EPILOGUE
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Year: 2948 AD / 60 AGB
Location: Unknown...
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“I’ve faced off against Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon both, and this is what makes me nervous?” Knight Sky remarked as he donned his freshly polished Royal Guard helm.
Fluttershy brushed a smudge off the helm with her wing and reassured him, “Don’t be nervous, I think you’ll do just fine.”
The newly minted Royal Guard Commander sighed heavily and said, “You’re right, as always. I’m ready for this.”
He walked to the door of the small home, his armored hooves clanking on the wooden floorboard. He’d never flown in armor before, and that alone made him anxious. Knight Sky pushed open the door and was met with searing brightness in his right eye.
He turned away from the sunlight with the eye closed, “Fluttershy, do you see my patch anywhere?”
“Right here,” she retrieved the eyepatch and brought it to him. “You shouldn’t forget this, it’s dangerous to use that eye in the sunlight. Remember what Blood Dancer said about it.”
As he put the patch on with Fluttershy’s help, Knight Sky recalled, “Didn’t he say something about hard-boiled eggs?”
The mare put a hoof to her mouth in embarrassment, “Oh, um...that wasn’t really what I was referring to, but-”
Knight Sky simply silenced her with his own lips. When they separated he added, “Thanks for worrying about me, Fluttershy.”
She tried and failed to hide her blush, but had composed herself enough by the time he turned back to the door to say one thing, “Adra would be proud, Daniel.”
“You’ve never even met her and yet you remember her better than I do,” he mused aloud. “It’s okay, I trust you. Your word is all I need to know it’d be true.”
Knight Sky spread his wings, and took flight.
---
“Have you heard anything about our instructor?” the unicorn Lieutenant asked of his classmates at the newly-opened Ponyville Academy for Military Strategy.
“I’ve only heard that he’s a tactical genius and that he’s not from around here,” a pegasus soldier replied.
All told, the first class numbered only about forty Royal Guard officers who had been deemed of high enough aptitude to be trained as strategists, it was expected to grow with time.
“Ah, great...I hope he’s not from Stalliongrad, I can never understand those accents,” the unicorn complained.
“If half the things I’ve heard about him are true, then I don’t care where he’s from or what he sounds like, I want to learn all I can,” a third soldier chimed in.
Before anypony else could speak again, the door opened and the entire class fell silent. In walked a grey pegasus clad in the traditional Royal Guard armor, but what caught their eye was not the slew of foreign service pins, nor the distinct limp and large scar on his foreleg, nor even the eyepatch he wore over one of his eyes.
What caught their notice the most was the medal that they could all recognize anywhere.
One soldier whispered, “No one told me our instructor would be a Sun and Moon recipient...”
The whispered reply came swiftly, “Quiet down, I wanna hear this!”
Once he reached the podium at the front and center of the room, he looked over his students, and began. “Strategy,” he paused dramatically, “...is a more powerful weapon than anything you’ve ever seen.”
Many soldiers began taking notes as he continued, “When honed correctly, your mind can be sharper than any sword, tougher than the strongest armor, swifter than the lightest arrow...and deadlier than any weapon you can imagine.”
He motioned for a unicorn assistant to begin writing on the board from a prepared set of notes. The unicorn levitated the chalk and wrote out a three word phrase, which their instructor began elaborating on.
“Where I come from, a little under two and a half thousand years ago, there was a battle that will be remembered forever. A few hundred stood against more than a million. They held their ground for weeks until a traitor undid them. But they used strategy and superb individual fighting skill to make numbers count for nothing. Train your mind correctly, and you can do the same.”
The unicorn Lieutenant in the front raised a hoof, and was gestured to. “Sir, if I may ask, where exactly are you from?”
“Where I am from is nothing you need to worry about. What matters is who I am and what I have done. That is what defines me, not my place of origin,” he replied cryptically.
The stallion who asked the question nervously continued, “With all due respect, sir, would you mind telling us a little about that? I feel there’s a great deal we could learn from it.”
He simply nodded and continued. “As for what I have done, I was born in war, as were my parents, and their parents. I grew up in war, I killed in war, I turned my cloak in war, I fell in love in war, I lost my love in war, and more than once, I nearly died in war. War is the worst thing civilization has ever conceived, and yet to maintain peace for the innocent, it is unfortunately necessary. I have fended off armies with little more than nine trained soldiers, a few rusty weapons, and half a town of untrained and frightened civilians. As for who I am...”
He took off his helm and rested it on the podium, “When I first arrived here, I was no one. Then, I remembered that I was Lieutenant Commander Daniel Tarian, master strategist on board the Deus ex Machina, one of the lead flagships of the United Terran Fleet. Now, I am Commander Knight Sky, master strategist in Her Majesty’s Royal Guard, and teacher of strategy at this academy.”
As he spoke, jaws began to drop as the students slowly began to realize just who their instructor was.
Another student raised a hoof, and was called upon. “Sir, I have two questions. First, where were you awarded the Medal of Sun and Moon? And second, those words on the board, what exactly do you mean by them?”
Commander Knight Sky looked to the board and answered, “I was awarded this medal for orchestrating the defense strategy against the Second Changeling Insurrection several months ago, and for challenging and defeating the changeling Queen. As for these words, they refer to the concept that before the mind of a master strategist, there is no strength in numbers. I want you all to memorize these words, ingrain them into your minds, and never forget them. They will be your guide as a strategist, and will dictate your every move in battle. Recite them now. Read these words aloud.”
He looked back to the class of soldiers eager to learn. They stood to attention, and recited the words as one, “Mind over might.”
---
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A pretty fitting end to the story.
Poetic, as endings should be.
2937524 Lelouche vi Brittania now commands you...
SEQUEL!!!!
So great, loved it!
3304311 Wait, did you already finish the story and start the prequel?
3304519
Prequel?
Oh, I see it now. Sorry, should have checked
3304619 Haha, it's cool. By Fear and Fire takes place about 60 years before Mind Over Might, but I wrote it after, and it's meant to be read after. Also it's not close to done. Chapter one is in the editing stages.
So lately I've received a few messages here and otherwise asking various questions about this fanfic. I figure here's as good a place as any to answer them. I thought about posting a Q & A chapter, but then I realized people would get that email, freak out thinking I'm adding another chapter, and then be disappointed. Anyway, here goes, the first Q & A comment.
"This is a Starcraft crossover, right? Because Terran Fleet? LOL"
*sigh* No, it's not a crossover. Yes, I realize Starcraft is a sci-fi game where the humans are called Terrans. However, Terran is literally just another name for any living creature from the planet Earth, also known as Terra (terra firma...get it?). I picked Terran to refer to that because it's accurate and sounds a hell of a lot better than earthling. I mean, come on, earthling? Also the United Terran Fleet is loyal to no single nation, it's a peacekeeping and exploration force for Earth, similar to Starfleet, if you're at all familiar with the Star Trek universe.
"Why did you throw in so many references to other fandoms?"
Because it was fun.
*Spoiler warning, highlight to see.*
"Did you ship the main OC of your fic with Fluttershy 'cause you have a fancrush on her?"
Nothing could be further from the truth. In my opinion, she is the most one-dimensional character on the entire show. Her only characteristic is that she's shy except when the very plot (heh, plot) of the episode is her overcoming her shyness. She is my least favorite of the Mane Six. That's why I made her so important to the story, I wanted to give her the character depth that the show doesn't. Like I say in one of the later chapters, Fluttershy's element of harmony is the exact opposite of what gives Nightmare Moon her power, therefore she is the best suited to fight her on a magical level. Also, as you'll recall, Adra is essentially human Rainbow Dash. I wanted to show just how much Daniel changes when she dies, so his romantic tastes basically jump from one end of the spectrum to the other by him eventually falling for Fluttershy. If he were to keep his romantic tastes and be attracted to Rainbow Dash, she probably couldn't treat him normally considering that she blames herself for not being able to help him early on. Lastly, who do you think would be better for someone who's been through the trauma that Daniel has? Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy? It just makes more sense for him to pair with Fluttershy, despite my personal dislike for the character.
*Spoiler warning, highlight to see.*
"What happened after the war between the Terran Fleet and the Faction ended? Did they actually kiss and make up or did Silus betray his brother? I wanna know!"
I leave that up to the reader. Draw your own conclusions as to what happens, I intentionally left that open.
Not a question, but an interesting fact that occurred to me around when I was finishing up the epilogue. I wrote this mostly during season 2 (wrote, not published), which I assume to be 2 years after Luna's return at the very beginning of season 1, so according to the timeline in this fic, Luna returned in 2945 AD. Her banishment, 1,000 years earlier, took place in 1945. Since that occurred in the summer, around the Summer Sun Celebration, which I assume to be in early August, Luna's banishment took place in early August, 1945. You know what else took place in early August, 1945? The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. August 6 and 9 of that year. Cool story, bro.
Anyway, if you have any questions you'd like to ask about the fic or otherwise, don't hesitate to message me, and I'll post the answers in another Q & A comment.
Pony on, friends.
This was a very enjoyable story yet it brings sadness as well seeing as you are retired from fan fiction and thus we will not see anymore wonderful and well written stories of yours. I thank ya for such a beautiful and wonderful read and yet I am saddened by the fact of your choice. Ya may see this or ya may not but if ya do know that I thank ya for such a pretty unique read of a well written story that’s so small yet is so big. Thanks for giving us this even if ya no longer write.