//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Sisters of Willowbrook // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Lilac flew for the first time a few months later. She hadn't told Firefly she was coming—that was entirely the point. Her friend had seen her slow recovery in Willowbrook Municipal Hospital for long enough that she would probably guess Lilac would be released soon. But would she expect her to make the trip up on her own two wings?  Calling it “flight” was a bit generous at this stage, true. Lilac spread both wings in a constant gliding position—then found a promising spot above her, and teleported there in a flash. Then she would glide as slowly as possible while she recovered enough magical strength to jump again. The trip was good practice for all kinds of new abilities, some far more disciplined than others. Finally she was above the house, and all she really had to do was glide. Even that proved trickier than her reading suggested—a little too far to one side, and she accelerated into a dive. She managed to change direction in time to avoid the house, instead landing face-first in the cloudy ground. It was still clouds, so the impact only winded her, leaving her sunk up to her forelegs, so deep she could feel one hoof poking through to the other side. “I'm, uh... not sure if anypony can hear me! Help!” She didn't struggle, not when moving forward made her slip further through the opening, threatening to drop out into the night sky.  The ground rustled beside her, sinking like a trampoline with someone new joining her to jump. Then she felt a hoof on her shoulder, lifting her up onto the cloud. Firefly stood over her, wearing an orange and yellow dress. Far more than her friend usually wore, particularly in the evening. “You flew up here?” Firefly asked, looking her over. “I didn't even know you were out of the hospital yet!” “Surprise.” Lilac spread her wings wide. They were still moving on their own, still confusing her with hard-to-process feelings. Every single feather told her things, about the wind and the temperature and the currents of air flowing around her. “Who else would I go to see first?” “Surprise.” Firefly hugged her, but only for a second. She dragged her towards the open front door, and the light glowing out from inside. “I want to get a good look at you.” Lilac didn't fight her—mostly because she wasn't strong enough. Up here, she couldn't draw her usual strength from the ground. She felt fragile and weak, without that steady supply of magic flowing into her. At least she was with somepony she could trust. “Surprised you could fly up here on your own. I didn't think breezie flying really translated.” “It doesn't,” she said, grinning. “That's all about being so light that the wind carries you where you want to go. Doesn't work that way for a pony.” They walked into the house, which was more remarkable to Lilac the further in she got. Her hooves should've sunk through the clouds, taking her plummeting to the earth below. But if they were going to, she wouldn't have crashed in the first place. Firefly took her just inside, to a large entryway mirror probably made of glass. She held one of Lilac's wings in her own, staring down at it. Thanks to months of magical therapy, the wounds had all healed, and feathers grew where once there had been only ragged flesh. Even so, they didn't look any more natural than the night the new limbs appeared. They were a mismatched collection, as though taken from a dozen different ponies. So many colors without any coordination looked brown from a distance. Up close they just looked like the manifestation of a migraine headache. “They work?” Firefly asked, letting go. “And the...” she tapped her own forehead with one hoof. Lilac nodded. “The horn better than the wings. I've had a lifetime practicing to use magic. It's a natural extension of everything I was already doing. I'll be way better at magic now, even if... it helps not to think about where they came from.” Firefly raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. “A dozen Inquisitor ponies died that night, summoning a demon. It was... made of them, I think. Did Luna ever tell you why our magic was so strong?” They crossed the house together, then up to Firefly's bedroom. A half dozen different dresses were out, along with bits of jewelry tossed all over the bed. “I think so,” Firefly said. “Princess Luna, uh—we absorbed the magic when they summoned us.” “It stuck,” Lilac agreed. “Ponies usually have a limit to how much they can hold. It's built into Equus—about conserving a limited resource. There's only so much to go around. Since we weren't born here, we don't have it. So we're just, like... drowning in it. Until we die, and we give it back.” Firefly nodded absently. She lifted a colorful hairband, then held it up to her mane. “What do you think? Yellow? Or red?” “I'm the wrong pony to ask,” Lilac said, waving a dismissive leg in her direction. “What's up?” “A date,” she answered, turning her back on Lilac, and fussing with her mane. “I've thought about asking her for a long time. But I was looking at somepony else, and I didn't want to move on until I was... ready, I guess.” Her tail tucked behind her, ears folding over. “I do now, though! It makes sense. Give it a few more years, and I'll be as confident as Rainbow Dash.” “I'm sure you will.” Lilac touched her shoulder, meeting her eyes. “I'm sorry about getting you trapped in horse world forever. I don't think I can get us home.” Firefly burst out laughing. “Fun way of saying 'you're welcome'!” She went with the red hairband, and started brushing her mane. She could somehow hold it with one wing, while she worked gently through. It was long again, the way she seemed to like it.  “What about you?” Firefly continued. “Equestria's newest Alicorn. How are things going for House Vale? You think anything will ever happen with... the night of the fire?” Lilac shook her head firmly. “Iris received a pardon for her role stopping the Unmade from invading Equestria. Rebuilding on the manor is going pretty well... but I don't think she'll ever live there. She wants me to take it over, with... with Risk. We're coming up with the design together, before the architects get involved. I'd like if you took a look before they break ground.” “Lotsa balconies,” Firefly said, without turning around. “Once you get better with your wings, you'll understand. Way faster to fly around to the side of a fancy house than to walk there. And you might want to leave from all over. All the bedrooms should have them.” Lilac nodded. “You might have more insight if you see the plans. I've got a hotel room with my mom downtown, maybe you'll visit sometime.” She lowered her voice, both wings folding again. “Just don't call me an Alicorn to anypony else, please. Technically I'm not, I just have wings and a horn. I'm a... unipegipony. Or something. God willing there won't be any more of me.” The clock chimed, and Firefly tensed. She spun around, darting past Lilac. “That's time! I have to... buck, I should've left ten minutes ago. Can you get down on your own?” “I'll find a way,” Lilac said, hiding her fear as best she could. But so long as her magic didn't run out, she could always find a way to glide. Firefly galloped out the open doorway, then vanished into the night, a yellow streak slowly fading from sight. Lilac took a little longer to get the courage to follow. But there were ponies waiting for her too—and plenty of debts accruing in her name on a certain mountain.  It was probably time to figure out a fairy payment plan.