This story is a sequel to A Meeting by Moonlight
Late Season 3, immediately after A Meeting by Moonlight.
After her emotional revelations to Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna returns to Canterlot uncertain of her feelings, her place in the world, and even her identity. Does she love Twilight Sparkle as a friend, or want her as a lover? Does Luna, herself, really have any place in a world that has changed again and again out of all recognition during her long life in this incarnation alone, let alone compared to the Age of Wonders?
Is she Princess Luna? Nightmare Moon? Moondreamer? The pitiless Cosmic Principle, to whom little ponies are nothing more than worms crawling the face of an unimportant speck in spacetime? Who is she really, and what does she really want?
Her big sister tries to help her feel a bit less adrift.
Very good. Keep it up.
So i have a question about the whole reincarnation thing, since you mentioned Luna and Celestia arr basically elder gods and have had too many incarnations to count, is this solely a deific thing? And if so what is Twilight/Dusk god of? If not I guess it's just something everyone can do.
Either way cheers, didn't regret it, the stories were interesting and I bet you'll write some interesting things down the road regardless of whether they're in this 'verse or not.
Souls can reincarnate in general, but powerful souls (like the avatars of Cosmic Principles such as Celestia and Luna) have more control over their incarnations. Twilight, just as in the PonyPOV universe that inspired it, is newborn as a Cosmic Principle, though she's had earlier mortal incarnations (such as Dusk Skyshine). Her principle is "Magic," or to be precise, "Magical Lore and Art," the understanding and practice of magic (which is essentially the same thing as scientific engineering in more scientific milieu). At the Cosmic level, the difference between "science" and "magic" is essentially cosmetic.
Everyone can't control their reincarnations. Dusk actually couldn't -- he wasn't the first incarnation of his soul, nor was the the last before Twilight Sparkle. Nor can Celestia or Luna control his reincarnations (if Luna could, he would have been born right near her long ago, and definitely as a stallion!). After Twilight Ascends, she may be able to control her next incarnation.
There are an unusually-large number of nascent Cosmic Principles growing in the microverse Celestia helped build, and even in the specific nation of Equestria, and many of them are currently incarnate. This is not a coincidence.
Celly plays a long game. One even Luna doesn't always understand.
This story is really amusing and adorable. It's a look at Celestia and Luna from a completely original angle, a likeable and enjoying read, and I'd certainly like to read more if possible?
LUNA WAS YOG SOGGOTH!
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Well, not exactly. But her Cosmic self is more alien to the little ponies than would be, say, you or I.
3589817 I meant the part where celestia reminds here about being the asexual being that grew temporary limbs and ate everything else.
Called Soggoth.
Which sounds like a less mind breaking (maybe still mind breaking to non-cosmic beings) Yog Soggoth.
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Oh, hee hee ... no, that's just my favorite Princess of the Night as a shoggoth.
Remember, cameraderie in rebellion against the Elder Things can also be magic!
This reads more the like a second chapter of the first story, something i would very like to read more of.
I liked the first part. I liked this part even more!
Please sir, continue in this canon and write more!
3593797 I second the motion!
Was this... a League of Legends joke? O.o
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The mention of a "shoggoth" is specifically a reference to H. P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness," and several other stories of the Cthulhu Mythos.
From Luna's POV, shoggoths are friendly and comprehensible creatures, compared to the Night Shadows.
3596672 I see. Awesome^^ Well I asked because when I said it out loud it kinda sounded like how you pronounce Cho'Gath's name from LoL. He also eats pretty much everyone in battle too so that also had me make this connection.
Thanks for answering^^
Hm... some of it i liked, some of it i didn't, but it was well written. however it didn't feel like much of a romance though.
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Technically, it's more about Princess Luna's crisis of identity. She cannot love Twilight Sparkle without first knowing who she herself really is -- and whether who she really is permits of such a love. At the start of this fiction, Luna is coming to doubt whether she's even really a pony at all, with anything like normal or sane equine emotions, let alone a pony who fits into modern Equestria. And she still doesn't know what she really wants, or how to explain it to her beloved, without scaring her off. I think you can see why this gets in the way of any explicit declaration of her sentiments?
It's in the same continuity as the other fanfics on my site, and so far is the last chronologically. But there'll hopefully be more -- I actually know the climax of my intended story arc. Heck, I've even written some of those the scenes -- it just would be very bad form for me to reveal them yet.
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I know, and I thought this story had some good points too it. but you know how it is, you expect one thing and get another, and you feel like you didn't get what you wanted and thus end in a state of somewhat disappointment. i only read shipfics after all :)
Also I think it's a shame that you decided to make this a "follow-up" rather than just "another chapter" both your stories might have gotten more views then, but that's your decision.
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You make a very valid point. Logically, "A Meeting by Moonlight" would be chapter 1 and "Feeling Adrift" chapter 2 of a longer work. I also want to write something -- tentatively titled All the Way Back, about how the newly-purged Princess Luna tries to adapt to modern Equestria, which would fit between Nightmares Are Tragic and whatever the combined longer work I mentioned would be called.
But I can't really start doing that until I finish NAT, or I'm going to be drowning in incompleteness.
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And yes, I am a fan of The Walking Dead, and so I know to what the phrase refers.
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i cant remember where i read or heard this but
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What is magic and science's hybrid child: alchemy then?
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That would be one of them. Interestingly, in the actual history of science, chemistry started as alchemy, which started as a branch of magic with practical applications. I'm willing to believe some of the old legends about alchemy originating from Mesopotamia and Egypt, given that we've unearthed samples of electroplating devices from Babylon, and that the temple corporations in both places frequently kept basically chemical-industrial trade secrets.
*them has nothing to refer to (unless your talking about Luna and the Moon); Palace, (with comma); "long sat there" is kinda awkward.
*needs a period
Yes, Luna. Twilight is not ready for the whole sanity-blasting thing. Don't do that.
Beautiful
Beautiful
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I am so glad you liked what I did here. I hope you like the other stories in the Shadow Wars.
Wow nice job!
I still think this should get another sequel^^ and...
LOL Celestia!
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The obvious way to complete it would be to have Celestia and Twilight have a conversation. I mean this is all pretty much slice-of-life stuff, but I think I did some fun character development.
Celestia has a snarky sense of humor. And a silly one, at times. And she loves messing with her Sister. She missed that for a thousand years, and doesn't intend to leave Luna un-teased.
The truth is that she deeply respects and loves Luna, and the sentiment is returned.
5228418 Then let them have a talk^^ For as much of a troll she can be, Celestia is pretty good at helping confused ponies sorting things out^^ and im sure Twilight can use that kind of help right now^^ I would say more but i basically just woke up and my brain ist really working yet so... yeah
i'll write more when I return from work^^
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Note well -- Celestia's not entirely sure what would be best for Luna romantically, and knows that it's not her place to tell her. Same thing regarding Twilight. What she does think is that it would be good if Luna and Twilight became friends, because the more real friends Luna has, the less likely she is to slip back into loneliness and madness.
5230174 true^^ but she could at least help Twilight sorting out that whole Oversoul thing and the fact that she had been married to Luna in a past life^^ And while she's at it give both Luna and Twilight subtle nudges towards each other without actively interfering with the natural developement of their relationship, whatever nature it might be of^^
Had to re-read this piece after re-reading its prequel and noticed this one.
'The crikkit wars', Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?
Whether inspired by this or not, it made me smile. As do all the musings on the other incarnations.
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I didn't specifically have the race from HHGTTG in mind, but they're an example of what I mean. Alan Dean Foster has an even more monstrous beautiful race, the Pitar, in his Humanx Commonwealth world. They do something utterly-terrible to their captives, which convinces both the Humans and the Thranx to pursue the war against them to the death -- and both species are normally merciful.
It's short but it's good 9/10.