//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: When Friends are Said and Dun 
// by xenos29 
//------------------------------//

	It was a familiar dream in a familiar place.  Only this time, Alpenglow knew it wasn’t a dream.  He was here, wading through the same tunnel filled with the same cloying mud.  The jagged spears of rock lining the tunnel prodded him forward, as they did before, towards the netherworld arena that lay at the end.  There, he would meet Blight, and the two would begin their worthless, endless struggle.
From his last imprisonment with Blight, Alpenglow had learned an important truth: in here, the two of them were simply gears in the machine.  Though they ground against each other, the real torment came from yourself: your body as it tired, your mind as it dulled, and your spirit as it withered.  They all shouted at you until everything went black and he and Blight lay feebly on the cave floor, only to rise and fight again.  This pattern repeated with ruthless precision, as if managed by some cruel, well-tuned clock.  
Alpenglow clenched his teeth.  If they were ever freed from this place again, he’d make Blight eat the stupid box with a dull spoon.
The tunnel came to an abrupt end, sealing shut the second Alpenglow emerged from it.  As he took in the shadowy contours of the arena, he could have sworn that it no longer resembled the cave from before, but the interior of Ponyville’s town hall.  Alpenglow couldn’t decide if he preferred it to the cave, though whether he did or not seemed like a bit of a moot point.
The scraping of thorn on rock echoed from the other side of the arena as Blight crawled out of his tunnel.  With frustrated effort, he dragged himself onto his vine legs and stomped into the center of the room.  If looks could kill, Alpenglow would have been worried.  Blight glared at him, frozen with a rage that escaped in violent trembles as the reality of their entrapment sank in.  Alpenglow calmly walked to stand in front of Blight, taking care to stand just out of immediate reach.  Blight stayed silent, and some seconds passed.
"If I remember right, you usually talk first, Blight."  The old pony said nothing, then looked away.
Alpenglow moved to look Blight in the eye.  "I meant what I said before.  You could’ve come quietly.  You could’ve had a fresh start, but you couldn’t let it go, and this is where it got us."  Blight still said nothing.
"Don’t be like that.  If anything, I should be mad at you."
The arena rumbled, growing impatient with its two prisoners.  Alpenglow knew it wouldn’t be long until he lost the strength to talk, so he took one last shot to lay the foundation before the storm hit.
"You remember what happens if we don’t fight, don’t you?  Don’t have much longer.  You need to see that you lied to me, Blight.  All the time, you told me we were the same, and that we would make the world a better place.  And ever since I met you, you’ve done nothing but destroy.  So tell me, what's the last thing you've ever created?  Because right now, the only thing I can see is this box."  Alpenglow kept his gaze squarely on Blight, who finally acknowledged the knight’s presence.  His eyes were milky and grey.  The arena shook again, this time more violently.
"I.  Hate.  You," he finally croaked.
"I know you do.  It’s funny; I don’t think I hate you."
"Why?"
"Because Twilight and everypony taught me, taught me to see what fighting for hate turns you into.  Their world is wonderful, Blight.  It’s cute, and strange at times, but worth caring for, and worth fighting for."
"It won’t last.  They’ll all forget you, sooner or later."
"Maybe, but as long as I’m in here, they’ll always be my friends, and I’ll always care about them, whether they forget or not.  All you’ll have is your hate for me.  You're gonna have a tough time in here."
The arena gave one final, enraged shake.  Rocky spines sprouted from the floor and walls.  They quickly closed around Blight and Alpenglow, and the two realized the arena had run out of patience.  With weary resignation, the impromptu gladiators readied their respective weapons, and had at it.

It had been hours, surely.  No, that wasn't right. Months, that's it, yes.  Maybe a little more than a year?  Alpenglow wondered if this is how Pinkie thought about things.  More remarkably, he wondered why he had the strength to wonder anything, if he had completely lost track of time.  For just a moment, something had drawn him away from the battle with Blight, a welcome distraction.  There it was again, a quiet trembling that came from somewhere he could only describe as 'outside.'  The external sensation was accompanied by a warmth Alpenglow felt in his chest.  It felt like the sun, the moon, and all the love he had ever felt fused together into a purple nova of a star.  Yet something threatened even this power, a hungry fire whose burn Alpenglow felt in his feathers.  He couldn't quite put a name to it, so he decided to ask the only pony he could.  He lazily dodged one of Blight's attacks and tossed his sword aside so he could speak.
"Hey, Blight," he said, surprised by the hoarseness of his voice.  "Do you feel that?"
The old pony's head wavered, and while it took him a moment to snap out of the trance of battle, he finally lowered his vines and answered with equal hoarseness.  "Yes.  I feel it," he said.
"What is it?"
"Battle."
"Can you tell who?"
"You should know at least one."
"Yeah, I do.  But Twilight was never near that powerful."
Blight shut his eyes, as if listening for something.  "I can feel her, Celestia, Luna and the other one, Cadance, too.  But they're all coming from the same place."
"What's it mean?"
The arena gave a stony huff of disapproval, irritated by the break in its normally well-managed routine.  Blight kept on listening.
"Your princess friend is in danger.  The other one...he's as old as me, and swelling with the power of an entire kingdom."
Alpenglow didn't honestly believe Twilight could hear him all the way up there, but he lowered his head and whispered anyway, "You'll be ok, Twilight.  You all will.  Don't let it wear you down."

After a while, the star Alpenglow felt flared out, making the next few subjective moments unbearable until suddenly, there was one last burst of warmth, a rainbow that washed over the knight.  He sighed deeply, feeling both his burdens and spirits lifted for a few glorious moments.  He didn't even notice when Blight picked him up and slammed him into the arena wall.  Somewhere, somehow, Twilight and her friends had come through again.
Blight stopped his attack to 'listen' outside again.  He muttered in disbelief, "I don't understand.  How?"
"Because, Blight, no matter how strong you are, friends can make you stronger."
"But you felt it.  Just earlier.  She had no power, no magic.  How did they do it?"
The arena grumbled again.  Standing up, Alpenglow smiled and looked his old, naive companion in the eye.
"Isn’t it obvious, Blight?  Friendship is magic!"












The End