Hayden wasn’t in a castle anymore.
She started to panic, worrying that she’d somehow wandered off, maybe been dragged of by some Celestia loyalist. She’d been living only at her hospitality for at least a week now, and there were probably plenty of her staff that would’ve jumped at the opportunity to make her vanish into a cell.
But this didn’t feel like a cell. She was in bed, surrounded by stars.
I’ve been here before. This is Princess Luna’s tower.
She sat up at once, memory flooding back to her. She’d sided with Celestia against Luna. The guilt from that wound was still raw, even if Princess Luna had forced her hoof. She’d become a monster—but not because she gave in to the demon’s temptations.
As she looked around herself, Hayden could see that things weren’t quite as she remembered. One of the windows was shattered, and many of the possessions had been looted. Lots of the objects worked of gold or gemstone were missing, along with some of the more precious pieces of art. I wonder if they did this when Luna moved up north, or more recently than that.
It was dark outside, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t see. There was plenty of moonlight streaming in through the windows, and Hayden had no trouble focusing.
“I wondered if you would wake up,” said a familiar voice in the dark. “Most of the others… they thought you were dead for sure. That’s what Celestia thought. That you’d gone to sleep, and wouldn’t wake up until her sister returned. That she would seduce you with lies in your dreams, and it would be better if you never opened your eyes.”
Hayden tried to find her—but there were a few new holes in the ceiling and the echo made it hard to know where she was. Not beside the bed, not lurking in the bathroom… there! A figure near the observatory window. She was sitting on a padded bench beside some books, and Hayden had mistaken her for part of the scenery. Not anymore, though.
Hayden didn’t get out of bed, not yet. Her limbs felt strange—weaker, certainly. If she’d been unconscious for weeks, that might explain a little of that. She glanced briefly down at herself, but nothing had changed. She wasn’t human again; she didn’t have normal pegasus wings. She had the same body she remembered. “I thought I wouldn’t wake up either,” she croaked, and found her voice still felt sore. Like she hadn’t used it in some time. “Princess Luna’s sealed away… how do I still exist?”
Hayden looked down again, searching for any sign that she didn’t exist. Maybe she’d become transparent like Marty McFly, maybe she’d stop feeling so good and turn into an ashy breeze. But all she noticed was a familiar sheath at her side, resting beside the bed like an observant watchdog.
“Achelois?” She drew the blade, lifting it in magic she didn’t have. The sword didn’t care about such insignificant details, though. “I thought for sure Celestia would’ve taken this back.”
I do not obey her commands, said the sword. Much suffering remains on this world. I could not allow you to leave your work undone.
Hayden stiffened, staring at the blade. She knew so little of this weapon, beyond what it had done and who had wielded it. Could it be the reason she was still alive? It certainly wouldn’t be the first legendary item to grant unusual life to its wielder.
“She tried,” Nightbreeze said, rising from the bench and stepping out into the moonlight. “But it kept coming back to you. I think she gave up after a while.”
Hayden nodded. “That’s what it…” She trailed off. Nightbreeze looked the worse for wear. She was leaner now, somehow more lined and weary. There was a weight to her eyes that hadn’t been there the last time they met. “When we banished Princess Luna. You… you aren’t possessed anymore?”
“So they tell me.” Nightbreeze shifted uneasily on her hooves, as though she didn’t entirely believe it. “Avalon’s gone, but Star Swirl checked the survivors. We’re not going to start rotting again.”
Hayden finally rose. As she had expected, her limbs didn’t seem to want to obey. She almost fell onto her face out of bed, and once she was standing she still teetered on her hooves. “How many?”
“A few thousand,” Nightbreeze said, her voice cracking once with pain. “Th-there were… a lot of casualties invading Equestria. I can’t remember any of it, thank the stars. But judging by how much Equestria hates us now, it must’ve been bloody.”
“Where are they?”
Nightbreeze gestured over her shoulder with a wing. “The one place nopony thinks to come. Nightmare Moon’s necromancy ended here, when she was banished, and the taint got into the forest pretty bad. Harmony is gone—history’s erasing it. And what’s left of Nightmare Moon’s army… of your army… we’re here. We don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Hayden couldn’t hold herself back any longer. She crossed the room in a few more stumbling hoofsteps, embracing Nightbreeze without any regard for propriety or their tense relationship while she was city lord. The other bat returned the gesture with just as little reservation. It was good to have someone to hold again.
Hayden cried until she was out of tears, cried until she didn’t know how she was still breathing. And she wasn’t the only one—they both had ponies they had lost. So many friends in Icefalls, and most of the names Hayden asked about would not have another chance.
“I don’t know what to do,” Nightbreeze finally said, when they were out of tears. “There’s food in the storeroom, but not enough for us to live here forever. These ponies aren’t welcome anywhere else. Most cities… I hear they’re even worse than before. Stringing up bats just for what we are… and Princess Celestia punishing the ones who do it. It doesn’t stop them. We’re monsters to them now. After what Luna did, after what she made us do… maybe they’re right.”
“No.” Hayden covered her with a wing. “You’re not responsible, none of you are. I know how it looked, but… Princess Luna was saving Equestria. She put all that evil magic in one place, so we could lock it away. She’s probably the reason you’re alive now, when everypony else who only got half-treated ended up dying.”
Nightbreeze laughed bitterly. “Doesn’t do us much good now, does it? Being right isn’t enough of a mercy to make up for being dead. It’s hopeless. And don’t try and tell me you’re going to rebuild Harmony, put our city here. Even if the necromancy didn’t ruin the ground for hundreds of years, there are pony settlements nearby. If Canterlot found out, they’d… send an army, probably. It’s only a matter of time before they do that anyway. Too many army ponies know about us.”
“The civilian survivors from Icefalls… the bats from the shelter. Are they here too?”
Nightbreeze shook her head. “There are no civilian bats, Hayden. They were with us the whole time. They got out… killing plenty of innocent ponies along the way, I’m sure. The bunker was built to keep ponies out, not keep them in. If any of them are still alive, they’re here.”
“Good. I guess that means we… have an easier job.” Hayden rose to her hooves again, stretching her wings one at a time. “It won’t be easy. We might get attacked along the way. If Celestia finds out I woke up, she might want me back. Maybe she’ll want to make me stand trial now that I don’t have an army in the way.”
“Doubt it.” Nightbreeze followed her, curiosity replacing her depression. “The nobility that wanted you gone are mostly dead themselves. A few officers left in the military, but that’s it. And you did help stop Nightmare Moon. At least… that’s what they tell us. Nopony around here was awake when it happened.”
“I did,” Hayden said. “But not stop her. Just… buy us some time. She’ll be back.” She made her way through Luna’s old bedroom. She was happy to see that her old possessions were still here—a little solar pad, her Kindle, and the gun. Nothing else had made it down this far. Probably the rest was ash in Icefalls, along with so much else.
“You have another plan? You can’t… not after all we’ve been through. There’s no way out.”
“There’s one.” Hayden stopped, and forced herself to smile. “Get everypony together. I’ll address the survivors. After that, we’ll have a long flight ahead of us. Probably… have to fly by night, hide in caves during the day. If ponies are really hunting us… let’s just make sure they don’t find us.”
“Fly to… where?”
“Excellus,” Hayden answered.
And they did.
Far to the south of the Equestrian border, but not so far south that the jungles turned into barren wasteland, there was a place high in the mountains, with a commanding view of the countryside for a hundred miles. It wasn’t all that far away from the city that had been Avalon’s home, except that it had been destroyed during Luna’s rampage. And it was so mountainous that no pony settlers had tried to live there.
But Hayden had seen it on her maps. And she had put the Excellus to good use, transporting civilians to be purified and then back to Icefalls, kept in ignorance about their destination or their purpose. But she had left plenty of instructions, and ample supplies.
By the time Evening Star and her survivors reached the Excellus’s destination, they found a tiny village rising from the peaks. There was much sorrow for those who hadn’t made it, and much joy for the ponies who had. Though she had resisted at first, there was no convincing the population that anypony else would make for a better first mayor than she would.
The new village of Excellus would have some serious restrictions—above all, the population of Equestria couldn’t know about them, not for generations. Celestia’s control on a broken and ravaged Equestria was tenuous now, with a capital in ruins and pockets of Stonebeak resistance in the north. She might not be able to stop an army of revenge if one were to rise.
They were almost starting from scratch. There were no buildings for them to sleep in, just a single airship that was nearly out of fuel and not big enough for more than a hundred even if they used the cargo bays. There were a few skilled ponies, but their equipment was all left behind in civilization. They had a lot of bootstrapping to do.
But there were some advantages too—having a population entirely of one race meant that they could build vertically, for instance, and that being active mostly at night wouldn’t exclude large numbers of their friends from interacting with them. The mountainous valley of their home was far higher than earth ponies or unicorns would probably explore, at least not without airships. Not only that, but the fruit trees were abundant and the climate was more or less invariant.
They made do. And with a few years and a little determination, they prospered.
Hayden wasn’t the mayor anymore the night that Princess Celestia arrived. She had held the position for many years now—but she didn’t want to end up like the princesses, trapped in the throne until they died. Besides, Excellus had become sophisticated enough to be comfortable with the idea of electing their own ruler.
Naturally, they voted for her mate.
But that meant that Hayden had some time to relax—on those nights when she had no classes to teach and no ponies to train, she found herself one of the remotest trails around Excellus where she could walk in solitude. Well, except for the light of the moon.
And the streetlights around the trail. They were electrical, though only a faint glow. Far better suited for bat pony eyes and their powerful vision, not bright enough for ponies of other tribes to use for much. The path itself was only gravel, but it was kept free of debris and poisonous plants, so it made for a relaxing walk in the humid air. Hayden munched a fresh mango as she walked, enjoying the splash of juice against her tongue.
She almost smacked into Princess Celestia.
Well, maybe not exactly. She was sitting in a clearing just off the trail, looking up at the light of the full moon. It wasn’t her imagination—there was a faint shape visible against the craters, if one looked long enough. The rage of Nightmare Moon, cast in magic and technology. If she had a telescope, Hayden could probably have watched the arcing of the energy between its four towers.
I knew she would find us eventually. Hayden thought about going back for Mayor Nightbreeze—but ultimately decided against it. If Celestia had wanted to appear before the whole town, she could’ve done so in city hall. She had meant to be discrete. Hayden would respect that, until she figured out whether Celestia was their enemy or not.
“It took you long enough,” Princess Celestia said. “You must actually be enjoying the scenery.”
“I do,” she answered honestly. “And the heat. After all that time in the north, if I never see snow again it will be too soon.” Hayden sat down behind her, though she was watching the Alicorn, not the sky.
“Did you really think you could hide from me?”
“No. I thought we could hide from Equestria, though. How are we doing on that?”
Celestia turned, though her expression was unreadable to Hayden. “What do you plan for this place, Evening Star? Should I be worried about you? Should the ponies of Equestria fear another invasion?”
“No. And to be honest with you, Princess, I think most of these ponies still think of themselves as part of Equestria. They weren’t bats for all that long, when you think about it. Lots of them regret it. They’d go home, if you would let them. I think most of them would let you change them back, too.”
Princess Celestia sighed. “Were magic that easy. I could change every one of your citizens for an afternoon. But the body reasserts itself, and the power required to change them all… well, now that I have the sun and the moon to bear, it would take me centuries of time to change each one. I think you’ll outbreed me.”
Hayden couldn’t help herself. She laughed. “Y-yeah, I think we will. It’s… all bats so far. Don’t know if we’ll see other kinds or what. I know that blood from all the tribes can last a long time, recessive and that. But I think maybe transformed bats might be pureblood. Nothing but bat in all of Excellus.”
“You could stop them,” Princess Celestia offered. “That would be a peaceful way to put an end to this. No need for their children to be hated in Equestria.”
Hayden felt herself tense. Despite her best efforts, she probably raised her voice a little. “I don’t… I don’t think so, Celestia. It’s not the bats who need to change, it’s the ponies who hate us. I’m content with what I am. In time, all of us will be. And if you want to wipe us out, we’ll fight.”
“No.” Celestia raised a wing. “It was just a thought, I apologize. You’re clearly determined to survive.” She gestured over her shoulder, towards Excellus. “A very human trait, I suppose. They say your kind can live through anything, and here we are. You brought them through the end of the world.”
She leaned in close to Hayden, and her expression hardened. “Don’t think this is the end, Hayden. You’re still here. I hope you understand what that means.” She didn’t wait for confirmation, but pointed up at the sky. “I was wrong about what the spell would do. You’re still connected to Luna’s magic. Still her familiar. You may be here when it’s time to set her free.”
“I…” Hayden hesitated. “I look forward to that, Princess. I’d like to see her again.”