The End of the Chronicle
The party lasted until Luna’s night began to give way to Celestia’s day.
They flew home to Canterlot, Bucephalus in the fore. Luna soared behind, confident in the protection of Her Captain.
Bucephalus saw Luna safely to Her chambers.
“Good day, Captain,” She said.
“Good day, Your Highness,” he said, bowing.
As he paced back along the Grand Passage, Bucephalus paused to straighten the hall runner. The pictures and the rest of the mess he decided to leave until tomorrow; well, later that day, actually.
He picked up his armored shoes. He made a mental note to ask Slydesdale about his missing helmet. He decided that Steve was welcome to whatever remained of his silver armor.
He entered the guardroom on the way to his bunk. Looking around, he noticed The Ancient Chronicle of Night, still open to the last, incomplete entry.
Bucephalus walked over to it. The status of the Mare in the Moon was still blank.
Bucephalus thought for a bit, then picked up the writing instrument.
He drew a heavy black line beneath the last entry in the journal.
Princess Luna is returned to us, he wrote.
She is home.
She is happy.
And with that, Captain Bucephalus closed the book on the past and never looked there again.
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Captain Bucephalus is named after Alexander the Great's horse. This is in keeping with the Pegasus-Greek Mythology thread of the series.
"Bucephalus" means "bull-headed", which is a pretty clear description of the character. At least one source attributes the historical Bucephalus's name to a bull-shaped mark on the horse's shoulder. An early instance of a "cutie mark", I think. As far as I know, Bucephalus is the only horse that has a city named after him.
I still feel bad for Bucephalus if everything is as I remember that poor guy had a pretty rough night, but got a hell of a workout.
"Princess Luna is returned to us, he wrote.
She is home.
She is happy."
This still puts a big smile on my face every time I read it.
I'd like to thank you again and also apologize for the extreme comment spam, these are all things I've wanted to say since the happy Luna contest but had no way of saying or sending them to you.
Can't wait for more stories
Ah! I remember this fic! And I also remember that I really liked it! Nice to see a copy here so I can keep track of it easier.
When I first joined The Herd last July, I had no intention of ever reading pony fanfiction. The show was sheer brilliance on its own, and I had no use for a bunch of poorly-written shipping and general fan garbage. And then I noticed Midnight Shadow's Happy Luna fanfic contest on EqD, and was unable to beat my curiosity back into its cage. I decided to try one of the other stories first, though I can't remember its title. Something about Luna attending a party in Ponyville. Not bad, but not enough to change my mind. So I figured I'd give the contest's winner a try. It got six stars and all, so maybe it would be worth a few minutes of my time.
And... well, here I am now, a hundred or so fics and entirely too many hours of fun later. You have my eternal gratitude, sir.
Hah, remember this one. Cute story.
To put it this way: most of the writers on this site should be ashamed that we are not you. That's how good a story this is.
418091
I now remember ever tree sap joke ever.
This is a great story. I remember reading it through the EQD archive system last year after I dropped the last resistance and went full fandom on ponies. It's definitely one of the better stories, and though canon has overtaken it a bit, it's still a wonderful and fun read.
Thanks for bringing it to this site, and thanks for writing it. This is one of those feel-good stories I needed to see 'bout now in my life.
Dawww Luna, great story, I couldn't complain about it if I tried.
Wow, this takes me back. I still wish I'd been the one to come up with Slydesdale. It fits the tone of the show so magnificently that I wish they'd incorporate it into an episode or something.
Just read this gem, again. And "Best knight ever!" still makes me smile.
A truly excellent story.
Wow, I think this was one of the very first stories I read when I became a brony. So long ago...
A wonderful tale, and a happy ending. Although in my own head-canon, Bucephalus kept up the journals. Proper documentation and all.
799551
I'm sure that, after ending the Chronicle, Captain Bucephalus started his personal journal of the doings of the Lunar Guard. But, key point, it's the actual activity of the Guard after Luna's return, not just the tedious observations of the Moon. And, based on what I'm writing now, he's going to have his work cut out for him, what with the Guard finally coming up to full strength and secrets of the Lunar Tower emerging from the mists of history.
869181 Thanks :D It's... Kinda a Habit of mine, whenever someone references the Jabberwocky in a Fic. It's one of My favourite poems and seeing someone else enjoying it makes me happy. So Spreading the joy!
753423 Dude I see your comments everywhere! Sorry just thought I would mention that XP
Great story, it was very entartaining to read.
Wonder if you could make a tale of how he deals with the recruitment of bat ponies.
That would probably be fun as well.
941339
Well, here's the deal: I don't think he needs to recruit the bat-wings. I think Luna makes them.
Think back to The Best Night Ever. Twilight pulls out the old Fairy Godmother charm and transmogrifies four mice into "horses." If Twi' can do that, it would be cake for Princess Luna to transform a pair of bats into her charioteers. (Her chariot is likely polymorphed zucchini.
)
So think about Luna Eclipsed. The bat-wings never speak. After Luna lands, she dismisses her cloak, which flies away as a cloud of bats. And we never see the bat-wings again after that. (Also, consider their eyes and weirdly fluffy ears.)
So, in my personal canon, there is no mysterious race of bat-winged pegasus ponies that no one ever talks about. They're just bats, happily serving the Queen of Night and Mystery. (In the Community Fan Fic, over on RPG.net, which I'm participating in, I played on this idea by giving my bat-wings, Mothbiter and Velvet Wing, high-range vocalization and hearing.)
943503
I see good points, though the theory I have encountered more was that the Lunar Guard are normal Pegasi with armor that magically turns them (via illusions) into Bat Ponies.
Truth be told I personally operate under the assumption that Moonstuck fanon is real myself.
Gotta love Sunshine Smiles, Frolicksome Meadowlark, and specially Echo!
The Zuchinni Mobile though ... I totally agree with your there.
I feel late to the party for just now reading this, but, what the hay.
Excellent story. Enough
's and puns to make me more than satisfied. I really like this style of humor in a fic, one that somehow manages to remain canonical while still funny.
I came here from a site in which this story was held up as an example of how to do OC characterization right.
Having finished it, I can see why. Bucephalus is just so likeable. His character development from uptight traditionalist to guardian who loosens up is quite believable, and fun to boot! I also like this incarnation of Luna, canon or not, because you give her some depth. Even if it was a little quick in the chapter where she realizes she's isolated herself and blamed it on Bucephalus, I found it very convincingly done.
Your style is a little choppy at times -- having a lot of one-sentence paragraphs seems to be overdoing it, and I'm sure there were some functional words missing in parts of Chapter Two -- but overall pretty decent. You get a fav from me and a like from me.
1273639
"I came here from a site in which this story was held up as an example of how to do OC characterization right."
I'd be interested to know what site this was. I was reading Wanderer D's discussion about Original Characters and was surprised about its focus on Mary Sues. Maybe I'm a little slow, but it's never occurred to me to create a "self-insert" character. Goodness knows, I'm not interesting. But I like Captain Bucephalus because he's a good guy trying to do his best under trying circumstances, even if he is a little clueless.
As for the the "quickness" of Luna's epiphany: mea culpa. The story was written over eight very intense days, in order to meet the deadline of the "Happy Luna" competition. (And believe me, I was fretting about whether the time given in the deadline was AM or PM. I was revising and proofreading until the last hour.) I wanted to spend more time with Luna interacting with Pinkie Pie, but I looked at the clock and just did the best I could in the time I had. (I still think my invocation of the Elements of Harmony to frame this scene was a Pretty Good Thing.)
1281483
"I'd be interested to know what site this was."
Sure thing. It was in this review on the One Man's Pony Ramblings blog. I was looking over his reviews at the time, after being directed to the blog by JohnPerry. More specifically, it was this bit:
This story is funny, its references are almost all subtle and plot-relevant enough to pass muster, and it contains one of the best OCs ever written in Captain Bucephalus.
That was just from the summary. The reviewer went into more depth in the main article:
Playing the foil to Luna is Bucephalus, Captain of the Lunar Guard. And although the author's Luna is a fine character in her own right, it's her co-protagonist who makes this story great. Combining an uptight and duty-bound sense of responsibility with a character arc and backstory that makes him easy to sympathize with is no easy task, especially in a work of humor. But the portrayal of Bucephalus finds the sweet spot between comical punching bag and genuine victim by playing up both his loyalty and sense of duty, and his responsibility (however shared) for his own difficulties: his tribulations never become uncomfortable to read about (and thus, the physical comedy elements of the story never curdle), but it's hard not to root for him, either.
Considering this was a 4-out-of-5-star rating, and that it was from among all the 6-star fics picked from EqD.com, I'd say that's pretty good going.
"I was reading Wanderer D's discussion about Original Characters was surprised about its focus on Mary Sues."
Good discussions, aren't they? He probably focused on it simply because it's one of the more common problems in an OC story, so it would have been surprising if he didn't. If anything, I'm surprised that you're surprised, as it struck me as an obvious starting place.
"Maybe I'm a little slow, but it's never occurred to me to create a "self-insert" character. Goodness knows, I'm not interesting."
Same here. It's more fun to create them from scratch and watch them set off on their own. Sure, a character would take perhaps one or two traits from an author, as the author has to be able to understand them on some level, but that's about it. Again, most of the fandom would probably take a different view, though.
"As for the the "quickness" of Luna's epiphany: mea culpa. The story was written over eight very intense days, in order to meet the deadline of the "Happy Luna" competition. (And believe me, I was fretting about whether the time given in the deadline was AM or PM. I was revising and proofreading until the last hour.) I wanted to spend more time with Luna interacting with Pinkie Pie, but I looked at the clock and just did the best I could in the time I had. (I still think my invocation of the Elements of Harmony to frame this scene was a Pretty Good Thing.)"
If it was on a deadline, then that's understandable. I'm guessing you didn't want to meddle with it after the contest ("if it's not broke" and all that).
It's not a major problem in any case, just a little distracting flaw in an otherwise polished work. The fact that your fic was written in eight days straight, won the competition, and can still impress somebody else irrespective, pretty much makes up for it.
1285371
How did you focus for eight straight days?
While this wasn't a speedfic contest, IIRC, the submission rules were announced on a Saturday with the deadline being the Sunday of the following weekend. Eight days, that's it.
I was very fortunate to hit on an idea for the story almost at once. Other writers have mentioned that they wanted to submit a story, but didn't get an idea for it until it was too late to write.
My usual writing method is somewhat "organic." I'll write what I hope is a catchy opening, then skip around in the story, writing the "good bits" that are clear in my head. I like this method because it helps me maintain my confidence in my writing. Even when writing a transitional scene, which is perhaps not all that engaging, I can still feel confident in my work, because I know a "good bit" is coming up.
In the case of "Tonight I Shall Be Laughter", the structure of the story is pretty straightforward: Princess Luna goes AWOL, her guard tries to find her. So I was able to write pieces of the story out of order and if I was stuck at one point, I could make progress somewhere else and come back to the difficult bit later. (A sort of "Choose Your Own Adventure" approach to writing.)
And I admit that there are things in the story that are just dumb luck. My take on Luna just happened to chime well with Luna as she finally appeared in "Luna Eclipsed." The bits of business with the lost armor, the Elements of Harmony and the end of the Chronicle were sheer inspiration. If you write enough, sooner or later you stumble upon a acorn, I guess.
And, yes, I've (mostly) resisted the temptation to go back and "fix" things. (In the version published here, I went back and changed a reference to Luna's "Voice of Command" to "Traditional Canterlot Voice", since I think readers these days would understand the latter term better. And I went back and added Apple Bloom to the scene in Sweet Apple Acres; I just felt bad for overlooking her in the original version.)
"While this wasn't a speedfic contest, IIRC, the submission rules were announced on a Saturday with the deadline being the Sunday of the following weekend. Eight days, that's it."
Must've been pretty intense.
Being in a slow month for writing, I admit I am on the lookout for helpful advice on story-crafting. So I appreciate your taking the time to reply as you've done. Thank you! You've given me much food for thought.
1285796
"My usual writing method is somewhat "organic." I'll write what I hope is a catchy opening, then skip around in the story, writing the "good bits" that are clear in my head. I like this method because it helps me maintain my confidence in my writing. Even when writing a transitional scene, which is perhaps not all that engaging, I can still feel confident in my work, because I know a "good bit" is coming up."
Hey, that sounds like a pretty good idea. I admit, I don't usually write like that. More often, I try to write the story chronologically, come thick or thin, since it has the advantage of being easier to organize. Unfortunately, I then have the problem you describe; hitting a transitional bit, but without the luxury of jumping to a better bit.
I could probably do with a new method. Perhaps I could borrow your technique and see if it works for me, since it sounds like a more engaging way of going about things and would get around the "stuck on a boring bit" issue.
That said, I imagine jumping back and forth could make editing and keeping track of plot details a little difficult. I guess it's less of a problem when you're writing a short and concise story rather than a long, complicated one, but still. Do you write notes on the side or work it all out on page or in your head while writing or rewriting?
"And I admit that there are things in the story that are just dumb luck. My take on Luna just happened to chime well with Luna as she finally appeared in "Luna Eclipsed." The bits of business with the lost armor, the Elements of Harmony and the end of the Chronicle were sheer inspiration. If you write enough, sooner or later you stumble upon a acorn, I guess."
Well, not much one can do about luck, but that other part about writing enough for inspiration to strike certainly makes sense.
I admit I really liked the chronicle part. That's what I'm talking about when I talk about a sense of closure. It was very good.
Best. Ending. Ever.
1369618
Correct, 4-for-4!
I read this what seems at least a year ago on EqD. For all the heaps of fimfic I've trawled through since then (some of it quite exemplary) this piece still puts a smile to me, is still well among my shortlist of favourites.
Bucephalus to the fore! is great fun, the whole story is.
This story is cute and good. Greenthumbed
"She is home."
"She is happy."
And that, ladies and gentlemen, sums up this story.
Thanks for the nice fanfic and the happy ending. :)
Eeyup, this is a beautiful story. Thank you very much for writing it.
static1.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/4070920+_acb4bd0718e9a5d735ec609b242c81b4.jpg
Who cares if its not canon, this story rocks!
Really good story! ^_^ I giggled.
Great story, always worth a re-read.
It might contradict the series canon now, but it's still a delightful story and well worth a read.
This was a somewhat enjoyable romp but up through the middle of it there was nothing that would compel me personally to upvote ... however, the author ended it very well.
3868480
It's less than perfect, I agree. Still, I wrote it in eight days for a competition, so there is that to consider. I've resisted the impulse to go back and make revisions. Another writer noted, every story is a snapshot of who you were when you wrote it. This is who I was when I wrote this story, flaws and all.
Well, that was an unexpected delight! Very fun!
What an incredibly sweet (but not saccharine) and heartwarming story! Thank you for this!
5155909
A Bit of delay on that response haha.
5157440
Sorry. I had to think about it. :) Seriously, I've been going over the past responses to my stories, looking for valid criticisms. My stories sometimes ramble in odd directions and I don't describe things enough. I've felt sort of paralyzed for the last year, because I'm afraid of goofing up again. And I'm waiting for Season Five, which I cannot even imagine.
Hehe, what a little gem. Glad I found it, rarely happens that I actually laugh out loud while reading.
"Moon rose. Mare in the OMG!WTF!" was the best one of them :)
A rough, unpolished, rushed and cobbled together story for obvious reasons. And great fun!
Have a
AWESOME story, I just love princess Luna, she makes the story so hilarious, Really good story i loved it, keep up with the awesome work, maybe you can write more about Luna's adventures or daily life cause its so much fun to read what happens in her life.
This is one of the very first stories I read of ponydom. I remember it very fondly. Bucephalus to the fore! is something I still recall. Now that was a lot of fun to read.
This story is officially, to me, nostalgic. Maybe the most nosatlgic of all pony fics.
Edit: I've just discovered I left an almost identical comment to this almost exactly three years ago.
That was a very fun story to read. The transition of Bucephalus's character, Luna deciding to have fun with her socks and with Pinkie, and the stuff that both of the ponies did in the story brought a smile on my face.
And most of all, I'm glad that Luna got a chance to hang out with the mane six! 
Glad I took the chance to read this again. It's still a great story. :D
I still have the original saved in Google Docs.