//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Lost in the Storm // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// Gallus tumbled through the portal. He could barely contain the pain of his sloshing insides. Soon, he fell out and landed in the School of Friendship's library. Sandbar, Yona, Silverstream, Ocellus, and Smolder gasped after he appeared. "Gallus!" they cheered. The griffon slowly stood up feeling weak. "Hey... Guys," he groaned. Gallus nearly fell down, but Silverstream caught him. "Easy," the hippogriff said. She led her friend over to some pillows so he could lie down. "How are you feeling?" "Been better." "You look awful," Ocellus said. "Where did you go?" "It was... Equestria. Only... It was a mess. The Storm King had taken over." The creatures gasped at the sound of his name, especially Silverstream. "But Princess Twilight defeated him," Sandbar said. "In this world. In the one, I just came back from... It was horrible. Dragonlord Ember, King Thorax, Queen Novo, Prince Rutherford, and the alicorn princesses were all dead." "Dead?" Yona gasped. "But dragons and yaks built tough." "They can't do much against the magic of four alicorns." "What about us?" Smolder asked. "Did we even know each other?" "Yes and no. Sandbar was part of a rebel group called "The Clears." "I get it," Silverstream laughed. "Yeah, I thought it was clever too. Anyways, the rest of you were part of the Storm King's army. Ocellus was a spy, Smolder was a combatant, Yona was just for destruction, and Silverstream was a scout." "What about you?" Ocellus asked. "If there are other uses there has to be another you." "There was another me. He was the general of the army. I wouldn't blame him. If I never came to this school, who would I have care about?" "That sounds horrible," Sandbar said. "I know. I would've hit myself if I knew about you guys and..." "No, I mean about you being alone." "Tell me about it. Wait a minute, how did you get me back here?" "We had to ask for a bit of help," Smolder admitted. "About time you mentioned me," Discord said. "I was having a nice dream when I got a call from Spike for a false alarm." "It was the only way we could call you." "Well, sorry. Do you know how hard it is to find someone in a different dimension?" "Look, you can go home now," Ocellus said. "Thank you. Hopefully, I'll feel much better after all eight hours of sleep." As Discord teleported away, Gallus was confused. "How long was I gone?" he asked. "We were up all night trying to find a way to get you back," Ocellus said. "All night? I felt like I was in there for three days." "I guess time is a little different in other dimensions." "That's confusing," Silverstream said scratching her head. "However it works," Gallus said, "I'm just glad to be home." The griffon hugged his friends as they did the same to him. Yona suddenly passed out as she was tired from the all-nighter, and the others followed shortly. Gallus wasn't feeling as tired as them, so he just sat back and thought what the other version of him and his friends were doing. In the other dimension, several creatures that worked for the Storm King had gotten rid of their uniforms and were celebrating about his defeat. Gallus was sitting by himself as Sandbar walked over to him with some punch. "Need a drink?" the earth pony asked. "Sure," the griffon replied flatly. The two sipped their punch as they looked at the creatures parting. Yona and a glum Smolder walked over to them. "Pink Pony makes great party," Yona said. "It's okay I guess," Smolder sighed. "Something wrong?" Sandbar asked. "It's my brother. He's... Still cold." "Is he getting better?" "Barely. I just wanted my brother back." "Things aren't easy to fix," Gallus said. "You can destroy something in seconds yet you can take years to make something." "Too true." Sandbar looked for Silverstream and Ocellus who were in a conga line led by Pinkie Pie, who had gotten her poofy mane back. The hippogriff and changeling looked to be having a lot of fun. "Hey, girls," Sandbar called grabbing their attention. The two broke away from the conga line walked over to the group. "How are you guys doing?" Ocellus asked. "Good," Gallus said. "I can't remember since I've had so much fun," Silverstream said. "Lucky you," Smolder grumbled. "Hey, smile and party. Things will get better." "She's right," Ocellus agreed. "I think they'll reveal the statue in a while." "The statue we helped with?" Smolder asked. "Actually it's made of crystals. And no, you can't eat it." "Dang it. What about the one we made?" "We'll reveal it later." Just then, Shining Armor stopped the music. "Everybody, we have each suffered a lot during this war," he said, "But I'm glad this terror could be put behind, even if that's easier said than done. I'm glad we can put aside our differences to have this celebration, which was provided mostly by Pinkie Pie. I also like to thank everyone who helped create this lovely statue." There was a large tarp that was covering up something. It was removed to reveal a crystal statue of Princess Cadence. "Wow," Silverstream cooed. "That looks amazing," Sandbar commented. "This statue is to commemorate the Crystal Empire's princess," Shining Armor said. "The other kingdoms will each have a statue for their former leaders before the Storm King took over." "Yeah, I've been making Dragonlord Ember's statue," Smolder said to her friends. "You wanna see them." "Sure," Gallus said. "Give us something to do." The dragon led the group into the castle and into a room with several stone blocks. One of the stone blocks was carved into Dragonlord Ember holding her scepter. There was a work in progress statue of King Thorax, which Ocellus was interested in. "You did this?" the changeling asked. "I had a bit of help," Smolder admitted. "I help draw them," Silverstream said. She showed her friends a book with sketches of the different kingdom leaders. The only one that was in color was Queen Nova. "Who going to lead kingdoms now?" Yona asked. "My cousin Skystar will take Queen Nova's place. I'm... Sure she'll do a good job." "Where is she?" Sandbar asked. "Seaquestria, helping the other seaponies." The hippogriff was doing her best to hold back her tears. "I think I remember someone trying to cheer me up," Smolder said. "Think it be best to let it out." The dragon placed her claw on the hippogriff's shoulder. Silverstream smiled as she wept a little bit. "Thanks, Smolder." "I guess Gallus was right about friendship," Ocellus said before looking at the same named Griffon. "I mean the Gallus from the portal." "I know," Gallus said. "It's nice that you're actually trying to forgive me." "Gallus just needed friends," Yona said. "Yona would've done the same if Yona had no one else." "I probably wouldn't," Smolder said. "Let's try and forget about you know who," Sandbar said. "Let's just try and be friends." "Yeah," Silverstream said. "The fireworks are about to start." The group walked over to the nearest window to see the first set of fireworks going off. "Thanks again for giving me a chance," Gallus said, "I don't think I'll trade it for anything." "Good to know," Sandbar said as Silverstream trapped them in a group hug. The friend's embraced it, hoping for a better future ahead of them.