PP III - Familiar Faces (Epilogue)

"Hay Brightsky, use yer magic ta put these rocks on top of each other!"

"Like this?"

"Yeah, perfect! Now if ah just push these ones here… an' here… an' here like so…" Apple Bloom fashioned a staircase as Sky watched, before scrabbling up it and installing herself atop the rock pile. "C'mon up, the view's great!"

As instructed, Sky heaved herself up to Apple Bloom's side and sat down.

"Look how much of Ponyville we can see! Ah bet you an' your brother are gonna love it here, the ponyfolk are so friendly."

"I hope so," muttered Sky.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about him Apple Bloom. About Bee. Val hasn't come back for me yet, so she might not have found him and that means he's alone. He can't see well anymore, especially when it's dark like now."

"Speakin' 'bout dark, it must be almost time for me ta hit the hay," Apple Bloom said with a yawn. "Applejack isn't back either, so ah guess Granny Smith or Big McIntosh will come an' find us."

"Would they mind if I stayed here tonight, if Val doesn't come back for me?"

"Of course not Brightsky, that would be great! Ah mean, ah want yer brother ta be fine an' all, but if ya do stay here, it would be fun, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah…" Sky lay down flat on the rocks, tucking her legs underneath her body.

"Brightsky?" Apple Bloom shuffled closer and copied her pose. "You okay?"

"I keep thinking about Bee. He's not been quite the same since… hmm."

"Since what?"

"I already told you, Princess Celestia doesn't want me or Val or Bee to tell anypony what happened. All I can say is there was a very bad pony but he's gone now, but if other bad ponies heard about him they might try and get him back again. Or something. And once, I accidentally overheard her talking to Bee, and she said the word 'troika' a lot. Do you know what a troika is?"

"Ah'd be lyin' if ah said ah did."

"It's just a bit scary, that's all. I know the bad pony is gone, but, I'm worried that there are others. One bad pony hurt Bee so badly, what could more do?" She felt the younger filly scoot right into her side and rest her head on her shoulder.

"Don't ya worry 'bout nothin' Brightsky, ah know kung fu an' you know magic! Nothin' can scare us!"

"Hehe," Sky laughed quietly with a sniff, "I guess you're right."

"This troika thing is a load a' hooey too ah reckon. It's probably a plant or somethin' an' not ta be scared of."

Sky wrapped her soft tail around Apple Bloom as they both began yawning dramatically. The latter snuggled deeper into the former's bushy mane.

And so four more eyes in Ponyville shut for the night.

---

He opened his eyes slowly, oh so slowly. How they hurt. How everything hurt.

He had not moved a muscle since returning to this room; he couldn't due to the agony that even breathing caused him. Oh well, at least he now knew what being forced through umpteen stone floors and ceilings felt like, for the record.

That freak of nature did not even survive one wall, he thought while picturing the black-and-yellow Pegasus that had helped his sister to re-entomb him here. True, I also stripped his soul, but anyway.

Without warning, his ears perked up. The pain of that sudden movement, however slight it may have been, caused him to gasp. He could feel some powerful magic from outside his prison, far above his head.

Has Celestia not yet left me? I may be an alicorn like her, but she still managed to knock the wind out of me tonight. His newly cracked horn tingled. Considerably so. She should realise I pose no further threat. As it drew nearer though, he could tell that this magical presence was different. It was also strangely familiar. No, is this true? Curse those Elements of Harmony! They must have purged my magic from that Pegasus. If he could have laughed, he would have. No matter, no matter. They may even have successfully reanimated him for all I care. They cannot have realised their mistake. The stray power seemed to be circling the prison building, outside the protective magical dome shielding that belonged to his sisters. Somehow, it appears they purged my magic from his corpse, but instead of dissipating, a small portion of it has remained as a coherent entity. If I can feel it like this then… then… His tattered wings twitched.

I can control it! The magic of this prison prevents me casting spells from within, but now I have some magic already on the outside under my command. The only question remaining is why my magic stayed viable outside that pony's corpse. After it mingled with his soul to destroy it, the magic should have… oh no, surely not. Ignoring the pain and loss of blood that resulted, he smiled. The magic is being held together by a scrap of his soul. And where you have magic and a soul, you can construct a living puppet. For the first time he laughed out loud. The rippling pain in his chest could not now diminish his good mood.

Even though I languish down here, when the Troika come to meet me, I will be there to greet them. High above on the grassy plain, a little wriggling worm-shaped spark of red-and-black magic, held together by a wisp of Wonderwhy's soul, began to grow.

Your brother lives yet, Celestia. With peerless power of will, Temporal raised himself off the ground and on to his fragmented legs. Your brother lives yet, Luna. His split horn sparked, his tattered wings fluttered. Your nightmare lives yet, Pegasus. His lifeline to the outside world assumed its final pony shape on the grassy plain.

Dribbling blood from fractured teeth, he growled:

"Your Prince lives yet, Equestria!"