//------------------------------//
// Homecoming 
// Story: The Alicorn Academy 
// by kudzuhaiku 
//------------------------------//

	The sun rose and set, as did the moon. The sun rose and fell several times. Celestia believed in routine, fixed constants that ponies could rely upon and feel that life was normal. So the sun continued to move as it always had, marking the passage of days. 

The dead had needs, and those were looked after. The living had needs as well. And those were met. Heartbroken colts and fillies spent much needed time with parents. Celestia had spared no effort, using the guard to fly precious packages back home to spend a day with parents. A much needed day of respite. And then school was back in session. 

Routine was important. And it would not be broken. It was vitally important Celestia felt, to go back to the way things were, believing that strength could be shown only by a return to day to day life, not by shows of militaristic force. 

No, Luna took care of that. Word had spread. Letters had been sent to parents, brothers, sisters, terrible letters to let them know that a loved one had fallen in the line of duty. The lunar pegasi in particular, took these letters badly. They took loss personally, an affront to their peculiar sense of honour. After a brief time spent brooding, remembering those lost, brothers, sisters, cousins, sometimes even parents took long journeys to Canterlot, returning from the dark and dangerous corners of the earth, where they had spent a long exile, perfecting their craft. 

The lunar pegasi had one art, one craft, one great cultural relic common to all in their species. It was the one common sense of purpose that they all shared, and it stood out in contrast to their peaceful reverie as they lost themselves in brooding. 

Warfare. 

The lunar pegasi were made for war. Discord had seen to that long ago, when he had created them, perverting them from their original pegasi forms. And over the many centuries, they had nurtured their need for war. When Luna fell into darkness, becoming Nightmare Moon, many of her loyal and loving lunar pegasi had simply vanished. They served Luna, their Mistress, she who had restored order to their minds after Discord’s chaos. Luna had taught them to brood, to keep the inner chaos at bay, to listen to the soft sounds of the night, to focus their inner turmoil into an outward manifestation of extreme violence upon Luna’s enemies. And with Luna gone, they had left. Most of them. A few had remained to serve Celestia, so much was their sense of love and devotion to their Mistress. 

Those that left had not gone to serene pastoral corners of the world, becoming soft pretty little ponies. No, they had gone to horrible places, places where if ponies existed at all, they were food. And the lunar pegasi had carved themselves a place in the hierarchy of super predators that existed upon this world. They lived comfortably in the Black Realms, the sooty place that was now the home of dragons, the land pockmarked with volcanos. And the dragons, after much war, had finally sued for peace, because the lunar pegasi were worthy foes. 

And now they were returning to serve their Mistress once again. Each letter home was an affront. Some minor annoyance had reared its head and had the audacity to take the life of those they had held dear, a precious vessel that centuries of knowledge of warfare had been poured into and hope placed that the knowledge would be passed along, but the cycle of life had been interrupted. And now somepony was going to have to answer for it. They seethed with rage, nurtured the flickering flames of revenge in their hearts, and returned to protect their smaller weaker cousins, distant kin that had cried for help. 

Somepony had disturbed a hornet’s nest. Somepony was going to learn the same lessons that the dragons had learned, the griffons had learned, and so many other monsters had to learn in the form of terrible lessons and horrible loss. 

Arouse the ire of the lunar pegasi at your own peril. 

It was too late now. Whomever this Collective was, they had poked the proverbial hornet's nest. 

And now the skies over Canterlot blackened. Not with smoke, even though there had been plenty of that. The skies were crowded with grotesque shapes. Bat-like wings. Horrifying slitted eyes. Each ledge, each nook, every roof, every spot where a pony posteriour could be parked high above the city was now filled to overflowing with lunar pegasi, and each night more came. 

The citizens of Canterlot were strangely ready. While there had always been some tension in the city between the solar ponies and the lunar ponies, the solar ponies now took a great deal of comfort when they heard a loud thunk on their roof, a bump on the rain gutter, the sound of hooves clattering on narrow decorative ledges. Word had spread through the city that the lunar pegasi protected those places where they went to brood… So many were hard at work to make their roof extra inviting, with plans to add balconies and platforms as the rebuilding continued. 

The wealthy considered the equine gargoyles a most worthwhile fashion accessory and lured them to their rooftops with gifts of fish and food. 

So many had come that the rooftops of Canterlot were crowded, and many began to eye Ponyville. Thatched roofs were not ideal, but there were a few decent spots. Those spots would be taken soon enough. 

Of all the changes wrought by the arrival of the of lunar pegasi, nothing felt the change more than the denizens of the Everfree. The dark things of the wood came to the sad realisation that they were food, or, at best, a night’s entertainment. The hideous creatures of the wood sought shelter in dark places, as a new nightmare had arrived and began to hunt them. It was not a good time to be an eater of ponies.