-Night Patrol ch 34: Epilogue
By Foxgear
Celestia felt her sister’s magic fade, and with it, her strength. The wear and tear on her body these last thousand years finally caught up at once, leaving the Sun Princess as weak and tired as the day Luna was sealed away. Celestia struggled to laugh; it seems Starwind was right. Her spell did catch up to her. All the years she spent training and practicing to fight Nightmare Moon, only to be taken out before the battle even began.
Seems she had no choice but to put all her faith in her adorkable little student. Hopefully, Twilight took her advice to heart and found some friends.
“You’re looking tired,” A voice said from the darkness of her green room while waiting for her cue to raise the sun, a voice she hadn’t heard in a thousand years.
“I am tired. A long nap would be nice,” Celestia replied, tears falling from her eyes. “How was the moon? I can’t imagine it was an enjoyable place to be for a thousand years.”
Nightmare Moon stepped out from the darkness, circling around the tired sun princess, a smirk spread wide across her lips, “It wasn’t all bad. Constantly fighting for a thousand years really helped pass the time. You would not believe how close it was in the end. Had Luna just rested for half a day, she would have overwhelmed me, and you would not be at my mercy.”
“She did always have a habit of overworking herself,” Celestia chuckled despite herself. The pony in front of her could kill her with ease if she wanted to, yet she didn’t. Did this mean Luna was still fighting? “I suppose this is where you end me, dear sister?”
Silence filled between the two princesses, neither one saying anything for a solid minute.
“No,” Nightmare said suddenly. “I don’t feel like it right now. Maybe later, after you spend a thousand years on your precious sun, it will give you a good view of Equestria under my rule.”
“I suppose there is sort of an irony in that,” Celestia chuckled as Nightmare’s magic engulfed her. In a flash, Celestia found herself on the surface of the sun with a viewing portal showing her everything Nightmare Moon saw. Her twisted sister walked onto the balcony and addressed the gathered ponies, her student, her last hope, Twilight Sparkle rising up to face the dark Princess.
“It’s all up to you now, Twilight. I’m sorry it’s come to this.”
Celestia sat down to watch the event unfold. Being unable to help her ponies was by far the worse torture she’s had to endure.
The ponies stood and gasped at her presence, and that little lavender unicorn actually knew who she was; she looked so cute trying to stand up to her. Oh, how fun this night would be! Nightmare was dreaming up all sorts of things she could throw at the band of six that trekked through the Everfree after her. She was tempted to summon an army of shadow ponies to devour them down to the bone. After seeing… her… the orange earth pony mare that looked exactly like her old friend, who also shared the same name, Nightmare’s urge to harm them was diminished… significantly.
“Perhaps some simple illusion spells?” Nightmare pondered as the group tangled with the manticore that she enraged with a thorn. Surprisingly the shy pegasus of the group was the one to quell the beast.
Nightmare Moon floated in a purple mist tracking the group, spying on them but mostly enjoying the amusement of their antics as they blunder their way through her challenges. They seem to be having an easy time, perhaps too easy, time to raise the bar.
“A little magic here and instant rockslide!” Nightmare snickered as the ponies scattered from the falling rocks. However, the lavender pony slid off the edge of the cliff with only Applejack to keep her from falling. Again, not wanting their deaths, Nightmare flew underneath the mare and made her hoof tangible, placing it under the lavender mare’s dangling feet to hold her up till Applejack lifts her up… which should be happening any second now…
“Let go, and you’ll be safe,” Applejack said, much to Nightmare Moon’s and Twilight’s shock.
“That’s not true!” The lavender mare screams.
(Well… she’s technically right….) Nightmare supposed, not actually sure what her friend’s descendant was doing. Then she saw the two pegasi below, ready to catch the unicorn. (Hmm… the lavender one must have insulted Applejack at some point, resulting in some harmless payback, classic Applejack. I am glad her sense of humor has stayed in the bloodline. I always found it charming.)
Nightmare removed her hoof and fled, letting the two pegasi catch the lavender mare. She flew past a sea monster, accidentally cutting off the purple serpent’s mustache, and he began withering in agony…
“Wow… monsters are not what they used to be,” She noted, shocked at the display the monster was making over such a minor thing as facial hair. Used to be, you could cut off a limb, and they won’t even blink an eye. “What in Tartarus happened while I was away?”
Gliding across the canyon to the castle Nightmare Moon lands on the other side, a thick mist covering the area. Thankfully Nightmare Moon could still get a clear view of her home, and it was… sad, to say the least. Time has laid its crumbling grip upon the structure, and from the looks of things, efforts to save the old ruins were not attempted.
“I should fly up to the sun and buck you right in the face, sister!” Nightmare seethed, feeling immense rage over the state of her/their home. Her anger quickly faded to annoyance as the voice of those six mares drifted over the mist. The blue one with the rainbow mane flew over the canyon to retie the rope bridge. Flicking her horn, Nightmare created another illusion, but one that left her frozen as the image of Nightingale glided down to the blue pegasus to chat with her. The sight of the metal winged pegasus made her realize something.
They were dead. All of her friends were dead!
Hot tears spill down her cheeks as she glared at the castle. Nightmare Moon could sense them, the elements, they were inside. She was going to destroy them!
Transforming mist, Nightmare searched the entire castle, thinking Celestia might have hidden them somewhere else. She checked Celestia’s room, Starwind’s, finally her room. Her room, which was perfectly preserved, precisely as it had been a thousand years ago.
On the bed lay a note beside her old doll, one Celestia gave her as a gift so, so long ago…
Nightmare picked up the note, she had expected it to be from Celestia, and it was, but it wasn’t just from her.
(Howdy Luna! Funny to be writing a letter that you’ll get in a thousand years, but Celestia says it should reach you just fine. I just wanted to say after you were… banished Ah guess the word we’re using, Ah settled down and started farming. Ah, wish you could have seen it. Rawhide and Ah picked out the perfect spot!
We even had a few little foals, their names are Apple Gin, he’s mah oldest, Apple Whiskey, is mah second child, and you may find this strange, but mah third kid is named Applejack after me! Isn’t that funny? She kind of looks like me … weird… anyway Ah just wanted to write and say Ah’m alright and that Ah’m living my dreams all thanks to you. Ah really wish Ah could have talked to you one more time. Ah always figured you’d outlive me, so Ah guess, it’s a little weird for me to think Ah’ll never see you again.
Ah, guess… Ah, don’t know what to say, really. You’ve done so much for my family and me, for everypony. Ah, wish there was some way we could have helped you. Ah just want you to know, everything we did, all the hardship and pain, it was worth it.
Equestria is a much better place thanks to you, and Ah want you to know that.
Your friend,
Applejack
A strangled sob escaped from her throat as Nightmare fell down on the bed, weeping into the covers. It wasn’t fair… it wasn’t fair! She tried to make the world better; she did make the world better! Why… why did she have to suffer? Why did she have to be locked away? To live in a world without her friends, Applejack, Sixes, Fury… all of them!
“Why did this happen?” Nightmare screamed into the sheets. Rage filled her; she would make them pay… she would make them all pay! She wouldn’t just destroy the elements; she was going obliterate them one by one and make sure they realized just how big of a mistake they made by sealing her away!
A joyful scream from down below caught her attention, it seemed the lavender mare found the elements, and in the same room, Celestia had left them… somehow, that didn’t surprise her. Celestia did have a knack for losing things. Thus she likes to keep them in the same place if she could.
One teleport later, Nightmare was in the room where the elements were kept. They were encased in stone, powerless and silent. The lavender mare argued about something, but Nightmare brushed Twilight off and stomped the elements to dust. The mare let out a growl and charged at her.
“How cute,” Nightmare scoffed, easily warding off any spell the young unicorn might cast. She had the magic, but there was no killing intent in her attacks. It seemed Celestia hasn’t taught her how to fight yet, shame. That said, the lavender unicorn did remind her of a certain black-eyed little filly with just as much magic. (Could she be of Starwind’s bloodline?)
“It matters not she will be destroyed… what are all these lights?” The other five joined the lavender mare, and they were all floating… and the elements were being reformed! “No, I will not allow it!”
She almost beat the elements once; she could do it again, and this time, she would win! Now that Luna was out of the way… her body won’t move! What was going on?
“Like you said, it’s not who wins the most, but who wins last that counts,” Luna said, appearing in the mental realm. The Princess of the Night quickly seized control from Nightmare, restraining the dark Alicorn with her shadow shroud. “I found it strange after you defeated me on the moon. I suddenly realized you never used this technique once during any of our battles over the centuries. It is one of our most powerful spells, so why not use it? Then I found the answer, you couldn’t use it. The elements purged the dark magic from you. Though you are still evil, that is just who you are. For me, this is my darkness, my hatred. I realize now what must happen.”
“You fool! Do you even know what the elements will do to us this time?”
Luna balked, “There is no us! And yes, I have an idea. I won’t like it, but it’s what must be done!”
The rainbow beams drew closer and Luna, now in control, stood utterly still, ready to take the brunt of the attack and whatever punishment came with it. The rainbow magic engulfed her, but instead of the burning agony she felt last time, she felt warmth.
“I see now… thank you…”
Luna opened her eyes, and for the first time in a thousand years, her body was her own again… though it was a little smaller than usual.
“Seems the darkness formed quite a while ago,” She muttered, struggling to get up, her legs weak and flimsy. Dammit, she was a teenager again. This better be temporary!
“Princess Luna…”
That voice, Celestia! Luna looked up at the glorious sight of her big sister, walking towards her and giving some speech about something. Still, Luna could feel her real thoughts and feelings and what Celestia was actually saying was, “Come and hug me already!” And she did. She ran right up to her sister and nuzzled against her warmth. After a thousand years on the cold moon, she could fall asleep right now and not even care.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that, it seems there was a parade for her return. Warily she waves to the townsfolk she had only been terrorizing a few hours ago. They didn’t seem to realize she was Nightmare Moon, cause who would? She looked completely different from before.
The entire town celebrated her return all day and night, despite not knowing why. However, the pink earth pony who inherited the laughter element told her you didn’t need a reason to party. Luna could agree with an idea, but it was clear that the town ponies were tired, having spent the last two days drinking and whooping it up.
Thankfully the party ended for her, at least as she snuck away to the old castle and fell upon her bed with a relieved sigh and slept.
In the morning, Luna awoke refreshed. Happily, she trotted into the hallway, expecting the sweet smell of baked goods and the chatter of her patrollers as they prepared for the day—however, none of that was present, only the scent of must and mold and the sound of silence.
“It’s gotten pretty bad, hasn’t it?”
“You let it get this way,” Luna snapped, staring accusingly at Celestia. The elder Alicorn could only sigh and nod, having been expecting Luna to say something like that. She wasn’t wrong; she did let the castle go to ruins instead of fixing it.
“It was too painful, the memories. I had not the heart to face them,” Celestia said sorrowfully. If Luna was angry with her, she didn’t show it. Celestia wanted to go and hug her sister, but something told her now was the not time.
“What happened to them?” Luna asked suddenly, catching Celestia off guard.
“What happened to whom?”
Luna gave her a flat look. Sighing, Celestia nudged Luna to follow her outside to the memorial wall. Here would probably be the best spot to explain things.
“Ten years after your banishment to the moon, there was a division between the member of the night patrol. Some retired and wandered away into the world, others joined me to help train the new royal guard, and there were the ones that disappeared entirely. Sixes was the leader of that faction. He and many others simply left and were never seen again. All I know is that they were trying to find a way to see you again. Applejack might have known what their plan was, but she wouldn’t tell me even till her last breath. She said it was what Sixes wanted. I’m sorry I couldn’t watch over them better.”
Silently Luna touched the memorial wall reading all the names that had been added after her banishment. Many of the dragon ponies were not listed, Crusader being the only one she could remember clearly off the top of her head. Some of them must have been newborns after she was banished. Amazingly some of them lived to be over four hundred years old.
Slowly Luna stepped back from the wall, a small smile gracing her lips as she bit back tears, “You did your best. I just hope they found happiness, where ever they ended up.”
The two sisters stood there for several more minutes before finally taking their leave, neither of them suspecting what or rather who was resting beneath their hooves.
Deep beneath the earth rested the Soldiers of the Night, who have waited a thousand years for their Princess’s return, and they would continue to wait till she needed them once again. Whenever that maybe they didn’t know, that didn’t change the fact that they would be ready, waiting in stone until the time came.
Meanwhile, inside the marble room housing the vault, the slumbering patrollers slept a pony suddenly appeared in the room as if she had always been there. Slowly she glided across the floor, her booted hooves clicking against the white stone, her ethereal black hair dancing silently as she came to a stop before the marble door.
With nothing but a flick of her horn, the door fell away to dust, allowing her entry to the vault. Once she stepped inside, the door reformed as if nothing ever happened.
The pony shook her head and removed her helm, freeing more of her hair and revealing her piercing black eyes. She spotted the statue of Sixes, standing tall and proud, without a clue just how difficult he made her life with his little turning himself to stone stunt.
The tawny color mare sighed and smiled, lighting her horn, revealing the infinity mark on her flank and the wings folded at her side.
“You just had to go and throw everything out of whack, didn’t you, Sixes? Well, I hope it was worth it because things are gonna get chaotic thanks to you. Despite the extra work you’re creating for me, I feel inclined to help you get out of this prison you made for yourself, just not right now. Sorry, but it’s gonna be a little while longer before Luna can wake you up, but everything is about timing and trust me, I know all about proper timing. I am the Princess of it, after all.”
Dusk smiled, dawning her helm, “Don’t worry, it won’t be too much longer.”
And with those parting words, Dusk blinked out of existence, as if she had never been there. Leaving the Soldiers of the Night waiting for the day they could rejoin their Princess’s side once again.
The End
Night Patrol 2: Awakening out now