Opaline felt her senses return one by one. She first felt the carpet underneath her, then the light smoky smell detected by her nostrils, and as her eyes slowly opened, she heard and saw the flickering flames in the fireplace she was laying in front of.

Then, lastly, the warmth that the fire brought.

She must have let out a soft groan, or began moving as she woke up, because immediately there was a hoof on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Sunny Starscout standing over her, smiling gently, before bringing the tip of her hoof to her mouth, a silent gesture to keep quiet. The alicorn quickly discovered why, as she turned to see Misty positively passed out on the couch.

“Come over to the kitchen, I’ve got some soup on the stove,” Sunny whispered, before stepping away, letting her roll and slowly get to her feet.

After she looked at the sleeping Misty again, she turned her head further to see her cutie mark on her flank, saw that the ethereal peytral had vanished, then finally turned back to the kitchen. As she made her way across the small foyer to the dining table, the smell of the fireplace was replaced by the inviting aroma of the broccoli cheddar soup that Sunny ladled into a bowl, added a spoon, then took it over to the dining table where Opaline had sat down.

“We found you on the roof of CanterLogic, and brought you back here. You’ve been sleeping for over a day. Your stomach’s been grumbling for hours, I was surprised you didn’t wake up sooner,” Sunny told her, her voice a little louder now that they were across the lighthouse from the sleeping unicorn.

Opaline took the spoon, full of soup, in her magical grasp, and brought it up to her mouth and sipped. It was delicious.

“Th-thank you, Sunny. I’m… I’m sorry, I simply don’t know what else to say yet,” Opaline told her host.

“You’ve got plenty of company in that regard. I’m not saying we’re all going to be able to forget what you tried to do months ago… But I also won’t deny that I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t shown up, and that it’s thanks to you that we’re all still here.”

“You’re only one pony, and your friends, only five more. I’m sure there are quite a lot more out there that will remain unconvinced, especially if the storm and the ice the Windigos brought didn’t leave this region,” Opaline countered, as she continued sipping at the hearty soup.

“Well, you may not have as much of an ‘Apology Tour’ to go on as you think. More than a few ponies saw what you did, and a good number of them recorded the entire thing on their phones. ‘Opaline Arcana Saves Maretime Bay’ is currently trending #1 on ClipTrot, according to Pipp,” Sunny continued, before glancing over at Misty softly snoring on the couch over by the blazing fireplace.

“She never left your side since we put you in front of the fire.”

Opaline felt another pang of regret for her past actions.

“There’s so much I can’t explain. From the moment I emerged from the ruins of my castle, my cutie mark had a mind of its own, leading me to each of those ‘echoes’ of the alicorns of the past. The journey took weeks, and I didn’t sleep, or eat, nor even feel the need to… Until now.”

Opaline couldn’t stand on ceremony any longer, took the bowl of soup in her magic, and put the rim to her lips, and began to gulp it down. Sunny smiled gently; if anything, she took it as both a compliment to her cooking, and was also understanding that whatever supernatural condition the alicorn had been under, it was gone, and she was likely starving. She finished what remained in the bowl in four gulps, before setting the bowl back down on the table, and set the spoon in it.

“And now…” Opaline paused, glancing down at her flank, and the cutie mark on it. “Now I’ve got what I had been longing for ever since emerging from the ruins. So… Now what?”

Sunny couldn’t get a chance to answer before they both heard Misty stir over in the living room. The unicorn yawned, stretched, then immediately sat up when she saw that Opaline was no longer in front of the fire place. Her eyes wide, she immediately started frantically looking around until she saw the earth mare and alicorn over in the kitchen.

“You’re finally awake!” Misty said, hopping off the couch and trotting across the foyer to the kitchen. “Are you alright?”

Opaline couldn’t meet Misty’s gaze for more than a moment, before her eyes fell back to the dining table. Sunny could tell her shame and regret was still eating at her inside.

“I’m going to go check on Hitch and the others, and see how they’re doing with our other problem. I get the feeling you two need some time alone,” Sunny told them. With that, the earth mare made her way over to the front doors, and left Misty and Opaline alone as she exited and headed down the hill.

“Come on, I think you could use some fresh air,” Misty told Opaline, wanting to lighten the mood a bit and not outright tell her she looked sick to her stomach, waving her over as she made her way over to the elevator.

Slowly, Opaline took a deep breath, then got to her hooves, and followed the unicorn mare over to the lift. They both got on, and Misty tapped the button to take them to the top floor. Opaline was silent for the brief ride up, but she found the fresh air blowing across the top floor of the lighthouse refreshing and inviting, glancing up at the Unity Crystals momentarily before walking out to the exterior, leaning on the railing as she looked out at Maretime Bay, and the coast and rolling hills on either side.

“According to Hitch and Sprout, the ice and water damage was minor to moderate, especially down at the Boardtrot, and in town, a few burst pipes, but nopony was hurt, thankfully,” Misty told her.

Opaline gazed down at the shoreline, spotting Sunny as she headed down to the beach and went along the cliffside, to whatever their ‘other problem’ was that she was referring to. Off nearly against the horizon, a construction crew was inspecting the roof of the large building at the top of the hill to the east.

Misty must have seen her shudder once again.

“Are you alright?” The unicorn asked gently.

The alicorn lowered her head and began to weep softly.

“No… No, Misty I am not alright. I have been wrong… All this time… My entire life. My entire outlook on life has been wrong. So much time, so many centuries, wasted. That’s not time I can get back.”

Misty came up to her at the railing overlooking southern Maretime Bay and the western shoreline

“No, you can’t. But there’s nothing wrong with starting over, even after all this time. I know that can be scary, believe me I know, but it’s a lot less scary…”

Misty paused to lean over and wrap her front legs around Opaline.

“...When you don’t do it alone.”

Misty felt Opaline’s form shudder as she embraced the Alicorn, and slowly, Opaline brought a foreleg up to return the hug.

“I’m sorry, Misty. I’m so, so sorry…” Opaline whimpered.

Misty tightened the embrace.

“I forgive you, Opaline. You’re not alone anymore.”

Author's Note