The first thing Nathaniel heard when he awoke was crying. The young man tried to sit up but found himself too weak to actually move his limbs. He opened his green eyes to a white room. There was a window right in front of his bed overlooking Canterlot. The light shone into the room and almost blinded the teen. He hissed in pain and closed his eyes for a second before he reopened them to the sight of Luna. The alicorn was looking at him at him with disbelief and she started to cry even harder.

"Luna?" He asked, his voice cracking.

The mare responded by hugging him and burrowing her head into his neck. The human wrapped his right hand around her head, trying to ignore the strange feeling in his left arm. For many minutes they just laid on the hospital bed, holding each other tightly. Finally the man could look out the window on the city, not seeing anything destroyed. They had truly won then? The last thing he remembered was falling through the sky, hearing the troops celebrating their victory. What had happened to the hippogriff prince? His memories were fuzzy.

"How long?.. How long have I been..?" The man mumbled.

"Four weeks. You have been asleep for four weeks.." The alicorn responded and didn't let go of the human.

"Four weeks?.. What?.. What happened to the griffins? What happened to the ship?" The young man was trying to piece it all together.

"After prince Tyr managed to wake me we got of their ship with one of their lifeboats. We managed to bring guardian Osiris' body with us.." She said and sat up on the large white bed.

Images flashed before the man's eyes of his friend hitting the floor, dead. The oldest male in their group of friends, killed in the matter of seconds. The pain made Nathaniel close his eyes and hold back a sob, feeling Luna once again embrace him. The princess just held him as he cried, not saying anything. She just needed to be there for him, to help him as he had helped her. After a while the man calmed down enough to talk once more, his eyes red from the tears. He looked down onto his left arm and rose it up into the air. He could still feel his hand, a phantom pain.

"Did.. Did you bury him?" The man asked.

"Yes we did, out in the gardens. We think he would have liked that." She said with a sad smile.

"Yes I think he would have.." The man said, hugging the alicorn close once more.

The days in the hospital bed passed quickly for the human. Luna was by his side most of the time, just talking or helping him eat. With only one hand things would get harder for the man, but he would work through it. Nate often asked for Star Swirl but was told the mage had taken one look on Nate's arm before locking himself in his tower. The arch mage had refused to come out until he was done, so they were forced to wait. But luckily for the young man he had more friends to talk to.

Blaze and Rose had practically stormed his hospital room to see him and the both of them showered him with affection and words of comfort. Through his talks with his friends the man learnt about what had transpired while he slept. The first thing he learnt was the reason for his survival. The Lord Protector had seen him falling from the sky and thrown himself after him. The Spellbinder followed and once Silver Wing managed to grab a hold of the human he had dragged Nathaniel onto the ship. The human wanted to thank the pegasus immediately but quickly learnt he was once again not in Equestria. Silver Wing and the fleet was to watch Griffonia so they did not break the new treaties. This time all members of the Lord Protector's squad would be with him. He had sworn to not leave anyone behind again.

The young man soon learnt about the navy battles as well. Apparently had the Equestrian navy been outfitted with sky-metal weapons as they passed Zebrika. The zebras had then sent their own navy with the ponies, hoping to ensure victory. With their advanced weaponry were the enemy navy turned to kindling, leaving the sea open for travel once more. Only a few ships were spared that were to bring home the captured soldiers. One of the first to go back home was prince Tyr who quickly signed new treaties with Celestia and Luna. These treaties were to ensure that Griffonia would only hold twenty-thousand soldiers, that they would not create more weapons of mass-destruction and that they would follow the new international laws written by the new world council.

During Nate's coma had the world gone back to a sense of peace and calm, rebuilding what had been lost. The dark kingdom was freed from griffin control after the citizens rose up against their oppressors and kicked them out. But after the battle for Canterlot they lacked a leader. Empress Darkest Dream had fallen in battle along with most of her senior officers. This left her six year old son, Hidden Sorrow, on the throne. But as he was too young to rule it meant Crystal Sword would watch the kingdom's affairs for him until he came of age. The king without a crown had been granted a new one.

The mutants in the desert had been hard at work with their greatest enemy defeated. Luna told the man about how they had unified their tribes under a single banner, creating a republic. Their elected leader, Fylk of Obros, had quickly joined the princesses in discussions about a new world council that would welcome more nations. The one million population standard would keep out most from this new council and such a thing would just hurt the nations trust in one another.

The changelings like all others started to rebuild. With two daughters of the former hive queen confirmed to be alive the bug-ponies returned to the badlands. The oldest daughter was meant to take the throne, but she refused to take it. Chrysalis decided to help raise the new emperor instead, leaving her former home in the hooves of one of her younger sisters. The move was political according to some while others saw it as simply a kind gesture to a grieving child. A few saw it as warning however, a statement that the new emperor would be no one's puppet.

The northern armies returned home, their ties with the pony nation strengthened thanks to ambassador Peace Treaty. Lord Orin and King Matesh was both granted seats at the new world council. The prospect of opening up trade with the rest of the world made them both happily accept and they built a town on the land granted to them by the ponies. This town was to function as a place for ambassadors to meet and for goods to be processed through. The north and south had never been on as good terms as they had been since after the war.

The dragons returned home. Charcoal and his fellow teenage dragons promised to visit the human and answer his call if he needed them. Glare was now the oldest living dragon left and was given the title of dragon lord without any problems. The dragons had hidden away hundreds of eggs in secret caves before they left, ensuring their species survival. Charcoal and his friends would now be forced to care for these new dragons as they grew up in a new era, where the dragons of old no longer existed.

Equestria like all the other rebuilt. Luna was adamant on repairing Manehattan and Baltimare, being willing to spend her own gold from the royal treasury. The reparations started three weeks since the battle took place and it would take years before the coast fully recovered. But with time would all wounds heal, but the scars would still be visible through out the landscape. The destroyed Ygrid had been left on the plains where it crashed. Mages worked each day and night on purifying the vessel but work was slow. Yet it all meant the world would recover, even if many things could never go back to the way they were.

The most notable change to the Equestrian landscape was the large graveyards now dotting its surface. Thousand upon thousands had died in the war, both enemy and friend. They had buried them all, the defeated griffins accepting the small kindness by sending gold to the pony nation. Even Guto had been buried, Tyr having dug his grave. The crown prince had been the only one there to give his father his last rites. No one knew where the grave was except from Tyr and the princesses. Luna refused to tell the human when he asked her and Rose hadn't been able to find it anywhere. Since nothing good would come of it the man simply stopped asking.

During his last days in the hospital could the human move around more and even walk to the bathroom by himself. It was during this time Luna brought him an envelope, addressing him the receiver as 'kid'. The young man grew quiet as he saw it and Luna opened it for him with a simple spell. She then left the room to give him privacy and to allow him to grieve. Once the mare was gone the man pulled out a letter from the envelope and he started to read it.

Nathaniel was quiet for a long time after that, his tears hitting the piece of paper in his hand.

The grave was peaceful.

Nathan had found his friend's resting place a few days after he read Osirs' letter. The lunar guardian was dressed in his military uniform with his hair hidden away under the outfit's hat. His left shirt arm hung a bit loosely without his hand there, but he ignored it. The man would not cry anymore over his lost limb, not when others had lost so much more as they defended the nation from invaders. The teen approached the grave and looked upon the titles bestowed upon the grave stone. 'Lunar Guardian', 'Commander', 'War Hero' and 'Savior' only to name a few. But only 'Osiris' could be read on the gravestone, no other name.

"Do you like it? We made sure he would have an easy rest here under the apple trees." An old stallion said and walked up beside the human.

"Soulblade." Nathan said in response.

"Huumm?" The older stallion questioned and turned to face him.

"His name was Osiris Soulblade." Nathaniel said and the stallion quickly went to work.

Star Swirl finally left his tower one moth after Nathaniel woke up. The human had gotten used to only doing things with his right hand now. Many things became difficult, he could never use Valkyrie again with just one hand, but he managed with the help of his maid Dust Kicker. When the arch mage suddenly pulled Nate with him without explaining why. The human was happy to see the old wizard but he was confused over what was so important it couldn't wait. As they entered the arch mage's tower Star Swirl just pointed to a table filled with metal scraps and tools. The man approached it and looked at the object on the table with surprise, gratitude and awe.

"You made that for me?" He asked, his voice cracking up.

"I did. It took me many diagrams and tests but it should work. Give me more time and I will look a bit better. But right now we need practicality. If you just place your arm on the table I will do the necessary spells required to attach it to your nerves and muscles." The mage said.

For the next few hours the human watched the old stallion work. His stump became part metal as the mage inserted components into the man's left arm. Finally when the evening approached was the arch mage done. A large grin was on Star Swirl's lips as he watched the human raise his arm and look upon the creation. He wondered how the mage had even figured out where everything was supposed to be, but that didn't really matter.

Nathaniel was now staring at a metal hand. The prosthetic had been finally crafted to mimic his real hand and it responded to his nervous system. The hand looked like a wooden mannequin hand with its joins balls of metal. Nate tried to close his hand into a first and it did so, albeit a bit slowly. But the mere fact he had a hand again made the human tear up and give the old stallion a crushing hug.

He was no longer broken thanks to the mage. He was once again free.

Celestia's POV

I slowly made my way down the garden path. I passed ponies and maids along the way, all of them bowing deeply. I seemed to hold another kind of air around me now. Before ponies almost feared my steps, now there was a deep respect and sadness instead. I was dressed in my white gown once more, my wings resting softly on my sides. I looked up into the sky to see pegasi foals flying around, playing with one another. A sad smile graced my lips before I focused on my path once more. I wanted so desperately to join them, but even moving my wings to preen them hurt. I had gotten off easy with a few scars and without the ability to fly. The human had lost a hand. Sure he was given a metal one in its place but everypony knew it was not the same.

As I strolled through my gardens I passed the resting place of my two solar guardians. I bowed at the two gravestones to show my respect for the dead. They had fallen to the Ygrid's massive canons, dying instantly. With them gone that only left Holy Light as my only guardian. I thought over this and Luna's proposal about accepting eight lunar and solar guardians for us both. With five more guardians for each monarch it would meant we would spread our word much quicker than before. I mused about the human being forced to deal with seven ponies following him around along with one happy wolf.

I was brought out of my thoughts as I stood before the statue of Discord. I looked upon the god of chaos, frozen in stone. I sat down next to the statue and just listened to the birds chirping and singing their merry tune. For several minutes that was all I did, just listening to the sounds of the garden while I waited for any reaction. I was starting to get disappointed as half an hour passed, but I knew better than to assume he was sleeping in there. His ears were always listening.

"You were wrong about him." I said calmly and watched the moon rise into the sky.

"Maybe I was, or maybe you just heard what you wanted to hear." Discord responded.

I thought about that for a second. "I think I have been doing that a lot since what happened."

"You were always overprotective of Luna. You never liked me inviting her to one of my activities." The god of chaos mused.

"I just found 'throw chocolate dart on the peasants' to be a bad influence on her." I laughed.

"Well how was I supposed to know they disliked chocolate? Ungrateful subjects.." He muttered.

I giggled in response before I looked onto the ground. "She misses you brother."

"..I know." Was his only response.

"Luna is alone in this world should I fall. Who will protect her when I'm gone?" I asked with fear lingering in my heart.

"The one you chose to guard her from the beginning. The human deserves some credit. After all I thought he would accidentally shatter the country with the destiny mother infused upon him." He chuckled.

"Do you think things may go back how they once were? To how we once were?" I asked with some hope in my voice.

"No. The world changes all the time, that is the beauty of chaos. But we will always be siblings, sadly." He said.

I couldn't help but smile at that and I stood up. It was time to get some sleep. I looked over my shoulder at the statue before I turned away and walked towards the castle. The human deserved a better apology from me after all the things he had been through. I took a deep breath before I entered the castle, walking towards my chambers. But apologies could wait until the morning. Now the nation needed to rest and so did I.

Nathaniel's POV

The human entered the small estate and looked around Osirs' former home. The lunar princess couldn't accompany him to the building thanks to her duties but Blaze happily tagged along. The early summer air made the human smile and he walked the streets without any problems. Once he entered the home the teen ran his metal hand through his hair and searched for a bed. The young man found the bedroom quite quickly but when he did something fell onto the floor in the kitchen. Blaze growled at the sound and the human walked over to check it out.

As he entered the kitchen he saw a figure standing there. The moonlight through the window was strong enough for the man to make out features of the pony. The stallion standing in his new kitchen was a unicorn with a long white horn stretching from his head. The pony's fur was a clear white while his mane and tail were blue. His right eye was a stark yellow with 1-12 written within it. It reminded the man of a clock. The intruder's left eye looked like it contained the universe itself, constellations and galaxies moving within it. The pony was wearing a white cloak that covered most of his body and he was larger than the average stallion.

"Nathaniel Sol?" The intruder asked.

"Yes? That's me." Nathan responded and placed his hand on Blaze's head.

"I have a proposal." The stallion said with a grin, his two eyes locked with the human's own green ones.

Author's Notes:

Thank you, all of you. For over a year I have been writing on this story and now it is finally done. Yes it needs editing but the plot itself is all there. I have finally completed what I set out to do and now I can finally rest east knowing I managed to finish the story.

This is not the end of Nathaniel's adventures in Equestria but I am taking a break for a while. I need to focus on school and with this completed I will do just that.

I just wanna thank all of you who have supported this story over the last year and I hope you will comment down below what you thought of the ending. I love getting feedback and I will answer all your comments within a couple of hours.

For the future I am planning on rewriting 'Lux: Warrior of Shadows' so it will be up to standard with this piece of work. I will try to not fail school before that however so thank all of you who went on this journey with me and expect more from me this year.

I am just getting started.

Your friend and local swede: Lux