Hello, fellow readers! And welcome... to the end! Well, of this story as there is more to come, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Anyways, I'm personally proud about last chapter as it felt good to write a good old action scene. So with that past us, what awaits at the finish line?
Well first, the usual list:
johannvanguard: Not gonna lie, I had a big smile on my face when I read your comment on Levin's dark form, as I was a bit worried about it would be received. Still, I appreciate your positive feedback as always. Well, here you go.
We've came far since our slow beginning, now let's stick the landing.
Epilogue: The Shadows within the Rainbow
The group were currently staying at Pinkie's house, since it was the closest place from the school to make sure Sci-Twi and Levin were kept warm from freezing in their sleep. It was silent for the longest time as everyone was still processing the events that had transpired, only to be broken by Pri-Twi's question.
"So, what is the origin of that dark energy?"
Aeon casually looks at her in response before speaking, "Very well. Much like there is the positive magic that you are familiar with, there is the negative side. That particular power is from the bloodline that is associated with the Prince of Shadows, of which my own bloodline was the counterbalance to him."
"So, how old are you exactly?" Rainbow questions out loud, making him look right at her.
"Old enough." He immediately retorts with before smirking, "But, let's just say I look good for my age."
"OK. Ah can understand the light and dark stuff, maybe even the whole bloodline part. But, what does this have to do with what happened to Levin?" Applejack makes a good point.
"Quite right. That transformation was a lot different than what I thought it would be." Rarity agrees with her friend.
Sunset was recalling back to her own transformation to try and make similarities between them, mainly when it comes to circumstances. However, there wasn't much of, if any that could imply such a form. Her thoughts was then interrupted as Aeon answers the question.
"The dark energy transforms people into various monsters that has been in service of the Dark Prince, of which the griffon was one of the strongest. Thankfully, due to the weakened state of such energy, it wasn't as destructive as I was expecting."
Visor processed that entire statement before speaking, "You're telling me... Levin could have been more powerful than what we saw?"
"I argue that even the girls would struggle against it." Aeon states at a drop of his hat, which he manages to find after the battle and has it placed on his lap.
Everyone was quiet from that claim, except for Fluttershy who shivers at the thought of that possibility.
The Dazzlings on the other hand were simply sitting in silence, listening to all this new information that this parallel world has as Visor and Shade stood nearby.
The former lets out a heavy sigh as he places his head in his hand, "Wow... you catching all this, Shade?"
His friend was standing against the wall behind him as he answers, "Yeah, just keeping my cool better than you."
"Like this is normal for you to hear!" Visor looks right at him as he calls him out on that.
"This ain't, I'm just saying." Shade clarifies in his own defense.
"I think the better question is..." Adagio speaks up with a question of her own, "Why is the darkness coming out of the portal now?"
The others understood what she means, which Aeon simply answers in kind. "Limbo is simply another realm that bridges itself in between worlds. Despite the seal placed upon him, it was only a matter of time with the portals opening here and there until it broke free."
Sunset caught his choice of words and immediately points it out, "Him?"
"I heard that too." Aria backs up her point, "Are you saying that this dark whatever is actually a person?"
Everyone sent their eyes on Aeon, who was now strangely hesitant on answering her question. He averts his eyes towards the fireplace upon realizing his little slip up, which he was able to divert their attention to something else:
Sci-Twi waking up.
"Ohh... what happened?" She mutters to herself as she slowly sat up.
"A lot. Which one do you want to hear?" Visor simply said in response.
She opens her eyes and finds her vision being a bit blurry, mainly since her glasses weren't on her face at the moment.
"Here." Pri-Twi took them to see how they worked, gladly returning them to their owner.
Sci-Twi takes them and puts them on, returning her vision to normal to see the others sitting in front of her. Though, this only serves to confuse her with an expression on her face to match it.
"You, or me? Who are you exactly?" Might as well start with the most obvious question.
"I'm you from another world. Specifically, I'm a magical talking unicorn, or rather an alicorn princess now, from a world filled with other magical creatures." Pri-Twi kept it as basic as possible for her counterpart to process.
"...Uh-huh." That was all that Sci-Twi said in response, "I-is there proof of such a world existing?"
The Dazzlings and Sunset raises their hands while speaking in unison, "There is."
That came as a surprise to Visor and Shade, the former of which is trying to keep a straight face while holding in his laughter.
"What's funny?" Pri-Twi understandably questions this reaction.
"N-Nothing, just thought of a joke I heard before popped in my head." Visor simply shrugs them off, thankfully taking the attention away from Shade who was blushing a bit in embarrassment.
"OK then." Sci-Twi looks around before setting her eyes on Levin, who was still asleep.
She suddenly gets up to her feet in a small panic, remembering the dark form she saw before being stopped in her tracks.
"Don't worry, he's back to normal now." Aeon reassures her in an attempt to calm her down.
It was working as she recognizes him from the museum, "You again. Wait, did you-?"
"Yes, with this and their magic." He holds up his cane for emphasis briefly before gesturing with it towards the girls, putting it back on his lap afterwards.
She then looks at the cane, immediately recognizing the artifact as the Enlightened Eagle that she and Levin were currently working on a project for. Now, things were starting to click into place as another question pops into her mind.
"Then it's true. Magic really does exist?" She asks the man, who simply nods in response.
"Correct. I know it'll take time, but the sooner you accept it, the easier it'll be on your sanity." He was rather blunt with his little advice tip, but it's helpful at the very least.
Sci-Twi is familiar with the concept of magic, mainly described as a strange force that can do the impossible. The idea of it really existing can literally change everything. Though, she doubts such a force can be used like electricity and wind.
Putting her skepticism aside for now, she asks another important question that was geared towards Levin this time.
"What happened to him?"
"Dark magic." Aeon kept it short and sweet, "Corrupts anyone that comes into contact with it."
"Oh... I see." A hint of worry enters her mind, doubting if what he did to Levin actually worked.
Thankfully, that thought faded away as Levin began to stir a bit.
"Gosh dang it, Visor. There's no need to freak out over a controller." They didn't expect him to actually talk in his sleep as he turns to his side.
"You made me drop it, first of all-" Visor retorts as he recalls that moment, but digresses with a roll of his eyes.
"Shade, why are you reading romance novels again?" Levin continues on with his little rambles, unknowingly revealing something about his friend.
The girls, except Sci-Twi, look at the boy who looks away from their gaze and nervously scratches his head through his hair, which is now exposed from losing his beanie earlier. Wanting to avoid anymore stupid stuff being said, he quickly walks over to his sleeping friend and pokes him in the back with his foot.
"Wake up, you'll be late for school." He jokingly said in an attempt to get him up faster.
"I don't wanna... five more minutes..." Levin yawns in the middle of his sentence, most likely due to exhaustion from the ordeal.
"All right then, it's not like Twilight is waiting outside or anything." Shade openly teases him, mainly as a little payback for the novel line.
Levin jolts right up soon after, "She's here!?"
"Yup. As is everyone else." Shade gestures to the others as he said this.
Levin looks around in response, quickly realizing the implications of this before looking away. "Wait, all of that wasn't-"
He cuts himself off as he felt a stinging pain in his head, placing his hand on it to try and ease it a bit as he spoke under his breath. "Should have sat up slower..."
"To answer your question, it was not a dream." Aeon clarifies for him, "Though, it sounds like you remember it well."
Levin slowly got up to his feet as he admits, "Sadly, I do. It was like a... lucid nightmare."
For the next few minutes, they fill him in on what happened during his corrupted transformation. He stayed silent through the whole thing, processing it all as Sunset ends the recap with a question of her own.
"What did it feel like?"
Levin took a few seconds to think about it before looking at her with a saddened expression, "All of my pain was pushed out to the surface, and the only way I could express it is lashing out... I don't want to experience that ever again."
Near the end, his voice quivered for a moment as he sits in an empty chair nearby. The usual smile he had before was nowhere to be seen on his face, making him almost unrecognizable to the others. Sonata was pretty much quiet throughout this whole conversation and now decides to speak up as she gets up on her feet.
"Come on, Levin. Why the sad face?" It was a rhetorical question, but she was going somewhere with this.
The others were curious as to what she was planning and let her continue, "Is it because your hair isn't spiky right now?"
Levin didn't even realize that his hair was back down as she walks over to him, "Here, let me put it back up."
In a rather comedic fashion, she tries ruffling his hair and pulling it up a little to make it stand like the usual spikes. Needless to say, it only left it in a messy style as he didn't even flinch at her touch. Not ready to give up so soon, she crouches down next to him to talk some more.
"Not even a crack?" She asks him, waiting for any response as he stares at the ground.
Silence fell upon the room except for the crackling of the fire in the fireplace, most likely due to her trying to think of something to cheer him up. After a bit of time, she recalls a certain memory.
"Do you remember that night, when you woke me up from a nightmare?"
He remained quiet, but his eyes were now focused on hers as she continues on. "You took the time to talk with me, having a nice little trip down our own memory lanes. You with your sticky pillow head and me with Adagio's nose pimple."
"Wow, that takes me back." Shade comments with Visor snickering at the image of the uneven hair his friend had that day.
"Unfortunately, I remember that vividly." Adagio mutters out loud.
Sonata didn't really focus on them as she was squarely on Levin, "You also told me a bit about the family you have. Your dad, your mom, even your cousins Stylite and Pixel. I bet you had your smile on your face when you were around them too."
"But a smile starts to hurt after a while, so you stop doing it when no one is around... but the pain stays, doesn't it? You didn't want to have others see what you're feeling, which is why you wanted to keep them smiling... I understand that. I always smile whenever Adagio or Aria felt down cause I don't like seeing them that way."
She pauses for a moment to catch her breath, which Levin averts his eyes and finally spoke with a shaken voice. "Do you know why... I didn't say anything about my mom that night?"
Sonata stayed quiet and listened intently on what he had to say, "It's because I find it... hard to go back to those memories. Most of them are just so happy, and yet... empty at the same time. And ever since her... her... that day, I lost something very important. There would be a glimpse every now and again, but I knew I could never keep it."
He then looks at her in the eyes while tears were forming, "You are right... I force myself to hide the pain... and the photo on our tree was the last day... I truly smiled."
The tears then fell down his cheeks, averting his gaze once again as if it would help make it easier before burying his face in his hands. The others just stayed silent as they were not really sure on what to even do. Sonata was understandably saddened by that, but wasn't ready to give up on him yet. An idea then came to her as she reaches into her pockets and pulls out a drawing, unfolding it as she spoke.
"Look at this." She says to get his attention, which somewhat works as he slightly moves his head to show his eye.
Holding it up to reveal what it was, he sees the drawing she showed them a couple of days ago at the park. It was her giving him a surprise hug from behind with him smiling at the attempt.
"I don't think I mentioned when I drew this." She continues on as she squeezes in next to him, "It was the morning following that night, right after I woke up. I quickly went to get some pencils, crayons and paper to make sure I got it just right before losing it. Since then, I made sure I drew any new ones from the dreams I had."
She smiles gently as she looks at him, "But, I wouldn't have this... if you didn't give me the inspiration. And you know what I call this one?"
His hands moved away entirely at this point, curiosity appearing in his teary eyes before being surprised by a warm hug and even warmer words:
"A new dream."
He broke down soon after those words fell upon his ears, new tears falling down harder than before as he returns the hug in kind. The sight also made some of the others teary-eyed as well, but all of them smiled at the tender moment between the two.
And done! We did it, people!
I decided to keep it short as there is still one more chapter after this. However, I wanted to make this come full circle with Levin and Sonata.
Thinking back to one of the earlier chapters, I find myself seeing this as a nice little role reversal for them. He gives her comfort when she needed it most, and now she returns the favor in kind.
Other than that, we have a bit more history with Aeon and the dark force he is familiar with. Sci-Twi gets introduced to the group at long last, with a couple of curveballs thrown into the mix before getting to the sweet moment to end the chapter on.
And with all of that done, thank you all for reading this story! Please tell me, what are your thoughts on it? Anything you liked, disliked or neutral about? Anything to improve upon what I can do in the future is appreciated.
And now, I will see you all in the very late Christmas Special I promised! Until then, I'll see ya later!
