7 - Epilogue
One week after the events set in motion by King Sombra’s plan to defeat Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Canterlot was finally able to return its peaceful day-to-day life. Much of it was still damaged from the attacks by the corrupted ponies, and workers had to be called in from every corner of Equestria in order to fix it. Not to mention the number of ponies that were in the hospital from the attack. Thankfully, there were no casualties, thanks to the efforts of the Royal Guard, but there were still a good number of ponies that had sustained injuries.
Feathermay skipped through the streets, humming a tune as she carried a couple of bags of debris on her back. She was currently helping the reconstruction efforts of the business district, mostly because that was where her store was, but also because a friend of hers also worked there.
After reaching the dumping area outside of Canterlot, she unloaded the two bags and emptied them out into the pile. As she wiped the sweat off her brow, a pony next to her offered her a bottle of water. “Ah, thanks,” she said as she took the bottle and drank it quickly. “Aah, refreshing!”
“You sure have helped us out an awful lot,” the buff stallion said, moving closer to Feathermay and giving her a toothy grin. “You’re a lot stronger than ya look, Ms. …”
“Feathermay. And sorry, but I have plans today,” she said, seeing where the conversation was going. The stallion looked disappointed for a moment, before Feathermay giggled and turned away. “But, I’m free tomorrow, if you wanna do lunch then. I’ll warn you, though: I don’t come cheap.”
The stallion guffawed at her response. “I think I can handle it! So, tomorrow at noon?”
“Sounds good,” Feathermay said. “I’ll be waiting by the city’s gates. Don’t be late.” As she walked away, Feathermay turned her attention to the clock tower in the distance. “Another date tomorrow… But first, I’ve got an important date today. One I absolutely can’t miss.”
“Hey Fritter, seconds over here!”
Apple Fritter turned and scowled at Red Delicious, who simply gave a drunken laugh at her annoyed expression. “No seconds! We all get the same amount, y’hear?!”
“Ya ask me, y’all should get more,” Breaburn said, standing beside Apple Fritter as he helped her to distribute the food to the citizens of Appleoosa. “You’ve been slavin’ away in that kitchen all on yer own, ever since our previous cooks had that lil’… incident, with the microwave.”
“I can’t do that,” she said, giving her cousin a warm smile. “And besides, I’m happy ta cook for all of ya. Ye’re all family ta me, an’ I wanna help however I-” Apple Fritter gasped as she noticed the clock tower standing behind Braeburn. “Oh no! I didn’t realise how late it was!”
Braeburn gave her a confused look for a second, before he remembered that she had plans today. “… Well, y’all best get movin’ then.”
“But I-”
“No buts,” he said in a stern tone. “Ah can handle this on mah own. You need ta get over to Canterlot an’ meet yer friends. Now go on, before y’all miss the train.”
Apple Fritter stared in awe for a second, before smiling and removing her apron. “Well then, I’ll try ta come home as early as possible tomorrow mornin’!”
“No rush!” Braeburn shouted after Apple Fritter began to take off. “Ah know mah way ‘round a kitchen, trust me!”
Apple Fritter managed to get to the train station just in time, and boarded the train mere moments before it closed its doors. “It’s been one week since I saw everypony… I hope they’re doin’ alright…”
Spitfire raised an eyebrow as Lightning Dust landed in front of her, foreleg raised as she saluted the Captain. “Ma’am, all clouds cleared as ordered, ma’am!”
“… And in record time, too,” Spitfire said, looking at her stopwatch. “But you were a little sloppy with your movements up there. It’s been like that for the past week now. What gives, cadet?”
“… Forgive me, Captain. I can’t give an answer for that.”
“Well, if you ask me, I think you’re focussing too much on time, and paying less attention to the quality of your work.” Spitfire sighed and lowered her shades. “Listen, I’m probably the last pony you’d expect to hear this from, but speed isn’t everything. It means nothing if you pass the finish line first, if you hit all the hurdles on the way.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, ma’am.”
“Well then, wanna give it another go? You’re technically free to go, but we still have plenty of time left to kill.”
Lightning Dust looked up at the clock tower in the distance. “Actually, if it’s alright with you, ma’am, there is somewhere that I need to be right now. I’d also like to request the rest of the day off.”
Spitfire raised an eyebrow at that. “We have team drills later this evening. Dash can’t compete without her partner, y’know?”
“… I understand, ma’am, and I will be more than willing to accept whatever punishment you give me for cutting class.”
Spitfire had to hold back her laughter at the way Lightning Dust described it. Comparing military drills to a High School Gym class… That was just one of the things Spitfire loved about this pony. “Alright, permission granted. I’ll sub for ya today, and when you get back, you’ll have to take some make-up classes.”
Lightning Dust nodded. “Sir, yes, sir!” she shouted.
“Dismissed.” Not even a single second passed after she said that before a cloud of smoke replaced the Pegasus once standing before her, and a lightning trail shot up into the sky. “… Well, a true Wonderbolt puts her friends before herself. Even so, ‘cutting class’ is gonna result in a hefty detention for her when she gets back.” Chuckling to herself, Spitfire turned around and walked back towards he academy building behind her.
In her small house in Ponyville, Vinyl Scratch looked unsure as she sat in front of Octavia, who had her forelegs draped around the DJ mare. Vinyl wasn’t used to playing anything quieter than herself from her ‘boombox’, as she called it, so to hear the soothing sounds of classical music filling her room was a weird experience for her.
“Well?” Octavia asked as soon as the last track finished playing.
“… Fine. I guess it’s not so bad,” Vinyl said, though she had actually stopped paying attention partway through. The feel of Octavia’s fur against her back, and Octavia’s heartbeat against the side of her head both distracted her from the music.
“There, see? So, you’ll go with me to the concert next week, right?”
Vinyl sighed. She knew that, despite it sounding like a question, it was really not her choice in the mater. If she didn’t want to receive the ‘couch treatment’ for the next month, she would have to say ‘yes’. “Yeah yeah, I’ll go with you,” she said, receiving a nuzzle from the other mare, which made her smile. ‘I’ve dealt with drunken hooligans at my performances before, I can handle this.’
The silent moment was interrupted by a sudden explosion of sound that almost gave Octavia a heart attack. Vinyl looked over to her alarm clock, which was hooked up to two speakers that were now pumping out loud music at full blast.
“Oh, it’s time,” Vinyl said as she reached over to shut off her alarm clock. “We’d better get goin’, before we miss the train.”
“‘We’?” Octavia asked. “You mean, you want to me come along, too?”
“Of course. I’m sure the others won’t mind,” Vinyl said with a smile as she rose to her hooves. “Besides, even if you don’t come, they’re gonna be askin’ me all sorts of questions about ya. And if you’re not there, I’ll just have to answer all questions for the both of us.”
Octavia grimaced at the thoughts of Vinyl Scratch discussing their relationship without her supervision. Knowing Vinyl, she was unlikely to hold back any information at all. Not even the most sensitive stuff, such as…
“Well then, shall we?” Octavia asked, suddenly rising to her hooves and motioning for Vinyl Scratch to lead.
Vinyl laughed as she passed Octavia, using her magic to turn off the many electrical appliances she had on her room. “Trust me, you guys are gonna get along great together,” she said as she left the room with her marefriend.
Inkie Pie struck a matchstick against the side of the box, creating a spark and lighting it up. “You guys ready?” she asked her friends, who all nodded from a safe distance. Inkie turned back to the fuse at her hooves, and slowly brought the match down to light it.
She then ran back to where her friends were waiting for her and sat down beside them. A few moments later, the fireworks the mares had prepared started to launch, and they watched the display together with awe.
‘Well Trixie, you were right,’ Inkie thought to herself as she watched the bright flashes of light before her. ‘Help came to us three days later, but even after an extensive search, there was nopony in Canterlot who could cast that spell and travel back more than five days. If you hadn’t gone back to give yourself that warning, things may have turned out very badly for us.’
A particularly loud firework caught her off guard and startled her. She smiled again as she turned to her left, looking at her friends: Apple Fritter, Feathermay, Lightning Dust, Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia.
‘You did that, knowing it would cause your death…’ Inkie then moved her head to look to her right. ‘Well, there was one thing you didn’t account for… I wasn’t about to let you die.’
“What? Is there something on my face?”
Inkie shook her head. “You’re looking a lot better. I told you that medicine would help.”
“… It still tastes appalling.”
Inkie giggled and leaned over, resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. “Princess Cadance is going to visit her tomorrow. Make sure you thank her.”
“Yes, mum.”
Inkie playfully kicked the mare’s good leg, and the two of them shared a quick laugh together. “I’m serious, though. You really were dead, but the Princess ignited the faint spark of life still left within you.”
“And you supplied your blood, knowing full well that the Princess was no doctor, and that the risks were huge.” Trixie sighed and shook her head. “Once again, you saved Trixie’s life. And you still don’t ask for anything in return?”
Inkie turned back to the fireworks display before her eyes and sighed contentedly. “Just smile,” she said softly. “That’s all you need to do. It’s all I ask of you.”
“… Honestly,” Trixie said, turning her head to look over her friends. “With friends like you, I’d have to be dead not to smile. I’ve already tried that before, and I have no intention of doing it again anytime soon.”
Another particularly loud firework went off, and Trixie turned back to the display. She was happy. She had the greatest friends in the world, who she knew would be there for her whenever she needed them, and she now knew she could trust with her life. Part of her wanted this night to last forever, but another part of her told her that was stupid… because if this night never ended, she would be unable to enjoy more night like this with the ponies that she cared for.
‘Well, I’d better get ready,’ Trixie thought to herself as she watched the last wave of fireworks launching up into the air. ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie is on after this display, after all.’
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Yukito · 26k words · 187 2 · 3.3k views
- FenixBlaze979 · 14k words · 37 3 · 1.3k views
- Yukito · 4.3k words · 38 2 · 1.2k views
- Thait · 43k words · 48 1 · 1.6k views
- BitAcoustic · 5k words · 14 0 · 944 views
- Commissar Rarity · 6.9k words · 26 2 · 875 views
- Talon and Thorn · 24k words · 55 2 · 2k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.111 seconds
Total duration
1,012 users online
1,501,605 hits today, 2,237,019 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.®
Daaaaaaamn. All's well that ends well, yeah?
I WILL be rereading this... Nicely done.
~Skeeter the Lurker
After all that, I was expecting a sad ending. But then you had to give us that twist for a happy ending. You wonderful bastard.
Now I want an alternate ending..
2800847
Was gonna be a sad enging originally. They were meeting up to visit Trixie's grave, but then they my mind rebelled against me ^_^;;
2800858
I actually think a sad ending would have more effect.
2800858 Thank goodness it did.
2800667
I could be mistaken but 99.9% of the time, at least one can be found sitting at the throne in Canterlot listening to the boring nobles whine over this or that.
2804043
Or they're out having tea with the denizens of Ponyville, or out watching the leaves fall, or out helping little children get over their fears of the dark, or out... basically just out, really.
2804700
Or having a romp with Big Mac...
Another fine Trixie story.
For my headcanon, chapter 7's ending is the official one.
Ending it like that really rocks my world.
How is it possible to change the future anyway? Trixie died. Her friends in the future must have grieved. Does that just simply disappear? This was a great story. I`m a bit sad that you never had Inkie end up with Trixie, but this didn`t have the romance tag so I shouldn`t be surprised. Love this!
Well I am a sucker for a happy ending so, I loved it. However I demand more TrixexInkie, in fact you created a lot with this story that i'd like to see more of. I mean.......if that's ok........
Trixie has the best friends. Seriously, this group felt tons more natural than most other stories, and those usually have the Elements and the trek to the Everfree Castle to help forge the friendships. These? Five ponies who just genuinely like Trixie for who she is. I find it curious that each of them have some kind of connection to one of the Mane 6 (with the exception of Feathermay, I guess). I wondered for a bit if Trixie was gathering her own Elements. Actually, I'm glad it didn't turn out that way.
Storywise, the continuously rising stakes were very well played, going from "Trixie tries to find out what happened and avert her death" to "Trixie and friends save Equestria". Also, Sombra is exponentially more villainous than his canon counterpart. Shades of Giygas, as well.
Very good story. I enjoyed reading it.
I was crying at the end of chapter 7 - although I knew right from the start that Trixie has to die for the loop to be stable.
Sad thing is, even though I am eternally grateful for the happy ending, it seems forced. For your atonement, I demand more Trixie X Inkie.
2883056 She didn't actually change the future or the past, the meeting between Future and past Trixie still took place exactly like it did before. The difference was that after the spell ran it's course she was transported back to her own time. As I understand and/or remember from the episode 'it's all about time' the spell has a fixed time limit meaning that the spell will take you back no matter what. And after she was back and without a doubt dead it was a simple matter of reviving her again. I just though about how advanced their medical technology is so much more advanced than anything else seem to be.
Also they wouldn't had much time to grieve since she was back quickly and back to life after some of their equivalent of CPR or defibrillator and blood from Inkie, she was never dead longer than that. Everything turned out exactly like it did before or after or whenever, this stuff is kinda confusing. Furthermore I think at least that time spell doesn't let you change anything, anything you try to do creates a time loop so as soon as Trixie saw her slightly older self it was decided that everything she went through was going to happen. Or as the doctor would say "it's a fixed point in time".
2804700 And to the Author I want to say that I loved this story I would very much like a continuation in this universe, but i don't really know what. A romance story between Trixie and Inkie perhaps, or another adventure story as a direct sequel where Sombra tries to take revenge, or a slice of life story that expand upon what happens to them after this story. The point is that I want it to continue on something big instead of all your unrelated other stories, don't get me wrong I like them (at least the once I have had the time to read) but I feel like it's time to aim for something bigger. But perhaps it's better to start from scratch if you do that, anyway I want to see something of epic proportions from you.
Wait a minute ...
Trixie gets the warning from her future self (who then dies) and goes off to stop Sombra.
Trixie gets hurt and goes back in time to warn herself.
Trixie gets the warning from her future self (who then dies) and goes off to stop Sombra where she will then go back in time, triggering a time loop for that specific moment.
But how did the loop get started to begin with?
In the original timeline, Trixie would have never set off to stop the events leading up to her demise because she wouldn't have encountered her future self due to Sombra's attack not yet taking place.
Meaning that the ambush on Canterlot/Crystal Empire would have successfully gone off.
So was the original Trixie still able to destroy the crystal, or did Sombra end up winning?
And how was the Trixie from that timeline able to get inside the Castle and get the time travel scroll that started the time loop in the first place?
3547343
It's best not to question it. Like how the loop started for future Twilight. In any instance of time loops like this, there's always the question of how it starts, and at there same time there really isn't an answer for it other than there just never being an 'original Trixie' or 'original timelime', which is kinda an odd concept but the only way it could possibly work.
This was STUPENDOUS! I am so horribly glad I read this! Thank you so much for your writings.
3547343
It's called a Predestination Paradox or Closed Loop.
The past can not be altered and any attempt to alter the events simply fulfil the events of the past.
Trixie was warned by her future self about her coming death, in order to escape this situation she fulfils the events that lead to her need to go back through time and warn herself again.
The loop has no point of creation nor a point where it would be broken and that is why it's called a paradox.
Wikipedia has more to say about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_paradox
---
As for the story itself, I rather enjoyed it.
The epilogue itself was annoyingly short and short of details, the question of who the Everfree villain wasn't answered (as far as I could see, myself) What kind of fame Trixie gains from the adventure, an important goal as far as Trixie is concerned, wasn't addressed and I was hoping to see Trixie and Twilight meet each other again but despite that, I thought it was a rather good story.
I loved it
Well, I was expecting the ending, just not sure of how the exact means would be. I mean, you're Yukito! I don't think anything I've read by you has ended up with any tragic or super-dark ending. Really the only guy that got killed in this fic on-screen was the one redshirt Royal Guard earlier.
I am slightly disappointed that we get no closure in this fic though on how Equestria hears and takes the news about Trixie basically saving them all and dying for it (though it didn't last)...and Twilight's reaction as well
6425170
Yeeeeeeeah, I wrote this before Maud was a thing. It's totes all about the Mauxie now ^_^;;
6425313
This isn't that kind of fic
6425813
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/74982/the-not-so-great-and-powerful-escape Enjoy :)
6426660 Seeing what Inkie Pie turned out to actually be like makes this even MORE hilarious, really.
Alright ending. I personally hate time skips, but I bet others don't feel the same.
Now let me tell ya, this is one heck of a story, I liked the beginning, the characters are quite fresh and the jokes are good, the death of future Trixie was intriguing and the story became more interesting as I was reading. The Inkie Pie you created in your story is great too. I liked that a lot...
BUT, it was a very horrible story too, I'm sorry, just tooo many plotholes and a lot of cringey stuff. First of all, what is the story behind the future Trixie? How did she find herself in the crystal mines in the first place? Alright, let's assume Sombra made his move, Trixie found out about him aaaand? Why would she go on this journey? The past-Trixie did this because of the fear of death, but future-Trixie? What was her motivation? Investigate crystal mines all of a sudden? Or maybe Cadence came to Trixie for help? I just don't know.
Secondly, what's up with the love line? I mean what about Inkie confessing to Trixie? Why would she want to stay in the friendzone? I think she would totally confess if her "waifu" was supposed to die in a few days, she would try to spend the most with Trixie, she would be suffering probably, be more selfish, I don't know, but you just made her accept the "best friend" possition. *sigh* In truth I was reading this story to the end because I wanted to see at least a kiss and confession in the end, maybe a heartbreak, because you obviously made Trixie not-gay, but that ending would have been way stronger than simple fireworks and hugs with friends.
Thirdly, this whole story seemed quite rushed to me. Everything happening so fast and weird I couldn't understand what was going on. Their first encounter with Sombra was quite lame, Cadence was doing nothing, until her subject got pierced with crystals, and THEN she strikes the foe down. And then later on, at some point "mane six" say how they "defeated Sombra", even though it was a single blast from Cadance.
Also, Trixie wasn't quite like herself, I think. And when Cadence mentions Twilight's name in front of Trixie, she is furious that "Twilight would steal her spotlight and she will get no rewards". Why she was worrying about this, if her only motivation was the "fear of death"? Apparently not.
All in all, story was great.... at first glance, but don't mind me, it's just an opinion. I really like your art, Yukito. I like how you write, but this book won't be my favorite. Regardless, thank you for doing what you do, keep up the good work. You'll learn from mistakes.
3547343
Thank you my dear friend, I'm not the only one who wracked their brain about this loop. I was really frustrated, thought maybe an explanation would be in the end. That wasn't the case apparently.
3547343
I am going to allow Simon Templeman to explain: