Premiere - Epilogue
“You remember what Sir Rat Tail said, don’t you master?” Echo Shade asked as she set the final fuse into place. Tall Tail sighed as he fixed the last firework. “When Outsiders come to the valley…” Echo said.
“...Treat them well,” Tall Tail said. “Take them in, show them grace, give them provisions, answer their questions, and then send them on their way.” He picked up his things and trotted back towards Townsquare.
“But…!” Echo followed after. “Should they hear our story, sing our songs, and count themselves our family sisters and brothers, then under the wrath of the new world will our friendship be forged, and that which is forged under dragonfire is not broken easily. Our songs will change, our home will change, and the world will change.”
Tall Tail sighed again.
“Don’t see?” Echo asked. “Outsiders, sisters, brothers… dragonfire?”
“Echo Shade, what do we say about prophecies?”
“They’re not written for the ponies who come before, but the ponies who come after?”
“Exactly. Prophecies are an encouragement to those who live in changing and trying times. Until we are absolutely sure that Sir Rat Tail himself saw a dandy Galloway, a stuck-up Unicorn, and an accident-prone Pegasus coming to the Valley and changing the fate of Cabalos as we know it… we are who come before, and we shouldn’t speculate for its own sake.”
Echo shrugged. “Speaking as a pony who met outsiders, is now good friends with some of them, and happened to take a fair amount of dragonfire… I’d say I’m a good contender at least.”
“Perhaps,” Tall Tail said. He nodded to the fireworks. “The drums will beat seven times. What do you do on the fifth?”
Echo’s horn spat out little sparks, like a flint. “That’s when I run and light the fuses.”
“Good. All must be lit before the seventh drum, and once the fireworks get going, that’ll likely be the last exciting thing you do for a while.” Echo put on a sort of half-frown. “What is it?”
“Like, you’re the master, and I’ll do whatever you say…”
“I certainly hope there’s more to it than that!”
“But how unexciting do you really think the valley will be with Lightning and Polaris sticking around?”
“I’m trying not to think about that too hard.”
The drums pounded. The stars twinkled silently above. The ponies tensely shifted their hooves about. The wind gently tossed their manes. Lightning Bug struggled in the crowd to keep her wings and tail from brushing against anyone accidentally. She begged and begged her Stormtouch to behave itself. She spied Slashbuckler and Meadow Skip, and somewhere nearby Polaris was taking notes, presumably catching up on his mapmaking. His ears were flat against his head from all the noise.
She saw Echo Shade dash across the hill. She ducked her horn and one by one, lit the trails of fuses.
The final drum sounded.
And one by one the fireworks shot into the air. The explosions were deafening. Everyone was drenched in colored light, from every color of the rainbow. The ponies cheered and whooped as if to drown out the noise.
Three young pegasi flew overhead, Snowy was one of them, and they all had ribbons trailing behind them as they swooped by.
After that it was almost like a riot. The ponies ripped the boards and planks from their houses and windows and threw them into a pile. They lit the wood on fire and danced and sang around it. The band started playing again, food started cooking again, and the festival was almost finally underway.
Cedar Seed gently nudged Lightning’s shoulder. “We’d have none of this if it weren’t for you and your friends. Thank you.” Lightning just gave a sheepish smile.
Echo came racing back and gave Lightning a hug. “I lit those!” she said.
“I saw it!”
“Just wait till you see the closing show. Master will handle those ones himself. He’s always so good at making fireworks. It’s probably the one thing he likes besides telling stories.”
“Perhaps you should introduce us sometime,” Meadow chimed in. “I’d love to hear all the stories you Harmonites come up with.”
Snowy and the other pegasus fillies touched down a short distance away. Smokey joined her just as she trotted over. “Didja see me, Echo, Lightning?”
“You were wonderful, your flying is getting better every day!”
“I wouldn’t know much,” Meadow said with a shrug. “But it was lovely as far as I’m concerned.”
“Really??” And Snowy’s eyes shone. She stepped a little closer, and her ribbon dragged along the ground. “Are you… a prince?” she asked.
Meadow paused. He clicked his tongue and winked at her. “Not sure yet, I’ll get back to you on that.”
Snowy blinked. “...Wait, what?”
“Smokey!” Tall Tail hollered over. “The story’s about ready to start, and you promised to help.”
“But I wanna talk to Lightning!” he said. “I have something to tell her before she and the others leave the valley!”
Tall Tail shook his head. “Haven’t you heard?” he walked over. “Lightning Bug and the outsiders aren’t going anywhere. Until we find a way past the stormwall, that is.”
“You’re staying?!” Smokey cried and looked at Lightning.
“Contain yourself,” Tall Tail grumbled.
“You’re staying for real? What made you change your mind?”
Lightning Bug looked up at the Spirit Stars shining in the night sky. “Ever since we’re foals, we’re taught that long long ago, the three nations worked together and loved each other. They don’t now, but nobody seems to really want things to go back to the way they were before.” Lightning smiled at Smokey, and the colt’s face flushed. He shied closer to his father. “But here in the valley, it’s like a fairytale to me! Everyone gets along, whether they’re a pegasus or not, whether they’re perfect or not! I want to know the how and why about this place. Maybe there’s something I can learn here and take back home with me.”
“Wow…” Smokey’s eyes shone. “She’s so thoughtful!”
“You may not find much, I’m afraid,” Tall Tail said gently. “We’ve been pondering the mysteries of the valley for ages, and I’m not sure we know any more than when Sir Rat Tail left us. Should the stars and the Wanderer will it, I pray you find what you’re looking for.” He nodded to his son. “Let’s go, Smokey.” He took the colt by the shoulder and led him away, but he kept casting glances back at Lightning. She waved goodbye to him, and his face froze like that until they walked out of sight.
Echo Shade lead Lightning and Meadow around the square. They could see the Star Pillars and their candles glowing in the distance, and pony after pony left a freshly lit candle by Sir Rat Tail’s statue. Tall Tail performed a story nearby for the foals, and some older ponies stopped to watch too.
“Would you stop following me, please??” Lightning heard Polaris’ voice.
“You’re still an Outsider,” Slashbuckler said. “And I gotta keep suspicious persons within hoof’s reach, especially on important days of the year.” The two where basically walking shoulder to shoulder, and Polaris was doing his best to tear away, but the pegasus wouldn’t relent.
“You were there when I helped deal with the dragon! I’m not a threat to your little village!”
“True, but what if you just accidentally cast a Lustrian spell that we’ve never seen before and cause an earthquake with that magnet magic of yours?”
Meadow smiled and held a hoof to his chest. "Oh, excuse me? I'm an outsider too! Won't somebody please escort me?"
Slash looked at Meadow and sighed. "Oh, fine, but I'm still watching you!" He said to Polaris. He walked up to Meadow and gruffly took guard.
"I was kind of hoping for the unicorn chick from earlier..." Meadow mumbled. Nobody heard him.
And Polaris saw the others and some relief found his eyes. “Ah, Lightning, thank goodness,” he cantered over. It was still weird to hear him call her that.
“What is it?”
“See, I’ve been trying to find the time to finish this, and this is as good a time as any, now that we’re all here most of us anyway…” Polaris reached into his saddlebag. He pulled out a small bundle of cloth and held it in the air with his magic. “See, I’ve been thinking about that necklace of yours. You never take it off…” Lightning reached up and pulled on it, lightly this time. “...I always thought it looked a little plain.”
“Oh,” Lightning said. She let go of the necklace. “My mom gave it to me, it was a gift before I deployed.”
“Um…” and Polaris’ face went pale. “That is to say, er…”
“Just show her, already!” Echo said.
“Right of course,” Polaris cleared his throat. “Me and the others put our heads together to try and make a gift for you, and the best we could come up with was something… complementary to your look. Here.”
He unwrapped the bundle and showed it Lightning. She brought a hoof to her mouth.
It was a pendant the same color as her necklace, shaped like an upside-down raindrop, encrusted with a round cyan stone, the same color of her eyes. It was polished smooth. “It’s beautiful.”
“That’s a fulgurite, one of the very same from earlier. The herbalist asked me to dispose of it… it had gotten caught in her mane, apparently. I thought of a better use for it. So I brought it to Slashbuckler, and he broke it and polished it down to size with a piece of elderstone. The bard and Miss Echo helped me select the right materials, and then I molded the shape and put everything together. It’s our gift to you.” And he floated it over with his magic. “I know we’re effectively trapped for the time being… but should we ever part paths, you have something to remember us by.”
Lightning gingerly slid the pendant into place and put her necklace back on. It weighed down on her neck, but it didn’t feel heavy. She counted and swayed to both sides and felt it bob around her shoulders. She beamed and tapped the ground. “I love it! Thank you so much!” She leapt and wrapped her forelegs around Polaris' shoulders. He just pursed his lips and nodded.
“Excellent, we’re glad you like it.”
Lightning let go and stepped back. She held the pendant and pressed it to her heart. “Whenever I was lonely or scared, I remembered this necklace and thought of my home.”
“But now, thanks to that dandy little piece,” Meadow said. “You can think about how you finally showed that dragon who’s boss! Not so scared and useless now are you?”
Lightning laughed. “I didn’t do that on my own! We all did, us and Apple Bloom. The truth is I’m still a little scared, and I don’t know if I’m really as amazing as everyone thinks I am. But I’ll look at this pendant and remember all of you, and how brave you guys make me feel.”
“What will you do now, Lightning?” Echo Shade asked.
“Well, I guess my first order of business is finding a house.”
“You can stay with me until you’re situated!” Echo said.
“I’d love to have you over again. What about you, Polaris?” Echo asked. “What will you do?”
Polaris shrugged. “I’ll be blunt. I’m nowhere near finished my map, and I need a base of operations, or else I’ll never get it done. The Valley of Life is as good a place as any.”
“And I for one, am happy to tag along for the ride!” Meadow Skip said. He looked at the Star Pillar of Faith, brightly illuminated by candlelight. “The Valley is a very intriguing…” and he spied a gaggle of young mares congregating near a cart, whispering and giggling as they snuck glances at him. “And a very lovely place indeed!” He slid his lute over his shoulder and walked off. “I’ll catch you all later!”
Polaris hmphed at Meadow. “Aw, be nice, he’s young,” Echo Shade said. “You know what they say about the Galloway’s country?”
“Old, sleazy, and... corny. That is the Galloway… way.” Polaris cleared his throat again. “So, besides the games, the food…” The band blasted their trumpets, and another firework made him jump. “...And the noise. What exactly does the rest of the festival entail?”
“Oh, nothing!” Echo Shade said with a smile. “Everybody’s free to chill out, hang out, or just go home, though I don’t know anyone who’d do it on purpose…”
And then the two watched Apple Bloom duck and weave her way through the crowd of ponies. She was making her way back to the forest.
“Speak of Typhon,” Echo grumbled.
“Apple Bloom?” Lightning asked. The galloway filly stopped in her tracks and tossed a look their way. “Are you going to join us?”
“...Nah. Sorry.”
“They think we’re heroes,” Lightning said. “Don’t you wanna hang out a little bit?”
“Are we though?” Apple Bloom looked away. She sighed. “Look, saving the Valley was cool and all, but adventuring and hero-ing just isn’t my style. You guys have fun, I got work to do.” She kept walking. “My shop’s always open if you need medicine.” And she cantered off.
“Classic Apple Bloom,” Echo mumbled. “Says she can’t stand people, and then she never gives them a chance. I for one am off to socialize and show everyone I care about them.” And she walked away.
“I’ll make sure that Sylvainnian stays out of trouble,” Slashbucker trotted off.
Lightning looked over the hill and spied the glowing Star Pillar once more.
“Lightning?” Polaris asked. She didn’t answer. She closed her eyes and listened. It was fainter now, but she could still hear it. “Lightning?” He asked again.
“Hm? Sorry, I’m still not used to hearing you call me that.”
“I can go back to Private if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Nah, I like it this way.”
“Good. …Unless you need something else, I’m going to go find my tent and get it ready.”
“That’s okay, I kind of want sometime to myself to think.”
“Very well then,” and then Lightning Bug was alone for a time. Except not quite.
Amidst the music, the cheering, the lights, a figure strode through the woods. She walked carefully that none may see her, though there was nobody on Cabalos who could gaze upon her if she willed it not so. She walked like this often, and she did so alone, as she had done for nearly an entire millennia.
Her cloak covered her wings, her mighty hooves left trails of magic but not one blade of grass was disturbed by her step. She stepped to the top of the hill to watch from afar, and she finally pulled down her hood, and her shimmering blue mane billowed like a ocean wave afloat in the air. Her gentle blue eyes watched as foals played, as ponies laughed and talked together, and she closed them once to listen to the music. Oh, the power of music.
The last few days, indeed the past year, it all ran together for her. A being like her often had trouble with the passage of time. She had grown weary of it, and she had grown weary of watching the hearts of Cabalos turn cold. The disasters brought on by monsters and beast only drove them further apart. This valley, this little sanctuary, it remained to remind her of what had been, and what could be again, what for so long seemed but a dream to her.
And then came the three outsiders, and then three harmonites. Every pony came from completely different walks of life, but not only did they accept this strange little village she loved so much, they accepted each other. She always knew it was possible, but so few had known peace as this for so long. The sort of peace that could unite the families of Cabalos once again.
And so, as she watched the celebration of their home, Caduceus the Wanderer sang a song to herself, as she so often did.
Pride redeemed, old mistakes atoned
The dream is no longer mine alone to bear
A dream big enough for all to share
That the world I see would be fantasy no more
Brother and Sister together like never before
The journey’s first step is no little thing
So little I can do but wish and pray and sing…
Conviction behind, Dignity show them the way
Prudence and Mercy lead them not astray
Have Faith and be true and hearts will be moved
This is my Hope for you
It's like a dream come true
And briefly did her eyes turn from the cheer and settle on the seven shining stars above her. Symbols of hope for the ponies of Cabalos, no matter from what nation they hailed, and yet she could never look without a great longing overcoming her. She stepped along the ground, as if to draw the slightest bit closer to the glowing stars above.
But if one selfish plea would make things worth it
to make a perfect day more perfect
would be if you were down here by my side
So you could see it too…
Caduceus, the only Alicorn walking Cabalos, hung her head, and she remained there for a moment, unmoving, thinking only of the passage of time, and those she spent it without.
“Lightning Bug!”
She instinctively drew back into the trees.
“Lightning Bug, where’d you go?” Echo Shade the apprentice was searching the grass and trees beneath where Caduceus hid. The others soon joined her.
“I can’t find her anywhere,” Slashbuckler said.
“She didn’t already go home did she?” Meadow Skip asked. “She wouldn’t just leave us, would she?”
“You guys.” They all turned at Apple Bloom’s voice. She stood beside a tree, and on the ground beside her, curled up against the tree’s trunk, lay Lightning Bug, fast asleep, shoulders and wings lifting gently. “Keep it down, wouldja.”
They slowly and carefully gathered around her. Lightning tossed once and pressed herself against the trunk.
“Imma just nudge her,” Slash said. Echo promptly smacked his hoof away.
“Don’t you dare!”
“But Echooo, she’s gonna miss the Master’s lightshow!”
“Lightning Bug has had a big day,” Echo said. “I think the girl has finally earned some rest.”
They found places to sit on the grass beside her.
Caduceus crept as close as she dared. The friends guarded her faithfully as she rested, the poor girl who hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since the thunderstorm. The girl who despite the odds, despite her own doubts, despite the chance to return to her old life, chose to remain here with them, and in kind with her.
The truth was Caduceus did not know why the six were gathered here, or what the World had in store for them. But she could see the Virtues in them, and she knew they could face whatever came their way, so long as they did so together.
And she would watch over these heroes just as she did the six before.
The fireworks started. Six colors lit up the night sky, one after another. They lit up the pegasus filly’s face, and she remained asleep.
As Lightning Bug slept, Caduceus smiled and sung a song. A lullaby that she had never sung for a living being for over a millennia.
My Little Pony, My Little Pony,
So much kinder, braver, than you think
My Little Pony, My Little Pony
Be bold, be strong, hear the song and
see what the new day brings…
And Caduceus threw back her cloak and spread her wings. She galloped into the night and took off. Once she took the air, she became as a shooting star, a streak of light, and she dashed away to disappear amongst the stars.
“Master, Master!” Snowy shook Tall Tail’s shoulder. “Did you make that one? I’ve never seen anything like it!”
She spoke of the bright blue trail that even now remained suspended in the night sky against the stars. Tall Tail was at a loss for words.
Lightning Bug peaked one eye open. She saw the fireworks, and she saw the blue streak fading away into the distance. She looked at her friends, smiled, and went back to sleep.
Deep, deep in the tunnels beneath the mountains…
“Old magic…?” the creature shuddered and groaned. He held his brow with his large, stony fingers. Each cracking joint and ruffled piece of fur echoed in the darkness around him. One hand kneaded the black armrests of his throne, and his bony back scraped his seat as he leaned forward. His breath was cold and clammy like the air of the caves. “Old magic… how?”
He heard it humming above him, so softly even his own ears could barely hear it. He hadn’t heard anything like it since before land above turned to ash, long before the new life had founded their nations. Normally six points of silence, but today? One of them had come to life, and the walls of his cave shook with its sound.
“Noise,” he said. “Those pitiful creatures. Urgh…” he reached beside his seat and grabbed the mighty staff leaning beside it. He lifted it once and slammed its point into the cold stone beneath him and the air was unsettled. His red eyes pierced the darkness with their glowing gaze. “Every year they trample the memories of those who came before, and they sing their deranged songs, and every year they bring more noise… awful noise!” the massive creature stopped to breath the air. “And this stench… I recognize it… dragons. Those little soft-headed fools have allowed a filthy dragon into my domain?”
He lowered his head and growled, and the entire cavern shook. His mind and heart were like the hard elderstone, and stone does not forget easily. He remembered promises made and broken over the centuries. He remembered the lies, he remembered the anger. But most of all he remembered the noise. That awful, awful noise that haunted his dreams and roused his slumber, when all he wanted was darkness and silence.
“Their days are numbered,” he said. “I will face them soon, and they will hear my decree, and they will bend the knee to their king. They will leave this valley once and for all, or they will all be buried.”
And with one last growl, he settled into his throne, and the Mountain King once more entered a deep slumber.
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11270186
im interested in this.
lets show them the Magic of Friendship
That, sadly, seems to be the case. Sometimes it's outright baffling what kind of stories become popular on this site, when things like this one go unnoticed. Hopefully this will get more attention as time goes on.
This really deserves more attention. I’d also love to see some sort of crossover between this and a gen4 fiction just cause how interesting it would be
I like this, it's very enjoyable and I can't wait to see more.
11311737 The important thing with dialog is to make it RELEVANT. There are ways to restructure conversation to make it more succinct and interesting. For one thing, simply alternating speaking roles with NO actions taking place is very dull. The characters should be DOING something. Indeed, often it's far better to simply have them carry out the action with narration rather than talking about it.
Mundane tasks usually don't need character dialog directly related to the task. Instead, use the task as a FRAMING device for the characters to talk about something IMPORTANT while they're carrying it out.
For instance: two characters doing dishes while talking about the demons rising from the Hellmouth in their backyard. You can use their ACTIONS with the dishes to frame the scene, and either SUPPORT or CONTRADICT their dialog. For the sake of comedy, they could be nonchalantly washing the dishes, merely making droll commentary of the fire and brimstone, and how they're worried the soul-sucking hoards could crack the fine china. OR, you could make a tense horror scene where the helpless characters are attempting to put a bold face on things, while shaking vibrations through the dish water as they tremble in fear, tightly wringing the dish towel until it tears in half, or dropping dishes... all while their DIALOG has them playing it off... maybe with the undertone being that the demons only attack those who show fear, and they toy with their victims until they snap... which is what they're doing here.... something slowly revealed throughout the story until the climax to gradually bring the reader to the terrible revelation. There, you have TENSION!!!, and a simple scene of washing dishes becomes INTENSE and meaningful. Indeed, that could be a short story all on its own.
But just having characters TALKING about doing a task? Going back and forth with spoken lines and little to no action? Having that task be completely disconnected from the CORE plot in any way? That's wasted space.