The family room was abuzz with several voices. Lucky Streak put his ears back at the excited racket of his adopted daughter and her gaggle of friends. Perhaps picking up on his distress, the mare he'd taken as his wife only months prior snuggled closer, draping her neck across his white-furred withers. To be honest, he didn't understand all the fuss over some random pony idol streamer calling an end to her career, but if his daughter cared, the least he could do was show interest.
Even as all the fillies stared at the projector screen displaying a countdown until it began, he whispered to Stardust, "So who's this streamer, and why's it such a big deal that she's retiring?" He eyed the countdown animation on the screen, watching as a grayscale cartoon night pony mare—clad in some sort of cowpony getup—somehow fired the revolver held in her mouth, shooting the minutes place on the timer. "There has to be at least a hundred more of these ponies, and most of them just play video games."
Stardust Breeze ruffled her cerulean blue feathers as she shifted slightly. "Cherrybelle adores Moonsong Rhapsody," she whispered back, watching the teenage earth pony in question vibrating with excitement. "You've even sung along to a few of her cover songs on the radio, Streaky." There was a look of admiration in his wife's eyes. "She all but pioneered pony idol culture outside of Japan, and she's done so many pony-centric covers of old songs that foals today are actually going out and checking out the works of John Denver, Marty Robins, and Guy Mitchell unironically."
Even his wife seemed enamoured with this pony, although he could understand that if the pony sang a lot of country and folk rock. Just the other morning, he'd caught her singing I'm Movin' Out by the Roues Brothers while preening. "Does she really lean into the cowpony schtick, or is it mostly just for show?" he asked. "Is Moonsong even her real name?"
With an "Eh," and a waggle of the wing not pinned between the two of them—the pegasus adaptation of the so-so hand gesture—she nuzzled him. "You'll just have to wait and see, hon."
As the countdown reached the last twenty-one seconds, the screen filled with an old style film countdown, except instead of simple numbers, the centre of the frame was occupied by stylized tarot cards, counting down through the Major Arcana. It caught him by surprise, as this pony seemed to put a lot of production value into their stream. There was something strangely familiar about it, but his daughter's enthusiasm was infectious enough to keep him from thinking too hard on it.
When the countdown hit 0 - The Fool, it held for a few seconds. The card itself depicted the streamer wearing a duster in realistic detail, her eyes shut and holding a stetson to her chest. Despite the get-up, she was a stunning young mare. Then the card faded away to reveal a small film set but the mare remained onscreen, and he realised when he saw the bluish membranes on her tattooed night pony wings that she'd been posed exactly as she appeared on the card. Or had it simply been a clever overlay? Either way, she clearly had a great team if she was doing all of this live.
Moonsong Rhapsody gave the camera a weak smile as she opened her rose eyes. They were puffy, and she looked like she'd been crying, and not merely crocodile tears, either. "Howdy, my fortunate followers," she greeted, with a lot of emphasis on the word fortunate. "I'm your favourite fortune-telling cowfilly, Moonsong Rhapsody."
The camera cut to a different angle that showed a pony-friendly table, upon which rested a tea set and a stack of some sort of cards. Based on the overall theme, he imagined they were tarot cards. Behind it, the charred remains of a red banner hung. As the mare took a seat on a royal blue cushion, she poured herself a steaming cup of tea, it was almost as though this was a talk-show rather than some mere stream.
She held one hoof over the deck of cards, and in a wistful voice, she commented, "Normally, we'd start the stream with our draw of the day, and we find out what we should be mindful of." The streamer mare removed her hoof to the deck, and instead removed a card from inside her stetson. "Today's card is a very special card." The camera angle changed to show a zoomed-in shot of the card on her hoof. XIII - Death. "Many ponies and people alike assume this card to be evil, and a bad omen, but that isn't what it really represents. It's an ending, sure, but it's a transition from one stage in life to the next, letting go and accepting change."
The camera cut back to the wider shot as she set the card down atop the deck. "Here on the stream, we've had a lot of good times, haven't we?" she asked the audience. In response, several different emotes—horseshoes, hearts, and even thumbs up—popped up from the bottom of the screen. "Who can forget the time I got an email and fine from an angry Dreamwarden, live on stream no less, for abusing my special talent for show?"
To Lucky's amazement there was a flood of laughing emojis popping along at the bottom of the screen. "My sponsor, PonyCo, and I have enjoyed a good working relationship over these last two years, and in the wake of the tragedy that's befallen Riverview, South Carolina, we've mutually agreed that all of the proceeds from this one last stream, as well as the single we are about to release live on air, are going towards relief and reconstruction efforts."
Six years ago, Lucky and Stardust would've quoted the axiom, 'Ponies are generous,' but time had mellowed that out. It didn't stop them from occasionally having those thoughts, but they didn't seem so rigid. Instead, the fillies gathered on the floor between them and the projector screen let out a collective gasp. Cherrybelle shook her head, causing her namesake coloured mane to bob as she cried out, "She actually burned her Shimmerist flag!"
Already, the night pony songstress had continued her spiel. "Many ponies, including two of my dear friends, have been displaced or straight-up gone missing in the Cataclysm," she explained. The camera pony moved the camera slightly left, creating space for the wedding photo of two stallions, a unicorn and a crystal pony, to appear onscreen. "If anyone or anypony has seen or knows the whereabouts of Blue and Rocky Harlowe-Mitchell, please reach out to me or my team, or if you two are watching this, please come home, lover-colts. I miss you."
Most of the fillies in the room didn't really react to the picture. To them, it was something sad, sure. To Lucky, his wife, and his stepdaughter, it was a different matter. They'd been at the wedding that photo was taken at three years ago. Those ponies had been Lucky Streak's best friends when he'd been human. What were they doing in Riverview though? They lived just outside Denver the last time they'd spoken.
It mystified him who this mare could be. The only night pony at that wedding was... "It can't be..."
"This cover tribute is a rewrite of the great Leonard Cohen's, Hallelujah," she explained. "I call it, An Ode to Riverview," Moonsong then looked off camera and nodded. "Hit it, Mr. Cooper."
The screen faded to black, and then a moment later, there appeared an aerial photo of Riverview as it had been before the Cataclysm. Another moment, and it was replaced with an aerial view of what had once been the Bastion. That was when it cut to Moonsong Rhapsody standing on a stage. Rather than her stetson and duster, she was in a black lace dress and mourning veil. Leaning close to the microphone, she began to sing.
"Now, there was a spell Shimmer unfurled,
That made ponies and it broke the world.
But you don't really care for magic do ya?
It brought, night, earth, and pegasi,
Unicorns and tears to my eye...
The uplifted did cry out Hallelujah!"
As she sang the chorus of hallelujahs, accompanied by a choir of young ponies, the imagery shifted back to various landscape shots of Riverview. Now they were showed the progression from a dying town into a bustling city. Sometimes, there were even famous or even infamous ponies the focus of shots. Wild Growth on the day the Sky Tree grew... Sunset and Tonya Blessing in the Bastion after faith-based service.
"Though we know what Shimmer did was wrong,
Sunset's name would guide us along,
Blessing took up the martyr's name to lead ya.
Guiding us where she needed to,
To the open arms of Riverview,
And from our lips she drew the Hallelujah!"
The next chorus showed news coverage of the disaster. Most of it centred around the humans who had stepped up to aid in the evacuation—people who, just hours before, had been protesters willing to come to blows with the pony counter-protesters. There was even more recent footage of the humanitarian relief efforts, with ponies and humans alike poking through ruined buildings.
"Some ponies may say she's insane,
Got unity on the brain...
Humans beside ponies? She gave it to ya!
So when Sunset Blessing gave the word,
Magic was researched for the herd,
From the town grew a city, Hallelujah!"
The next chorus had no special accompaniment. It was just Moonsong standing before the choir. It was hard to tell because of her veil, bit it looked as though the singer's make-up was beginning to run. Even her voice was starting to waver.
Between the tragic imagery and the heartfelt song, not a pony in the room had a dry eye. Several of Cherrybelle's friends were actively crying. He glanced down at his daughter, whose green coat was pressed firmly against the grey coat of her night pony totally-not-a-fillyfriend. Although they were all up in one of the Canadian pony settlements, he couldn't help but wonder if any of these ponies had family in Riverview.
"She did her best, with all she learned,
But the Bastion fell, and so much burned.
You can't drown in the grief and let it rule ya.
And even though it all went wrong,
I'll kneel to the Warden of Song,
Singing praise for all who lived, Hallelujah!"
The screen cut to black, and began to show names and faces as the choir repeated their hallelujah as the music began to fade away. Most of them were human, servicemen and women who'd been in Sunset Blessing's research labs beneath the Bastion. There were ponies here or there. At the very end there were two names, but only the photograph of a pegasus mare—Tonya Blessing, the Arbiter and James Growth. When the music ended, there was but one message. Never forget.
When the stream finally cut back to Moonsong's set, everyone in the room was surprised to see the mare had doffed their duster and stetson. To the girls, it was their first time seeing this mare without some sort of costume. From their whispers, he gathered there were even rumours that she was a blank flank. Instead, it showed a white card, with a the same stylistic eye that had been repeatedly tattooed on her wingtips on it, being cut by some scissors. Lucky and Stardust recognised the mark immediately, but it was something else when Cherry turned her head with wide blue eyes. "Aunt Jinxi is Moonsong Rhapsody!?" she mouthed.
"It's a good thing that this is our last stream together and the end of my contract," the streamer announced in a sad chuckle. She looked somewhat embarrassed. "I was never supposed to use that information, so I'm pretty sure I'd be fired. Not to mention I'm probably going to get a reaming and a huge fine from the Dreamwardens tonight... again. This tribute is just... the best way I could figure out how to draw attention to the city's plight and say goodbye to you all."
Shutting her eyes, the mare let out a sigh before standing and walking off-stage. Her mic was still on, however. "You all may be my fortunate followers, but I've been blessed to have you all. Goodbye, everypony." As the camera cut, there was a card displaying alist of charitable organisations helping out displaced ponies on the screen.
All of the girls had left, and Cherrybelle had gone to her room to try and process that a mare she'd not seen in years was a relatively successful streamer and singer. Even Lucky Streak was in shock. The last time he'd seen his estranged sister, it'd been at their best friends' wedding. She'd still been in the awkward lanky phase of her second adolescence, where she was almost fully grown but still had all the foalish features.
He was seated at the kitchen table with his tablet PC, using the stylus on his pony strap to type out an email to his accountant while Stardust made some coffee. "Would you have thought she'd take Yinyu's Blessing?" he remarked while he finished out the email. While they weren't quite as well-off financially as his sister probably was these days, they could still afford to send a significant contribution to the relief efforts. "I thought she inherited the disinterest in sex."
Using her wings to carry over a tray of coffee mugs, Stardust frowned. "Even if it's just symbolic, with all the stigma night pony mares get, I don't blame her," she responded. He nodded in understanding. He thought ponification may have had a role in it, but he couldn't imagine what it was like to be treated like a sexual predator because of your tribe and sex. "Don't be surprised if you see Dusty with her wings tattooed when she's old enough."
As he finished his email, he hit send and set his jaw. From there, he just stared at the video call icon. It was a dilemma he'd had for years. He could swallow his pride and reach out... If Rocky and Blue really were missing or gone, reaching out would be the first step in healing some of the hurt... especially what he'd caused. Or, he could leave her, possibly to grieve alone.
"Just call her, Streaky," she crooned, draping her wing over his withers. "I'm sure she forgives you for pushing her away back then." Sipping her own coffee, she sighed. "Ponies always forgive, right?"
He knew she was right about it all. "Yeah, ponies always forgive," he joked. Before the screen timed out, he poked the video call app with his stylus. He navigated down the list of contacts until he saw one labelled Little Miss Fussyfangs. Stardust had approached her when she'd sung at the Harlowe-Mitchell wedding, and easily gotten her contact details, but he'd never been able to bring himself to call her—not until today.
He tapped the contact, and it started to ring. It took a couple of minutes for her to pick up, and when she appeared onscreen, she looked taken aback. "Stardust... Lucky... this is a surprise," Jinxi said breathily. She actually seemed sort of faint. "I thought you never wanted to see me again..."
Lucky shook his head and gave his sister a teary smile. "Hey, Fussyfangs... We saw your stream," he replied. "How are you holding up?"
His wife stood up and started to walk away, "I think I'm gonna go check on Cherry while you two catch up."
Jinxi was so still that he worried maybe the connection had dropped out. Then he caught the tears welling in her eyes. "H-hey yourself," she cried, allowing herself a smile. "I guess the cards were right... grief does bring ponies together."
Author's Note
An Ode to Riverview started out as a simple idea... What might the lives of Jinxi and Lucky Streak look like six years after ETS? What if Jinxi became the pony equivalent of a VTuber? Someone on another site joked that they would totally read a story about a pony idol streamer, and I got to wondering, what sort of schtick could a night pony develop to build an audience? How might she try to affect the world in her own little way. Cut to today, where I'd just finished writing the newest chapter for Pandemic: of Twins and Tails,
