“All we ever wanted was peace.”
“And control. To shape Equestria on its proper path.”
“They loved us.”
“They loved you. But they needed me.”
“Needed us… all of us.”
“...perhaps so. ...I am sorry.”
“Truly?”
“Truly. My aggression caused you to drive me down so deep. I hated.”
“Hated…?”
“Hated. The heat of my hate blinded me, and would have destroyed everything we built, together.”
“I… I do not mind the hate now. Not how it is. It… there is a place for it now.”
“...maybe so. We were so blinded by our own glory. What we could have done together, truly together…”
“We still can. I feel…”
“Daybreak comes. Are… you sure?”
“I am. We’ve slept long enough.”
***********************
“We could have had it all.”
“We did not want it all! All we wanted was recognition! Love!”
“Acceptance.”
“I… yes. But you… no. No, I cannot.”
“Hrm?”
“...I’ve blamed you alone for long enough.”
“The Tantalus.”
“...I…”
“...we are both to blame, in the end. I was prideful and bitter. You let fear and guilt consume you. It caused this. We did not act.”
“Grown insightful, I see.”
“We always were, in our own way. I am sorry.”
“So am I. To you, to them, to… to…”
“She loves you. Us. Always did, always… heh, always will.”
“...she does. And needs our help. Can you feel it?”
“I can. No half measures?”
“No. Our apology must come through action this time.”
“Then let us begin.”
*********************
The sun cracked through the aze of the industria city like the long defunct dawn. And wherever its rays found a home, there was only fire. The cleansing fire of a goddess come home. Day broke over the Caribou homeland, and they witnessed its fury firsthand. The statute of Celestia, standing subservient on the road of victory the victors had built so long ago, was no more than a spiral of twisting, glowing iron, its sheen of gold now dancing and warping in the updrafts of heat.
In its place stood a mare of the very sun itself. Fur that shone with the white hot core of a star, with roaring flames billowing through a crimson mane. Eyes gleamed out at the burning world like plasma, directing the heat of the mare’s hatred into the home of her enemy. A cruel smile twisted gleefully on the mare’s statuesque muzzle, which dropped open in a thunderous shout.
“Sol Invicta! Bow and burn, you treacherous beasts! Revel in your destruction! Your debasement! You shall find no mercy here, for its has burned away!”
Hate choked the air like so much ash; the wind rushed through the carnage, carrying with it a silver-tinged mist that cooled the flames around it as it passed- and delivered sweet oxygen once it had passed, letting her sister’s flames burn ever hotter.
“Stand tall, our ponies! Walk forth into the dawn!”
Above the chaos, the rippling, glaring sun was joined by its twin. In imperious majesty, the moon embraced the heat of its sister, casting shadow across the dying city. But its cooling shade was not for the inhabitants of the city; Caribou only found the fury of the sun now directed, flare like, down into homes and temples. The terrible moon cast its tendrils down into the very heart of the city of Ash’ei, flames burning through the heart of its dark temple.
Gleaming like the full moon and its starry companions, a mare strode beside her sister. Black as midnight, her fur sucked in the light around her, pooling it to flicker, star-like, in the dreamscape of her mane. Her shadow stretched out into the streets, and guided those protected from the hatred to their gods. The sister of night gazed out on the stumbling, crawling mass of pony slaves, her star-shine eyes lit with the deepest care and sadness.
A silver-clad hoof stretched out to cup the cheek of a tiny unicorn, and embraced her in shadow, stretching out to grasp and protect those around her. Power flowed into them, and wherever she touched, they changed. Horns, slender and alabaster, burst forth from brutalized stumps; bat-like wings shimmered into being onto backs, and strength rippled through their broken bodies. The unicorn’s eyes shimmered in the crucible of magic, its pink disappearing for a moment- before glowing the bright silver of her goddess. The Children of the Night embraced their Mother’s shadow willingly.
Above them, the wings of the solar queen stretched forth in turn, shining brilliantly over the hellscape, like a rainbow in a downpour. And where its light fell, pony life flourished. Flames flickered through manes and eyes, and their bearers exalted. Spires of ivory and gold graced the regal heads of proud unicorns, and passionate flames danced in the wing-beat of pegasi, and the stomps of titanic earth ponies. No head remained bowed; no eye closed to the majesty of the sun. They were in the presence of their goddesses, and in the heart of destruction wrought upon their most hated enemies.
A gleaming multitude of eyes turned to gaze out on the edge of the city, and the herd began to move as one, the city-scape burning wherever they marched. The screams and pleading of the Caribou did not reach the ears of Their little ponies; the hatred of the solar goddess drowned them out in fire and ash. Mercy had not place in ponykind any longer, not how it had been before. At the head of the column, the moon diarch paused, gazing out on the land before her. And with a flash of magic, the death of the caribou nation was complete. Its future hung before the ponies; thousands of sleeping fawns, most not even yet sporting the cruel antlers that had so viciously torn apart many an Equestrian.
The future of any nation was in its children, and not a one would be left to the cleansing flames. Pony dams from all walks of life stepped forward to the goddess, gathering the young close even as the vengeful gods at their back changed them. A cruel smile graced the Nightmare for the first time, and the gazes of the sisters met. And with a pulse of ancient magic, the slaves of the Caribou Empire disappeared from its corpse, taking with them its heart. Never to be returned again.
Author's Note
It's good to be back. It's time for the rebirth of our magnum opis.
