Months passed before any degree of normalcy returned to Canterlot, Ponyville, or Equestria. Seeing as it was my return to fame, many journalists had been a part of the crowd. Most if not all of them later went on and published stories about the return of Eyn Spyyr. Investigations were eventually drawn from the publications and the mass graves of the North were discovered. Remains of women and children piled together with the rest of the ancient skeletons of the time. It was only a matter of time before the griffins built a monument. Vinyl and I decided to visit it. A large statue of a wingless, missing leg alicorn stood on the top of a large platform, his face heavily burned with the written inscription.
“Here lie the poor souls of the Northern Kingdom Massacre, a war crime committed by the Fourth King of the Fifth Dynasty Griffins. This Monument lies in memory of those lost and for the soul who sacrificed his life for his story to be heard, Eyn Spyyr, True Prince of the Northern Kingdom.”
As I stared at his statue, I couldn’t help but smile and nod at it.
“I’m glad you got what you wanted, Eyn, even if you aren’t here to enjoy it.” I spoke to the base of the statue. A breeze blew through the trees, tossing my mane around. I enjoyed humoring myself that it was Eyn’s way of saying thanks.
Celestia eventually came out, with a few cuts still on her lip as she recounted the tales of the days of Eyn’s life. Controversy was inevitable as ponies and griffins looked at Eyn as a villain and an evil force, one that had attempted to take over the kingdom through force. Amid all the opposition a large support group still existed, though most were silent. I stood among them. The events were talked about heavily at first like any major event, but as the days rolled by and the investigations dwindled, it became history like the rest of the events, managing to get a day for everypony to remember his life and sacrifice.
Amid Vinyl’s joking, we did in fact receive the funds for the concert. We bought out a nearby warehouse as Vinyl constructed a large antenna and all of the machinery inside to broadcast our station out to Equestria. It started rocky with plenty of short circuits, but eventually Vinyl had the electronics figured out with a far more electrified hairstyle. I kept the building clean and cooked for her, helping where I could. I hoped the radio station would give enough funds to buy a new cello since the funds we had went for the radio. Vinyl promised me she would help with buying it. I couldn’t help but smile.
I walk around the newly designed radio station. Some of the wires still hung out of the ceiling, but for the most part, the building is finished. Vinyl even sent out the first signals, playing some of her old music to draw in fans and listeners so we could begin receiving royalty checks for our services. The money would be slow at first, but I was patient.
I wake up the next morning and jump out of my new bed in the loft of the radio station. It was much larger than that of the duplex that we had owned before. I trot slowly out of the room and down the stairs to check the mail for the royalty checks this week. Opening the door, a package greets my eye. It is wrapped in brown paper and has a shape that makes my heart jump. I look around the vicinity in hopes that the mail mare was still around, but no pony is visible. I turn to the gift, lift it onto my back and take it inside before looking around it. A single tag existed.
“From: A friend. To: Octavia.
Thank you for your assistance. I’m sorry for the delay.”
I tear the paper from the smooth and reflective wood of the cello underneath. A fresh bow with white string sits to the side of it. The quality of the wood staggers many cellos in even the largest of orchestras. I smell it and find the natural perform heart stopping and aromatic. I pluck one of the strings to find it terribly out of tune. I sigh to myself. Fairy tale endings didn’t seem to be on the menu today.
I take my time in the morning, tuning the new instrument until it sang with a resonant beauty that always warms my heart. The days of its noise being away had been painful, but the spare had served its purpose, letting me at least compose a few new songs. It was only as I placed the cello on my old stand that I notice a piece of paper inside of the body. I pull it out and notice the writing on the back of it.
“Read the newspaper today.” I read.
Turning to the side table, I pick up the paper I had blindly tossed to the side before tuning my cello and look at the front page. Sitting on the front page was a picture of Luna and an armored pony smiling and standing close to each other. I look closer at the picture and at the guard standing next to her. I read the title of the picture: “Princess Luna being courted by Captain of the Night Guard, Rael Ize”.
I stare at the Captain of the Night Guard and notice his eyes and smile. I had seen it before, but it couldn’t be the same pony. This pony was a unicorn and he didn’t have large metal wings or a missing leg. I shook my head, but I scrutinized the gift, the note, and the planning involved.
“It can’t be.” I pull the paper closer to my face, but after some time of looking, I can only smile. How could I know what couldn’t and could be. Eyn had proven to me that anything and everything was possible. I shared the smile of the young Eyn Spyyr standing on the front page in a new body.
“What can’t be?” Vinyl’s groggy voice emerges from the stairs to the loft as she trots down the stairs.
“A gift from a friend.” I nod toward the new cello sitting in the corner and smile.
“Dang, Octavia. Some pony must really dig you. Would make me jealous if they had a chance.” She winks before kissing me on the cheek and jumping on the table next to me, pulling the newspaper over to her side and looking at the front page. “Would you look at that, Luna seems happy.”
“She deserves it. Everypony deserves to find their special somepony at some point.” Even if she was only being reunited with him, or at least somepony that looked like him. I couldn’t be sure, but the thought of him somehow surviving death made me smile more as I leaned back in the chair.
“You’re happy this morning. Is it because the cello?” Vinyl asks, sticking her tongue out.
“Partially.” I chuckle. “I just feel really good about myself, maybe a little less,” I pause as I try to find the right words, “Serious.” I chuckle warmly.
“We can send out our first harmonic song tonight, live.” Vinyl smirks. “Should we play through your masterpiece all the way through since no pony heard the ending to it?”
I think about it for a few before I nod in agreement. “I think everypony deserves an ending.”
---
Meanwhile in another part of Ponyville, a green blue pony stares out her window toward the Everfree.
“Are you just going to keep staring out that window or are you going to help me. You’ve been acting so weird since that crazy concert Octavia had.” Bonbon mentions.
“Yeah, I’ll help when I get back. I need to check something.” Lyra speaks slowly.
“Make it quick I guess. I really need your help with this order.”
“Yes, hon.” Lyra wraps a scarf around her neck as she walks out in the cool September air.
She walks along the path to the Everfree. Her face is focused and stern as her pace is quick and precise. Breaking the tree line, the unicorn trots off the beaten path and emerges on the alcove where Bonbon had first found her.
“I remember.” Lyra turns to a bunch of trees, her memory racing. “I came from there…” She walks toward it and pushes through the tight trees until a collection of boulders emerged.
Lyra walks around it a few times before pushing one of the rocks to the side revealing a dark passageway that carved into the ground below her. Without hesitation she climbs through it, generating light with her horn until the tight passageway opened to a larger cavern. The walls glittered with gems and gold, but the large cracks along the wall made her move quietly and cautiously through the cavern’s innards. A small passage way led to another cavern where two forms came into view.
Two ponies locked in time stood with spells both being launched from their horns and colliding in the center. Lyra gazed at both of them with a smile on her face as all of her lost memories flooded back into her head. One of the ponies in the room wore a large hat with a long white beard growing off of his chin while the other was cast in a dark shroud with yellow glowing eyes.
“Mom. Dad. It is good to see you. I'm sorry that I'm late.” Lyra nuzzles her nose against Starswirl before walking to Quorra and doing the same.
“It’s been a long time hasn’t it, but it is time to wake up.”