Epilogue 1: Aftermath.

***

Canterlot. June 7th. 2030.

Prince Blueblood sighed as he sat back on his haunches, aching in about five places.

With Solamina's death, almost all resistance in the city had ceased. Right now, the Night Guard were busy cleaning up the city, accounting for the bodies of the deceased, and generally making sure that the transition would be as smooth as possible.

He frowned. Very soon, if things went as they were supposedly planned to, he would take over the role of ruler of Equestria. In his youth, he might have dreamed of such a position of prestige, but now all he could think of was the responsibility: it would be his place to rebuild this shattered land, if such a rebuilding were even possible. Though he had to maintain a brave face, he had his doubts.

It didn't help that the Converted were... being difficult. Oh, they weren't fighting anymore... they weren't, for the most part, doing anything anymore. The lucky ones were just hollow, as though they had suddenly been left without purpose, not just practically, but spiritually too. The unlucky ones were like Sol Invictus: the former agitator had not said a single word, save for the prayer he kept repeating. Other Converted were doing similar things: praying, or crying, or otherwise acting like they were experiencing some sort of shell shock. It was, according to some theorists, something to do with Solamina's death and the effect it had on the brainwashing spells she had been the anchor of.

Solamina's death had caused more than just the Converted's breakdown, though. The Barrier had dissipated almost immediately, whatever power that had propagated the thing gone with the Empress' death. The brainwashing that had affected the entire Royal Guard, Eclipse Guard and other Equestrian armed forces affected by the Renewal of the Oaths had broken, leaving some of the Guards as mentally scarred or traumatised as the Converted. That had also affected Commander Twilight Sparkle: she had remained somewhat isolated, none of the former Solaminan forces wanting to see her and none of the Resistance or BDF wanting anything to do with her either. There were few, if any, who wanted to talk to her, not that she seemed up for talking anyway.

Blueblood stood up, before looking around. It was clear that, whatever happened now, it was not going to be easy. There were hard days ahead.

"Welcome home," he said to himself quietly.

***

Former ERAS Interdiction.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were stood in the hangar of the Interdiction, among the bodies of the dead.

The sky battle had been brutal: it had taken the unexpected arrival of the Wonderbolts to turn the tide. Rainbow could see some of the former stunt flyers now, helping tend the wounded. She had caught sight of Scootaloo, but the young mare had avoided her gaze. There were just too many memories there, she supposed. Besides, what could Rainbow Dash say to her to make everything that had happened better again?

The various ERAF Squadrons had lost many good flyers in the battle: many members of Sigma, Alpha, Eagle... but for Rainbow and Fluttershy, the biggest blow was the deaths in Grey Squadron, one death in particular.

Errant Flight looked peaceful in death, his eyes closed and his body arrayed as though he were sleeping. The bloodstained flight shirt had been replaced with a fresh one, so nopony would have been able to tell he had been so grievously injured.

The other members of Grey Squadron were there, of course: Bright Wonder in a corner, comforting White Blossom. Dream Flyer looking pensively out a porthole. The one conspicuous absence was Ditzy, who had different matters to attend to.

"He looks peaceful," Fluttershy murmured, tears in her eyes. "I don't think we ever saw him look like that."

Rainbow didn't know how to respond to that. It was true, though: the squadron leader had never looked peaceful.

Rainbow had never given much credence to thoughts of an afterlife. Pegasi were almost always cremated, largely because common thought had it that being cremated allowed the spirits of Pegasi to fly free among the clouds they were at home in. Truth be told, Rainbow didn’t know if she believed in it. Still, if there was an afterlife, she hoped the war-weary Pegasus had found some peace.

***

Medical tent, field near Canterlot.

When the Doctor opened his eyes, he winced slightly. His ribs hurt, and he was fairly certain that, judging by the faint heat that came and went in his limbs, that the injuries were more deep-set than he realised.

"Hello," he heard a voice speak.

He looked around to see Pinkie Pie and Ditzy Doo stood near him. Ditzy looked sad but was smiling anyway, and Pinkie had a massive grin on her face.

"You're awake!" she said happily. "I'm glad you're ok - I found you by Luna and you were all unconscious and stuff so I carried you back to the place where everypony and everybody was so you could get help and then..."

"Pinkie," Ditzy said quietly. "Can you give us a few minutes please?"

If Pinkie was fazed by this interruption, she didn't show it. Instead she beamed.

"Sure!" she said brightly. "Have fun!"

She bounced out, leaving the Doctor and Ditzy alone.

"I saw your hoof glow," she said quietly. "You're dying, aren't you?"

"I'm surprised I'm not dead already," he said with a wry grin. "I take it by the magic holding Luna to that mockery of life breaking that we won?"

"Yeah," Ditzy said. "We won."

"Good," he said quietly. "That's good. It's over then."

He stood up and smiled at her, before hugging her.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "For failing you."

"You don't have anything to apologise for," she replied quietly. "And you didn't fail."

He stepped away, smiling.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

He walked off.

***

Canterlot Palace Courtyard.

Hell Blazer sat back, smoking a cigarette. He sighed, smirking slightly as he did so. Excalibur was still stuck in the rock David had jammed it in to support himself. About twenty different people and ponies had tried moving it, and none of them so far had succeeded. Chances are no one ever would - the sword was presumably quite picky about who it let hold it. Only two men had done so in recent memory - David, and Sir Eric of the Knights of Albion, and both of them were dead. Somehow, Hell Blazer didn’t see anyone else fitting the bill in his lifetime.

Canterlot was still burning slightly, smoke rising from the streets and from some of the towers. The damage to the city was immense: Solamina and the Avatar alone had torn great swathes of the city off of the mountain wherever they had fought, and that wasn’t even the half of it. Eclipse Guard, Royal Guard and Militia had clashed with BDF, Dead Men, Resistance ponies and even a few civilian rioters throughout the city. Then there were the clumps of wrecked helicopter, zeppelin and - more than once - Pegasi that had rained onto the streets from the battle in the skies above the city.

Yeah, it had been a nasty one. Still, it was over now.

Now all that was left was deciding what the buck to do next.

“Here’s to winning,” he said quietly, stubbing out his cigarette. “Almost envy you, Dave. You get to miss the shit part.”

***

Twilight Sparkle was lying back on Canterlot grass, looking at the blue sky, and thinking of home. Now that Solamina was defeated, it was likely that she and her friends would be going back soon.

Rarity, True Grit and Applejack were nearby, helping direct some ponies in their cleanup operations. Twilight, for her part, was trying to relax for the first time in… well, a long time.

“Excuse me,” a small, but very familiar, voice said.

Twilight sat up, and found herself looking at Commander Sparkle. Her duplicate still wore the armour and robes that she had fought in but any symbols of Solamina had been torn, scorched or struck from them. Her outfit looked significantly more ragged, making Commander Sparkle look all the more dejected and broken.

“Hello,” she said, not really sure what to say to this mare.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Sparkle said quietly. “If you… if you don’t mind.”

Spike, hung up on the wall, moaning at Twilight pitiably, begging for death.

“I don’t mind,” Twilight said.

“Thank you,” Sparkle said. She paused, looking up. “It’s… it’s a nice day.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, looking up as well. “It really is.”

The Archmagi had volunteered to be in charge of raising and lowering the sun and moon until a suitable alternative could be achieved. They were, as Twilight might have expected from ponies who had met her approval, surprisingly competent.

“What are you going to do now?” Sparkle asked, surprising Twilight.

“I… I imagine we’ll be going home soon, all of us,” Twilight replied, a little hesitantly.

“You and your friends,” Sparkle said, sounding melancholy.

“Yes,” Twilight said.

There was a long, awkward pause.

“Treasure them,” Sparkle said, suddenly looking at Twilight intensely. Her eyes bored into her counterpart, almost like daggers. Twilight tried not to flinch. “Treasure them before you lose them all. Believe me - one day you will, and it will kill you. You have to treasure every moment you have with them.”

“I… I will,” Twilight said softly, not sure how to feel. On the one hoof, who was this mare to tell her what to do? On the other hoof… this mare was her, and a version of her who had lost everypony she loved most.

There was another long, awkward pause.

“What… what are you going to do with yourself now?” Twilight asked.

Sparkle gave a hollow smile. “Albion… Elliot… gave me a gift. Knowledge of a way to repair the Converted’s damaged souls: a spell. I’m going to do that. I’m going to fix something for once.”

“Individually?” Twilight asked with a frown. Sparkle nodded slightly, her eyes on the ground. “But that would take…”

“Years,” Sparkle said. “Oh yes, I know.” She laughed mirthlessly. “Seems like a fitting punishment, don’t you think?”

“Seems that way, ma’am,” a new voice spoke. Twilight started slightly, before seeing True Grit standing nearby, the green unicorn having wandered over to where they were standing.

Sparkle looked at Grit, before nodding at Twilight.

“I won’t take any more of your time,” she said. “Have a better life than me.”

With that, the Unicorn walked away.

“Seems like she’s had a worse time than us, doesn’t it, ma’am?” True Grit commented, an odd look on his face. Twilight couldn’t help but agree - Celestia help her if she ever reached that low.

“Seems so,” was all she said.

***

London, St Paul's Cathedral. June 10th. 2030. David Elliot’s funeral

The cathedral was full to bursting. Ponies and humans alike were stood, row upon row, facing the pulpit. Alexander Redmond stood at the head of this crowd, a scar running down his face from the battle and an expression of stoic melancholy on his face. He had never gotten on with Elliot… but still, the man had done wonders for them. Nobody would ever deny it.

David Elliot’s body, arrayed in a full set of knightly armour assembled by the Knights of Albion, was sat in a coffin, his face peaceful and - for the first time in a long time - free of stubble and the stress of war. Morticians had spent two days making his body, not just presentable, but beautiful. They had done their best to transform the corpse of the man they once knew into some kind of noble hero that anyone who knew Elliot would most likely barely recognise. Excalibur could still not be retrieved from the stone he had accidentally jammed it in, so a suitably ornate longsword had been acquired to stick in his hands instead.

It made Hell Blazer sick. Sat in the front row of the crowd, the members of Everfree Squad with him, he couldn’t help but think that this was all bullshit. When Redmond began speaking, he spoke about ‘duty’ and ‘honour’, and a whole load of other things that Hell Blazer didn’t think summed up David at all. Had his friend been here, he’d have either laughed at how ridiculous it all was, or he’d have punched something.

Hell Blazer realised with a sickening feeling in his stomach that this was not a funeral for David Elliot. This was a funeral for the Avatar of Albion. David Elliot was just a name.

Fuck that.

When it came Hell Blazer’s turn to speak, he coughed slightly before beginning.

“This is a fucking joke,” he began. There were gasps of horror and shock at his crude language, and he couldn’t help but grin. “Nothing I’ve heard here sounds like anyone gives a shit about the man who gave his life for you all. It sounds like you’re all mourning some superhero you never met, without really thinking about the guy.” He paused. “So let me tell you something about the guy.

“David Elliot was my friend. He was a snarky bastard. He was grumpy. He didn’t talk much about his problems, but he did have them - y’only had to look at him to figure that out. He killed ponies a little too gleefully sometimes. Hell, couldn’t blame him really.

“But he was my friend. When I felt down, he’d take me out for a drink. When I needed his help, he’d give it. And in return, when he needed my help, I gave him it.

“One thing he said to me before he died really sticks with me. It was right before I tried sending him to Equestria - I told him I believed in him. He told me I didn’t.

“But you know what? I did. And I don’t mean I believed in the Avatar of fucking Albion. I mean I believed in David Elliot. I believed that he’d give his fucking all to save us. And he fucking did. He fought with every fucking thing he had to save us. He gave up everything he could and more. I think this war asked more of him than anyone else - you asked him to fight for you, to die for you, and to be your hero, your symbol. And now he’s dead, the thanks he gets is to be forgotten while you all mourn your symbol dying.

“You know what? Fuck that. I want you to go away from here remembering one thing. David fucking Elliot is the man who died for you. He gave his life so the human race could have a chance to survive. He saved us all. And I am damned if I’m gonna let anyone - or anypony - forget that.

“Thank you. Fuck you.”

With that, Hell Blazer got up and walked out of the church, ignoring the looks on the faces of the ponies and people who had sat there listening to him.

About five seconds after he was gone, someone began clapping. Then another person started as well. A pony started stamping their hooves in appreciation. A cry of “too fokkin’ right!” came from somewhere. Even Redmond joined in without any hesitation, a fairly composed expression still on his face.

A few moments later, the entire hall was filled with stomping hooves and clapping hands for David Elliot.

***

Later, the newcomer ponies were stood outside St Paul’s, feeling a little lost.

“Discord said he’d take us home when we were done, right?” Rainbow Dash said, frowning slightly. “Well, I’d say we’re done.”

There was a general murmur of agreement from most of the others.

“I wouldn’t mind staying a little longer,” Lyra said with a shrug. “If nothing else, it might be nice to see humans when they’re not at war and being nearly wiped out.”

“I just want to go home to my daughter,” Ditzy said quietly. She hadn’t seen the Doctor since he had left, but she hoped he was happy in whatever form he had ended up in. “It’s been too long.”

“Fortunately,” a new voice said, sounding tired, “that isn’t going to be a problem for you.”

In a flash, a figure appeared: he was human in appearance, brown haired and tall, wearing a simple black suit with a black shirt and deep red tie. What was most interesting about him was the little pin in the shape of an odd-looking arrowhead over an oval on his lapel.

“Who the hay are you?” Applejack asked with a surprised expression.

“I was Discord,” the man replied tiredly. “But that’s not a name I intend on keeping, except on those occasions when I really have to deal with your kind again, and believe me, those will be few indeed.”

“What’re you talking about?” Rainbow Dash said, eyes narrowed.

Twilight, however, understood. “You’re this world’s Discord!”

He bowed, a slightly mocking smile on his face.

“Where the hay were you?!” Applejack thundered. “I bet ya’ll could have done something to -!”

“If you’re going to lecture me about staying out of the war, please don’t bother,” the man - Discord - said, sounding irritated. “For one thing, it was never really my business. For another, even if I had gotten involved, Solamina was the channel to far greater powers than I could have hoped to stop. For another, how do you think Hell Blazer’s spell to send David Elliot to Equestria failed so miserably anyway?”

There was an awkward pause as the ponies digested this.

“So,” Twilight said after a moment. “Are you going to send us home?”

“That was my agreement with your world’s version of me,” Discord said quietly. “Personally, I think he could get off his fat ass and do it himself, but I always was lazy.” He held up a hand. “If everypony is ready?”

“Actually sir,” True Grit spoke up, stepping away from the others slightly, “I’m not.”

“Not ready?” Discord asked.

“Not going,” Grit clarified.

The other ponies looked at him in shock at that.

“What?” Lyra asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. “But…”

“I can do more good here,” True Grit said shortly. “As a Royal Guard all I did was stand around all day - but here I think I could really help somepony.”

“What doin’?” Applejack asked with a frown.

“Well,” Grit said with a smirk, “there’s a certain purple Unicorn running around who might need a Guard. And a protector, if some ponies and some people want to try taking revenge on her.”

There was a pause as everypony realised who he meant. Some of them looked dubious, especially Lyra, but Twilight nodded.

“I think it’s a good idea,” she said quietly. “Good luck Grit.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” the former Guard replied with a slightly self-deprecating grin. “I’m sure I’ll need it.”

The others quickly said their goodbyes. Pinkie was surprisingly torn up.

“But I didn’t even get to throw you a goodbye party!” she said sadly.

“Save me a cake from your welcome home party, then,” True Grit said with a slightly sad smile. “It’s the thought that counts.”

“Okie dokie lokie,” the pink party pony said sadly.

The others said their goodbyes as well, until at last only Lyra was left.

“Thanks for watching my back in Canterlot,” she said softly.

“And you,” he replied. “Have fun writing about humans back home.”

Lyra grinned. “You bet.”

They hugged, and then Grit stepped back as Discord tapped his foot impatiently.

“If we’re done with the goodbyes?” he asked. “I don’t want to be on this rock any longer than is strictly necessary.”

“We’re ready,” Twilight said quietly.

Discord sighed, and then snapped his fingers. With a flash of light, they were gone.

True Grit sighed, and turned away, heading off back toward London.

There was a lot to do.

***

Celestia’s Throne Room.

With a flash of light, eight ponies materialised in Princess Celestia’s throne room, looking faintly surprised. The Princess herself, as well as Discord, both looked as though they had been waiting for some time.

“Twilight!” Celestia said, eyes wide in shock.

“Finally!” Discord said, looking bored. “It’s been almost five minutes since you left. I was beginning to wonder if I was getting lazy over there!”

Twilight said nothing, instead looking around at the familiar surroundings, before settling her eyes on Celestia - her beloved, benevolent mentor and friend.

“Twilight?” Celestia asked.

The purple mare closed her eyes and took a deep breath, savouring the sweet smell of home.

“Well,” she said quietly, “I’m back.”

***