Epilogue
As the sun broke over the horizon and the rooster crowed, Alex sprang out of bed. Pruning was his favorite chore around the farm, and he wanted to get to it. By the time he found the clippers and reached the outside, Applejack had already cut the first branch.
“That’s fifty,” she said. “Fifty straight days of me beatin’ you to work.”
“It’s not a fair contest. You don’t have to get dressed.”
Their banter came naturally. It would never do any good to get into a fight, not when storming away to cool off was magically impossible. Applejack had welcomed a new hand on the farm, and with Alex’s natural talent for growing, the output of apples only looked to be growing.
In the morning sun, the work was not tiring at all. By noon, Rainbow Dash or somepony would probably bring over a few clouds so that they weren’t sweltering. The long days always ended with a supper big enough to tame the hunger generated by so much work.
“Mornin’, Rarity.”
Alex looked up and waved to where Applejack was looking. “You’re out early today,” he said.
“Immigration day,” Rarity replied. “Now that it’s safe, we’ve got more people coming through every week. But it’s the ponies travelling to Earth that really need the help. For some reason, everypony thinks that because I was the first to go, that I’m some sort of expert. So I’ve had to become one. And now I’ve got to meet my group. So have a pleasant day!”
Alex and Applejack waved to Rarity, then went back to their chores. Alex gave Rarity a silent thanks. She was constantly trying to play matchmaker for him, bringing new human girls over to meet him. He was in no hurry, since he had his pick. His status as a “bound human,” as the survivors of the battle had come to be called, gave him a certain cachet. And being bound to one of the mane 6, well, who could say no to that?
“Hey! Are you fully awake yet?” Applejack gave him a playful nudge with her hoof. “I know you ain’t still fawning over Rarity.”
“No, I’m not.” He looked over the farm and its bounty, then toward the horizon. At the edge he could just see the Gate. “I’m fawning over Equestria, thinking how lucky I am to live here.”
***
As Twilight took her morning coffee break, she closed out some of the library’s ledgers and slipped into the back room. Lisa was poring over a desk with her hands aglow.
“In behind,” said Twilight. It had become their common practice to alert each other to their presence. Both of them tended to get deep in thought and would be startled by sudden noise. Lisa looked up.
“How’s it going?”
“Fine? Any progress on separating bound humans and ponies?”
“I haven’t really done much work on that. I think it’s a fool’s errand. Besides, it’s not so bad living with me, is it?”
“No complaints,” said Twilight.
“Instead, check this out!”
Lisa handed Twilight a book, but when she leafed through, the pages were blank. “I don’t get it.”
“Remember when the parasprites ate the words out of the books? I thought to myself, what if they could regurgitate them? Voila!” She waved her hand and text appeared on the pages. “It’s now a copy of this other one here.”
“I have book-copying spells.”
“This is different!” Lisa showed the excitement she always had when discussing a new idea. “The book can go blank again, and be recopied over and over. I figure that if everypony has one of these, we can lend books without them having to ever leave the library. I call it an m-reader.”
“Oh, that is different. Sounds like it’ll put me out of a job.”
“No, there’ll always be a place for a good librarian. Besides, I don’t have range of more than a few feet, so there’s still some work to do.”
Twilight trotted toward the front door. “Well, put it away for a while. It’s ten o’clock.
It had, in fact, been Lisa who had first suggested that she and Twilight take exercise breaks daily, but with her customary zeal, Twilight had been the one to remember the schedule.
Lisa found the basketball and joined Twilight outside. After casting the spell to harden the grass in order to give the ball bounce, she levitated it for the tip-off.
A few baskets later, Twilight sipped her coffee and said, “Are you sure it’s exercise if we’re just sitting here taking shots magically?”
“It’s magic exercise. We have to keep our powers in shape.” Lisa chuckled. Her white glow stole the ball from Twilight’s pale red. It was awesome to be magical.
***
As Fluttershy and Julie finished their lunch, they talked over flowers and how they would best decorate next spring. Being bound had not changed their lives much at all, since they were always together beforehand. Julie threw the trash away and checked her watch.
“I think it’s time we got going. You know neither of them is happy when we’re late.”
Julie’s flying had improved since the war, to the point where Fluttershy was the determinant of their flight times. Julie was far too polite to point this out, but she wasn’t above tossing her friend a subtle reminder now and then. They took off and headed for Cloudsdale.
Even though the clock was chiming the hour just as they arrived, Rainbow Dash still tapped her hoof and said, “It’s about time!” Fluttershy let it pass.
Julie kissed her husband on the cheek. “How was business this morning?”
“Slow. Free transit between Earth and Equestria may make me unprofitable.”
“Does that mean you’ll move up here permanently so we can stop these half measures?” said Rainbow.
“I might,” said Luke. “I’m sorry that you had to get bound to a married man, and a businessman at that.”
“Oh, I’m not. I wouldn’t change anything about what happened. I just love taking the opportunity to needle you.”
“But I know that you and Fluttershy lead very different lives, and now you’re forced to be together by us.”
“It’s not like that at all,” said Fluttershy. “We always knew that when humans came to Equestria, everypony’s life was going to get a little more complicated. We just didn’t know how it would happen.”
“Yeah, so don’t sweat it,” said Rainbow.
“Oh, and we were supposed to tell you, Pinkie Pie invited us to a special party tonight. Bound humans and ponies only. Think you’re willing to spend some more time on the ground for that?”
“Yeah, that’s worth it. And then we need to give these two some alone time. But that’s for later. Right now, race you to the weather factory!”
“Hey!” said Luke. “I think she uses her binding to me just to make me sweat.” He took off after her with Julie and Fluttershy following. Luke slackened enough and Julie increased her speed until they could hold hands, and the whole group flew in syncopation. Luke and Julie looked into each other’s eyes and spoke silently. Worth it indeed.
***
As the sun set, Princess Luna moved into her position atop the balcony. Already popular with the humans, she had become even more beloved after her role in the war. Without looking, she called back over her shoulder, “Do you want to try again tonight?”
“Now?”
“It is the right time.”
Olivia stepped out from their shared quarters. Her hair blew in the night breeze, and she idly wondered if someday it might not take on the shimmering starlight of her bound partner. She concentrated and activated her magic.
“Are you sure you want me lifting the moon? It’s supposed to be a full one tonight, that’s got to be heavier.”
“In fact it is easier. You don’t have to worry about balancing.”
She concentrated, and managed to bring it halfway up to the horizon before Luna stepped in and set it continuing on its path.
“You will get it soon enough. I appreciate your efforts. I’ve never had an apprentice before.”
Olivia grinned slightly. “I wonder,” she said, “if we are going on patrol tonight…”
“Certainly.”
“If we might not visit Lisa. I haven’t seen her in so long.”
Luna looked to the south. She did not often visit Ponyville, not wanting to think of the events there. “Very well. I should like to see Twilight Sparkle as well. But perhaps, in the future, we might invite them here.”
“That would be nice.”
Although the practice of humans riding ponies had become unpopular again, princesses are exempt from rules, even unwritten ones, and Luna would frequently bear Olivia rather than having the both of them pulled in a chariot. Whatever skill Olivia lacked in magically raising the Moon, she had in being able to ride without giving it her full attention. As they sailed the sky, she took the opportunity to see herself from the outside.
Her star had only risen since her arrival in Equestria. From citizen to mayor to partner of the princess, any human would envy her. But it was the ponies that she appreciated more. None of them knew that her skin color meant a class difference on Earth. Why would they? Ponies came in all colors. She had an opportunity that she could never win on Earth, to truly be judged on the content of her character.
There was an occasional pang of homesickness, but she wouldn’t give up Equestria for the world.
***
As night fell, Bastian looked over the landscape. His friends would all be sleeping. Tomorrow they would rise again to soar among the clouds, to bring forth bounty from the soil, to bend the laws of nature to their will. He had lost count of how many friends he had, and hadn’t tried to tally. Privately, he felt that more credit than he deserved fell on him for the Equestrians’ victory, but he still felt proud. He had faced down a man who wanted to kill him, and made a friend of him.
Whatever the night or the next day would bring, he was ready. He had earned Equestria.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- BadgerBrony900 · 7k words · 34 3 · 2.1k views
- no sh*t sherlock · 2.8k words · 24 8 · 1.1k views
- operaticphantom · 18k words · 135 10 · 5.5k views
- TARDIS_Brony · 81k words · 46 6 · 2k views
- Cadiefly · 9.8k words · 38 6 · 759 views
- anon 490834 · 1.2k words · 107 11 · 3.1k views
- Lunaguy · 34k words · 114 11 · 3.1k views
- JuneLuxray2 · 22k words · 62 4 · 2.7k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.118 seconds
Total duration
877 users online
1,147,936 hits today, 2,073,628 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Wat.
No, really. Did I miss something? The ending leaves me flat, here. It just kind of... happens. I know now that Luna alluded to the events of the final chapter before, but "Oh, we'll do things this messy, cruel, and inefficient way because we can hit a one-time-only reset button that only I know about later, and the bad humans will suddenly decide to piss off and stay home" comes off as the worst sort of ass-pull, and really cheapens things, at least for me. When I commented about "if this sticks", I was expecting something like a precognitive dream, or magical simulation, or something. Or for there to be a lot more story coming, if they stayed dead.
As for the human side, the General's resignation during active duty will probably be declined, he'll be facing a court-martial for desertion (and incompetence if they need a fall guy), and the government and economy are in such a bind that the next invasion attempt would probably be a "shoot first, shoot again if it's still moving, and the only question you ask is 'do you surrender?' when the leaders show up" type deal. It's like you suddenly had Earth blasted with the Elements of Harmony off-screen here.
I really don't know what to think about this ending. It's just kind of... there.
i.imgur.com/N6frZ.png
Well, I liked the ending. (But I think you want “synchronization”, not “syncopation”.)
I think that having the humans get a way to identify and encourage the behaviors of the bronies that made the world work better would have the simplest and easiest ending that was still peaceful.
Pretty good story but I can't help but feel like it was rushed a bit... yeah that's it from me I think. dash.ponychan.net/chan/files/thumb/132634431855s.png
This guy 2566876 makes some pretty good points too.
2566876>>2568753
I'm not unsympathetic to this view, but the fact is that I somewhat lost the passion for this story after Chapter 4 of the last section. I think it's important to be able to write even when I'm not inspired to do so, and letting it sit for almost two months was too much.
This was a learning experience for me, as are most of my stories. I wanted to see if I could write a novel-length fiction, and if it would be easier if I had a multitude of characters, and to try out some outlining techniques.
I hope someday to do another long story, and I will do everything I can to improve. In the meantime, I'm glad for the parts you enjoyed and sorry for not making it better.
2568985
OK, not sure how to word this without sounding like an ass, so I'll just go with it. You lost inspiration, so rather than mark the story as being on hiatus and making a blog post or something, you decided to phone it in just so it would be complete? I mean, sure it was getting dark towards the end there, but I'm sure you could have done something with it. I've read your other stuff. That ending was not up to your usual standards. I, for one, would have been happy to wait until you knew what you wanted to do with it. To be perfectly honest, I'd probably have had better memories of it if it were marked cancelled rather than with that sort of ending.
OK, that's enough sounding like an overly entitled reader from me. I'm not trying to make you feel bad here. I really did enjoy the story. It had its issues (and those are mainly personal taste), but it was an interesting concept, and had a lot of potential. I'm just kind of disappointed that you felt the need to force the ending.
2568985 It's okay, I still enjoyed reading this and it seems like you already have a long story up. I'll have to take a look at that but it'll take a few days to read it. Unless my computer doesn't start up tomorrow then I might be able to go through it all.
2569061
FWIW, nearly every time someone starts a comment with "sorry if I sound like an ass," they don't sound like an ass. Including here. So I accept your criticism. That said, it's a preference we'll have to disagree on. There are so many stories on my favorites list that are cancelled or just incomplete but from so long ago that I have no hope of more. I'd rather have something to end those stories than to lack closure.
It does seem a little rushed. But I'm satisfied. Which is kinda funny as I wanted Equestria to win an all out war. But I guess this is more in line with the tone of the show so I can't complain.
Well ... I have read this story and I am strangely torn about it. Do not take me wrong ... it was well written and all that, but it just ... doesn't felt right. And especially deus ex machina really is not my favourite type of plot-solving. BUT ... all in all, this story has deserved a thumbs up and I would give it 7/10 internets.
This is still one of my favorite stories on the site.
Even with the.. hasty.. ending.
I loved the world building in this story. It was neat seeing how you made the world transition as the story progressed. Two things I wasn't fond of was the conversations and the war. The conversations seemed a bit stale and unnatural. Specifically in the first few chapters, the conversations had a lot of words that people don't use in informal conversation on a daily basis.
The war could have been it's own stand alone story. But it broke the tone of the story a bit too much for my liking. I would think Celestia would be a bit more clever and keep communication open with the the president, or the U.N. at least. She would have known that poor communication can be the cause of major conflicts.
That's just my two cents on the matter. It was a good little read. Thumbs up from me.
amazing story. you, my fellow Brony, should feel really proud
4560561 And after month four, there were already calls to bring home the troops. The Equestrians were banking on the same sentiment.
4307009 I second that opinion.
And that's that. Glad it's over, we grow tired of grim dark Fics and the fact that this one stopped before my tolerance fell out is good I guess.
Keep going! ;)
5893171 Heh. This was my first attempt to write a long fic and I'm not overly happy with the results, though sometimes it grows on me. I'm glad you liked it.
5893676 you've definitely improved!
I am pretty neutral on this story. It had a lot of potential but bringing things to battle like that seemed too contrived. The deaths had an emotional impact but not in a good way. I nearly stopped reading as soon as Twilight couldn't save Rainbow. It also lacked any extrapolation on how Twilight would feel about it. Yes she knew the mission was important but you completely forgot her ability to rage. If she was powerful enough to cast a shield spell across the multiverse to protect them at the convention the humans wouldn't have stood a chance against her after Dash died. She might not have killed them but I am sure she would have done something outlandish in her (quite likely) fiery rage. At the very least they would have also made sure to have the elements with them just in case, which was also overlooked. I just see so many holes in the story. I liked the beginning but it fell apart for me emotionally in part 3.
Also I would have liked to see what Twilight's reaction would have been to someone who went over that actually wanted to be a pony. Twilight or Pinkie made the comment that they weren't going to force them to be ponies because that's just silly. If you stuck me in there I would have spoke up after Twilight mentioned advanced science and said "I would like to hear it later, oh and what if we want to be a pony?"
i really like this story its really good story nice job :D
Five years ago yesterday, you finished this. And it was okay.