Starlight looked out from the balcony of the hotel room. Stirring had come through for her once more and, while the digs were not the nicest – being in a part of town where the law would not come looking – they were reasonable comfortable. Which was optimal, given that three ponies would be sharing the room.

Starlight stood on the balcony, her forelegs against the railing, looking up at the moon. Stirring stepped out and leaned on the railings beside her.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” Starlight said.

“You must have been deep in thought,” Stirring said. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for earlier. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, ma’am.”

“It’s alright, Stirring. You’ve been under a lot of stress. We all have.”

“You look like you’re still under a lot of stress, ma’am,” Stirring opined. “Is it Hope?”

“She’s so obstinate, isn’t she?” Starlight said. “Came all this way with us, without ever actually coming to believe in our cause. With all she’s lost, I’d have thought she’d be the first to sign up. I certainly was, after I lost my father and my friend. She’s lost the same, yet she’s chosen a completely different path.”

“Not that different,” Stirring said. “You both want to help ponies.”

Starlight looked down at her hooves.

“You do both want to help ponies, don’t you, ma’am?” Stirring asked.

“Things are more complicated than that,” Starlight responded. Not letting Stirring ask how they were complicated, Starlight said, “Now she’s thinking about making a choice that will probably get her killed. Worse, it could be bad for all of us.”

“Why would she do that?” Stirring asked. “I know what she’s done in the past, but Hope doesn’t seem like that pony anymore.”

“She wants something, and she wants it so badly, that she is willing to take that chance,” Starlight said. “And I understand that. I’d probably do the same thing if I were her.”

“But you’re not her,” Stirring responded. “You’re Starlight Glimmer, the Incorruptible. I know you, and I know you’d never do anything that would endanger all Equestria.”

“You don’t know me that well, Stirring,” Starlight said, into her hooves so that Stirring couldn’t actually hear it. “Nopony has ever really known me except Sunburst and… and Hope….”

“So, what are we going to do?” Stirring asked. “Should we go out and find her?”

“Of course, we should!” Dr. Fie came out onto the balcony. “It’s all very nice of the two of you to be standing there, looking up at the moon. All very romantic. Meanwhile, dear Hope is who knows where in that city, looking for those monsters. She might have already found them! Oh, the thought is just too terrible to contemplate!”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Starlight said. “Hope has to make her own choice.”

“How can you be so heartless, madam?” Dr. Fie said, rubbing his hooves together. “You never cared about dearest Hope. She was always just a tool to you!”

“It was always an arrangement, not a friendship!” Starlight hollered, turning on Dr. Fie. “But don’t think that doesn’t mean I’m not worried about Hope. I just know, I just know, that if I was in her position, nopony coming and trying to talk me out of it would do any good.”

Dr. Fie sneered. “So, we just give up, do we? This is how Colonel Aster’s daughter does things, is it?”

“Don’t mention my father’s name!” Starlight snapped. “You didn’t even know him! That’s what you keep telling us!”

“Oh, spare me the indignation,” Dr. Fie said, his voice dripping bile. “I could care less about your hurt feelings when dear Hope could be laying somewhere, heavily injured, calling out for help when there is no pony around, or worse….”

He took a step back and raised his foreleg. “Oh, dear Hope! Dear lamented Hope! If only I was there to tend to your wounds!”

“As though you could tend to her wounds,” Starlight said darkly.

“What was that, dear lady?”

“From everything I’ve seen and heard since Seaddle, I don’t think you could bandage up a paper-cut!” Starlight responded, anger rising in her voice.

“Poppycock!” Dr. Fie said. “I’ll have you know that Hope isn’t the only one capable of healing spells. I’m considered quite an expert in that field. In fact, I have a paper to my name on the subject. One that’s been very well-received by the medical community.”

Dr. Fie suddenly became reserved, scratching his chin with his hoof. “No, wait, Hope wrote that paper for me.”

Starlight shook her head and turned away from the doctor. “What about that other thing, Stirring? Did you manage to check up on that?”

“The exhibition opens tonight,” Stirring said. “Though I really don’t know if we should be wasting our time on this when we have to do damage-control for earlier.”

“Earlier demonstrates perfectly why we need to do this,” Starlight said. “The slow and steady approach is not working. We need something with more punch if we’re going to take the fight to Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

“Why do you make everything about Twilight Sparkle?” Stirring said quietly.

“What was that?” Starlight asked.

Stirring tried to act innocent. “Nothing!”

“I think the dear boy has a point,” Dr. Fie said. “We don’t have time to be gallivanting after frivolities! We should be seeking after poor Hope. I shudder to think of where she might be right now, in what dreadful circumstances she’s found herself.”

“If you care so much about finding her, why don’t you do it, doctor?” Starlight snapped.

“Maybe I will!” Dr. Fie said. “As usual, it falls to the pony of action to get things done! And they say the younger generation has all the promise and potential. Hmph!”

Dr. Fie made a show of ambling over to the door. Starlight and Stirring didn’t pay much attention to him. That is, until there were was a popping sound, a blue flash of light, and Dr. Fie’s frightened scream.

“It’s alright, doctor. It’s just me,” came Hope’s voice from inside the room.

Starlight and Stirring hurried inside to find Hope standing in the middle of the room and Dr. Fie huddled under the small desk at the other end.

Dr. Fie crawled out and stood up. “Of course it is, dear girl. I knew that. But any occasion is appropriate for testing one’s recollection of earthquake safety procedure. In such an earthquake-prone city as this, a constant reappraisal of one’s knowledge on the matter is practically a necessity.”

“Hope, where have you been?” Starlight asked.

“I had a lot of thinking to do. Then I got lost. It’s taken me a while just to find my way back to this part of town,” Hope said.

“You were gone a whole day,” Starlight said. “I didn’t think you’d even remember where Stirring said he’s reserved a room for us.”

“I didn’t,” Hope said. “I found my way back to the restaurant and then focused on teleporting to you. I figured Stirring would not take you to someplace too far away.”

“And did you come to a decision?” Starlight asked.

Hope nodded but didn’t speak.

“Do you care to let us in on what you’ve decided?”

“Oh, stop badgering her, madam!” Dr. Fie said. “Can’t you see that the girl’s been through an ordeal?”

“It’s okay, doctor,” Hope said. “You’ll all have to find out about it eventually.”

The other three waited. After a moment, Hope spoke.

“I wish I could accept the umbrum’s offer. I want to accept it, if it means that everypony I care about will be happy and safe. But… I can’t. I know what they’re like now. I’ve seen what they do. I can’t let them hurt any more ponies. I need to stop them.”

“How are we going to do that?” Starlight said.

“Not ‘we.’ I need to stop them. This isn’t your battle. Not for any of you.”

“Oh, don’t be foolish, child,” Dr. Fie said. “We aren’t going to let you go after those things alone!”

“Oh, really?” Hope asked. “Why should any of you want to help me? All of you have just been in this for your own reasons. The umbrum were always mine to fight. They were never a concern for any of you.”

The three exchanged silent glances. The words cut into each of them.

“What are you planning to do?” Starlight asked. “How can you stop them? You and I are two of the most powerful unicorns out there, and even we couldn’t stop them.”

“I’ve heard of a spell,” Hope said. “One that Starswirl the Bearded was working on, but which he never used. It’s capable of creating a magic explosion so powerful that even creatures like the umbrum could not survive the blast.”

“I know about the spell,” Starlight said. “But Hope, that takes a tremendous amount of energy to create and maintain.”

“I can do it,” Hope responded.

“Yes, I’m sure you can. But that’s not my point. The energy required will drain you. It will completely drain you. Even if you’re still alive after that, you won’t have any energy left to teleport out of there.” Starlight’s face became grim. “Hope, you’ll get yourself killed.”

Hope noted Starlight’s features. They showed something Hope had never quite seen in them before. It was something she had nearly seen in them a few times, but just the faintest flicker. It was concern.

“I know,” Hope said. “And that’s for the best.”

“Hope, how can you say that?” Dr. Fie said.

“I’ve tried to put my past behind me,” Hope responded. “And today, earlier today, I thought I could. But then I met someone, an old friend. He reminded me that I can never escape what I did. I will always be the pony who orchestrated the Siege, who began the chain of events that led to the release of the umbrum. I'll always be the pony who gave up everything for Sombra, only to lose him completely. I’ll always be the pony who took 1,036 lives.”

“Hope, no,” Dr. Fie said. “It doesn’t matter. The Siege doesn’t matter anymore.”

“He’s right,” Starlight said. “You don’t need to keep trying to make up for your past.”

“I’m not trying,” Hope said. “I’m just doing what needs to be done. Now, do you know where I could find a copy of this spell? I heard something about it being in the city.”

“There are a bunch of spells at the Empress of Equestria for the Starswirl Exhibit’s grand opening tonight,” Stirring said.

“Not helping,” Starlight snapped at Stirring.

“I think she has a point, ma’am,” Stirring said. “She made this mess with the umbrum. She should be the one to clean it up.”

“See, he understands,” Hope said quietly.

“We owe her nothing,” Stirring said. You said it yourself, ma’am. This was always just an arrangement, not a friendship.”

“Like he said, it doesn’t matter to you, Starlight, what I do with my life,” Hope said. “You always were just trying to use me, after all. That’s okay, I don’t blame you. I was using you too.”

“Yes, Hope, I was trying to use you,” Starlight said. “I have been this whole time. But that doesn’t mean I want you to blow yourself up!”

“But I know that I can,” Hope said. “Because I know I won’t be missed. You won’t miss me, Starlight. I was always just a vehicle for your Equalist message. I’m sure you’ll find some other way to spread it. Who knows, maybe the tragic death of Princess Hope at the hooves of the Royal Sisters’ assassins will do more for your cause than I ever could.”

“That’s a good one!” Stirring said. “I’m going to use that. I can already see the Liberation News’ next headline: Rightful Princess Dies In Explosion; But The Cause Lives On!”

“Quiet, Stirring!” Starlight snapped.

“You were right, Starlight,” Hope said. “Friends always do end up leaving you, one way or another. You’d all just discard me once you had no more use for me. I don’t know if I could go through that again. Better for me to just end it like this.”

“What are you talking about, dear girl?” Dr. Fie said. “I’d never discard you. It’s you and me together, comrades-in-arms, through thick and thin!”

Hope let out a little, sad laugh. “Same old Dr. Fie. I know you’d like to think that. But I know you. I know what you’re like, and the moment that’s it’s to your advantage, you’d happily get rid of me.”

“Hope, you can’t seriously think–”

Hope put her hoof on Dr. Fie’s cheek. “It’s okay, doctor. I’m not mad at you for it. I wasn’t mad after you did it up north and I’m not mad now. I accept that that is just who you are.”

“Hope….” Dr. Fie said weakly. He could not even return her gaze.

“She’s right about one thing,” Starlight said. “We all have been using her, just like she’s been using us. Who’s to say that any of us wouldn’t betray her if it came down to it?”

Hope nodded. “Thank you, Starlight. You understand.”

“I wish I didn’t,” Starlight said. “But I do. We’re a poor substitute for what you lost in the Crystal Empire. We can’t give you a reason to live. So, I guess we have to accept your choice.”

“Thank you,” Hope said. “I’m not afraid. Really, I’m not. This is for the best. Maybe, this way, something good will finally come out of my life.”

“Besides the spell, what do you need?” Starlight asked, her voice solemn.

“I need to find their lair,” Hope answered. “He said they in some place full of dark energy.”

“Well, you and Dr. Fie can focus on working that out,” Starlight said. “Stirring and I will head over to the Empress of Equestria. We’ll get your spell. There’s a little something we need to pick up there anyway.”

Hope’s eyes widened with a mixture of understanding and dread. “Lailoken said that the Empress of Equestria was filled with dark energy! That must be where the umbrum are! We need to get there now! Oh, I hope we’re not too late!”

“Who’s Lailoken?” Starlight asked.

But before any answer could come, before anything else could be said, really, Hope’s horn glowed and, in a flash, all four ponies were gone.

The next hour was a long series of flashes, first from Hope and then from Starlight, as the quartet tried to reach the Empress of Equestria on the waterfront at the other side of town. Had Hope and Starlight not both been skilled magic users, they never would have made it. But they were and they did.

The Empress was now towering above them. Her name was apt, for she was all grandeur. Once, the Empress had ruled the waves. Now she lorded it over the city of Las Pegasus, holding court in the bay, receiving homage from her new subjects, the ponies who came to spend a few nights in this lap of luxury.

But, for Hope, the mighty ocean liner in the dead of night was less a high-queen and more a grey ghost. Though there were lights, they could hardly illuminate the entirety of the vessel’s bulk. It was a black silhouette upon a black sky and a black sea.

No wonder the umbrum had chosen such a place for their lair.

“Okay, so we’ll teleport aboard,” Starlight said. “Stirring and I will go for the scrolls. What will you do, Hope?”

“I have to find Lailoken,” Hope said.

“Again, who’s Lailoken?”

“Remember the pony that was following us? The one who thought he was Starswirl, or at least said he thought he was?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s him. Turns out he’s an old friend of mine. I cured him today.”

Starlight gave Hope a ‘you have got to be kidding’ sort of look. “He’s an old friend. And yet you never recognized him?”

“A pony can change a lot in a thousand years,” Hope said. “It ages you.”

Starlight looked Hope over. “So, what did you look like when you went into the umbrum’s prison, a foal?”

“What’s that, up there?” Dr. Fie said, pointing to the bow of the ship.

There was a pony up there; that much was sure. But little else could be made out. The pony seemed to be flailing his forelegs and galloping back and forth.

“I can’t make out what’s going on!” Hope said.

“I think I can help with that,” Starlight said. Her horn glowed, projecting a square. The square worked like a looking-glass, magnifying the scene happening far above.

“That’s Lailoken!” Hope said in dismay.

Indeed it was. The old pony was at the bow, waving his forelegs about.

“I thought you said you cured him,” Starlight said.

“He’s not going mad,” Hope said. “Look!”

Just visible against the darkened sky were what looked like wisps of smoke. Wisps green and purple. Every now and then, a face became visible from among the smoke, and then hooves clawing at Lailoken.

Dr. Fie squeaked. “They weren’t joking when they said this boat was haunted! Oh, dear me, dear me!”

“Those aren’t ghosts, doctor,” Hope said. “Those are umbrum.”

“Oh, like that makes it so much better,” the doctor replied.

“We have to get up there and help him!” Hope said. Her horn began to glow.

But before she could teleport, there was what felt like a mighty wind. It sent all four ponies to the ground. But, to Radiant Hope, it seemed like no wind. She had thought she saw a yellow streak fly past, with red following behind like the tail of a comet. And, briefly, in the streak, she thought she had seen a face, smiling at her, mocking her.

"What was that?" Starlight asked.

"It was...." Hope shook her head. It could not have been. It could not have been him. The yellow pegasus would not be here. She must have just imagined it.

"What was it, Hope?" Starlight asked again.

"Nothing," Hope said. "I thought I saw something. It looked like the yellow pegasus."

"Not the yellow pegasus again!" Starlight said, rolling her eyes.

Lailoken held up his forelegs in front of him, vainly trying to ward off the umbrum's blows. He knew it was vain. He knew it would make no difference. He did not even know why he cared. He knew he would die today. But perhaps the survival instinct was too strong, no matter what fate said.

The umbrum, for their part, were not even really injuring him. They were poking at him, mostly. Just taunting him. Just having fun. Their fiendish squeals of amusement filled the still night air.

Invidia was the only one not joining in. He just circled around above them. "This is a waste of time," he said. "This pony means nothing to us."

"But he has been following us since Seaddle," said an umbra. She gave Lailoken a particularly sharp poke. "If he wants to play with us, we should play."

"No," Invidia said. "There are more important things to do."

The umbrum did not stop as they pushed Lailoken back further and further toward the bow.

"Empress Hope would not like what we are doing to him," Invidia scolded.

"Empress Hope doesn't matter now, does she?" said another umbris. "She'll not our Empress now."

The umbrum continued to prod Lailoken until his tail brushed the railing to one side of the bow.

"I still say we should stop," Invidia said.

They did not stop.

"This pony isn't worth it," he said.

"Oh, you were always such a spoil-sport, Invidia!" said a second umbra.

"That's enough!"

The umbrum all immediately ceased tormenting Lailoken. They ceased even to pay attention to him, as though he had suddenly disappeared – or had never been there in the first place. They all circled around to focus on the new arrival, a yellow pegasus with scarlet mane.

The four of them glared at Roaring Storm. Roaring Storm returned their glare with a calm, confident look of his own. Then he stretched out a wing toward the pier.

"Your precious Empress and her friends are here," he said. "Do you really want to have a staring contest with me or do you want to take care of them?"

The umbrum looked to Lailoken, then back to Roaring Storm, them over the railing to where Hope and the others were just getting up. All four of the shadows launched into the air and began circling the ship.

Lailoken leaned against the railing to steady himself. He began to breathe a sigh of relief. Roaring Storm approached.

"You saved my life," Lailoken said.

"You recognize me, don't you?" Roaring Storm responded.

"The funny thing is, I was certain I was going to die today."

Roaring Storm tilted his head. "The night is young. But you didn't answer my question."

Lailoken looked hard at the pegasus approaching him. He had not recognized him at first. He did not recognize him now. But there was, in his mind, a dark, faint sense of knowing. He knew that he should know who this pegasus was. He had known once. He must have seen him, seen visions of him, in his mad state. For where else would he know him from? But the memory of who this pony was, like the visions themselves, was gone.

"I don't know who you are," Lailoken answered.

The yellow pegasus invaded his personal space. His scarlet eyes seemed to study every feature of Lailoken's face.

"My mother always used to say that you could always tell when somepony was lying. There's always a tell. Maybe their eyes shift a little too much. Maybe the lines of their face just don't even out quite right. Maybe it's the smell of fear on their breath. But there's always something. But with you, I don't see anything. Maybe you are telling the truth. You don't know who I am."

Roaring Storm backed away. Lailoken relaxed a little. It had been a very hard night and he was in no state to pick up on little details, like the fact that the pegasus' wings had just begun to vibrate at an incredible speed.

"But, you did once," Roaring Storm said. "You used to know so much. I'm certain that there was a time you knew. You always seemed so utterly insane before and nopony took you seriously, so I let it slide. But you're not insane anymore. And I can't have you remembering."

Before Lailoken knew it, Roaring Storm was once more in his personal space. And then, at the exact same moment, he felt something tear through his heart. Lailoken looked down to see the pegasus' two wings, still vibrating and cutting through his skin.

"I can't let you interfere," Roaring Storm said. "Not when my plans for Radiant Hope are so near fruition."

Roaring Storm withdrew his wings. The force sent Lailoken backward, over the railings.

The four ponies struggled to see what was going on. Though the umbrum high above did not engage them, they acted as though they were aware of their presence. The umbrum kept flying up and down, circling and whirling this way and that, blocking the ponies' view of the upper decks of the ship.

Hope bobbed her head this way and that and squinted her eyes. But she could not see what was happening to Lailoken.

Guess I'm going in blind, she thought as her horn began to glow again.

And then she saw him. She saw Lailoken as he plummeted toward the icy waters below. It was too late.

“No!” Hope screamed.

"I can still save him," Starlight said. She gritted her teeth as turquoise light emerged from the horn on her head. It enveloped Lailoken and stopped his descent.

“Now, just to guide him gently over to–”

Starlight did not get to finish the sentence. Stirring pushed her to the ground. Dr. Fie, meanwhile, grabbed onto Hope and pulled her backward onto the pavement. In the nick of time, too, for one of the umbrum had broken away from the others and had swooped down over them. A split second later, and they might have been sent flying across the parking lot.

Stirring’s action, noble as it was, caused Starlight to break concentration. Lailoken was released and fell headlong into the black ocean. Invidia chuckled at his handiwork.

Hope’s eyes were wide as she tried to run for the side of the pier. But Invidia landed in her path.

“It is an honor to welcome you to our home, Empress,” he said. “Kind of fitting, don’t you think? It was always our ambition that you would be Empress of Equestria, at Sombra’s side.”

“That wasn’t what you wanted,” Hope said. “That was what Sombra wanted. You would have gotten rid of me as soon as I released you if not for him.”

“We’d never do that to you, Hope, not after you sacrificed so much to set us free,” Invidia said. “What we wanted to do to you was worse by far. Mere death is no proper payback for having to listen to you for a thousand years almost nonstop!”

Hope tried to teleport to the edge, but Invidia simply swooped in her way when she reappeared.

“Now, Hope, that’s not very nice. As an Empress, you should have better manners.”

Hope looked around for another way to get to Lailoken. Then she saw Starlight, sneaking behind Invidia. Starlight put a hoof to her mouth to signal for silence. Hope understood. She looked straight at Invidia, giving no hint that another mare was behind him.

“You said if I agreed to your proposal, you wouldn’t hurt any of my friends,” Hope said.

“I didn’t think he was your friend,” Invidia said. “Not with the way he acted around you.”

“He was my friend,” Hope said. “You had no right to hurt him.”

Starlight’s horn glowed. From out of the ocean rose up Lailoken. But his body did not look like the body of a living pony. It looked broken, deformed, lifeless.

Starlight flashed Hope a sad look and then began to carefully carry Lailoken out of Invidia’s reach.

“He was annoying,” Invidia said. “And he jabbered about us too much. We would have let him live anyway, but he showed up here, and it was just too much of a temptation to resist. You must know what that’s like, Hope.”

“But our agreement–”

“We have no agreement,” Invidia said. “Not until you actually accept our terms. Which you haven’t yet.”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Hope asked.

“With your friends around, I thought you had some ridiculous notion that you could defeat us through the magic of friendship,” Invidia said with a sneer. It was probably a sneer. Hard to tell with the umbrum.

Hope sneered back. “They’re just here to say goodbye. They’ll leave when I enter the ship.”

“How touching,” Invidia said. “Holding onto those personal relationships to the last. Even though you always pick ponies that are so unworthy of your trust.”

“I do have that bad habit, don’t I?” Hope said. “Guess it was going to be the death of me eventually.”

“I’m glad you are able to face your impending doom with such good humor,” Invidia said. “It is a show of dignity befitting an Empress. When you are ready, come to the boiler room. There, your loyal subjects shall be waiting for you."

Invidia paused to briefly look back at the decks of the ship, which were now clear.

"The others have already gone down," he observed. "They're just waiting on the two of us."

With a fiendish cackle, Invidia flew into the night air and disappeared around the topmost deck of the ship. Hope did not wait to make sure he was gone. She ran over to where Starlight, Stirring, and Dr. Fie were crouched down over Lailoken.

“How is he?” Hope asked.

“I’m sorry, dear girl, but I can’t resuscitate him,” Dr. Fie said.

“I could tell as soon as I fished him out of the water,” Starlight said.

“There’s something strange, though,” Dr. Fie said. “What the umbrum did to him was more than enough to spell his end. Just look at the size of the hole they tore in his chest!”

Hope's expression became one of anguish as Dr. Fie waved his hoof over Lailoken's torn-up chest.

“Doctor, please,” Starlight said.

Dr. Fie nodded. “Yes, quite right. They didn’t need to push him over the side. But there is damage from the impact. That should certainly have been enough to–”

“Doctor, we get the picture,” Starlight responded.

“But there’s also signs of drowning!” Dr. Fie said. “That’s the strange thing! In my professional opinion, he did not actually die until he was in the water.”

Realization came to Hope. Cold, comfortless realization. “He said he would die three times,” she said quietly. “This is what he meant.”

“Hope, I’m sorry,” Starlight said.

“I couldn’t save him,” Hope said. “I wanted to save him, but I couldn’t. He wouldn’t let me.”

“Can you bring him back to life, maybe?” Stirring said.

“No,” Hope responded. “You know that.”

“But are you sure?” Starlight said. “You’ve told me that, but how do you know? Maybe if you just–”

“Because I’ve tried!” Hope yelled.

It was the first time any of the three other ponies had heard Radiant Hope yell. They had heard her get angry, sure, and they had heard her raise her voice to an extent. But they had never heard her yell.

Starlight spoke first. “Who… was it?”

“Who do you think?” Hope snapped.

“Best not get into that one, dear lady,” Dr. Fie said. “Wait, I feel something.”

Dr. Fie put his hoof to Lailoken’s wrist. “There’s a pulse! There’s still a pulse! It’s a weak one, but it’s there. Hope, he’s alive! He's fading fast, but he's alive! We can still save him!”

Hope filled Hope’s eyes. “Doctor, you perform CPR. It’ll take some of the pressure off me and make it easier to heal him.”

“Try not to enjoy it too much,” Starlight said to Dr. Fie.

“Ho-hum, madam!” Dr. Fie said.

He began. Simultaneously, Hope began to send blue light into Lailoken’s body. If this worked, it would be the second time in one day she had healed him. And it had to work.

It seemed almost as difficult as when Hope had cured his madness. Maybe it was more difficult. He should be dead thrice by now. Hope had never had to work on a pony so drained of life before. He felt so empty inside. But, as Dr. Fie continued to administer CPR, Hope felt things becoming easier. Less energy was needed. But she did not dare decrease the flow. There was too wide a margin of error and this was too important.

Finally, Hope heard Dr. Fie say, “I think you can stop now, child. He’s reviving.”

And then she fell, exhausted, to the ground. But only for a moment. Hope quickly recovered and sat up. Lailoken was also sitting up, staring directly at her.

Somewhere, in the distance, a clock chimed twelve times.

“‘We have heard the chimes at midnight,’” Dr. Fie remarked.

“The day is over, and you didn’t die,” Hope said.

“You… you saved me. Again,” Lailoken said. “Why would you do that? After everything I said about you.”

“We were friends once,” Hope said. “I don’t give up on my friends. In case you haven’t heard, that’s sort-of gotten me into a lot of trouble.”

Lailoken rubbed the parts of his body where the wounds had been. “For once, I’m glad you don’t give up on friends. Maybe I was wrong about you, Hope. Maybe destiny isn’t fixed. Maybe ponies can change.”

Looking back at the ocean liner, at that majestic, yet melancholy ship, Hope said, “Mine is.”

“I spent so long thinking I was going to die today,” Lailoken said. “I don’t even know what to do with my life now. I don’t even know how long I have left.”

“What’s it matter, dear boy?” Dr. Fie said. “‘Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and’….” Dr. Fie grimaced at the faux pas he had nearly made. “Well, something like that.”

“Why do you call me ‘dear boy’?” Lailoken asked. “I’m a thousand years older than you and I look it!”

“But I’m a thousand years wiser,” Dr. Fie responded with a cheeky smile.

“But seriously, what do I do now?” Lailoken said.

“Live,” Hope said, both her gaze and her voice distant. “Live, for however long you have left. I don’t know how much that is, but you should make the most of it regardless. It’s all you can do.”

“Somepony should take her own advice,” Starlight observed.

“Do it for all of us who can’t,” Hope said.

Lailoken’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, Hope?”

“Don’t you know? With that gift of prophecy?”

“It’s gone now, ever since you cured me. I can’t even remember most of the things I predicted in that state.”

Hope looked down. “That’s a shame. Let’s just say that the umbrum won’t be hurting anypony ever again.”

In a flash of blue light, she was gone.

“Hope!” Dr. Fie and Starlight called together.

"Wait, Hope!" Lailoken called out. "I have something to tell you!"

“We can’t let her go in there alone!” Dr. Fie said.

“She’s made her choice,” Starlight said. “And I guess she doesn’t like goodbyes.”

“No, no!” Dr. Fie said. “I will not leave her. Not like this! Not again!”

“Okay, doctor, okay,” Starlight said. “We still have to get on the ship. Stirring and I still have our spell to pick up.”

Starlight, Dr. Fie, and Stirring took a few steps forward as Starlight’s horn glowed turquoise. In an instant, they were gone. Lailoken was left, just sitting there.

"Wait!" he called out, once again in vain. "Doesn't anypony want to know about the yellow pegasus?"

There was, predictably, no answer.

“Oh, okay then,” he said. “Could somepony at least tell me how I’m supposed to begin a new life after a thousand years of madness? Like, is there an orientation meeting for modern Equestria or something?”

He took a worried look at his surroundings as he rose to his hooves. “Then again, sitting in a dark and empty parking lot soaking wet is probably not the best place to start,” Lailoken said as he broke into a gallop toward the reassuring lights of Las Pegasus.