Epilogue
The individual Lunar Guards, persecuted and leaderless, reintegrated into Equestrian society as though they had never left. The majority of them were reservists, with families and day jobs the return to. The unusually long absence was explained any number of ways, and the news of Nightmare Moon's return was as much a shock to them as it was to anypony else. But they held onto their armor, hidden but ready, in case that call for justice ever rose again.
The full-timers, even Luna's personal guards who were familiar faces around the castle, knew they needed to disappear as well. Most simply created new lives for themselves, finding new jobs, some even starting families. A small group of those who worked at Camp Blacklight were able to forge new identities and join the Equestrian Royal Guard. Though unconnected in this new environment, their superiors all noted how quickly they adapted to military life, and their remarkable all-around proficiency. Promotions were recommended in almost all cases.
The dead presented a more difficult problem, especially where reservists with families were concerned. The Lunar Guard leaders agreed that their fallen comrades deserved full military rites, but secrecy still had to be maintained. Because Camp Blacklight had been discovered, it would not be safe to bury them there, in case their graves were discovered and their identities with them. Instead, the surviving Guards found a clearing deep in the Everfree Forest during their return, mustered as best they could, and held a mass military funeral. The fallen were buried in their armor, hooves across their chests and weapons at their sides, following Guard tradition. Their families were not notified, to protect both the survivors from discovery and the families themselves from the shame and suspicion that would follow if the circumstances of their loved ones' deaths were made public. There was speculation, of course, but little more came of it. However, one week later, every fallen Lunar Guard's family received a moon-blue rose on their doorstep.
"Alright, stallions, let's start pulling this place apart!"
In the wake of Nightmare Moon's unsuccessful revolution, one of the first orders of business was the investigation, then destruction of Camp Blacklight. Well-built as it was, it was an enemy military installation, and too remote to be useful to the Equestrian Royal Guard. Any records or documents would be recovered and sent to Military Intelligence in Canterlot, and any useful equipment would be salvaged by the Corps of Engineers. The rest was to be brought down and sold for scrap. Leading the operation was First Lieutenant Wild Card, a pegasus with a penchant for gambling. He hadn't seen any action five days ago in the Battle of Canterlot, but this was the next best thing: knocking down the enemy's fort! But before he got to start wrecking things, those egghead MI ponies and engineers had to grab anything they thought was useful. And here came one now, what did she want?
"Sir, the, uh, door on the command center won't open."
"What?"
"We've tried forcing it, but it just won't move. We think it's locked."
"Of course it's locked, you civvie! This is a frickin' military base! Let me show you how we handle locked doors around here."
With a huff of irritation, he marched her over to the command center door, stepped up to it, then turned away.
"Watch. You raise one hoof, then... buck!"
With a sharp kick, Wild Card did indeed force the door to open. However, in the split-second he had to be proud of himself, he did not realize that forcing the door open had triggered an enchantment on it, though he momentarily discovered what the enchantment was connected to. Before his hoof even hit the ground, a blast of fire roared out of the building, engulfing him instantly. Several more jets of fire shot out the windows, accompanying the sound of a ground-shaking explosion. The ground shook once more alongside another boom as the side wings of the command center burst out in flames. The roar and tremors continued as other buildings across the camp exploded, flinging shrapnel-like splinters and flaming logs everywhere. The Guard's salvage team was trapped in the middle of Tartarus, and more ponies fell with every blast. By the time the sequence of explosions had ended, every building in Camp Blacklight had either been blown up, burnt down or crushed by flaming debris. There were no survivors.
Weary from at least three days without sleep, Celestia struggled to contain the damage done by she and her sister's last confrontation. First she had to tend to the wounded and dead Royal Guards, then try and round up the escaped Lunar Guards who participated in the rebellion. Wonderbolts would need to be posted around the Everfree to spot escapees and guard Luna's hidden base from civilian eyes. Then there was repairing the damage to the Palace, completely rebuilding Canterlot Tower and recovering the Elements of Harmony. Twilight and her friends would need counseling, Twilight especially, and then there was Nightmare Moon's revenge threat to worry about. It was a difficult and taxing situation, and there did not appear to be an end in sight yet. Presently she was engaged in a discussion with Penstroke, her chief Royal Correspondent.
"The news media wants an answer, Princess!" There's too much for us to pretend it never happened, and if we don't give them something, they'll start speculating, and then..."
"Yes, yes, Penstroke, I know. But there are so many details woven together that we have to figure out what we can say without contradicting the obvious or ourselves. We should at least get something on paper, to work off of and improve. Take a draft: Two days ago, the city of Canterlot was attacked by Princess Luna, who had taken the form of Nightmare Moon once more. She was aided by a paramilitary group which she had amassed and been training at an unknown location. Fortunately, the Equestrian Royal Guard was able to rout them and repel Nightmare Moon. We are currently seeking out members of the paramilitary group so that they may stand trial for their crimes. However, we must also report that in her first act of terror, Nightmare Moon was able to deceive and kill Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty."
"So we're covering up Rainbow Dash's actions in all of this?"
"What else can we do? I do not know if Rainbow Dash was acting of her own free will or how Nightmare Moon influenced her, but she served Equestria faithfully several times over. She does not deserve a legacy of ignominy and treason. And if the public hears that the Element of Loyalty could be convinced to betray me, how long before somepony else discovers Luna's subversive philosophy and agrees with it? No, in this case, the truth serves nopony, so we lie for the good of everypony."
"So be it. What will we say about..."
"Your Majesty!"
At that moment, a Royal Guard burst through the chamber doors; it was Marathon, Celestia's personal messenger.
"One second. What news, Marathon?"
"Quite a bit, your Majesty, and little of it good. First, Camp Blacklight was destroyed."
"You mean we demolished it?"
"No, it was destroyed. Somehow, our salvage team triggered a series of explosions that leveled the camp. Wonderbolts spotted and were able to contain the fire, but none of the salvage team survived, nor could we recover any documents or hardware. We believe at this time it was some sort of self-destruct system."
"I understand. What else?"
"Second, a reconnaissance post in the deserts out west reported a horde of changelings was moving towards Canterlot. We don't know for certain what their intentions are, but they're almost undoubtedly hostile. We'll need a shield around the city."
"Shining Armor is still in recovery, but I will let him know."
"With all due respect, your Majesty, we will need the Elements of Harmony to stand a chance at repelling them. What will we do now that the Element of Loyalty is dead?"
"I'm not sure, Marathon. I don't know if the Element will choose a new bearer, and if so, how we may find that bearer. It was luck that we discovered Rainbow Dash in the first place, and we still know very little about how the Elements function. I will let you know when we have a definite answer."
"Thank you, your Majesty. The last news I have to report is that a convoy from the Federal Mint carrying new bits to the Reserve in Appleloosa was attacked last night."
"By whom?"
"We don't know. All of the cargo was stolen, and both Guards and the driver were incapacitated. The convoy was discovered by a hiker passing through the area and the investigation began overnight. But we do have one clue: one of the Guards told us that before he blacked out, he could see a group of ponies 'with coats as dark as the night sky and frightening yellow eyes' offloading the bits."
"The Shadowbolts."
"Mmm. The driver said something similar, but what he noticed about the pony who attacked him was that in addition to a dark coat and yellow eyes, her mane sported 'all the colors of the rainbow.'"
Back home in Ponyville, Twilight rolled out of bed, only to wince as her back right hoof hit the floor. The wound had received proper treatment after the battle, but doctors said it was so severe that it might affect her gait for the rest of her life. They could not do anything about the scar left on her muzzle, either. Maybe that was Rainbow Dash's way of ensuring I wouldn't forget about her. Limping down the stairs, she found Spike boiling a kettle of water for tea. He would get an explanation when the time was right.
"Urghh, what time is it?"
"Little past eleven in the morning, Twilight. You've been practically dead in your room since that Guard brought you home yesterday. Heh, you were so out he had to carry you up to your bed! By the way, how'd you get that nasty-looking scar on your face?"
"Wrong topic. Did anything important happen while I was gone?"
"No, not really. No visitors, as usual, all junk mail, no messages; just three normal days in Ponyville! Except for that extra-long eclipse, that was weird. Do you know what was up with that?"
"Once again, wrong topic. Have we opened up for the day?"
"No, I didn't want to without you."
"Well, we probably ought to do that, then."
Twilight stumbled towards the front door to flip the sign in the window, when she saw a piece of paper that had been slid under the door. It was an annoying form of advertisement, one Twilight was all too used to. Note to self: tell the Mayor there ought to be a law. But when she picked it up and read it, she realized it was no ordinary ad. It was black lettering on white paper, nothing fancy, but in big bold words it said:
E.D.D.
Equestrians Demanding Democracy
First meeting tonight at Sugarcube Corner, 7 p.m.
No more tyranny!
At the bottom of the page appeared to be some sort of crest or seal, composed of a griffon's claw crossed with a lion's paw.
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SEQUEL! I DEMAND A FUCKING SEQUEL! THIS IS TO GOOD TO LEAVE ALONE!
MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR!!!!!!!!!!!
FOLLOWED!!!!!!!
DEATH TO TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!!!
(and CeLeStIa!!!!)
Please- allow me to echo the other commenters.
MOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOARMOAR!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok you can't leave me hanging you have to make sequel to this please
A sequel... please?
I admit I would certainly enjoy a sequel, however if you end it here, I can find it just as satisfying. While it took some time to complete, this story was certainly worth waiting for. It took my on a ride that I really enjoyed. So may I say, good luck on whatever future endeavors you may choose to pursue.
3723978 Communists can be tyrants. Just look at Stalin.
Very good story! I had a few small issues with the story that I will be mentioning, but they are really just me being nitpicky.
My first issue was how Rainbowdash had to fight Twilights spell in there fight to keep her Katana, but then suddenly her Katana was made impervious to Magic. Kinda wonky don't you think?
Second, a Katana? Ok, as cool as Katanas are, they are NOT stealth weapons. They are too long to actually be effective. I can see the whole Ninja kinda style you were going for, Shadowbolts do scream ninja, but there were other weapons you could have used. Like the blatant addition of the Assassins creed wrist gauntlet. Yea, I caught that :P
As for what weapons would have worked better? Sure, you have shuriken, kubatons, darts, tanto blades, shuko ((Fucking nasty)), Manriki Chains ((Would be great for AtA)), and the Shinobigatana. There are more, but these are all pretty decent. The Shinobigatana would be what you replace the Katana with, as it has the same outward visual appearance, except for that it is a shorter, faster straight blade. The Katana has quite the length too it, making it impractical for the type of combat the Shadowbolts would get into. If your going to bring in weapons and such from our world, make sure you research them and make sure that they fit the intended use you are going for. It doesn't take all that long and it really helps with the immersion of your story.
Next, if your GOING to use a weapon, make sure you have the combat style of the weapon down. Stabbing with the Katana is not what the Katana is meant for. The blade is NOT keen, and is curved so that slashing would be more effective. If you would like a blade that can stab and slash, look at the Leaf bladed long sword/shortsword. The Romans actually had a design for one, but a perfect example would be Frodo's glowing sword from Lord of the Rings. It provides the curved blade for slashing, but has an amazing form for slashing. It brilliant.
Finally, DAT CLIFFHANGER YOU BITCH! I best look at your page and see a sequel to this. I was looking forward to watching Celestia's facade to fall out from under her feet and expose her as the vi9llain she is, but you TOTALLY destroyed all the work you did to get me to WANT to root for Luna by actually giving Celestia Valid reasons, which made me seriously wonder why Rainbow didn't turn on Luna cause lets face it, Rainbow dash is rash not stupid. Celestia had some solid arguments, and you may as well have turned Rainbowdash into a cultist. Well, not exactly a cultist, but something of the ilk. Now Rainbowdash is covering her ears and going "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LA LA LA LA LA LA" which bothers me. You painted Celestia out to be the villain, and in the end made her a very solid good guy with Luna just wanting revenge. Boo to you on that one, Maybe if you made it that Celestia got stupidly lucky, or that Nightmare Moon and Rainbow Dash weren't just kicking ass and bad mouthing Twilight and Celestia. You spend all this time making me actually ROOT FOR LUNA and everything that she did, and all the morals that she had, and then made me root for Celestia in the end. That just upsets me as a reader because then I feel as if a majority of the story was wasted, and this turned into a "Luna is bad, Celestia is Good" fic once again. I almost screamed when Celestia didn't just turn into an evil manipulative bitch who lost her way and gets all angry.
Other than that, the writing was good, and always remember... You ASKED me to critique this :P
3795175 Fair points all around. What I will say about the katana is that I do not know historical melee weapons or the "proper" technique for wielding them very well (don't know most of the ones you suggested at all), and I'd write on the assumption my average reader doesn't either. What I liked about the katana was that it was powerful, sleek, and exotic but recognizable. Besides, Katanas Are Just Better. When I write action/combat sequences, I sort of picture how the scene would look in the show, then write to describe what I imagine. As weapons go, a well-wielded katana can be very impressive visually, so I guess it just seemed natural. As far as the "impervious to magic" issue, I noticed that as well after I published that chapter, and I added in the detail just to give RD a fair chance against magic-users (and set up the climax). In retrospect, what I'd say is that the sword was impervious to direct magic, but Twilight was using magic to generate a non-magical force (magnetism), which the metal katana was not immune to. Or there could have been unprotected metal in the hilt, or something.
As cultural references go, if you caught the Assassins' Creed gauntlets, I'd hope you also caught the addition of Batman/New Goblin wrist blades. I made them as signature weapons for an OC I was using in a combat RP tournament, and I didn't want them to die with my OC. So there you have it. But I'm afraid I never watched any Lord of the Rings movies, so I can't help you there.
Last, what I will say about Luna and Celestia is that I did start out intending to make this a Celestia-is-a-villain piece. But as you can tell by the publication dates, I had a lot of time to think and revise the idea. For example, in my original ending, RD turned on Luna for lying to her, and somehow killed both her and Celestia, leaving Equestria to fall into anarchy and chaos. The problem was I couldn't justify RD being able to kill two demigods simultaneously, especially after she just betrayed just about everypony in the name of one of them, and the resulting fallout with both the Elements and the Shadowbolts would be tough to write. But more to the point, I realized sometime that maybe there wasn't an overt hero or villain to this story. After all, our morality exists in shades of grey, why shouldn't Equestria's? You were supposed to cheer for Luna early on, because you were only hearing her side of the story. But when Celestia has her say, you realize maybe the issue isn't so black and white. What I meant to get across was that both of them were right on some points, wrong on others, and they failed sometimes just like anypony else, except their failures had far greater consequences. Neither one was supposed to be completely good and heroic, nor was either supposed to be completely evil and villainous. Both did what they thought was right given their circumstances. And yes, you are right to question Rainbow Dash's sanity. I'm thinking of a sequel with increased enthusiasm, so more on that if I can crank it out.
your making a sequel to this (The Lunar Apprentice) right
if u can that would be awesome
3816112 Right now, I believe I will be. In fact, I'm considering making a trilogy out of it, now that I have some more clear direction on my college plans.
DASHIES ALIVE! Though I am throughly angery with her but HECK YEAH!
This was an amazing story, I've spent practically my ENTIRE day reading this, and it was worth it! I'm dieing to see how this further unravels in future sequels~
P.S~ ALL HAIL THE NEW LUNAR REPUBLIC
This story needs a sequel cause this one was epic
I love this story! Though the first thing that came to mind when the messenger said they say a Shadowbolt with a rainbow mane was that the shadowbolts dyed their hair to always remember their fallen comrade, that was just me though. I'll defiently be following you as well as fave this story.
I'm going to check if there is a sequel. but if there isn't.... I DEMAND YOU MAKE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A sequel is not demanded ITS REQUIRED
3816112 3956170 3994299 4003400 4123595 4124155 4293002 4455175 Progress update: I can confirm with certainty that there will be a sequel. I have a concept nailed down, as well as a title and description. Once I finish an unrelated one-shot I'm working on, the sequel is first on my work-list. More updates to come.
4456003
Why can't I hold all these 
's?
4456003 That's awesome to hear
Can't wait to read it when it comes out~
4456003 cool
4456003 really!? a sequel?! awesome! would a sneak peak blog be out of the question?
While I enjoyed the premise of this story, I just absolutely could NOT see Dash getting into the mindset of killing another pony. The more I read, I just couldn't see it in her. It just clashed with everything that we know about her character. Even if manipulated by Nightmare Moon, I just don't see her... killing.
I do hope for a sequel for this story though. No story has caused me to hate characters as much as this one has and I fiercely hated Luna and Dash in this story and I also fiercely hope they get what's coming to them.
Nice story :D
But sequel?
5414035 Still working. This last semester was hell for me, and for the better part of it I couldn't find any time to write. And conceptually, I'm still trying to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B in the grand scheme of the story. Prologue is almost done, I have a suitably epic climax cooked up in my mind, but the issue is weaving together all the strings I've laid out for myself.
5417085
Well. Good luck with that :D
5484272 Fair point, I do have a tendency to play things a little too fast, and while it works for action sequences, it really gets me in scenes that are supposed to be emotional. But once you finish the epilogue, I think you'll see why I didn't want to make RD's death too emotionally involving.
4123595 either that or Luna taking her form.
5049141 honestly I'm opposite of you. I hate Celestia more. Rd may have went a bit too far in the taunting area but honestly i could see her kill under the right reasons. And dude Luna brought up reasonable points Honestly look at the arguements. Who has the stronger case right now. and for Celestia to lie how Rainbow was killed. THat put her in my hate area. if she wanted to preserve what Rd has done then just say she died during the battle not that Nightmare Moon killed her. a completely lie.
It is 1:30 in the morning and I do not regret it. The sequel better be good because if it's not, I will give you cupcakes and slaps. and I'm all out of cupcakes.
That was great story
It was a masterpiece and I enjoyed it thoroughly. 
Now off to the sequel. 
Please tell me that Rainbow Dash comes back, that she did some crazy spell thingy that saved her. PLEASE. I request a sequel.
6528522 And a sequel you shall have. It's called Night Terrors, and I believe it's featured at the moment.
6528601 YES!
AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!
I mean, if you want...
hehe. I ship it. 
Moar!
This story is ridiculous
Haha. Twilight, Rainbow cleaned yer clock!
Shut up Applejack!
Okay! Sheesh!
No seriously, Rainbow wiped you!
You do mean whipped her, don't you dear?
Nope!
PINKIE PIE!
5736762 Honesty was never one of Celestia virtues even in canon.
Finally I caught up with this story. So far this is a great story centering on the Shadowbolts and Nightmare Moon/Luna.
Danm it you Celestia lovers! Why does nothing bad ever happen to that she devil? I want to find one ending where someone actually holds her responsible. To have her actually punished and the truth about the elements to be exposes. Is that too much to ask? Probably.
The Luna Separatists have gone HYDRA hiding inside their enemy. So Hail HYDRA. Also the no tyranny deal is Discord's arms. Some part with this being his revenge.
2012 was a time.
9797447
True. Between my what if scenarios and the fanfics nothing good would have happened without the rainboom from Dashie. For some reason it not only gave pinkie pie a new purpose in life as well as affecting the others it seems to have done something to Twilight's magic in a positive way leading us to now.
9797473
How bout no! Austin Powers reference
10444851
As bad as Celestia may seem for wanting to hold onto power can really say Luna and Dash are better in this story?
Equestria was peaceful before they initiated this war.
This is seven years old!
And I’ve never heard of it?!? Guess your next on my list...
Wow, this RD is a class- S b###h...
10408576
Finally someone with sense