It was a big job getting everypony back to where they lived, and an even bigger job fixing the damage that had been done. Many ponies were utterly traumatized by the torment they had endured at the claws of Gloom and Erebus, so counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists were working round the clock to help the worst cases. However, Equestria had a strong heart and soul. Families and friends banded together, comforted each other, and reminded each other of what they had and the joys that came with it. The resilient nation of ponies had faced crisis before and come out of it. There were still many problems, but the healing had begun and with time life would return to a more normal state. The 6 bearers of the elements, Sunset, and the 3 other princesses worked tirelessly to help ponies where they could. By weeks end, it appeared that things were finally settling down. Sunset stood in front of the portal back to the human world. The 6, Spike, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance stood behind her to see her off.
Despite all the work consoling and comforting ponies and fixing damages, Sunset considered the past week to have been wonderful. She and Celestia had taken time aside to reunite and finally bury the past. They were no longer teacher and student, but now they could finally be friends. Celestia also discussed the state of her health with them all. She was healed as much as she could be, but all that had happened had diminished her strength somewhat. A single lock of grey hair was found underneath her vibrant aurora colored mane. Her mortality was all the more apparent and although she still had years to spare she no longer had the decades she had hoped for and that was only if no other threats forced her into combat. It was time that a full plan should be made for the event of her retirement or death, depending on whether her strength would fail to the point of being unable to perform her more strenuous duties, which would likely happen within 10 years. It was agreed that the other princesses would slowly take over her functions and Celestia would gradually step aside as the years go by, eventually retiring to a more advisory role until her eventual death. Eventually even the Sun would go to one of the younger princesses, depending on which one the star itself chose to bear it.
As for the problem of Twilight's magic, she found that her power had changed. Instead of being an enormous well of unrestrained power, her magic was now connected to that of Harmony and all of her friends. Just as Harmony granted its power to all of them, so too could they now give to Harmony. From what they understood, Harmony, through its bond with Twilight, now drew from Twilight's excess power, storing it and regulating it to prevent it from ever harming her or getting out of control. That stored power could then be used if they ever needed to summon the Starchild again or to strengthen the tree itself if it ever came under attack again. Twilight, through her friends, had become a living part of the magic of friendship itself, able to give, receive, and share that magic freely with her friends and they with her. Truly a wondrous thing.
Sunset found herself just as much a part of that bond as any of the elements, although it was still unclear what her exact role was. Was she a new element? Hope, redemption, forgiveness? The answer could not be found, but as she stepped back through the portal and waved goodbye to her Equestrian family and was welcomed back by her human one, she knew that whatever role she had in the magic of friendship was a good one. This was a bond and a magic that she wouldn't give up for the world.
Twilight felt sad to see her friend go, but knew that she could see Sunset whenever she had the chance and that the portal would always bridge the two worlds so Sunset and the human counterparts of her friends would never be too far away. One thing nagged at the back of her mind, Gloom was definitely gone and it was good that such an evil force had finally been vanquished, although she was saddened that Gloom had refused to surrender. Bad creatures could always be reformed but they have to choose that for themselves. What's done is done, but that was not what haunted her. It was the fact that Erebus was still out there.
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Pain, disappointment, humiliation, rage. These were all that existed deep below the world where the darkness lied. Erebus fumed in the dark, his third eye clasped tightly shut, veins bulging around it and ichor dripping from it. He had gone through countless failures, but this one was by far the most painful and the first to harm him directly in a long time. The worst part was that the damage would not heal and the pain would not subside. That damned magic of friendship had severely injured him. Around him the ribbon of rainbow light swirled and shined, brightly in some spots, dimmer in others where some motes of shadow passed through and leaked out, not fully stopped but still scrambled by the light. There was only one spot that had no sparkle at all, a single solitary rend in the ribbon where Gloom had broken through. It was too small for Erebus to pass through, but such a break where his power and thoughts could exit undiluted presented possibilities. Erebus' two remaining eyes glowed and the rip stretched slightly bigger. He would no longer be limited to fleeting visions and unfocused dreams, impotent thoughts! His power would no longer be stumbled upon by chance. It was finally time to take a more direct hand in the world, a more direct hand in claiming his freedom. They would pay, they would all pay. One day the world would see who truly has the most powerful magic of all.