This story is a sequel to Emoticon
After weeks of being on duty, First Lieutenant Hunter of the Dusk Guard is finally getting his day off—on a specific date of his own choosing. Most would use their day off for fun and games, seeing family, or just enjoying some well-deserved R&R. But not Hunter. He's going to visit someone special. Someone he sees once a year.
And this time, he's making the trip alone.
Fifth of the Side Stories to The Dusk Guard: Rise. Familiarity with Rise is not required per se, but recommended.
Side Stories so far:
Carry On
The Definition of Strength
Old Habits
Emoticon
Remembrance
Trust
The Saga has a TV Tropes page! Please help keep it up to date!
Special Thanks to Jorlem, Sinister Voice, and AlouetteSK for their help pre-reading and editing.
Haven't read it yet, (since I still need to finish the ones before it) but I am giving a thumbs up and a favorite because it is a Dusk Guard story
A lovely start, and certainly interesting too.
I love how good you are at writing character interaction. Great start and can't wait for more.
Edit: Somepony already disliked this!? Who would give this a dislike!?
Haven't read this yet, but I see where it's going. Ya, my eyes are going to sweat.
Hello again, my old friends the Dusk Guard. So good to see you up and about!
This story's really taking the Slice of Life tag and running with it, since this could be any old day out of their life... except that it's Hunter's day to remember. I get the feeling it's the date of an important anniversary.
I'm getting into the constant Crystal Empire teases. It's like I had a sudden epiphany that you're pulling a Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Dusk Guard, building up the big threat in the background for a fantastic finale. I wonder if that's part of what you mean when you say "I've never seen anything like Dusk Guard in the whole site." I mean, plus the whole saga built around OCs and stuff like that.
I was promised more Thistle in the author's notes of Emoticon. Here's hoping that this quote leads to Hunter getting a surprise, rather than you writing her out.
Doubly exciting is that the other story's already up. Time to trek over to the office, the doctor is in!
5370117
So then, in other words ... Soon (dun dun DUNNN)!
5370776 5371214
Thanks!
And the dislike probably came from one of my determined not-fans or someone who downvotes on OC principles. No big deal.
5371898
Really? Hmmm ... Huh, I'd actually be curious to know which parts in which of my stories have actually caused readers to suffer eye sweat or liquid pride. Steel with crystal fae was always one spot that made me a little soft, even when writing it.
5372311
That's pretty spot-on accurate.
I won't say any more though. I don't want to give anything away.
Glad you guys are all enjoying this so much. I enjoy the responses!
yay, its up! sorry for lateness, lost access to the internet for a week.
but great start to a story.
i wonder what sky bolt thot of wet sabra. and what went wrong in there, exactly? is this foreshadowing i spy?
5387618
Actually, if you take a look at the first chapter of "Trust" ...
It should be "its," not "it's."
Take out one of the "like the" phrases; it repeats.
I just want to give Hunter a hug. You've got me feeling so much for him.
A nice little moment, and huh, i learned new slang today, arvo huh?
And miscommunication and hurt feelings start… now.
5398575
Actually, judging by the look of concern, I'd say she's more worried about his emotional state than over potential faithfulness issues.
This isn't the first story like that that I have read. If you want another series with those qualities you might want to check out
Foal of the Forest and it's sequels.
Nice sad story, but I found a typo!
“I owe here another one, I guess.”
Setting up for a new story, are we?
Alas, another typo; "But for whatever reason, talking with Swift..."
That should be Thistle, right?
Huh, a visit to an old wound..
It's not often a story brings tears to my eyes. This chapter is one of those times.
I wonder what your concept of pony afterlife is. Is the same place or set of places shared across races? Are relationships from life carried on there?
5396773
Had to check, but yes, I got these just after you posted them. Thank you!
5397012
I want to say "Glad to hear it," but in context that almost sounds like I'm enjoying the suffering of Hunter...
5397378
Found that one just for this story, and it fit perfectly!
5398575
I liked this comment, as I wondered what kind of response ending that chapter on that note would elicit.
5401270
5409880
Not quite. I took a look, and those seem more like an adventure serial. Suffice it to say, TDG has some key differences of genre (many of which will be much more apparent after the second book hits). Similar, but not quite the same.
5423090
I guess I'll check it out (might as well), but hopefully this is intended in a good way?
5423254
I'll get right on these!
5424918
Yep. Several people had commented during "Rise" that they'd wanted to know more about this, and this was the perfect opportunity to deliver that!
5434543
Thanks!
Um, since I'm pushing up against a ticking clock here, I'll answer the second one. Yes! Relationships are kept! It's part of the overarching themes of the saga! You'll get more of that as the series moves on, and more clues as to what the afterlife is like.
5442732 Knowing the lingo really does help sell a story, and every place has its own to give it such spice.
M'kay, now I'm a Thistle fan. Or at the very least intrigued by how she fits into the big scheme of things. Mysterious pasts tend to grab a 'body.
The scene with Hunter walking through the graveyard was my favorite part by far. Looking at the ranger memorials, you could see a little bit of what the ponies were like in life. Enough that I could imagine them, at least. As unique as a voice.
In regards to the epilogue... you really have a thing for foreshadowing approximately two-hundred-thousand words into the future, you know that?
I get the feeling Northgait is going to be treated as a sub-plot and/or background event for at least two more novels.
I'm a bit late on this one, but by the moon, I was tearing up.
Great job on this entire chapter.
I... I'm overwhelmed.
I always liked Hunter a lot as a character, but this story really made me love him. For such an upbeat kind of pony, it only makes this type of story more potent to see them stricken with grief. As with Rise and the side-stories before this one, magnificent work.
Also, it's good to finally know exactly what was troubling Hunter all the way back from the beginning of Rise. Specifically hard-hitting was this little line.
Such is the nature of death so often. You don't see it coming, and that final time you see the person sticks in your memory forever. This line was the one that sent me over the edge, earning the first tears I've given for a story in nearly a year. It was fantastically painful, if that describes the emotion well enough
On a brighter note, now I can only hope that Thistle will be the one to help him finally move past his grief over Swift's death. Shipping goggles, ahoy!
I'm still not sure why Hunter got KP Duty. Or how for that matter.
Strikethroughs aren't really working with just an 'e'...
5442732
Riiiiiight.
6286492
In my defense, I was on vacation, and counting back, that post was made New Year's Eve at about 10 or 11 PM. There's a lot of distractions that might have jumped up at me and helped me to forget.
Either way, it's fixed now.
6286534
Not angry or anything. Just havin' a bit of fun going through the story again. Also one minor edit in Rise.
6286549
Yeah, the one in Rise I'm actually holding off on. I've got a big list of fixes a reader sent to me to do at some point. Just minor stuff, but enough work to track down and fix that I'm waiting until I get a free weekend or something where I can't do anything else to just go through and make all of them at once. Update everything at one solid go. Bleg, that'll be a long weekend. LoL.
One day!
Okay... way to sink my Hunter/Derpy ship...
Poor mare never gets the love she should have