Epilogue 2: Dear Princess Celestia.

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Rarity.

Dear Princess Celestia.

It seems rather strange, trying to sum up my experiences in the other world on paper. So much happened - so much of it being horrible - that I hardly know where to begin.

It would be wrong to say that I learned nothing in the other world. Not only would it be wrong, it would be a disservice to the good ponies - and good people - I came to know. But I admit, it is a struggle to think what I could possibly bring from that place that might have relevance back in Equestria. Seeing home again, without any of the conflict and horror that we witnessed in the other world, makes everything seem so very far away...

There is one thing, though: I learned, more than ever before, that in dark times one must endeavour to look on the bright side. If you don't, there's nothing to distract you from the horrors you witness, and nothing to remind you why you carry on despite those horrors.

I did the right thing by going to that world. I made a difference. Was it worth the price I paid, the things I saw? Ultimately, yes. I think it was. I helped save a world, and that is justification enough.

Your subject,
Rarity.

***

Applejack.

Dear Princess Celestia.

I think there's something to be said about being honest with yourself. In some ways, it's the most important - and the most difficult - kind of honesty. If you ain't honest with yourself, you might as well give up 'cos you ain't gonna fool anypony else.

I let myself think I was ok with everything I did, everything I was doing. I let myself think I was comfortable with it all when I wasn't. I hid the truth from everypony, most of all from myself, until I reached the point where I nearly couldn't be a help to anypony. I've been stubborn before, and this was no different. I should've learned from it, but I let myself fall into the same trap again.

Truth is, I ain't comfortable with what I did. I killed ponies. I killed family, even if it was a member of the Apple family from another world. That ain't gonna ever sit right with me. And maybe it ain't meant to. At least I get to be honest with myself about it.

Yours truthfully,
Applejack.

***

Fluttershy

Dear Princess Celestia.

I killed ponies in that other world. I didn't want to but I didn't have a choice.

If I learned anything it's that sometimes you don't have a choice. The things I did were horrible... but if I hadn't done them, my friends would have been hurt.

I hope one day I can learn to live with what I did. I can still see the faces of the ponies I killed... maybe that's good. Maybe if I remember it will make everything worthwhile.

With kind regards,
Fluttershy.

***

Rainbow Dash

Dear Princess Celestia.

There are different kinds of loyalty, I've learned. There's loyalty to a country, the kind of loyalty that makes you join up and fight for your people. There's loyalty to your friends, the kind of loyalty that makes you go with them even if you know you aren't going to like the road they take. Then there's loyalty to yourself and the kind of pony you think you are.

I saw all three kinds. And I saw what happens when they go wrong.

I don't know what to say. I always thought loyalty was the most important thing you could have, but it still got twisted over there.

I don't know.

Rainbow Dash.

***

Ditzy Doo.

Dear Princess Celestia.

I'm glad I went to that world. A good friend was there, and he lost his way. I hope that I helped him. I think I did. And...

And...

I'm glad I went. I did the right thing.

Ditzy Doo.

***

Pinkie Pie

Dear Princess Celestia.

If I learned anything while I was in the other world, it's that sometimes parties aren't just things you do for fun. Sometimes a party can make you feel happy when everything around you is sad. Sometimes the party can be your last chance to be happy before...

I got to have some wonderful parties, with some wonderful ponies and some wonderful people, and even if it was a horrible, sad thing that happened to them, I’m glad to have made them smile. If I helped make the last party those people ever had, then I'm just glad that I could make their last party a fun one. When the time comes for my last party, I hope I can say the same.

If I can… I want to go back. They won’t be able to smile for a long time. Princess Celestia? Can we send help to them?

Yours hopefully,
Pinkie Pie.

***

Lyra Heartstrings

Dear Princess Celestia.

I’d always dreamed of seeing humans. They were my life’s work! I always dreamed of being called an 'anthropologist', not a 'cryptozoologist'. I thought it would be a dream come true to meet them.

Instead it was just heartache.

On the one hoof, I wish we were the ones that made contact, not that Equestria. On the other hoof... maybe things might have turned out the same. There's so much we still don't know about what happened. While I may never truly know the reason for what happened, what I can take away from the encounter is the memory of meeting humans. I am proud to know that my other self fought with the humans: in that other world, I made the right choice. She died fighting for what she believed in. And you wanna know the most interesting thing?

They were just like us really.

They laughed. They cried. They partied. They danced. They had friends. When they were in danger they fought, but not because they wanted to but because they needed to.

And they accepted help from ponies. When Doctor Hooves came to help them, dragging thousands of ponies with him, they didn't turn him away: they helped them, gave them a home.

It was bittersweet, seeing them at what might have been their lowest point, but I think, in a strange way, it was their highest too.

Your subject,
Lyra Heartstrings.

***

Twilight Sparkle

Dear Princess Celestia.

Putting into words what I saw is one of the most difficult things I've had to do.

The image I keep seeing over and over again, whether I'm awake or asleep now, is the other me. Commander Sparkle. She was as devoted to Solamina as I am to you but the things she did.... the lives she ruined, the places she destroyed for "the greater good"... and above all, I can see the look on her face when it was over. What she lost was more than I think I could bear to lose. To wake from whatever control Solamina had over her to find her friends and her mentor dead and her country torn apart by war...

I think it's the most horrible fate I could possibly imagine.

I think about the time I spent in that other world. I think about the things I went through, and I wonder what it would have been like to go through them alone, without my friends. And then I think back to David Elliot's last words: he had friends that came to save him when he needed them most. Solamina didn't.

I have friends. Friends that followed me where I lead. Friends that supported me when I faltered. Friends that had faith in me when I had no faith in myself. I had friends, and I am so incredibly grateful for that.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for being my mentor. Thank you for being my friend.

Don't ever change.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.

***

True Grit.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Don't know why I'm writing this to you. I've no way to guarantee it reaching you. Sure, we could pop by Canterlot and ask Discord to send this to you, if he's still knocking about and hasn't left already like he said he would, but that's a long shot.

Surprisingly enough, it was Sparkle's idea to write this to you. She said it might help me get a few things off my mind, and she's right.

She's... ok. I don't think she's going to be 'all right' for a long time, if ever, but she's responding, and she's thrown herself into curing the Converted with gusto. Some of them take some convincing - I had to all-but physically restrain this Afrikaner Dead Man whose wife and children were Converted while she performed the soul fuser - but she does good work and I think she's happy enough at that. She still cries at night, sometimes when she's awake and she thinks I can't hear her, and sometimes when she's asleep, like she's having nightmares.

Speaking of good work... I feel like I'm doing good work. That's a nice feeling. Now I think on it, I never did a damn thing worth bullplop as a Royal Guard. Oh, I know we look impressive, but by and large my day involved standing around doing nothing. I have no idea why you need us: I saw some of the damage Solamina did, and she stood up to Elliot...

Sorry. Had to stop for a minute. Memories.

I do good work here. I make a difference. I'm glad to have been given that chance. I know my parents must miss me - truth be told I miss them. But I did the right thing coming here. I won't ever regret it.

True Grit, Ex-Royal Guardspony, signing off.

***

Commander Twilight Sparkle.

Dear Princess Celestia, on the off chance you should ever read this.

I have done things that should by rights see me thrown to Tartarus and never released. Instead I've been given a chance to redeem myself. I won't waste that. I swear, I will do everything I can to make up for what I did. When I failed to see my Celestia becoming a monster, I didn't just fail Equestria, I failed humanity and I failed my friends.

I won't fail again. No matter what.

I miss you.

Twilight.

Author's Notes:

And just like that, it was over.

It's been a hell of a ride getting from where I began to now. I started this an undergrad student. I ended this a father with a house and a family. This started as a thought experiment, a homage to a great fanfic and a fun pastime. It's ended as one of the best pieces of work I've ever created, with a multiverse to explore and perhaps an even greater destiny to fulfill before the end...

But enough of that pretentious bull.

Firstly, my thanks must go to my wonderful partner, who might not like MLP, but she's always supported me and understood that finishing this was important to me.

Secondly, thanks go to Matt and Isaac, The Void and RoyalPsycho respectively, who have helped me to shape this world into what it is and helped motivate me to create it and keep at it. Without them this work might have never come to be and it might have petered and died instead of becoming one of my best works, and I shall forever be grateful to them for that. If you have enjoyed my work as much as I have enjoyed writing it, you, too, owe them a debt of gratitude.

Thirdly, my thanks go to the entire Other Side of the Spectrum crew, but most especially to redskin122004 and Doctor Fluffy: Red for seeing this fic and thinking it was good enough to invite me to write for Spectrum, and Doctor Fluffy for input and comments that have been among my best support (as well as being a great help on my Spectrum stuff and for his input on the last few chapters of AOA). Really, though, my thanks go to the lot of you for being the people who created the work that helped to inspire this. Thank you all.

And finally, thank you to the rest of my readers (lots of you by now, too many to namecheck!). Your support has really made me feel as though this was more than a work of mere vanity, and seeing regular commentators has really been a lovely feeling. I hope my future works in the AOAverse and otherwise all meet with your approval.

Thank you all. And rest assured that this is not the end... this is the beginning.