//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: The Origin Chronicles Vol. 2 
// by SmokeShadow95 
//------------------------------//

	A year passed after the fall of the Anti-Spike. His reign of Darkness ended before it ever really began. Spike and Luna lead the ponies back in victory. The Madness ended, and the Darkness was avoided. It was truly a happy time, but there were still scars left that had to heal. A lot had happened to a lot of ponies. Even though a year had passed, some of those scars were still felt. 

In each of the cities a center was set up for the ponies returning from the corrupting influences of the ooze. Whether it was Madness that took them, Darkness, or both they were well taken care of. 
Everypony was affected. Some more than others, but many still shared the same basic symptoms. Nightmares were the worst. Luna did the best she could to curb the tide of scared ponies, but she was just one Princess. Spike toured the cities and counseled the ponies on overcoming the nightmares, but it was more than that. Cold sweats, anxiety, outbursts of anger from normally calm ponies. These also plagued the returned. It took almost that whole year for them to integrate back into the societies they were taken from. But they were far from the only ones feeling the scars. 

Rarity felt the sting of old scars not as well as some of the others, but hers ran a bit deeper. Many of the citizens from many of the towns and cities across Equestria were taken. Many of them saw the inside of that fortress. Many of them saw Rarity, and not the nice version of her. But many of the ponies were turned, so why was Rarity singled out? For the very fact the she wasn't. She never did change. The ooze never truly effected her, but she had to play like it did. Seeing that side of her, knowing that it existed made a lot of ponies very uncomfortable. Whereas the corrupted ponies were under the ooze's control Rarity acted on her own. The ponies understood and thanked her for her role in stopping the Madness, but she still got wary glances as she walked through Ponyville. She tried to hide it, but she felt the sting nonetheless. 

Shining Armor was also scarred, but not from any ooze, or Madness. No, his soul was scarred. Yes, he was taken by the Madness and Spike pulled it out of him. His wife helped him through that. It really wasn't that big of a deal to him. But when Spike stared him down at the fortress, and told him to run, to flee. That moment stuck with him. When he drifted to sleep nightmares tormented him. Ponies screaming and flailing as the dark tendrils rose up to take them. And him running away, leaving behind all those ponies. It never left him. Never. 

Life never really was the same for anypony after that year. Everything had changed. Almost everypony across Equestria was now aware that evil was out there, true evil. Most of them were well aware that monsters existed, and there were dark beings like Discord used to be, or even Nightmare Moon. But now they knew that something worse had one existed, and they feared something like that ever happening again. But even throughout that year, not everything was bad. There were many joyous moments as well. 

Let's talk about love. Spike and Luna. They had finally admitted their feeling to one another, and tragedy seemed their fate on more than one occasion. However, love won out over all and they ended up in each others arms nearly every night of that year. Together they traveled from city to city, from town to town, helping as many ponies as they could along the way. They would only leave once they were certain they had helped as many as they could. As time went on rumors about them started to spread. Rumors of rings and gowns and bells. They vehemently denied them, but they were rumors and they spread like an infestation of parasprites in a small town. At least they weren't the only ones. 

Discord. Fluttershy. Their feelings went even farther back than Spike and Luna's. Discord had only said it out loud for the first time recently. To save Fluttershy, to bring her back from the brink of being lost forever. At least, that is what Spike said. Truth be told Discord never was sure if that true, or if Spike was just trying to get him to spill his guts to Fluttershy. Either way, she was back in his arms and he was happy, so it didn't really matter.
Those two spent the year traveling as well. The first few months they stayed in Ponyville and looked after the animals Discord airdropped in to save Fluttershy in the first place. She was mad at him for that at first, but forgave him as was her kind nature. Once they were through with that they moved on to other parts of Equestria. Nopony really realized how the animals of the land were affected until Fluttershy brought it up. Her and Discord traveled and helped the animals. It made her happy, and that made Discord happy. That was all they needed, but even they didn't escape the gossip as ponies started to talk about them. 
Apparently they wanted to see a wedding between them, too. Fluttershy blushed and got red whenever she was asked about it. She was shy to begin with and this made he remember why she got along better with animals. Luckily, she had a Spirit of Chaos to poof in and rescue her when she needed it. The one rumor that rose above the rest was an unusual one, though. Both couples heard it often, and it was certainly strange. It grew to become a popular matter of debate. 

“Which couple is the better power couple?”

After the fall of the Darkness young filly Flake Frost returned home. She hadn't been back in quite a while and she missed it. The farm was empty for a while, though, as her mom was recovering from the Madness that took a while back. Papa Frost spent most of his time with her, which made her feel better. And with Flake there as well she recovered quickly and they all returned to the farm as a family, give or take a few brothers. 
Later on that year, as winter was picking up Flake got quite the surprise as Princess Cadence and Shining Armor invited her to the Crystal Palace. They gave her a medal, and a key to the city and all that. She even got a small statue close to Crystal Palace. It was a grand celebration. The first one of the year. Many important ponies were in attendance. All the Princess's were there as well as Spike, of course. They cheered her on and gave her praise. Spike even gave a nice speech and told a few stories that embarrassed her a bit. It was a good day. It was on that day that many ponies realized that they were going to be okay, that no matter what happened they could come back from it.

Some other, smaller things happened. Research into the history of Equestria got a surge in interest as ponies from all over scrambled to find out as much as they could about the land they lived in. Many wanted to learn for the sake of defense. They worried about the dangers of another like the ooze and wanted to be prepared. Others were just interested, or wanted in it for the money or glory that could potentially be found. Whatever the reason Equestria's history got a new look over. 
Another area that found new interest was exploration. This was always a unique area for its mix of serious adventurers and Daring Do wannabes. Ever since stories started going about all the hidden parts of Equestria ponies were eager to go out of their way to find such a place. They wanted their name in the history their neighbors were looking into. Even Spike had to admit the draw of adventure still had a bit of a hold on him, but Luna wouldn't let him out of her sight long enough. 

“Luna, we should do something,” Spike said one day, as they climbed into their bed. 

“Like what?” Luna asked, “Go on a grand adventure, or have that wedding everypony is talking about?”

Spike laughed with her, “You know some pony today asked me if we had set a date yet. This rumor is getting out of control.”

Luna rest her head on his chest. She liked the feel of his scales, the soft rhythm of his breathing. She found it soothing to have him so close to her all the time. She closed her eyes and let herself start drifting away. 

“Maybe we should do something,” Luna mumbled, “For just the three of us.”

“Yeah,” Spike said. A moment later his eyes snapped open. “Wait, what? Three of us?”