My Little Pony XXIV: Now About 200% Longer Than Firefly

[RdMarquis]

How Mask Was Born (Storytime!):

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"Oh, my, well. That is a completely different story. I do not have my mother's talent for telling such stories, but perhaps I can do this justice.

"Before you were born, before you were even a glimmer in my eye, a unicorn was exploring the depths of the Everfree Forest. The reason why escapes me at the moment, although I recall it was some sort of act of youthful recklessness. A young mare attempting to prove she was an adult.

She got herself lost. It is so easy to lose oneself in that forest of chaos, where maps shift, and compasses spin. As day turned to night, and night to day, the pony felt hunger gnaw at her, and thirst parch her throat. She feared she would die, far from home, far from the ponies that she loved.

But before resolve failed her, a glimmer of hope presented itself. The tracks of another pony! Perhaps she was close to civilization, she would follow the tracks, and be free from the Everfree!

Mustering her will, she began to follow the tracks. But they were erratic. They seemed to double-back on themselves on more than one occasion, and she was getting more and more lost!

But still, she followed the tracks. She was desperate, you see. She was scared, and cold, and alone. She didn't know what else to do.

Finally, she came to an end of the tracks. They stopped at a ditch, and the young unicorn peeked over the edge, to find that the source of those tracks. A wizened, withered grey Earth Pony had fallen into the ditch, near-death. Even still, his front hooves covered his face from view.

The young unicorn was on guard, for she knew who this was. Her parents had told her of the Old Stories, the stories of the Time of Discord. But still, the unicorn felt her heart fill with pity.

"Do you need help?" She asked.

"No." He relied, for it was his nature to lie, even on his dying day.

"I know who you are." The unicorn said, as she carefully slid down the ditch, to attend to the dying pony.

"No, you don't." He whispered, and the unicorn felt her pity grow. Here was a pony who was so filled with insecurities and doubt that he denied even his own identity.

"Yes, I do. You are dying, you know. Allow me to help you. Allow me to make your last moments comfortable. Nopony should die like this." The young mare said, and stooped down, gently nuzzling at the old stallion.

"I am not dying, I do not need help." He lied habitually, but the unicorn shook her head. Slowly she pressed herself against the ancient pony, allowing his frail body to soak in her warmth. Both were silent for a long time. The unicorn nearly dozed off, until she heard the earth pony speak again.

"I am afraid." He whispered, and slowly moved his legs. The unicorn would be the first pony...in a very, very long time to behold his true face, with no masks to hide it. "I do not want to die alone."

The young mare knew this to be true. Perhaps the first truth he had ever spoken.

"You will not. Do not be afraid. I am here." She whispered into his ear, and gave his lips a tender kiss. A motherly kiss.

He let out a soft sigh, breathed his last into the unicorn, and passed from this world.

The unicorn wept. She held that frail body until it went cold, for it was her first experience in the final truth of all ponies. But, eventually, she gathered herself up. Using her magic, she buried him, and left a simple marker, so that everypony would know the truth of who laid there.

She eventually found her way home. Perhaps the Element of Honesty was on her side that day, for the Everfree Forest seemed straight and true, with none of it's usual tricks.

So, she was reunited with her family, and her friends. Her life would go on, filled with excitement, love, and adventure. She was blessed, and would always be blessed, for it was her nature.

But she would always remember the old Earth Pony, and his last moment of honesty.""

Okay, that took me a LOT longer than I was expecting. I can only hope that I did it some justice.

This was great (though by now I've learned not to expect anything less out of anything that you wrote). I kind of imagine the Everfree forest to be like Xen'drik from the Eberron setting for D&D. That is, a vast forest containing ruins as ancient as the powerful magic that haunts it.

Wait was yesterday your birthday? Happy birthday! Today is my birthday. Yep I am officially 25 years old and to celebrate I am totally watching ponies all day to prove to myself that I am not getting old also to recover from the impromptu celebration some of my friends threw for me. (and here I thought they had just forgotten my birthday when they all said they were busy this weekend but it turns out since they were busy they decided to do stuff leading into my birthday. Yay.)

I hope this isn't belated, but Happy Birthday!

I'm sad now.

A hundred stars just disappeared from Semper Fidelis. It also dropped from 4.9 to 4.8. Always Sunny was at 5.0 before I posted the second story.

Conclusion: seventy pages and two months of waste. I'd felt that way about a lot of it before, but now it's sort of confirmed in my subconscious. Sigh.

Thoughts on second season:

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I thought it was too fast for my tastes, but I could understand why, when they had to jam so much into it. Discord's a cool guy, he bendz reality and doesn't afraid of anything. I'll be curious to see if he's a recurring character; I wouldn't mind it. Also cool, mention of Luna. Overall, not my favorite episode by a longshot, but there's some good stuff in it.

Also pretty sure I'm going to be scarce around here from now on. I just don't have the drive to do anything pony besides watch it. Parts of the fandom I used to love are just sorta meh, and there's other stuff I just don't feel like loving and tolerating anymore.

It's been a good run. Keep on truckin', ponythread.

I'm sorry to hear that. We'll all miss you. See you around the board.