Author's Note

You might notice that I've titled the final chapter of this in a certain way. Once I'm done with the new story I'm writing...there's going to be a sequel to this! I've decided that a follow-up is warranted. Hopefully, you've enjoyed this, and I'm thankful to each and every one of you for reading it! Stay awesome!

The End of One Journey...

With Celestia and Luna reinstalled as the leaders of Equestria, everything soon returned to normal. The long and much maligned war with Saddle Arabia was gradually put to rest, as Celestia and Luna worked tirelessly and very diplomatically to restore peaceful relations between the two nations. Queen Lilly’s quest for more land to spread her evil had been stomped out, and the stallions conscripted into the service were dutifully discharged. They returned home to happy faces, joyous celebrations, and the welcoming spirit that showed each of them their heroic status. The war might have been a disaster, but the ponies who fought in it were still loved and respected greatly by their families.

But the issue remained of how to reincorporate friendship into the new Equestria. The ponies who lived in The Town of Friendship had something of a head start in this regard, and they were happy to share all they had learned with everypony else. Schools opened, and ponies flooded the hallways, eager to learn about friendship and the Elements of Harmony. Celestia and Luna, in a bit of dual strategy, put Twilight in charge of friendship within the city and Starlight in charge in the rest of the land.

But some Equestrians, whose lives had been shaped and forged by the regime, didn’t know how to take to this new way of living. It frightened them, because they didn’t understand the idea of connecting with somepony else on a level other than either sex or violence. Their minds couldn’t comprehend the concept that they might actually have things in common with their fellow ponies, and they dug their hooves in and refused to learn.

One such pony was a mare named Brittle Mane. She was known as the best prostitute in Canterlot after Twilight left, and she was rather proud of that sick title. She loved having so much attention, because it took away from the fact that she had little else to offer other than a beautiful body. She had the personality of an angry bulldog, and she had the cutting words of Queen Lilly herself. She would insult stallions as they had sex with her, garnering pleasure from slicing into their souls.

One day after school had been let out, she was brought to Twilight. The Friendship Chancellor of Canterlot looked her over and smiled. “So…you’re the pony who’s been telling all the other ponies that friendship isn’t important, right?”

“It’s not!” Brittle said defiantly, “the only thing that matters is sex!”

Twilight could see that Lilly’s propaganda still had a strong hold on this pony, so she got up and trotted around her desk. “Please, sit,” she told Brittle, “and I’ll tell you why friendship is so vital.”

So Brittle sat, but she gave Twilight a glaring look as she did so. She just wanted to return to her street life. She was beautiful, and she knew it, with a light pink body, a bright blue mane, and amazing green eyes. She could get any stallion or mare she wanted, so why in Equestria would she want to be friends with them? She simply went to bed with them and then left the next morning. It was nice, and she constantly had somepony to cuddle with on cold nights.

“So, tell me, Chancellor, why the hay is friendship so important?”

Twilight smiled. “You can ask all the sarcastic questions you want,” she said dryly, “but I’m going to convince you that friendship is vital to the survival of our nation and everypony in it.”

“How so? Don’t friends just bounce around through flowery fields and hold hooves?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, Brittle,” she said, “you have so much to learn about it. Friendship is so much more than your stereotypical description. It’s embracing your differences and overcoming problems together. It’s finding ways to get along, even when things go wrong. It’s sacrifice and duty and honor and all that!”

“And where does sex fit in?”

Twilight puffed a bit. “Brittle, life doesn’t revolve around sex! I know that’s what you’ve been taught all your life, but it’s not true! You can get out of it. You can be somepony better. You can have friends, accomplish dreams, fall in love, all of that!”

“Have friends? Fall in love?” Brittle asked.

“Yes!”

“Nopony would ever love me that much,” she said as her mane drooped a bit, “I’m nothing.”

“That’s not true!” Twilight said desperately, as she saw she was beginning to strike a nerve, “I once thought I was nothing. I was left on the streets of this city, to do nothing but have sex for money and wait until the day I was put in the grave. But then a good friend helped me realize that friendship is so much more important than that! She and I escaped to The Town of Friendship, and the rest is history! I’ve never been happier! I’m surrounded by my friends, I have two beautiful nieces that I’m raising, I have an amazing stallion friend-“

“You have a stallion friend?” Brittle asked, “I thought you were single.”

“I haven’t officially announced it yet,” Twilight said, “but, yes, I do. His name is Mud Hooves, and he’s wonderful. But that, too, started out as a simple friendship. It’s something you need to experience first hoof, and I’ve brought somepony who might help you with that. Come in!”

The door behind them opened, and a pony peeked her head in. She was blue with a snowy white mane and dull violet eyes. Her cutie mark was a magic wand with some kind of swirl going around it. She spoke with a small lisp, and her smile was infectious. “Hi, there, Brittle Mane!” She said, “my name is Trixie, and I would be honored to be your first friend!”

“First friend?” Brittle asked.

“Yep!” Twilight said happily, “Trixie here is one of the tutors in my school, and an excellent assistant. She helps ponies who are new to friendship discover who they are as friends and what they’re meant to do in life. There’s nothing like a good friend to help you go on an amazing journey of self-discovery, I always say!”

Brittle Mane looked Trixie over. She seemed friendly enough, but she didn’t know if she could trust her. “Oh, alright, Twilight,” Brittle said, “I’ll try it your way. But if she slips up once, I’m done!”

Twilight sighed. She saw that Brittle had a long road ahead of her if she were to truly understand the magic of friendship. But, the fact that she had accepted Trixie as a friend was definitely a start. She might have a lot to learn, Twilight told herself, but I believe she’s ready for it. If she can be taught the values of friendship, she could go some amazing places. I just hope to Celestia that she’ll open her heart and Trixie can find a home there.