It's weird.

There aren't a whole lot of words I can bring myself to say in regards to this story.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing; I think it's actually a good thing, because it means you said everything I would have wanted to say, and there's little else but to extend my gratitude that you've finished this story, and that it feels great to have been a part of the ride.

Hard to believe four years have gone by since you began writing this story - and since I began reading it. I've wavered in and out of the fandom, but this story, whenever it was updated, has always brought me back, waiting eagerly for more. Now that it's over... well, now that it's over, I can't say I'm terribly upset. It's just been great overall to read it through - in fact, to read the Regret Duology in its entirety all the way through.

Lovely work, Night.

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Thank you! I'm glad this story helped bring you back from time to time!

It's still super strange that this story is finally over after all this time, but I'm glad I'm finally able to say it instead of letting it go on for another few years. :D

I'll probably make another story depicting Swift's trial, but I think that'd be the final story set in this universe.

Hopefully my other stories will keep you coming back!

Been sticking with this story for a while now. Thank you for finishing it and all the hard work you put through. Great ending.

"The notorious Manehattan criminal known as Swift Shadow has finally been caught, after spending more than five years on the run following the siege on his gang hideout in the Manehattan Sewers. Swift Shadow gained infamy with the attempted murder of a close friend to Princess Twilight Sparkle, according to our sources. He is due to appear in the Canterlot Municipal Court on Saturday, where Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle will judge his crimes. If convicted, he faces a lifetime in the Canterlot Dungeons, with no chance of parole."

Wait, I'm a little confused, I thought Luna died after that bomb incident?

And right there and then, you remembered why you married her.

AHHHHHH!!!! YES!!!! I MARRIED MY WAIFU!!

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That was changed.

9843010

That event has been retconned from the story. I still need to go back and rewrite the specific chapters where that happened, but our little Woona lives!

YAY!!! Thanks for sharing this story with us!! It's been a long ride, but a good one.

That picture.... that one picture.... and I'm dead. THAT WAS FREAKING BEAUTIFUL!! My man, you did a PHENOMENAL job on this story! I loved the story so much. Still furious about what Grace did to my Dashie and took our chances of having a baby away! >:( Bro, I'm surprised this isn't a hard cover like Fallout Equestria is. Amazing job, bro. And I would not mind working with you if you're interested. I've helped with some other stories as well. But I look forward to more stories to come! Amazing job!!

There were a lot of things that you regret. But what came after was worth it.

I see what you did there.

There were a lot of things that you regret. But what came after was worth it.

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I thought up that line days ago and realized it sounded super fitting and super not-sneaky clever. Plus, it works! I literally had it written in Notepad and pasted it into the story once I got to the end.

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Best princess lives! Huzzah

You know what else is great? I recently discovered this fic and read through all of it in a day.... This is the first time I've read something that ended as I was actively reading it.

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Nice...

I couldn't find a pony version of the meme. D:

Plot Twist- Rainbow, for some unknown and shocking reason ends up a getting pregnant (yes I know it was revealed in a previous chapter from Act 2 that she admitted that she’s infertile) and that guy’s parents miraculously appeared! Jk, would’ve been an surprising twist for all of us :D

But in all seriousness, that ending was spectacular! Everything, from its character development, to its settings of the story in general was mind blowing. To Rainbow Dash viewing the guy as nothing more but an abomination to the eyes of Equestria, to later on seeing him in a positive light and then suddenly having feelings for the guy only to marry him years later! I remember back when this first came out during my Freshman year of high school, I would always make so damn sure that there would be a new chapter or at least an update. And here I am, four years later, already attended university, getting ready to get on with the world and you promised us an ending that will be forever memorable to your readers. This was hands the best story ending I have ever read in my whole freaking life!

Anywho, cheers mate!

I loved this set of stories because it is so unique. I have never seen anything else like this. Very well written and kept me guessing. Very well done.

There were a lot of things that you regret. But what came after was worth it.

Beautiful. Four years. Wow doesn't seem like it's been that long. I still remember when you started this. To be honest, I kinda expected you to see swift one more time and the sentencing. But, im not complaining. This story really twists your gut. That's what I like about it. Hope to see some new ones later on!

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I might actually make a followup story that depicts the trial, but I don't know about that just yet. It could be interesting, though! :)

Wow, what a great ending!
I love seeing an author work on something for so long and finally be able to put the Complete tag on it. Even though I didn't do anything other than read and enjoy, it still makes me so happy for you. Cheers
Can't wait to see what's next!

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Thank you!

4 years ago (?), I came across Regret. It was the best story I’ve ever read and I wanted more. Then I noticed there was a sequel. It was still work in progress and was only two chapters but I decided to follow the story until it got finished. Oh boy I wasn’t expecting it to take 4 years to finish this. I cried alot during the chapters, it was so well written and I just wanted more and more. I spent nights reading this story and only wanted to read even more. And now here I am, the last ever chapter to finish reading. When I saw the ending picture my tears fell.

Thank you for writing this story, thank you for sharing this and thank you for all these years. This is the best story I’ve ever read. I’m planning to read both Regret and After for Youtube, so you can check out my YT channel Emeralds11 from time to time and I hope soon a dub will come :)

A last thank you.

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Yep. Currently on my PC, and I'm sure Fimfetch has a saved copy of it too, unless they updated it.

I was originally gonna expand on Swift's storyline, make him akin to a mafia-tier terrorist that was trying to take over Manehattan. The concept would have had the MC and Rainbow return to Manehattan a year later, the city is besieged and taken over, and the MC risks his life to save Rainbow and stop Swift.

But as I was getting to that point, I started to ask myself what kind of story I was even writing anymore. It already got weird with Equestria blowing up from methane pipes (which I got from watching Preacher), but now adding all this over-the-top stuff?

It got kinda off-topic from the original plot, so I decided to abandon that storyline and keep the story set on what everyone got.

I honestly have no idea if I plan on creating an "alternate" story that focuses on this Swift storyline. It was an initial goal, but it would've been far too time consuming. I'll find a way to keep the copy in case someone is interested in making this alternate story with it.

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Nope, just the two. My bad.

First version of the story was what I originally aimed for: Romantic tragedy where Rainbow Dash falls in love with the MC, only to discover his memory is gone. They fall in love slowly, some fallout occurs, and things eventually work out.

The second version of the story that I tried to attempt a few years ago was: Similar to first one, but a subplot with Swift Shadow slowly becomes the main focus as it brings the two main characters into a conflict. Fight occurs, hero wins, and things work out.

I only did the explosion subplot because of Preacher.

But after a while, I decided to retcon said second plot and continue with the first, which is what you see above. :D

In the right hands, I think the alternate story could be nice to read, if anyone were to be interested in it. We'll see, perhaps.

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If anyone wanted to take the unfinished version and create an ending for it, I'd be fine with that.

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Ye. I mean, it's pretty much the current story up to halfway into Act 2. I decided to save a backup copy of it for when I begin rewriting the early chapters of After, so even after everything is changed, I'll at least still have the original version somewhere. :)

This is a great song for the ending of After
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwZNL7QVJjE

OMG it took forever but it’s finally over. After all the emotional beats, character building, and storyline building, I wanna say thank you for a more than satisfying ending. I’ve been following this story for quite a long time and seeing it now come to a close, it does make me a bit sad but it now leaves me anticipated for what’s in store next. Thank you for this masterpiece :)

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I don't know if this is considered spoilers or not, but I'll spoiler it juuuuust in case.

Swift's story is being rewritten to the point where he will be nothing more than the pony equivalent of a gang banging crook. If you're confused by his sudden change from Regret, that's part of the planned retcon. After a few chapters, Swift will no longer appear, but may be mentioned from time to time. His whole little mafia shtick was something I thought was cool at the time, but it only affected the main plot negatively, imo.

9860181 Shit. I did it again. Okay look, I said that because I was trying to challenge you to be better a better writer. I was not trying to be insulting. I apologize if it came across like that.

As for the retcon, I was trying to say that it was my belief that your story would flow better and be more liked if you did not retcon anything and instead went back and edited the story so that the huge explosions only happened the way you have later on. As for Fallout: Equestria... blegh! Not a fan. It did not fit anythere in the world of Equestria depicted in the show.

I apologize for being insulting, it was not my intention. That said, I do like the story as a whole. It seems to go along with what little I know about brain damage and other such things. So far the only thing missing is the loss of impulse control, and violent outbursts. I am just fine not seeing those too. It would make the character less lovable. I hope I explained myself effectively. I have a habit of pissing people off without meaning to. Don't believe me? Look at the like to dislike rstio of my story series. Finally, regarding second person, it bugs me because almost none of the things the character does are things I would do. I cannot get into the mindset of 'me' doing these things, because my mind is constantly screaming at me that I would not do these things. It is borderline physically painful and it is confusing. The characters are good, the pacing is a little long-winded for my taste, but it does not detract. Simply put, I would not be reading this unless I liked it.

is it possible if you will make an aftermath of the after story? I apologize if this sounds silly i’m just curious

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Nah, it doesn't sound silly at all!

I might plan on making a kind of "sequel," one that depicts Swift Shadow's trial. But I plan on working on a couple other stories before I decide on that. Or I might just end up doing it on a whim one weekend out of boredom!

Beyond that, I don't think I have any other sequel plans. I got only one, which is basically a story where each chapter is a separate bit of Regret or After but in an alternate take (Main Character dies, they never get back together, Main Character stays with Applejack, etc.).

Just finished this story! Holy shit! An amazing story for sure! I'm just confused about one thing. In one of the previous chapters, you said that princess Luna didn't make it, her funeral was a week after the "Wall of flame" Other than that. Amazing! loved both of the stories.

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Hi! Glad you enjoyed the story!

Princess Luna was originally killed off in the event that occurs in chapter 7 and 8 of Act 1. However, looking back at it, that entire piece was really out of place for the story, so it's currently being retconned. The Wall of Flame and Luna's death will be taken out.

Glad you enjoyed the story!

Feels good to see this wonderful story of yours finally wrap up! Crazy to look back and see that it's been 4 years already since you started this! I'll be looking forward to whatever else you have planned in the future.

Holy shit-

I MISSED ACT 3'S NEW CHAPTERS-

IT'S FINISHED AND I DIDN'T SEE?!?!?!

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Ye dude

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I AM GOING

to finish this story finally

after like 2 years of waiting it better be worth it mate

i mean the first one, regret, that one made me tear up several times and made me c r y as well so i'm sure the end to this will be good enough to make me cry too i bet

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I still need to rewrite the earlier parts of this story as well since those plot points are pretty much retconned later on since they went nowhere.

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Well my dumb brain won't know the difference until you do retcon and I reread the whole thing-

"And good riddance, too," Rainbow added, softly nudging your shoulder. "And besides, even if he did decide to try something in the courtroom, we'd be all over him before he took one step out of that stand. He may have been a "leader," but he'd be a moron to try anything in there or anywhere after."

i'm probably just like, paranoid, but I do worry about something possibly happening in there, but then again nothing probably will and I'll FINALLY get to enjoy seeing that bastard put in his place-

you know what?

even without getting to see Swift getting shoved in the dungeons, I feel great.

FINALLY, I HAVE F I N I S H E D THE STORY

WOOO
THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS, NIGHT

I realize this is an older story and maybe I missed it or overlooked it: Is it ever explained why a criminal on the level/scope of Swift was doing a basic purse-snatch?

That feels like a modern incarnation of a Batman foe like Poison Ivy or Bane randomly mugging someone.

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Honestly, I hadn't thought the entire thing through back when I wrote the first story, but looking at it now, my best explanation regarding it is that he was meant to be a decoy, used to distract authorities while his henchponies carry out a bigger crime. He just wasn't expecting to get caught.

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Story's pretty jumbled. Luna originally died, but halfway through the story I realized the entire "Equestria explodes" plot literally had no bearance on the main story (well, except in an old idea), and I've been meaning to completely rewrite this stuff for ages. I've been bogged down irl, so it's really hard to focus nowadays. But Luna is alive in this version of the story, I've just yet to edit various small bits where it implies her death.