The Ten Million Year Hello

by Bandy

Epilogue: A Lesson in Geology

Ten million years passed.

A new mountain range emerged north of Andesia, beginning around the tip of the southern plains and extending all the way north into Equestria, cleanly bisecting the San Palomino desert in the west from the Applosian hills in the east. As time went on, it extended further still, brushing up against the greater Ghastly Valley and the Everfree Forest on a relentless northbound path.

Around the same time, a second new range emerged, this one beginning in the Unicorn Hills northwest of old Canterlot Mountain. This one cut a path south through the White Tail Woods.

Year by year, the two ranges drew ever closer, by inches and by yards, nudged this way and that by volcanoes and the natural geological forces of the earth but never straying from their paths, until in a fantastic ten thousand year-long collison, the two ranges met in the plains where the city of Ponyville once sat, intertwining to become the longest continuous mountain range in the world.

Comments

[Muggonny]

Ooo, this looks interesting. I'll have to read it!

[Spade_McTrowel]

This was an interesting read.

I don't really buy the romance tag, as this Spike would have done what he did for any of his friends.
However, the story as a whole was an interesting look at the place of dragons - and Spike - in the world.

Good story and good luck.

[Bandy]

11256751 Thanks for the corrections glad you liked it!

[Yordna]

Now this has been a pageturner. The time pressure and feeling of dread/panic, plus the mixture of body horror and Hedgehog's Dilemma presented by Banshee, framed by unique worldbuilding, is something I've never experienced before. Thank you for writing this. It was a delight.

[Scratchpad]

Very compelling.

[Late_Night]

idk what to feel now
i both do and don't like this

[Booster Spice]

I wonder just who Celestia was protecting from who with the shield against the void?

If dragons can keep growing and on dieing turn to rock, and get too large to fly on Equestria without causing severe wind damage, then it would be better for them to leave the world and make their way in the outside void, becoming large enough to form worlds and even stars or even more, slowly spreading life and space into an ever increasing volume? Flying and cavourting in the skies of old red supergiant stars?

I wonder who gifted her the solar fire resistant chainmail, and if it was normal material like tungsten or just magically reinforced, like by Celestia?

I wonder how many pit fights, back street doctors, dark apothecaries, amongst other methods, she went through before getting so desperate, and who would help, and could survive the procedure themselves. Unless they didnt?

Music to listen to.

We Have All The Time In The World.

[Via]

I really enjoyed this. I’m very interested in the implied fates of the Alicorns, too.

[Hillbe]

Twilight?
So Twilight did you find what you were looking for?
42

[Bandy]

11257869 Just a continuity error glad you caught it. In the first draft, Spike was fifteen stories tall. At that size, he was even more of an inconvenience to me than he was to himself, so I scaled him down.

[Wild Zontars]

Once upon a time, a man decided to climb a mountain. He took a nasty fall, badly bruising himself, and landed in the woods next to a shaggy-haired dog. Despite his injuries, he limped back to his house, where he left the dog, then to the nearest hospital, where he got some x-rays. When he got home, the dog looked hungry, so he made a steak just for the dog, and turned on the television. He was just about to call the pound when he heard that a wealthy couple, on vacation in the vicinity, had lost a very shaggy dog, and were offering a very large sum for his return. He bought a plane ticket, but fell short on funds. Being a thrifty man, never wanting to live in debt, he sold a chair from his house to pay for the ticket. When he got on the plane, he found that he couldn't take the dog without preparations; the airline, however, was willing to transfer his ticket for a nominal fee. He was forced to pay this fee, and the veterinarian's bills, with a credit card, which irked him even though he knew the reward would offset it. Then he flew to the city in question, but since he was only twenty-four (too young to rent a car), had to walk ten miles through the woods, going in the general direction of the manor. When he arrived, he found he had missed the front gate entirely. He walked directly up to the door with the dog and rang the bell... when he and the dog were shot dead by a guard.

[Your resident Night Owl]

I am conflicted on how I feel of this ending.

[resonance]

Didn’t care for smolder in this, but I liked how he came to terms with his existence.

I thought it was going to end with twilight coming back.

And lol you mentioned four of the five alicorns.

I get what you’re going for at the end, but does that mean they decided to rest super far away from each other and just grow til they met again at ponyville?

[Hillbe]

11258211
It's the journey - We all end the same way

What the hay Spike, I left Smarty Pants with you and and and Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
That's what you get gallivanting across the galaxy
42

[FanOfMostEverything]

Excellent look at the draconic condition and the costs that life among the shorter-lived species demands. Time keeps on slipping, and generations of those lovable mayflies pass in a blink. There comes a point where trying to cling to them becomes unhealthy. Both dragons here passed that point centuries ago. At least they found acceptance together. I'm sure Twilight would be proud.

I'm also sure she has quite an earful for Celestia when she gets back from her research trip.

Thank you for this.

[semillon]

my review:

good stuff

i like the world you've built around the story, how pony society is still so very pony, how celestia is vibing in the astral, how dragons are

i like how contemplative this feels, vs. being all angsty about death and memories past, you set it apart from other Old!Spike fics in that way

i love the title

[DarkDMan]

Great read!