Epilogue
This is it, the last chapter of the story; the epilogue.
Also this is the first time ever, I'm using someone else's OC character. All credit for Castor goes to Novanto, who I'd like to personally thank for letting me use him in this chapter.
At the end of this chapter will be possibly a long author's note to finish off the story.
So I hope you enjoy this conclusion, and I only own my OC characters.
-One Month Later-
Princess Celestia's Castle
Princess Celestia walked down the long hallway of her castle; the hallway that was lined with the familiar stained-glass windows that had always done so, but now there was one more that was added to the collection.
Princess Celestia stopped walking when her eyes fell on Crescent Light, who was standing at the end of the hallway. Crescent was now wearing a uniform, the gold armor showing that he was a member of the Canterlot Royal Guard. He was looking up at the newest addition to the collection of stained glass windows; a window that showed the image of twelve beings, each one paired with another in a heart that was each a separate color, blasting a rainbow-colored beam of magic at the image of a certain draconequus, as he was trapped back in his stone prison.
In each heart was one pony, obviously the six elements of harmony of Equestria, and one human, the six elements of harmony of Earth. All of them were joined by the love they shared for each other, represented by the hearts they were encased in with their partners.
Crescent had a very serious expression on his face, but his eyes showed his regret, which was still present in his heart. Though he managed to put his part behind him for the most part, he knew that as long as he lived, he'd never forget the pain that he caused. As he looked at the window, he was reminded of it all even more.
What was even worse was that the image in the window also showed the city of Wilmont, engulfed in fire and darkness, not just from night, but also from the smoke that rose up to the heavens, a scene that defines chaos in our reality.
As Crescent's eyes followed the smoke to the top of the window, he could feel tears start to form as the memory of the war he helped create came back to him. Before he could break down in hysterics, he felt the reassuring hoof of Princess Celestia on his shoulder.
He turned and looked up at her, his face somewhat hidden from the gold helmet he now wore as a part of his uniform, but the regret he felt was displayed in his face, clear as day.
Princess Celestia gave Crescent a concerned look, "Are you all right Crescent?"
Crescent turned away from the Princess' kind eyes and gave her a small nod, "Yes, I am. It's just that…"
"You still are beating yourself up about what you did." Princess Celestia finished Crescent's statement.
Crescent nodded, "I understand that I need to let it go, but it's so hard."
"I know it is Crescent, and I don't expect you to completely forgive yourself. I wish you could, but I know it's impossible." Princess Celestia said in the most soothing way possible, "but just remember that I've forgiven you, everypony has forgiven you…and Bright has forgiven you."
Crescent looked up at the Princess as he remembered how Bright forgave him face-to-face here in the castle upon his return. He nodded and gave a weak smile, as if to say thank you for everything.
He turned and trotted off, knowing that while his past could always be put behind him, it would forever be a part of him; haunting him from the dark corners of his mind until the day he died.
Until the day he was reunited with Bright, the day they could be best friends again.
As the Princess watched Crescent walk off, she nodded. She understood how hard it was for him to get over everything. He was even reluctant to show his face to the other members of the Royal Guard, as they were all knew what he did, and were hesitant to trust him. It was only after Princess Luna gave Crescent a small, encouraging pep talk, former villain that was consumed by darkness to former villain that was consumed by darkness, that he finally managed to open up and put most of his troubles to rest.
As if on cue, Princess Luna walked to her sister's side, having watched the entire scene play out from the end of the hallway and keeping her distance so that her sister could do what she did best, bring peace to everypony, no matter how upset they were.
"Sister, how is Crescent doing?" Luna asked.
"Better." Princess Celestia replied with a nod. "But he will always carry that burden with him."
"We understand how he feels." The goddess of night responded, knowing how she also had trouble completely forgiving herself for everything that she did as Nightmare Moon. She looked back up at her sister, "How art the humans?"
Princess Celestia smiled down at her sister, "They're doing fine."
"Hath thou talketh to them?"
Princess Celestia nodded, "Yes, in fact, Carl is supposed to be sending me a letter today."
"A letter?"
"Yes; a friendship report about what he learned from his fight with Discord."
Twilight's Library
"Uggghhhhh…why is this sooooo hard?" Carl complained as he paced through the library, his head down low, eyes staring at the floor. Spike sat on a chair while Carl continued to try and think of what he should have him write to the Princess and, as English and public speaking were subjects he despised, coming up with what to say off the top of his head was extremely difficult. He knew that he could come up with a good letter once he knew what to report on, but pinpointing one, specific thing to discuss was extremely hard to do. After all, it's the process of coming up with what to write about that's the hardest for most writers…pony or human.
"I don't know, Twilight seems to be pretty good at it." Spike said.
Carl looked up at him and scowled, "Spike; Twilight's a genius, and I barely got by in school. How can she and I be compared with writing letters. She's smart, and I'm dumb."
"You seem to pick up spells pretty quickly for being "dumb"." Spike said, putting his fingers up in quite marks to emphasize dumb, as if he didn't think Carl was dumb at all.
"I've told you before, magic is one thing." Carl turned to Spike and closed his eyes. His horn began to glow purple before a violet aura, a slightly darker tone than Twilight's, surrounded the dragon's body and lifted him up, as if to prove his point on how easily magic came to him. Spike was initially surprised by Carl's use of aura on him, but soon calmed down. After all, Twilight had done much more controversial things to the baby dragon in the past while practicing her own magic. Eventually, Carl gently lowered Spike back down to the chair, before he opened his violet eyes and his horn stopped glowing. "Learning algebra and world history is something else entirely."
Spike chuckled a little bit, "Listen, why don't we wait for Twilight to get back. I'm sure she'll be glad to help you with this letter."
Carl nodded and trotted over to a book on magic, which he had been reading, per Twilight's instructions, and continued to look it over. It didn't take long for Carl to get the hang of using his horn to create magic. In fact, he picked it up at such a fast rate that Twilight felt intimidated.
On the second week, Carl earned his cutie mark, which turned out to be a giant sparkle-like shape; almost identical to Twilight's, that had five smaller stars inside of it. Twilight interpreted it as the other five elements within him, as he was the element of magic, and they were within the bigger star since it was his magic and his element that were the main key in driving the power for the others. She also said that the big star represented his talent for practicing magic.
Carl honestly could care less what the meaning behind it was, he was just happy to have a cutie mark, and especially so to have one so similar to Twilight's.
But even though he was doing great, Twilight still gave him assignments out of books while pestering him to perfect his spells and learn new ones. To her, there was no such thing as knowing too many spells.
Carl could have complained, but practicing meant more time with Twilight, and he would never give that up just because of a little homework. Besides, whenever they worked together, Twilight was all smiles, as she loved playing teacher and feeling like Princess Celestia. She even called Carl "my star pupil" every now and then to tease him.
Even after Carl mastered his magic, he still wanted to work with her, just because of how fun it was.
"So how do you like being a unicorn?" Spike asked, snapping Carl free of his temporary daydreaming about his marefriend.
"Huh? Oh, yeah it's really cool." Carl said with a big grin. "I thought it would be strange, but really I'm glad with the transformation. Besides, I think I look pretty sweet as a stallion, don't ya think?"
Carl struck a pose like he was in mid-trot and looked over at Spike with a "sexy-face". Spike just cracked up.
"He-he, yeah you look pretty cool. Enjoying that large window the Princess gave you so that you can communicate to your family?"
"Definitely, it sure made this transition easier." Carl said with a smile, realizing how grateful he had been when the window, about five-feet tall and four feet wide, had been teleported to Twilight's library from Canterlot, along with a letter from the Princess telling him how to use it. It looked like an ordinary window, but when Carl concentrated on his family, he could see them and talk with them.
The only issue was that he could only use the window for one hour every week before it ran out of "juice" and had to remain unused so it could "charge up". Seriously, it was like the iPhone of windows...that only stayed charged for a minimal amount of time.
"How did they react to you being a pony?" Spike asked, referring to Carl's family.
Carl laughed, "Oh my sisters were ecstatic; they watch the show so seeing their brother as a cartoon pony was like a dream to them. My mom on the other hand couldn't say anything for about five minutes, she was so stunned, I seriously thought she was going to pass out. But eventually she was cool with it and said I looked handsome and then asked how my relationship was with Twilight…she is a mother after all. Can't blame her for being interested in my love life."
"Did Lisa say anything about me?" Spike asked.
"Yeah she misses you a lot; so does Anna."
Spike let out a dreamy sigh, "Good to hear, I miss them too."
"You have a crush on Lisa, didn't you?" Carl asked with a grin.
Spike's eyes widened and shook his head, "No…no, no, no of course not! I mean…she's not a dragon."
"Neither is Rarity and you had no problem falling in love with her until she started dating Louis."
Spike was about to respond when Carl gave him a look that made him realize that he wasn't going to talk his way out of the truth, "Er…fine. I guess I have a bit of a crush on Lisa, please don't tell her."
Carl nodded, "Sure, whatever you say. Even though she has a crush on you too I won't…"
"She does?" Spike asked with a hopeful smile. Carl nodded and Spike jumped up, "Wow! That's great; we need to bring her here! Maybe she'd like to become a dragon!" Spike let out a sigh that only could be interpreted as him entering a fantasy with Lisa, something Carl wasn't too happy about.
"Dude, stop fantasizing about my sister." Carl snapped, bringing Spike out of his daydream.
"Oh, sorry." Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head before he changed the subject, "When did the Princess say your family could come to Equestria?"
Carl suddenly looked downcast and gave a small, sad shrug, "I'm still waiting to find out myself. I hope soon, but I don't know, she hasn't said anything yet."
Spike's smile fell and he nodded, "I'm sorry man, I wish you didn't have to leave them behind."
Carl looked up at Spike and smiled, "It's cool; at least I can talk to them, right?"
Spike gave Carl a hopeful thumb's up before Carl turned back to read the magic book as he waited for Twilight to get back from Rarity's so that she could help him finish his letter.
Carousel Boutique
Twilight stood in front of a mirror, looking at the very nice, white gown that Rarity had made so that she could have something to wear to upcoming formal events. Her jaw dropped in amazement as she took notice of her beautiful reflection. Rarity stood right behind her. Her excitement was clear even though she was wearing the red pair of glasses that she always had on when she was designing clothes.
"What do you think darling?"
"Wow, you've really outdone yourself Rarity." Twilight said in amazement as she moved to the side to get an even better look at the entire dress.
"It's not even finished yet, I still need to put on some more gems." Rarity said, walking around Twilight and examining the entire dress to see the empty spaces where she was planning to put the beautiful gems.
"Regardless, it's amazing, how did you come up with it?" Twilight asked as she, too, looked over the dress.
"Oh I didn't, Louis did." Rarity said as she pointed to the corner of the boutique, where Louis was sitting in a chair at a desk, drawing out images of different dresses for Rarity to create. It didn't take long for him to make the transition from being a painter to a designer; a few days of fashion education from the master fashionista pony herself, and he was all set. Soon, he was very well-known around town for his designing skills, as well as the occasional paintings he did.
While his fame wasn't as great as it would have been had he played soccer for UNC, and possibly the U.S. national team, he found peace in knowing that here he was bringing the pride to his parents' name that he so longed to do back on Earth. What made it even sweeter, though, was that he did so by doing what he loved rather than what everyone else pushed him to do.
"Well then, Louis this is a lovely dress you've designed." Twilight complimented as the human boy turned to her and shrugged it off.
"Thanks, but you should thank Rarity."
"Louis I am truly flattered that you think I deserve credit, but it was your design."
"Yeah, but I learned from the best, and that's you Rare." He said, using the nickname that he had given her a few weeks before.
Rarity blushed at the compliment and let out a soft giggle, "Oh such a sweetie you are."
"Speaking of Sweetie, where is the little filly?" Louis asked as he put the pencil down to look at Rarity, who put her hoof to her chin in thought while Twilight continued to admire her reflection.
"I believe she's with her friends," Rarity answered before nodding, "yes, yes I remember now she went off for the day to join Apple Bloom and Scootaloo."
"Cutie mark crusading?" Louis asked and Rarity nodded. Louis gave a chuckle and turned back to his drawings and picked up a quill and dipped it in ink, "those fillies sure are something else."
Rarity chuckled, "Indeed they are."
Rarity trotted over and she and Louis began to kiss, not minding that Twilight was still in the shop.
"Well, I think I'll leave you guys alone." Twilight said with a blush as she used her magic to remove the gown and gently place it onto the table, "Rarity I'll stop by later on to pick it up once you finish it."
Rarity didn't turn away from her kiss with Louis and instead waved Twilight on, making the purple unicorn chuckle lightly before trotting out of the shop.
Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse
"Any other ideas?" Sweetie Belle asked as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both buried their faces in their hooves, deep in thought regarding how they could get their cutie marks. They were all sitting in a small circle at the center of their tree house. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were clearly deep in thought. Scootaloo was staring off into space while Apple Bloom was looking down at the floor, and both of them had their hooves to their chins.
"I can't think of anything." Scootaloo muttered in disappointment, "It seems like we've tried everything under the sun and we still don't have our cutie marks."
"Come on, you have to be positive," Sweetie Belle said encouragingly before she turned to Applebloom, "What do you think Apple Bloom?"
Apple Bloom sighed.
"Ah don't know," she looked up from the floor and through the window, "Where in the hay's Alex?"
"Isn't he still helping your sister?" Scootaloo asked, to which Apple Bloom thought before nodding in realization, a look on her face that showed how dumb she sounded for even asking such a question.
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Apple Bloom said with a blush, "it's just so weird to see an adult pony without a cutie mark, well…I mean he has one now, but when we first saw him it sure was bafflin'."
"I hear ya, I nearly jumped back ten feet when I saw Rainbow Dash's coltfriend without one." Scootaloo said, remembering how she ran into Ryan and Rainbow Dash during his first week in Equestria.
Rainbow Dash was still coaching him on how to fly, her classic baseball cap on and a whistle around her neck as she shouted expositions at Ryan such as "ready yourself Ryan" and "don't start slacking bud" and other things one would expect to her come from the mouth of their varsity football coach instead of a cartoon pony that they were in a relationship with.
Then again, it is Rainbow Dash, so it shouldn't be too surprising.
"Hey, maybe we should go stop by!" Sweetie Belle suggested with a grin as she hopped to her feet excitedly. The other two fillies nodded happily and they all left their clubhouse. They set off to get Alex.
Sweet Apple Acres
Alex thrust his back hooves into the trunk of the tree, resulting in all of the apples falling into the buckets that lay beneath. He turned around to see his success and grinned.
"Boy-howdy, that's some mighty impressive buckin' there Alex! Yer a natural." Applejack said as she trotted over to Alex's side.
He looked back at her and nodded, "Glad to hear ya approve of it AJ."
Applejack let out a laugh, "He-he, ah can't believe how much yer accent changed since movin' here."
"Hangin' out with y'all made my southern accent return." Alex said with a small smile. "Now it's here to stay."
And it was true. Something about staying with the Apple family made his accent come back with a vengeance. It wasn't anywhere near as thick as Applejack or Big Mac's accent, it was more like a mix of his Northeastern and Southern accents, but it was definitely there, and it definitely made him sound more like a part of the family that had accepted him so warmly upon arriving to Ponyville.
"Well ah think it sounds wonderful." Applejack said, making Alex blush so much that she could notice it, even under his dark orange coat. She let out a small giggle before leaning in and planting a kiss on Alex's mouth, which he returned almost instantly.
"Applejack! Alex!" came a trio of familiar, young voices from nearby. Both Applejack and Alex pulled away, blushing and looking away from each other. Alex even pulled off the stereotypical "rubbing the back of his neck with his hoof" gesture to demonstrate his embarrassment. Applejack and him both let out small giggles just as Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all burst into sight from behind a tree.
Alex and Applejack didn't have time to react before all three fillies launched themselves at Alex, tackling him and bringing him down to the grass. Applejack just watched with a smile on her face at how cute the scene was, her coltfriend laying on the grass, laughing with her little sister and her two friends.
"Where have you been?" Scootaloo asked Alex as she lay on Alex's right leg.
"Ah've just been workin' with AJ out here in the orchards."
"I'm still shocked at how much your voice changed, you sound just like an Apple." Sweetie Belle said and Alex smiled before he playfully messed up her mane. Sweetie Belle pushed Alex's hoof away so she could look at him, "Can we see your cutie mark again?"
Alex nodded and, while still on the ground, turned his leg to the side to show the girls his cutie mark, which was, as with most of the apple family, apple-related. It was a big, red apple with a single star next to it.
"Wow, that's so cool." Scootaloo said excitedly.
"What does it mean again?" Apple Bloom asked.
"It means ah'm good at bucking apples," Alex said with a chuckle, "and the star here ah think represents me being from Texas, but ah'm not completely sure."
"Texas?" Apple Bloom asked.
"It's a place on Earth." Alex said with a smile, remembering the large apple orchard from his dream that Applejack had to wake him from. Now it was like he was back in the dream, but it was real, and instead of his father by his side he had Applejack, Big Macintosh, who was surprisingly accepting of their relationship, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom, who looked up to Alex like he was her big brother.
"A place ah'll never forget." He finished with a small smile as he continued to look at his cutie mark.
"Now girls, what do ya want with Alex?" Applejack asked.
"He's supposed ta come help us find our cutie marks!" Apple Bloom said as she hopped off of Alex's chest and trotted over to Applejack. "Is he done with work yet sis?"
Applejack looked at Alex as he slowly made his way to his hooves once Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got off of him. He looked at Applejack as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned and walked over to her and both said, with their best puppy-dog eyes look, "Please?"
Alex walked over with them and looked at Applejack and gave her his own puppy dog eyes, and spoke in a mock child-like voice, "May ah pwese go pway with them Mommy Applejack?"
Applejack laughed a little bit at Alex's acting and nodded, "We got a good haul so far today, and I suppose a break is deserved."
Apple Bloom jumped up and ran over to Alex and gave him a big hug around the neck, which the other two girls did as well. The girls all got off of Alex and began to lead him off. As he was dragged away by three fillies, he turned back to Applejack and smiled at her.
She returned the gesture and blew him a kiss before turning back to continue her work.
Sugarcube Corner
"Lyra! I've got your cake ready!" Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically as she trotted over to the counter, where Lyra Heartstrings was busy examining Pete's hands, completely transfixed by his human appendages. She let go of the hands and got back to interviewing Pete.
"Thanks Pinkie! Okay one more question before I head out. If you have yourself turned into a pony, how will you compensate for a lack of fingers?"
"If, I ever decide to have myself turned into a pony." Pete said with extra emphasis, as if to say it was unlikely, "I'll just practice using my hooves in place of my hands."
"What's it like to have hands and fingers?" Lyra asked.
Pete flexed his fingers out and looked down at them, smiling a little, "Convenient, very convenient."
Lyra giggled and used her magic to write down notes. When Pete first entered Ponyville, the ponies mostly panicked as they had with Zecora…and as they did in every human in Equestria story ever written, but some did not. Even when Louis, Rarity, Fluttershy, James and Bravery all joined Pete and Pinkie Pie in the middle of town, not all of the ponies ran away and hid in fear.
Just as everyone would probably guess, Lyra had a fascination with humans for years, and upon seeing three of them standing in the middle of Ponyville, she immediately ran over and introduced herself. She then started to bombard them with questions about their species.
It was like a sea-green version of Twilight; always asking questions.
Not far behind her was Bon-Bon, who had grown so used to Lyra's ramblings about humans that she wasn't really frightened by them. Not to mention the presence of Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Bravery and Rarity all made her feel better. Derpy and about four other ponies also approached the humans, apparently learning their lesson about acceptance from what happened with Zecora.
Soon more and more ponies began to appear, noticing that the three human boys were not going to harm them in any way, and eventually the fact that they stood out like sore thumbs didn't matter; they had become part of the Ponyville community.
Since then, Lyra hadn't stopped asking Pete, Louis or James questions whenever she ran into them, though she seemed to seek Pete out more than the other three. Pete wasn't sure if it was because he worked in a bakery or what, but for some reason Lyra always found him and began to ask him questions. Pete didn't mind, in fact he and Lyra didn't always discuss his human-ness and had become good friends who talked about events in Ponyville and other things as well.
Once Lyra knew that Alex, Ryan or Carl were formerly humans, she would also ask them questions. She wasn't as annoying as one would think, though, as she didn't act crazy or overly obsessed with humans, she simply was curious, something all of the boys could respect.
"I really want to thank you for answering all of my questions these past few weeks, I know I can get a little overbearing with them but…"
"You're fascinated by humans, it's all good." Pete said with a small laugh.
Lyra blushed "Thanks Pete. Remember, Bon-Bon and I would love to have you and Pinkie Pie over for dinner sometime. Let me know when you're available."
Pete thanked Lyra for the offer and told her that he'd let her know as soon as possible. Once she paid for her cake, Lyra said good-bye to PEte and Pinkie before she trotted out of the bakery.
Once Lyra was gone, Pete felt Pinkie Pie wrap her hooves around his waist in a tight hug.
"I love how outgoing you've become!" she says happily, "it's so great to see how happy you are."
As she breaks the hug, Pete looks down at her and nods, "Of course, ponies don't judge me for random jokes that make no sense like people do. Sure they may point it out, but they don't think less of me."
"Of course they don't!" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced around, "In fact, many ponies like random personalities. I mean, look at me! I'm the most random pony in all of Ponyville and I'm friends with everypony in Ponyville!"
Pete nodded as the queen of randomness herself continued to bounce around happily before going back over to finish icing a cake that she was working on before Lyra stopped by.
"God you're so bubbly." Pete said.
Pinkie Pie looked at him and smiled before pointing at him with her hoof, "And now you are too."
She gave Pete a little "boop" on the nose.
Pete smiled, "Only because of you."
"I've always said it, laughter is contagious!"
Both Pete and Pinkie Pie laughed together, proving her point, before they both had to get back to work. After all, they may have felt like they were only hanging out, but they were still employees of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and they had to get back to baking pastries. As he began to help Pinkie Pie with the icing, he was all smiles, something he hadn't been on Earth since he was a small boy, before he felt abandoned by his "friends" and before his parents abandoned him.
It wasn't a great life, but as he looked down at Pinkie Pie, the cute mare he was in love with, he realized how happy he was with how it turned out..
All of the pain in the hospital, the sadness from the lack of friends, the abandonment of his parents; Pinkie Pie made these horrible experiences only seem like nightmares rather than real life.
And now that he was away from it all, he could pretend they were.
Fluttershy's Cottage
Bravery was feeding some of Fluttershy's birds when James started to walk over to her so that he could help her out. After all, spreading seeds with hooves, rather than hands, was a difficult task.
Just before he reached her, however, Fluttershy swooped down to Bravery's side.
"Here, let me help you with that Bravery." She said in her kind voice that made James' heart melt.
Fluttershy spread some of the seeds and then turned to Bravery, "Okay, now, do as I do. Use your hoof to scoop the seeds out like a spoon."
She showed Bravery the more correct way of pulling seeds out of the bag. She followed suit and soon, she was feeding the birds easily.
"Wow this is so much easier, thanks Fluttershy!" she said with a big grin on her face.
Fluttershy nodded, "No problem."
James walked over to Fluttershy, "So how's Bravery doing?"
Fluttershy turned to him and smiled, "Pretty good."
James and Fluttershy hugged each other and kissed before James looked down at Bravery, who was still spreading seeds for the birds to eat, and laughed.
"Any closer to getting her cutie mark kiddo?"
Bravery looked down and sighed, "Not yet."
James chuckled back and gave her a small kiss on the top of the head. Just then, Bravery looked up and grinned. She jumped happily and pointed to the dirt road, "Hey, it's the other Cutie Mark Crusaders!"
Alex was walking Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell down the road towards Fluttershy's house, stopping by to pick up Bravery.
A few days after Bravery and James had settled in with Fluttershy, she got the surprise of the three little fillies stopping by the cottage and inviting her to join the club along with Alex. Bravery, of course, accepted almost immediately and since that day she has been working on getting her cutie mark along with the other four.
Well, three now that Alex had one, and he was just helping the girls find their own special talents.
"Hi there Bravery!" Apple Bloom said excitedly as she ran over to meet Bravery, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo right behind her. "We were just about ta go down ta the fields outside of Ponyville ta hang out and think of someting we could try to earn our cutie mark, and thought ya might want ta come alone."
Bravery nodded, "Boy would I!"
Alex stepped over to Bravery and smiled at her, "Hey Bravery."
"Hiya Alex." Bravery said in her still excited tone. "Mind if I come along?"
Alex nodded, "Sure, as long as James and Fluttershy over there don't mind."
She turned to James and Fluttershy, "James, Fluttershy, may I…"
James nodded, "Please Bravery, go on and have fun with your friends."
Bravery grinned from ear to ear and flew, or at least as much as she could "fly", over to James and hugged him around the legs, "Thanks James!"
She then turned to Fluttershy, who was now on the ground, and hugged her, "Thanks Fluttershy."
Fluttershy hugged her back and, just like that, Bravery ran off to join Alex, Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom as they set off.
"Alex, make sure she stays safe!"
"Will do man!" Alex said with a wave as they all headed off, the Cutie Mark Crusaders all waving and saying good-bye to James and Fluttershy.
As they disappeared from sight, James turned to Fluttershy, "You really are great with Bravery."
Fluttershy blushed, "Oh, it's nothing, really. She's such a great girl and I just love spending time with her."
James sat down on the ground next to Fluttershy and put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him as they continued to look out in the direction that the CMC and Alex had gone.
"Well if you spend anymore time with her, I'm going to get diabetes from the cuteness."
Fluttershy looked at James with a worried expression, "Oh no, I don't want you to get sick!"
James laughed, "It's just a figure of speech, I'm not going to really get diabetes just from looking at you and Bravery, it's just unbearably cute."
Fluttershy seemed to understand and in response, gave James a quick peck on the cheek before turning her attention back to where she was looking before. James turned to look at her and smiled as well as he stroked her flowing pink mane, "Love you Fluttershy."
Fluttershy turned to James and smiled at him, "I love you too James."
Ponyville
"Ah, such a nice day." Thought a green pegasus by the name of Castor, who was stopping by Ponyville to grab some food, landed to the ground before trotting off. he had a brown mane and tail, and his wings resembled those of a bat or a dragon more than the wings of other pegasi. He also was wearing a pair of glasses and a gold necklace with a blue and black stone in the middle of it, and his cutie mark was two lightning bolts. "I really should stop by Ponyville more often, it's so quaint."
As he continued to walk, he suddenly heard a scream from up above him He looked up to see a blue pegasus barreling towards him.
"LOOOK OOUUTTTT BELOOWWWWW!"
Castor quickly jumped to the side just as Ryan barreled into the ground, sliding past Castor, who just stared in shock as Ryan went by him.
Once Ryan stopped skidding, he let out a deep, aggravated sigh as Castor looked back at him with his eyebrow up, "Um…are you all right?"
Castor stuck his hoof out so Ryan could pull himself up. Ryan took hold of Castor's hoof and pulled himself up to his feet and shook his head, getting all of the dirt out of his mane, "Yeah I'm fine."
"What happened?" Castor asked.
"Inexperience." Said a tomboyish voice from behind Castor. He looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering above, covering her mouth with her hooves as she tried to repress the laughter from Ryan's crash. "He's still getting used to flying."
"Shouldn't he know how to fly by now?" Castor asked as he noticed that Ryan was a fully grown pegasus.
"Consider him my very special somepony." She said with emphasis on "special" as an attempt at humor at Ryan's expense.
Castor looked at Ryan and watched the blue pegasus trot over to Rainbow Dash, who landed with a face that was clearly trying to hold in a massive fit of the giggles, not just based on what she said but because of the entire situation; Ryan's clumsy flying and his messy appearance from the crash.
"Haha, very funny Dashie." Ryan mumbled as Rainbow Dash finally caved in and fell over backwards, laughing like she did when she first met Twilight.
"Hey man, I'm sorry I almost smashed into you." Ryan said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Castor waved it off, "Nah man, it's cool. Hey listen I've got to get going; I came by Ponyville to grab some food. My name is Castor."
"Mine's Ryan, it's nice to meet you." Ryan said with a smile.
"Same, listen I have to get going but maybe I'll see you around." Castor looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was still having a massive giggle-fit, "and I'll see you around as well."
Rainbow Dash looked up at him, tears in her eyes from laughing so hard, "Nice...to...meet...you BWHAAAAA!"
Castor turned back to Ryan, who nodded, "See you later."
Castor and Ryan gave each other a quick brohoof before Castor flew off towards the Ponyville market. Once Castor was gone, Ryan turned to Rainbow Dash just as she finally finished laughing. "You done Miss Laugh-alot?"
Rainbow Dash nodded, "Oh yeah, sorry about that. It's just…" Rainbow Dash then snickered a little and looked away from Ryan to keep from laughing more just by seeing his face, "…you had the funniest expression when you were plummeting to the ground."
Rainbow Dash then did a quick impersonation of Ryan's face as he was falling, which Ryan had to admit was pretty funny.
However, instead of laughing and giving Rainbow Dash the satisfaction of knowing he found his own expressions humorous, Ryan simply responded by rolling his eyes and saying, "Whatever, let's just get back up in the air."
Rainbow Dash nodded and both pegasi launched into the air and began to fly off over Ponyville. While he still wasn't completely used to flying, hence the occasional crashes, Ryan was certainly much better than he had been at the start.
Not to mention, having Rainbow Dash as a mare-friend and trainer made the process of learning to fly much easier. She was strict and tough, but also understanding and kind, the perfect coach. He also had to admit that the assertive and coach-like personality she had when teaching him how to fly was cute as hell, and more than once she caught him blushing when she went into her "coach mode".
The result was Ryan being ordered to do 50 wing push-ups as punishment.
Eventually, Ryan had managed to earn his cutie mark, which was a scroll and quill in an "X" shape, signifying his love of writing. It would have looked like a cutie mark one would give Spike in a story where he turns into a pony, but Ryan's also had wings coming out of the sides of the "X", signifying his love of, apparently, flying with Rainbow Dash, as he still wasn't the most talented flier.
He wrote a lot, in fact he was currently writing about their battle with Discord, careful to leave out most of the graphic details that most ponies would be disturbed by. It was also a challenge to learn how to write with his mouth, which Rainbow Dash also had to teach him how to do. Eventually, he got the hang of it and was able to write almost perfectly using his mouth.
"Where are we going?" Ryan asked as he looked over at Rainbow Dash, who gave him a competitive smirk back.
"First one to reach that tree over there wins."
Ryan was about to protest, but Rainbow Dash gave him a smile that told him to give it a go, it's just for fun.
He then nodded and then turned forward, ready to take part in a race he knew that he would lose, "All right, on your mark, get set, Go!"
Both pegasi zoomed off at faster speeds, Ryan learning much of his speed flying from Rainbow Dash, as he often had to keep up with her while she coached him. He was quite surprised to see that he was keeping up with her quite well, something that he expected to get on Rainbow Dash's nerves.
But this is what Rainbow Dash wanted, she looked back at Ryan and stuck her tongue out tauntingly as she flew off at a faster rate, but nowhere near as fast as she really could go, because she wanted Ryan to have an actual chance of winning so he could gain some confidence.
She watched as Ryan caught up with her and then passed by her. She could have easily beaten him, but she decided to only fly so fast as to keep even with him. Ryan was flying as fast as he could, while Rainbow Dash just kept pace until they reached the tree.
"Wow!" Rainbow Dash stopped flying and turned to Ryan, who was clearly out of breath. "You almost beat me there Ryan, we tied!"
Ryan shook his head, "No, Dashie…you held back…I know you could have creamed me if you put everything into it."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Jeez, can't you give yourself some credit and just enjoy the moment?"
Ryan looked up at Rainbow Dash and smiled, "I will when I beat you…for real."
"Unfortunately for you, that will never happen." Rainbow Dash said with a sly grin on her face as she flew over to Ryan and patted his back with her hoof. "After all I am the Rainbow Dash...the"
"The fastest flier in all of Equestria?" Ryan finished with a smile as he looked up at her, their eyes meeting each other.
Rainbow Dash held her hoof out to Ryan, "Take my hoof."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Ryan sighed and grabbed it as best he could, which was hard without fingers, before Rainbow Dash pulled him off into the sky, flying horizontal to the ground. Ryan looked down at the small buildings that made up Ponyville, and all of the residents that trotted around, going through their daily routines, talking to each other, eating outside at the local cafes; Ryan was amazed. He used to be extremely afraid of heights, and the one exception he would ever make to his phobia was if he could be in the sky with Rainbow Dash. Soon, however, being a pegasus and getting flying lessons resulted in him not only losing his fear of heights, but also enjoying being high up in the sky.
As he and Rainbow Dash flew through the brilliant, white clouds, he suddenly felt himself get pulled around and then up by Rainbow Dash as she brought him higher, and higher, and higher into the air, the sun's heat hitting both ponies on the top of their manes as they eventually were so high up Ponyville looked like a town filled with specks.
But Ryan didn't notice, for as soon as they stopped flying up, Rainbow Dash pressed her lips against Ryan's, catching him off guard and making his eyes shoot open in surprise. He then relaxed and his eyes closed as he savored the moment with Rainbow Dash, the love of his life, as they kissed in mid-air, Ponyville just specks below them.
As they broke the kiss, Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan and smiled, "Was that close to your dream?"
Ryan nodded, realizing that she had just replicated the dream he so often had back on Earth, where he would imagine flying with Rainbow Dash and then kissing her in mid-air, something inspired by a fan-art picture of Soarin and Rainbow Dash kissing in mid-flight.
Ryan smiled, "Yeah…but it was better. Much better."
Rainbow Dash nuzzled Ryan chest affectionately, "I love you Ryan."
Ryan kissed the top of her head, right on her rainbow-colored mane, and smiled, "I love you too Dashie, and I'll never stop."
"Neither will I."
Rainbow Dash and Ryan gave each other a quick kiss before they broke their embrace and flew back off, closer to the ground and further from the sun.
Twilight's Library
"I'm back!" Twilight shouted. She closed the door to her library and walked over to where Carl was laying on the floor, his eyes busy scanning over the pages of the spell book Twilight had given him.
"Hey Carl." She said.
Carl looked up to see Twilight; his face showed a sign of relief, as if a great burden had been lifted off of his back. "Twilight, thank goodness you're here. I need help writing the letter to the Princess."
"The friendship report?" Twilight asked and Carl nodded.
"He literally has no idea what he's doing." Spike said over a book he was reading.
"Shut it dragon-boy." Carl spat back, only to get a response of Spike looking up at him with a cocky grin, happy that he had gotten onto Carl's nerves.
"Well," Twilight said as she walked over to a window, looking out at the bright, sunny day, so very different from the dark, orange-tinted sky back on Earth, "you have to write it about our experiences on Earth, right?"
Carl nodded and Twilight turned to Carl, "Well, why don't you compare the two realities and how it impacts the ponies here and the humans where you come from? After all there are quite a few differences."
Carl thought for a second before he nodded and turned to Spike, "Spike get the ink out, I think I know what to write."
Spike closed the book and placed it to the side as he got up off of the ground and ran over to the table where he put the paper and quill. He picked both up and walked back over to Twilight and Carl, ready to write. "Okay Carl, lay it on me."
Carl cleared his throat and began,
"Dear Princess Celestia,
I know usually when Twilight or one of her friends writes a friendship report, it's usually on one lesson that they've learned. But in my case I've learned a whole slew of them."
Carl closed his eyes and began to organize his thoughts before he continued.
"I learned how reality isn't strictly defined to what you see or experience, it also includes what you don't. Just because you don't believe something is possible or isn't real, doesn't mean it isn't. A cartoon world was real all along, even though I only believed that it was only fiction a month ago, I was proven wrong. I also learned how our world is so different from yours, and how two realities can be so radically different, and how one reality can being such joy to another…such as how yours has for us, even before you sent Twilight and the others to us. I learned the dangers of envy, and how letting it consume you can cause more problems than solutions. Not to mention people who are envious or desperate are often easy to manipulate. Respecting others and keeping oneself from falling into the trap that jealously lays is vital."
"But more than anything else, I learned how pure good could exist in people….or ponies in this case. Twilight and the others are truly amazing girls that know what true friendship is and even though most of us six guys lost faith in the idea of true friendship…and love…" Carl turned to Twilight, who just looked away to hide the blush that she had on her cheeks. She was also smiling, touched by Carl's words.
"…is possible. Even after everything that we've been though, our friendship remains strong, as does the love we have for our partners, and if it was able to stay strong through such darkness, chaos and complete tragedy, I know that it will stay strong for the rest of our lives, for we have all finally found harmony, both with ourselves and the ones we care about.
Your faithful subject,
Carl Lewis."
Carl sighed as Spike wrote down the last bit of Carl's letter. He looked up at Carl and grinned, "Got it."
"Brilliant." Carl said with a laugh, "Send it of Spike my man."
Spike smiled and gave Carl a salute, "Will do."
Just then, Carl turned around towards Twilight to see that she was smiling, but it wasn't a romantic smile, it was a devious one.
Before Carl could react, he looked down to see cheese in a can that was surrounded in a purple aura. Before he could respond, he was hit in the face with the contents. He closed his eyes just as the yellow foodstuff began to cover his face. Once the spraying ended, he heard Twilight burst out into laughter.
Carl wiped some of the cheese off of his face, spitting some that had gotten into his mouth, and glared at Twilight, "What was that for?"
"For writing such a "cheesy" letter." Twilight said with a wink. Carl looked at Twilight with a smile.
"You're so dead, you know that?"
Twilight stuck her tongue out and went "nah-nah" before she turned and ran out of the library, Carl right behind her, both of them laughing like little kids.
Spike smiled as he watched them go. He turned and ran up the stairs of the library to Twilight's room, where he opened the window to see the two purple unicorns tackle each other in the lawn outside of the library, still laughing playfully as they rolled around in the grass. They were so innocent; nopony could have guessed the amount of hell that they went through only a month before.
Spike smiled at the sight of Twilight and Carl before he remembered the letter he had to send. He held it out in front of him and used his fire to send it off to the Princess.
As the green mist that was carrying the letter off passed over Ponyville, it went over all six couples.
The green flame passed over the two unicorns who were now kissing each other as they lay in the grass.
The green flame passed over Sugarcube Corner, where Pete and Pinkie Pie were busy baking a huge batch of cupcakes together, giggling at their random humor.
The green flame passed over Carousel Boutique, where Rarity was busy gushing over all of the new designs that Louis had come up with.
The green flame passed over two pegasi that were on a cloud in a loving embrace as they napped peacefully.
The green flame passed over a small cottage where a teen boy was helping a timid pegasus put together a salad for her bunny, who was a very picky eater and was making the process of feeding him excruciatingly difficult.
The green flame passed over Alex and the four Cutie Mark Crusaders as they pondered the idea of bird watching being their special talent after a small robin landed nearby. Unknown to them, Applejack watched from a distance, smiling as the sight of Alex made her realize what a great guy she chose as her coltfriend.
All of them were happy and enjoying their new lives, feeling like they made the right choice, even if some of them did miss their old lives a bit, such as their families. At this point in time, they were all truly happy.
Eventually, the green flame carrying the letter reached Canterlot, and then the Princess' castle. The green mist-like fire stopped in front of the Princess. The letter re-appeared and unrolled. She read it to herself. Once she finished, she let out a small laugh.
"Thanks for the letter Carl, I'm glad you and the others have discovered true friendship." Princess Celestia then used her magic to roll up the scroll and let out a sigh, "and love."
Final Author Notes:
Wow, I can't believe this story is done.
I also can't believe how well it's been received here on fanficiton. I didn't expect all of the views I've gotten since first posting it. Thank you to everyone who has read this story, I hope everything went in a direction that you were happy with. I also am more confident in my writing ability based on the reviews I've gotten. So thank you everyone. (now if only it got more views on FIMfiction lol)
To give credit where credit is due, this is the picture that inspired Ryan's dream at the start of the story up until this point: ( _images/20943%20-%20artist%3AMn27%20goggles%20kissing%20rainbow_dash%20shipping%20shocked%20Soarin'% ).
And I'd like to say I envy Ryan for having that dream, and I wish I could. Alas, I have not yet had a dream where I am flying with Rainbow Dash.
I also would like to add that a lot of this epilogue was thought up while listening to the song "Majestic" by LiquidCinema ( watch?v=Q-TZjuBDLRQ), truly one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard in my life.
Anyway, now that I'm done here, it's on to write some other non-MLP stuff for the time being (screenplays). As I've said before, I am not sure about a sequel. If there is one it won't be for a while. I might make some shorter stories based on the OC characters and their interactions with the ponies of Ponyville (like Bravery with the CMC or Pete and Lyra, something lighthearted and just for fun).
In fact, I'm curious to see which of my OC characters was the most popular (especially out of the six boys), and which were the least. If you decide to leave a review, let me know :)
Once more thing, if this story was made into a movie, would you go and see it? I only ask because if I decide to become a screenwriter and am given the very unlikely chance to make this into a movie I'd love to do so. Again, I'm only a 19 year old college student now, so nothing is happening at this point in time. I'm just a wishful thinker and like to hear some feedback lol.
So thank you for reading, reviewing and being such a great audience for this story.
And, for the last time on this story…
GO GIANTS! GO DASHIE!
GO PONIES!