Epilogue
But the end was not what Princess Luna expected. A night stretched long, delaying the sunrise well past its appointed time. But before it could stretch beyond the first day, it was already over.
The end was not the extinction of Equestria by freezing death, taking even Luna's beloved bats with her. It came, rather, in the arrival of another mare.
Princess Celestia came in light. Compared to the two pale figures in that lonely crater, her body burned like a star, flame that made no smoke. No heat to sweep them away either, just the pleasant feeling of the first day of spring after a long winter.
Suddenly she was before them, blocking Luna's view of the planet far below. "Sister," she whispered, as though not to disturb them. "The Nightmare's gone."
Luna recoiled, resting more of her weight on Mira, putting her between herself and the Alicorn. "Don't send it back here, p-please! Just kill me. I can't spend another thousand years with that... thing."
"I'm not sending it here," the princess whispered. She towered over them both, with magic strong enough to rip Mira apart without a thought. She didn't. She didn't even force Luna out from behind her. "It's gone, back to the nothingness between worlds. You won't ever have to face it again."
"O-oh." Luna looked up, peeking around Mira's wings. "I guess you're here to... rebuild the prison."
"No, sister. I'm here to take you home."
The princess cried again. Louder this time, embracing her sister with desperation greater than her anger. Mira turned away, giving these ponies what privacy she could. This reunion wasn't meant for her. Her own feelings for the sun princess couldn't interfere. The last thing Equestria needed was more hatred.
But then the moon princess was gone, and only the sun remained. She stood beside Mira on the soil of a desolate prison, where Nightmare's storm had swept it clean. She sat down on that moon, and looked up at the sky as Luna had done.
"I know you," she said, voice utterly flat. "General Mira Nightshade. Waking death. Assassin’s blade behind high walls."
This is it. Part of her knew this was coming the instant she'd seen the sunlight in this place. Mira didn't stand or flee, didn't invoke her dreamwalking magic.
Her purpose was fulfilled. Princess Luna was trapped no longer. Mira would face Celestia's judgment without fear.
"I am."
No blast of magic, not yet. The princess just watched her. "I thought it would be you. When we built this spell to contain the nightmare... my archmage did not know how we would get her here. But he was certain time would make for the best treatment. The Nightmare would unravel itself from my sister's soul, one strand at a time."
Mira listened. "And I released it. You think I wanted to kill Equestria... get revenge for all the bats who died because of you. You think I hate other ponies the way you hate us."
The princess shook her head once. "There was a singular flaw in our plan. If the Nightmare suspected what we'd done, it might claim my sister a second time. Simple banishment wouldn't be enough—it had to think it escaped. Believe that it no longer needed her."
She dropped something to the ground at Mira's hooves—a twisted metal pry bar, one they'd used to wedge the spell open at last. "I do not know how he did it. Starswirl vanished before the end. Yet somehow—you did exactly as he required. Another's magic, one the demon would believe had set it free."
"I won't apologize for freeing Princess Luna. Fighting Equestria was the right thing. My tribe deserves to live." Mira shrugged. "I'm done fighting. Princess Luna is free, there's nothing more you can do to me."
The mare chuckled, her first sign of emotion since her sister left. "I watched your campaign too. I've waited all this time for more Outsiders like Nightmare to flood into Equestria. I prepared for them, trained my unicorns to fight them. We waited for you to unleash them. They never came."
Outsiders. Mira knew them now, and she hadn't in life. At the edges of the Dreaming, where its unreal substance fuzzed and melted into dark places that no sane mind could reach, strange shapes moved beyond the farthest horizon. Impossible things, whispering whatever you wanted to hear.
"No demon would save us," Mira said. "We want to live in Equestria, not burn it."
"You could've left her, like I did. Instead, you stayed." The princess stood up. "My sister will need ponies she can trust. She'll need advisors she understands. If you are done with your wars, I think it should be you."
She looked away. "My parents served in her court, long ago. But they were alive. I can't go out there anymore. I'm Morphean, Princess—I'm a creature of the Dreaming."
"And I am an Alicorn," Celestia said. "Last time I used the Old Magic, it was to trap my sister with a demon. Every now and then I get to use it to create, instead." She held out a hoof, her horn so radiant with magic now that Mira couldn't look directly at it. "If you're willing."
Mira looked down at the offered hoof. If she took it, she might not return to Legacy for a long time, assuming the magic would ever let her see the Dreaming again. "You really think she needs me?"
Celestia nodded. "For now. It isn't a permanent position. When it is finished, you will be free to return—or make some new life in Equestria. I will not compel you."
Legacy doesn't need me. She had friends here, but no family. After sacrificing everything to make Equestria safe for bats, maybe she should try to live in it. She took the outstretched hoof.
"I'm ready to go."
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Not even an apology from Genocide Princess? I'm not surprised, just disappointed. 😞
11862456
I concur; are we just going to sweep such a heinous thing under the rug?
It's good that Mira might be able to continue helping Princess Luna. Also I guess that Starswirl knew how things would go and simply used the bats of Legacy to carry out his plan. He clearly wasn't 100% honest with Mira when he explained why he wanted to help.
I'd like to think Luna will needle Celestia into an actual apology sooner rather than later. It is the solemn duty of the younger sibling to keep the elder from putting themselves on too high a pedestal. For now, Celestia all but saying "You did a better job of being a sister for her than I did," "Thank you for doing what I literally could not," and "I was completely, utterly wrong about you and your people" is nice. Even if her pride and inertia kept her from outright saying it to a longtime thorn in her side.
The end of this story came rather suddenly, but it was still a fascinating journey. Thank you for it.
How exactly does this fit in with the show's pilot episodes?
11862495
Huh, I didn't know that
Considering all that she sacrificed to get to this point, I'm glad that Mira's efforts were rewarded in the end.
Great job Starscribe, this was one heck of a ride, and I think you did an amazing job.
Okay, NOW it's over.
Mira, looks like you didn't have all the data you thought there was. Celestia banished Nightmare, who was bound to Luna. Two entities, one being. They needed to separate. You enabled that, Mira. You done good, little bat.
11862456
Yeah this is a sour end. So celestia gets a by for genocide.
That sours the whole story
Ah, hA! I knew we had reached an ending, it was just so abrupt it kind of threw me, sorry about that. Nice story, thanks for posting, Starscribe.
That was incredible. I read this all just this morning and afternoon, and it was a lovely, lovely read. It's impressive how well you compressed the important parts into a digestible, novel-length story. I just deeply wish I could see a glimpse into the life after. Once Mira has come to feel comfortable in her safety, to see her telling Celestia that it was Starswirl himself helping her all these years would be super fun. Maybe a short anthology of snippets, nothing so epic as this. I deeply appreciate this tale you've woven for us.
Sometimes I feel we in the pony community are like the bats of your story, barely holding on to a thread of life, fighting inertia and cultural zeitgeist to breathe new life into what we love. I hope someday soon I can write something myself, to create where I've only so far passively supported.
11862652 11862456 11862458
She's fought a war of subterfuge against this very pony for ten centuries. An outright apology here would feel deeply out-of-place, at least to me. She stated the reasons for her campaign were unfounded and offered to practically resurrect her adversary from the dead; that feels far more impactful to me than empty words.
11862691
sorry NO. after what she was doing Mira and others are owed alot more
11862916
More comes after. That was private.
11862935
no the story has ended and we got nothing on that. so no this ending was a major let down
I am glad really glad how this turned out. Glad to see Celestia making piece with the Bat Ponies.
Kinda want a sequel now. Explore the friendship between Mira and Luna, and see how Mira adjusts to life in Equestria. Also, are the main 6 in this version of Equestria and in what form? They weren't mentioned in the end.