//------------------------------//
// Retourner Aux Prunes 
// Story: Quete 
// by Comrade Bagel Muffin 
//------------------------------//

Escutcheon felt light headed as he slowly came around. The world around him was dark, unnaturally so. There wasn't a single light in the sky above. He groaned to look around his head started pounding. He winced, and put his head back down. He slowly moved his head, bearing the pain.
"Are are you okay?" He recognized the voice as Plum.
"My-my head hurts." he answered, his voice was softer and weaker than it had been in months. There was a soft blue light for a few seconds, he thought it was pony shaped, but it vanished in a near instant.
"Yeah you hit it pretty hard on the pillar." She gave him a sympathetic nuzzle. "Some really weird stuff happened as soon as you destroyed the pearl. Some of the ponies are looking for survivors. They're bringing them back here."
"Survivors, what happened?" He tried to get up.
"Don't." Plum put her hoof on him keeping him from getting up. She sighed, and lay down next to him. "She had abducted hundreds of colts and fillies, and she had been doing it for hundreds of years. Her magic was what was keeping this cave bright, the forest lush, and the older ponies young and alive. It's not your fault, but when the pearl was destroyed, most of the ponies, well they, aged rapidly back to the age that they should be." Escutcheon felt the blood leave his face.
"You mean they died?" he asked in a voice quieter than a whisper. He hoped prayed that he had misunderstood what she had just told him.
"It wasn't your fault." She said again. He felt his blood freeze. No that wasn't what I needed to hear. I didn't-I came here to save them. I didn't mean for that to happen. "It wasn't your fault. They were happy, happy to finally be free." Escutcheon didn't listen to anything else he just curled up and closed his eyes. He didn't sleep the pain in his chest kept him awake. 
"Plum we got the last of them." a colt's voice came out of the darkness after an unknown amount of time. "We should start heading back. Is he okay?"
"I don't know." He felt himself being hoisted up on her back. "We need to get out of here. Mom and Dad sent him here so they must know where he's from."
Alright everyone let's get going." an older voice said there was a gentle amount of light, and he felt Plum start walking. His head hurt, his heart hurt everything hurt. After a while he felt the cold of the cavern, the cave's dampness felt nice against his body. The constant dripping gave him something to focus on other than the pain. After what felt like an eternity the world was filled with light. A gently breeze blew over his body. It felt nice. He looked up at the night sky. Thousands of stars were dim compared to the complex multi colored Aurora Borealis. His ears perked at Turkeylegs' call. He felt the birds soft feathers nuzzle him. He smiled Turkeylegs had stayed and waited for him. Then he felt nothing, as sleep took him from the waking world.


***


Escutcheon woke up in a soft bed, he reached up and rubbed his head. The top half of his head was covered in bandages. He looked around it took him a while to recognize where he was. It was Plum's room. Down stairs he could hear talking. He looked out the window. The sun was just above the horizon. The plum field looked more alive than it had before. He slowly got out of bed, at the sound of his hooves on the wooden floor the talking down stairs died down. He wrapped the quilt around him, and headed down stairs.
"Escutcheon your awake." Plum Cider smiled as soon as she saw him. Her daughter laying asleep in her lap.
"Hello, are you okay?" Plum Bud asked.
"I'm fine." He looked to the other pony, an elderly stallion. "Are you her grand-pa?"
"No I was one of the colts that was hurting her. Not that I wanted to." The elderly stallion answered. "None of us did. I was just talking with them about how I'm suppose to get back home. I don't even know if I have a home anymore."
"What's wrong? Are you cold?" Plum Cider asked.
"No." He shook his head. "It's just I don't want to be naked. Do you have any cloths that I could wear? He looked to the old stallion. "Where do you live?" 
"I lived with my parents, about sixty years ago." The stallion began. "We lived in Rocky Coast."
"Rocky Coast, you mean you lived in the same town as Trail Blazer?"
"He was one of my closest friends yes do you know him?"
"I met him on the way here. I could take you home. Then I need to head back east. It'll only be a few more months." Escutcheon gave a weak smile. As Plum Bud came in with a cloak. "Thank you he said leaving the room to change.
"The two of you can load up on some plums and bread it should supply you with enough food for the two of you to make it there." He heard Plum Bud say. After a few hours the two of them were waving good bye to the town. Escutcheon resting on Turkeylegs, and the elderly stallion standing next to him.