//------------------------------//
// Epilogue: Old Friends, New Futures 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

"Wow... this is your home planet?!" Rivet asked, because after the rest of the army had been sent back to their homes, at least until they were called upon to deal with another threat, her father had opened the way back to the planet that both Starswirl and Autumn had once called home, allowing them to see it for the first time.

Equus, as it was called, was a planet unlike anything she had seen so far, it seemed far more pristine than the others and all of the inhabitants seemed to be friendly with each other, as if it was influenced by harmony or something, before she paused as she found a city built on the side of a mountain in the distance. According to Spike there were many regions of the world, such as Equestria, the land that most ponies called home, the Frozen North that housed the Crystal Empire, along with the crystal ponies, the Dragon Lands, where the dragons and other creatures lives, and many more. He also told them that there were changelings, griffins, yaks, and all sorts of species on the planet, in fact Ponyville, where he lived, was the center of friendship, as in it was where races wouldn't have to worry about discrimination or racism, something that was due to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the Elements of Harmony. Starswirl's ears perked when he heard that information, as he recalled meeting them at some point and it seemed like they had managed to do what many others had thought to be an impossible task, especially since befriending Discord was seen as impossible and one had succeeded in doing so.

Spike also went on to explain that they had set up an area for the portals that connected to the worlds that the Displaced had been sent to, or at least those who came back and didn't stay in their new worlds, meaning they would have to set one up in the Polaris Galaxy, which Ratchet and the others could help find a position for.

"Also, Starswirl, you might want to prepare yourself for the arrival of some scholars... they'll be ecstatic when they hear that you've returned, given all the knowledge you might have." Spike commented, as he knew that Twilight, for example, would have had a heart attack in this situation, or she would have screamed in joy before rushing up to the figure, though he also knew he would have been the same, had he and his siblings not crossed paths with a certain someone, "You're quite famous in this world, as 'Starswirl the Bearded', one of the greatest magic users in the entire world, who joined forces with the rest of the Pillars to do many great things."

"Yes, my friends are going to be quite envious of my restored youth," Starswirl remarked, as he had been the oldest of the six members of their group, seven counting Stygian, who brought them together to face the Sirens, so he was expecting one or two of them to be upset over his youth being restored, before he considered something, "Tell me, Spike, why haven't you overreacted to who I am? I mean, you seem like a scholar, as well as a mage..."

"It's because he's matured over the years... plus, he's encountered and has been trained by one of the greatest heroes of our world: my father, Malefor, the first purple dragon." Cynder stated, where she recalled how Spike had acted when he and his siblings first encountered her father, after a battle for the fate of their world no less, an event that would allow him to grow in power and gave him a chance to actually figure out which tales were false and which were true, only to discover that all of them had been true, "If you want a full rundown on everything my father has done over his long life, from fighting the Dark Master to destroying the Destroyer, than ask Spike... he'll talk your ears off for hours on end."

"While that sounds like fun, there are places we have to visit and old friends we have to see." Autumn said, though while she had no idea that Starswirl was so famous, in fact she had never known that before they were sent to Veldin so they could grow up with Ratchet, she also knew that he was more interested in seeing the world before worrying about what the next few days held in store for them.

Spike nodded his head as he glanced back for a moment, as Aphelion, the family ship, had carefully followed them after they used the rift to return to Equus, even though he suspected she could have flown here on her own, which would allow Autumn, Starswirl, and their family to dead out and do whatever they wanted. He, Ember, Spyro, and Cynder had already gotten some confirmation from Alister that they would be joining the universal army so they could deal with the demons when the battle for Equus finally started, and he was sure that people from Solana, Bogon, and Polaris would join in when the time came. As such he handed over a map of the planet, or a copy of what they knew so far, which would help them track down any areas of interest that they wanted to see, especially since it had magical notes to help them out, one of his own creations after studying magic in Spyro's world. It was updated with all the information that was available to him and the other scholars, even though there were dragons out there, from the lands of Spyro's world, who were exploring and adding new information every day, so they were always learning new things with every discovery.

Rivet quickly discovered why their new friends were fine with them bringing Aphelion, her father's ship as Ratchet told her and Kit, because there were a few crystalline ships from Azeroth hanging above the planet, reinforcements that were now on their way back to their own home planet. Ratchet shared her shock, as they were used to there being three galaxies, as no one had found any others, but this told them that their universe was more massive than they thought, especially since they had no idea what the other Displaced were up to. With the likes of the Draenei and Eredar joining the alliance of the worlds that were banding together to deal with the demonic threat, and there were all sorts of races doing the same thing, there was no telling how many galaxies there actually were anymore, something they would have to look into after making sure Rivet's planets were safe. He didn't doubt Lady Sunset's rather insane powers, since they were unlike what he and everyone else had seen from Starswirl and Autumn, but, since some of the people on those planets were important to his sister, he felt that checking on them was the correct move, once his siblings were done with their home planet.

Autumn picked out the first destination, a village located in a forest that was at the edge of the map, where they found all sorts of ponies that resembled her, as they had bushier manes that wrapped around their heads, slightly longer ears, all of them had curved branch-like horns on their heads, scaly carapaces on their muzzles and backs, thin tails, and tufted cloven hooves.

These were the Kirin, Autumn's people, and while they were surprised by her appearance, since she was now the only one of them who stood on two legs, they were overjoyed to find that she was just fine, as one day Autumn went out and never returned, to the point where Rain Shine, their leader, went out to find her. She asked them where Rain was and found that she was now missing, in fact the ponies they had asked had no information on her whereabouts, as if she had just gone out for a walk and simply never returned, but none of them had found anything in the forest. Ratchet and Rivet glanced at each other for a moment, as Angela and the others were back outside Ponyville as they chatted with the residents about what to do next, and knew that if Rain Shine was missing it meant she was likely one of the Displaced, one that not even Spike or the others had any useful information on. Even with that in mind Autumn and Starswirl asked the Kirin about Rain and what she had been doing before her disappearance, just in case there was any other information to be gained, before asking Aphelion to scan the forest for any other Kirin, since her boosted systems could do it with ease, only to find that all Kirins were in the village.

Autumn planned on coming back in the next few days, as there was so much she wanted to catch up on with those who were still in the village, but she also promised that she'd ask about Rain Shine, since Spike and those in Ponyville had to know something, and even if they didn't she would do everything in her power to find their leader.

After that they returned to Ponyville and Starswirl found a special group hanging out nearby, with a buff stallion who was more like a warrior, an elderly looking unicorn mare with a flowing mane and tail, a pegasus wearing silver armor that was designed to light for his speed, a pegasus mare who looked like she came from a desert based on her attire, and an earth pony mare whose hair was done up. These five were the other Pillars of Old Equestria: Rookhoof, the Element of Strength; Mistmane, the Element of Beauty; Flash Magnus, the Element of Bravery; Somnambula, the Element of Hope; and Mage Meadowbrook, the Element of Healing, while Starswirl himself had stood as the Element of Sorcery with them. They were, of course, surprised to find that he was fine and, more importantly, that while he had retained his memories, thanks to Spike's aid in the matter, he was far younger than they remembered him being, which could be considered unfair in the grand scheme of things. Stygian, who had brought them together to defeat the Sirens, was absent, as he was an author these days, writing their adventures down into actual books for all of Equestria to read from, and Mage informed him that Spike had a copy of each book, confirming his scholar status once more.

He had new stories to tell them, everything that he did with his new family and friends since it was clear that his older friends really had no idea what had happened to him, and he would do so in due time, though for now he had a few things he had to do with Ratchet, Rivet, and the others, causing them to smile as they looked forward to what the future held for them and all of their friends.