Chapters The (not so) Last Unicorn: A Well Deserved Happy Ending
After the castle had crumbled, the red demon had been swallowed by the sea and the other unicorns had galloped into the distance, five figures were still on the beach.
"So..." Lir and Amalthea said in unison, awkwardly. Amalthea motioned for him to go first.
"So what now?"
"I... I suppose that i'll return to my forest, now that my mission is complete and the Red Bull is no more. Will you not come with me, Lir? At least part of the way?"
"i'd love to, believe me. But this is my-" Lir started.
"Kingdom?" Amalthea finished, "A mere pile of rubble and a forest full of bandits? What kingdom is that?"
"it isn't so bad." Lir said.
Molly interrupted this time. "No! It's worse! Even if you intended to rebuild, you'd have a hell of a time recruiting builders, farmers -finding food, for that matter!"
Lir sighed. "i... kind of have nowhere else to go, guys."
The fifth figure spoke up. "Aye, it be a bugger of a conundrum, don't it?" The cat said.
"How did YOU get out?" Schmendrick queried.
"I could feel the direction the wind was a'blowin, so i made me escape."
"That's... not the answer i was looking for." Schmendrick said in a deadpan tone.
"I know." the cat replied simply.
Schmendrick frowned at that, but knew he'd get no further answers.
Suddenly, a bright sphere of light appeared a short distance away. The lot of them shieled their eyes and backed up a few steps, just to be safe.
"Avast!" the cat exclaimed. "It be a powerful magic! Brace yersselves, mates!"
When the light dissipated, in its place was a tall, white equine with wings, a horn and regalia. Such energy and life exuded from the newcomer that all present feli the impulse to bow, which they gave in to.
The newcomer spoke with a gentle voice. "Rise. I am Celestia, co-ruler of the land of Equestria. A sudden spike in the magical volume in this world drew my attention. I have seen all of you from afar and have found you all worthy of a hero's welcome. Especially you two." she indicated Lir and Amalthea. Her smile widened. I would be honoured if you would come with me; start a new life. Your love would be able to flourish, as it should, and you may make a new home in a land of peace. Well, compared to your world, at least."
The group shared glances before Amalthea stepped forward.
"Your highness, i believe i speak for us all in accepting your kind offer."
Celestia clapped her hooves together excitedly. "Excellent! A portal will be prepared shortly." then her eyes widened briefly. "Ah! Silly me. I'd almost forgotten." she leveled her gaze at Amalthea. "You've done a great thing for your kind, and thus i shall grant you a boon." With a flick of her horn, a spark of light went to Amalthea, floating at eye level for a split-second before entering her chest.
"What was-" Amalthea said, before a vortex of energy sprang up around her. The vortex became spherical in shape as it increased in intensity.
Suddenly, Lir leapt into the sphere of energy.
"Lir! You don't have-" the frightened mare started.
"No! I do. Whatever this is, we'll face it together." Lir said, hugging his 'beloved'.
Schmendrick and Molly shared a glance and nodded. As Schmendrick ran forward, Molly picked up the cat before dashing forward.
"Avast! Unhand me, ye witch!" the cat protested, but was ultimately helpless.
The quintet were enveloped by the magic, the world turning white around them.
The (not so) Last Unicorn: A Well Deserved Happy Ending
A New Form (adjusted/edited)
Still within the storm of energy, the four heroes started going through some strange changes. Amalthea's changes were by far the most... subtle. Her horn lengthened, she felt her reserve energy increase exponentially. Then she grew wings and shrank in size somewhat. an image of a half moon over a lake appeared on both of her flanks.
Lir, being the first to run headlong into the energy field, was the first to change. In an instant, a coat of fur the same colour as his hair developed all over his body, which was shrinking in size. His face distended into a muzzle, his eyes swelled in size to a cartoonish degree and he developed a pair of wings and a tail. Then his ears disappeared, two new ones appearing atop his re-minted head. he then developed hooves where his hands and feet were. then his leg structure changed perceptibly. shifting to suit his new form. On his flanks were twin images of a shield and sword. He then felt energy running through his body, unlike any her'd ever felt before. He felt faster, stronger, tougher than he'd ever been in his life! He felt that he could protect anyone or take down anything, if he put his mind to it.
Schmendrick himself started growing a coat of cornflower blue fur, his features shifting much like Lir's, but with a few noticeable differences. For one, he grew a horn instead of wings. Then, something... unexpected happened.
Schmendrick felt energy rushing to her mind. She felt like the universe was opened to her. a hundred different spells, a thosand alchemical recipes.
Molly was going through her own changes. The only things of note were that her coat was a shade of taffy pink and her once messy hair became a luxurious rosewood brown mane, done in a dreadlocked style. Also, she developed neither wings nor horn and a picture of a large bubbling cauldron with an array of vegetables around it. She felt energy flowing from what the earth beneath her new hooves,
The cat himself?Tthe only perceptible change he had was that his left eye regained its full functionality, not that he'd noticed at the time..
Moments later, the quintet found themselves in a white room. This room had several pony-friendly couches around it, upon two of which were occupied by four ponies total The one that had invited them before stood.
"Ah, our guests have arrived." she stated cheerily. "As i've said before, I am Celestia and the others behind me are Luna..."
"Greetings!" Luna said, waving with one wing.
"Mi Amore Cadenza..." Celestia continued.
"Cadence will do. It's so much easier to say. I can sense the strength of the bond between the four of you. It's rare to see love so strong." Cadence said, smiling brightly.
"And Twilight Sparkle. We all welcome you to our land." Celestia finished.
The four of them lined up and bowed respectfully, receiving four similar (if shaky) bows in return. Twilight put her two bits worth in, "The spell construct used to adjust your forms was of my design. Unfortunately there was a... small margin for error, as i'm sure one of you can attest."
Schmendrick spoke with a notably higher voice. "Care to explain to us why?" she askd irritably.
"Well, for a few plausible reasons." Twilight responded. "First, that was a brand new spell crafted on short notice. Second, the spell itself seems to have taken you all to be a herd; a family unit. Around here, that's generally one stallion to three mares, give or take, so... I think you can figure the rest of that one out. Thirdly, it could be that you... Weren't all that masculine where you came from to begin with. But that's speculation until i get a deep scan of the four of you."
Schmendrick winced at this, and Molly spoke up. "i think i have some aloe for that burn." she joked, receiving laughter from everyone present. Even the victim, albeit with some embarrassment.
"Though," Twilight said, "You're taking it extraordinarily well, all things considered. Why is that?"
Schmendrick waved a hoof dismissiveluy. "Pshaw. I've had enough magical mishaps to learn to adjust to change when it occurs. And besides, i know that magic will often do as it wills, no matter how carefully you plan it out. There's always a chance that some unexpected side effects will occur. I'm sure you know that all too well, am i right?"
Twilight blushed at this. "True." she said shortluy.
Luna coughed. "Either way, we greet you all. Why don't you introduce yourselves, now that you know us?" she said.
"Well, i'm Prince Lir." Lir spoke up. "Though, my title hardly means much now. I'll choose a new one." after some thought, a name sprang to his mind. "Bright Blade. Call me Blade. It... feels right." he finished.
Molly went next. "Previously my name was Molly, but since Li- i mean, Blade chose a new name, call me... Soup Bowl." she said, surprised at how easily her new name came to mind.
"Previously I was Schmendrick the magician. But call me..." she said and thought, stepping forward, "Blue Moon." she finished.
"And your cat?" Twilight asked, indicating the reclining feline on Soup's back..
"I be no man's cat! I be me o- blow me down! I can see in both eyes again!" the cat exclaimed. Mayhap i took ye all wrong. I ne'er received a name before. An' I wouldn't rightly know what to call meself." the cat stated, only just now choosing to bow.
"Felis. I called him Felis." Amalthea spoke up.
"'tis as good a name as any." the newly dubbed cat accepted.
"And our newest princess?" Luna queried.
"They gave me the name Amalthea and- wait, what?" the freshly minted alicorn said, confused.
The (not so) Last Unicorn: A Well Deserved Happy Ending
Explanations and More Introductions
"So... let me get this straight." Amalthea started, after the issue was explained. "I've done something extremely brave..."
"Courageous, but yes." Celestia confirmed.
"unlocked a new kind of magic in our world..."
"The magic of Passion." Luna said, nodding.
"And ascended to being a demigoddess and automatically became royalty through the contrived power of love and kinship."
"More or less." Twilight said, blushing slightly, having experienced much the same.
"Do you have any idea how weird that sounds?" Amalthea deadpanned.
"Trust me, weird is a slow day here." Cadence said.
"But it's still more docile than your world." Celestia added.
"And the rest of you are likely to follow at some point." Cadence said. "From what we've sen, all four of you have done something similarly momentous, which will soon result in ascension for all of you. Lir, for example, willingly sacrificed himself so that the Red Bull cold be defeated. Blue Moon here unlocked her true power and went from magician to sorcerer. Molly had in the past discovered that she was an animal empath."
"A what?" Soup Bowl queried, tilting her head slightly.
"Why do ye think i took such a shine to ye, lass? Yer ability to parley with animals sich's meself served ye well."
Cadence nodded "Indeed. we also have an animal empath that you might like to speak to."
Twilight spoke up. "That would be my friend Fluttershy. She is a... touch meek, but has been getting better."
A knock came from the door to the room. "Beggin' yer pardon?" a muffled voice spoke, "Can we come in? If'n we wait too much longer, Pinkie's gonna 'splode from excitement. Ah wish ah was exaggeratin'."
"Hi!I'mPinkiePie! Areyouthenewprincess? Youmustbethenewprincess! Somanynewfriends! Somanypartiestoplan! I'msoexcited! Areyouexcited? Youshouldbeexcitedbecause-"
Amalthea instinctively used her magic to clamp Pinkie's mouth shut. "Are you done?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Pinkie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After that, she opened her eyes and nodded.
After her mouth was released, Pinkie continue at a more sedate pace. "Sorry. I get carried away sometimes. Like a lot of the time. Heh. Heh."
The next pony spoke up; an orange coloured pony with a blond mane. And a hat. "So sorry 'bout Pinkie here. When she heard that there were ponies comin' from another world, she rushed us all here t' meetcha. Mare was like a can full o' jumpin' beans. Ah'm Applejack, by the by."
A white, purple maned uniccorn spoke up next. "Yes, and i'm Rarity. If you ever need a new dress, come to me."
Next a yellow pink maned pegasus spoke up. Barely. "And i-i'm Fluttershy. N-nice to met you." she stammered slightly.
Lastly a blue rainbow maned mare piped in. "And i'm Rainbow Dash. The fastest and most awesome pegasus in Equestria." she boasted.
"It's a pleasure to meet each and every one of you. I'm Amalthea and my friends are Bright Blade, Soup Bowl and... Blue Moon." Each of her friends waved in turn.
"You know what this calls for?" Pinkie said, pausing for dramatic effect.
Her friends rolled their eyes in unison and counted down. "Three... Two... One..."
"A PARTY!!!" Pinkie exclaimed, throwing confetti into the air and firing off a miniature cannon.
Blade was flummoxed. "How? Where? When?"
The five other friends said in unison "It's Pinkie Pie. Just don't question it."
The (not so) Last Unicorn: A Well Deserved Happy Ending
As it turmned out, Pinkie Pie had already reserved a large room to set up in. Then she proceeded to ask several questions. Rapid-fire.
"D'youlikecake? Whatkindofcakedoyoulike? D'youlikepartygames? Howoldareyouandyouandyouandyou?-" the questions wouuld have gone on, but she was stopped again, this time by Bright Blade. Pinkie snorted and said, in a muffled voice, "'M rmbllng 'gin, urntai?"
Everypony nodded.
"But," said Blue Moon, "We'll all answer your questions in order."(1)
Bright Blade said, "Yes, red velvet, never got the chance, 32."
Blue Moon put in, "Hardly ever tried, I don't know, most of the time I AM the party, about 36, I... think? though Mommy Fortuna kept me busy. So I was hard pressed to keep track."
Soup Bowl went next. "Maybe?, potato is as far as I've gotten, only if they're fun, 40."
Amalthea said, "What's cake? Willing to try it, no clue, about 100, I think? I'm fairly young for a unicorn where I come from."
Pinkie nodded at each of them in turn, then dashed off to the kitchen to do some baking. Then she came back and, with a shot from her patented Party Cannon, there was a party set up.
Bright Blade stared, wide eyed and slack-jawed "How...?" he queried, clearly very near speechless.
In unison, the rest of the Mane Six said in unison: "It's Pinkie Pie; Don't question it!"
"...So then I said, "My Lady, I am a hero, and we heroes know that things need to happen when it's time for them to happen. A happy ending can't come in the middle of the story"."
Soup Bowl continued, "So what if there isn'tt a happy ending?"
Blue Moon finished, "There ARE no happy endings. Because nothing truly ends."
Soup bowl continued, "I tokd him to let Amalthea here stay the was she was at the time, but he refused. Then I accused 'him(2)' of not caring about anything but 'his' magician status. But 'he' said..."
Bkue moon picked up, without missing a beat, "WELL I WISH I DIDN'T! I wish to God that I didn't care about anything but ny magic, but I DO! I do" That was probably a bad idea, yelling like that; it, uh... attracted the Red Bull." she said, her ears drooping.
Bright Blade patted her on the withers with one hoof. "To be fair, we were looking for it anyway. I doubt we would have caught it off guard."
"The Red Bull? What is it?"
Three of the new herd looked pointedly at the obvious fourth. Blue moon spoke up. "Was; It's kind of... quenched, you might say. Well, I'd heard a few tales, to tell the truth. That the Bull wasn't real, -busted- that the bull was a ghost -also busted-... My going theory was that it was a demon summoned by Lord Haggard; what caused him to develop such a hard heart."
Amalthea spoke up, "All that I was told was that my kind travelled the roads long ago... and the Bull chased them, covering their footprints."
"How awful!" Fluttershy said, bringing her forehooves to her mouth.
"Either way, it seemed to be made of hellfire. Or balefire. Either way, some kind of eldritch energy."
Twilight thought aloud, "Hmm.... bawsed on your description, it was most likely an Outsider. Summoned ny lord Haggard, at the price of his heart."
"Even more awful!" Fluttershy exclaimed again.
"Well it's gone now." Blue Moon said. "Amalthea... Well, I'kk let Bright Blade tell the next part."
Bright Blade picked up, "Well, when Amalthea sprained her ankle and couldn't move any further. Blue Moon here came uo with a sort of spell, all 'his' own, changing Amalthea back to her natural form. It began attacking her in earnest. "I asked- no, demanded that Blue Moon do something, but 'he' refused, saying tat that was what heroes were for. The last thing I remember of that was being knocked aside."
Soup Bowl continued, "After that, Amalthea became angry enousgh to fight it back to the ocean. Its defeat summoning all of the unicorns that it had banished. Haggard's castle was destroyed. Amalthea used her magic to restore Bright Blade to life. After that, we started to converse about our plans for the future, then Princess Celestia appeared. And that, as they say, is that." There was some applause from the assembled "crowd", making the four heroes smile and blush.
"Well, don't expect any books in the future or anything. Not from us, at any rate."
"Yes, well, you four nave had quite the adventure." Celestia said. "Feel free to make this your new home. You four deserve a little R&R after al of that.consider this to be an... extended vacation. You have a whole new world to explore! Your lives on the other side may have endeds, but here they are just beginning! This is basically Tabula Rasa for the four of you."
Just then, Luna noticed what time it was. Or rather... the time it was supposed to be. "Uh... Sister? We need to do some re-arranging?"
Celestia looved outside and noticed that it was still daytime out there. "Oh my! Yes!" her horn sparked to life and the sun dipped below the horizon, making way for Luna's magic to do the opposite.
Luna said, "I think it's time to call it a night. I have dreams to watch over and Celestia has winks to catch. We shall see you all some time in the future. Merry part." she said, before heading to her room.
Celestia got up, stretching and yawning. "Rooms 2 through 5 have been reserved for the four of you." then she gestureed at the Mane Six. "You all get the usual rooms. Good night." With that, she left to go to her chamber.
"I guess that's enough parttying for the nonce. Let's catch some Zs ourselves, hmm? Tomorow is going to be rather busy."
"Why is that?" Amalthea asked.
"We need to show the four-"
Felis coughed.
"Sorry. Five of you around town. Until then, good night"
Heading to their respective rooms, they all went to bed for the night, confident that the next day would bring adventure anew.
Author's Note
1: I'm just making this up, so take this with a few grains of salt.