Ranger
Chapter 87: Saudade
By Wanderer D
Dear Twilight,
I hear you figured out a way to somehow extend the use of Sunset's diary. Well that's a darn good thing, sugar cube, because you'll need it. Princess Celestia invited us over to write to you, and well, I'm sorry, but I blurted out the whole thing with Rainbow Dash. Your...um, their Rainbow Dash.
So they all know that I'm… no longer there And that neither is Pinkie. And that Rarity is working for your enemies... in all, I reckon that it could have gone worse, but, well, I got the first letter and I thought I should warn you. They might not be as cheerful as before this time around, but they'll get there again.
And I guess that's really it for the warning. I'm here for the same reason the girls are, sugar cube, and that's you. We're all concerned, Twilight. I realize we don't have the whole picture and nopony ever made an apple pie with just one ingredient. Except possibly my great, great, great-grandmother Apple Carve. But that's just a legend.
I'm sorry if I'm rambling Twilight, but it's hard to figure out what to say in this situation. You all lost friends, I get that, and we haven't been in your situation at all. We're not soldiers, and truth be told, sugar cube, until a bit over a month and a half ago neither were you.
We all saw what you wrote to the Princess. I don't know what to tell you, sugar cube, it was not a mean letter… but it wasn't really you. We Apples have a long memory and a long history, we have family that has gone to war and I know, thanks to them, that it changes you… I guess that would happen regardless of what we do, but we also know the value of families and friends in those hard times.
Never forget we're here, Twilight. We're waiting for you to come back. Talk to us. The Princess says that she's figured out a way on our side to make things easier… I'm sure she'll let you know as soon as she can how it works.
Your friend,
Applejack
"Here you go, Spike," Applejack said, passing the Diary over to him. "Ah think it's Rarity's turn."
"Alright!" Spike said, taking the diary and glancing briefly inside. He paused. "Huh."
"What?" Applejack asked.
"You write better than you spe—" Spike cut himself off. "You know, never mind! Off I go!"
Dear Twilight,
I'm so very sorry about your loss, darling, it must be a tremendously painful thing to go through. This new world you're in now is downright dreadful, and to lose those close to you in such a manner is not going to be easy to move on from.
Please Twilight, don't deny yourself the chance to feel the pain and grieve as you should. You don't have to be stronger than anypony, and you don't need to push those that care away, I know it's easy to fall into that trap… I've done it before, for comparatively minor things, of course, but I can only imagine how much more those urges would weigh on you for something like this.
I've heard that the local Rarity is… not agreeable with your cause, so I cannot speak for her but at least know that if I was there, I would be entirely at your disposition to talk and maybe, somehow, organize a girl's night out.
Ponyville is waiting for you, darling, we all miss you, and we want you back home and safe. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo all miss their after school time with you and I know Spike is putting a strong face but also wishes you were home. He's a gentle
coltdrake, Twilight, you've done well raising him.I hope to hear back from you soon, Twilight. Write back soon.
-Rarity
"Wow! You really think I'm a gentledrake?!"
"Spikey?"
"Y-yes Rarity?"
"It's not polite to read other pony's letters."
"Oh. Oh! I'm sorry, I won't do it again!"
"That's better darling, we wouldn't want the others to get upset. They might be writing some personal things after all, and a gentledrake wouldn't read a lady's personal correspondence, would he?"
"N-no! Of course not!"
Hi Twilight!
Sooooo…
I guess I'm dead huh? No wonder the world you're in needs a more streamers!I'm sorry that everypony you knew kicI don't know how to begin. How weird is that?I really don't want to write. I want to hug you and cheer you up! I want to bake cupcakes for you and everyone inside the Revenger! We might not be able to save Earth but we will sure as hay revenge it!
Sorry. I'm trying to cope. I'm trying to be cheerful and let you know that I miss you and that you don't have to feel lonely! We are all rooting for you! We all want you to smile and write loooong nerdy letters to the princess!
AJ told us what happened to the other me… I guess that explains the shoulder ache, tail twitch, shaky hooves and temporary paralysis from six years ago. I was real doozy, let me tell you.
But that's not important right now. What's important is you! I can almost feel how sad you are! Every time I think of you I get this spasm on the back of my fetlock! And it can only mean one thing! You're pregnant! Congratulations!
Well, I guess it could also mean you're jealous of somepony, but that sounds weird. I know you're down because of what happened, but you can't let it get between you and the Princess! You have friends there and friends here and we all love, love, love to see you happy!
Hugs!
Pinkie Pie
"..."
"You want to look at what I wrote, don'tcha?"
"Um… no."
"Hehehe. Learned your lesson?"
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."
Dear Twilight,
I have a lot more to say than I can right now, since we don't want Sunset's space to run out, but we can talk more later.
I was very disappointed when I heard that you had gone out… but more so than that, I was scared for you. You are one of my dearest friends, and the thought of you risking your life is terrifying. I am better now, I talked to Rainbow Dash and I understand why you did that, even if I wish it hadn't been so.
I understand… I'm not disappointed anymore, I think, once I was able to think it through, it was more clear that you really didn't have much of a choice.
But I know it affected you. Not only the loss, but the choice and your future. I don't know what is happening right now, or why you're distancing yourself from the princess… but pushing the ponies that care about you won't help you… we'll always be here for you Twilight.
~Fluttershy
Spike walked out of Fluttershy's room in the Castle and walked down to the gardens where Rainbow Dash was unusually pensive.
"Hey Rainbow Dash! The others are done!"
"Hmm? Oh! Great! I mean, well… come on, let's go to my room so we can write to Twilight."
The pair walked in silence for a bit. "You seemed really thoughtful back there," Spike ventured.
"Hmh," Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Is everything okay?"
The pegasus blinked, smiling confidently at the dragon a second later. "Of course! I'm fine! I just… have been thinking a lot about what is and what isn't awesome."
"Oh?"
"Yeah… and I have talked to some ponies… anyway, here we are. Do you mind waiting outside? I'll bring it out when I'm done."
"Sure thing! Just don't take too long, I have a batch of cookies waiting for me and a letter to write too!"
Rainbow Dash grinned. "Make sure it's a good one!"
Hey Twilight,
Rainbow Dash here. So you might not know, but I've been hanging out with your brother and the guard lately. He and Cadance miss you a lot. Maybe we should get them to write you soon.
Anyway, the reason I've been hanging out with them is because… well, I want to understand a little of what you're going through, you know? At first I was… well, not scared. Just worried. But then I thought it was soooo cool that you were learning how to fight and stuff! I remember how hard it was to convince you to even do flying exercises!
But I guess I never really thought about how much that could really cost you. I mean, you're amazing, Twilight and you have no idea how much I respect what you're doing. I never thought you would be fighting as you are! But I'm a bit worried, you seem to be losing contact with Celestia and us… so that's why I asked. You know we don't go to war often, or have in a long time, but… well, that doesn't mean nothing ever gets done. I talked to a couple that don't do war exactly, but they told me about becoming numb or even angry when… things happen.
They said that soldiers sometimes get numb because to survive you have to bottle up feelings and emotions that could affect your survival. They said sometimes you get angry and recluse yourself to protect others you care for… it's a lot, okay? A lot of things and I have no idea what is or isn't happening, but one thing they all agree on is that not talking about it, whatever it is, is going to do you more harm than help.
We're always here, egghead. Talk to us.
o.0.o End Chapter 87 o.0.o
There it is Twilight, your support group! Talk to them!
Spike is too busy munching those cookies to get his letter down this chapter, isn't he? Ha! With such a serious chapter, I have to make a joke, ya know?
"and a gentledrake would read a lady's personal correspondence"
"and a gentledrake wouldn't read a lady's personal correspondence"?
Pinkie felt her death...
Methinks the Element of Hope's sixth sense is jamming a little... because that would be the absolute strangest plot twist we could possibly achieve.
Well, not pregnant, but the end result is kinda similar?
No matter what, your friends support you Twilight, its something you can be proud of
I was real doozy
1. It.
This just came to mind but if; the element doesn't just transfer magic both ways but also empathy? Could some of Sunset's feelings and apprehension be transferring over to Twilight subcounsciously to balance things out?
That was a good letter, Rainbow Dash.
Those are good letters, though somepony should have check what Pinkie had wanted to write first before she actually did it. God dammit Pinkie.
Anyway that sure will help out more Twilight out of her down cycle.
Twilight is pregnant?! Oh my gosh! Who's the father? Bradford? Her boss? Mox? CHRYSALIS?!
Don't look at me like that, everyone knows the Commander is a divine being unconstrained by the boundaries of mere mortals!
You know...it's a bit telling that out of all of her friends, Rainbow is the only one that actually went out of her way to try and understand what Twilight is going through.
Twilight needed this. All of it. From Pinkie accidentally shoving her jealousy in her face to Dash's research to all the encouragement she could ask for, she needed a reminder of what's waiting for her back home. I just hope she takes it to heart.
8916251 I mean... you're not the first to mention it, it gets addressed a bit later on.
8916586
Element of Loyalty done right
Oof. RD’s letter was heavy. Good on her for letting that Loyalty show in ways other than just being physically there. The commitment she shows in researching what it is Twilight is going through means a lot.
How did Pinkie die again? I know her inn burned down but I don't remember reading her death the way we did AJ's. I recall reading her crying about what happened but that's the only image I remember. By contrast, AJ died to a plasma grenade held by a mind controlled ally... and it wasn't instantaneous. Quite vivid by comparison so... yeah. What did I miss?
I'm also reaching the point where the mention of 'Rarity the traitor' is going to be a drinking game.
ponies'
8917673 massive redaction spoilers but some theory crafting as I'm trying to get caught up.
Aj's not necessarily dead. She got hit, she went down, Rainbow had to leave, and the last thing she heard was Aj's breathing.
She goes on to talk about Rarity then Pinkie.
So AJ's death was never confirmed and it's spoken like Rainbow heard about Pinkie second hand, that she was never found with any of the survivors. Either they're alive or both of the statements were purposely left emotionally cut off to feed speculation that Rainbow might be wrong to think they're dead as an audience red herring.
The whole Angle perspective chapter really makes me think they're still alive somehow, because I'm still not sold on whether Crysalis was the only one hooked up to the network. Either it was her voice Angel heard telling her to protect Fluttershy and the kids, or it was human Sunset who, being a psychic recognized Fluttershy as someone who needed to live in the future she saw.
To be completely honest I kinda lean towards it being Crysalis's voice cause that's one of the simplest solutions to the puzzle. But the alien's affinity for pony Sunset, how they're drawn to her and like her, Angel and how clingy she is especially since the voice is what freed her. All makes me think it was Sunset's voice, but that could also be explained by Crysalis's feelings for human Sunset bleeding into the network. Or the author thought of none of this and all these plot points just happen to line up semi-perfectly.
8922294
Eh... I don't have any real issue with the possibility of AJ being alive... but I don't believe it. She was an XCOM operative; and they all talk about her as dead. Presumably, they had her vitals wired up and knew when they failed, otherwise why say it? It's not just Dash, Spitfire says the same thing (also about Soarin). Is it possible, for some bizarre reason, that the mechtoid responsible for killing her actually didn't, and captured her without XCOM noticing? ...Uh.... maybe? But it's extremely unlikely, and what narrative purpose would it serve? And where's she been? What do we gain by her coming out of some coma or whatever after 20 years? I could see Pinkie just being AWOL... who can predict what that girl would do? She wasn't in XCOM so she wasn't as closely monitored. Dash assumes her dead, because her inn was razed, and that's fair enough because along the same lines, where is she? But it's a big world, and that answer doesn't have to have shown itself yet. She could be in hiding with her family somewhere, completely off the grid. But AJ? That happened in plain sight, in a situation no one had any business surviving.
It all just sounds like wishful thinking, rather than critical thinking. That's not XCOM... baby.
As to the voice stuff... I honestly have no opinion. It could be either Sunny 1, or Chyssi, or that hippie Ethereal, or a TCS Twilight fragment for all I care. ...Not to say I don't care, but it's almost pure speculation so I don't feel the need to choose an answer.
XCOM assemble?
I think this chapter was meant to confirm that AJ and Pinkie are dead in this world, not to rekindle hope they're alive. We'd love for them to be alive, but this is war; people die a lot, and it's more believable that some of them wouldn't make it than that all of them somehow did.
Well ... let's see now how this goes on ... and when ... I wouldn't be surprised if Spike's letter came in a later chapter, with something else before ...
I do hope he cut himself off ... otherwise, somepony get that poor dragon a bandage ...
pushing away the ponies
Damn. I had hoped that the other Pinkie was alive, because she's you know' Pinkie. Who knows what that girl can do. But with Pinkie saying Pinkie died, that is irrefutable proof that Pinkie did, in fact, die.
Surprising thoughtful from Dash.
Quite the chapter. It stirs to make one make at least a little soul searching. Especially with the current conflicts in the world...
In the end... What about Spike ?
Twilight Sparkle needs a lot of support, there are a few really good stories here on Fimfiction about game series like X-Com.
Twilight ending up with X-Com for obvious reasons.
At least here she has Sunset Shimmer at her side from time to time. Also Vahlen had no chance beinh her canon self towards purple smart...
Good chapter.