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// Epilogue: Luna, Tiberrius, and Silent Wing 
// Story: Victory 
// by Zeck 
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	Princess Luna stood in the middle of the statue garden by herself. Celestia had lowered the sun thirty minutes ago, and Luna had just finished raising the moon. No doubt Celestia was busy preparing for their guest—or guests, since Luna highly doubted that a certain pony would willingly stay behind—but Luna didn’t want to head inside yet. After the return of the Crystal Empire, her battle in Manehattan, and all the other events that had transpired recently, she needed some time to herself.
She had always found a certain sense of peace in the statue garden ever since she and her sister had first moved to Canterlot and established it as Equestria’s capital. Tonight, she found that same feeling of peace as she stared up at her favorite statue.
Twirl stood before her eyes, the earth pony’s image forever engraved in stone. Luna smiled to herself as she recalled Twirl’s protest about having a statue made out of her, and when Luna had insisted that a cape be added—she had still be a little filly at the time and thought it looked dashing—Sea Tide had nearly died of laughter. Twirl’s jaw had almost hit the floor, but after Sea Tide had regained enough of her composer, she had managed to convince her friend to allow the statue. Luna had been overjoyed at that because her vision of first seeing Twirl, standing between her friend and their enemies with courage and determination, had taken on a nearly mythic image in Luna’s mind. 
Luna smiled as she recalled her first set of friends. Twirl and Sea Tide had both served in the Royal  Guard with honor for the rest of their lives, and each night both of them had come in to see her before they went to sleep and she began her nightly duties. 
Hersah had returned to the griffon kingdom briefly to free her slaves, and any others she could, then fled back to Equestria as more and more of her kind called her a traitor and threatened to kill her. She hadn’t minded too much though, since she had been the first ambassador of the griffon kingdom in Canterlot. At the time the title hadn’t really meant anything, since the relationship between griffons and ponies had remained strained for many decades. It had just been a way to allow Hersah to stay in Canterlot without the threat of ponies coming after her too. 
Spinner had been very pleased with the news that Hersah would be staying in Canterlot too.
As Luna stared at the statue of Twirl, her eyes drifted to the flag the statue was holding high. It was modeled after the scarf that Sea Tide had favored for her entire life. Luna had once asked the aqua earth pony what was so special about the scarf and why there were three random squares on it, and Luna could still hear Sea Tide’s answer in her mind.
“It’s us,” the pony had said.
“You mean me and you?” Luna had asked. 
“No, I mean the three tribes. Earth, pegasus, and unicorn.”
“Oh. Which one is which? I cannot tell.”
“Exactly.”
Luna had pretended to understand at the time—she had been a royal filly-princess-in-training back then, so of course she knew what Sea Tide had meant—but it hadn’t been until years later that she had truly understood what Sea Tide’s scarf, and thus Twirl’s flag, had really symbolized.
“Good evening, Your Majesty,” a voice said and Luna had to force herself not to jump. Calmly, she pulled her gaze away from the statue that had come to be known as Victory and turned to face her new companion.
“Greetings, Silent Wing,” Luna said with a smile. “You look lovely as always.” Luna always added that extra part whenever the bat pony snuck up on her. Silent Wing liked to try to make her jump, and she in turn loved making the captain of her guard blush.
Silent Wing bowed deeply, trying to hide her face, but Luna still caught a glimpse of color in the pony’s cheeks. “T-Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Captain Silent Wing,” Luna said sternly, causing the pony to stand upright instantly. “We have discussed this before. You are to address me as Luna when we are alone.”
“Er, yes, Your—” Luna glared at Silent Wing. “I mean, yes, Luna.”
“That’s better,” Luna said, smiling. She was about to continue when she felt a tugging on her hair. She sighed and tilted her head to the right, allowing her mane to come closer to the ground. She winced slightly as the tugging continued up her mane, but in a moment she felt a familiar warm spot on the top of her head.
“Good evening Tiberius,” Luna said as she reached up and rubbed the opossum that was now nestled in her mane. “Did you have a nice rest? Are you ready for tonight’s adventures?”
“Sir Tibbles says he is looking forward to them, Luna,” Silent Wing said with a childish smile. 
“Excellent,” Luna said as she felt a gentle nip on the tip of her hoof. Tibbles liked to sleep wherever he pleased during the day, but he still always managed to find Luna once the evening came. How he did it, she didn’t know, but she was glad that her pet was so loyal to her. 
“Anyway Luna, your sister sent me to find you.”
“Truly?” Luna asked, turning her full attention to Silent Wing. She was already certain of the reason, but she still wanted to hear it. Excitement began to build in her stomach as she waited. 
“Yes. It seems Miss Melody has arrived in Canterlot. She should be at the castle in ten minutes, if you wish to greet her.”
Luna smiled even more. The thought of seeing her friends again filled her with joy. But that joy was quickly dimmed as she realized what the bat pony had just said. 
“Wait. Just Octavia? Vinyl is not with her?”
Silent Wing sighed and unconsciously stretched one of her wings. She had suffered an injury when she and Vinyl had first met, and while it had not been Vinyl’s fault, Silent Wing had been forced by Luna to take a week off of her duties to heal. Silent Wing had not appreciated that.
“Yes, the D.J. is with her too. Being…D.J.-ish.”
“Perfect! Come, Sir Tibbles. We must be in the throne room to greet our honored guests.” With that, Luna began walking back to the castle, turning to take one last look at Twirl’s statue. If not for her and forty-nine other ponies, the odds would have been very poor of Octavia and Vinyl coming to see Luna tonight, or even an earth pony and unicorn pony being together. 
Luna still didn’t like sacrifice, but seeing Twirl’s statue every day reminded her that sometimes, sacrifices had to be made, and that from those sacrifices greater things could be achieved. 
Luna’s thoughts darkened a bit as she thought about the real reason she had invited Octavia to the castle tonight. She and Celestia would need to speak with the cellist in private. Hopefully Octavia would not need to make a sacrifice as great as many of Twirl’s companions had had to so long ago.
“If you do not mind, Luna, I shall return to my nightly rounds,” Silent Wing said.
“Oh no you will not,” Luna said, reaching out with her magic and catching Silent Wing by the tail. “You saved Vinyl’s life, and Octavia’s marefriend. I am certain they would both be overjoyed to see you again.”
Luna heard Silent Wing let out an exaggerated sigh and her spirits lifted. “Yes, Your Majesty.”