The Last Changeling War

by Coyote de La Mancha

Epilogue One: Twilight Before the Sun and Moon.

The war was over.

The ponies had fought, and they had fought well. And the Oathbound, though slowly at first, were on their way to being accepted into the nation that they treasured so much.

But for that victory, blood had been shed. Lives had been lost. Equestrians who had lost loved ones wept and mourned across Equestria, even as those who had killed stared at their hooves again and again, knowing that they had taken something that they could never give back.

No one had remained untouched by what had happened. And with innocence lost, it seemed as though the world would never be anything again but a dark and savage place.

---

Twilight sighed, looking out at the stars from one of the intact balconies of her castle. The tree was healing itself, of course… if ‘tree’ was even the right word. The Castle of Friendship was a living, magical testament to one of the most vital bonds between speaking folk. And helping it heal would be easy. It was a crystalline construct, after all, formed from living magic. All she needed to do was share some of her own magic with it, encourage it to do what it was doing anyway…

But she hadn’t.

It wasn’t that it was pointless, exactly. She just… her heart… just... wasn’t in it.

Or in anything, really.

After all, much of the war had been her fault.

Intellectually, she knew that wasn’t logical. She'd had nothing to do with Chrysalis’ plans, outside of being a target. And she’d helped fight the mad monarch as soon as she’d been able.

But in her heart, the accusations remained.

Why didn’t I realize something was wrong sooner? How could I – especially I – not realize that a stranger was impersonating Spike? How could I fail everyone so badly?

The foals could have died. At the thought, her heart ached.

Sunrise nearly did. Now her heart stabbed, tore, as if trying to somehow tear itself loose from its moorings and flee from her entirely.

All my fault, she thought involuntarily, again and again. All my fault. All my fault.

She still wore the formal attire she’d put on for the sleepover, she realized. Her initial intent had been to emphasize to the schoolfoals that a pony was still a pony, regardless of their raiment. She hadn’t thought about it when she was being rescued, or during the magical preparations that had followed. And after that, well…

After that, her heart had started its whispers. And that had drowned out everything else.

All the lights were on. But somehow, it still seemed dark. The stars seemed diminished, the moon less bright. Only when she thought of Luna somewhere, guiding it into position, singing the stars into wakefulness, did she feel a little better.

Then she thought of Luna with Sunrise. And just for a moment, the whispers seemed to quiet a little.

She thought of Celestia, her former teacher and second mom-turned-friend. She thought of Applejack’s smile, Pinkie’s laugh. She thought of Rainbow’s grin, Rarity’s fond wink, and Fluttershy’s gentle nature. And she thought again of Luna and Sunrise, imagined them snuggled together somewhere, and despite everything Twilight Sparkle smiled.

She looked out across Ponyville, then towards Canterlot.

I can’t be the only one struggling, she thought.

There was an expression she’d learned on Gaea: These are my people. Modern Ponish technically still had the word ‘people,’ but it held slightly different connotations than in English, and was rarely used in modern day. And having experienced both worlds, Twilight felt that was a loss. Because the speaking folk of Equestria, regardless of their origins, were not all her subjects. Or even necessarily her friends.

But they were most certainly her people. And right then, they needed her.

Somehow, that thought gave her motivation when nothing else had.

But first, she knew she would have to help herself.

Twilight closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, held it, let it go. She spread her wings, considered the moon for a moment more, and then flew into the air, kicking off the golden shoes of her station as she did.

Of every adult pegasus Twilight had spoken to, only Rainbow Dash had never taken for granted the power of flight. She would likely always feel exhilaration and wonder whenever she headed into the sky, or walked on the insubstantial fluff that was somehow solid beneath her hooves, and yet not. It was the privilege of the pegasus tribe, shared with Twilight just a short time ago.

Higher, higher she soared. And then, when the air started to become truly crisp and thin, Twilight closed her eyes, folded her wings in with a smile, and let herself fall.

Paradoxically, as she plummeted towards the ground, she felt more in control than she had in a long time. It was a strangely comforting feeling. Whatever happened next, when and how it happened, it would be her choice and hers alone. She could even choose to do nothing, allowing the end to come, the final mystery revealed before her at last.

Still smiling, eyes still closed, she brushed away that last thought as dismissively as a master musician waving away a heckling child.

The wind was rushing through her mane and tail faster and faster as she continued to gain speed, the nearness of the clouds brushing against her as she fell with a sensation that no solid or gas should have been able to produce. She thought again of her fellow princesses, Sunrise, and her fellow elements. Of Spike, Cadence, and Shining Armor.

It was as if she could feel the ground approaching as she continued her reckless plunge, eyes still closed. For a dizzying moment, she was no longer able to tell whether she was facing up or down. Then, she whispered into the nighttime sky the thought that had made even the wonder of flight pale in comparison…

“I have friends.”

…and Twilight Sparkle spread her wings. Her wing muscles, though amplified in strength by her time as an alicorn, strained against the momentum she had built in her plunge. She knew she should have felt fear, or anxiety. But nothing could overmatch the exhilaration of her own strength pulling her out of her dive. She grinned as the grass tickled her stomach, and Twilight ascended once more into the star-filled sky, eyes wide open and filled with joy.

She spiraled upwards in a lazy, gradual arc, finally coming to rest on one of the larger, fluffier clouds. For a few seconds, she just trotted there happily, enjoying not only the sensation, but even the idea that she was literally walking on clouds. Then, as she came over a rise, she saw the storm front that still hovered over Equestrian borders.

It was scheduled, of course. She had seen and studied the calculations and maps that the elders in Cloudsdale used, and almost nothing happened meteorologically without pegasus approval. It was a meticulous business, even the smallest variable having potentially huge consequences. So much so, in fact, that the pegasi had coined the term ‘Butterfly Effect’ generations ago to describe it.

But Twilight also happened to know that the original plans for that night had called for relatively clear skies.

And anyway, she wasn’t in the mood for dark clouds.

A single kick was enough to put the first anvil cloud back into a calmer form. Grinning, she pranced this way and that, first reducing the angry black clouds to a calmer grey, and then smiting them into a nice, fluffy white.

Looking back at her work, she had to admit that the Cloudsdale ponies would probably be annoyed. Then again, she reminded herself, no harm had been done. Weather ponies would have calculated for both cloud formations. If anypony asked, she thought with a chuckle, she’d just say she’d used her Princess Prerogative.

You shall tremble before me, she thought happily as she cantered among the cottony stuff. Princess Twilight Sparkle, cloud conqueror!

Then she saw them. Princess Celestia. And Princess Luna.

Staring. At her.

At first, she thought crazily, Oh, no, are they mad about the clouds?

But then her heart skipped a beat, and began to whisper again: How dare you be happy, after what you’ve done, after everything you’ve caused, they know you’re to blame…

Twilight winced as though scalded. She shouldn’t be here, she realized—

And then, with almost identical looks of fond irritation, both sisters poked her gently and said in unison

“Tag, you’re it!”

and dashed away into the clouds.

It was a giggle. A laugh. A kerfluffle of loop-de-loops and barrel rolls and pounces around, on, and through the banks and fogs that surrounded them. They played tag, they raced, they played hide-and-seek. And as they did, Twilight felt her apprehensions slowly melt away.

At length, Celestia gave her a wink and the two of them pounced on Luna, tackling her to the surface of a large fluffy cloud, tickling her with their wings.

“Get her!” Celestia cried happily. “Get her get her get her get her get her!”

“Ack!” Luna cried. “No fair!”

“Muahahahahahaha!” Twilight cackled happily.

“Revenge!” Celestia called triumphantly to the stars, still tickling. “Sweet revenge is mine!”

“No!” Luna laughed helplessly. “Mercy! For your ancestors’ sake, mercy!”

Eventually, mercy was granted (or at least an armistice was achieved), and the three reclined on a cloud bank to catch their breaths.

“Okay, so, I must confess I’m curious,” Twilight ventured at last. “What was that vengeance for, exactly?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever played hide-and-seek against a teleporter?”

Twilight considered this.

“Do not let her fool you,” Luna said with dignity. “Tia is merely jealous of my superior skill in the ancient and honourable art of hiding and seeking.”

“Honorable?” Celestia chuckled. “Not when you play.”

“Ppppplplplplp!” came the raspberried reply, and the conversation dissolved into laughter again. And the laughter, in turn, back into companionable silence.

“Feeling better?” Celestia asked.

Both Luna and Twilight started to answer, and then looked at one another.

“To which of us do you speak?” Luna asked.

Celestia shrugged. “Both, really.”

“Then I am,” Luna replied.

“So am I,” Twilight said, cocking her head in puzzlement. “But how…?”

Celestia sighed, looking to the mithril-colored moon above them.

“We were victorious against Chrysalis,” she said, “as we have been against so many enemies over the centuries. But it is possible to win the battle, even the war, and yet be so hurt by the fight itself that everything that was fought for seems…”

Her voice trailed off, and Luna silently rose, nuzzling her gently. Then Twilight was there as well, and there was a rustling of wings as the three of them embraced.

After a few moments, Twilight spoke.

“We can’t be the only ones,” she said.

The alicorns parted, exchanging looks.

“No, certainly not,” Celestia agreed.

“And Chrysalis was an amoravore, to make matters worse,” Luna pointed out. “Who knows how much love she subtly drained away from everypony during the war? Even self-love?”

“And hope,” Twilight pointed out.

“And hope,” Celestia agreed. “Her ancestry was rife with despair.”

“And the feeding on it,” Luna added.

There was a moment of quiet as the three of them considered the matter.

“Twilight, how close would you say we are to central Equestria?” Celestia asked.

“Pretty close,” came the immediate reply. “I’d say we’re about ten to twelve miles east of it, depending on wind variables. Why?”

“Because I have an idea,” Celestia said.

---

Celestia’s idea was a simple one. It wouldn’t be easy, of course. But it was simple enough.

The three of them flew to as close to the heart of their beloved country as they could estimate, far, far higher than Twilight had dared to fly alone. Then, gold, violet, and midnight blue energies pulsed and glowed as the three princesses prepared themselves, hooves clasped in a circle as they slowly rotated, their horns shining brighter and brighter with mystical power.

They struggled, grimacing under the strain. Focusing, building their power. Finally, moving together as one, their horns touched, each amplifying the other two as they focused upon their task.

For it had not been merely the act of play that had helped lighten their hearts, though certainly that had been part of it. It had been their love for one another, as friends and family. The intimacy, trust, and comfort that they shared.

And now, reaching through those bonds, they reached outward to all of Equestria. Even as they reached inward to create something new.

Anyone watching the nighttime sky would have seen a new star being born that night. Of course, there was no one to see. At least, not at first. Warriors, healers, survivors… most all of them were abed regardless of their normal pursuits, exhausted in body and mind.

Sunrise frowned in her sleep, her dreams filled with her failures during the war and throughout her life, real and imagined.

Fluttershy slept fitfully in a pile of furred and feathered companions, comforting and being comforted by them. Rainbow Dash slept in a nearby room, not having had the will, somehow, to make the flight to Cloudsdale.

Rarity tossed and turned fitfully while Sweetie Belle looked on, uncertain if she should reach out. Uncertain if she deserved to.

But then, the star shone brighter. Errant whisps of power glowed and arced lazily around the three as they frowned in concentration, their wills bent not towards a work of strategy or design, but of heart.

The light they created grew, encompassing them completely.

Suddenly, both sisters remembered the strain Twilight had put herself through so recently. But Twilight sent a pulse of reassurance through the connection the spell had created between them. And so the spell continued, each of their frowns deepening with the strain of creation. Of reaching out to every heart within the bounds of their beloved country, projecting the love that they felt for each and every inhabitant there, even as their merging power began a new light between them all.

Around them, the light expanded. Solidified. And, guided by their hearts, it began to sing. Its melodies went unheard by every ear, yet felt with every living heart, amplified immeasurably by the efforts of the alicorns at its core:

We love you.

You are loved.

You deserve to be loved.

And you deserve to be happy.

And suddenly, the sleepers awakened as throughout Ponyville, Canterlot, and all of Equestria a brilliant, warm light flooded over all that lived.

---

They had all assembled at the Castle of Friendship as quickly as they could.

Rainbow Dash had arrived first, of course. Sunrise and Spike already had the doors open when the pegasus suddenly stopped and half turned, then zipped back the way she’d come. The other two had scarcely had time to share a puzzled look when she’d returned in a rainbow streak, Fluttershy in tow.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle were racing there and Pinkie Pie was right behind when Sunrise vanished in a burst of blue-green light, arriving moments later with Applejack, Big Mac and Apple Bloom.

Meanwhile, the light in the sky had continued to grow, even after its burst of multicolored light. After a few seconds more, it was plain to all that the blinding light above was growing, not larger, but closer.

The denizens of Ponyville had begun to gather at a respectful distance from the castle, staring in awe and wonder. Now, all assembled had to shield their eyes from the illumination that was coming to rest before them, even as the light dissolved away, the three princesses stepping out from its brilliance.

There was the barest of pauses, then the princesses and their friends rushed to embrace one another as the townsponies exploded into enthusiastic applause. Elements and royalty, family and friends, hugging fiercely beneath the brightening sky.

The Equestrians’ losses weighed no less, and their hurts remained unhealed. But they remembered now their own value and joy, and the support they had from each other. And they cheered the reunion of their princesses and their heroes, to whom they had given their loyalty not from mere duty or fear, but from sheer adoration.

And far above the autumn clouds, shining down upon them all, the newborn star continued its unheard song. Joining its voice to the celestial chorus of the night, as it would for millennia to come.

Author's Note:

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You are correct. There is a song.

“...But it is possible to win the battle, even the war, and yet be so hurt by the fight itself that everything that was fought for seems…”

Comments

[JadeDaUnicorn]

You know, this reminded me of a video I watched a long time ago! It was a pretty good one, although I barely remember the name...

[FanOfMostEverything]

The Princess of Friendship best heals and is best healed through those connections. This isn’t over for Twilight or anypony else, but this marks several steps in the right direction.