Few ponies in Canterlot and Ponyville still suffer from the Blank Plague, but there's one very important exception. Princess Luna sequestered herself away from pony contact so she could raise the sun and the moon by herself while Celestia was ill. But Luna cannot live alone forever, so she must expose herself to the plague and endure its effects just as Celestia and Cadence did, while Celestia resumes commanding the sun and the moon once more.
Bellerophon Michaelides, the only human in Equestria, hence the only being immune to the magic-devouring plague, must tend to Luna as he tended to Celestia, with a recovering Twilight Sparkle staying by his side. But Luna has other duties beyond moving heavenly bodies, and dreams do not abide the light of day. Darkness does not rest lightly.
Oh yes yes yes! Reading this will be the first thing I do tomorrow morning.
(Cracks his knuckles) Starting tomorrow, I shall make this story my bitch.
Adding this fic to my favorites will surely be inevitable.
Onwards, you handsome devil!
Excellent!
The brief glimpse before, of Luna doing what she could for the final moments of the very young and very old was heartbreaking. Here, in this story, we get to see other sides of Luna, and the complex pony behind the facade of the Princess of the Moon.
VERY well done.
(dreaming of Mommy being warm again and feeding them)
That one line packs more of a punch than most of the rest of the story. You are a master, this story should be used as an example of what can be done with words. This needs more than one upvote but that's all it will let me give.
Luna being lifted from her burdens is interesting, and dang did she ever have a temper about her appearance back in the day.
Well this escalated in horrible ways, and they are supposed to keep these burdens until Luna gets better.
Later a stain-glass window was made.
so now we have a spinoff of a spinoff of a fanfic of a fanfic... where's that blasted inception audio clip when i need it?!
I do so love the idea of the Ponyville weather team being just the best of the best.
Heh.
Gotta love Pinkie.
So, Luna's going cold, eh? Interesting.
Fluttershy and the hydra, fantastic. And that song, even more fantastic!
Twilight the temporary dream warden? Yes please.
It's like a dream come true...
My favorite line in the story. This is the sort of thing I expect a millennial ruler to say.
I agree with EdBecerra statements Excellent!! I do marvel at the description of Luna. I found the last moments of the young and old heartbreaking to see. The grate response of the young ponys to Luna hart worming to see. I can't put it in words to ex plane the death of sorrow and Joy I felt when reading this story. You have a grate talent, the ability to put in words, a story that can move people in the way they think.
I wood like to know, who are the ones who made this virus? Who are the ones behind the seen doing this eval? Princess Celestia and Luna have made points about them, regarding humans loosing there Magic? Are they the ones who rip Lero to the Everfree Forest? Are they trying to soften Equestria and the world. so it wood be ripe for the taking? You are painting a vary deadly and dangerous enemy. One that hides in the back ground that stabs you when you are not looking.
I do hope you write more storys base off this framework. Keep up the grate job you are doing.
Dragonfox
3052791
Tell me about it.
hm I wonder if discord got the sickness he is the most magical thing besides friendship
This was exquisite. The burdens were handled excellently in all cases, the hints of Luna's portfolio were wonderfully ominous, and it was, in all, an exquisitely done piece of literature. I especially loved just how much of the characters' personalities oozed into the narration.
Also, I have to wonder, if all of this falls under Luna's domain, just what else is Celestia responsible for?
In any case, thank you for this, Spinel. Magnificently done.
3053116
No one but Luna really understood it, though that didn't stop art historians from discussing the inner symbolism for generations.
Blargh, we still didn't get to see Lero's (and everyone else's) reaction to having his own stained-glass window!
3052431
3052605
What's up with this holding off until tomorrow bit? It's getting to be about time for me to be asleep and I'm diving in now.
Well story seemed pretty good. Honestly, the Twi-Lyra-Dash-Lero thing just doesn't work for me at all. For one it just seems weird and wrongish, but worse it feels kinda forced into the story. Good job on giving him something legitimate to be doing instead of just twiddling his thumbs through this plague thing. The plague idea was pretty good even if it didn't get much direct development.
3053190
Well, you could try out some of these -> http://www.moviesoundclips.net/sound.php?id=205
This one seems like it might have some relevance -> http://goo.gl/frGIw
*Fluttershy*
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh fuck.
Did ya mean a sad song?
3054600
Fnord.
Wow, I don't think they can handle Luna's burdens.
Proper Pinkie and Discord had me howling...
3053190
Here
and thus ends the saga were Lero has a magical music moment of his own.
I bet Fluttershy would have loved it
Damn. That escalated quickly in a very bad direction. Poor Lyra and Applejack.
3054907
Which line would that be?
read it in one go,and it was totally worth it.
i am also tired as hell and my grammar is slipping.
oh, and both the stories were generally magnificent as well, thank you for writing them and sharing them with us.
3054305
I was dead on my feet, else I would certainly have stayed up to read this.
*Spoilerific*
If I could properly critique I would, but as I can't you will have to live with simple praise.
I loved it. Your stories just improve continuously, and are of the highest quality. You managed to flesh out and make a deep story out of what could have been a mundane and simple affair. The new insight into Luna and her burdens makes my inner pony squee with delight as it gives her a depth she has needed to make my headcanon more complete. At the same time, the atrocity (yes that's the only word for it) that Rainbow commits and the graphic nature of how you present it really hits home. That was brutal, and I could almost feel the pain as Lyra took the brunt and could only marvel at how she even managed to operate after. I also love the inner workings of the mind of Grandmaster Lyra, which you pulled off so well. Rainbow will not have an easy time of life for a while after this I fear, and her realization made my heart almost break as I could no nothing but be completely engrossed in your artistry.
Youch, so that's what the mane 6-1 are carrying for Luna.
Dash with an alicorn's anger issues sounds terrifying, but then again, I'm not sure that any of the others would be much better.
So much yes!
Gah, those dreams!
Hmn.
Huh, this is going downhill. Cranky is best donkey, however.
Woah, there's downhill and there's DOWNHILL.
3055002
thanks
this story was so awesome!!
and this part:
"Guarding the borders of the world from Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones, I'm sure," he suggested.
She was quiet for a moment, then said, "Your people are sometimes disturbing, Bellerophon. You did not know love, so you invented it. And you did not know horror, so you invented that too."
3055865
Fair enough. Truth be told, I had to finish the finale this morning after having fallen asleep last night.
I must also thank you for expressing my reaction far more eloquently than what's currently possible.
Alright. Wow... just... wow.
I gotta say, I enjoyed this story's prequel. It was good. Very good, even.
This... this was something else. Something about your interpretation of Luna - her duties and her history - perhaps (which is one of my favorite interpretations I've yet to see). Maybe the characterizations and brilliant little moments all the characters had with themselves and with each other. Or even those incredibly emotionally poignant moments of self-discovery from various members of the mane 6. That scene with Applejack and her family brought me to tears.
Something about all of those things, or perhaps a combination of all of those things, left me feeling as few stories on this site have managed to. This clearly belongs in my favorites list. It clearly belongs in everyone's favorites list.
I can't emphasize enough how much I enjoyed almost every aspect of this story. And maybe I'm gushing a little, having just read it... I know I tend to do that.
Nevertheless: thank you for writing it. Stories like these are why I continue searching through the site on a regular basis.
I... don't get this part. At all.
3056546
Everyone in Equestria loves Princess Celestia. More or less 100% Approval Rating. Lero doesn't. Lero is afraid of Celestia, due to a very bad first meeting with her and due to her mane greatly resembling a being called 'Lady' with whom Lero had some very bad experiences on his way to Equestria.
Luna does not have a 100% Approval Rating. She's working on it, but there are still a lot of ponies out there who think of Nightmare Moon. So for Celestia to have even one subject who doesn't love her makes Luna feel better about her own imperfections.
Oh my god, I nearly died. I suspect that the same may hold true for Spike.
Spike is forever best dragon.
Gah, Pinkie!
Thank Celestia for Fluttershy. Er, more or less.
Love it!
Daaaang, poor Dash. Poor AJ too, but seriously, poor Dash.
Nice work with that letter, Lyra. Especially the bit at the end about Rarity.
Another excellent story, great job.
Very nice - but I don't understand the "tragedy" tag... it does have a rather positive ending (though I'd support the "Dark" tag in a heartbeat, with RD and AJ - oh Celestia - AJ...)
3056678
You're right; I clicked on the wrong one. Thanks!
3056546
I think Luna is still feeling lonely and more importantly, jealous. Almost everyone respects, admires or loves Celestia, but very few harbor any of those feelings towards Luna, Ponyville aside, and many probably fear her or are uncomfortable around her.
That sort of thing stings.
It's not very logical or rational (emotions rarely are), but I think Luna is happy that at least someone doesn't see Celestia in such a positive light and likes her more than they do Celestia. Lero isn't exactly fond of Celly, and as far as I can tell, he likes Luna a great deal more than he does Celestia, and I believe Luna knows it.
At least, that's my theory.
That's the part of this story that hurts the most. I've seen too many children injured and dead, and the anger I feel over it, that there's nothing I can do about it...
This story brings that to the fore. Which, like draining some infections, is the proper thing to do.
This kind of reminded me of Gus from your other story.
Oof. I'm glad to see this story come to a happy conclusion, since between this and Divided Rainbow, the Xenoverse Mane Six have their hooves full of traumatic problems these days.
Wonderful, though Rainbow seemed to get over thing a little too quickly and easily.