Epilogue: And Beyond
Rainbow Dash:
There’s always a right time to say something, and infinitely many wrong ones. I think you’ve got an idea of what I’m talking about. Back there, right before launch, it definitely wasn’t the right time, but I guessed that you might notice this note on the flag and read it then. Out there, where there’s nothing but space and beauty all around, is definitely a good time, if not the best. Well, here goes then: I wondered if, now that all of this is over for now, if you would like to—
Rainbow Dash sighed as she got to the point where the note had been torn, apparently in Twilight’s rush to get the flag to her. So many things could lie on the other end of that sentence, and she felt that some of them would be much more enjoyable than the others. It could certainly make a pony think, even her. She looked out over the small hill as she approached it, the night twinkling above her and whispering its power into the air. Deep indigoes and ebonies swirled around and through the pinpricks of purity, casting a smooth canvas for a wonderfully starry night.
As she crested the hill from one direction, Twilight approached it from the other. The unicorn took a deep breath, lingering for a moment while the cool grass swept along her hooves, almost urging her forward and deeper into the night. When she reached the top of the hill, she noticed Rainbow Dash just beginning to lay down on the crisp ground, stretching her wings out before tucking them back into their folded state. Twilight took a place beside her, deciding to not break the silence quite yet as the pair instinctually let their eyes drift skyward.
After a long pause spent simply enjoying the peace after years of hectic work, Rainbow finally spoke up. “So, you know, that note got torn somehow. I only got part of it. Although I still think I have a pretty good idea of what you were headed to.” She hoofed the paper to Twilight, and the unicorn’s eyes glazed over a bit when she discovered the most vitally important section of the note completely missing.
“You’re right, part of it’s gone...” Twilight trailed off, lowering her head a bit as her dejected voice slid her mouth into a line. Now what do I do... The still air sat heavily around them, pressing in as the crickets let loose somewhat muted chirps.
Rainbow Dash caught the action in the corner of her vision and turned to face Twilight, a late night breeze stirring and wafting a nippy graze over them. For a moment, she thought she could see the world turning in lavender eyes. “Something up, Twilight?”
She looked up into those eyes, those rubied eyes, and realized that if Rainbow could go after her dreams, so could she. In a moment of inspiration that could only have come on that night, she spoke up. “There was, but I think I’m good now. How about I let you know what was on the rest of that note?” Twilight gave a tiny smile, and the pair locked eyes, two fates spun together by night’s loom. A full moon gave the landscape a mercurial glow as two ponies found warmth in each other.
Rainbow Dash and Twilight sat in a booth in the onboard meal hall, sipping sarsaparilla and snacking on scones slathered with strawberry sauce. They chuckled, thoroughly enjoying the week vacation they had before work came back in full force with the recent establishment of the Equestrian Space Committee. Twilight mentioned that she had respectfully declined the position of chairpony, instead opting for lead researcher and letting Princess Luna handle the main operation of the organization.
When the laughter from one of Pinkie Pie’s strange stories trailed off, Rainbow turned to Twilight. “Y’know, I used to think that you didn’t have the guts to do something like you did last night. I mean, it takes a lot to tell that to a friend. But hey, I guess I’m a bit of an inspiration.” She jokingly puffed her chest out a bit and made a show of tossing her mane back heroically.
Twilight blushed a little at the recent memory. “Well, I can’t lie and say that you getting to the moon didn’t inspire me just a little. It just felt right, you know? I knew that there wasn’t going to be another chance quite like that again, so I seized it. Carpe diem, as the ancient Pegasus empire liked to say.”
“You certainly did great on the timing, that’s for sure.” Rainbow Dash took another bite of the scone in her hoof and downed it with some sarsaparilla. “I know I would’ve never been able to do it. Sure, I can go to the moon, but I’m not one for too much reflection. You’re cut out for that.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed for a moment before relaxing back. “Sometimes, though, you have to break the mirror.”
In another area of the ship, Luna’s magic encased a large, vibrant quill in her indigo magic, slipping it into an inkwell. With careful motions and an ending flourish, her signature sealed itself in place alongside Celestia’s. The otherworldy ambassador that sat across from her gave an excited bounce as the treaty returned to his hooves, approved.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Rainbow Dash paced out onto the bridge of the large vessel they now lived in, looking out over the area beyond the viewport.
Twilight smiled as she leaned on Rainbow’s side. “And to think, this all started with dreams on a starry night...” She thought back to the torn section and to wherever it might be, drifting in space or decomposed in some plot of soil.
—maybe grab lunch and see where it goes from there. I mean, it’s a start, right? Anyway, I thought we’d do that and talk about the possible formation of a space committee as well. I couldn't imagine the last two decades spent any differently. It just goes to show that dedication pulls through.
With hope and sincerity,
Twilight Sparkle
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Rao the Red Sun · 3.1k words · 92 3 · 2.7k views
- Silver Tongue · 2.6k words · 216 6 · 5.7k views
- LimeAttack · 1.1k words · 35 1 · 1.6k views
- ThatOneYellowPony · 8.5k words · 48 2 · 1k views
- TheVulpineHero1 · 3.1k words · 241 4 · 3.2k views
- RavensDagger · 32k words · 178 13 · 3.9k views
- Dark0592 · 1.1k words · 145 16 · 3.8k views
- treco89090 · 4.6k words · 79 16 · 5.5k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.205 seconds
Total duration
1,004 users online
309,724 hits today, 2,561,572 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.®
Speaking of heart warming epilogues, aye
Wonderfully done
1358456
Thankee.
1358768
At this point, she's got a higher rank than they do .
heart warming epilogues indeed
I've gotta say, at the beginning (of the epilogue), I thought it heading more towards a 'shipping' ending, but I really like the way it turned out. Good work!
1359787
My intent was to keep the ending open, and I'm not gonna say what actually happened. Glad that that way's preferred!
It was a nice story. However, due to the tone and plot of the narrative, maybe a little less Purple Prose would have helped. It works well as a cure story, but the dialogue feels a little too heavy handed. I guess you were going more for a poetic/introspective feel, but the effect might have been strong if those instances were restricted to certain points in the narrative.
Even if that irked me somewhat, the characterizations and the (friend)shipping were very well handled, so it was a good story.
Made my day to see this epilogue.
Heartwarming and amazing.
I always like to see stories like this, able to create heartwarming scenes between characters without shipping them.
1364924
That's what I went for!
Well, the epilogue makes this story. I would agree with a previous commenter that the prose is a bit purple to begin with, and something about how the characters just suddenly and without any awkwardness dive into the heartfelt declarations seems a bit inorganic. But the visuals are quite nice.
1515163
I definitely agree with what you've pointed out, looking back. I get the feeling that I probably could have started at the launch and it wouldn't have suffered too greatly. Either way, I appreciate the comment, cowpoke.
1515447
Sometimes I regret my oath to Never Unwrite, Never Delete, yknow?
Anyway, I liked the story, by the end of it. I can't give you a thumbs-up because for completely unknown reasons, FiMFiction isn't allowing me to upvote things. I do not know why this is.
1515754
That's strange. Also, that feeling when a reference gets in completely unnoticed.
Some evil, masochistic part of me wanted this story to be sad. Wanted there to be an accident.
"Ground control to Major Tom, your circuit's dead, there's something wrong!
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?"
That sort of thing.
As it stands, I share Skywriter's sentiments. It's a tad "inorganic", but not a bad read.
2105963
I say that a big part of writing is learning, so it's definitely good to make some mistakes and then be able to avoid them later on.
2372518
She's not quite in space yet at that point, just high in the air. Either way, don't worry about it. I decided to leave out the really physically accurate things since the story wasn't very technical in the first place, so it's my bad.
Even a year after first reading this, I still consider this to be one of the most inspirational and sweetest fics I've ever read, and it's one of the few that I've come back to re-read.
This is probably eleven months overdue, but I just had to draw you something for making such an amazing story that's been stuck in my mind for so long: http://fav.me/d6p6kso
3300477
Overdue my ass! (pardon that)
It doesn't matter when it happened, the fact of the matter is that it happened and that makes you awesome. If anything, I'm a bit overdue in that I got here nearly a week after the fact.
Still, thanks. This was a great pick-me-up after the past few days.
3324855
No problem, this story is truly awesome, and one of my top favorites.
I'm glad you like it
5497756 I...
I hardly remember this fiction.