//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Random Elements 
// by Stryke 
//------------------------------//

	Lyra was trotting homewards through the night-time streets of Ponyville. Of course it was always night-time these days in all of Equestria, but it was currently late into the evening going by the clock on the town hall. The streets of the town that she’d made her home were far more crowded than normal. Pretty much everypony had been out to see the magic show and were now filtering out from the main square and back to their own homes. It had been a genuinely good night out, as everypony who had been to see it would agree. The pegasus magician had weaved the illusion of being a real spell caster with both flair and consummate skill. Her assistant, while clearly nervous initially, had quickly warmed up and had dazzled in backup with some truly impressive tricks of her own. Course that outfit of hers hadn’t hurt at all either, thought Lyra with a grin on her face as she trotted on home. 

She could just do without the sense of unbearable smugness that was floating around the back of her mind.

“I suppose you’re happy then,” Lyra said quietly to herself, so no other pony would hear.

Very much so, Lyra Heartstrings, the voice in her head whispered back. Lyra couldn’t see who was speaking, but she could tell that she was smiling anyway.

It was still risky. She could have got herself killed casting such an uncontrollable spell with nowhere near enough magic. Let alone whatever could have happened to her while she was gone, Lyra thought back reproachfully. It was a sore point for her which she’d raised often, even if she did understand why it had been necessary.

We did help her, remember? Alone she would have had no chance to create more than a few sparks of the spell, even after we’d provided her the book. And without it we would have been stuck with knowing the identity of just the one and now we know all six. You remember what a fluke it was that we even discovered the bearer of Kindness.

Lyra had to admit that was true. If she hadn’t have spotted the connection between the anonymous good deeds being done throughout the town and the illusive recluse in the old library they could have been still searching for their first bearer now. Then she’d had an unwelcome passenger in her head for nearly a year now so she wasn’t in the mood to be charitable. 

And now she and the bearer of Joy are together creating a new bond of harmony. The rest will surely follow now that they all know each other and the dawn will come again. All we need to now is wait, and see.

You’re loving this aren’t you, thought Lyra. Why you couldn’t have ended up in Moondancer’s head...

The voice in her head laughed musically. You were closer and I didn’t exactly have a great deal of time did I? Poor Luna, I do wonder if she’ll ever work it out. 

Lyra knew full well that’d been the only option not that it made it any easier to bear. A full-on fight would have devastated most, if not all, of Equestria, so this really had been the only way. It’d just been chance that she’d been visiting her parents near the palace in Canterlot at the time and had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lyra looked upwards to the familiar mare-in-the-moon hanging in the night sky. She knew that she was never going to get entirely used to the idea that her mental lodger’s body could be way up there, but not her actual self which was a heck of a lot closer. 

So are we going to be seeing Bonbon tonight?

The mint-green unicorn blushed hard. It was tricky enough charting the course of a still relatively new relationship without having a many millennia old princess with far too many ‘helpful’ suggestions whispering away from the back of your head.

Yes, I think we will. Lyra thought back completely unable to hide the bashful smile at what she’d be doing later. Even with somepony else constantly looking out from out behind her eyes that couldn’t bring her down. She was in love, the sun would rise again, and it was all going to be as the princess had promised. Everything was going to be alright.