Darkness holds dominion over the world. Cinders of Sun and Moon gathered from a long-forgotten catastrophe are all that remain to shelter the village from the consuming void. But their power wanes. Lanterns of Sun and Moon held close against his chest, a stallion takes up the mantle of light bearer and forges into the abyss to return light to a world that has all but forgotten it.
Beyond the safety of the village gates, he will meet a voice of shadows and starlight, and many are the revelations it has of the world he thought he knew so well.
7/10/19 update: This story has been completely remastered to meet my 2019 writing standards! Enjoy!
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[Cover art by Ventious]
Chapters (16)
Oh man. This seems promising.
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Just you wait. You don't even know.
It feels a teensy bit like Ursula Le Guin's visions of the lands of the dead in Earthsea. Only with more biting.
Oooh I can't wait to read this!
I like this so far, keep going!
Hope the next chapter is out soon
Just from the description of the story sounds very Darks Souls like. Definitely gunna give this a go. (dies mid chapter, need to git gud)
This pleases me greatly. Worth the wait!
If this isn't a dark souls analogue I'll feel betrayed.
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I would, too!
Fucking ace prose here.
You've got a wicked setup going here. Looking forward to it!
Eh, it's written prettily enough. But it's just too much more post-apocalyptic misery for me.
Either it will end in dismay (the most likely ending in a world where the most powerful beings have already been mostly or completely destroyed), or some miraculous super-power or McGuffin will be conveniently found to stop the monsters.
This is amazing.
Got around to reading this and I am loving what you've done.
The sad silence of a people who have been beggared by the devourer. He didn't just steal the world from them, he stole laughter, and music!
Huh... you'd think that in this world of darkness, sound would be considered all the more important instead of... whatever's happened to it.
Intriguing, anyway.
Promising start, you've got me interested. Did I read it right that his village has been attacked by the devourer before?
Even more surreal than before, though I guess it doesn't help that one's sense perspective is bound to be off in a world of darkness.
So there was no sun or moon in the sky? But now that the brazier is re lot, the moon now shines down upon the land ?
This is so damn cash. Luna realising everything her ponies have lost must be heartbreaking.
Good job on this, keep going as quick as you can, but take enough time to keep them good
Does this imply that the Tantabus caused all this horror?
Well, at least you're not blaming it on Twilight or Celestia.
This is getting a very strong "Amnesia" game feel (or at least what I imagine they're like).
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You'll find out soon enough!
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It's actually a Dark Souls vibe I went for.
Well then, that's a few things explained, perhaps as much as really needs to be.
You need to finish this, I'm getting restless.
Ahhh, so it wasn't the Tantabus. Instead, judging from how Luna mentions traveling through cosmos and galaxies and eternities and oblivions, she accidently released some sort of a horrid eldritch abomination.
Sometimes, when you stare into the abyss, it stares back at you...
You know the world sucks when "loved ones" holds no meaning.
OK.... I didn't see that coming.
Well, that makes things interesting.
Oh, Luna, what have you done?
Oh...
Oh, shoot...
So, Equestria's intact physically, but everyone in it somehow got drawn into a nightmare?
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Yessir!
The Night and The Dream were long...
I wonder how many monsters that seeker kick-stabbed before one of them tore her leg off for the trouble.
The word "eschewed" doesn't make any sense here. Is this a misspelling of "issued"?
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Huh... All my life I've thought that word meant to wash or pour over. Fixed!
This story has really started reminding me of the Sy-Fy mini-series Ascension.
Once more unto the breach...
Loving this story so much.
So, the dream pony is being put to sleep inside the dream by the dreamer, so he can dream of the dreamer's memories of the waking world?
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That about sums it up, yea.
The detail and imagery in this chapter were simply fantastic.
Also, it's a sad, sad, cruel world one lives in where the meaning of "love" has been completely lost.
Beautiful descriptions on their own- more so in this particular situation, with somepony enjoying it all for the first time.
Not sure what to make of a figment of Luna's imagination apparently falling for her.
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Glad you enjoyed this chapter! There was no end to the torment I went through to get the descriptions all prim and proper, what where all these paragraphs were describing what we innately understand in singular words. The infuriation of having to figure out an engaging way to write this entire chapter has really put into perspective for me just what we take for granted as ordinary human beings.
To that end, I am extremely pleased you liked them. You wouldn't believe how impossible it has been this entire story to avoid using the phrase 'what is love?' when delving into his internal narratives. Damn that song to oblivion for making a perfectly reasonable phrase so tonally unacceptable for my story!
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Well what might you make of her falling for a figment of her own imagination, then, instead?
I'm starting to think that the Champion isn't just a figment of Luna's imagination, and more like the Tantabus.
The Devourer isn't as mindless as I originally thought... It's smart, dragging away it's one weakness.
This could prove to be a problem.
Eerie... things are coming to a head.
This story is just all kinds of awesome.
Was the cover art a request or a commission?
Awww.
Nice to have such a breather.
This story works rather well as a deconstruction of the Heroic Mime archetype.