A Light for Someone's Sake

by Lunaria

Epilogue

Chapter 7
Epilogue

Celestia placed the final piece of parchment on the desk, closing her eyes. At first she didn't do anything, then slowly and surely she reached up and rubbed her forehead, letting out a deep sigh in the process.

The three of them were seated in a small meeting room in Canterlot Castle. At the head of the table sat the princess of Equestria, on the side Twilight and Raven were seated.

The dark maned unicorn was doing her best at looking anywhere but the princess.

"This is," Celestia finally said, opening her eyes and looking at Twilight. "Atrocious."

Celestia sagged, something Twilight had never see her do. "There's nothing I can say or do that would make things right for you... either of you."

Twilight took a deep breath. "This was hardly your fault, your highness."

"It might not be, but that does not mean I don't carry some burden of responsibility here."

Twilight nodded. "I'm happy just being back, it's going to be hard to pick up my life again... but I think little Sparkle will keep me busy," she smiled.

Celestia smiled. "I'm sure she will, foals can be a handful I hear."

"You never had any?" Raven blurted out.

Twilight had to resist the urge to bang her head against the table. She knew Raven didn't actually know how disrespectful she was being.

Celestia just chuckled and smiled at Raven. "I'm afraid not, duty has kept me from such things," she turned her gaze back towards Twilight. "I am serious though, if you ever need something, anything, let me know. There's nothing I can do to fully repay your sacrifice here, but I'll certainly try."

Twilight took a deep breath. "While I might not need anything, at least not right now," she turned and glanced at Raven. "Raven does. There's a lot about our society and Equestria that she does not know... as well as the details in one of my earlier reports."

Celestia's face hardened. "Yes, I'll make sure to make the proper inquiries. And worry not, I'll make sure she gets the help she needs to adapt, even if I have to do it myself."

"That's... probably not necessary your highness."

"Maybe not, but it's what a promising young pony like her deserves," Celestia smiled. "Am I wrong?"

Twilight shook her head. "Of course not," she turned and nuzzled Raven lightly.

Before the silence got too oppressive Celestia continued. "There's one thing I'm curious about though. There was nothing written about the return trip in your report."

"Well," Twilight glanced out the window. "It wasn't that exciting, I spent most of the time just writing up the final report."

---

Twilight shot Minuette a flat stare from the platform, Raven was practically glued to her side and anxiously glancing at all the ponies.

"So let me get this straight, you're not coming back to Canterlot and filling in a report?"

Minuette sighed before smiling. "Yeah. I know how it looks but, usually we don't want to bother the Princess directly. She'll get the report on her desk soon enough, and she'll get most of the important details from yours anyway."

"You know what, fine, I don't have the energy to argue this. What about Wing Spark though, aren't you worried about her causing more trouble?"

Minuette glanced to the sky. "I doubt it, besides, all we got is a fake name and from the sound of it a fake appearance. I'm sure me and Lemon will run into her in the future, she certainly knew a lot about us, but..." Minuette lower her gaze and meet Twilight's eyes. "That's our problem, not yours."

Twilight opened her mouth in shook. "Of course it's my problem."

"Is it? You were retiring last I heard. Based on what you told us I don't think this pegasus is going to be an immediate threat."

"But-"

"No, listen to me Twilight," Minuette sighed. "You're a good mare, you deserve to put this behind you. Sure, this is a problem for the TIA, one we'll have to resolve in the future," she chuckled. "But you're not part of the association, there's a limit to what you could even do. Heck, that pegasus managed to outmanoeuvre both me and Lemon in time manipulation."

Twilight closed her eyes before letting out a deep sigh. "Fine, but I don't exactly feel comfortable with the idea that someone like that is just... out there."

"Tell you what, we'll send you a postcard once we sack her," Minuette winked.

"That's-"

"Aaand there we go," the voice of Lemon butted in as she approached. "Two tickets to Canterlot."

"Thank you," Twilight grabbed the two tickets in her hold and gently put them in her bag.

She had to do a double take when she took in the earth pony, somehow in the ten minutes she was gone she had switched out to a long flowing red ballroom dress... which also really didn't compliment her colours.

"The train departs in ten minutes, so you should probably get going," Lemon said in her usual cheery tone.

Twilight's eyes widened and she glanced between the two TIA agents.

"Look, just... keep me in the loop, alright?" Twilight asked while nudging Raven and pulling her along towards the train.

"Will do!" Lemon cheered as she and Minuette waved goodbye.

---

Getting Raven through the city had been a nightmare, all the ponies moving about terrified her. Twilight sighed from her seat, at least the two of them had found a mostly empty carriage.

Twilight had made the unicorn take the inner seat next to the window, maybe that way she'd be less frightened if someone were to pass. She gently nuzzled her before returning her focus to her report, she'd rather write it while everything was fresh in her mind.

She was so caught up with it that she didn't notice the pony approach till they were right up in her face and clearing their throat.

"Well this is a surprise," came a scruffy voice.

Twilight lowered her parchment, eyes widening as she took in the pony in front of her.

"A.K? I didn't expect to see you here!"

A.K. Yearling smiled and took the opposite seat. "I was about to say the same thing to you. I was actually on my way to visit, I thought you'd be busy taking care of the foal."

Twilight's smile morphed into a frown. "I would have but..."

"But work came up, I can see as much. Who's the kid?" Yearling gestured with her head towards the spot next to Twilight.

"Oh, this is Raven," she lightly nudged the unicorn. "Raven, this is A.K. Yearling, a friend of mine."

"Oh I'd say we're more than friends, I'd never managed to publish my first book if it weren't for your editing," she smirked as she reached out a hoof towards Raven.

Raven just eyed the hoof with a weary expression. Twilight sighed and leaned over to whisper. "You shake it, it's a form of greeting."

"So, like a hug?" Raven said as she looked at Twilight, not at all minding her volume.

Yearling chuckled. "Something like that, except more formal."

Slowly Raven reached out her hoof till it made contact with Yearling's, who shook it very carefully.

"You're gonna have to tell me what trouble you got into this time Twilight."

Twilight just shook her head. "I probably can't, this stuff is classified."

Yearling narrowed her eyes. "That bad, huh?"

Twilight nodded. "Ever heard of the Temporal Investigation Association?"

Yearling pondered it for a moment before shaking her head. "Can't say I have, but based on the name it sounds like heavy stuff."

Twilight just nodded. "At least it's over with. From now on I'll spend the rest of my days writing adventure stories from the comfort of my home."

Yearling burst out laugh.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"

"What's so funny? I know you Twilight. You might think so now, but one day the itching for the thrill of adventure is going to return, I know it."

Twilight frowned. "After this, I'm not so sure..."

Yearling waved her hoof. "Eh, give it a few years and the kids are out of the picture, you're going to be back for it," a smirk firmly on her lips.

---

Twilight pushed the door open and slowly walked in, taking in the sights. She remembered, of course, but almost twelve years was a long time. Sitting in the living room reading was the pony she had missed the most: Night Light.

Slow steps turned into a trot, the unicorn behind her practically forgotten.

Night Light looked up. "Twilight?" A smile spreading on his lips.

Twilight threw herself and her hooves around him, she could not hold back her tears any longer, so she sobbed into his coat.

"Woah, are you alright dear?"

Twilight just nodded and cried, as her husband slowly wrapped his hooves around her back and rubbed her, she melted in his hooves. She could hear the hoof steps of what must be Shining Armor making his way downstairs; she could only smile.

She was finally home.

Author's Note:

And there we are. There are more things I would have wanted to add this story, since the ending feels a bit rushed. But both time and word count limits me in that regard.

I do feel a bit self concious entering a story like this to the contest though. Mainly since the main theme of the tale is motherhood and what it means to be family. Somehow that feels like it goes against the spirit of the contest, but what do I know?

I might add a few extra scenes, especially to the epilogue, after the contest is over and I have the time to do so.

Comments

[new55]

That was a good story.

[FanOfMostEverything]

You do present an interesting conundrum in terms of whether the story actually fulfills the prompt. Velvet is certainly without her biological children for the vast majority of the story, but her role as a mother is, as you said, one of the main foci. I’m going to allow it on the basis that I flubbed the initial presentation of the prompt. Again, you fulfilled it as it was written, and it’s on me that it’s not quite what I intended.

As for the story itself, a fascinating and suitably achronic tale of survival and adaptation in bizarre circumstances. (I do wonder if Raven ever got to meet her adopted siblings; that must have been quite the experience.) The word limit forced it to leave a number of threads hanging, but it was largely an engaging read. Thank you for it and best of luck in the judging.

[Lunaria]

11398552
Thanks, truth be told I wasn't sure if it would make the cut.

I kind of just saw the initial post of the contest and then my mind started spinning this idea. It wasn't until I was almost done with story that I realised I might have just completely missed the point of it all.

And yeah, I had a few more scenes I wanted to write, but I ran out of words.

[Jymbroni]

This was a decent story overall, but I feel that there were a lot of things that you wanted to do with it that you didn't get the time to explore. You have some great ideas here, but they needed to be fleshed out more, as well as, given room to breathe. I would of love to explore more of Twilights relationship with Raven or her time in the jungle with Sparks or with Lemon and Minuette. You could also easily disregard this, because my story pales in comparison to your first story. I just wanted to give you some genuine feedback since you were asking for it on discord. Hit me up if you have any questions.

[Lunaria]

11416494
While my first story blew up, I don't think that's necessarily an indictment of my skill as a writer; I'm still a novice.

I did read your comments, but if anything they make me reflect more so on possibility that I failed to properly get across the notion of how the story is told. The narrative isn't told linearly, most chapters starts with a flashback that slowly progresses towards a pivotal moment, while the rest of the narrative takes place in the "present" time. Which very rapidly skips forwards in time, especially between chapters.

There's more I wish I could have squeezed in but time and word count limited prevented me, I do plan on writing an extended ending later. But now I'm wondering if more readers are confused as to how the story flows. The fact that you believe (at least from how I read your comment) that Raven was introduced in Chapter 5 is a huge blunder. Especially given that she is one of the central characters in the narrative and there from Chapter 1.

[Ghost Mike]

An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!

[Max Stroberger]

Ok this deserves a sequel.