Consider with me you suddenly skipped 5 years into the future. The how doesn't matter, nor the why, but consider with me that one moment you're looking at the clock and it says 2021, and then next, 2026. It seems like a long time from now, doesn't it? I submit this for your thoughts because I want you to think about everything involved directly in your life, and how they would move independently of you. Your pets, how would they get by? Your bills, who would pay them? Further, if there's anyone in your life, how would 5 years of your absence affect them? How would the world change? What news would there be to catch up on, changes to the country at large? And then beyond all of this, how would you go about finding out everything that happened? Where would you even start? Imagine this, really consider the totality of things that you affect, and what would happen if you simply disappeared.

Now imagine this for a period 200 times longer. 1000 years. This is Luna's life, or, lack thereof until the present moment.
Luna's life is plagued by the impossible multitude of questions that come up when one suddenly jumps into the future or is gone from the present for so long. What has become of the world, and where does she stand in it?

Tnever complete

• MLP: FiM
• Sad

Time is a bridge Luna never had a chance to build.

• Luna

themoontonite · 2.7k words  ·  54  2 · 772 views

This review's going to be closer to a long-form comment than my usual structure of a review. Partially because I want to try this new looser format, and partially because I'm a little strapped for time. For this review, I heavily encourage you to read the piece beforehand, as I will be going into it more like a comment than anything else.

A constant in the narration of this piece is numbness, indifference, and ennui. The feeling that the entirety of the world moves on without you, and in Luna's case, moved and grew completely absent of her. It's understandable that she should feel like her place in the world is pointless. Early on, the narration and characterization of Luna are enough to bring me to the verge of tears. She's hollow, recognizing the world passed a thousand years without her, and that she herself grew in that time, but she developed isolated from everyone else, and indeed, grew more numb as time went on. Dawn, the author, phrases this as a dialogue with the moon, which is simply majestic. She compares herself to the other princesses, but not in a manner that viscously tears herself down, as this variety of envy usually does, but rather, very plainly and matter-of-factly while still maintaining this feeling of ennui. Luna knows she's many things, and doesn't have to strain to know someone cares about her and loves her, but states that above all, she's empty.

I can never get over the line, 'there is more to see in one square yard of Equestria, than the entirety of the moon'. That this is a reflection of how Luna sees herself in comparison to her sister. That the void period of her life is as empty as the moon, whereas her sister spent that same time building the whole of pony society. That Luna's a living embodiment of a contrast between her inaction and the sun's boundless growth.

At first, it almost feels like Luna wants to forget the Moon, and the part of her life spent conversing endlessly with her. But as she retraces her steps in these photos, comes to understand the moon on a deeper level. It's a solitary body, yes, and a body whose merit only comes from the perfection of the sun. But the moon is not just the celestial body of empty stone. It brings the night. It brings the tides. It brings life in a different, quieter form.

Earlier I asked you to consider what would happen if you suddenly jumped 5 years in the future. Dawn has described this perfectly. That time is a bridge, one that is being built by you for yourself right now without you realizing. When your life is over or nearing its end, you will see everything that brought you to this point. Each mistake, triumph, memory, and emotion which brought you to this very point. Each plank in the bridge you've been building. It's divine, isn't it? The way that's described. A glowing ivory bridge bringing you across your entire life that you are free to fly through and examine each plank individually. Luna is not so lucky. She was building her bridge one day, and then the next, on the other side of it, staring at the decay and disrepair that come from leaving it alone for 1000 years. I remember asking where would you even begin to pick up the pieces. Luna tried with six photographs in an ancient wood chest but came to the same conclusion, only more refined and stalwart.

I reread this story searching for a better grasp of the story, but on my first reading much like my second now, I find myself at a loss for completely understanding the story. Perhaps that's demonstrative that this story is far beyond me and unquantifiable in quality and majesty. I will echo what I've said in my initial comment for the story, that it reads like it was genuinely written by royalty, and that it was royal honey to go down with immortal bitter medicine.

My take on it is this: Luna is a solitary figure coming back to roost in an interconnected world, and a world that's completely alien to her. She's hollow in her resentment, which once was volcanic, and numb but understanding of her self-image, which once was crushing enough to look for a way to breach her immortality. She's empty, but in those six photos, finds satisfaction in this emptiness, not a cure for it. She recognizes that she lost 1000 years, and views that time between then and now as a rotting bridge stuck in the mire of the riverbed, but she doesn't resent this or try to reclaim that time. It's a very unique story in trying to find yourself in who you were, with a millennium gap in between the two, but finding that you're the same person, and growing from that realization. It's poignant and brings me to tears. Genuinely, it's a piece of beauty, and I again need to repeat it feels like genuine royalty wrote it, and this serves to compound the absolutely breathtaking characterization of Luna. Even with this grasp, I feel there's more to it, that my interpretation and thoughts on it will be never complete.

You've done it again Dawn. You've created another divinely beautiful story that feels like a queen writing her memoirs more than it does a girl creating fanfiction. This story, as with most of your stories, captures magnificently a specific feeling. This one being finding purpose in who you were after being aimless and empty for so long. A good real-life example, if there were to be one, would be someone falling into a coma and waking up 10 years later. It really does feel like Luna's looking at a different world than the one she knew, and trying to find herself in it when everyone else has established themselves firmly. On trying to let go of the old bridge and starting again. It truly does make me want to cry, even though I probably described it imperfectly.

Premise: 8/10: I've said enough about what I think the purpose of this piece is, but I need to back up a bit and highlight how outstanding it is that the author accomplished this by simply looking through a handful of photographs.
Characterization: 10/10: Seriously some of the best Luna writing I've ever encountered, and you'd be a fool not to read this piece if you aim to understand and write Luna.
Grammar: 10/10: I have no issues whatsoever with the grammar of this piece, nor do I think it needs rephrasing or sharpening anywhere.

rubYYYYyyyyy this is so GOOD idk its very nice to have smthn that came to me naturally get broken down in this way. hearing what other people get out of my writing is so fascinating and u did a fantastic job representing your thoughts here,,, tthank you again!!!