From Whence We Fell

by iAmSiNnEr

Epilogue

All went white.

For a moment, the world didn’t exist. All that matter, all those ponies…

They had simply ceased to be.

Then as time fixed itself, shapes took form once more.

Rays of sunlight were cast through the window, streaming into a bedroom where a lavender alicorn slumbered in a bed, her chest slowly rising and falling. As the sun began its ascent into the sky, the alicorn stirred, her body suddenly realizing that her companion was gone from the bed.

Her eyes shot open.

“Luna?” she called out. “Luna?”

“Here, my love,” a soft, regal voice spoke from the shadows in the corner of the room. A midnight blue alicorn stepped out of the shadows, her form solidifying as she spoke. “I had just gone to tell the staff that we would need breakfast today.”

Twilight relaxed. “You worried me,” she pulled the covers off herself with her magic. “I was worried the Nightmare had taken you again, spirited you away or something…”

Luna’s body posture stiffened, but Twilight scooched over, pulling Luna to her. She smiled as she pulled the larger alicorn to sit down on the bed, before nuzzling her gently. As she did so, Luna’s body relaxed, and her wings unfurled to wrap around Twilight.

“I promise it won’t happen again,” she whispered to Twilight. “Because I know you’ll be there for me, Twilight.”

“I’ll always be there for you,” Twilight gave her a warm smile. “As you were there for me when the Lunar Empire was still accepting me as their new ruler.”

A rueful chuckle. “Simpler times, were they not? When all we had to worry about was the court and the nobles accepting you as my bride, when all we had to worry about how we were going to have children…”

“Mhm,” Twilight leaned against her. “You know, I had the strangest dream last night.”

“Hm?” Luna cast her gaze upon the smaller lavender alicorn. “Do tell me, love.”

“I saw some sort of golem,” Twilight recalled. “The details are fuzzy, but I remember he pointed at me and I froze or something? Then I saw this crazy unicorn just flying, and some sort of portal in the sky. It had to be a dream, because the portal had time runes on its edges. And both of us know…”

“That Sister banned time magic centuries ago,” Luna finished. “And that if any of our mages were found using time magic, the Solar Empire would wage war on the Lunar Empire. Yes. We know that. I just wonder what prompted such a dream?”

Twilight scrunched her face up, and the resulting image prompted Luna to barely hold in a small laugh at how cute Twilight was looking. But she had centuries of experience of keeping a straight face, and assumed a mild smile on her face. 

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I just…maybe it was because of last week? I do sorta remember Nightmare Moon in my dreams.”

As Twilight said that, she was already prepared with a feather stroking down Luna’s spine, making sure the other alicorn didn’t freak out at the mention of the name. It was still a fresh scar, and the Lunar Empire was still recovering from the damage Nightmare Moon had wrought on their country. 

Not to mention the diplomatic problems it had caused with the Solar Empire, but that could wait. Their ponies came first. 

Luna gave her a brief smile. “Speaking of which, Sister is currently travelling towards us. She wishes to speak about…the Eternal Night incident. If she should demand penance for the damage I caused…I will pay it.”

“No,” Twilight said firmly. “You’re doing nothing of the sorts. If Celestia wants to punish you for something you had no control over, I will fight her. She’ll have to go through me, and our ponies, if she wants to punish you for what Nightmare did.”

A small pause.

“I still don’t know what drove me over,” Luna whispered as she let herself be taken by Twilight’s embrace. “That night…I saw visions. Visions of Sister taunting me, visions of you dying, visions of you dissipating into dust. And then the voice whispered to me. Asked me if I wanted to prevent those visions from becoming reality. And I said yes.”

“And the Nightmare took over,” Twilight murmured, trailing her wing tip over Luna’s back, causing Luna’s body to relax in her embrace. “I don’t blame you. Sometimes, nightmares can seem so real.”

“That’s the thing,” Luna buried her muzzle in Twilight’s shoulder, and her voice was a little muffled now. “It didn’t seem like just a nightmare. It seemed like it could actually happen. And I saw the world as a wasteland. Dozens of monsters just…roaming the land.”

Twilight kissed her on the cheek. “I believe you. And I know you always have the best of intentions for us. It wasn’t your fault that some demon decided to prey on your fears so they could get access to your body.”

Twilight felt a tear fall on her lap. 

And she hugged Luna even the more tighter for it.

“Let’s talk about happier topics, shall we?” she suggested. “Is Cadance and my brother coming?”

Luna’s mood seemed to brighten a little. “Why, yes, my niece is coming! Celestia may be a pain in the arse at times, but her daughter inherited all her good traits. She’s coming along with your brother to play pony in the middle to help out.”

“It’s still so confusing,” Twilight complained. “I married you, then my brother married her. So am I her aunt-in-law, or she my sister-in-law? Everytime she sees me, she never fails to tease me about it. It’s like she wants to find everything she can tease me about, just because she was my foalsitter when she came to the Lunar Empire for her stargazing studies.”

“Ha!” Luna grinned. “At least you didn’t experience what your brother went through. Remember how Sister aged your brother by forty-years, and then threatened him to let go of his idea of dating Cadance unless he wanted to stay old?”

Twilight frowned. “I remember. And it was all a test!”

“Sister has the most elaborate plans to see the worst in others,” Luna chuckled. “And here I thought I was supposed to the alicorn who sought out the conspiracies. Alicorn of the Night and all.”

“I still recall how angry Cadance was when she found out Celestia tested Shiny like that,” Twilight giggled. “Seeing her just absolutely refuse to allow Celestia to officiate her wedding, and then calling you to officiate the wedding. That look on Celestia’s face as she realized she couldn’t officiate her own daughter’s wedding was priceless.”

Luna gave a slow chuckle. “Indeed. I am half-glad Sister and I came to an arrangement all those centuries ago to split Equestria into two. Those who followed the Night formed our Lunar Empire, and those who followed the Day formed the Solar Empire. We’re still smaller than Sister’s, but we have the monopoly on trade relations with the Griffon Empire. Suck on that, Sister!”

Twilight’s ears folded back at the swear, and Luna looked sheepish. “I apologize, love. I did not mean to swear in your presence.”

“It’s fine,” she mumbled. “Rarity always thought it was uncouth to swear. But I did find it funny when she kept finding phrases like ‘needles and threads’ to replace swears.”

Luna smiled. “That friend of yours is an excellent Royal Seamstress. Perhaps I should pay her a visit soon to commission something for the occasion coming up.”

“The occasion coming up?” Twilight tilted her head. “What, the diplomatic visit? You don’t have to dress up for that, we know Celestia and Cadance!”

“No, silly,” Luna bapped her lightly on her head. “Your birthday’s in a week!”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh, right! How could I forget?”

“To be fair, you didn’t celebrate your birthdays before you met me,” Luna said softly. “Not since…not since your magic surge.”

It was time for Twilight to stiffen. “They’ll turn back, right?”

“I’m working on the solution every spare moment I get,” Luna confirmed. “I’ll return your parents to normal, okay? You don’t have to worry.”

“How could I not?” she muttered. “They’ve been plants for fifteen years. Fifteen years. What’s that going to do to them?”

“Shush, love,” Luna stroked Twilight’s mane with a hoof. “We just have to have faith. It wasn’t your fault. Like you told me, you had no control over your actions. Every unicorn foal has a magic surge as they grow. It just so happened that yours was stronger than most.”

Twilight’s ears flattened. “So strong that I turned my parents into plants.”

“They’re well cared for,” Luna assured her. “My royal gardeners are ensuring they get the best quality fertilizer and water as we work on a solution.”
Twilight nodded slowly.

“Besides, I’m sure they’re happy that their filly is happy,” Luna tried. “Look, you’re the princess of the Lunar Empire, like me!”

Twilight gave a slight smile. “Yeah. They’d be proud of me. I just know it.”

“Anyways,” Luna folded her wings back in. “We have to start getting ready. Court begins in thirty minutes, and I’ll need you there.” She gave a nervous smile. “It’s the first day court reopens after…you know.”

“You’ll be fine,” Twilight said softly. “Our ponies still love you. I spoke to them on your behalf while you were recovering from all the injuries we gave you while defeating Nightmare Moon. They know that wasn’t you.”

“Maybe not all think that way,” Luna mumbled. “Maybe some—”

“Oh, hush, you,” Twilight pulled her in for a kiss, and their lips met. Luna’s eyes widened, but she melted into the kiss as Twilight funneled all the love she had for Luna into it. Eventually, they pulled back. Twilight gave Luna a smirk. “That always shuts you up. Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll get ready. I just hate wearing that dress. It’s just so…” she shuddered. “Gaudy!”

“Your friend made that dress,” Luna reminded her. “I’ll see you in the throne room, then?”

Twilight nodded, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you.”

Luna beamed at the kiss, before melting into the shadows.

Once Luna was gone, Twilight hopped off the bed and stared out over the Lunar Empire.

Homes were being repaired. The entire East wing of the castle had crumbled. 

Where their original room had been. 

A tinge of regret from Twilight as she saw the ponies pulling the debris apart and working on repairs. She would be there down with them, helping them if she could. But they had insisted she fulfill her duties, that they would be fine. 

She stared out further, and used her magic to enhance her vision to see the wilted crops, and the farmers working tirelessly to regrow their crops. The Royal Treasury had opened the vaults and sent out much needed relief funds to the citizens, but for some farmers, it would be a while before their livelihoods were repaired. Who could blame them, when their crops had been deprived of three days of sunlight?

Twilight’s head throbbed.

Eternal Night.

For some reason, her mind was telling her that she was forgetting something.

As she looked up to the sky, she gave a pause as she saw the sun rising, the moon rising.

A flash in her vision, and she cried out as she fell to her knees.

She shook her head as she forced herself to get up, her body shaking a little.

She had just seen a red sky, with the moon and sun hanging at either ends of the sky for a moment. But that wasn’t her reality. It was just from the nightmare she had last night.

She had left out the worst details of her nightmare, as she didn’t want Luna worrying about her and travelling into her dreams to protect her. Luna had enough to worry about.

She sighed. The three days Nightmare Moon had ruled had affected them all. It would take a while before everything was returned to normal. But for now…she threw opened the walk-in closet’s door, and gazed at the array of choices she had to wear to court.

Twilight Sparkle would think of a way to return everything to how it had been.

Or else, she would not be the same mare Luna had married.

As she browsed the closet, there was a glint in the sky.

And just for a moment, Twilight felt like someone was watching her.

But as she whirled around, there was no one. And her senses were telling her that there was nopony.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. She had probably been imagining things.

She put on a smile as she chose her dress, before closing the closet door to begin changing her clothes. 

Then once she was done, she exited the room she and Luna shared, and began trotting to the throne room, greeting every staff member with a smile on her face.

For it was new day.

And perhaps…a new time.