Epilogue: What Then Came
Sometimes, just sometimes things work out.
Well... we meet again. I thought I was done with you. Very well. Once more... for what I once believed in.
~From the New Journal of Nevermore
The wind lashes around me as I stand upon the edge of the cliff. Rain poured from the heavens in a weeping curtain. A fitting deluge for what I had done. I stand upon a barren cliff, jagged rocks jutting from the earth like daggers far below me. A simple fall, and it would all end.
But it does not end. It couldn’t. I raise my eyes, looking up at the darkened sky, feeling the rain fall upon a shattered world. A world that is rebuilding. “Nevermore, we should go.” I nod my head slowly. She’s right. She’s always right. It’s time to go. Time to go home.
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Losing oneself is a terrifying thing. If you do not know who you are, then who does? I remember the rage, the grief... nowhere to go. Nothing to do. I gave myself to death and madness, a broken shell after centuries of torment. I was alone and trapped, surrounded by darkness. I look at the small orb as we enter the house. A sphere containing my memories, captured all those years ago. I do not know what horrors they went through to capture me. I cannot remember what nightmares they endured in freeing my mind with it. But I know what kept me here, what still keeps me here. I look at the ponies, seeing ghosts of familiar faces in their offspring.
The touch of madness behind me is gone. I no longer fear the night, no longer fear myself. The sword of insanity no longer hangs above me. Regret no longer tears at my heart. I am finally at peace, finally able to dream. Finally able to say goodbye. Dour though I am, I am at least now content. The world is healing, but there are still dangers. But not here. Not while I watch.
Bandits and raiders had learned quickly, once I reawoke. I taught them fear again. I taught them the price for attacking the innocent. I remember now the lessons I had forgotten during the war. I fight not for hatred nor violence. No... I fight to protect and to preserve. If we had done that all those years ago... but old regrets have no place in this new world.
I look over, seeing a red mane bobbing past, a smile on my lips before I realize it, still concealed behind my heavy mask. The filly looks at me, painfully shy, her crimson eyes looking into my own. “Come now, Written Verse... let us make tea for the others.” My namesake, for a new generation... maybe her life will be better than mine. I will fight to make it so... but I will not let it consume her. No, I will protect them as best I can. Not just from others, but from the darkness itself. I look out towards the horizon, waiting for a brilliant dawn.
I am Nevermore. A mare, a pegasus... a guardian and a friend. I am Nevermore, and I am not alone.
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Welcome to the true ending of False Dawn!
Looks like you finally reached a happy ending, Nevermore.
Remember your past, but do not let it rule you.
But for now, this truly is...
The End