Epilogue: A Lifetime Of Adventure
Epilogue: A Lifetime Of Adventure
~BlackRoseRaven
The portal didn't work.
Almost everyone had recovered from their ordeal: the princesses would probably still be aching for years to come from the dark magic, but they had healed. Even Celestia had healed... although now she had a few scars of her own across her body. But even those could be fixed in time, with a little patience, effort, and magic.
Blueblood had been strangely disappointed that Sleipnir hadn't been able to go home, but the earth pony had taken it with his usual gaiety and pride when it had done nothing but spark a little. He had laughed, smiled, said that they were just lucky it hadn't exploded, and then decreed that he would take a few weeks to research and recover, and then he and Blue would be off on another adventure across Equestria.
Celestia had been sad to see him leave... but Blueblood had promised to be back. And it was a promise he intended to keep, too. But there was so much he wanted to see, so much he wanted to do... and the road called to him. Nature called to him, and he wanted to be out there, doing good for everypony. And he wanted to be beside his brother, Sleipnir: he still had a lot to learn, after all, and Sleipnir wasn't the kind of stallion who could stand being alone for very long.
They had been traveling for three years now, having all sorts of adventures. They had traveled through the Murkwood, which had been quite murky but had also been full of monstrous beasts called wargs and giant spiders and all kinds of hideous things. And that included the elves they had come across one day, who had been beautiful outside, but arrogant and ruthless... and then very, very miserable after Sleipnir had cheerfully outflanked, outrun, and outfought all of them with one hoof tied behind his back. Literally, since the elves had ambushed and tried to kidnap them.
After Murkwood, they had ended up scaling a mountain and run into a giant. Sleipnir had beaten the giant at hoof-wrestling, and then the giant had gotten angry and chased them out of his house and halfway down the mountain before Blueblood had finally lost his temper and stabbed him in the foot when he'd tried to step on them, sending it hobbling away in tears. Afterwards, Sleipnir had chastised the unicorn for almost half an hour before he'd gotten distracted by some butterflies.
They had visited the Oracle and discovered that she was a fraud; they had rescued a fortune teller from a carnival of slaves after finding out she was the real deal. Sleipnir had played his first game of croquet and nearly killed the Duke of Trottingham, and Blueblood had punched a dragon in the face for the first time, and kept the tooth he'd knocked out as a prize. He had hollowed it out and now used it as a drinking horn, which made Sleipnir jealous because it could hold more than a liter of ale.
And of course, between the two of them, they drank every bar and tavern they come across dry of ale, and sometimes whisky. Blueblood learned drinking songs, and Sleipnir learned all about wines and champagnes. And no stallion – hell, no army of stallions – could out-drink, out-eat, or out-belch the two. Not that Blue was very proud of the last or anything, of course.
They adventured and they wandered: they always put their business aside to help out ponies in need, whether they were lowly peasant children or the highest of monarchs. They laughed, they loved, they had fun, and they fought... but never in anger, never with hate in their hearts, always to protect and always to defend.
Somehow, at some point, they had heard about some magic wishing ball that could grant any wish you wanted. The two had decided to hunt it down, and found out a dragon had stolen it from the old temple where it had originally been kept.
They had made their way to the dragon's aerie, and Sleipnir had politely asked the dragon if they could please have the ball back. The dragon had made the mistake of trying to swallow Sleipnir whole... and now the fangless lizard was whimpering in the corner, staring with terror at the two ponies as they poked and prodded the plain glass orb he had hurriedly turned over to them after Sleipnir had quite literally punched his teeth out.
“I don't think it works.” Blueblood said flatly, and Sleipnir huffed before he took it and shook it firmly, making the unicorn wince. “Sleipnir! That's how you broke that last artifact, you idiot!”
“I did not break it! It slipped!” Sleipnir retorted, jerking the orb away from Blueblood when he reached for it... and then the glass ball fell out of his hooves and hit the ground, shattering into pieces. All that was left were a few shards and a blue dust that wafted up and over Sleipnir as Blueblood stared in horror and the enormous earth pony slowly turned beet red.
“Well, 'tis... a silly thing, anyway!” Sleipnir complained, and then he lamely brushed at the dust before adding: “Besides, why would a wish work when a portal does not? Why art thou so sure that all I shall have to say one day is, 'I wish to go home,' and-”
The powder covering Sleipnir glowed brightly, cutting his words off, and then there was a loud pop before Sleipnir simply vanished, leaving Blueblood staring with disbelief at the space where the earth pony had been a moment before.
Blue couldn't believe it as he felt a twist of wild emotion run through him, his heart catching, his stomach clenching, his throat going dry. Sleipnir was gone. Sleipnir was gone. After everything they had been through, everything that had happened, Sleipnir had made a wish, and poof, he was just gone. He was gone...
Blue looked down for a moment, reaching up and silently touching the tattoo he'd gotten of Yggdrasil along one foreleg, the symbol that Sleipnir seemed to revere most... and then, slowly, the stallion found himself starting to smile in spite of everything. That big idiot had broken that stupid artifact and then made his damned dumb wish, and... and...
The unicorn looked up, and then he began to laugh: quietly at first, but soon in earnest, shaking his head before he grinned at the ceiling and shouted: “Sleipnir! You idiot, you never fixed my carriage! You ignorant little peasant, do you really think I'm going to just let you run off like that without even a goodbye?”
Blueblood laughed, then he reached down and swept up the broken fragments of orb and as much of the remaining dust as he could, putting it into his sidepack before he spun suddenly on his heel and pointed at the dragon in the corner, which yelped and leaned away. “Can you fly to Canterlot?”
The dragon looked dumbfounded by this, then it nodded hesitantly before Blueblood reached back into his pack with a wink and pulled out a diamond the size of his hoof. The dragon's eyes bulged, and Blueblood easily tossed this to the beast, saying mildly: “And there'll be enough of these to make you fat and happy for the rest of your life if you fly me there, my friend. Do we have a deal?”
The dragon looked dumbly down at the gemstone, and then he nodded violently, and Blueblood smiled warmly. Good: he couldn't wait to take these things to Jerry Rig, and maybe get Auros to come visit from the Sanctuary of the Lost out past Rancher's Ridge.
He was eager to find out of this 'Looking Glass World' was half as exciting as his big brother made it sound, after all.
Sleipnir wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew he was falling from the night sky. And he knew immediately where he was, as he gazed back and forth with awe before he laughed loudly as he saw the village coming towards him-
No, wait. He was falling. That meant he was going towards it, and that meant-
Sleipnir crashed into the ground with enough force to shake all of Ponyville and bury himself deep in the earth. For a few moments, all he could do was lay there, dazed... but Mother Nature squeezed him gently, told him to get up, and helped him slowly raise his head, the stallion blinking dumbly before he smiled brightly at the sight of the dull-pink pony standing nearby and only staring at him from beneath the waterfall of mane that spilled over one eye.
“Oh, phoenix! Thou art a glorious sight after... well, I suppose it has been quite some time, but bah, I have never been any good with time. Did I miss anything?” Sleipnir asked with honest curiosity, gazing warmly across at his wife.
“Goddammit!” the mare shouted, and then she kicked a large rock into his face, which made him flinch and knocked some of the soil and debris free of his head... but that was about the reaction he had expected from her, anyway.
She grumbled under her breath as her icy blue irises glared up at the sky, but he saw more than a scowl in her beautiful, red-rimmed eyes. So fearlessly, he did as he'd always done, yanking himself out of the hole in the ground and walking over to gently kiss her forehead before he smiled down at her radiantly: his phoenix Pinkamena, the love of his life, the soulmate who wore upon the left side of her chest a tattoo that gorgeously paired his. And what better promise could he have asked from a mare he didn't deserve anyway than that?
Finally, she sighed, but gave a smile with an honest hint of happiness in it as she replied: “Not much. I'll tell you about it on the way home.”
Sleipnir smiled back at her and nodded, and they turned to start down the road together, to live happily ever after...
And then the mare halted and sniffed the air, before her eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared over at him, asking moodily: “Do I smell demon blood, Sleipnir?”
Sleipnir grinned weakly... and a moment later, the mare was chasing him down the road, her yelling waking up the few ponies that hadn't already been startled out of sleep by Sleipnir crashing face-first into the earth, the stallion yelping as he dodged back and forth to try and avoid the occasional rock or mailbox or whatever else she could rip out of the ground to fling at him.
But still, it brought him warmth and happiness to be here at home, and there was nowhere he'd rather be as he looked over his shoulder with joy, and never fear, and for all her thorns his phoenix chased him with such ferocity because she loved him so dearly and deeply.
Oh yes, this was the world for him: home with a mare who loved him so much she was threatening to break his legs so he'd never be able to leave again, in a world that sang with wild nature and friendly chaos, as his heart thudded with the pride, the happiness, the sheer warmth he felt in the air all around him. Here was his adventure, here was his joy... and he only hoped that one day, he'd be able to find a way to bring his worthy new brother here to meet the rest of his wonderful family.
Either way, though, he knew that their hearts would never be far apart: because even if all the worlds separated them, they would eternally remain brothers... and Sleipnir was sure that one day they would meet again.We only fail when we defeat ourselves;
We only despair when we refuse to look for joy;
We only stay down when we refuse to get back up.
May 4th, 2014 – July 7th, 2014
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And we come to the end of another epic tale, and once more I shall say well done, and I look forward to the next one.
Well I for one love open ended THE ADVENTURE MAY YET CONTINUE endings!This was all endlessly fun.
4830739
I'm very glad you're so enthusiastic about the story. It's a pleasure to see I've been able to make such an impression on someone and I really appreciate all the comments.
I'm glad that you liked Invidia and her evolution thus far: she's a very... complex character to do, and it's hard to do emotional characters properly. They often seem just completely insane or unwieldy, so I'm glad that people can stand her, let alone like her.
And no, oh no. Incest is frowned upon in Slap's world, too, but uh. They do not know, at least not yet. Although the relationship of the three siblings in Looking Glass World is... well, it's not as blood-based as it is in other worlds, let's put it that way.
But oh, yes. This is actually a side story to Glory Be, which is the last story in my uh. Rather long series that I've written about Luna and her husband, Scrivener. And oh, well. Can't have a Horsia without a Balrog, and all. I'm glad people enjoyed that.
Nightmare Before Christmas is basically my favorite thing ever. And yes, Slap has... a special talent for making friends. He's just... a big, silly, physical fool. But he's the best sort of fool, too. When I write with Slap, I feel... I dunno. I feel funny. I feel like I'm learning a lot myself, you know? Like Sleipnir has something to... teach us all.
But thanks very much, again, for all the comments thus far, and I'm glad you're continuing to enjoy. I hope you continue to, right up to the end, since you're almost through the whole thing now, and I'm just glad it's proven such a good read so far.
4829958
I honestly try not to, but... well, this one kind of called for it. And it'd admittedly be nice to revisit Blue sometime, and see just how he takes to a real world of adventure.
Thanks for reading. It is much appreciated.
4830582
Thank you very much, and I appreciate hearing it. I hope that my next story proves half as interesting, since I'll be trying something... a little different from my usual.
4830654
Thanks very much, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the story and the ending. I appreciate hearin' it and thank you for reading.
4830766
Different can be good....
4830766
4830824
Something different? Last time you said that my heart was almost torn asunder by the result. Not that I'm complaining or anything, nothing I've read in my entire life gives me such an emotional reaction as what you write. And I love every minute of it.
Yeah, the final battle may have been a little quick but it certainly wasn't lacking. Blueblood definitely turned out to be a stronger and better person than I thought he would, and Sleipnir once again shows us that he isn't someone we'd want to be on the bad side of.
Ever onwards, this tale of yours does travel, BRR.
4830791
And I do seem to just continue to write moar and moar.
4831073
Thank you. That really means a lot to hear, honestly. I'm glad my writing has such a powerful effect, even if. I can certainly be a jerk with it at times, yes.
And yeah. Even Slap has his breaking point. And Blue, well. He turned out a lot better than I thought he would, too. But I suppose he was lucky enough to have Sleipnir there with him for years and years, so. That certainly helped.
Thanks again. And we'll see about the next story. Once I get my concentration back in order, I'm hoping I'll be able to turn it out pretty fast, at least. I'm determined to keep this one relatively "short."
4831193
And I really don't think it's ever going to end, at this rate.
Thanks very much for reading.
4831912
Thanks. I tried my best with the poems. Well. I tried my best to do my worst. But I'm glad you enjoyed these last few chapters and what they had to offer: they certainly got more emotional than I expected, all in all.
I'm especially glad you found the final battle enjoyable... and well, Slap is Slap. Of course he's going to try and sleep with everyone he can.
But thanks very much for the fave, and I'm glad you were able to enjoy this story through and through, and your comments have been much appreciated. I hope if you poke at any of my other stories, you enjoy them just as much, if not more. Thanks again, for reading, for commenting, and your attention to this story. It's all very much appreciated.
My god, this was amazing. No amount of words could express my feelings about this story. Only one thing: Sequel?
4883690
Thank you very much. I'm glad that you were able to enjoy it so much, and... well, there might be. I definitely do want to explore more of this Blue, and expose him to uh... the intricacies and fun of Sleipnir's world.
Thanks very kindly for the fave of Moonrise, too. It's a slow start, but it does get interesting, so I do hope you enjoy them: Slap takes a while to show up, but uh. I do promise it's a worthwhile wait.
4886809 I've been considering reading the series for a while, and when I realized this was related to it, I finally decided to start. Probably 2 million word series. When I saw this I started reading this because of the story Time Loops in Equestria, because that story has Sleipnir as a multiversal god the few times he comes in.
4927572
I hope it proves a pleasure to read, then. It's a uh. Funner story than most of my other ones.
I wasn't expecting it to be so Tolkien, but this was still really great. I want more.
Definitely wasn't expecting the last few chapters, but they made the story so much better. The boss battle was a little rushed though; as in I don't really understand why it came to be/how it was created. You know what I mean
Sleipnir is the best
4944558
Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I just kind of. Ran with things and let it turn out how it wanted to. The Tolkien theme just kind of developed itself and, well, it fit Sleipnir pretty nicely.
And yeah. That I will freely admit. The original final battle was really long, though, like. Really long. So I decided kind of to just... let it be. Legion does kind of describe his origins, but uh. Yeah, I really did want to get more into that and the whole. Created from vanquished evils thing in the sea of souls. I kind of ran out of space, though, so to speak. I didn't want the chapter to end up being twice as long as the rest of them were, I've always been kind of twitchy about that.
But hey, maybe there'll be more, at some point. Blue and Slap ended up being a whole lot more fun than I thought, after all. Sleipnir is great to write, but he's uh. Difficult, too.
If Sleipnir was voiced, what would he sound like?
4997805
Deep, strong, cheerful baritone. Something rich and friendly. One of those happy, booming voices. I can't think of any specific people with just the right qualities, though.
Please please please tell me there will be a sequel!
5025424
I'm hoping, one day, I'll be able to write something more with Slap and Blue. I'd really like to have Blue see Slap's world, after all: there'd be quite a lot of adventures for them to have there.
Thanks very kindly for the fave, too.
5027500
YES! Maybe.
And you're welcome, the story deserved it.
Oh shit this is out, I'll have to get to it.
5116843
I hope you enjoy it when you do. Slap and Blue certainly get up to some interesting adventures, after all. And admittedly much of it is pretty much just a Sleipnirized Lord of the Rings.
They make such an awkward Samwise and Frodo.
5128037
I was surprisingly close to his name in spite of not actually knowing anything about what I was partially referencing.
Should I brush up on my Norse Mythology before reading this?
5168753
Nah. What little is necessary to know is explained here and there. But knowing a little about Lord of the Rings will help with a lot of the silly references.
Otherwise, prepare for the most cheerfully oblivious stallion in existence.
5168849
Ah crap.I don't know lord of the rings either.
5169990
Well, no worries. Everyone knows the Gandalf line. And otherwise just assume Slap is being an idiot. Because most of the time he is.
5218116
Blueblood is pretty horrible, yes. But no one can be horrible forever with a Sleipnir regimen.
Now that I think about it, I realize that Slap looked after Kvas, too.
I always seem to end up leaving him with some jerk or other.
Loved it, really enjoyed the lighthearted angle especially compared to 'other' stories in the 99 worlds saga.
Blue's development from worthless cretin to a great stallion was a joy to watch unfold. His relationship with Slap was heartwarming.
Now we need an arc where Blue goes to 'looking-glass world', ideas for such:
1.) Blue finds a way to LGW, maybe some world hopping before that? Did I ever tell you I love world hopping?
2.) Antares/Prestige Wedding which of course parents will have to attend.
3.) Blue & Innocence romance: Its perfect, they are practically kindred spirits now; both are post-redemption characters.
4.) Some kinda closure on the Celestia is crazy/Bob is a stone statue story thread. (Bitch forgot about Frey)
5.) I feel sad for Terra and Kvas.
So I figure you could knock this out in a million words or so?
~Keep up the great work!
5277347
Thank you kindly. I'm glad to hear that it ended up being such a pleasure to read, since... well, Blue does start a uh... a little annoying. But Slap brings out the best in everyone, though, and it was admittedly a lot of fun writing his interactions with Blue and their whole awkwardly-close brotherhood.
Ha. Blue and Sin. That is actually an interesting idea. I'll have to give that some thought. And Celestia/Bob will actually be dealt with in Hecate's Orphanage. Which probably will be another big story. I actually plan to deal with a lot of the loose ends in Hecate's Orphanage: it's just a matter of finding the time to actually work on it between everything else.
But thanks again, and I hope you continue to enjoy all these strange and silly stories of mine.
5279497
Keep writing and I'll keep reading!
Looking forward to HO.
6160302
Good eye. That's part of what I looked at for this story's whole cycle of rebirth. It's always both interested and terrified me a little.
6162313
I'm very glad to hear I didn't completely screw it up, in that case. But thanks, and I hope you enjoy the saga. Moonrise starts off a little small but it uh... grows into quite an adventure.
So the heart of the harbinger had actually been invidia all along proving that I was completly wrong ah well my mistake. I have seen many hearts around this story to devour and will put this in my library to read once again in the future as it was well written but now I shall move on in the shadows in search of another story as I crave for more to read just as much as I crave the hearts I feed upon. So farewell for now but "fear not" as the mighty sleipnir always says. I will keep an eye out for more from you in the future.
6326681
Thank you very much, and I'm glad that it proved to be such an enjoyable read for you. I hope that any of my stories you might read in the future continue to be just as entertaining. I much appreciate the watch as well.
I liked the story... It was very good but it could be best a extra epilogue, just a little of what happened with Blue without Sleipnir and what happened with Sleipnir after that.
6406766
Thanks. I'm glad you found the story enjoyable. It's admittedly one I often think about doing a sequel to, because there really are a lot of adventures that Blue and Slap enjoyed together... and of course, Blue's own adventures, including doing his best to hunt down Sleipnir and all the hijinks that would ensue there.
Thank you kindly for the fave and the watch as well, and I hope you continue to enjoy my writing.
That was a wonderful, open ending. You wrapped everything nicely, leaving so much for the future, i had a real blast reading this story, thanks for sharing.
6410842
Thank you very much for reading. I'm glad it ended up being so enjoyable a story. It was admittedly quite a fun one to write. I hope you continue to enjoy any of my writing you may pick up, and I'm sure there'll be more Slap to come in the future.
6644986
There's some... interesting rules to it. I suppose the way you could say it rolls is that your "first" death isn't always permanent: but your second death is generally a no save roll, game over. Luna and company have uh... been through some rough times, we'll put it that way. And for Slap, well. He's afraid that he's felt that "second death," so to speak.
6648224
So like, the first time you die you go to Helheim or Asgard or wherever, but if you leave there and get killed again, you just... don't?
6663322
The quickest answer is that this is a different Sleipnir from the legend. He has a different heritage as well. I explain it in one of my other stories.
Loved it! What next?
7485443
I'm glad you enjoyed. But uh... there is sort of a second series. It was originally supposed to be a one-shot but we've all seen how that develops for me.
Rhythm of the Dance > Zecora's Pinata > One Wish For Nothing: I think that's the best reading order, although they all technically happen at about the same time. Then Thorn of the Rose. I also often include Gjallarsong in there because it tells a lot about Hecate. And hopefully by next month I'll be posting up Hecate's Orphanage, which should keep people busy for a while.
This was a story I hated to put down. I went to work and kept thinking about what was going to happen next. I couldn't wait to get home to keep reading! I haven't felt that way since the last Harry Potter book. Excellent job!