The Monsternomicon, Volumes One and Two. Irusk on Conquest: How to Fully Subjugate Your Enemy. The collected notes and designs regarding warjacks and mechanika gathered by Engines Equestria and Black Anchor Baltimare. Holy texts of Morrow; Menoth; and Cyriss, provided by worshipers of those deities. Information on storm sciences provided by General Adept Sebastian Nemo himself. Painstakingly translated copies of trollkin scrolls and rune stones. Even clandestinely-acquired Thamarite scripture and a copy of The Glorious Rise of the Mighty Lord Carver: In His Own Words, the autobiography (for want of a better word) of the farrow warlord who called himself Lord Carver, Bringer of Most Massive Destruction III, Esquire. All of these works, along with Twilight Sparkle's notes on Cryx and its mechanika; several dossiers on significant people and entities purchased at great cost from a mysterious but quite reliable man going by the (probably false) name of Gavyn Kyle -including a distressingly-detailed account of the life of Princess Celestia herself- and several less noteworthy books and writings were heaped on the table in the center of the Golden Oaks Library. Twilight Sparkle had volunteered for the daunting task of compiling and abridging this massive collection of information to create the Enkhiridion Caenite, a single definitive textbook on all things Caen, so that Equestria would always have a written account of this strange world and its populace.
Twilight had decided to start by eliminating what she absolutely could not include. To this end, she watched calmly as magic fire from her horn burned up her notes on the etching of thrall runes. She would keep every scrap of information that might help a pony fight against the undead, but the knowledge necessary to create them was forbidden. Even if Princess Celestia had not decreed it, Twilight would have been perfectly comfortable being the only pony in all of Equestria's past, present, and future who held the secrets of necromancy and necromechanika. The information on Cryx's unnatural methods of cortex and arc node fabrication would also go. Cygnar had not entrusted the secrets of their arc node technology to Equestria, but a handful of the devices had been salvaged, and the Project Nimbus team was hard at work reverse-engineering them. The few available bits of information on infernalism were included in the pyre of forbidden knowledge. Twilight didn't know if the mysterious, extra-reality entities known as infernals could even be summoned from Equestria's true world, but the horrific crimes required to even attempt it were more than enough to add those rituals to the fire. The information on what small efforts could be made towards protecting one's self from the horrific monsters sent to the mortal realm by the infernals would be kept, however. Next into the flames were a number of Thamar's more morally relativistic writings, most of the scraps allegedly copied from the Librum Mekanecrus, and a few pages of genuinely useless information -some pony had written a five-page essay on the geological implications of the slight differences in colors of sandstone throughout the Bloodstone Marches, which concluded with the declaration that there was no significance at all. Twilight felt no remorse for burning that treatise in the same fire that consumed knowledge of necromancy and infernalism.
With all the forbidden and useless information burned to nothing in all-consuming arcane fire, Twilight dispelled the flames and turned her attention to the infinitely more exciting task of organizing, arranging, and editing the remaining data for maximum readability and informativeness. She set aside Fluttershy's writings on the behavior of Circle Orboros warbeasts, oddly dissonant with its pink ink and heart-dotted 'i's when discussing feral warpwolf packs and the cruel hunting practices of the winter argus. This collection would go into the section on the wild places of Western Immoren, along with Pinkie Pie's surprisingly-thorough collection of trollkin history. The Kalmieri Grimmr would receive special attention there. Twilight wished Pinkie had had the entire Kalmieri related to her, as it was one of the most important events in Western Immoren's entire history, but she was glad to have the story of Horfar Grimmr, which was the most significant part of the saga.
Twilight smiled, rubbing her front hooves together in anticipation of the work ahead. Princess Celestia had entrusted her with this project, and she intended to exceed all expectations.
Princess Celestia herself was visiting the southern-most of the Circle Orboros' ritual sites, checking on the final stage of the Circle's efforts to send Equestria back whence it came. Celestial Fulcrums turned and rotated in the air, watched by their blackclad overseers. More druids surrounded carved stones set into the ground, chanting in low voices as they manipulated the arcane power resonating through the ley line conjunction. Wolds spaced around the perimeter kept watch for any intruders. Mohsar the Desertwalker had returned to watch over the last of the rituals, his sandstone wolds, crafted from the red rocks of the Bloodstone Marches, were scattered among the gray wolds carved from local granite. Mohsar's collection favored wold guardians, which used relatively little wood and rope in their construction. The guardians loomed over the druids and the other wolds, their ram fists at the ready. Celestia herself was flanked by a pair each of Nomads and Talons.
“Everything is proceeding exactly as planned.” Mohsar said. He wasn't making any attempt to assure Celestia, just bluntly stating a fact. “The rituals are being performed satisfactorily, the adjustments are made. Very soon your nation will return to its rightful place, no longer to scar the body of Orboros with its presence.”
“Thank you, Desertwalker,” Celestia replied. “My ponies have found our unplanned visit to Caen enlightening and harrowing in equal measure. The vast majority of them will be truly relieved to be home. Or for their home to be home, I suppose.” Mohsar didn't react to Celestia's weak joke, which amused her. Watching Twilight and her friends glace to one side and chuckle awkwardly never got old, but Mohsar's indifference was a breath of fresh air. Hot, dry, throat-parching desert air, but still.
For a thestral pony, Spring Rain was an early riser. Up at the crack of dusk, she paced the deck of the Fulmen as it drifted lazily over Canterlot. It wasn't long before Royal Guard pegasi started to arrive from towns, cities, and forts all across Equestria, delivering reports on the fighting readiness of their locations. Soon, fewer pegasi arrived, replaced by thestrals. Two of Caen's moons -Spring Rain could never remember their names- rose in the night sky. Princess Luna arrived on her chariot, accompanied as always by rolling clouds and the occasional flash of lightning. The Princess had taken to bringing a supercell everywhere she went, a potential weapon for weather-trained ponies in event of an attack. Given the intelligence failure that had led to Khador's brief occupation of Canterlot Mountain, Luna had the Night Guard in a state of extreme readiness, prepared to engage any enemy the very second they appeared. As a pony who preferred to lead from the front, Luna brought her storm cloud and collection of weaponry everywhere she went.
The Princess approached Spring Rain, her set of magically-levitated armaments diminished somewhat by the donations of mechanika weaponry she had made to Engines Equestria for reverse-engineering.
“Captain Spring Rain,” Luna said calmly.
“Your Majesty,” Spring Rain bowed. “Reports have arrived from all bases. Everything is normal.”
“As normal as they can be, under the circumstances,” Luna commented ruefully.
“Speaking of which, the Circle ritual is proceeding apace. We'll be home soon.”
“I am pleased to hear it.” Luna sighed. “It will be a relief to let these weapons rest. Although I have grown rather fond of my storm cloud.”
“It's grown to quite an impressive size, Princess.” Spring Rain looked up at the cloud with genuine admiration.
“I really should disperse some of it, the Weather Patrol have been complaining.”
“So I've heard. Won't they be the first ones -” Spring Rain was interrupted by a sound a little like the rumble of an earthquake, a bit like a book's page turning, somewhat like the loudest explosion since the world was made, and a lot like a clock tower's bell ringing.
Princess Luna looked up and gave the single moon a gentle, experimental nudge. “Well, that was a little sooner than expected,” Luna said as the moon shifted slightly in the sky.
“Come along, Glam, there's a good steamjack,” Rarity gently prompted her Nomad. It followed obediently behind her, pulling a large cart piled high with gems. “We're nearly back to Ponyville,” Rarity looked over her shoulder. “Goodness, I simply must give you a good scrubbing, you're positively filthy!” Glam snorted steam in agreement, despite only having a thin layer of dust on its lacquered hull.
Glam snorted again as Rainbow Dash dropped from the sky. “Hiya, Rarity! Guess what?”
“Pinkie wants to throw a party for the fourth day in a row?”
Dash gave an exasperated sigh. “Yes,” she confirmed as Glam came to a halt, waiting for its mistress.
“Of course she does,” Rarity said with a sigh of her own. “I understand we've got quite a lot to celebrate, now that Equestria's back where it's supposed to be, but really!”
“Applejack's trying to talk her out of it, so it's the Battle of the Bullheaded over at Sugar Cube Corner. No offense.”
“None taken,” a passing bull affirmed.
“I do believe that Applejack is the less tractable of the two, so perhaps we'll be able to get some work done.”
“We can only hope. Anyway, it's still all hooves on deck for the Weather Patrol, so I'm off!” Without waiting for a reply, Rainbow Dash rocketed into the air.
“You'll get used to her being in a hurry,” Rarity advised Glam. “Have I told you that already? I think I might have told you that already. Oh well, never mind. Off we go!”
“I dunno, I think it's a little anti-climactic is all,” Spike commented, gnawing absentmindedly on a large sapphire. He idly watched as Twilight struggled her way through The Glorious Rise of the Mighty Lord Carver. Not that the book was difficult to read -indeed, Spike made it through the entire thing and only twice needed to ask Twilight what a word meant- but getting through Carver's irrational screed, packed to bursting with his delusions of grandeur, was still not easy. Still, the Enkhiridion Caenite required documentation on the farrow civilization, and Lord Carver's Thornfall Alliance was the most civilized group of farrow there were. 'Civilized' being used in a rather relative way, as it were.
“I don't really know what you were expecting,” Twilight replied, using her magic to create a copy of the paragraph she was reading and stick it to a blank paper atop a large stack of similarly copy-adorned sheets. As an adhesive, unicorn magic was no match for good old-fashioned glue, but the temporary bonds allowed for easy rearrangement.
“Well, maybe some kind of climatic battle against an evil army bent on stopping that magic spell those Circle guys did?”
“Spike, who on Caen would want to do that?”
“Those creepy mecha-zombie guys?”
Twilight's eyelid twitched. “I don't think they knew about it. Besides, I'm pretty sure Equestria's had more than enough battle now.”
“You've got a point.” Spike had not been allowed anywhere near any fighting, but nopony ever seemed happy about it. “What about, like, some dramatic thing where a pony didn't want to come back, or a human wanted to come with us, or something like that? The, uh, heartbreak of obligations to their world?”
“Spike, that is easily the sappiest thing I've ever heard you say,” Twilight said. “Rainbow Dash would scoff.”
“Yeah, yeah, but what would Rarity think?” Spike asked before he could help himself.
Twilight looked directly at Spike for the first time. “You could go ask her if you want,” she said with a small grin.
Spike blushed. “Uh, maybe I won't. I might go for a walk, though. Stretch my legs, get some fresh air. Wanna come along?”
“You know, I think I will.” Twilight set a bookmark into Lord Carver's outstandingly unique book and dropped it unceremoniously on the table. “I could stand to look at something that isn't a book for a while.”
“You're the last pony I ever expected to hear that from,” Spike joked as he opened the door.
“Hardy-har-har, Spike.”
The previous day, Fluttershy had sent some of her animal friends to gather some of their fellow critters for a tea party. The turnout had been most pleasing, as birds, beasts and even bugs had gathered to see their mistress. Angel Bunny, Harry the grizzly bear, and multitudes of fluffy, feathery, and chitinous friends surrounded their butter-colored patron. Celestia and Luna ruled the ponies, but in the animal kingdom, whether she knew it or not, Fluttershy was queen.
“Ah, this is wonderful,” Fluttershy said with a contented sigh. She daintily ate a cookie while Angel munched on a carrot.
Without warning, a gang of wide-eyed, maniacally-grinning Pinkie Pies emerged from the Everfree Forest. “Fun?!” One of the Pinkies Pie asked Fluttershy.
“Fun!” Another declared, gazing eerily into Harry's eyes.
“Fun?! Fun!” Pronounced a third Pinkie as she lunged into the midst of a bluebird family, frightening them into the air. This sort of nonsense went on for several minutes before the herd of Pinkie Pies took their ludicrous rampage in the general direction of Ponyville proper, leaving Fluttershy and the remaining critters to stare in flabbergasted silence at their passing.
Fluttershy was slack-jawed and wide eyed, her wings outspread. Angel quickly enlisted a few quick-recovering ferrets to lift him up so he could push Fluttershy's mouth closed, after which he climbed up to perch on his mistress's snout and look worriedly into her eyes. Suddenly, the pony closed her eyes, raised her head, and inhaled deeply through her nose, prompting Angel to hop atop her head in search of a more stable position, settling with a family of mice into her voluminous mane. Angel knew this clan well, they often found a place in Fluttershy's mane at these sorts of gatherings, and had much respect among their people. They knew well how to avoid Ponyville's cats, and were even rumored to have once escaped the wrath of Opalescence the Great Destroyer.
Angel knew, of course, that only Fluttershy's intervention saved these or any mice from Opalescence, but Fluttershy preferred to keep this quiet out of modestly. For all his flaws, Angel Bunny had no voice for his mistress's secrets.
Fluttershy let her deep breath out through her mouth. She inhaled and exhaled again: In through the nose, out through the mouth. She opened her eyes and looked around at the assembly. In the way she had been taught by Rarity, which was almost as gently as she had done it before, Fluttershy raised her teacup on its saucer. She took a small sip of tea, looked again at her gathered friends, and said simply, “Twilight's problem.”
We would have a brief word about what was going on with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire, but it would be quite rude and very personal.
After all, it's most impolite to go revealing a couple's secret doubles tennis strategies.
And so, we are left with only two words remaining to write and subsequently read:
The End.
Well, okay, except for the epilogue.