FINALE Ch77: The end of two Empires
A tense mood filled the air at noon the same day, when the Bravo and Charlie Company of the Shadow Guard stood assembled a few miles off the border to the lunar empire. Their plan was to break through the minimal defences placed there, go around the very active front line between the two warring parties and reach Canterlot within hopefully just half an hour.
The only reason they hadn’t started their assault yet, was because they were still waiting for Alpha to arrive. Something that even made Markus a little nervous, seeing as Mystic had thus far never been tardy.
“Markus?” Twilight hesitantly asked from behind him. “Are you alright?”
Markus looked back at her and answered in a completely calm voice: “Yes, everything is in order. What makes you think it isn’t?” He asked.
“Your hand is shaking.” Twilight pointed out.
Markus lifted his shaking hand up to his face and looked at it with a wondrous gaze, before grabbing it with his other hand and stopping the shaking. He then sighed and smiled apologetically at Twilight.
“Well, it seems my body is a bit more genuine than I am. Truth be told, Mystic has thus far never been tardy, so the fact that she chose this exact day as her first time is making me rather nervous.” He admitted.
“That’s not at all something you have to be ashamed of. We all are nervous and it’s only natural, given what we’re about to do.” Twilight assured.
“Yeah, she’s right.” Rainbow agreed. “Heck, even I am nervous and that’s really something new.”
“But you two are expected to be nervous. I have half a thousand ponies looking up to me as an idol. When they look at me, they want to see a calm and collected leader and if I don’t hold up to these expectations then it will in turn make them even more nervous.” Markus explained, looking around at the ponies around him and actually making eye contact with a few of them.
“Well, ah knew that, but ah din’t know that y’all could actually be nervous.” Applejack pointed out jokingly, trying to lighten up the mood at least a little.
“Heh, I was really playing my role well then. Believe it or not, even I get nervous, just like anyone else.” Markus chuckled. “Like, do you remember back in the empire, when we had our little mountain hike? From the moment I made my position known to Chrysalis, I was on the verge of shitting my pants.”
“Wait, only from then on?” Rainbow suddenly blurted out, drawing the looks of her friends, Markus and a few silent listeners. Rainbow noticed this, nervously looked around and then quickly tried to explain herself.
“Uhh, I-I mean, uhh, you were nervous? Hehehe, I totally wasn’t nervous, like, never. Not even one bit. Yup, that’s me, the fearl - HIIIIIII!” Rainbow suddenly screamed, when Applejack suddenly planted her cold hoof on Rainbow’s haunch.
“Yeah, todally not nervous at all. Totally wasn’t ya either, who was huggin’ me tight when that avalanche hit, right?” Applejack teased smugly.
“What? Uhh, uh, yeah, that was… I just… I thought you were too close to the entrance. Yeah, that’s it! I tried to pull you away, ‘cause I thought you might get hit by the snow and stuff…” Rainbow trailed off, her face having adobted a very slight, reddish tint.
“Yeah, ‘course ya did. Not like we were the furthest ones into the cave or somethin’.” Applejack teased further.
Rainbow’s face got redder with every spoken word and she started stammering slightly. She also became very frantic with her gestures and was flailing her hooves while she tried to make up excuses. In short: she was properly embarrassed.
“N-Now, you see, uhh, I-I have bad eyesight. Yeah! I—Like, I uhh, I usually wear contact lenses, but at home, there I, uhh, I have these super cool wonderbolts glasses, yeah, yeah, umm…”
“But, umm, Rainbow? I thought at your wonderbolts entrance exam, your measured eyesight was 120%?” Fluttershy meekly added. Rainbow shot her a glare at that, to which she ‘eep’-ed and hid behind her hair.
“120%? That’s actually less than I thought. My own eyesight is something around 115% as well and I always got the impression that Rainbow’s eyesight is way sharper than mine.” Markus mused.
“120% in Pegasus standards, Markus.” Twilight clarified.
“… Oh…”
At that moment, a low, rumbling noise reverberated around them, coming from the Everfree. It sounded like there was a giant monster that hadn’t eaten in years. Then, the noise grew louder and what sounded like only one beast before slowly sounded more and more like an entire herd of monsters!
When they heard the sound, everypony quickly stood up and grabbed their weapons. The IFVs turned their turrets towards the source of the sound and everypony seemed ready to fight. Everypony, except Markus.
“Aah, finally.” He commented, before fifteen steel monstrocities broke through the foliage and went straight for the waiting troops. The ponies were on the verge of opening up on these strange things, but Markus raised a hand to them, signalling them to hold fire.
As they came closer, one could see that these metal beasts had markings on them. One large Marking on either side of the Turret, showing Twilight’s Cutie Mark, as well as a diamond shape on the front and sides of the hull, in which three had a ‘C’ written and the rest had ‘1’, ‘2’ or ‘3’ in it. Out of these apparent groups, one each additionally had a small crown painted on top of their letter/number, which apparently marked the leader of the respective group.
After they had left the forest in a single coloumn, each group formed up into a small arrowhead formation, with the respective crowned individuals taking the point. The formations then arranged themselves so that they together formed a bigger arrowhead. For this, the ‘C’-Group drove in front, while the numbered groups formed a line behind them.
Most of the objects drove past Bravo and Charlie, placing themselves in front of the standing formation. The crowned ‘C’ and ‘1’, however, drove straight towards Prince Markus. They stopped right in front of him and then a hatch opened on top of both of them, where two ponies climbed out. One of which was none other than Mystic Gem and the other seemed to be her second-in-command, codenamed ‘Shadow’.
“You chose a very bad day to be tardy, you know?” Markus shouted over the noise of the engine, though in a joking tone.
“I know, I’m sorry! We had some navigational complications!” Mystic shouted back.
“I told you we had to go left back there, but noooo, you didn’t listen to me!” Shadow shouted from his tank behind her, making Mystic glare at him in annoyance.
“Yes, I know, stop rubbing it into my face!” She shouted back.
“Hey, I’m your second! It’s my job!” Shadow joked. Mystic shook her head at that, though a slight smile still crept across her features.
“So, anyways, are we starting now? We’re all ready and longing for some crunchin’!” Mystic shouted back to Markus.
“Yeah, the faster we move, the better! Everypony, get into your vehicles! Twilight, you and the Elements get into the lead vehicle of Charlie! Alpha, you take point, Bravo will split up and cover the flanks and Charlie will be in the middle. They are the least armored and carry all the extra ammo, as well as medical and repair tools. If one of your tanks needs a field stop then Charlie will take care of it! Tank group three will take the rear. Once we are in Canterlot, they will be staying behind to block off the reinforcements while we are in there.” Markus shouted.
Charlie and Bravo quickly took their positions and helped the Element Bearers board the lead truck of Charlie, while Alpha’s third platoon moved to the back of the formation and one and two relocated to either side of the command group.
“Sir, aren’t you getting in with them?” Mystic asked when Markus didn’t move to join them.
“No, I’ll be leading from the front. I’m coming with you!” He replied.
“Uhh, sir, with all due respect, I don’t think we can accommodate another pony in here!” Mystic shouted back.
“That’s not a problem, I don’t need a seat!” Markus then said, before jumping onto the back of the tank, only holding himself on the handle of the Loader’s hatch. “Alright, enough chit chat, get into position!” He then commanded to Mystic, who was still looking out of her hatch at him.
“Sir, isn’t that a bit dangerous?” She asked.
“Not any more dangerous than causing an avalanche or running through crossfire without cover!” Markus replied, drawing a smile from Mystic.
“Understood, sir! Driver, get us into formation!” She then commanded over the intercom and a moment afterwards, the tank rolled into position, with Shadow’s tank following close behind, before he split away and took the point of his formation.
Now at the front of the entire battalion, Markus looked over the assembled troops once, before raising his hand, swinging it forward and shouting: “Everyone: ATTACK!”
The entire formation set into motion as one and rapidly closed in on the lunar border troops.
“All tanks, load HE!” He shouted and Mystic relayed the order to the other crews.
The reasons for choosing the path through the lunar empire were, for one, that they had already surrounded Canterlot and thus, Markus would’ve had to advance through lunar territory anyways, but also because that the railwaytracks led through it, which in turn were built through a vast plain – the perfect terrain for an armored assault. The only obstacle on the entire route was a large hill a few hundred meters before the border that blocked the border troops from looking into the ponyvillian territory, just as much as it prevented the ponyvillians from looking outwards – at least on that particular spot.
Markus used that hill to his advantage as much as he could. He, of course, didn’t have any illusions about the noise level of his troops, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have the element of surprise! He ordered his tanks to form up in a line on the hilltop, while the rest took cover behind it. Then, he scanned the area and spotted six smaller encampments, which only really consisted of a firepit and a few tents around them, and a larger wooden fort a few hundered meters inside lunar territory.
“Alright, contact! Enemy encampments sighted! Target designations from left to right: first group, the first two, second group the next two, third group the last. Command will open fire on the fort! Try to hit inside the fort for greater effect and everypony remember to also use your machine guns for suppressive fire!” Markus shouted and Mystic again relayed his orders.
The Turrets of the tanks slowly swung around, as the gunners sought out their targets and when all turrets had stopped spinning and the guns were aimed, Markus gave the command:
“FIRE!”
A glowing barrage of large tank shells was flung over the border and into the encampments, erupting explosions where they hit. The wooden structures of the fort caught fire almost immediately, while the tents were too destroyed for a fire to form. Many bodies were seen being flung back by the shockwaves, although most seemingly survived. Some Pegasi even tried to flee and probably get reinforcements from other camps, however that was when the machineguns opened up and in the ensuing rain of metal, everypony that had not found cover or was lucky enough to have landed in an impact crater was quickly eliminated.
Seeing that the enemy was properly suppressed, Markus then ordered his troops to advance while laying suppressive fire on the fort. Bravo also joined in when they cleared the hill, laying deadly 37mm fire on the camps that still had movement in them, while a second barrage from all tanks turned the fort into a burning pile of wood.
Once the fort was passed, the third platoon retook its position as rear guard and the formation pushed on towards Canterlot. The way there was luckily largely eventless, seeing as the Nightmare’s troops hadn’t yet been informed about the attack and those few that saw it happen were too slow to catch up.
They reached Canterlot about 45 minutes after they crossed the border and were, of course, immediately greeted by the lunar rear guard, which was quickly gunned down, before they could even react.
The formation drove up to the gate and while the Shadow Guard was busy getting ready for the assault, Markus stood before the destroyed gate and looked at it, seemingly lost in thought.
“Really takes you back to the Gryphon War, huh?” Mystic commented, as she trotted up from behind him. Markus briefly looked at her over his shoulder and then turned back to looking at the gate.
“Yeah, kinda. Although, this time around we have some heavy machinery, as well as more ponypower. However, we also have two separate warring parties in there which are both likely going to open fire as soon as we are in range.” Markus mused.
“Yeah. So, what’s the battleplan?”
Markus turned around to Mystic and knelt down. He then signalled to Bravo and Charlie, as well as to Twilight that they would hold a quick strategy meeting and when everypony was present, he began drawing a rough map of Canterlot on the ground.
“Alright, we are here.” He pointed on a gap in the outer circle he drew, representing the wall. “I want the area directly behind the gate – here - set up to be a small base of operations. Charlie, that’s your job. Let the engineers and medics set up and leave a small garrison, just in case. The rest of you is going with Alpha. I want each street to either be covered by an IFV with its infantry following on hoof, or a tank with an element from Charlie behind it. Mystic, Alpha Command, 1 and 2 are going to lead Charlie to the zones that are likely more defended. Namely the train station, the local guard post, the royal academy and the palace itself and I want you to personally take care of Canterlot Central. Alpha 3 will be left behind to hold off incoming reinforcements together with two squads from Bravo. Charlie, your engineers are going to help them dig in, once they`re done with their own setup. The rest of Bravo will sweep the remaining city and take out every bit of resistance they may encounter, while the Element Bearers and I will take the princesses on personally. Any questions?”
Charlie’s leader raised his hoof.
“What about the trucks, sir? Are we taking them with us?”
“No, leave them here. They have no fighting capabilities themselves and are an easy target. Any more questions?”
Markus looked around through the group and when nopony asked any further questions, he nodded and stood up again.
“Alright, move out! If we make haste, we might take Canterlot till noon!” Markus shouted, as the first squads passed him and went into the city.
A few moments later Mystic’s tank also passed, together with a squad from Charlie and when everypony was inside, Markus and the Element Bearers went in as well.
“Colonel, may I ask a question?” Mystic’s gunner suddenly asked.
“Technically that’s already a question, but sure, go ahead.” Mystic joked.
Her gunner chuckled shortly and then asked his question. “Is there any particular reason, why the prince sent you personally to capture the hospital? I mean sure, it’s probably going to be well-defended, but the others could`ve dealt with it as well, couldn`t they?” He asked.
“Correct. The reason I was specifically sent there is not the hospital itself, but what’s adjacent to it.” Mystic answered cryptically, while scanning the buildings around them for ambushes.
“Adjacent? Wait, do you mean the home for wounded guards?”
“Yes.” She answered quickly.
“But isn’t that… OOOH! I think I get it! That’s the place where the lieutenant is now, isn’t he?”
“Also yes. Now keep those eyes on a swivel, we’re gonna be there soon.” Mystic cautioned.
“Understood. So we’re going to save Bulkhead, huh? Well then, let’s get a move on! We can’t leave an old comrade hanging!” The gunner hurried.
“Easy there. We might be fast, but the infantry has to keep up. You’re gonna have to wait a few moments more.”
The tank crept forwards through the empty streets. They caught a glimpse of a civilian or two that looked out of the windows once in a while, but nopony was on the streets. Not really surprising, considering that there was still a lot of fighting in the city.
“This is Alpha to Alpha 1 and 2. Large caliber fire is prohibited. There are still civillians in the buildings!” She sent over the radio and got responses from both platoons.
“I just hope they don’t use them as meatshields like last time.” The loader mused.
“Don’t jinx it and get ready, we’re almost there!”
The Hospital came into sight and with it a few ponies that were stationed there as a garrison. Mystic immediately ordered suppressive fire on them, while the squad behind them got into position and opened fire as well.
The lunar guards countered with spellfire, though they were quickly wiped out. That was the easy part, now the infantry squad had to clear the building itself, where surely more enemies were waiting. The tank sadly couldn’t help with that.
“Alright, housesweeping has begun. Can you hold the point without me for a moment?” Mystic asked her crew.
“No worries, go help the lieutenant, we will hold.” Her gunner encouraged, giving her the pony-equivalent of a ‘thumbs up’
“Thanks. I’ll be back in five!” Mystic shouted, before jumping out of the tank and running towards the small building beside the hospital.
Inside, she found that the whole building seemed eerily empty. No nurses were running around, no garrison was stationed there. There weren’t even bodies that might indicate a fight or something. In general, very little indicated a fight. Then again, there was very little there to be fought against.
Mystic rushed to the room Bulkhead was in, shouting out when she reached it.
“Bulkhead, are you there? Bulkhead?” No answer came. ”Bulkhead, I’m coming in!” She then shouted, before yanking the door open. She barely had time to evade the storm of needles and surgical equipment that came flying her way.
“Buck off, you damn fanatics! I may be paralyzed, but I still have!… Mystic?” Bulkhead asked, when he looked out and saw Mystic in the weird pose she had to adopt to avoid getting hit.
“Yes, it’s me… that was close, you know?” Mystic said, while she put all four hooves back on the ground and cracked a few joints. “Anyways, are you okay? Did they do anything to you? Where are all the…” Mystic quickly checked over her coltfriend and when she luckily found no injuries on him, she looked into his room and, to her great surprise, found a few staff members and several other inhabitants sitting there. “others…”
“Heh, well, you see, most of us may be cripples now, but we’re still trained guards. When Tartarus went loose around here, we quickly collected all the supplies we could and laid ambushes inside the rooms. Sorry about that by the way. I thought I heard gunfire earlier, but these outer walls have soundproofing spells on them, so wasn’t entirely sure.” Bulkhead apologized.
“Oh, no problem. What’s more important is that I get you out of here. Quick, exfil is already waiting!” Mystic hurried.
“Uhh, now wait there, Mystic.” Bulkhead stopped her. Mystic turned around again and looked at Bulkhead with confusion. “I can’t leave here. There are a few that can’t be brought anywhere and even if they could, we would just slow you down. I will guard this place and you can go on liberating Canterlot, okay?” Bulkhead offered.
“What?” Mystic replied after a short pause. “Oh, nonononono, you’re not pulling the hero thing on me again! Last time was bad enough!”
“Yeah well, last time I was in active service. Now I am an invalid and truth be told, apparently even these idiots have enough common sense to not raid a place like this. Don’t worry, I’ll still be here when you come back.” Bulkhead reassured.
“Do you promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
“Alright. I love you.” Mystic said, before giving Bulkhead a quick kiss.
“I love you too. Now go and save Equestria, I’ll hold the back line.” He said, before Mystic ran back out and jumped back into her tank.
Meanwhile, In the Royal Palace, two corrupted alicorns were fighting a battle that would determine the fate of Equestria.
The grand hall lay completely in ruins and the throne room had definitely seen better days. The wall that had once separated these two rooms had long been torn down, creating one big arena for the two aspiring rulers to carry out their final battle.
“You will never overpower me, worthless sister of mine! Your attacks feel as if you fell asleep from your own night!” Daybreaker spat, while shooting a fire lance towards Nightmare Moon, who quickly evaded.
“Hah, is that all that you could come up with?! Maybe your sun has burned your brains away. You should definitely go on vacation. You know what? I’ll give you a free ticket!” Nightmare spat back, before launching her own magic, which Daybreaker deflected with a shield.
Both alicorns, despite trying to keep up looks, had quite obviously taken a heavy beating already. Both were bleeding in multiple spots and parts of their fur was burned. Both were also breathing very heavily as they circled each other, trying to find an opening.
They were just about to start again, when they felt a third presence nearby. A presence they both knew.
“My my, it would seem you two really went to town on eachother.” Markus commented, when he strode through the large doorframe that now stood without a wall around it.
“And what are you doing here?! I signed a treaty with you that you would be annexed by me, once I won this war!” Nightmare shouted angrily.
“What?! No, Twilight signed that treaty with me! Ponyville is mine!” Daybreaker hissed at her lunar counterpart, who mirrored her actions.
“You are both right… and wrong. You see: the treaty said that Ponyville would be annexed by the winner.” He said, as he slowly strode up to the two alicorns and stopped right between them.
“… And I have just decided that I would join in the action.”
Both alicorns looked at him, their face contorting into all kinds of grimaces, before both screamed out and blasted him with everything they had.
It had very little effect.
A shield, made out of black hexagons flickered to life briefly, catching the entire blast that was sent at him, leaving him completely unscathed.
“Oh my, I’m sure you can do more than that, right?” He taunted, eliciting another scream from Nightmare Moon, who decided that, if magic didn’t do the trick then physical assault should work. Markus, however, had different plans.
He evaded every punch, kick and hornstab they threw at him, making them use up their remaining energy. In the end, both alicorns were too exhausted to continue. Both distanced themselves as much from Markus as they could, which inadvertendly caused them to stand right beside each other. They looked at one another and in silent agreement, albeit with some gritted teeth, they recognized that they needed the other’s strength to overcome him.
“Alright, playtime is over! Now, we will show you our power!” Nightmare declared loudly, however Markus didn’t seem very impressed.
“Indeed, playtime is over. However not in the way you think.” He claimed, gaining him two rather doubtful looks. “What? Did you two really think that I remained passive solely for fun? No. I was playing for time. Time for the Elements to be charged up and blast you into hell!” He shouted, just as a bright flash of light illuminated the room.
Both alicorns tried to jump forward and out of the way of the beam, but found that a black force field was blocking their way.
“Ow, what the--?!” Was all they could bring out, before the beam hit.
Simultaneously, everywhere in the country, the fighting ceased. Ponies from both sides were looking at eachother and recognized their former fellow ponies. However, they also saw the carnage that the war had caused and the many ponies that had lost their lives and whose bodies were still decorating the fields, forests and streets they fought in.
“Did it work?” Twilight asked, as she came running over to the princesses.
“I don’t know. Their colouration is fine now, but I can’t say anything yet.” Markus replied, keeping an eye on both princesses, whose colouration has started to quickly reform back to their original self.
As soon as the last bits of fur and mane were corrected, both suddenly opened their eyes and gasped.
“Princess? Princess, are you alright?” Twilight asked to Celestia, who was frantically looking around while hyperventilating. However, seeing Twilight made her calm down… and the more she calmed down, the sleepier she felt.
“I... don’t know. I’m tired. I’m exhausted. I feel like I’ve just aged another thousand years.” Celestia whined. “My head hurts and… wait, what happened here?” she asked groggily. “Where did the throne room go? And the castle? And where is… where is…”
Then, suddenly, it seemed like it was all coming back to her. The possession, the fighting, the war, it all hit her like a brick. Her eyes went wide and she looked around in a panic.
“Luna! Luna, where are you?!”
Luna was at that moment experiencing the same thing. The memories were flooding her mind at a rapid pace, leaving her no time to adjust to the input.
“Aaaah no!!! No, it can’t-- Tia? Tia?! Are you alright?!” she shouted, before both saw each other and immediately went into a tight hug.
“Oh dear goddess, Luna, you’re okay!” Celestia cried in relief.
“Tia, I… we…” Luna cried, but Celestia hushed her.
“Shhh, I know Luna. I know.” She soothed, her voice cracking, as she was on the verge of tears herself.
Markus and the element bearers stood by them, silently watching as the two sisters comforted each other and enjoyed their second reunification. Then, when both finally broke their embrace, Twilight spoke up.
“Well, good that his whole thing is finally over, huh, Markus? Well, okay, not yet… we still have to clean up, but then everything can finally go back to normal.” She commented, while leaning onto him and receiving some ear scratches.
“I’m afraid not, dear Twilight.” Celestia suddenly said, drawing a shocked look from everypony present, save Luna.
“What? What do you mean with that?”
“Just what I said. As I mentioned earlier, I feel like I have aged another thousand years.” Celestia said.
“What my sister is trying to say is that the Nightmares apparently have robbed us of a significant portion of our power. We doubt that we will be able to continue our duties.” Luna clarified.
“WHAT?!” Everypony, save Markus, shouted. That isn’t to say that Markus wasn’t surprised, however.
“Nonono, that can’t be right. I mean, you’re just down with… with mana exhaustion, yeah, that’s it, you’re probably suffering from--“
“Twilight.” Celestia said firmly, stopping her former student’s rambling. “As much as it hurts, I sadly know exactly what mana exhaustion feels like and sadly… this isn’t.” Celestia said solemnly.
“But… but… but who’s going to rule Equestria if not you?! Who’s gonna raise the sun and the moon?!” Twilight panicked.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a moment and then smiled weakly, before looking back at Twilight.
“Twilight, I have a confession to make. From the point that you ascended, I was… underhoofedly training you to someday become my -- our successor. Sadly, I couldn’t finish teaching you everything, but nevertheless, I think that you are ready.”
“What? Wha… no, no, I-I can’t rule Equestria! I barely manage to watch my own foal, how do you expect me to watch an entire nation?!” Twilight stammered.
“You don’t need to do this alone, dear Twilight. I made that mistake long ago. You have friends around you. Friends that can and will help you with everything they can… and maybe even a little more.” Celestia assured.
Twilight looked at Celestia with her mouth agape. Then, slowly, her open mouth formed a smile that grew further into an excited grin.
“Yes, YES, of course, thanks princess!” She thanked, before turning around and looking up to Markus.
“Markus, I accept.” She stated.
Markus looked at her for a moment, before looking at the others, who seemed equally as clueless as he was.
“Uhhh, accept what?”
“Your proposal! I accept your marriage proposal!” Twilight said happily, before jumping up and kissing him.
Markus seemed taken aback at first, though slowly, his surprise morphed into a happy laughter.
“HAHA! Really?! That’s wonderful!”
“Hey, don’t leave me out of it! I’ll accept as well!” Rainbow whined, before jumping into the hug and kissing him as well.
“Uhhh, well, I mean… that’s not really what I meant…” Celestia said, before she received an elbow to the rips and a glare from her sister. “… buuut I guess she is the ruling princess now and can chose for herself…” She finished, earning a satisfied smile from Luna.
Suddenly, Pinkie emerged between the three lovers and drew in a deep gasp. “Do you know what this means?! SUPER-DUPER-VICTORY-WEDDING-PARTY!!!” She then drew in even more air in yet another sharp gasp and shouted. “I need to prepare!!!” and zoomed off towards ponyville.
“Uhhh… well, this ought to get interesting…” Markus said, as he watched Pinkie fly towards ponyville with mach 8.
Markus, Twilight and Rainbow ruled together as a triarchy. Twilight was popular among Celestia’s and Luna’s followers alike and thus had very little difficulty establishing herself as the face of the government. Whenever there were treaties to be signed or diplomatic meetings to be held, Twilight was usually taking care of it.
Rainbow devoted her remaining lifetime fully to properly raising Dawnbreaker and Spectral Flash. She had no interest in government work anyways and Pegasus maternal instincts were stronger than any mother could wish for, so she was pretty much predestined for that role.
Dawnbreaker and Spectral flash turned out to be absolute opposites from one another. Spectral Flash largely inherited her mother’s personality, though Twilight managed to also give her a very healthy eagerness to learn.
Dawnbreaker meanwhile didn`t enjoy learning at all. Mainly because he inherited the incredible combined intellect of his parents, which meant that learning meant for him to look into a book once and immediately memorize everything he read. Also, his personality came mostly from his father, meaning that he was stoic and calm, but also very stubborn. Overall, he came a lot after his father. His outward appearance, his personality, as well as his magic.
While Twilight did all the public work and Rainbow was raising the foals, Markus spent most of his time driving the development of Equestria. He always took great care to develop the civilian and the military sector equally, which meant that, for the first four to five years, he only developed the civilian one, as he had pushed the military quite enough.
During the rule of our heroes, Equestria went through a massive jump in development and into an era that was later called ‘The Equestrian Golden Age’, which forever placed it as the single most powerful nation in all of Equus.
La fin.
… or is it?
And so, a long journey finally comes to an end...
But what about the many questions that are left to be answered? Like, what actually is the magic that Markus uses?
If Markus is the Dog of Creation, then who are the dogs evolution and stagnation?
How come Markus appeared in Equestria and not somewhere else?
Well, I guess these questions will remain forever unanswered...
That or I write a sequel. 
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Neat
So it's finally over it's been a nice run together
If the gore is really that bad, then shouldn't you just make it rated M?
awesome ending loved this story
would'd mind a view short story chapters in a sequel to show some in there life of peace and ruling
Whille this was a fun and wild run but thank you for this entertaning story. Here is to a sequel or a prequel or whatever the hell you want to do.
Yeees, I craved a sequel. I loved this story, can't wait to see what new stuff awaits.
😭😭
Well I see where this is going. And I love it
can we get a sequel, please?
It’s funny one of the set of stories I just finished reading also has a Triarchy of course that once has the MC , Trixie and Twilight as the Triarchy
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I was - and still am - of the mindset that this is a teen fic and nothing else. I'm so stubborn about it, Even I myself can't convince me otherwise.
Awww I thought he was going to meet with the souls of the 100 fanatics that forcefully made Nightmare Moon appear. It would have been very cathartic.
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Originally it was planned that he'd do that in the chapter immediately after. He didn't 'cause I forgot when writing it. sorry.
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Can always include it as a bonus chapter.
well done story overal and exsperience and a sequel could be following the point off view off the foals growing up and there daily life then and not as much marcus focused so to speak
part of me wood love to see peace time ark but that not for me to say as the term go's.
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Sounds like mark my words
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Yep that’s it
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SoL would bring some levity and comedic shenanigans to the story
the ending feels a bit forced, and too fast paced...... it was like im here "punch" "punch" "BLAM!" "BOOM!" fire the LASER! day saved!
it was still a good read nonetheless
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I am very sorry to hear that. All I can do at this point is say that the chapter you've commented on lies back about 2 years by now, so it can only improve from there, right?
And thus I’ve finally finished this story. Tis was a fun read it had it patches of issues here an there but what story doesn't? I’d love to see a sequel to this it was a great read and also the ending did seem a bit rushed but overall good and again love to see a sequel to this amazing story! Thanks for such an awesome read!
Now to roam fimfiction once more for more stories to read while I wait for other stories I’m enjoying to update.Not much of a afterlife to me out of 1 war to a nother war in a pacifist place grounded by connectors dragon's, Griffin's, minitor's, Hippogriff's, the everfre forest creators
A pouch is a porch.
A door is a portal.
Monday is Moonday ok that works
Thanks for making a really good story.