Chapteer Fourteen: The Aftermath
Maretime Bay Hospital
The current nurse who was watching over Sparky looked on with misery in her eyes. So far, none of the treatments they'd tried had been any help to the baby dragon. His vitals were dropping slowly but surely, and the color of his scales was becoming more gray by the second. It seemed like there was nothing they could do for him.
Then there was the missing unicorn, Misty. When IV Injection had discovered his patient gone, he'd lost his mind, chewing out the nurses for not keeping a closer eye on her. Sure, her condition wasn't nearly as bad as Sparky's, and she would probably be fine, but clearly, they'd neglected their duties. IV Injection was already trying to reach Sheriff Trailblazer on the phone to inform him of the missing pony. However, Hitch hadn't picked up yet. In the meantime, he'd ordered somepony to always remain on standby to keep an eye on Sparky. It was unlikely the dragon was going anywhere in his current condition, but better safe than sorry.
From her position by Sparky's bedside, the nurse could see the lights blaring over at the Crystal Brighthouse, but she ignored them. After all, they were inconsequential to her job.
At least, they were, until one of the magical lights, a green bubble, came flying towards the hospital. As it grew closer, the light intensified, bathing the hospital room in an eerie glow. The nurse whirled around on one hoof, just in time to see the bubble phase through the window, zip around the room, come to a rest just above Sparky's head, and go into his mouth.
The effect was immediate. Sparky's body, dulled to a faint grey color, suddenly began to brighten up once more. His purple eyes snapped open, and he took a deep breath, before sitting up on the bed. He looked at his surroundings in surprise, making chirping noises as he did so. He touched his own face, clearly unsure of what was going on.
The nurse, naturally, jumped about a foot in the air at the sight. Once she'd regained her bearing, she jammed down on the "Call Doctor" button on the bedside table.
Crystal Brighthouse
For the first few minutes, no one said anything. What could be said, considering what had just happened? A smoldering black crater in the ground was all that remained of Opaline Arcana. Not a hair of her mane, or a feather of her wing was left. Sunny just stared at the black spot, not even breathing, her mouth hanging open. Twilight stared, too, but her expression was one of quiet sadness, instead of shocked disbelief.
"What...what have we done?" Sunny panted, finally breaking the silence.
"Sunny..." Twilight began, placing a hoof on her friend's back.
The orange alicorn collapsed to the ground in a heap. "WHY?! WHY DIDN'T SHE LISTEN?! THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THIS TO HAPPEN! I DON'T WANT TO BE THE ALICORN WHO MURDERS PONIES WHO STEP OUT OF LINE! WHY?! Why?! Why?"
Twilight used her magic to pull Sunny into a hug, wrapping her forelegs around Sunny's neck. She said nothing, merely closing her eyes and squeezing. Sunny hyperventilated for a minute more, before her breathing gradually slowed down. Eventually, she raised her legs and returned the hug, nestling her head into Twilight's shoulder.
"Why?" she pleaded one more time, looking for an answer that would never come. An answer that nopony had.
"It wasn't your fault," Twilight insisted. "It wasn't anypony's fault. It just...happened. And before anypony asks, yes, I blame myself, but the logical part of my brain knows I didn't do it."
Sunny continued to tremble, but her breathing steadied, and she managed to keep her balance. She backed off from Twilight.
"You okay, Sunny?" asked Izzy, trotting up to her friend.
"I...I don't know," admitted Sunny. "What exactly happened? Why did Opaline...?" She didn't need to finish.
"While the crystals were draining Opaline's magic, she tried to prevent it by drawing on the magic of her own life force. But the spell we started to siphon her energy was already self-sustaining. It would've just pulled out her life force in addition to her magic. However, that alone would've left a body. My best guess is Opaline...did that on purpose, just to gain one small victory over us." Twilight sighed, looking down at the ground. "Never had that one happen before."
"It's okay, Twilight," Fluttershy insisted, draping a wing over her friend's shoulder.
"I know I shouldn't blame any of us," Twilight continued, "but I can't help but feel as though we failed by not convincing Opaline to accept friendship."
"Twi, she was a genocidal maniac!" Rainbow pointed out. "Plus, after your future self locked her in the castle, she had hundreds of years to stew in her hate. By the time we caught up to her, there was nothing we could've done."
"Thanks, Rainbow, but that doesn't make me feel better."
"Normally, I'd say it's time for a victory party," said Pinkie, "but I don't feel like throwing a party right now."
"Me neither," said Izzy.
It was then that everyone's ears picked up the soft sound of sniffling. Twilight and the others turned around, discovering that Misty had trotted over to the spot where Opaline had exploded. The blue unicorn was sitting on her rear, staring at the spot, and shaking with quiet sobs. Everyone quietly walked up to her.
"Misty?" ventured Zipp. "Are you okay?"
"Do you want me to be honest?" she asked, turning around. Her eyes were watering. The others nodded. "No. I'm not." She looked back down at the black stain on the ground. Tears began to drip from her eyes, and her voice quivered as she spoke. "I know it's stupid. She wasn't a good pony. She treated me like dirt, lied to me to get usage out of me, tried to kill me, and tortured Sparky for no good reason. But...she was the only family I've ever known..." She broke then, starting to shake with sobs.
Applejack stepped forward, wrapping a foreleg around Misty's shoulders. She didn't say anything, instead letting Misty's heartbreak run its course. Misty cried for another few minutes, eventually nestling her head on Applejack's neck. Eventually, she pulled off, and wiped her eyes.
"Your feelings are perfectly natural," Applejack said. "With time, you'll feel better. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will."
"Thank you," Misty wheezed. Pinkie Pie produced a handkerchief, and Misty blew her nose into it.
Twilight approached next. "Thanks for what you did, Misty. If you hadn't shown up, we might've lost this fight."
Misty smiled. "I couldn't just stay in bed while you guys were battling Opaline. It was my fault she got her powers back in the first place. If I did nothing and you all died...I couldn't live with that."
"See? I told you guys she was really our friend!" said Izzy. She trotted over to Misty, but after a quick look over her fellow unicorn, she froze. "Misty! You got your Cutie Mark!"
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Misty. Her head whirled to her burned flank, looking at what had been bare for so long. Instead of the fake drawing she'd previously put on there, there was now a bright yellow and pink butterfly, in full view. "I...I don't understand."
"Well, when a pony finds their special talent, that's when they get their mark," said Pinkie.
"But what does it mean?" Misty asked. "It's similar to what I drew on before, but what do butterflies have to do with fighting evil alicorns?" She looked at Fluttershy. "Is that how you got your Cutie Mark?"
"No, my mark represents how I can communicate with animals," replied Fluttershy. "I think yours is different, though. I think yours represents how you grew, like a butterfly grows from a caterpillar. You matured, and you learned how Opaline was wrong. You even stood up to help up when it counted most."
"Do you want to change your name?" asked Rainbow. "Sometimes, when a pony gets their Cutie Mark, they change their name to something that's more related to their special talent. I didn't have to do that, and I wouldn't have, but you have that option."
Misty looked at her mark for a few more seconds, before a smile slowly grew on her face. "I think Misty Brightdawn is a good name. Besides, that's what my friends call me."
"Oh that's a wonderful name, dear!" chimed in Rarity. She stepped forward and hugged Misty, followed by several of the others.
"Dang it! You're making me all sappy again!" complained Rainbow.
"Same here!" whined Spike.
Twilight backed off, and levitated up the new versions of the Unity Crystals. The gems glowed with the traces of Opaline's power that they'd siphoned.
"Hopefully, these will look nice in Canterlot," she said. "They've got a long way to go before...you know." She gestured to the crystals at the top of the Brighthouse.
"Yeah. It's kind of crazy," added Sunny. "We've been wondering for months where the crystals came from, and we were just involved in their creation." She spread her glowing gold wings. "Anypony else notice how my alicorn appendages haven't disappeared since I got back?"
"I did," replied Zipp. "Usually, you have to concentrate just to keep yourself in alicorn form, but this time, it seems like it's coming so much easier to you."
"I don't know exactly how your alicorn form works, Sunny," said Twilight, "but you seem to be gaining greater control over it. Good thing, too."
"We're all proud of you, Sunny," said Hitch, patting his longtime friend on the back.
"Sorry about the Brighthouse," said Pinkie, looking up at the building. Indeed, the Crystal Brighthouse itself had suffered quite a bit over the course of the battle. It was covered in burn marks from Opaline's magic, cracks and indents lined the sides, and the community garden was completely ruined. Hybrid fruits were splattered all over the place, most of the plants were uprooted, and dirt was spread out everywhere.
"Don't worry," replied Sunny. "After Sprout's little...attack, it looked way worse than this. We can fix everything with some work and magic."
"We'll stay here and help you," insisted Twilight. "If that's not enough, I'm sure Celestia and Luna will be willing to provide some horsepower to help fix everything."
"Thanks, Twilight."
Misty raised her hoof, attracting the attention of the others. "Listen, I...I know you guys said you aren't mad at me, but I'm sorry I took Sparky. If it weren't for me, Opaline never would've gotten her powers back. She'd still be stuck in that old castle."
"We don't blame you, Misty," said Pipp. "You had nopony else for your entire life. Opaline was basically your mom. It's no wonder you did what she told you."
"We still consider you our friend," insisted Fluttershy. "You may have done something bad, but you worked to make up for it."
Misty's bright smile returned. "Thanks, everypony. I'll do my best to be a real friend to all of you from now on."
"Well, now that we've finished, what do we do?" asked Hitch. "Sparky should be feeling better now that Opaline's lost his magic, right?"
"Let's go back to the hospital and check up on him!" cheered Izzy.
"Then can we go to sleep?" asked Rainbow. "It's like three in the morning and we've been on the move ever since Sparky got dragon-napped. I feel like I just did three pegasus marathons, a Running of the Leaves, and a Wonderbolts show in rapid succession."
"My eyelids are so heavy right now," complained Spike.
"I agree," said Twilight. "We'll probably end up falling asleep at the hospital. Hopefully they won't kick us out if we do."
"They won't," replied Sunny. "Though they might be angry at you for sneaking out, Misty."
Misty giggled a little. "Yeah, that was kinda bad." She gestured to the burn marks on her side. "I should probably have them look at these."
With that, the twelve ponies and one dragon all set off towards the Maretime Bay Hospital.
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11625187
Great chapter, and wow, Opaline’s destruction was pretty wild and it struck the others, including Misty for losing the only family she ever knew, but they forgive her and she had her cutie mark, and the heroes embrace their victory and they all rest after that huge battle, nice chapter there, keep up the great work
Oh, come on! Don't tell me, you're gonna mourn Opaline! After everything she did, they should be just like "good riddance". And Misty got her Cutie Mark here too. I still think her getting the same mark, she came up with herself as a fake one is extremely contrived though.
Still, you delivered another good chapter. I suppose the next one will be the epilogue.
Until then...
Some creatures just don't wanna be saved, that's all I can say about the arrogant witch!
Glad that Sparky recovered after it was all over, looking forward to how it wraps up!
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Well, you remember that scene in Infinity War where Gamora thought she killed Thanos, and started crying, because she was feeling so much? I was trying to go for that vibe.
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Actually, I don't. I haven't seen those films yet. Last MCU movie i saw in theatres was Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
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Ah, okay. Think of it as Misty losing her mom, even though her mom was garbage, she still raised Misty. It's just a hard thing to process.
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Im actually more confused by Sunny's feelings.
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Well Sunny wants to bring ponies together, not kill them. So she feel like she failed to properly uphold Twilight's standards of friendship by bringing it to another pony.
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Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go...
I'm sorry sunny we tried to warn her but apparently she just refused to listen and she rather die that's one of the most unfortunate events
But apparently she had more than just a few thousands of years of hatred after that little clue from season 4 Make Your Mark
Oh yeah that's right after she finally realized what important to her is friendship she finally got her cutie mark I still scream for excitement when I saw that
Dang that was something but pretty cool so at the hospital they still don't know what to do with Sparky since they have no idea how Dragon works but because of the explosion it looks like the magic finally return to the baby dragon but outside they tried to find Opaline but there was nothing left no Ash no feather no nothing she was just gone and sunny was just devastated why did she do something like this she never wanted to hurt anybody and Twilight felt the same way too but their friends told them there was nothing you could do she chose this and things just happened and Misty felt devastated even though she was not the nicest person she was the only one the world her life as a mother figure but she also felt bad for lying to Sunny and the others but they forgive her and it looks like she has her own cutie mark which that's pretty cool so now everybody is just need to take a rest and check on Sparky how's he doing I wonder what else could happen guess we'll find out next time
I like this chapter. It's nice that it's explained that Opaline killed herself just to spite the heroes and that Misty's cutiemark is the same is in Make Your Mark.
Don't be fooled, she's not dead, she just got reincarnated as an alicorn filly.
static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlpfanart/images/3/3e/Undisguised_Nyx_by_AibotNya.png/revision/latest?cb=20120128122622
Let's just hope this one isn't targeted by any fire-themed cults.
Reminds me of that one scene in that Layton Brothers Mystery Room game.
{Lucy: Poor Diane. I can't believe it.
Diane: Her death seems to have upset you very deeply, Lucy. But isn't this the woman who very nearly killed you?
Lucy: Well aye, that's true, but... Having a bit of a chat with her, I could see she were just a normal lass underneath.
Alfendi: Oh bravo, detective Constable Baker. You never fail to see the best in people. Perhaps you'll explain Diane's virtues to the family of the murdered agent who became the unfortunate Pig?
Lucy: No, I weren't trying to excuse--
Justin: Never mind. I think it's fair to say that Diane was a rotten apple. But whoever killed her is no better.}
Spoiler Alert, but Justin is actually talking about himself. BOOM.
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Funnily enough, my original plan for Opaline was that they would use the magic glitter face mask from Tell Your Tale to turn her into a filly, then try raising her to be good. But that raised a lot of questions I didn't know how to answer, so I scrapped it.
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Oh right, the alicorn glitter that spawns occasionally whenever Sunny uses her powers sometimes. I probably would’ve done something like-
{Sunny: Please, Opaline, don’t! It doesn’t have to be this way, you’ll die!!
Opaline: Do you really think I’ll let a thing like death get in my way when ultimate power is moments from entering my grasp?! Never! Nothing can stop me now!!
???: I’m afraid you’re incorrect.
*A new figure arrives on the scene in a burst of energy, a familiar raspberry haze encircling it. With an age in her eyes that spanned millennia, but an unbridled curiosity that could never be doused, this new arrival could only be…
Opaline: Twilight Sparkle?!?!? But… you… I… I saw you die! You gave up your life to seal me away!
Old Twilight: Yes… I did. I called in a favor from a friend to be here with you. I’ve come to do something I should’ve done a long time ago.
Opaline: You’re too late, Sparkle. The spell is mere moments away from completing, and after that, nothing can stop me from taking my rightful pl-
Old Twilight: I’m sorry.
Opaline:…
Old Twilight: Perhaps it was complacency, perhaps it was pride, but I never saw who you really are. You were in a place where you felt like it was normal to commit atrocities that would make even Chrysalis shudder, and I never thought to consider your mental state in all the years that I’ve trained you, the years that we’ve fought. To make matters worse, I trapped you in a castle by yourself for centuries, keeping that hurt, letting it fester until you’ve become the mare you are now. I… failed you as a teacher. And there is nothing I can do to make that okay.
Opaline:… You… failed me?! I’m the most powerful pony in Equestria because of you!! Even your younger self working together with the heroes of today and yesterday can barely hold me off! And it’s all! Thanks! To you!
Old Twilight: Yes. I’m aware. That’s why, as your teacher, I’ve decided to give you my final lesson.
*Her horn flares, a sigil appearing beneath Opaline that severs the connection between her and the Unity Crystals, a barrier forming around Opaline that she could not escape from.*
Opaline: Really, Sparkle?! You couldn’t be satisfied with other ponies doing the job for you, you had to swoop in and take all the credit in the end!? I really did learn from the best.
Old Twilight: This is not the end, Opaline. It’s a new beginning. And Twilight?
*Twilight Sparkle stared, agape at her older self. An alicorn that had all the magic in the world, but filled with a regret like none she’d ever seen*
Old Twilight: Learn from my mistakes. Please.
*The spell complete, the sigil lit up like a pillar in the sky. Twilight’s visage faded away, leaving naught but a collapsed figure where Opalin once stood. So ends the legend of Twilight Sparkle.*
Younger Opaline: *stirs* H-huh?! Who am I?! Where am I?! Why do I have wings?!?
*Thus beginning a new one*}
I based it off of Star vs The Forces of Evil Season 3, where Meteora’s basically an unstoppable monster because of all the crazy shit that happened to her, but because Eclipsa’s there and knows her the best, is able to give her a 2nd chance. Obviously there’s some logistical problems here, like why she didn’t intervene sooner, or how she really did just solve everyone’s problems like Opaline said, or how she was even able to do this in the first place (the friend she mentioned is Discord, but that raises even more questions, like where was he this whole time if he’s involved?????), but I still had fun making this.
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Losing your family is always hard, no matter how little they actually cared about you.
Everything's coming together! I still question if Twilight will just let everything... Happen, though. The timeline of G5 is dark...
So, with Opaline dead, Misty finally has an opportunity to grow and better herself. Sounds fun
Or she's an embodiment of the butterfly effect. Just one small change...,
I hope you don't mind but I borrowed some of this quote for my story.
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Well flurry...even she doesnt know
But we shall find out!
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I don't mind. Which story?
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The Justice League of Equestria. One encounter between hero and villain ends in an accidental death, prompting the hero to utter something along those lines.