Epilogue

Time passed by. Nopony has heard of Trixie the entire day, assuming she has ran far away already. But the ponies, other than the ones that knew of Trixie's involvement, celebrate the end of the Second Great Blizzard that never got its chance to reach its full potential. Many went home to their own towns after they were able to, though they managed to make contact with different ponies from other reaches of Equestria and make new friends. The ponies that did stay, celebrate the entire day. The Mane Six and Spectrum Brush were the highlight of the day, being the heroines and hero that they are. Yet Brush was not entirely there with his mind in the party, being more focused on spending some time with his parents, who'm he hasn't seen for years. Exhausted as they all are; One by one, the seven ponies left Canterlot on their own to head home unseen. Ponyville is waiting for them, warm by the summer sun than shone over it all day.

But two ponies did not go home on their own. Though Brush tried to leave Canterlot when he found it was time to go back and see his little brother, he happened to stumble upon Twilight, who was waiting for him.

The sun is setting in an orange glow that fills the air. While the ponies in Ponyville are preparing to call it a day, two ponies are sitting in the grass on a hill just outside ponyville, watching at the sunset together. The tranquility of this place is just what they needed after the nightmares they faced last night.

'Lady Fame...,' Twilight whispers.

'Eeyup... Lady Fame...,' Brush repeats.

A moment where only the wind can be heared falls. They have a point where they don't know what to say next.

'Did...,' Twilight speaks, unsure whether she should ask the whole sentence. 'Were you dissapointed when I accepted Trixie's offer?'

Brush shakes his head. 'No, it was something that had to happen...,' he mutters. 'In fact: I'm sort of glad that you know the past now. Now you know the secret that I've had burdening my shoulders for months.'

'She was no bad alicorn...,' Twilight whispers, knowing now just as much of the past as Brush does.

'Indeed she wasn't...,' the stallion agrees.

They both sigh along, moved by the emotional history that lies behind Celestia's youth. Lady Fame will never return, being sealed into the crystal once again. She has most definitly been taken by Princess Celestia and sealed in a vault beneath Canterlot. Her heart may be right, but her powers are to dangerous to be within reach of ponies that could be even more bitter than Trixie was.

'...Do you think Trixie will ever return?' Twilight suddenly asks him.

Brush looks right of him at the purple unicorn next to him and nods. '…I think she will eventually… Don't worry about her, Twilight,' he assures his friends. 'She may not be able to admit it, but she actually needs you.'

'Need me?' Twilight asks and blinks a few times, not sure what Brush means.

'You are the only unicorn that has proved to be more talented in magic than she is. In a way, she thinks it was you that stopped her when she was so incredibly powerful by Lady Fame... But She has learned a lesson from her foolishness: She won't blame you anymore. Now that she has no clue of what "the tip of the iceberg" is, she will feel less urged to seek it anymore,' he explains to her, while his dark mane continues to wave in the wind, distracting her a bit. 'She has a lot of pride and naievity. It was bound that Trixie would make a mistake by it. Sadly her mistake had to be this crucial.'

Twilight nods and looks in front of her again at the sunset Dawn.

'What about you?' she asks without looking back. 'How do you feel towards her? Are you truly able to forgive her for every tiny thing?'

Brush snickers. 'Yes, I have. I too learned that hating somepony for who she/he is, is futile. Trixie will be Trixie, no matter what... And deep down I know: We are still friends, even if she won't admit it now.'

Twilight continues to be impressed by his noble view. 'You truly have no hatred towards her, hm?' she confirms and turns her head to him again.

Brush simply shrugs. 'I have been hating enough for a lifetime,' he tells her and smiles.

Twilight smiles back. 'By the way, according to Rainbow Dash, it’s going to rain tomorrow,' she changes the subject.

'-Ugh-, I hate rain…,' he grunts.

The stallion just said what Twilight was hoping for. She has to snicker softly, looking at her friend who is slowly realizing the contradiction he just made. When he turns his face towards her with a surprised look, the mare can't help but letting her laughter out. Like a chainreaction, Brush starts to laugh as well, humored by Twilight's joke.  

'Ah, that’s gold,' Brush snickers when the laughter passes and rubs a tear out of his eye.

It's been a while since Twilight got to laugh like this. It's been a long time since that day when they met: Bumping into each other when Brush was running away from an entheusiastic Pinkie Pie. But with good things come also bad things, which is the painful question that she hasn’t dared to bring up yet.

'...Will you leave again?' the mare asks him anxiously.

Brush turns his head and looks her in her eyes, realizing what she's afraid for. He just left Ponyville last time, and travelled to countless place before moving to here. The chance that he would stay are still slim.

But he shakes his head, instead of giving a nod. 'Nope. I have done all I could and am able to forgive myself now. I’m going to stay here in Ponyville,' the stallion tells the mare with joy in his voice, glad as well to remain here.

'-Pfoe-, that’s a relieve,' she giggles, happy to hear that one of her seven close friends isn't going to leave. 'You always were one to leave into the sunsets, hm?' she brings up the moments that Brush kept vanishing from her.

Brush does  remember what she means by that, still feeling bad about that and everything else that he had to do to safeguard the Mane Six. Though Twilight meant it as a joke, Brush's ears hang down. '...Can you forgive me for what I did? For keeping you in the dark?' he asks, slightly worried.

'What? You're STILL worried about that?' Twilight laughs. 'I always knew that you were no bad-guy, Brush. Even when you seemed so sinister the whole time. I trusted my gut that you were still the friendly guy I met months ago.'

Brush feels a heart-warming joy inside from hearing that sentence. He went on a journey that most ponies wouldn't dare to make even once in their entire lives. He schemed ahead to stop a threat of Equestria and succeeded with his friends. To hear her say this makes it all worth it.

'Twilight…, thanks for all the faith you put in me all this time. You are a true friend,' he whispers emotionally.

Twilight smiles from his remark and blushes. 'That’s what friends do, Brush,' she whispers just as calm and looks back at the sinking sun. The afternoon warmth can still be felt from the sunrays, making her drowzy in the waving grass in the cool breeze, creating a tone that sounds like a lullaby.

Suddenly she is surprised when she feels a little kiss on her left cheek, completely unexpected. With a blushing-red face she looks at the stallion that lies next to her, smiling at her with sparkling green eyes.

'You’re right,' Brush whispers to her. 'Thank you, Twilight...'

She quickly looks the other way to keep the smile she can’t control hidden. Her face turns almost as red as an apple. She did not see this coming, though it doesn't feel unpleasant somehow. All kinds of thoughts go rapidly through her head, caused by the adrenaline she feels rushing through her veins. What could she possibly say now to him with a red face like this?

'Twilight, I -UGH!-' Brush tries to say something, but is cut off from his sentence when something leaps onto his back with force.

'Big brother! Here you are!' says the happy little colt that squeezes himself against Brush’ mane. 'I finally found you!'

With big eyes, the stallion turns his head to look behind him. 'D-D-Dusty! I-I didn’t expect you!' Brush says.

'Finally, we did it!' somepony else says from a few meters away, approaching the two ponies as well.

When they both look around, they notice the three fillies that stand behind them.

'It took us a lot longer than I expected… But we finally managed to guide Dusty to his brother: As promised!' Sweetie Bell cheers.

'Quick! Check if Ah got a tourguide Cutie Mark!' Applebloom urges her friends and turns her flank in their direction.

But two shaking heads with dissapointment can already tell her if she has it or not.

'Aww!' Applebloom grunts. 'We should'a sticked to ghosthunting...'

'Hey there, girls,' Twilight welcomes them as calm as she can, though she still feels a warm feeling. She's secretly hoping that they didn’t see what happened a few seconds ago, expecting them to get the wrong impression. 'How are you this evening?'

'Just great!' Dusty Gust cheers and jumps on top of his brother's head, pushing Brush's mane into his own eyes. 'Check THIS out!' he gloats and raises his tiny pegasus wings, raising a cape along that is strapped around his neck.

'We let Dusty into the Cutie Mark Crusaders!' Scootaloo cheerfully announces. 'He also figured that he should try and see what he's good at!'

'CMC is going national!' Sweetie Bell cheers just as happy as Scootaloo.

Brush smiles from hearing the good news. '-Hehe-, I suppose this means you’ll look further than ghost-hunting, Dusty?' he asks him, still with hair pushed into his face.

The little colt jumps back on the ground and scratches with his hoof over the ground a little embarrassed. 'I’m sorry, brother... I just thought that I should look further than your carreer. I may not be as good a hunter as you are, but I can still be good in something else,' he tries to explain, afraid that Brush would be dissapointed.

'You know what? That’s exactly what you should do,' Brush supports him, glad that he gives up on the whole ghost nonsense. 'In fact: I think I’ll retire from the ghosthunting, considering the ‘mother of all ghosts’ is defeated now! I think I’ll pick up painting instead.'

He winks at Twilight for talking his way out to Dusty. 'Painting was always a big thing in my life,' he adds. 'Maybe it's best if I continues with that.'

'Really?' Dusty asks, not sure wether he's joking or not. 'Well..., anyway, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask, big bro' Dusty says. '...A favor actually.'

'A favor?' the stallion asks. 'Sure, ask me.'

'Cool!' he shouts. 'So I can crash with you for a while, big brother?” the pegasus asks him.

'Eh, huh?' Brush mumbles confused, not having expected THIS to be the favor. 'W-Well it's OFCOURSE fine with me... but shouldn’t it be discussed with mom and dad first? I don't think they'll want you to leave so soon...'

Dusty grins and shakes his head rapidly. 'Nope, I already asked them! They said it was fine, considering that we haven't seen each other for a while, and Ponyville would do good for me!'

'You told them? But… how? ...And they didn’t even ask for my-,' he mutters, a little unsatisfied by the sudden course of actions. But as the stallion of his word he is, he feels forced nod. 'Ok, ok. It’s alright with me,' Brush sighs defeated, not sure wether or not he should be concerned.

Though he may feel a little burdened by the idea to take care of himself in his creation of starting up in Ponyville AND his little energic brother, he actually doesn’t mind it that his Dusty stays over and has a chance to stick with true friends. It feels like giving Dusty a chance, which he didn’t have when he was little. Dusty has become good friends with the three fillies after all and there is a school in Ponyville as well, which should suit him better than a school full of unicorns in Canterlot. Taking it this oppertunity from him would make him feel awful.

'Yay! You won’t regret this, big brother!' he cheers as he jumps up and down on Brush’s back.

'-Ugh!- I will if you keep jumping on me like that when you grow up...,' he grunts softly to himself.

'Hoorays for the new member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders! HOOORAAY!!!' the three fillies cheer happily with an ear-deafening volume, scaring all the birds out of the surrounding trees.

'Ah, there they are,' another familiar voice speaks from behind them.

When the ponies look behind them again, they see several heads look over the grassy hill. Five mares and one dragon heard the noise of the fillies, easily assuming that the two ponies must've been here.  

'Girls! Spike! How did you find us?' Twilight happily greets her friends, not having expected them to come outside. They looked like they could sleep any moment during the party in Canterlot, though seem totally fine now.

'It wasn’t hard to find you, thanks to these little racketeers,' Rarity giggles.

'So, what’ya doing up here?' Pinkie asks them.

'Not much. Just enjoying the sun-set,' Brush says, also glad to see the others. 'We were just talking about what happened over the past months. We would've asked you all to come too, ...but we figured you would all be exhausted from the all the action.

'Really? That's what you two were doing here?' Spike asks, not sure if he shouldn't question the whole "sunset watching" thing.

Twilight realizes that her face is still red and her heart pumping like crazy. If it wasn't about just now, it's also thanks to the surprising appearances of the others. Recalling the love jokes Spike kept throwing at her when Brush moved to Ponyville when she only meant to meet him as newcome, she tries to cover some of her face with a hoof and turns to look in front of her again. It would be embarressing if Spike would pick up where he left last time in front of all their friends.

'Hey, care to sit here together and enjoy the sunset?' Twilight quickly asks them, leaving the dragon's question unanswered.

Without any other question asked, the mares don't hesitate to drop in the grass next to them and chat.

'So where’d ya been this whole time, partner?' Applejack asks Brush, curious about what has happened to Brush these past months. She’s not the only one that thought about it. All the others are very curious about what transpired during Brush’ absence from Ponyville.

Brush is a little flattered about the interest in his journey and looks back, noticing that his little brother has already left to play hide-and-seek with his new three friends, and smiles.

'Let’s just say that I needed some time to think,' he chuckles. 'In the end: all I needed was a good friend to lead me home.'

Brush is about to start with the begin; the moment when Zecora found him half-corrupted in Everfree Forest. But before he can even take a deep breath, he is once again interrupted by his little brother that has something to say.

'...Say, bro, I got one more question: Why did you press your face against that lady's face a moment ago actually?' Dusty suddenly asks, heared by them all. 'It's not how you preform a proper headbutt...'

Their breaths stop. Twilight's face turns all red again, while Brush's face starts to sweat. The others look with big eyes at them, having no words ready to say. They can almost not believe it's what they think it is. One thing is for sure: Brush's story will have to make way for something else.

Spike remains completely silent, overthrown by the sudden revelation. But as the truth slowly sinks in, a wide grin appears on his face. 'Oh, you're SO not gonna hear the end of this...,' he says, followed by an sinister chuckle.

'D-DUSTY!' the two ponies shout together.

***

But while the ponies are enjoying the renewed harmony, letting their lifes progress as before, life does not "just" proceed for an alicorn. Several ponies are staying in Canterlot for the night, before heading home. Celebrations continue with laughter and entertainment. It's noisy outside, while it's deadly silent within the castlewalls.

Princess Luna walks through the hallways. Though many guards stand by to defend the castle against any possible threat, the mare of the night has gotten used to them and ignores them. The sun is almost down; meaning she has to stand ready to raise the moon to start the night.

But when she walks by the doors to her sister's chamber, she stops for a second. Things have been going smooth between them ever since she returned from banishment, just like nothing bad has ever happened between them. But still, Luna senses that there's a lot of background that her sisters keeps from her. She shakes her head and forgets about it, respecting Celestia's decisions.

Little does she know that Princess Celestia wasn't inside at the time. The tall princess walks into the royal library, passing along the bookcases. This is possibly the only place where there are no guards stationed, making it the most quiet and lonely place in all of Canterlot. At the end of the room, she looks around curiously to see if there’s anypony nearby that she may have overlooked. But when she sees nopony, Celestia looks back in front of her, at a bookcase that looks relatively smaller than the others. Her white horn begins to glow, aimed for the bookcase. Sliding away from the wall by her powerful levitation magic, a hidden entrance is revealed. She has to duck to be able to pass through it, even though she made it herself this way.

'I have returned,' she speaks into the hexigon-shaped stone chamber.

Nopony is here to answer her, but she was not talking to herself either. Walking up to the blue gem that is placed unto a stone pedestal in the middle of the chamber, she smiles when the gem starts to glow faintly.  

'Good evening, Lady Fame. How are you?' she asks to a blue crystal. 'Do you recognize the room? It’s an exact replica of the Hall of Friendship from our castle in Everfree Forest!'

The crystal blinks several times with it's light. Celestia feels happy, as if Lady Fame is indeed with her in person.

'It’s where I keep all the letters of my protégée, Twilight Sparkle. I hope it makes you happy to be present here and watch how the bookcases slowly fill up,' she whispers. 'She works very hard for her friends... And I know they work hard for her as well.'

She looks up from the gem at another crystal on the other side of the pedestal, glowing with fierce energies. Celestia frowns.

'And I hope you are taking notice too, Ignis… You’re terrible nature brought you to this: Well deserved imprisonment inside your crystal. Your lust for destruction has become your own downfall,' she whispers with noticable anger in her voice.

The red crystal blinks rapidly, as if it's screaming at her in morse code.

'It will be your punishment to watch how the room is filling up with this knowledge of friendship, just like the room and knowledge YOU once destroyed in front of my very eyes… I-I can never forgive you.'

She ignores the red gem as it continues to blink rapidly with it's glowing power, unable to do anything to the princess. There is one other thing inside this room, standing on top of the pedestal, which takes her full attention and draws both her sorrow and her anger out.

'Discord… Will there ever be a day that I can release you without fear for disharmony; A day that our shattered friendship can be restored; A day when I can call you by your real name again?' she asks to the speechless stone draconequus, staring into empty space with fear  engraved on it's solid face.

Celestia sighs disappointed, having hoped for one second to receive an answer somehow to her eternal unanswered questions. The day she hopes for could possibly never come at all, leaving a scarred spot open that was once filled with the only person that she could truly call her friend.

'Power is no good if it can’t be controlled by a healthy mind…,' she says while she heads towards the exit of the chamber. Just before the bookcase seals the chamber off, she takes on more glance into the chamber with the three sealed souls.

'Goodbye forever..., Spite.'

***

Days pass. Summer has moved further, making way for the upcoming fall. Leaves have started to turn brown, yellow, and red, ready to fall off during the Running of the Leaves. But before that time comes, some ponies still try to enjoy the final days of absolute summer.

The old gallery is back in action, inhabited by the two brothers that moved to Ponyville weeks ago. Spectrum Brush has gotten used completely to have his little brother around him, even though it doesn't go without regular brother-brother problems. The stallion has picked up his proffesion as painter again, using the gallery for both displaying art AND an art class to those interested in the fine art of painting. Dusty Gust, on the other hand, has too much energy for such a peaceful hobby. Along with his three best friends; Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Bell, they try to discover their Cutie Marks together, doing the craziest stunts to find out what it could be. Though Dusty has shown Scootaloo many times how to do his Kamikazi charge, she can't copy it. But it doesn't bother her, believing that she'll be able to do something even greater when her wings have fully grown.

The day is setting, with only rain filling the air. Summer is obviously on the brink of ending. Only a mare and a dragon in the library are still awake, though ready to sleep soon enough.

'Spike, you know it's going to be good weather tomorrow, right? Have you decided yet wether or not you will come and try to get a tan before we only got rain for the next weeks?' she asks the dragon next to her, who is busy with putting some paper in a bag.

'Eh… I’d love to, Twilight. But I’m afraid I can’t . I…eh… got books to sort,' he stutters, without looking away from his equipment.

Twilight notices Spike’s odd behavior, knowing full well what is actually on his mind. Yet she asks anyway to see if he'll tell her anyway. 'You’re going to work on a sunny day? Is there something you’re not telling?' she asks with a smile on her face.

'Eh… No?' Spike says with a wide grin on his face, trying to look like he has nothing else on his mind. 'W-What else could there be than sorting books?'

'Spike..., Brush already told me that you participate in some of his painting courses…,' Twilight tells her assistant.

Spike has to swallow, realizing that his "secret" is a bust. The purple mare giggles by the look on the dragon's face.

'You thought this could stay a secret?' she laughs.

'I thought he has a license to remain silent about his clients…,' Spike mumbles grumpy, feeling embarresed about having Twilight find out about a new hobby he wanted to try.

'He’s a painter, Spike. Not a spy,' Twilight says and continues to giggle. 'Besides, he’s coming along with us tomorrow. He knows it too when it’s a time to work and a time to relax. So why not just come along? It'll be fun to go with the whole group.'

'Alright, alright. I’ll come along,' Spike grunts. He’s still a little mad that everypony seems to know what he’s been up to lately, while he thought that not a single pony knew about it. Next time he has plans for a new attempt of hobbies, he will make sure to ask anypony to keep quiet about it.

Suddenly they hear, other than the rain falling on the roof, a loud knock on the front door.

'Hm? Who could that be around this hour?' Twilight wonders and walks downstairs.

Spike is still busy trying to push the paper into the bag, using all his might until the bag tears apart. Looking dazzled at the flying papers and the hole in his bag, he sighs and grabs a new one.

The knocks on the door are heard again, only a little more urgent than the ones before. 'Sorry, but the library is already closed!' Twilight shouts at the door while she walks to it.

But even though her words must've been clear enough to be heared by anypony behind the door, a third set of knocks are heared.

'Is there anything you need? If it's about a book, isn't it better to come back tomorrow when it's not raining?' Twilight asks and opens the door. Her mouth shuts tight out of surprise when she recognizes the figure that stands in the rain, looking with sickly eyes at her.

'Y-You are...,' Twilight whispers, recognizing the blue mare that looks at her with saddened eyes.

'Is... Is the offer still open?'

THE END