenge you to some kind of race or somethin’, Dash. Ah… Ah just plain miss ya, and Ah hope you’re restin’ easy.”
Applejack backed away, sniffling as tears ran down her face. “Ah… Ah need to go sit down, excuse me,” she said as she headed back for her truck.
“Yeah, us too, honestly,” Scootaloo said, scratching the back of her head. “Is that okay?”
“Go ahead,” Rarity said, waving them along. She waited to approach the tombstone herself till they were a bit aways. Only then did she collapse in front of it.
“Sweetie Belle,” she said without preamble. “I… I still regret some of the harsh things I said to you, near the end. I wanted to let you know, I forgave you your mistakes a long time ago. Forgiveness is, well, it’s pretty important to me.” She held up her hand, allowing a few sparkles of magic light to dance along it before waving them away. “I hope you can forgive me too, for saying the things I did. I know you never would’ve tried to hurt Sunset if you had your memories. She and I are getting married, by the way. She asked me last month, and I said yes. I love her very much, just as I will always love you. I expect we’ll be very happy together. And, as for the rest of you… I don’t even know where to begin on how much I miss you all. Just trust that I do, and that you are forever in my thoughts.”
She backed away from the tombstone. I thought she might break down crying, but she didn’t. Her face was dry as she walked over and gave me a tight squeeze. “Would you like a moment alone with them, darling?”
“Please,” I said, nodding. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and then walked away. I stepped forward and ran my hand along the stone, feeling the jasper, the little bits and pieces smooth as the day it was carved. I traced my fingers along each name on the list, remembering the little things that happened with each of them, then stopped on Adagio. “Hey there, Adagio. Hope you’ve been getting along with the others. I know it probably isn’t easy, especially between you and Trixie, but, well, I’m sure you can find a way. Can you believe I ended up with Rarity? I still can’t. Feels like a dream sometimes, but it’s a good one. Trixie, I’m still looking for your dad. I’ll find him eventually.”
I went quiet for a few moments, then said, “I still blame myself. I know I shouldn’t. I know all the if onlys and should haves and so on are pointless, because it wasn’t my fault I was used. But I still blame myself. I, I know I was trying to act to save people when I did it, but it was still me who sent many of you to your deaths. It was me, indirectly, that caused many of your deaths. I feel responsible, and I always will, no matter what my therapist or Rarity or anyone else says.
“But I’m also not going to let that hold me back. I know none of you would want that for me.You wouldn’t want me to wallow in misery or get lost in my own depression. It’s really hard, some days, but I keep moving on. I keep moving forward. In some ways… I’m living life for all of you, who were stolen from us. On your behalf.
“I’m writing our story, by the way. I know our families know what we went through, but no one else does. Our story deserves to be told. I think you’d all like that, to be remembered that way. I know it might make a few of you look a bit bad, but I’ll try to minimize that.” I let out a sheepish laugh at the thought.
“There’s so much I want to say to each of you, so many things. I could be here for hours, talking and talking, but… I think you all know what I really want to say, what I really mean, when you boil it down. I love you. Each and every single one of you, I love you, and I always will. Goodbye, my friends.”
As I stepped away from the tombstone, I let my eyes drift back to it, one final time, to read the epitaph. It was only as I read it that I realized the title for my story was there, had been there all along. It was perfect.
“Dedicated to the memory of the eleven friends who were lost at sea during the month of August, 2020. Though their journeys carried them far in life, they have passed into the great beyond. They will be forever loved, and be forever missed. May they rest forever peacefully in harmony’s wake.”
And so we close the door on this story, and oh what a magnificent journey it has been. I cannot stress enough how glad I am not only to have been able to write this for you, but to finish it for you all. 
Thank you everyone who read the story, who commented, who favorited, and who enjoyed it. Thank you all so much for your support and for your continued interest. Especially thank you to those of you who were not turned off by crossover tag and tuned in anyway, whether it was for the Sunsagio, for the emotional writing, or any other reason. I know it's such a niche audience, this type of crossover, but I appreciate every last one of you. If you've reached this point and you haven't let me know your thoughts in any comments before, please, let me know what you thought. I promise I won't bite. 
Another warm thank you must be extended to Rainstorm Riddles, for her excellent work in helping me make sure the last portions of the story turned out as well as they did.
This epilogue, like any story, leaves open questions, questions that may or may not be answered by a follow up story. I don't want to promise it now, only to fail to deliver, but should it arrive, I hope it will be just as enjoyable as this one was.
Farewell, my friends. Once again: thank you.
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Thank you so much not only for writing this but actually finishing it. I had a blast reading it even if I rarely commented.
I honestly have no idea what to feel about this story.
It is a good story but for me it is too depressing for me to say I like it.
Sunset and the others survived the game but have lost so much for me to think they will ever truly recover. Also the concept of a cold war between equestria and earth just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth for the future.
What an impressive accomplishment, to finish such a gargantuan story that's still so tight in plotting. And I also realized when thinking about Sunset's Cozy Glow decision: one sneakily difficult aspect of this was probably making the characters clear and recognizably themselves given their circumstances. Danganronpa character motivations and equestria girls character motivations don't line up easily, so it's really interesting to see how they got to where they ended up, and how it made sense every step.
And, just from the perspective of a reader who got in on the ground floor (for not entirely selfless reasons!), what a relief it was this story ended up so good, and what a delight to see how many people on fimfiction have jumped on board the Dewdrops train.
so .. this is it. it's .. over ..
after half a year of it ongoing, it's over. i really can't believe it. guess i'll be checking it sometimes automatically.
thank you for this, really. i loved it and, eh, that stuff ... you made me wake up at 7:30 only to read it earlier you know ? and i am everything but a morning person
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You bet, AxelFones.
10736159
And that's fair! Because it is pretty depressing, and does end on a very bittersweet note. For what it's worth, it is my intention that, should a Cold War story get written, it would have a happier ending than this did.
10736174
Thank you, JCarp. I'm touched by your words, more than I can say. When I first started writing this, I never thought one of my two primary inspirations would read the story. And I won't lie... keeping these characters in character while sill managing to make a killing game work as a killing game... it was astoundingly difficult at times. But I did my best to capture the voices of these characters, and I'm very much happy that you enjoyed it the whole way through. So thank you.
10736175
And thank you again, Stummm, for the fanart you provided. I went back and put the picture of Trixie, Sunset, and Adagio into Chapter 3 Part, since it perfectly fit the scene. I know what you mean about being a morning person as I'm really not either, haha. Tis why so often my updates end up as late--for me--as they do: because I'm that weirdo goes to bed at 3:00 AM.
This was a great story. Of the Danganronpa crossovers I've read on here it's certainly my favorite and also certainly the most expansive. There was so much more time spent on everything really and it ended up creating a very engaging story with well-developed characters and relationships. It's funny cause I never really was a big Sunset x Adagio fan but I really liked the way you did their relationship. As others have said this story just makes me yearn for more and I'm glad you've got that spin-off out now with the alternate endings/etc.
I think my only major complaint, if you would even call it major, is that I think in the early chapters you were a bit unfair to Timber Spruce and made him come off worse than he actually is. And then of course there are my own biases that come from being a massive Rarijack fan.
That's how Danganronpa has to always be. The ending is always bittersweet. The mastermind is defeated, the survivors escape, but they will always remember the friends they lost...who they were forced to execute and those that were murdered all because of a sick pony's desire for revenge. Makes you wonder how the whole thing could've been if Cozy decided to not go through with the Killing Game and just joined in the fun from the start. If only she knew how to let go of her vendetta. Sadly, her darker desires won over the part of her that wanted to have friends and by the time the first murder happened, it was already too late. Dunno if Cozy was truly regretful but I don't care. Her plan killed eleven innocent people whose only crime was being friends with Twilight Sparkle. She's going to Hell and there's nothing she can do about it. While this was an MLP fic...there's no cosmic reset button. The dead are dead, the survivors survived and Sunset will tell their story. A lot would make comparisons with Danganronpa if she ever wrote it.
So, glad I discovered this fic, read it until the end. So, what's next?
Pfft
That's not good.
It feels so surreal to see this finally done, though I'm glad it was able to have a (mostly) consistent posting schedule (even when it was changed). It kinda bugs me how many fics go months or years between updates.
Like I said on the Lost Memories fic, as much as this was an interesting (and kinda fun), well written ride in places, it's one of those fics that I don't think I'll ever go back to.
10736195
Thank you very much, MagicS. You're not wrong when it comes to Timber. Looking back... I really did do Timber a bit of a disservice. In retrospect I wish that I had written him a little less on the skeevy and a bit more on the good qualities of the character. My own biases against him really played into how I wrote him, which was unfair to the guy. But I'll be trying to make up for that eventually, either with a short or with some future story where he gets to play a part. And for what it's worth I love Rarijack too. It's one of my favorite ships.
10736197
For my writing, it'll be the Trek story I keep mentioning on my blog. I'm hoping to get the first three parts finished by this weekend. I already have 1 and 3/4s done. If I can have three done, then I just might be able to publish it as early as this weekend. But it'll be rougher going, because my work has gotten a lot busier, giving me less writing time and less energy for writing. It's good that I finished IHW when I did, in other words.
10736205
Don't worry: Autumn's fine. She's just been really busy.
And like I said before with your comment on Lost Moments, I don't blame you. It's not an easy read. It wasn't an easy write! But I'm glad you enjoyed it as you did.
And my apologies for the inconsistencies in the posting schedule. Sometimes I just became too excited, too eager to see it post sooner. Having to hold back on posting after I finished the story last month was frustrating at times. That said, I'm glad I was able to keep it posting without any delays for the entire five months, from start to finish.
Thank you for this incredible journey, Dewdrops. I loved the story, even though I likely won’t re-read it, because of how depressing it is. Apologies.
This chapter... It made me cry. I was balling like a little baby throughout the cemetery scene. Congratulations on that, because I don’t usually cry with books.
On that note, goodbye Danganronpa. And I guess I’ll see your around, Dewdrops! Peace and love!
This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.
Well... this was one wild ride.
I just imagined that in school mode Sunset is trying to build a replica of Monoponi from the robot parts, but instead the students end up building Twilightkuma and then Twilightkuma comes to life because magic is friendship
Hats off to DOTG for an amazing story! It's up there with moviefan92's Two Sunsets for me.
10736348
Thank you, Uz. See you round.
I will take it as a super huge compliment that I made you cry that much.
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Thank you, thank you. Appreciated.
10736405
Okay that one made me laugh pretty hard. Twilightkuma indeed. It's like their version of Usami. Though maybe a Celestikuma would be better for that?
Happy Birthday! Congratulations for finishing!
As with all stories, there's a bittersweetness to finishing. Especially in this case as the survivors now have to do the hardest thing imaginable: Continue surviving.
The book idea from Sunset is a nifty way for her to deal with the aftermath. THAT will probably make headlines if it's ever released.
Not sure if I would read a story on how all the consequences of this game is going to affect both worlds. I've seen enough stories of those to know I have little interest in them. Often times it boils down to who would win in a fight and I'd rather not know.
I had fun (and fear) reading through this and has given me plenty to think about in the past months. A good distraction from the mundanity of life. I could see myself reading through it again, now that the initial shock is over. I'd probably skip over the execution scenes, though. Those were unpleasant to read.
Thanks for a well thought-out story!
Amazing story. One of the best that I read.
I'm at least glad that the villain trio is together again, and whatever they have to face in the afterlife, they'll face it together.
But still...
What about Grogar...?
1. Happy birthday!
And 2. Nice to see this book completed. And this also had many sad moments that it was so hard to read Aswell
10736611
Isn't this following Season 9?
Well, we have finally reached the end. Great story, and I am glad I followed it all the way.
10736646
Yes, but Discord disguised himself as Grogar, so what about the REAL Grogar (possibly responsible even if only partially and attacking in the future that includes Luster Dawn)?
One of the best stories I've ever read on this site. Thank you, Dewdrops, for this incredible experience!
10736586
Haha, thank you. As for the book, you're not wrong--that one's making the Best Seller list that year for sure.
Yeah, see, the more I think about it, the more it really does feel like it would go in that direction, and, well, I dunno how much I want to delve into political intrigue. It sounds interesting to read someone else do it, but me write it? Probably not so much.
Yeah I don't blame you for that. As much as they are part and parlance with Danganronpa, they're... well, definitely worth skipping. But thank you again.
I appreciate all the kind words. I certainly tried to do a good job, haha.
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Thank you, thank you.
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So, Grogar is considered dead and has been for centuries, if not millennia, in this story's canon. This is strongly implied by the FIM canon, and therefore I see no reason to argue with that. If there is a killing game sequel, Grogar will not be involved. Nor will Luster Dawn. Much as I like the idea of her as a character, she's effectively a blank slate, as would anyone she'd be friends with, and at that point it's just another set of OCs for a Fangan. And while I'm not against writing that, if I'm going to OC for a Fangan, I don't see a reason to do a crossover while I'm at it. So if there is a KG followup to this story, it'll involve strictly canon characters.
I'll be sad that this is over, but glad that I just happened to find this at the right time to enjoy the wild ride! Great job once again!
I just have one outstanding questions, and if you did address this, feel free to laugh at me. In chapter 3.1, in that photo of the Apples & Belles, Sweetie has a silver ring with a pink tourmaline- was she married or engaged to someone?
10737437
So, the intent was she was married. To whom? Well originally, it was going to be Apple Bloom. However, after thinking this through carefully I changed my mind on that. I told myself at some point I would go back and figure out who it was she was married to. But I don't think I ever did. So this will be one of those unanswered questions unfortunately.
If you like, you can imagine she's married to more or less anybody that you feel would be good to ship with her. I think at one point I did consider making it Scootaloo, but then Scootaloo decided to do what she did in chapter 5 and decide that she was going to be with Diamond Tiara. Ultimately it never ended up actually mattering. Which is why I never bothered to go back and determine the actual person. It does mean however, that there is somebody out there who lost their wife. That poor person.
Whew...
I gotta tell you, this was one heck of a story. Very emotional, intense, and incredibly well written.
I came across this story one of my groups: SunDagio - Sunset Shimmer X Adagio Dazzle. I read the intro and figured it was worth a look. And I was right. Once I started, I couldn't stop reading, and I found myself anxiously waiting for the next chapter. Of course, my main reason for following the story was for the Sunsagio, but I found myself looking forward to the next investigation, the next trial and the drama of it all. As I may have mentioned before in a previous comment, this type of dark stuff wasn't really my cup of tea, but, like I said, once I started, I couldn't stop. You wrote an intriguing story that just sucked me right in.
I admit, the ending was bittersweet for me. While I'm glad some of them survived and Cozy Glow was stopped (a.k.a. killed), I'm saddened from the permanent loss of their friends and family in this killing game. To be honest, I was hoping that after Cozy Glow's defeat, that somehow, everyone how had been killed would come back to life, like when their stolen magic was stripped from Cozy, it would reincarnate them, with their memories restored. But that's just me, I'm into those type of endings.
In any case, thank you, Dewdrops, for producing this masterpiece of fanfiction for us to enjoy. I look forward to what you bring us next.
10739214
You're very welcome. When I first saw you comment on the story, back at the end of Chapter Four, I'll be honest, I actually felt a little bad. I knew what was coming ahead, and since you'd been brought in by the Sunsagio, I was a little afraid Chapter Five would sour you, and all the other Sunsagio fans on the story forever. Fortunately it seems I was wrong about that, and I'm glad I was.
There's a part of me that shares your feelings, regarding the permanent loss. It's the main reason I wrote "Everybody Lives!" I just... I wanted them to live too, you know? I really did.
And in another type of story, one that didn't pattern itself after a Japanese visual novel all about murder mysteries, it could've been done. But it wouldn't have fit here. It just... it just wouldn't have. It would've taken away from the story as a whole, and I couldn't abide that, as much as I wish I could've brought them back to life. So I did my best to pay tribute to them, showing them having a happy afterlife, resting peacefully. They may be dead, but they're not entirely gone. Just out of reach of those who are alive, till they too pass on, in the fullness of time.
Thank you, for reading the story. Each person I've been able to reach with it fills me with joy like I cannot describe. So thank you. And don't worry. There'll be plenty of new content to come from me. I'm not done as an author, not by a long shot!
Now that I think about it, I think, I can totally see Sunset wearing Shuichi's uniform. While at the same time Rarity is wearing Bakamatsu uniform.
10737454
Maybe Button Mash? Not just because that’s such a common pairing but for the tragedy that he might’ve been able to help if he was there, with his knowing even more about DR than Sunset.
10757157
Button Mash is... a possibility. Not my favorite one, because I don't like Button Mash very much. But as I said, this is entirely death of the author type situation so if that's who you want to picture, go right ahead.
You know how the universe is a hologram and reality an illusion? Good cause you got reviewed!
I just read this whole work over four days and I'm so happy that I did. It was a ride, and it deserves more attention!
10797194
I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as you did.
Thank you very much.
It took me three hours to realize what that show was then *Facepalm* Cant wait to read this. Gonna be so awesome
10854904
Okay I came to this story again to leave a rather horrifying idea that just came to me, but upon scrolling through the first few comments, so now I'm curious who that'd be.
Anyways, onto my horrifying realization (spoiler tagging just in case):
Cozy could (probably) have taken a different route and erase Rarity and Sweetie's memories of each other, along with Bloom and AJ's of each other, and then manipulated things so that the two pairs ended up becoming culprit and victim for two of the cases (or even an alternate chapter 3)
I feel like that universe would actually be far worse than most of what actually happened in this one (besides chapter 4 for me personally)
10899498
Oh, that's a nasty idea. Wish that had occurred to me. Sadly I was far too fixed on my original intended fate for Rarity and Applejack that coming around to this never crossed my mind.
Might be a fun alt scenario if I decide to do anything more with the Lost Moments, but that's on indefinite hiatus. Star Trek: Phoenix is my focus right now.
10899562
I know, but I'm at least glad I brought the idea up now (if only so I could get the idea out of my head)
10899720
Certainly. And I will say this: Danganronpa will return to my writings eventually. I've still got the mystery itch poking away at me every so often. We'll see what happens once Phoenix is done.
10899740
Alright.
Can't wait for that.
Star Trek Phoenix is good, and I'm definitely enjoying at least the main chapters so far, but it just doesn't hit that same spot that this did (for both good and bad)
10899752
Haha, that's fair. It's certainly not the same kind of feeling, that's for sure. But it's a joy to write... for the most part.
10899756
Yeah, I can definitely tell you're having fun with it
While this story is on my mind once again, this is something that I realized just now (though I'm sure if I go back there are probably at least a few comments already saying this):
In Chapter 3, Twilight was considered Fluttershy's true killer so Cozy would have an excuse to execute her.
If Pinkie had been considered the blackened for Fluttershy, Trixie would end up being executed as a result of the trial, since Pinkie was already dead (I know that the Necromancy thing was introduced a bit later, but I don't think she'd use it here).
...and now I kinda want to (eventually) see a Lost Memories where that happens, and how that would change the subsequent chapters. Maybe it'd lead into a DashFlashlight threeway relationship.
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There was one planned, but never written, that would have involved Picking up on the Worst Ending, except with Cozy executing Adagio instead of killing everyone. The result was that both Twilight and Trixie would hang around, with Trixie consumed more and more by her guilt for getting away with murder, while Twilight acts on her own guilt.
This would lead to some kind of alternate case four setup where Rainbow Dash is losing it and making super dangerous courses, and acts on a course that would lead to her dying. Twilight (tryin to make up for what she did) would interfere and would accidentally die as a result. After the trial everyone thinks RD killed her on purpose till it's revealed it was an accident, then during her execution RD would exhibit the same "Screw you" energy she did to Flash, except via screwing up the execution so she dies really fast instead of her death being long and drawn out. (Something like, she's chased around a track by a bear who catches up slowly and swipes to hook her jacket so it can slowly eat her, only she jumps into the swipe so it decapitates her instead.)
Then case five would lead to Sunset killing Trixie because Trixie admits her guilt, and Sunset then has to try and get away with it. But she fails at the last minute, and gets executed.
This leaves the rest to try to struggle through trial six, only to end up dying when Cozy absorbs all their power, thus every single passenger died. But because Cozy absorbed all the Elements, she has this backlash thing that consumes her from the inside and she explodes and dies in a shower of rainbow light, leaving Princess Twilight as the only survivor.
Twilight leaves, blows up the ship (not with the nuke), returns to Equestria, and promptly resigns as Princess. She's defeated and broken. She failed to save them. She ends up moving back to Ponyville, trying to get away from everything, and lives a quiet, sad rest of her life as the librarian until she dies of heartbreak at a not very old age.
This was called Back Route and would've been a separate story altogether, with everything written out. For obvious reasons I decided I didn't want to do this--far too repetitive with certain things--so I gave up on it and shelved it. But now you know.
And here's the only part of it that was ever written:
10899992
Oh god. That is much darker than I was ever expecting.
What I was imagining (and kinda want to eventually see) was something more along the lines of:
At least one person realizes that Monoponi is just a bit too eager to make whoever made the plan the blackened, so, after a bit of discussion, they essentially force him into letting them keep Pinkie as the blackened, since her direct actions led to Fluttershy's death. Sunset could even point out how in the game series, the blackened is ALWAYS whoever does the deed even if someone else plans it (even possibly referencing the fourth trial of V3)
They still figure out that Twilight was the one who came up with the plan, but since she wasn't actually the blackened, she's safe from Monoponi for now, much to his frustration.
Everyone, including Dash, eventually forgives Twilight since she didn't actually mean any harm.
Not really sure what else would happen after that, except that, when Flash starts getting sick, Twilight realizes what he's actually sick with and prevents things from going down how they originally did. (Maybe they'd both die this chapter as a result of some unseen interference by Monoponi. Like the actual useful medicine Twilight gives Flash gets secretly poisoned by him when they're now looking or something. And during the trial, if they find out, he could argue that, since he wasn't the one who gave Flash the bottle, he didn't break any of his rules)
(Honestly, I was pulling most of that out of my ass while I was typing. I knew the plot points I wanted to describe, but I'm not sure I described them well)
10900019
Hmm, that's certainly a possibility. I do think however that Monoponi would continue to take every possible avenue to try and get Twilight killed. I don't think the poison idea you've suggested works quite right however, because that would be Monoponi trying to bend the rules, again, and considering he failed last time, at this point it would be outright cheating.
If both Flash and Twilight were alive in Chapter Four, I think it would come down to an entirely different culprit: Applejack. She came damned close to being tempted as it was by the motive, and without Flash planning anything, and her and Rarity still fighting like crazy, she might give in. So when she has the opportunity, she kills Scootaloo.
This then leads to Flash and Twilight both living into Chapter Five, at which point Cozy has two options. She can pursue her original idea to get Sunset killed by luring Adagio into it, or she can find some other way to get Twilight and Trixie pitted against each other again, perhaps with Twilight having some "break the game" brainwave that she gets Trixie to help her with that results in Trixie's death, and Twilight being the culprit.
Alternatively of course, we could always have Applejack kill Trixie somehow--maybe she gets ahold of the spare key--and then we have something else in chapter five that I don't even know what, unless it was Adagio tries to kill Sunset only Twilight takes Trixie's role. Which would've been interesting in one sense but not in another sense.
I dunno, neither of these scenarios feel THAT appealing to me per se.
10900032
Actually, with what you stated about AJ snapping and being the next one to kill, I feel like the most likely person she'd kill would be Rarity, if only to get revenge for Bloom. (I think she probably stated at some point in story that she wouldn't, but I don't remember all of the specifics like that. And even if she did, she could probably be pushed over the edge anyway)
As for Chapter 5, I did actually think of another possibility: Twilight knocks Adagio out, but in a way that even Monoponi would be fooled into thinking she was dead, so there'd still be a trial. The trial plays out mostly as it did, but when Sunset makes her return, she's carrying the still unconscious Adagio, but everyone realizes that she's still alive, forcing Monoponi to stop the trial there when he realizes he's been had, and at this point, none of the survivors would be willing to go that extra mile (except Adagio, but the others make it clear they won't let her get another chance to kill. Dash could sorta half joke about possibly considering killing Twilight later, but surviving the cruise is more important for her)
I feel like that could be an interesting alternate scenario.
10900048
The only issue with fooling Monoponi into thinking Adagio is dead is that there'd have to be some way that Monoponi's sensors fail. I pulled this trick in the real IHW Chapter Five by having it fall off Sunset's body and having her step on it (breaking it by accident) but in almost any other scenario I'm struggling to see how Monoponi would not figure out that Adagio isn't actually dead.
Not that I'm disliking what you propose--I'm not, quite the opposite--but it is a hard one to figure out how it would've worked. Especially since in the real world there are no sedatives that can duplicate the Harry Potter Draught of Living Death, which is the primary way I would imagine this would work. (Yes, I realize that I did something like this with Pinkie in Everybody Lives, but there she was discovered to be alive well before the trial began.)
Just putting her into the closet wouldn't work. Monoponi can get in there no problem.
I can potentially see some sort of vague cooperation scheme, but I... I don't know how Twilight would ever convince Adagio--especially the broken, destroyed Adagio that she was at the time--to do anything with her, let alone fake a death.
I guess the only real possible way would be to hide her body somewhere that even Monoponi couldn't see, have the security cameras be blind long enough, and then create a fake dead body. Yes, this is basically the same thing pulled as V3's Chapter Five, except without someone dying.
10900058
For the cooperation thing, Twilight could explain that Sunset would likely survive, and the only way for Adagio to actually live to get a chance to kill her and actually be successful that wouldn't result in her own death would be if she actually avoided killing for now and working with her, with Twilight saying that if Sunset does actually die, she'll cover for her (while hoping it doesn't come to that
And I kinda really want to see that fake body thing eventually play out now.
Like, I'm really curious how Monoponi/Cozy would react to a situation like that.
And while the method is definitely pretty similar to V3 case 5, it is different in a few key areas. The biggest of course being that someone did actually die there.