Epilogue
The small cemetery hidden within the Canterlot sculpture garden was silent; even the late-night visitors like mice and frogs were subdued under the silvery light of the full moon. A pall a thousand years long hung over the silent markers and the stands of white roses that grew around the edges of the hallowed ground.
The hedge split and a tall figure in a black cloak walked in slowly, silver-shod hooves clicking metallically against the cobbles. Luna stepped from the path onto the soft grass, and the night was once again silent as she walked among the rows of markers.
Names... Names... So many names. Some were famous names, ponies of renown from bygone eras. Some had been remembered to her by her sister, names that Celestia had told to Luna over glasses of wine or sweet melomel. Most, however, were foreign to Luna, small memorials to ponies that had lived and died centuries ago and were mourned only by Celestia, monuments to transience and loneliness.
She continued walking, carefully picking her way among the markers, flowers and weeds until she reached a far corner of the little cemetery. Luna knelt down beside a marker that was set apart from the rest and encroached by thorny rose canes. While the other markers bore names, dates and perhaps a pithy statement, this simple stone marker bore only a single word.
Rubedo
Luna's horn glowed and the hood of her cloak was pushed back from her face. She curled up with her hooves underneath her and gingerly brushed the small coating of dust from the marker.
"Oh, our precious Rubedo. We served thee poorly."
Speakest not such things, dearest empress, spoke a voice from Luna's memory. 'twas never your place to serve.
"In our madness, we made thee a monster."
Nay, never was I but your loyal subject. I would have followed you into the bowels of Tartarus, if only to see your smile.
"We were wrong, dear Rubedo. Wrong to ask that of thee."
What is right but to serve you, empress? If you seek forgiveness, I have none, for there is nothing you need forgiven.
Luna lowered her horn to the cold stone, a tear slithering down her muzzle and into the grass. She had had conversations like this with him a hundred times and they had served only to harden Luna's heart, convince her that she was right in her anger and resentment, that her word was law even unto death.
If I have served you poorly, then I beg your forgiveness.
That was like him, too. Maybe if she had backed away at the last minute and let the moon descend... Maybe if she had just opened up to Celestia more... Maybe if she had shrugged off Najstariot's barbs instead of letting them cut so deeply... Maybe...
"We forgive thee," Luna mumbled into the ground. "The responsibility is ours alone."
Go, dear empress. Live. Be with your friends.
Luna mulled on this, then shook her head. No, that wasn't like him at all.
Princess, a difference voice said, one belonging to her sister's student instead of her own. We're your friends and we love you. You shouldn't beat yourself up!
Luna smiled. That felt right.
Rising slowly to her hooves, Luna turned back the way she came. Morning would come soon, and with it the ministers, the petitioners, the common ponies that just wanted their princesses to hear of their challenges and hardships. That would be a good change, she thought, to add an extra hour to open court and let the peers and ministers deal with two hours for their closed-door harangues instead of three. Her ultimate responsibility, after all, was to Equestria, not to the nobility. And then perhaps this evening I will write a letter to Twilight and my sister. She smiled at the thought.
Spreading her great wings, Luna vaulted into the air.
It was time to raise the sun.
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Twilight Sparkle
Will Return
In
Thunderball
Yay!~ It's updated!
Sequel?
A continuation??
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!
Great end to a great story, and I'm glad we're getting more from you.
A very nice ending. I really enjoyed the closure for Luna.
Also, a sequel? Count me in!
Very touching ending. I loved the entire fic and I am glad to see that there is a sequel in the works. You did a wonderful job with every bit of the story, and I am happy to have experienced it!
I have a bit of a story to tell. (Don't worry, it relates. I promise.)
I am set up to receive update emails for all the stories I track (or I suppose the stories I have favorited, under the new system). This may be due to my slight OCD or the fact that I am used to emails from the fanfiction.net system. Anyway, I ignore most of them. I note that a new chapter is up, but I just go to the update page the next time I log onto FIMfiction. However, there are a few rare stories whose update email fills me with joy and that I read immediately.
This is one of those stories.
I'm sad that it's over, but not too sad, since there's a sequel!
The ending tied everything together well. I can't wait for more, though! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra.png I just hope I don't have to wait 6 weeks, though. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Twilight_Sparkle.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Rainbow_Dash.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Pinkie_Pie.png The ponies command you to write faster!
Wonderful story! I loved reading about kicka** Twilight!
Can't wait for the sequel!
673737 I don't know if it was intentional or not, but your comment makes me think of James Bond.
Loved the story!
What is this? An update? A hint of a sequel?
I am so happy right now.
This story is the reason I started using FiMfiction.net. You're a wonderful author, keep writing for us!
I have to agree with what everyone else has said so far, thank you for the story and for the continuation. You wrapped it up nicely, short and sweet.
673861
img.ponibooru.org/_images/829884989b9d22298e49db6a2b48b730/112123%20-%20macro%20pinkie_pie%20thats_the_joke.jpg
*time for bed, let's check the updates*
huh. moonstone cup updated
wait.
wut.
sweet, a continuation and a promise of a sequel!
and now for bed.
It was just one update after another, and now I'm up hours late xD
Great finish! And.... SEQUEL!!!!
So much left unanswered, looks like I'm gonna have to wait for the sequel.
I can't make the text expressive enough when I say:
FUCK YEAH MOTHERFUCKING SEQUEL, BIIIIIIIIITCH!!!
i prefer to avoid cussing if i can *sees promise of sequel*
HOLY FUCKING SHIT YESYEYEYSYEYSEYESYESYESYESYESEYES
i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p570/bolemis/131327147782.gif
i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff454/GracieGifs/thSammy-Yes-GIF.gif
i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj301/sooperhandz007/gif%20plaatjes/yes.gif
there's going to be more!
YAY!
673782 673787 673794 673821 673853 673862 673897 673956 673966 674010 674084
Wait, he's not joking? I thought it was just a throwaway gag. Though there was a pretty good sequel hook in there...
Aw, who am I kidding.
SEQUEL YEAAAAAAAAHHH
This story was absolutely great, and a sequal would pretty much make my year
674153
I hope he isn't joking. I will sadface pretty hard if he is. I want more Twilight being awesome.
I enjoyed every single update of this story! I really loved it! keep up the great work and I can't wait for the sequel!
So nice to read the end of this great story. I'm on a lunchbreak and had a terrible morning at work; this is just what the doctor ordered!
Nice ending, and a sequel is on the way? Hell yeah!
I read through these final chapters and they were good, but it felt like something was missing.
What lesson did Twilight learn from all this? What's the wrap-up that would go into the letter from Celestia, if she were to write a letter? Does she need to be less afraid of her own power? Or something about not neglecting her connections to all the people who care about her in Canterlot? That she needs to see her mentor-figures as as adults like herself with their own concerns and problems? I'm not sure what the final message of the story actually is.
I'm also not sure what exactly Twilight's new abilities are or what they mean, but I suppose that can wait for the sequel. (Though come on, turning into a pony made of lightning and fire with omniscience-vision; you would think Twi would want to ask Celestia what the deal was there. I kept waiting for that to be brought up.)
Absolutely phenomenal story.
I think the ending was perhaps drawn out a bit too long though.
674303 Twilight's ability is freeform manipulation of magic. She doesn't need spells or anything else, she simply has to ask and magic will answer. She's borrowing the various magics of the world (fire, the storm, hell, the magic EKG machine) to do anything she wants.
Heh.
Good end. I liked it.
I still want to know what the deal with that Trixie doppelgänger earlier in the story was.
Awww yeah! Sequel time!
I can't wait, and it's only been a few hours since you finished this story! I may go a bit insane waiting...
Thunderball?
So is it a James Bond parody?
Gotta say. This story didn't disappoint in the least. <3
Now, I need more Twilight being magical.
Wow, simply amazing
I have to say that this is one of the best fics I've ever read, extremely well written and brilliant overall , this would be amazing if somehow it ended up being made into a My Little Pony movie 
I'll be looking forward to the sequel !!!!!!!!!!! 
Overall this story was pretty great, but it does feel a little like the end in missing something. Ending with Luna was nice, but... I don't know. Twilight's fights were all fun though, and the lead up to the prologue was appropriately, uhh, rampy. Uppy.
Rampy uppy.
...and I can't tell if there's actually going to be a sequel or not
Sequel?....
SEQUEL! 
Wonderful story, I can't wait to see what else you have in store for us.
UPDATES!!! YES!
Been looking forward to this for, like, forever!
where one ends the other bigins...
if it is the joy of live or a deeper botteled pain...
the circle of live is the one who wins...
to break that circle, their attempts are in vain...
greatness, thanks for all your hard work on this story and thanks for sharing it.
Loved this story!! Fantastic work!
Wait... does this mean it's over
nooooooooooo! Twas to good to be gone!
I The Great And Powerful Trixie Demand A Sequel!
ya'll know I recon that she's right, fer once
YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE SEQUEL
Oh wouldn't it be so super duper extra awesomely fun to do this again guys
Of all the worst possible things, this ending is THE WORST POSSIBLE
According to my studies of your ratings and how the favorite system works I have determined you should write a sequel
CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SEQUEL WRITERS GO!
Why must it end? We must continue it!
I'm not sure if this is a good idea guys.
Come on Sweetie Bell this is going to be awesome!
eeeeeeyyyuuup
674303
I kind of agree that the ending seemed... Abrupt.
We really didn't find out anything new about what's going on with Twilight, just that she's going to need help learning to control it.
>What lesson did Twilight learn from all this?
Hmmm.... Lightning bolts work where diplomacy fails?
674416
She summoned herself from another timeline, as what could possibly be more impressive that Trixie? Unfortuanatily it was one with a Twixie ship.
James Bond jokes aside, yeah, I'm working on a sequel. Tentatively, I'm calling it
Goldeneye"Air and Fire".674855
This is the best day ever. Thank you so much! This story was really great, one of my favorites, and I am glad that you're continuing it, because I am really looking forward to twilight getting control of that new power. You are an outstanding writer, keep on being awesome!
674855
Great Googly Moogly!? A sequel!? Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!!!
This was such an epic story! The battle scenes were among some of the best I've ever read, and it was a really exciting story to read!
This has been a gift to read and a joy, thank you.
Awwwwww YEAAAH
Hopefully it does not take forever for more stories?
scranton.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw3682-1331715509946751.gif <mfw SEQUEL!
this was indeed a great and fun story, congratulations on a job well done and good luck on future stories Cyanide
673737 Oh, you