//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: The Lunar Rebellion // by Chengar Qordath //------------------------------// With Cloudsdale secured, it seemed only reasonable to return to mine old home. The clan’s compound had suffered much during the war, repeatedly vandalized and desecrated by the rebels as punishment for my clan’s loyalty. Columns rent asunder, lascivious and blasphemous slogans scrawled upon the walls, and the statues of mine ancestors lay in ruins. Gale strode to my side, grimacing at the sorry state of our former clanhold. “I suppose it should come as no surprise that the home of our ancestors was treated so poorly. If anything, I am shocked ‘twas allowed to stand at all. I thought the Avatar would have it destroyed outright.” I shrugged. “I would think that those of our kin who joined the rebels still lived here for a time, and she hoped to win thee to her cause as well. I expect our compound was only destroyed once no Kickers remained to hold it.” Gale scowled and wiped away a particularly unflattering suggestion regarding what would happen to myself, Celestia, and Sunbeam if the rebels captured us. “Most of the Kickers either eventually came to our side, or joined the other clans after Grandfather—” She grimaced, her eyes flicking to me. “After his passing.” I closed my eyes and took a long breath. The home of mine ancestors disgraced, and mine own father would have to be struck from the clan’s roles and denied a burial with his kin. Perhaps once tempers had cooled and the wounds of war had healed, I could quietly pardon him and the others who had joined the rebel cause. It did no good to dwell on such grim thoughts when we had far more important duties to focus our energies upon. “Have there been any problems with the occupation?” “Nothing significant,” Gale assured me. “A few of the warriors too young to join Rightly’s last charge have been restive and some of the elderly are acting quite stubborn, but we have the forces needed to contain them.” Her eyes flicked down the clouds beneath us. “In all honesty, the ponies of the city seem more a danger to themselves than us. The number of suicides since we took the city is ... disturbing.” That, unfortunately, came as no surprise. ‘Tween the downfall of Pegasopolis and the losses suffered by the rebels in the wars lasts weeks there was no shortage of cause for despair. “How many?” Gale sighed heavily. “Dozens, last I heard. Rumor has it half the Gerousia has passed on since you took the city.” The news also came as no surprise, though I would have preferred to avoid it. The occupation would have been far less painful if the Gerousia remained a viable institution to maintain order and grant us some sense of legitimacy, howe’er limited. Howe’er, they were all old ponies, and far too many of them now faced the prospect of burying their children and grandchildren. “I suppose 'twas inevitable. Do what we can to reduce the losses, I am tired of burying pegasi.” “I will try,” Gale confirmed. We both knew ‘twould be no easy task; if the ponies of Pegasopolis were truly determined to end their own lives, there was little we could do to stop them. Gale could hardly afford to keep every single potentially suicidal pony in the city under constant guard. “I think we will have to occupy Cloudsdale for some time to maintain order. There is too little left of Pegasopolis to hope they might help us. Perhaps ‘tis for the best that the clans are to be undone, for there is little left of them now.” I nodded glumly. ‘Twill make the occupation easier. I would have preferred to win them o’er to our cause, or at least persuade them to end this peacefully. At least now their power is broken, and we can be sure of peace in the future.” Gale grimaced and shook her head. “Just because a rebellion stands little hope of succeeding does not mean they would ne’er attempt it. Rightly and Steel continued on e’en after ‘twas plain they could not hope to win.” I grunted, staring up at the shattered statue of Hoplon Kicker, who had fought alongside Lyequinegus the Lawgiver. It seemed almost fitting to see that part of my legacy in ruins, given that we would undo much of their work. “We will need to occupy Cloudsdale for a time, aye. Hopefully they will accept everything that must change in time, and Equestria’s long nightmare can come at last to an end.” “And what must they accept?” Gale queried, picking up the statue’s head and vainly trying to restore it to place. “They can only join our new army once they swear loyalty the Commander, and I doubt many of them will do that. They know no vocation other than war, and now we deny them that. Will we feed them and provide their other needs out of charity, or to prevent them from resorting to banditry?” She scoffed and ceased her efforts to restore the ruined statue. “Working directly with the unicorns and earth ponies has given me a new appreciation for money, and what it costs to run an army and feed so many mouths. They will not want to pay to keep the old clans fed, especially when the pegasi will not thank them for their charity.” My daughter was correct. Warriors deprived of their craft and given no other task to occupy themselves would have little to do but seethe in resentment. Far better to keep them occupied than risk letting their hooves stand idle. “I expect we will find other gainful employment for the pegasi of Cloudsdale. We will still need weather regulation, and the thunderforges will have no shortage of things to produce. Perhaps some will reconcile themselves to Celestia in time, as we move past the war and return our forces to contending against monsters and external foes.” “Mayhaps,” Gale allowed. “Those who wished to be warriors and protectors of ponykind might well accept that e’en if they do not wholly agree with Commander Celestia’s regime, she still rules o’er Equestria and defends its inhabitants. Though I wonder if these wounds can e’er truly be healed. I ... I know I did not love Celestia or her cause anywhere near so much as you do, but had you fallen in battle I would ne’er have accepted it. I know when the war was at its darkest, Sunbeam spoke of the possibility of fleeing the city and continuing the fight from the shadows. I certainly would have done so had you fallen.” She sighed heavily, looking our o’er the city. “If I could ne’er make peace with those who cut down mine own kin, how can I expect my enemies to do the same?” I certainly ne’er would have forgiven the rebels had my daughter suffered a similar fate. I would like to believe that I would have gone as mad with vengeance as Bright had, but I had ne’er truly faced that test, and I prayed I never would. “We can only hope that time will heal this wound. I wish Rightly had seen reason. Or Steel. Or...” I trailed off with a melancholy sigh. My daughter slumped heavily against a half-ruined wall. “As do I. Endless night...” She ran a hoof down her face. “The last few battles have been slaughters. This is nothing like the battles told by our elders. There was no glory or honor to be found in Rightly’s Last Charge. ‘Twas little better than murder. Why did he do it? Why insist upon death when he could have lived?” “Because no Ephor of Pegasopolis has e’er submitted to a foreign conqueror.” The words had ne’er sounded more bitter than they did today. “I wonder if the bards will sing grand tales of how he chose to die a free pony rather than live as a slave.” A bitter twist pulled at my lips. “More fools they, if they see anything grand or romantic in such needless death. I saw no honor or glory on that field. Only good ponies cut down to preserve a single stallion’s pride. Had he survived the battle, I would have found the nearest tree and given him the same end Swift Blade met. He did not deserve a soldier’s death after that.” “Mother...” Gale put a reassuring hoof on my shoulder. “Do not forget that you loved him once.” “Perhaps I should not have,” I answered bitterly. “The heart wants what it wants,” Gale answered. “E’en when all reason says that it should not want it. Let Rightly rest in peace, and do not let the love you once felt for him turn to bitter hate. It will only bring you more sorrow.” I grunted and nodded mine agreement. Gale was right, and Celestia would doubtless say the same if I brought the matter to her. Likely e’en Sunbeam, though she would not word it so sweetly. Hatred was a poison that harmed the one who felt it far more than the target, and all the moreso when one hated a ghost. My daughter’s gaze shifted back towards the city proper. “Nor do I think it entirely fitting to place all the blame ‘pon Rightly. How often did we all say that he aspired to fulfill every virtue expected of a soldier of Pegasopolis? That he always sought to act with justice and honor in mind? I am sure those who will wax nostalgic on the glories of the Old Pegasopolis we have torn down will hold him up as a paragon of their ideals, and speak of his last stand in hushed reverence.” She scoffed and turned her back on the city. “If the honor of Pegasopolis demands that he send the soldiers under his command to their deaths in a hopeless battle, then mayhaps the fault lies not with him, but Pegasopolan honor. There was a sickness in our society that drove it to war upon others, and Rightly was but a symptom. I only pray that what we have done this day will address it.” “Aye, I hope that we have at least helped make a better future by tearing down the past.” A thought all the keener in my mind as I gazed upon the ruins of mine own destroyed home. “How do things stand with the earth ponies? I know the cities are with us, but I have heard many reports of conflicts ‘tween loyal and rebel militias in the countryside.” Gale grimaced and nodded. “We will send patrols to address the matter, but I suspect ‘twill continue for some time. We will likely spend many years hunting down bandits who claim to be the last soldiers still fighting for the rebel cause.” She scuffed a hoof along the clouds, seemingly just for the pleasure of touching them once more. “What of the Earth Pony government? Are new elections to be held to legitimize Commander Celestia reclaiming rule o’er them, or would there be too much risk that she might lose?” I sighed and shook my head. “We could hardly hold a fair election when we have occupation forces in several earth pony cities.” Not to mention that Sunbeam had already confided her own desires to put an end to elections for the leader of the earth ponies. I agreed with her on that point: at best they were farcical confirmations of Celestia’s rule, and at worst they risked sowing the seeds of a new war. Better that she ruled as queen o’er all three tribes of ponykind than allow the division ‘tween them to continue. Gale’s gaze turned back to the city. “It almost feels like I am drifting out of a bad dream, or maybe a dream that became a nightmare. I thought there would be a grand homecoming when we won the war, but I do not know the ponies here. Not anymore. While we may share wings, they are not my comrades. I feel more kinship to the ponies I fought alongside, e’en though they were born without wings.” Her eyes lingered on the damage to our old home. “Should I bring our engineers up to begin restoring the Compound, Mother?” I took a deep breath as I surveyed the damage. “No. This place is no longer our home.” Gale’s shoulders slumped. “I thought as much. In all honesty, I doubt we would want to live in a city where every other inhabitant hates us. ‘Twould be akin to another siege.” I sighed and nodded. “We took everything we could when we fled this place, and I think I knew e’en then that we would ne’er truly return. We have made a good home for ourselves in Canterlot. ‘Tis as thou sayest, we have found new comrades to replace those we lost. If we can name unicorns and earth ponies as our brothers and sisters on the battlefield, mayhaps the rest of Equestria can learn to do so in peace.” A thought crystallized in my mind. “This place ... it is no longer ours.” I exited the compound, stepping to the boundary ‘tween it and Cloudsdale proper. Then, with a strike of my wings, I began parting the clouds joining our former clanhold to the city. Gale stepped out of the compound, watching in silence as I worked. Doubtless our engineers could have done the job far more quickly and cleanly, but it seemed wrong to ask any other to undertake this final grim task. Once ‘twas done my daughter and I watched in silence as the clanhold our ancestors held for centuries slowly drifted away from the city. Cut away from the structure of Cloudsdale itself, the compound of mine ancestors slowly began to fall apart at the edges. ‘Twould likely be some time ere it vanished completely, but ‘twould fade away in time. Gale let out a shuddering breath as she beheld our home’s end. “We have made our decisions, Mother. Now we must live with them.” “We will.” I nodded. “I think we made the right choice, or at least the best choices that we saw available. All that is left now is to pray that history agrees with us, and hope that the future brings us better things.” In the years after the war, Shadow Kicker would serve as Lady Protector of Equestria. She devoted much of her time to healing the wounds left behind by the Equestrian Civil War, also known as the Lunar Rebellion. In her later years, she also played a pivotal role in the Westmarch Liberation and the Morning Star Crisis. She lived a long and full life in the Canterlot Compound, eventually dying in her late nineties surrounded by friends and family. Though it lies somewhat outside the scope of this account, I would be remiss not to address the mystery surrounding her son Ash Kicker, born nine months after the end of the war. Shadow never openly acknowledged a sire, leading to no shortage of wild rumor and speculation. The three most commonly named candidates are Sunbeam Sparkle, Celestia, and Rightly Doo. I think the last one rather unlikely from what we have seen, though it is always possible Shadow omitted such details from her memoirs. Sunbeam seems like the most likely sire given that Shadow acknowledged a relationship with her in this account, though I personally see enough careful omissions to suspect that it might actually be Celestia. Gale Kicker would serve in her mother’s clan for many years, eventually wedding Dusk Cumulus née Charger. In time she would step outside her expected role as a military commander, entering politics and becoming the second Grand Vizier of the unified Equestrian government. She also aided Dusk in establishing House Cumulus among Equestria’s nobility in an attempt to preserving part of the Charger bloodline and heritage, even if the name itself died out. Sunbeam Sparkle continued on as Grand Vizier and Archmagus of Canterlot until age forced her retirement. She remained lifelong friends with Shadow, and other accounts make it clear that they carried on a sporadic on-and-off affair in the years after the war, though nothing deeper ever seems to have come of it. Midnight Sparkle would follow in her mother’s hoofsteps as an adult, becoming a magus and embarking on many adventures detailed in her own memoirs. One of the few surviving pieces of writing from Sunbeam Sparkle herself is a letter which states that the day she passed the mantle of Archmagus of Canterlot to her daughter was a far prouder moment than when she claimed it for herself. Stalwart Kicker, who been in a coma since the battle in the Canterlot tunnels, returned to consciousness a few weeks after the war’s end and spent many more years in service to his clan and Equestria. His relationship with his daughter Astra would be troubled for many years by the death of Sierra, especially after his remarriage to a unicorn war widow. In his later years, he served as one of Midnight Sparkle’s mentors and companions. Dawn Cumulus née Charger never fully recovered from the war, though she continued her work a chirurgeon despite her personal demons. She pioneered several medical techniques, most notably a new and far safer method to safely extract a dangerous foreign object from a pony’s stomach. A small faction of the clans would chose exile over surrender, scattering to the winds in the years after the war. Most would survive as mercenaries, selling their combat skills to the highest bidder. The clan remnants would eventually launch a stillborn attempt to reclaim Equestria which ended with a crushing defeat at the Battle of Two Magnuses, but they would eventually enjoy a renaissance in Freeport after Torch Charger’s revolution brought the Council to power. Celestia would ultimately dissolve the tribal governments and claim the new royal crown for the unified Equestrian state. She has continued to rule over her nation through times both good and ill, guiding her nation through the dark years of the war and its aftermath. While modern Equestria still has its flaws, I would like to think that she ensured that Shadow’s dream of a better world eventually became a reality.