To Live Again

by _No_One_Remains_

Epilogue: Forgotten but Not Lost

Nopony seems to have any memory of the strangers that visited us. There is no evidence that they ever existed to begin with. I can’t recall their names, or where they disappeared to. I can’t even recall what they looked like anymore. But on the day they disappeared, my nightmares stopped. The clouds of darkness that plagued my dreams gave way to a beautiful open field of flowers and animals. Reports of caravans being attacked within the Everfree Forest also decreased.

I don’t know why they left or where they went, but the strange creatures were linked to it all in one way or another. Perhaps they knew just how dangerous they were, and fled our world so we could be happy. Or perhaps they entered that wall of light in the hopes of stopping whatever was truly causing our woes. Nopony will ever know, it seems.

Anything that might have linked them to our world vanished not long after they left. Even the little bird I left in Fluttershy’s care vanished in the middle of the night. The only difference between it and everything else is that anypony that saw it remembers it was real. Why is it they can recall the yellow bird but not its owners?

It’s never a dull day in Equestria, of that I have no doubt. But…recent events seem to be almost too bizarre.

I’ve received a number of strange letters from an unknown sender. Unlike Twilight Sparkle’s friendship reports which arrive by dragon fire, these letters seemed to have simply appeared on my throne once each day. They started on the day the strangers vanished. Each letter contained a single word and any respective punctuation it might have needed in the grand scheme of the message.

“Memories are powerful creatures. Never forget what you’ve seen them do.”

I have yet to figure out what it means, but I’ve had most of my elite researchers trying to decipher it. Even Twilight offered to look into its meaning. Even greater than my curiosity of its meaning is my desire to know the letters’ origins. Each letter I’ve received came sealed with a red ribbon and a small image of a red bulb on what appears to be a face. Underneath each seal rests the word ‘Kupo’.

There are some things we may never know.

I feel as if I owe the strangers a debt that I can never repay, yet I’m not even certain why I would owe them anything…

The real question is, I imagine, whether or not I truly wish to know…

Comments

[Dirty Bit]

This whole story was deep, twists and all. Thank you for taking me on another enjoyable literary journey, good sir. May your story prosper in the eyes of others after its completion

[Bass Concerto]

One question: Didn't the Iifa tree get sent to Equestria? And, if so, what happened to it?
Otherwise, very well written, my good sir. Have a Spike-stache. Or multiple.

[ManWithThePan]

Curses, it hast ended....

[UseFistNotMouth]

Ahhhhhh.... Just as unsatisfying as the ending of any FF game. Good job.

I do not think I'll be rereading this one but it was a great ride. Thanks for writing and sharing this story.

[_No_One_Remains_]

3175464 I'll...take the compliment? I guess?
Hey, gotta stick to the spirit of the source materials, y'know! But thanks for tagging along on this rather complex journey!

3175235 What makes you think the Iifa Tree was in Equestria? Because of a picture in a book? Don't forget how easily memories are manipulated and how powerful they are. Garland's manipulation ran much deeper than just the Gaian strangers.

3174948 It feels me with pride to hear my writing gave people feels at times. Thanks for reading!

[Bass Concerto]

3176041 I inferred that the Iifa tree was there because of all the mist that was there from the very beginning. Also, I figured that Garland would be smart enough to realize that the Iifa tree would be the best source for mist ever.

[Sveargeith]

how i felt at the beginning of this story:
how i felt in the middle: >.>
how i felt at the end: "that was quite the ending"

[Crystalis McCloud]

Beautiful. Absolutely Beautiful. I am very glad that I finished up reading this. I love how you managed to impliment the themes of memory, identity, and responsibility from FFIX into the story. The only thing that really irks me is that for the most part, Equestria and the characters from it serve as nothing more than springboards of conversation and as outside perspectives looking in on the events surrounding the foreign beings. Their presence didn't hold as much weight as I feel it warranted.

What I do wonder, though is if this was intentional..... the way you ended the story. The fact that Twilight is researching the MogNet letters vehemently, which in itself suggests travel is possible, combined with the fact that the presence of Lord Avon/Starswirl's play was present in both worlds and definitely NOT part of Garland's deception. This leads to the line of thought that a possibly humanized Starswirl was freely traveling between the worlds. All of this combines into one huge piece of sequel bait, which you could use to create a new and greater story where hopefully Twilight and any others involved would have more involvement in the story.

[ParadigmShift]

Mognet..Can get to Princess Celestia?

Huh.

[clonezero]

Such a wonderful story! Thank you for sharing it! Truth be told somewhere down the middle I started to loss interest but every question I had was pretty much answered by the end.

Best of luck in your future endeavors!

[Dapper Guy]

I remember reading this a while ago but I forgot about it. Glad I found it again and it's completed.

[_No_One_Remains_]

6105052 You realize none of these characters are actual OCs, right?

[Dainn]

I enjoyed reading this.
I kept thinking that either Necron or Ozma would be the final boss of the story.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Garland.