Aftermath, the Epilogue.

My feelings aren't important right now, I've spent the last few hours trying to comfort Hulthemia, It seems like everything's happened so fast, it escalated so quickly but... I guess that's life.
We left the throne room not long after it happened, we sat in the gardens, it's calmer out here.

I have quite a lot to think about so I guess that's what I'll focus on while Hulthemia rests.
First of all is the 'celestial essence', we found it not far from the throne room, it was some kind of strange glowing liquid kept in a creepy-looking cauldron, the cauldron was almost empty when we got there, not much essence left, not that it matters.

Turns out it was all a dirty trick after all, celestial essence isn't a cure for The Pestilence, Florentina probably made it up to mess with me further, she seemed to like doing that...
The essence wasn't useless though, it had an incredible affect on Hulthemia's magic, making it way stronger than before, it seemed to heal us somehow as well, it doesn't cure the disease but it seems to have slowed the infection at least a little.

Another thing worth mentioning is my new cutie mark, some kind of shield thing, I'm thinking it's related to how I helped Hulthemia realise her own cutie mark has more meaning than she thought... I could be totally wrong though, cutie marks are confusing.

I'm not really sure what to do now, we've just been sitting here for ages, it's still the middle of the night... we're getting tired.

It's not long before I realise I'm waking up, I guess I was bound to fall asleep eventually, not much I can do to avoid that.
"Apple Bloom... we need to talk about my magic..." Hulthemia is already up, I guess she woke up a while ago.
We did exactly what she suggested, we talked about her magic and her cutie mark.
Florentina and Hulthemia somehow both had the ability to control The Pestilence, she says it's somehow connected to their cutie marks, some kind of unique magic they were both destined to have.

Florentina's cutie mark is pretty obvious, the dead rose symbolises her ability to spread The Pestilence, through magic and touch. Hulthemia's is the exact opposite, a vibrant and healthy white rose, but she has similar magic, the capability to accelerate and intensify the effects of the disease, she can't spread it but she can affect what's already there, which leads me to the question I want to ask her the most.

"I... Hulthemia, have you ever tried using your magic in... a different way?"
"What do you mean... different?"
"Well, I'm just thinking... why would your cutie mark be of a healthy flower if you can only make the disease worse? It's a total guess and stuff but, maybe if you can make it worse, you can also make it better?"

She seems to think to herself about my hypothesis for a while, perhaps unsure of what I mean. It doesn't take long for Hulthemia to look towards me and speak, "I... guess it wouldn't hurt to try at least?"
She stands and walks to the other side of the garden, the place is full of long dead hedges, Hulthemia reaches out towards the plant with her hoof.

Hulthemia places her hoof on the side of the hedge, closing her eyes, seemingly focusing on her magic. A few seconds pass and something incredible happens, there're a few sparks of life, then the grey colour starts to fade.
After only ten seconds of focusing her magic, a large portion of the hedge has had its natural green colour return to it.

I was right after all, Hulthemia's ability of altering the disease's affects can be used to make it better, not just worse!
This whole experience has given me something really difficult to think about,
what is a cutie mark, why do we get them and why did a cutie mark like Florentina's exist? A strange mark with the power to cause so much harm...
Are there more 'bad' cutie marks out there, was it even bad to begin with... or perhaps Florentina simply hadn't understood her cutie mark, using it for something it wasn't meant for?
Was it possible for her cutie mark to be used for good like Hulthemia's?
I guess these questions will never be truly answered, I'm definitely going to be giving them some more thought though.

Hulthemia is looking towards me now, she speaks carefully, "I... Apple Bloom, I want to try using my magic... to help you"
She seems unsure, probably nervous this new power might not work properly.
I step towards her, smiling confidently, I know she can do it, she's amazing!
It actually doesn't take that long, I almost can't believe how easy it was! she places her hoof on mine, focusing on her magic, a few minutes later and I can see the results.
The greyness infecting me begins to recede and eventually, fade entirely.
I'm cured.

I guess that means the whole 'end of the world' thing is over?
Not that she can just go travelling around Equestria poking everything better, but's it's good to know for the first time, we have a real solution to The Pestilence.

I've heard plenty of stories about the old Equestria from Granny Smith, maybe life will never go back to 'normal' but it finally seems to be capable of getting better.
I'm not sure what we'll do next, Hulthemia seems to be interested in visiting the farm but honestly, the whole living in a castle thing is sounding pretty cool right about now.

Whatever happens now, I'm glad we're friends.
Bye, Granny, I hope you know Equestria's finally going to start healing.

Author's Note

I guess that's the end of the story!
Not perfect, that's to be expected from a first try.

I had fun writing this though, I hope someone found it at least a little interesting.
I have plans for a prequel story focusing on Princess Florentina's story.
Not sure when I'll get around to writing that but I plan to at some point!