Thanks. I'm really glad to know someone is reading this thing and liking it. I spent a lot of late nights writing, editing, and thinking about this thing.

The reason I went with "Tartaros" is that when Twilight pronounces the word in "It's About Time," she uses a long "o" sound in the last syllable, which is the original Greek pronunciation. The Romans changed it to their masculine/neuter second declension "us" ending when they picked it up from the Greeks, so either one is technically okay to use. I was just going with the one from the show. "Lethe" is a Greek word, too, and was actually the name of a river in Hades that the dead would drink from before being reincarnated, so that they forgot their previous life and what had happened to them after death. So this whole story is a bit of an ancient language stew, in places.

Fun fact: Luna's original name in some merchandise (which suggests that this was also going to be true of the show) was going to be Selena, which is a Latinized form of Selene, the Greek moon goddess. My guess is that they changed it to Luna, which is the Latin word for moon and the Latin name of an early moon goddess, because someone in marketing thought it was prettier and more mysterious sounding, and because Celestia's name is roughly translated from Latin to mean "Lady of Heaven," or "Lady of the Sky." In other words, Celestia and Luna fit together better, linguistically.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this monster. When I got done with it, and checked my final word count, I was shocked.
"I wrote a book two-thirds as long as "The Hobbit" about magical talking ponies!? I need a girlfriend or something."

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"I wrote a book two-thirds as long as "The Hobbit" about magical talking ponies!? I need a girlfriend or something."

No, I'm pretty sure that's a sign you have a gift. Besides. Fallout:Equestria:Project Horizons is over 600,000 words.

I never say these next few words lightly: "Holy shit, that was a freaking good read."
That out of the way, let me just say a few words:

HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS A FREAKING GOOD READ!!!

I love the way this was written. Nothing was sugarcoated (save, obviously, for Pinkie Pie. Sometimes I think she's the cause and cure for Diabetes all rolled into one hyperactive package), the world was very down-to-earth (or Equestria, in this case) and gritty. On top of that, it was very well written, grammar or otherwise. I love the way Luna and Celestia talk to each other in this fic: they seem very sisterly that has nothing to do with royalty or bloodline or even the countless ages they have endured together. Several times I nearly fell out of my chair due to my laughter at one part or another, be it from the two celestial goddesses or something that one or more of the Mane Six did. I can't say it enough: job VERY well done!

I was instantly taken with the idea of Twilight Sparkle being a smoker. It's official in my mind.

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Well, if you read in my author's notes, you'll see why I did it. To me, Twi is the grad school type at this stage of her development as a character. I've never known a really hard-nosed, hard-studying grad student who wasn't a chain-smoking wino. I don't know why they all smoke, and I don't know why they all pick wine for their favorite booze, but that's just the way it always seems to go. So, I modeled this version of her after that.

Thanks for reading.

Left a comment on your user page, as well.

Wow.

This story has ten times the likes it does dislikes. I'm glad to know that my readers, however few they may be, approve of my bizarre dementia.

Thanks for reading, folks.

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Well, thank you for the compliment, but at this point this story is far too old to ever receive serious consideration for that.

As for my own opinion of it? It's okay, but it's not as good as the original fiction I write these days. It's not even as good as its sequel, "Ghosts of Gods," really, and that's not as good as my current work, either. For what it was to me when I wrote it, though, I'm still fond of it.

Thanks for reading.

If you do intend to read the sequel, check into the one-shot series that takes place between the two.

The stories in it are:

"Well and Good"
"Be Like You" (which itself has a sequel, "An Echo.")
"Benzedrine and Broken Dreams"
"Love and Unicorns"
"Let the Wind Lie Still"
"What Pinkie Wants"

I love this, this is excellent, and exactly my kind of story. Criminally underrated.

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2020 for me was a pained-filled blur only tempered by inadequate coping mechanisms and long bouts of escapism. So I felt this comment painfully resonate in my soul. I am so sorry about your friend, that is incredibly rough.