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// Epilogue: Writer's Realization 
// Story: Creeping Darkness 
// by Pen Stroke 
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Journal Entry #70

Somehow... I managed to do it. I wrote a happy ending to Creeping Darkness... though it wouldn’t have been nearly as happy if Nightmare Moon hadn’t been willing to sacrifice what she had. I’m just thankful that taking most of her memories and experiences, changing her back into the innocent foal Twilight met in the darkness, was payment enough to balance the scales.

And, if anything, this strange experience has given me hope and inspiration.

The hope comes from the fact that I was able to write a story with a happy ending, something I didn’t entirely believed was possible when you’re trapped in the Dark Place. It took a great cost, a fallen princess giving up a thousand years worth of knowledge, experience, power, and memories... but it was possible to write a happy ending. It gives me hope that my own story, “Return”, can also end happily as well... with Alice in my arms.

Twilight and her friends also reminded me of the power of friendship. As I write this it sounds silly or childish, and friendship doesn’t have the same mystical power in my world as it does in Equestria. Still... friends are the ones that can help you through the tough times. Can help you find your way back, guide you through the dark.

I think this is why I’ve had trouble writing “Return”. I’ve been focusing on writing myself out of the darkness, of finding my own way back to Alice... but I don’t have to go it alone. I don’t have to bring myself completely out of the dark. I just need to get myself halfway. Then, I can have Alice and Barry meet me there. They can help pull me back, bring me back, save me from the Dark Place. 

As I sit here and write this, I can’t help but think of Twilight Sparkle. I know I was the one that wrote those last lines into the story, her final words to me but... at the same time I can’t deny it felt it was more like she was really the one saying it.. and I was just the one writing it down.

I wish I could see them just one more time... to tell them thank you. Those ponies... they may have shown me the way home... shown me the way out of the dark. 

My name is Alan Wake; I’m a writer. And I may just owe my own happy ending to six colorful ponies from a magical land called Equestria.


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The End