I sat upright, throwing off blankets.
“Derpy!”
Twilight stuck her head into the entrance of the cavern. “You’re awake!”
“Where is Derpy?”
She walked over and sat down next to me. “She’s fine. Still sleeping. You’ve both been in and out of it for several days.”
I looked around the cave. It was small, seemingly carved out by water rushing down from a hole in the ceiling near the back. The sandy floor was cool to the touch, and the breeze blowing in made me shiver. It was dark outside.
I tried to stand up, but my stiff limbs caused me to fall back into a crouch. I was especially sore where I had been stabbed by Dissonance—the hole was still visible in the center of my sweatshirt, ringed by an especially dark bloodstain that contrasted with the rest of them.
I took a deep breath, feeling winded already. “Take me to her.”
“Please,” I added hastily.
Twilight nodded, her face solemn.
She headed out into the gloom with me close behind. It was evening, the sun having already descended below the horizon. A chill wind blew down from the Eastern Mountains which towered overhead and to our right. The clearing we were in was dotted with lean-tos and rudimentary shelters. Ponies and griffons mingled, though there was little conversation among their ranks.
“This way,” Twilight said over her shoulder, leading me to another cave at the bottom of a shallow incline.
She waited outside the entrance, watching me as I stuck my head in. This cave was even smaller than the one I woke up in. Lily was sleeping with her head resting on a pile of blankets, moss peeking out from beneath the edges of the mound. Twilight gently placed a hoof on my shoulder.
“I need to check in with the perimeter guard, I’ll only be gone a moment.” With that, she left me with the two sisters.
I walked in and sat down on the other side of the bed from Lily. Only the top of Derpy’s head was visible, but the subtle rise and fall of the blankets said everything I would have asked.
I leaned over, planting a gentle kiss on the top of her head. It was my own way of tying up loose ends, I suppose.
As I sat back, I saw Lily watching me, with a faint smile and tears in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered. I didn’t know what to say, so I simply nodded.
I noticed that her wings were bound to her, tied with bandages that held them immobile. None of us remained unscathed, but we were alive. That was all that mattered.
After meeting up with Twilight and her five friends by a firepit outside, they filled me in on the details: Rainbow Dash had found safe harbor over the mountains, in a place they called the “Badlands”. Twilight recalled the place it from an old adventure she undertook with her sister-in-law and Discord; it surprised me to hear him mentioned without resentment.
The Badlands weren’t the nicest place to call home, but they were defensible, contained several sources of clean water, and most importantly they would place many miles between the ponies and the looming threat of Dissonance’s army. On her way back, Rainbow Dash encountered the griffons, who offered their assistance after hearing of the mutual enemies that Equestria faced.
The Diamond Dogs weren’t completely defeated in the battle; a sizable amount survived, falling back to regroup with Dissonance at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Before Twilight rejoined the evacuation, the other Elements of Harmony were staring down the remnants of the Dogs and Dissonance, who were blocking their escape.
Just when another skirmish seemed inevitable, Dissonance's head suddenly snapped up, his eyes fixed on someplace deep within the forest. A moment later he snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving behind the Dogs, who weren’t particularly keen on reengaging the ponies without their leader.
Rainbow Dash knew something was wrong, so when Twilight returned she took a band of Pegasi and griffons in the direction Dissonance had been interested in, coming upon the Rainbow Refuge within minutes of me blacking out. Lily had singlehoofedly kept Dissonance at bay, and when he saw the others approaching, he decided to cut his losses and run.
Lily had been hurt, badly. Most of the magical essence in the pool had been used in keeping Derpy and I alive, so before Lily’s wounds could be addressed, she had to limp back with her Pegasi escort to the makeshift campsite that served as a temporary outpost. There were still many wounded ponies, and many who had lost loved ones—the days before I awoke had been spent bandaging injuries and grieving.
They made plans to carry on to the Badlands after spending another day or two recovering from the blow they had been dealt, but despite the pain that still burdened the ponies, I saw something else spreading among them.
As they gathered around the fire that night—some munching on salvaged baked treats and others nursing healing potions prepared by Zecora—it became an itch at the back of my mind. I saw the gloom fall away as old friends struck up new conversations.
The laughter began slowly and tentatively at first, but then favorite jokes were retold, and it erupted into carefree guffaws that rolled out into the night. The noise awoke a nest of phoenixes, who chirped at the ponies harshly from their perch in the boughs of a massive willow tree, but instead of quieting down the ponies began to cheer.
“From the ashes! From the ashes!”
That night, they celebrated their victory. At the fringes of the firelight, the gryphons and ponies on guard couldn’t help but grin, as they watched the impromptu celebration of life. The big red stallion with the orange mane started to dance by the fire with a purple mare, and within a minute dozens of ponies joined them, twirling around one another as the rest kept a beat with their hooves.
While I watched them dance, Lily and Derpy emerged from their cave. They came over and sat down on either side of me, in the midst of the Elements of Harmony, soaking up the festivities with me in silence. Bandaged in similar fashion to her sister, Derpy rested her head upon my shoulder, causing the intangible itch to manifest itself. It was a feeling I had nearly forgotten after so many long and lonely years.
Hope.