The Unexpected Adventure
Chapter 38: Where are they now? (Seven Years Later)
Previous Chapter Next Chapter-Celestia's point of view-
It has bee seven years since that incident that destroyed Agrabah's palace and the Griffon Empire in layers of lava. There was at least over two-hundred-thousand Griffons that were in the Empire, but after the incident only a thousand survived. The royal Griffon Guard and family were wiped from existence, their history was burnt and only the survivors can remember it by oral teachings. This beast that, destroyed their kingdom and wanted nothing but to end someone's life displeased me.
Every day when I visit Agrabah and the Griffon Empire, I just couldn't bare myself to carry on if it wasn't for a certain chaotic friend. Without his help, I would have lost myself in depression, seeing these Griffons trying to survive without a leader reminded me of when Luna was banished. It was nothing similar of the sorts, but it had the same kind of atmosphere.
As for settling the disputes between the countries, it wasn't easy. No Griffon wanted to become a ruler of their kingdom because of how their pride had shattered. I offered them a refuge to Equestria and they complied since they had nowhere else to go. Agrabah, however, recovered and with a little assistance from Discord, their kingdom was back to normal. Though there was still damages to pay, and for once I never thought we had a death toll in quite awhile other than health reasons. The death toll, added by the death of the Griffons, came to a total of one-hundred and ninety-eight thousand deaths.
As time went on, peace around Equestria was grand. The surviving humans that are living at what was known as the Everfree Forest, have flourished our technological understandings. Our subjects made breakthroughs in science, technology, and farming. Though when someone decided to make a machine that runs on this certain liquid called petrol, there were some riots on who could make what.
Our advisor and strategist, Jayden, said that this fuel source causes the atmosphere and ozone to weaken. He said that if this were to happen then history will be repeating itself and will eventually end up like Earth (Without the eruptions that were caused by the beast). Since I allowed the humans to stay on our land, I banned any sort of technology to run on this 'petrol' so that it wouldn't happen.
Then there was a dispute of when they transformed into pony's due to the biological self-defence to magic to prevent the humans from dying. I had to announce to every human/pony that everything that made them transform was natural and I had no complaint since then.
Now that I think about it, this was the only issue that I had with the humans, time seemed to fly by as the pony's that were once humans began to populate the land. I giggled internally as I smiled, 'None of this would have happened if a certain student of mine didn't teleport to her friends.'
I look back through the window and saw the not-so-little town of Ponyville, it had expanded from a small town to a small city. I knew that that sort of change was going to happen, but not through the method that wasn't involved with humans.
"Sister?" Luna called.
I turned myself around to see Luna and Jayden together to which made me smile, "Yes?"
"It time to attend the party." Jayden reminded me.
I shook my head lightly, "Sorry, I was walking through memory lane."
"Yeah, I can understand, a lot has happened in seven years."
"Though I still can't believe that it has been that long." Luna pondered.
I walked up to them, "Let's not think about the past and lets get to Twilight's party."
Everyone nodded and I glowed my horn to teleport all three of us to Twilight's castle.
-Ryan's point of view-
I stretched in my seat in the train car as Coco puts her hoof around my shoulder. Our seventh anniversary was coming up, but before we could celebrate it alone, Frank invited us to a party. From what I could tell from the invitation, it was less descriptive about what was going to happen at the party. So Coco and I, without hesitation, hired a foalsitter to watch Nia and our six-year-old colt, Forest Stripes. I couldn't believe that Forest was part Changeling when he was born, but I didn't care, Coco was happy to have a colt that had similar traits as his father.
I felt my hoof being nuzzled by Coco and I leaned in to kiss her lips. Our tongues danced around and we sighed as we stopped to look at ourselves.
"Sounds like someone had a nice nap." Coco smiled.
"How's the bun in the oven?" I asked as I gently poked her belly with my hoof.
She giggled, "Safe and sound."
"Good, just make sure you don't drink at this party okay?"
"Not unless Frank gets drunk again."
I faced hoofed, "I forgot that event happened." The memories flooded in as Frank snapped his fingers to transfer alcohol into our stomachs and made us all drunk to where we passed out. I chuckled at the memory, "I thought that Frank's magic transformed us into pony's then."
Coco nodded, "I thought that too, but at the time, I really didn't mind. You are, to this day, a handsome stallion."
"Thanks, sweetie." I pecked her cheek as the train came to a stop.
"Ponyville station! Next stop Appleloosa!" The conductor announced.
Coco and I headed out the train, with our overnight suitcases, and headed towards Twilight's castle. I noticed how Ponyville had changed a lot since the incident with Mr. D and it had, believe it or not, it's original charm with the human ponies (that's what they're called throughout Equestria to distinguish them) buildings in the background.
"Wow." Coco was speechless.
"I knew we should of visit this place before Forest was born." I lightly punched my hoof to the ground.
"We both know that I became bed ridden and refused anypony's help except for yours until I broke my water. Then we raised Forest up while Nia went to Highschool and you helped her get through it." Coco explained, "My... I suppose were to blame for not visiting Frank a Twilight much."
I tried to comfort her, "They were probably busy as well, I'm sure seven years of building a big community that had humans and pony's living together can be hard to manage." That reminded me of Jayden, "Besides, we were able to see Jayden once a year, but he was pretty busy as well being a strategist and royal advisor."
Coco nodded and twirled her hooves against the ground, "I suppose you're right."
"Want me to carry your bags while you look around?" I offered.
She cheered up a bit, "Sure, I would love that." Coco pecked my cheek and went ahead.
With my levitation I carried our bags to the castle to only meet up with Applebloom and Spike kissing at the front entrance of the castle. I knew that they were a couple when they were young, but now they're teenagers. I just couldn't help but smirk as I watched them.
"Having fun you two?" I asked.
They pulled their lips away and were surprised to see us. Spike got Applebloom off to her feet and he quickly walked up to me. When he was standing, he was as tall as me, but my horn beat his height. Spike must have hit his puberty because I saw that he grew a pair of wings.
"It's definitely been awhile, Ryan." Spike said as he grabbed my bags.
"Yeah, you've grown a bit since I last saw you." I said as we headed inside. I glanced to Applebloom, who was talking to Coco, as I continued, "I see your relationship is intact."
He chuckled, "Are you kidding me? She's the best thing that ever happened to me."
I raised an eyebrow, "What about Rarity?"
He shrugged, "Her loss."
I hissed, "Wow. You're more manly than ever, you've earned my respect."
I punched my hoof into his fist as we entered the living room, where everyone was. From the corner of my eye, I saw Rainbow Dash, Apple Honey, and Pinkie Pie were having a conversation that I couldn't hear. To my left was Celestia and Discord, who were chatting about, to my right was Jayden and Luna having some wine and to the center was Twilight and Sunset with two children. My heart hhhnngged for a moment when I saw the two Unicorn fillies. One filly was violet with a blue mane while the other was a very light green with a light red mane. I saw Coco walk up to them and they were all excited to see one another. I smiled as my train of thought was interrupted by Jayden.
"Going to stare at your mare while at this party?" Jayden asked.
I scoffed, "Hey, that's my wife you're talking about."
We stared at each other for a moment before we started to smirk and laugh, "Man, it's definitely been awhile since we've seen each other. How are things at Canterlot?"
Jayden shook his head, "Stamping paperwork one after the other."
I nudged his shoulder, "C'mon, it can't be all that bad, right?"
He snorted, "How about really bad and drop the subject."
I raised my hooves in the air, "Whoa, take an easy man."
We both chuckled at our shenanigans, but Luna walked up to us. I playfully bowed at her presence and did my snobbish voice, "Good evening Luna. How thou art doing?"
She giggled at my antics and smiled, "It's good to see an old friend," She looks at the fillies and sighed, "Jayden, I've met Twilight and Sunset's foal, Twinkle Shine and Solstice Light, and I was overjoyed of how cute they've become."
Jayden smiled at Luna's giddiness, "Do you want to have children yet?"
She puffed out her cheeks, "Well I have been giving hints for the past seven years, but you were buried in your own work."
He had his jaw open and was speechless, "I... I didn't know."
Then she laughed at him, "Sorry, couldn't resist, we were both busy that I didn't even have enough time to think of a foal of our own."
Jayden sighed with relief, "Thank Celestia." Then he paused, "Do you want to talk about it?"
She smirked, "Maybe when the party is over. For now, I'm curious where our host is at."
"Yeah, I was wondering about that. Where is Frank?" I wondered.
-Frank's point of view-
I adjusted my necktie and sighed as I looked at myself on the mirror. I had changed throughout the years since I've met with Twilight. From a human being who was struggling to get a job in America to a Unicorn studying magic and alchemy in Equestria. I at my body, my horn grew more to where it touched the edge of the mirror and my suit complements my suit overall. 'Thanks again Rarity.' I thought.
Glancing at the clock, I hastily trot out of the room because the party had already started. As I head down the stairs, I hear Twinkle and Solstice playing around the main floor of the castle. They haven't noticed me yet, but it just warmed my heart to see my children playing without a worry in the world.
"Daddy!" Twinkle and Solstice cheered and teleported in front of me.
"Girls!" I cheered back and hugged them tightly, "How are you this evening?"
They giggled at my embrace, "We're great!" Solstice smiled.
"Mommy wants to know when you're going to show up?" Twinkle asked.
I rolled my eyes, "I wasn't up there that long."
Twinkle and Solstice puffed their cheeks, "You were up there for hours." They said in unison.
I chuckled, "Well, I'm here now aren't I?" They still were somewhat upset and I grinned, "Get back to your mom's or I'll start using the pucker lips."
"You wouldn't dare!" Solstice said with wide eyes and Twinkle was squirming to get out of my tight hug.
"Too late." I smiled as I curled my lips and made kissing noises. They screamed and sprinted away from me to head to their mothers for comfort. "Ah, the wonders of the cooties." I chuckled and trotted into the living area, but felt death glares from Twilight and Sunset when I entered. Twinkle and Solstice were sticking their tongues out, but when their mothers looked they were shaking and trembling. 'Next time I'll value my life when I use the "cooties" trick again.' I thought.
Despite the death glares from my wives, I cleared my throat, "Good evening everypony. Jayden, Luna, Ryan, Coco, Twilight, Sunset, Twinkle, Solstice, Celestia and Discord, do you know why you're here today?"
Jayden spoke up as he put his arm around Luna, "Other than our anniversary?"
"Or ours?" Ryan wondered.
I shook my head, "Nope," I raised a hoof to stop Discord from talking, "Also not the anniversary where we defeated the Doppelgänger. This day, surprisingly, is the same day that I invited my friends to Equestria."
Everypony went silent, Jayden's eyes widened as much as Ryans. The three mares, Pinkie, Apple, and Rainbow hanging their heads down for a moment of silence. I continued, "Judging by your silence, I suppose that we forgot about that day. The day that our worries were to wash away? At the time, yes it was, but as the months past, we let our guard down because the past haunted us." I gulped down my emotions and cleared my throat, "Connor, Logan, and Aston died for a dark reason. I know that these mares here." I pointed to the three mares, "Haven't had it easy when their lovers died when their bodies were taken over." I wiped the tears off of my cheek, "So, I've been researching a spell to play memories to let others see and it has been successful when I cast it. What I'm going to play is that day, to remind ourselves why we are here in the first place."
Twilight flew to the streamer and tugged it to where it unrolled into a large screen. I lowered my head and cast the spell upon the screen.
-Jayden's point of view-
After the presentation, it felt surreal. Seeing everything through Frank's eyes was like walking through memory lane, except I couldn't remember that day at all. It was something that I dismissed because Equestria was overwhelming my mind. Even though I couldn't remember, I still somehow remember the feeling of it all. Getting on a plane from England to meet up with his friends, going through the mirror to Equestria but to only appear in Luna's room instead, and getting jobs on the same day we all showed up.
"Jayden are you alright?" Luna asked.
I felt my shirt being soaked by my tears and I wiped them away with my sleeve and hugged Luna. "I just never thought that I would remember a happy moment in my life." I slide out of the hug to look at Frank, who was panting because he spent a lot of magic to cast that spell. From what I could tell, he was tearing up as well.
It must have been heard for him to resurface that memory and I can understand the pain that he was trying to hold back. I sighed and trot my way towards him. I heard Ryan walking beside me with a concerned face as well. Once we were in front of him, he looked up with tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry for bringing you here and leading to Aston, Connor, and Logan's death." Frank sobbed, "If you can find the heart to forgive me-" I had to stop his suffering as Ryan and I hugged him.
"It wasn't your fault, no pony knew that it was going to be their fate." Ryan explained, "I'm glad you brought us here, because if you hadn't I wouldn't have met Coco."
I nodded, "I'm the same, even though it was an amazing circumstance, I wouldn't have met Luna if it weren't for your mirror being connected to her's and Twilights."
He sniffed and smiled, "You guys... You guys are the best."
I let go and just remembered something important that I forgot to ask Frank about, "Frank, did you get anything from Night Shade?"
When he finished wiping his tears off as he sighed, "It's funny you mention him, he just happened to pass a letter saying that he found the mirror that the Doppelgänger went through and found out what happened on Earth."
"What happened?" Ryan asked.
I noticed that everypony was gathering around and was about to hear what Frank was about to say. "He told me the Earth restarted basically. From what he told me, the Earth went through an ice age and the atmosphere was so clean. There were signs of life in the area that was once America, but they were mostly animals."
"Sounds like an ending of a movie." I admitted.
Frank nodded, "I've informed Celestia that he gave me the location of the mirror and delivered it to Canterlot personally." He looks at Celestia, "I trust he wasn't a problem?"
Celestia shook her head, "Not at all, in fact, he wasn't there at all. Just a note saying: 'If you need to find me, I'll be on this new Earth.'"
Ryan shrugged his shoulders, "His life I suppose."
We all nodded in agreement, but I just can't my mind couldn't be at ease with this one question. "I wonder where he is now?"
Frank smiled, "I suppose that is a mystery were never going to find out."
Next Chapter: Questions and Answers For The Unexpected Adventure. Estimated time remaining: 4 MinutesAuthor's Notes:
Happy (early) Thanksgiving! Well that's it for the Unexpected Adventure and boy it has been a fun ride. From writing this story to seeing the struggle of the like and dislike bar being neutral for several weeks.
Now I know that this was going to be the last chapter, but there will be a Q&A chapter where you guys ask questions about the story. So comment your question down below and I'll answer that in that chapter. I'll give you guys a month (basically January 2016) to finish up so you can ask away.