And the nightmare's over. · 9:29pm Mar 17th, 2016
Whew. Took a bit longer than I'd have liked, but "Nightmare's End" is done. So, fun stuff!
This story came about in part because, for a long time, I've considered the question of what would happen if Luna returned to the ruins of her and Celestia's old castle. "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" added a little more fuel to that fire, especially once I considered the fridge logic; we don't know exactly how long Luna's been subjecting herself to the Tantabus. It's a safe bet that she'd been facing it since before the Mane Six returned the Elements to the Tree of Harmony. Then I thought about Celestia and Luna joining the Mane Six on their night in the castle and taking a direct role in tracking down answers on the Chest, and what that would inevitably lead to considering what I've already established. That led to Celestia retrieving the Inspiration Manifestation book - seriously, if she knew the thing was there and that ponies would be hanging out and doing stuff, why leave the dang thing lying about? That ain't being a chessmaster, that's being irresponsible.
So overall, that's the events of two episodes merged into one story, and a third (mostly) invalidated in Quiververse canon. Gonna try and squeeze in some mention of that bit with the puppeteer. Also, that mention of restoring the castle (and not just the tapestries) is going to pay off in later tales. And speaking of later tales, the Pony of Shadows? Don't be surprised if they come back sooner rather than later.
Anyway, references! It might surprise you all to learn that I have yet to read "Past Sins" in its entirety! However, I like to think there's at least one world out there where Spell Nexus didn't get infected by the Nightmare energy (or whatever you wish to call it), and didn't end up founding the Cult of the Nightmare or creating Nyx. As much as I love the little filly, my 'verse is a little too complicated to have a native version of her showing up. I'd love to do a crossover story featuring her somewhere down the line, but that's a long ways off and I'd have to jump through so many hoops to justify it. And I couldn't help but indulge the fanon of Lauren Faust's OC being Celestia and Luna's mom.
Also, this gave me the perfect opportunity to work in the story that earned Quiver Quill his cutie mark, and give folks a small taste of the inevitable reunions to come. I almost included a scene where Luna met and spoke with Sunrunner in the waking world, but I decided against including it - if she's met Sunrunner, then why is she not telling Twilight about her? As eager as I am to have Sunset and Runnie reunite, I don't want it to happen immediately; Sunset's almost at the point where she's ready, but Runnie's got a little ways to go yet.
Stay tuned, folks; I'm starting serious work on "A Shimmering New Year" by the end of this month. Fingers crossed that it's finished and posted by the end of May.
You already know that I liked the story, so that's out of the way.
Always interesting to see what inspired a story.
AI'm hesitant to say this because I don't know if it's bad etiquet but, if you've read far enough into "Past Sins" to know about the infection, then you can safely read the fic "First Hours" if you haven't already. And trust me, it's worth the read.
3813740 It's not bad etiquette, don't worry. And yeah, I've read that; it's sweet.