“Get away from my tree.”
Opaline froze in her tracks, startled upon hearing a familiar voice behind her. The sound sliced through the dark recesses of her mind and reverberated in her subconscious. It was her. The unicorn who had been lying to her for a long time, yet only recently revealed the true extent of her betrayal. The pony who she had mercy on all those moons ago was now back to rub salt in the wound she was already feeling.
Lava and Jade stopped when she did, and she turned her attention away from the portal in front of her, choosing instead to turn around and face her former daughter. No. She was way beyond that label at this point. She didn’t deserve any familial association after what she did. She deserved to be cast out and pay for abusing her leniency.
“Your tree?!” Opaline demanded furiously. She didn’t know how many other things Misty had been hiding from her, but it seemed like there was a lot that she wasn’t letting on.
Misty stood resolutely behind the alicorn, facing her with an angry expression on her face. Opaline had to admit that she had never seen this side to her before. She remembered that Misty would usually cower in her presence, but this time was different.
“I won’t let you do this to me, or my friends!” Misty shouted, walking in her direction without hesitation, clearly not afraid of what would happen to her.
“Your friends?!”
“They showed me what it was like to care about somepony!”
“Huh?” Opaline was confused at this notion, but she wouldn’t have much time to think about it as her eyes suddenly landed on the symbol of a pink butterfly on Misty’s flank. She growled. The unicorn had gotten her cutie mark after all, and she hadn’t even known about it before.
“There’s so much you’ve been hiding from me,” she scolded her. “Your tree, your friends…” Using one of her wings, she bumped Misty’s flank, causing her former subordinate to move out of the way. “And your cutie mark!! And all this time, I thought WE were friends!!”
“No! We weren’t!” Misty shot back. Upon saying this, however, her expression changed to one of a depressing realization as something appeared to dawn on her. “It’s so sad…you’ve got all the power in Equestria, and you still haven’t ever felt true friendship.”
Opaline barked a laugh and flew up into the air. “Ha! I have friends!!” She indicated the still mind-controlled dragons using her hooves.
“You have to force others to pretend to be your friends!” Misty argued with her. “Like me! That’s control!”
The Fire Alicorn wasn’t having any of this nonsense that Misty was trying to spout. She had just turned her back on her, and now she was trying to take the moral high ground. This infuriated Opaline beyond belief. She wanted nothing more than to crush the disrespectful unicorn’s skull for taking advantage of her generosity and running off to random ponies that she had just come to know when she had the chance.
In her mind, Misty had lost any respect that she might’ve had the moment she had revealed that fact, and she had no right to start preaching to her now.
“You ungrateful little pony!!” Opaline yelled, flying down and getting in her face. She could barely contain her rage, and she just felt like destroying the Together Tree behind her just to spite Misty. The only thing stopping her from doing this was the fact that she knew that once she did it, she would lose the portal to Bridlewood, and her conquest mattered more to her.
“You were by yourself for so many moons,” Misty reasoned, not affected by her adoptive mother’s growing anger. “All alone. I actually feel really sorry for you.”
I actually feel really sorry for you. Opaline did a double take upon hearing these words. At that moment, the retort that she had prepared in her mind vanished and she was left at a loss on what to say in response. She had never heard that phrase in her life, and it felt foreign to her. It felt like it wasn’t meant for her, yet somehow it was.
She tried to think of anything to regain her bearings, but she just kept fixating on what Misty had just said. She shouldn’t feel sorry. There was nothing to feel sorry about. No one should feel sorry for her. She had chosen her path. She had committed herself to a life of darkness, and there was no going back. How could the pony who had just dumped her like a piece of garbage feel sorry for her? It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense.
Nothing…
“I know this may seem hard to believe,” Misty stated, taking a cautious step forward towards her in her stunned state. “But…I don’t hate you. You know that…right?”
“What are you talking about, Misty?!” Opaline demanded angrily. “You turn your back on me, and now you suddenly want to talk like it’s the good ‘ol days. You think that’s going to stop me from taking your cutie mark?!”
“I’m not trying to save my cutie mark…” Misty replied, sighing deeply. “You can take it if you want to. I already know you will, and I’m not trying to get out of it. I just want to talk.”
Opaline was skeptical, but she had to admit that she was a bit interested in hearing what Misty had to say. Perhaps it was out of curiosity, or a mother’s desire to speak with her estranged child again, but the opportunity was too tempting to pass up for whatever reason.
“Go on.” she said, her tone dripping with suspicion.
“Listen, Opaline…” began Misty sadly, “I wanted to tell you this for a long time, but I’ve never gotten the chance to. You may have done horrible things to me, but I…I don’t hate you for any of it. In fact…I understand why you’re doing this.”
“You and I are nothing alike,” Opaline refuted her flatly. “There’s no way you understand anything that I went through. You’re too young to comprehend the things I did to get where I am now.”
“I honestly don’t think so,” she challenged her gently. “I already know what it’s like to feel alone, and…to feel like no one understands or cares about you. That’s how I felt my whole life…”
“You can’t be serious, Misty.”
“I don’t blame you for treating me the way you did, even though it was horrible. In the end, I still love you…”
“Why?!”
“Because you’re my mother…and if I was in your position, and I went through all those years of rejection, I’d probably snap too.”
Opaline snarled. “You know NOTHING about me!!” Her horn lit up with magic and she lifted Misty up into the air, bringing the younger pony close to her face. Misty didn’t seem scared by this gesture. In fact, she looked more sad than anything, almost as if she was seeing a reflection of herself before her very eyes.
“Due to you treating me the way you did,” Misty explained, her voice trembling with emotion. “I think I understand why you did all this…why you feel the need to prove yourself superior over everyone. You want to make up for all those years of being ignored and feeling like a failure.”
“No!” Opaline shot back. “I do it because alicorns are meant to rule over all ponies!! IT’S MY BIRTHRIGHT!!!!” But even as she screamed at her, she could not deny the truth of that lay inside the words that were coming out of Misty’s mouth. She understood the truth that she herself was refusing to admit.
She knew.
“Do you really believe that?” Misty inquired softly, deep concern showing in her eyes. “Please…answer me honestly…”
Opaline was shaking with emotion that she had not felt in so many moons. These feelings felt scary to her. She had been repressing them for so long and they were only now rising to the surface. She was trying her best to keep them back, but she couldn’t lie to herself any longer about how she really felt.
“It’s…more complicated than I could ever explain…”
“I know.”
“But why…?” Opaline asked, shaking her head repeatedly. “Why would you care about how I feel?! You have these pathetic little ponies now, who according to you, treat you so much better. Why try and reason with me now of all times?! Why care about the pony who ruined your life?!”
“Because even after all of this…” revealed Misty. “You still rescued me when I got lost…you still took me in and adopted me. I-I don’t think I would even be here today if it wasn’t for you.”
“No…”
“You’re still my mother…and…I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for hiding all of this from you,” Misty told her. “I never wanted to, but…I was afraid how you would react and…I wanted to keep my friends safe…safe from you. I didn’t know what you would do if I told you the truth…”
Opaline was at a loss for words once more. She could feel tears rising in her eyes, and she could not keep them back. Finally, someone was telling her that they cared about how she felt. After years of being treated like nothing by the other alicorns of Skyros, and generations of solitude, she finally had someone who understood how she was feeling, and she could not even begin to describe how strange it felt now.
“You care about those ponies, don’t you?” Opaline asked her despite already knowing the answer full well.
Misty nodded. “I do. They mean more to me than anypony in the world, but it makes me feel sorry for you. You never had anyone who cared about you the way my friends do for me. I was lucky to get a second chance, but…you never got that. All that anger, it…you internalized it to the point where it was all you felt.”
Opaline begrudgingly conceded the point, nodding solemnly back in return while saying nothing in response. What could she say? She had no snarky remarks, no defenses. All she had stopping her from breaking down was her self-pride.
“I understand how that feels…as I could’ve very easily become like you…” Misty finished. “If I never found those ponies when I did…it’s likely I would’ve never found the environment I needed to be myself. You’ve been alone for so long, and you don’t know what it’s like to care about anypony else. All you have is that bitterness.”
Again, Opaline nodded. “It was…the only life I ever lived.” But her anger quickly returned once she realized that she was beginning to break. “But that doesn’t matter! You don’t have the right to talk to me like this after betraying your own family!!”
“You can do whatever you want with me,” Misty answered her, hanging her head low. “You can take my cutie mark, lock me down in the dungeons, I don’t care. All I’m asking is that you spare the rest of my friends. They don’t deserve any of this. Please…”
“You’re bluffing!” Opaline screamed. “You won’t give yourself up for them!!”
“Do I look like I’m lying to you this time?” Misty countered, looking at her in the eyes again. “I’m not asking you to spare me. I’ve done enough. I just want you to spare them. I’m the one that got them into this mess to begin with. If you take me, we can pretend like this didn’t happen. I’ll never disobey you again…just please spare my friends…”
Opaline paused upon hearing this request and pondered her options to herself. She had every right to refuse it, but something within her was causing hesitation, and she could not pinpoint what it was. Maybe it was a hidden sense of motherly love, or something else, but she could not bring herself to outright deny Misty’s request outright, no matter how easy it would’ve been for her before.
But just as she was about to come to a decision, there was the sound of doors slamming open and two familiar pegasi ran out of them towards where she and Misty were.
“No! Misty!!” both sisters cried as they skidded to a halt behind them. Zipp was staring pleadingly at her, silently begging her not to take her new best friend.
“Please, Opaline!” Pipp begged desperately. “Don’t take Misty! She’s our best friend!”
“Stay out of this,” Misty instructed them firmly. “I’ve gotten you ponies into enough trouble as it is. At least now, the rest of Equestria will be safe.”
“No, this is all wrong!” Zipp protested. “We’re not going to let this happen to you, do you hear me?! I don’t care what it takes, you’re not going back there!”
“Take me instead!” Pipp shouted, taking a step forward. “I’ll go in her place.”
“I’ll go,” Zipp chimed in, repeating her little sister’s motion and taking a couple steps forward. “Misty, I know I was never the nicest to you, but I’m making it up to you now. If you’re going to be taken away for Equestria’s safety, I’m going as well!”
“So am I!” Pipp declared. “You’re practically our sister too, and we don’t ever leave our family behind, no matter what the situation is!”
The two of them stood there in a determined manner, refusing to back down despite knowing full well the imminent danger that awaited them. They didn’t care. All they saw was their close friend about to sacrifice herself for them, and they were not willing to let that happen.
Opaline watched them with a shocked expression on her face. She had never seen anything like this in her life. Those ponies were willing to give themselves up to her in order to save Misty, one of their own. It was something that she had never experienced, and she began to see just how powerful their bond truly was.
Misty witnessed this as well and tears filled her eyes. She hadn’t ever seen Zipp be this determined to do something for her, and the gesture meant so much to her. But she knew that she could never let the pegasus do this. She glanced back at Opaline nervously, almost fearing that the alicorn would agree to it.
Opaline let out a heavy sigh and released Misty, dropping her to the ground. The unicorn landed on the grass and looked up at her adoptive mother with a fearful expression. She stared back at her sadly, hovering in the air above them all.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Opaline said in a voice trembling with emotion. “No one’s ever offered to do that for me…Celestia and Luna didn’t care. Our parents didn’t care…not even you cared enough to stay with me.”
“That’s because you didn’t give me any reason to,” Misty replied to her, standing up. “You dangled the one thing I wanted in front of my face for years, and yelled at me whenever I wouldn’t comply or fell out of line…But I never blamed you for doing all of that because I’m not like you. I could search forever for a pony to blame, but I ultimately understand what it’s like to feel helpless and alone. I guess I have you to thank for that.”
Opaline nodded gravely. “You’re so much braver than I’ll ever be, Misty…I should’ve…appreciated the fact that I had you in my life more before it was too late.” She briefly glanced back at the portal, and then back at her again. “You earned that cutie mark…treasure it. It means far more than you’ll ever know.”
“You’re…letting me keep it?” Misty asked in disbelief.
“Yes…” Opaline answered. “It’s the least I can do. You had no reason to reach out to me the way you did, but yet you did it anyway. Maybe that’s what family really does for one another.”
Zipp walked up to Misty and put a comforting hoof around her. “It is. And our bond is so much stronger than yours ever will be. We gave Misty something to live for when she needed it the most.”
“Then live the rest of your lives with her. Live it well. Let Sunny Starscout know that my attack on Equestria is over for the time being.”
With that, Opaline stole one final remorseful glance at her former daughter before turning around and walking through the portal, which was rapidly shrinking before her eyes. It closed behind her, disappearing into nothingness.
Jade and Lava were left behind in the process and their eyes returned to normal. They looked all around them in confusion, before looking at each other, and then facing the ponies.
“What just happened here?” Lava inquired in bewilderment.
“You were somehow bewitched by the Dragonstone,” Pipp explained. “And became her mindless minions hellbent on destroying Equestria.”
Jade’s eyes went wide with surprise upon hearing this news. “Well…that explains a lot. Who are you ponies anyway? We haven’t seen this land in hundreds of moons.”
“We’ll explain later,” Zipp assured her. She then turned towards Misty. “Are you feeling alright, Misty? I know that must’ve been hard for you.”
Misty let out a sigh. “You didn’t have to get involved, Zipp. I appreciate what you were trying to do, but…I feel like I could’ve eventually gotten through to her on my own, even if that meant spending the rest of my life in that castle again.”
“You think I would’ve left you to be taken?!” Zipp demanded. “Heck no! We’re friends to the end. No matter what that end is, we’ll always be here for you.”
“But I could’ve saved her,” insisted Misty. “I could’ve had a chance! Even though she almost tried to kill me, she’s still my mother! I could’ve gotten her to see the errors of her ways, just as you ponies did for me! I could’ve shown her friendship! I could’ve-“
“Misty,” Pipp said sadly. “There’s nothing you could’ve done. She chose her path long ago, and no amount of years spent in captivity would’ve changed her mind. If we weren’t there to stop you, you would’ve thrown away your freedom…for nothing.”
“H-how do you know that?” Misty asked through tears. “Y-you don’t know anything about what my life was like with her…”
“Maybe not,” Zipp conceded. “But I do know one thing from the little we did see. It was horrible, and you have no obligation to throw your life away for us again. The nightmare’s over. You’re free now.”
She smiled upon hearing that. “Thanks…I-I don’t know what I would do without you and Pipp constantly charging into danger for me.”
“Hey,” Zipp said, smiling back at her. “What are friends for? You were very brave yourself, you know that? I don’t think I would’ve had the courage to stand up to Opaline like that and relive all that trauma. You’re so much braver than you give yourself credit for.”
“Hey,” Pipp interrupted them, cutting Misty off from saying something in response. “Hate to break the touching moment, but we better call Sunny and let her know that we’re okay.”
“Right!” The detective was instantly galvanized into action. She grabbed her phone and began dialing Sunny’s number. Eventually, the orange earth pony picked up the line and answered on her own device.
“Zipp, is that you?” Sunny asked through the phone. Her tone instantly brightened upon seeing the face of her friend on the other screen. “Oh I’m so glad you two are okay! What’s going on?”
“You won’t believe this!” Zipp exclaimed. “We actually managed to get Opaline to retreat!”
“Wait, you did?!” Sunny seemed utterly flabbergasted by this information being presented to her. “All by yourselves?! But how?”
“I did it,” Misty said, walking up to the phone and showing her face to the terrified earth pony. “I’m okay, Sunny. I reasoned with Opaline, and she’s gone from Equestria. We did it.”
“No Misty…” Sunny answered her in a relieved, but firm manner. She smiled at her, eyes lighting up with pure happiness. “You did it.”
Misty had saved Equestria. In just a matter of moments following the fateful encounter, the cutie marks were returned in quick succession to every pony in the land. They came through each of the Together Trees and returned to their rightful owners. Celebrations erupted throughout each of the three civilizations as the ominous clouds parted to reveal the light of a new day.
Spike and the dragons were freed from their control by Opaline and sent back to the Isle of Scaley. There was no time for words or explanations, but they did leave a note for Sunny and the others that promised they would be in touch from afar. They just had a lot of catching up to do following their long slumber. They had a society to rebuild, and it would be a while before any tribe heard from the other.
While all the celebrations were going on, Opaline sat alone on her throne within the castle once more. Normally, she would be plotting her next evil scheme to take over Equestria. This time, however, she wasn’t. She had been thoroughly shaken by her encounter with Misty, and now she had no idea how to proceed with her life.
She was nearly powerless now after returning all of the cutie marks to the ponies. She only had the limited amount of magic from the dragons that showed that she had even attempted her conquest at all. But she wasn’t worried about that right now. She was more focused on the family she had lost, and the life that she had thrown away.
She glanced at the tree of cutie marks she had growing through her layer, now a mere shell of the formidable force of darkness it used to be with all of its power stripped away. It was as empty as she was, and the more she stared at it, the sadder she felt. She had never felt this much regret for her actions before, and it gnawed at her entire being.
She knew that she couldn’t go on like this. After losing Misty forever and realizing just how badly she had screwed up her relationship with the unicorn, there was only one way out for her; one way to truly atone for her sins. It was the outcome she never expected would become of her, yet it was the only one that felt right.
With a deep and heavy sigh, she closed her eyes and her horn began to light up a pink aura. The spell slowly grew stronger with each passing moment until it was ready to fire. She opened her eyes once more and could feel the magic rushing through her one last time.
As she prepared to cast the beam of fire, she felt a sense of peace come over her for the first time in several thousand years. This was the final word in her story. She was finally doing something right for once in her life. She would not die a monster.
No one would ever have to fear Opaline Arcana ever again.
That was when she blasted the ceiling of the throne room with all of the power she could muster out from her horn. The castle shook in all areas and chunks of rubble began to fall to the floor, landing with a loud thud, as the roof began to cave in on itself.
Tears filled her eyes as the rest of the castle collapsed one by one in the throne room. Her life flashed before her eyes in quick succession as she shut her eyes once more and braced for the inevitable. The Sun shone through the gaping holes and cast its divine judgement on her, illuminating her with the brightest light she had ever experienced. She felt warmth encase her entire being for the last time and she let out a final breath.
The castle then finally toppled to pieces in a massive cloud of dust and ash, burying Opaline underneath it. The greatest threat to Equestria was no more.
“I’m sorry we have to leave, Opaline.”
Opaline glared at her two sisters with a seething rage that was only barely being contained. “This isn’t fair, Celestia! I deserve to rule alongside you and Luna! I’ve been training for this my whole life!!”
Celestia sighed, walking over to the distraught purple alicorn. “I know, Opal. We all have. Honestly, I…I’d rather you rule as well. I don’t think I’m ready for such a responsibility, personally. But…it’s Father’s orders.”
“But I want to come with you!” Opaline pleaded, tears forming in her eyes. “Please…if you can just talk to him and put in a good word-“
“We can’t!!” Luna yelled. She blinked back tears of her own. “Do you think we wanted to leave you behind?! Tia and I both talked to Father and he refused! He said…” She let out a shaky breath. “He said there could only be two. The third stays behind to become the new Regent of Skyros.”
Opaline could feel her entire world crumbling before her very eyes. This wasn’t right. She could’ve ruled alongside her sisters. She deserved better than this. She had always been good. She had practiced her magic day and night, and studied as hard as she could. Why did fate hate her so much? She didn’t understand what she had done wrong, and she was feeling more despair than she had ever felt.
Tears began streaming down her face and she sniffled. That was when Celestia put her hoof around her shoulder, the same gesture that Zipp would do for Misty so many years in the future. She stared at her sibling with an expression of concern. Opaline looked back at her in turn. Her cheeks were red from crying.
“Hey,” Celestia assured her softly. “You know we’ll come back, right? We’ll visit you once every year, and see if you’re okay. You know we would never abandon you.”
Opaline blinked in surprise at that, almost not daring to believe what she was being told. “R-really? You…really mean that?”
“Of course,” Luna replied with a smile. “We don’t ever leave our family behind, no matter what the situation is. I promise we’ll come back and visit you whenever we can.”
“Thanks.”
Just then, they were interrupted by the sound of a door opening. They turned and saw their mother, Queen Faust walk into the bedroom with a solemn expression on her face. The white alicorn gazed at her three daughters together for a solid minute before clearing her throat.
“It’s time, my darlings,” The alicorn ruler stated. “The chariots are ready and waiting. Say goodbye to your sister.”
Celestia nodded and gave Opaline one last warm embrace. “We’ll be back before you know it, okay? Hang in there. Don’t eat all the cake while I’m gone.”
Opaline laughed. “I’ll try not to, but you know I can’t help myself.” Her joyful expression faded when she saw her sisters walk out of the room in single file and shut the door behind them. She knew that she should’ve been happy for them, but she couldn’t help but feel resentment deep inside.
They were off to a greater destiny that eluded even them, and she would forever remain a pony that accomplished nothing. She had brought dishonor to her family, and she had nothing but shame for failing the exams. She couldn’t do anything right. She was a failure.
As if on instinct, she ran to the nearest window and looked outside. Celestia and Luna were climbing into a large golden chariot. They didn’t look back at the castle once. It was as if they had forgotten about her the moment they realized their destinies.
She watched the chariot go and sighed. She was definitely upset and bitter, but at least she could take comfort in the fact that they would be back to visit her next year. She would see them again, and perhaps someday, she would be able to go to Equestria and see what her sisters had done with the place.
All she had to do was wait and hope for the best. It would be a long time, but family always kept their promises. She knew her siblings and she had faith that once they came back for her, she would be able to negotiate with them to take her along.
That next visit never came.
Author's Note
The Misty stories are back in full swing because I just can’t get enough of writing for her. This is exactly what it sounds like: an Opaline reformation fic. When I watched that exchange between Opaline and Misty near the Zephyr Heights Together Tree, I knew there was potential for an alternate ending scenario, where Misty was actually able to break through the Fire Alicorn’s defenses for but the briefest of moments and actually talk to her one on one.
This was my first time writing Opaline in a sympathetic light since The Fall of Opaline, and I hope I did the scenario justice. It might be on the brief side, but I still believe what I have captures all of the necessary emotion needed for a family fic between these two, especially the Celestia and Luna flashback bit, which just adds to the tragedy of Opaline’s entire backstory.
I’d like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for the delay in getting this out. It was so hard to actually start it. I knew where I wanted to go with the story from the beginning, but the hardest part is always starting it. But now that it is finally out, let me know what you think in the comments below. See you all soon!!
