Epilogue: Friends in High Places
Twilight paced about the library anxiously, waiting for any news. It was as if a clock was ticking in the back of her mind–almost like the threat of Nightmare Moon looming all over again.
Trixie had insisted she be allowed to "handle things". At her urging, they had all gone their separate ways. For Twilight, that had meant returning to the library, to pack her things and reflect on the nightmarish ordeal behind them.
"Um, Twilight?" Spike interrupted. "You okay? You've been out of it all morning."
Twilight turned to face Spike. "Oh, sorry," she said. "I guess I've just had my mind on something..."
"Are you sure you're ready?" he asked.
"...no, I'm not," Twilight responded morosely. "But it's going to happen, so I'd better get ready. It's not like it's the end of the world or anything."
There was a knock on the door of the makeshift bedroom, and Twilight shifted her attention to it. "Come in," she called.
Blossomforth poked her head inside, grinning ear-to-ear. "Hey, Twilight!" she said with a remarkable lilt. "Everypony's heading for Central Park, you better hurry—" Her face fell slightly as she saw the look on Twilight's. "I mean, you know... it'll be fun?" she offered.
Twilight bowed her head. "Thanks, Blossomforth. I'll be right there." Slowly, Blossomforth nodded and stepped out into the entrance, waiting for Twilight to join her. Together, with Spike perched on Twilight's back, they trotted down the stairs and toward the park.
~#~#~#~
Trixie was waiting for them at the entrance to Central Park with a grin that could be seen from a mile away, a small crowd of eager ponies gathered before her. Nearer the front, many of the attendees had even more eager colts or fillies atop their heads. Twilight carefully made her way toward the showpony.
"Good of you to join us," Trixie announced. "Trixie has finished all the preparations, as only Trixie could have done!"
"What are you talking about...?" Twilight began, only to be interrupted by the rumbling of a motor.
A few motorized platforms rolled toward her, towering and brilliantly decorated. "Once Mayor Tux approved my plan, getting everything together was foal's play," Trixie commented smugly. "And now, may I present to you, Princess Celestia... and Princess Luna!"
The alicorns alit suddenly on the lead platform, upon which two thrones were situated. They waved, grinning, as the crowd cheered.
"We're on the second float," Trixie added.
After a second, the thought ticked into Twilight's mind. "What? You mean me? I don't need any parades, I just—"
"You just saved the world," Trixie said. "Today is as much about celebrating you as the Princesses."
"She's right, you know," said a voice beside Twilight. She turned her head to see Daring Do step out of the crowd. "You're too modest. A little exposure will be good for you."
Orange Sherbet and Octavia moved to stand beside Daring. Twilight looked around at the five. They were all nodding encouragingly. Octavia gave a small bow, gesturing with a smile to Twilight.
There was a long pause, and then Twilight smiled as well. "Thank you all," she said quietly. "For being here."
With that she turned and climbed onto the second float. Blossomforth giggled happily before fluttering after her. Daring Do offered a hoof to help the earth ponies up, before settling into place herself. Once the rest were all in position, Trixie gave her grandest stage bow to the assembled ponies, cast a smokescreen, and leapt up as well.
"And with that, we commence!" Trixie declared. The floats began moving, rolling out of the park and down the street as the lively music commenced.
~#~#~#~
They chatted happily as they passed cheering crowds along the road. Every so often, one of them caught Twilight looking uneasy, and asked what was wrong. In response, she would shake herself out of it and smile again.
The procession passed through Equines Square, accompanied by deafening cheers. Confetti streamed down from above as throngs of delighted ponies gathered to watch. Tiny fireworks burst around the floats, igniting the paper to burn in a rainbow of brilliant hues for a fraction of a second before it extinguished itself and blew away. All of Manehattan had turned out to see this.
Ahead on the first float, Celestia had moved her seat behind Luna's. The smaller princess looked stunned by the reactions of the ponies, and reassured by her sister's gentle hoof on her shoulder. As Luna raised a hoof to wave meekly to the crowd, a bouquet fell directly into it. She looked at it for a moment, then up into the crowd to find the thrower, a young colt bouncing excitedly as he cheered at the top of his voice. She smiled and blew a kiss to the colt, who cheered even harder, his parents now having a little difficulty keeping him from leaping straight onto the float.
The six behind them fell silent for a moment, their attention drawn to the simple gesture. "Well, there's another Princess now," Twilight observed. "I guess that's something I'm gonna have to adjust for."
"Who cares if there's another Princess?" Spike replied with a shrug. "Two, three, as long as they're good at what they do—and they are—then I say the more the merrier."
"That's all well and good," Trixie said flatly, "but four is right out."
~#~#~#~
"So," said Daring, idly stirring her milkshake, "now that we've done... all this, what's next? You know... now that we're heroes, and everything?"
The cafe was quiet, the late morning sun providing a soft light. The other patrons seemed to keep their distance, looking upon the princess at the head of the table with reverent awe.
"Well," Sherbet mused, "I had been thinking of a feast—"
Trixie cleared her throat, prompting Sherbet to glare at her. "I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will soon embark on a cross-Equestria tour, displaying the powers that only the Element of Magic could harness!"
The rest of the party stared at her for a moment before Daring jabbed a hoof in her direction. "You know, this probably qualifies as pointing out the obvious, but your Element is Laughter. I hope you're not planning to say otherwise..." She gave Trixie a warning look.
Trixie flushed slightly. "Uh, slip of the tongue, I meant..." She glanced around the table. "Oh, yes, you'll all come with me, of course! It'll be the greatest show in Equestria!"
Daring's expression softened slightly and she nodded. "Well, okay, I guess we could do that sometime. Blossom?" Her eyes shifted to the other pegasus. "How about you?"
"Oh, I don't know," Blossomforth said, "I'm a simple mare, with simple dreams. I don't need to do anything big just because of something like this. I'll be content with just, oh, a park named after me..."
Octavia rolled her eyes. "'Thy modesty's a candle to thy merit,'" she said. "I intend to do the same thing I have always done, play my cello. Though perhaps now I will have a bigger audience."
"I certainly hope so," Sherbet added. "Your music has always been inspirational. The more ponies hear it, the better."
Octavia blushed, then looked to Twilight. "And what are you going to—?"
Twilight looked away, and Octavia silenced herself. The earth pony set a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, her look inquiring where she couldn't speak.
"...I'm going to go back to Canterlot," Twilight said, a slight chill in her voice. "I was only here for the Celebration. Now that it's over..." She trailed off.
Celestia, concerned by the shift in her pupil's demeanor, leaned closer. "Is something bothering you, my faithful student?" she asked.
"...Princess," Twilight replied, "before you sent me here, I never cared about friends at all. Now I finally know what I was missing, and I have to just... give it up..." As she spoke, she didn't look at her mentor. Rather, her eyes fell on each of her friends in turn. Auntie was carefully attempting to mute her troubled expression; Daring looked almost scared; Octavia still gave Twilight that gently concerned look; Blossomforth had actually teared up slightly. Trixie looked hurt, until Twilight looked directly at her, when she promptly turned her head and tried to pretend it was no big deal.
There was a moment of silence now. Celestia surveyed the group. She lowered her head in thought for a moment, then chuckled quietly.
"Spike," she said, "take a letter..."
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"That's all well and good," Trixie said flatly, "but four is right out." <---- *snort!*
Good stuff!
Love it. Now I want a squeal
Complete?... Ah, this was a nice AU of the first two episodes all the same.
A really nice story
I like the alternative cast, especially Auntie and the moment of Daring's reveal. Even before I thought the name Daring Doo I was already humming the Indiana Jones theme 
And the comments about the princesses... I see what you did there 
yes and yes.
SO we all know how this ends, but the question is now: where will they go from here?
not all the future's set in stone, methinks...this demands a cry for MOAR
sequel pleez?
:shamelessbegging:
2132042
EEEEEEEeeeeee!!!
2132042
YOUR FRIENDS DON'T LIKE YOUR PARTIES AND THEY DON'T WANNA BE YOUR FRIENDS ANYMORE!
While this story might be tagged as complete, the premise has so much to offer still!
I can hardly await what else you might have in store for us!
Great work, Jackie. Can't wait to see where we go from here!
And Now sequels. Hopefully plenty of sequels.
I expect great sequels from you!
Now, to await them patiently...
Wow, okay. Wow! Let me just say everything I love about this story. One, the characters are really enjoyable and in character with their canon incarnations (should those incarnations have characters per say). Two, the story gets just the right length. Not twenty chapters that take half a week to read, but not a short chapter that's rushed. Three, Nightmare Moon isn't made into a complete monster. In most AU fics, such as Rainbooms and Royalty or the Lunaverse, Nightmare Moon is made out as darker and edgier than she was in the show. Here, she's the same. Not like this factor makes those other stories bad, it's just tiring of seeing things like that over and over again. Four, the way the characters were chosen for their elements and which elements they represented surprised me. Not just that, but the story works a lot like that. I figure that things are going to go one way, then you surprise me with something I wouldn't have expected. Congrats. Five, this is the set up for a great continuing series. And if you get what you want with the expanded fictions, I'll get over as fast as I can to read the continuing adventures of the Manehatten Six (see what I did there). Finally, MUFFINS!
Good luck with all your future works LJP, and rest well knowing you just got one new fan.
2132042
There you go. You're welcome
Awww, it's over?
I like it, I don't want it to be over. 
Anyways, I suppose you will continue making stories with this metaverse you made up. It can be interesting
Great! Typical Big Apple city parade
"but four is right out."
Sorry Trixie. In the Monty Python quote, that was "five is right out." Guess who's number four?
Was it good?
No. It was extraordinary.
I can only hope there will be more
2140105
Didn't that quote also say "Four shall you not count"?
2142437
Mehhhhhh okay.
Aaaan it's over
I think this is a very interesting take on the events of the show, and has great potential. Please continue it!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
So very clever. I think we need to add Princess Pinkiecorn to Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight.
having read this through in one sitting, i have only one thing to say.
wow.
ok, so having only one thing was a blatant lie. the other thing is that i'm very impressed. you managed to hit all the points i liked about the canon version without even coming CLOSE to copying it. lotsa fun to read, and you knew just where to end it so that it didn't seem even slightly forced. it all flowed very naturally, and was a fun read. i'll be checking out your other stuff soon, because of this.
Needs a sequel. You could possibly omehow get the people from 'Double Rainboom' to animate this and turn this into a spinoff of the tv show.
I have something to say.....BEST ALTERNATE MANE SIX EVER!
Wow, I love this Alternate Mane Six so much, even more so than the Lunaverse Six. I really hope your Manehattanverse is further expanded upon.
2377168
Ah'm currently writin' a story followin' up on this, but it's takin' a while 'cause ah don't rush things normally an' ah got some hard classes ta focus on first. Skyeheart has published three chapters a' one himself, ah suggest checkin' that out.
2377882
Heh, I actually just finished "Apples to Oranges." Goes to show how eager I am to see more of the Manehattanverse, I suppose. Of course, that doesn't mean I would be so rude as to demand that you rush your work; I realize that you have your own things to deal with in real life, so please, take your time. When your next update comes along I'll be sure to read it, but until then I am more than willing to wait.
Wasn't sure if I wanted to read this or not
GUESS I'M READING IT, THEN
This...well, wow. I'm definitely impressed by how well everypony seems to fit their Elements, great work! And the choices of who would be the Holders were certainly near perfect for this. Looking forward to the next update!
2273002 just so long as he doesn't turn the canon mane six (we already know he isn't going to derail Twilight into an egomaniacal criminal and Celestia into a psychotic eldritch horror (wtf
)) into diabolic monsters to prop up his own favourite characters--unlike some stories with alternate mane sixes *cough*--this could be a very cool universe.
2388411
An' that's why ah'm not gonna be featurin' Rainbow Dash in an episode.
2388615
Octavia doesn't really talk in quotations, exactly. Ah was very systematic in how ah used those. She's patient an' contemplative, waitin' fer the right moment ta speak up, an' she introduces her thoughts with a quote, but that's it. Firs' thing she says in a scene is a quote, an' after that she talks normal. (It jus' kinda happens that in some scenes she only gets one line.)
.An' a' course Trixie made a lot a' jokes. Her first big scene was on stage an' her second was her establishin' moment as the Element a' Laughter. Outside a' that, ah don't think she went overboard with anythin'.
2388710 she keeps him working because he likes it. He's shown consistently (one of the only things about his character that is consistent) to self-identify around ponies he cares about by doing labour under them. He may grumble sometimes about his work conditions, but the fact remains that if it's the love of his life (Suited for Success, Secret of my Excess) or his saviour (Spike at Your Service) according to his own system of beliefs the best way to stay friends with somepony is to shower them with servility. Notice Twilight was perfectly willing to allow Spike to leave for the Dragon Migration to find his place in the world even though it hurt her to see him leave (Dragon Quest), but like in Secret of my Excess she showed a great deal of concern and fear for him and followed him with two of her friends to intervene if he was in danger.
As to stopping him from eating, she stops him from overeating. From what we've seen Spike loves to eat, and has actually put on baby fat as he grows, not lost it like most children. We've seen her stop him multiple times from eating more than he can handle, or at least try to (Luna Eclipsed, It's About Time) but the only time we see her stop him from eating something when he was hungry was when it was part of one of her friends', her poorest friend at that, livelihood.
2388411
......Wow. I thought I was the only one who honestly didn't like the Lunaverse
2389877
Ah try ta be mostly positive about it 'cause ah like the concept an' it's a big thing fer alternate universe fans, but ah've barely read any of it 'cause ah don't like what it did with Celestia. An' Twilight bein' a wanted criminal. An' Zecora bein' evil because hey canon Zecora is good so Lunaverse Zecora must be evil right? All change fer the sake a' change, not 'cause it's how the story shoulda gone. Matter a' fact, one thing that influenced me ta write this the way ah did was not bein' like the Lunaverse.
2389974
You, sir or ma'am are now my favorite author here.
Wonderfully written, and I adore what you've done with these elements of harmony.
2389974 And that's not even getting into how OOC Luna is or just how evil Rainbow Dash is made
That said it's a cool idea with very uncool execution. Your story, on the other hoof...
2388411 Aside from this being a gross misreading of Lunaverse characterization ... What would be so bad about that? Alternate universe is alternate universe :\
Heck, we've had stories where Celestia really is a psychotic villain. Pretty darn good ones, too! Have a look at Sunshine and Fire sometime.
I mean, for reference, I read and enjoyed this story at least in part because the Lunaverse had opened my eyes to the possibility of alternate Mane 6's.
2394501 It wasn't that the Lunaverse made Celestia the bad guy. It was that the Lunaverse felt the need to make all the mane six be villains or antagonists in ways they never would be. Even when she was cold and distant, Twilight was never an arrogant pony, just detached. She wouldn't feel the need to summon a highly dangerous creature to a populated area just to demonstrate she could banish it.
As for Celestia, the idea of her slowly becoming power-hungry over time isn't in her character. She's shown to be rather put off by her own position of power, one she maintains for love of her subjects. If she were to turn evil, it would be in a way that tried to maintain peace, joy and harmony at any price and with no questions asked, not one that made her what she was in the Lunaverse. A gross misreading of Lunaverse characterization? Well maybe since Lunaverse is a gross misreading of everypony else's characterization that's only fair.
And I've always had ideas for alternate Mane Sixes. Ones that didn't involve dragging the names of characters I loved through the mud for the sake of contrived drama. At least they left Flutters and Pinkie alone
.
As for the Celestia story, I may check it out. Depends on how dark it is exactly.
2394602 Yeah, a villainous Celestia probably would turn out like that - if she went bad today, after a thousand years of peaceful rule to cement her attitude towards her subjects. Which is the point - Lunaverse Celestia never had that. She had centuries upon centuries of war, fighting one giant threat to Equestria after another, and it drove her over the brink. Even then, her madness is protective - her extreme plans were things like, "relocate the entire Equestrian population to Canterlot, so I can personally defend all of them," which as far as wartime defense planning goes is great!
Somewhat less great at making sure everybody can eat, but that's why she was crazy.
The point is, Lunaverse Celestia isn't a monster - she's a shell shock victim.
The same principle applies to Twilight. Yes, canon Twilight was detached at worst, but canon Twilight had an awesome foalsitter, a brother, validation from her position as personal student to the ruler of the freakin' country and most importantly, friends. Lunaverse Twilight never had that, and therein lies the tragedy.
The Lunaverse glimpses of 'our' Mane 6 aren't cheap drama - if that were the point, we'd get more than glimpses. They're character studies, done For Want Of A Nail style. "There but for the grace of God go I..."
2394688 but they're still not in character. Twilight thought friendship was silly, but she wasn't manipulative or showboating at any stage in her life. I talk about Twilight when all she had was her brother for company. She viewed other ponies as a distraction from knowledge and learning, but she still took consideration to them. Without friends or a foalsitter like Cadance to guide her, she'd be a shut-in obsessed with learning and study in some Canterlot tower--not travelling in a cart.
As for Celestia, she has too much emotional strength to break the way she did in that story.
It's not a character study if you've warped and twisted things to show the heroes as villains in such a forced way and it's not a decision I like or can stand by. It's about nature, not nuture. The characters' nuture can be changed to make them darker or more bitter, but some fundamentals about them stay constant, and the Lunaverse changed those fundamentals for the sake of gaining attention and generating a forced conflict that could've come from another source. The entire concept just leaves a nasty, nasty taste in my mouth.
Here we could get a much more interesting showing of the protagonists without exaggerating their flaws beyond their IC straining limit to generate drama. All in all this seems like a much more tame and intelligent story, to my eyes at least,
2395305 Regarding Twilight - nor was she in the Lunaverse. Desperate, confused and out of her depth, yes. Manipulative? Showboating? Not so much. And just imagine how torn up she might be without Celestia to defuse that incident at the entrance exam, or Spike to provide some basic socializing, or the validation of her position as student to royalty. This isn't just about removing some elements of the Twilight we know - this is about stepping back in her history, exposing her to a radically different set of formative events and observing how her character changes as a result.
Regarding Celestia - does she? Are we sure of that? Have we seen anything of her from before banishing Nightmare Moon? We have no idea how emotionally strong she was or wasn't at the time. Lunaverse posits that she was slipping badly from centuries of constant, gruelling warfare, and there is nothing in canon to contradict that.
The fundamental nature of both characters is still in place. Twilight is still a bookish, socially awkward teenager obsessed with magic and the acquisition of knowledge - but spun out of control without the moderating influences that canon Twilight has.
Celestia is still the proud, protective and powerful ruler of her little ponies - but harsher without the years of peace to give her a chance to fully lay down her arms, and bitter over being dethroned and 'betrayed' by her people, then trapped in the sun for a thousand years to stew in bitterness.
2395357 It just....you know what, never mind. It's clear what you think is IC for Twilight and Celestia and what I do are very, very much not the same thing.
And fine, sure, maybe you could look at the characters that way. But I don't want to, I don't like to and it seems insipid to do so. I don't want characters I've grown to care for and enjoy watching be shown in a dark and hateful light to force conflict into a story when you can show them with the flaws they have but still make them sympathetic characters. Which, for the record, I do not find them in the Lunaverse. Therefore, I still hate the Lunaverse and do not intend to read further into it than "Boast Busted", same as before.
Now then, as I have exams this week I don't really care to discuss this any further than we have, as it's obvious I'm not going to convince you the conditions presented for the characters wouldn't have the results shown and it's annoying that Rainbow Double Dash would present those conditions to begin with, and you aren't going to convince me that it's a beautifully tragic and eye opening series that has the perfect tone for an alternate universe. As far as I'm concerned, this is the sort of story with an alt mane six that is the perfect tone for a My Little Pony universe.
2395357
2395415
Ah've got my own two cents on all this, but this ain't a Lunaverse story, so ah really shouldn't get into it. That's a matter fer forums. Ah'll post a thread on mah group's forum about it.
http://www.fimfiction.net/group/197757/life-in-manehattan/thread/15849/contd-from-wrong-place-at-the-right-time-comment-thread
2395875 Is fine. And if your earlier comment is anything to go by we pretty much agree entirely about the Lunaverse and what's wrong with it. Great concept and protagonists, poor use of canon protagonists just for the sake of changing things.
2395918
Well ah already went an' posted the thread, at least give it a look instead a' makin' more comments here about it.
I only just found this story today, thanks to the "popular stories" list. Full-rewrites of the canon generally stink, but this one is actually pretty good. Nice work.
If there's one thing I would want to bring up, it's the question of how Twilight is connected to these five ponies. In the canon, she's connected to her friends before she even met them, thanks to the original rainboom. What connects her to their replacements in this story?
And folks here are debating Luna-verse, are they? Yeah, it's a pretty good example of how full-rewrites of the canon tend to utterly fail. Everypony in that story is completely out of character, and either the reasoning for it is pure nonsense, or no reasoning is given at all. It's a near-perfect showcase of how *not* to rewrite the canon.
2395980
Actually, Cutie Mark Chronicles wasn't about Twilight bein' connected ta the others, it was about Rainbow Dash bein' connected ta the others.
Y'know, 'cause accordin' ta the writers, Rainbow Dash is a shiny golden messiah.
Ah don't much like Rainbow Dash.
2396007
Marry me?
I approve of this story.
fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/292/1/b/dalek_approved_by_my57-d4dd2ye.png