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I - Beyond the Village Gates2,624 words
II - Shield of Feathers, Voice of Hope3,786 words
III - The Looming Shadow2,483 words
IV - The Tunnel4,949 words
V - The Pony That Was the Moon2,464 words
VI - Canterlot3,718 words
VII - Justice4,798 words
VIII - The Goddess Beheld4,866 words
IX - Finding the Brazier5,019 words
X - "Luna"3,547 words
XI - The End3,779 words
XII - Into the Dark3,746 words
XIII - The Second Voice8,626 words
XIV - Raising the Sun, Waking the World5,649 words
XV - The Break of Dawn4,011 words
Epilogue - Beyond the Ever-reaching Realm of Dreams591 words

Epilogue - Beyond the Ever-reaching Realm of Dreams

Three months have passed since the Awakening, and things have quieted down.

In all, the world fared well without our guidance. Equestria survived, and the ponies were quick to forgive, true to Celestia’s word. I have not the words for their kindness, but truthfully, I do not feel that I deserve them.

No amount of self-loathing could leverage the emptiness I felt. I wanted, nay, needed that catharsis, that self-flagellation of conscience. I could not simply let my failings lie.

In the end, however, it served only to leave me weary, and that I could not allow. I had a country to run, beside Sister and her wise counsel. I would be more than remiss had I wallowed in my sorrows at Equestria’s expense.

I spent every waking moment at the helm of the rebuilding, focused on righting my wrongs, and it did well to subdue my ever-quaking heart. ’Twas cathartic in its own right, but I would be a liar if I said that I hadn’t thought of you in those brief moments I lay in bed before sleep took me. You who saw past my failings, you who shouldered my burden, undeserving of the consequence. I could not do right by you, but because of your sacrifice I can do right by Equestria.

I have taken up a protégé, one to help me tend to the dreams of our ponies and to provide additional counsel when my sight is blinded by emotion, as was the case with the whispers. Her name is Nightcap, and she is most capable.

When the dreams of our little ponies are especially calm, I sometimes slink away and leave the duties to her whilst I search for you. I suspect she knows where I go, but she has never once mentioned it. I thank her for her understanding.

She, too, has learned the hardships of love lost before its time, even for one so young. But such is the nature of life. Ever onward we march into the unknown, stronger for both the summer fields and smoldering ashes we trod.

For as many thousands of years I have lived, even still can I say that because of you, Champion. I was bereft of hope in those dark eternities. I whispered words of courage and succor to Sister and the others, but I myself found no comfort in them. I maintained that ruse for their sake, but not until the two of us joined as one did I myself believe them.

’Twas you who brought hope to a mare who had none left for herself. ’Twas you who brought love to a mare whom duty and circumstance never allowed such luxuries. To have lost you in those final moments was more than my heart could bear. Even now, the days are dark without you close, that much colder without your fire beating next to mine, and I cannot help but feel that every passing night spent without you is yet colder and darker still.

But I will not let that light fade. I refuse with all my heart to accept you as gone, for it is my heart that knows you yet live, that pulls me ever onward through this infinite cosmos for your speck of starlight.

Lost as you may be, Champion, you are out there somewhere. I will find you.

I will hold you within the span of my wings, and we will again be as one.

Author's Note:

...And Onward. Beyond the ever-reaching realm of dreams, the heart leads ever onward.

And so this story comes to an end. I have loved every minute of its exploration, from that first step into the dark to the final moment of solace. This was my first foray into writing a [Romance] fic, and funnily enough as I learned while writing it, the best [Romance] fics aren't [Romance]s at all, but rather any other genre with [Romance] in it. I think this was a beautiful first experience with the 'genre,' and it might not be my last.

For now, though, I have to thank all of you reading this for sharing this journey with me. I have learned much from writing this, and I wouldn't have done so without your input and support.

If you wouldn't mind a favor, link your favorite Luna picture in the comments, bonus points if it's on deviantArt. I could always use more Best Princess.

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Mira Starlight

Mira Starlight #1 · May 28th, 2017 · 2 · ·

A fitting end to this amazing tale. I smell a sequel in the air…

Drizzle

Drizzle #2 · May 28th, 2017 · · ·

img01.deviantart.net/cb27/i/2016/272/d/d/rainbow_power___luna_by_fuyusfox-d8165og.png DA Link

One pic of best princess... oh that's not easy...

I don't have one favorite work of Luna, but after reading this chapter I instantly thought of this piece of her highness bathed in the colors of dusk/dawn. It seems rather fitting.

Thank you for writing such an amazing story!

paul

paul #3 · May 28th, 2017 · · ·

I think most favorite will be this one: http://maocha.deviantart.com/art/Princess-Luna-302532150

paul

paul #4 · May 28th, 2017 · · ·

Thank you for the story !!!
And thank you for open ending, I hope she will find him in the end.
Or will we follow her search in sequel ?

cogwheelbrain

cogwheelbrain #5 · May 28th, 2017 · · ·

Thank you!
Some favs:
img10.deviantart.net/2d08/i/2016/223/1/e/starlight_by_leviru-dad3pjq.png
http://hioshiru-alter.deviantart.com/art/Starlight-626669846
pre15.deviantart.net/91a1/th/pre/f/2017/146/5/4/54fc96f7b9c42ca36dcd47eede706d25-dbagwbt.png
http://amarynceus.deviantart.com/art/Daily-Doodle-383-682712489
pre11.deviantart.net/e640/th/pre/i/2011/291/5/4/luna_with_mark_pony_heart_by_pyrestriker-d4da6em.png
http://cogwheelbrain.deviantart.com/art/Luna-with-Mark-Pony-Heart-264174574

Yami Vizzini

Yami Vizzini #6 · May 28th, 2017 · · ·

Quite a ride... here's hoping that Luna's searching is not entirely in vain.

It sounds like there's another story or two to be told about Nightcap, as well.

Corejo

Corejo #7 · May 28th, 2017 · · ·

8194594

It sounds like there's another story or two to be told about Nightcap, as well.

You picked up on that quick.

Jman14102

Jman14102 #8 · May 29th, 2017 · 1 · ·

The Night, and The Dream, were long...
I have no Luna to offer you, unfortunately. Only this.

Corejo

Corejo #9 · Jun 2nd, 2017 · 1 · ·

8195646
I am a terrible human being for having stopped playing that game at the Nameless King fight. Never got back into it cause he kept kicking my ass. I really need to finish the game and get into the DLC.

Your song links have made each high point in this story that much better. Thanks for sharing them.

Random_Reader

Random_Reader #10 · Jun 3rd, 2017 · · ·

Beutiful. Heart-wreanchingly beutiful. You sir, are an artist. The scenes you painted and the emotions you inspired were truly phenominal. You ended this story perfectly and i hope you don't do it the injustice of makeing a sequal. I feel there is nothing more to be added and a sequal would just be bloated, a blemish on this masterpiece (like how hollywood destroys any succesful franchise by running it into the ground). Never the less, you are an amazing author and i eagerly await your next fic.

redsquirrel456

redsquirrel456 #11 · Jun 3rd, 2017 · 1 · ·

and funnily enough as I learned while writing it, the best [Romance] fics aren't [Romance]s at all, but rather any other genre with [Romance] in it.

It's these kinds of lessons that really make a story transcend beyond simple one-word tags and into something more, that they define simply by being that thing. I think your story did just that.

Ice Star

Ice Star #12 · Jun 7th, 2017 · · ·

This was brutal.

Forderz

Forderz #13 · Jun 27th, 2017 · · ·

Some of the best prose on the site, right here.

Thanks for the story.

Corejo

Corejo #14 · Jun 28th, 2017 · · ·

8260651
Holy hell, you're back! It's been a while since I've seen your comments in here.

Forderz

Forderz #15 · Jun 28th, 2017 · · ·

8261006
I took a vacation from the community, since I was hoplessly enscorcelled by WoW's siren call. Hard to balance work, girlfriend, family, ponies, and raiding in a top 200 guild.

But its spell is broken, and so I return.

Corejo

Corejo #16 · Jun 28th, 2017 · · ·

8261038
Heh. I miss my WoW days. But night shift borked any hope of raiding with any guild worth its salt, so I Overwatch instead.

Forderz

Forderz #17 · Jun 28th, 2017 · 1 · ·

8261063
I missed and already miss it now. But it had a funny way of siphoning away every free moment (and even moments that aren't free!), which makes trying to be a productive person hard. I mean, you're productive in the game, but not so much elsewhere.

I desperately want to continue writing ponyfic, and my life is now in a state where I can do that, and with WoW in the picture it just wasn't going to happen.

As a bonus, I have 800 favourited chapters to work at.

Emperor

Emperor #18 · Jun 29th, 2017 · · ·

And there we go, the expected bittersweet ending.

I really think thematically it would have at least made sense for the protagonist to get a name at the very end, and perhaps for him to roar his last defiance against the Devourer before he gives up his entire being, but it was certainly a great and interesting story otherwise.

Gnarrkhaz

Gnarrkhaz #19 · Jul 13th, 2017 · · ·

Just wanted to give my thanks for this story. The more time i spend on this site, the more i value a good romance fic with a decent length. ;) The few gripes i have with it are relatively minor.

Any chance there'll be a sequel sometime? Would it make sense?

Corejo

Corejo #20 · Jul 14th, 2017 · · ·

8296264
Glad you liked it! No plans for a sequel, but I do have a few stories in my head that will be sharing the same universe.

NikitaKitten

NikitaKitten #21 · Sep 6th, 2017 · · ·

I finished reading this some time ago, but I was still on the road without internet access. As such, it's hard to remember everything that I wanted to say about the story after I finished reading it.

First, I should say that this is a wonderful story. I've already recommended it to someone else as an example of a story that does a great job of building a new world within the canon universe, and as a story that has a very interesting plot twist.

For the world building, I remember that before the big reveal as to the nature of the world, I was concerned about a number of little details not really making sense. Thankfully, the nature of this world makes it easy to explain almost all of them away; however, one thing still bugs me: how can a pony who knows how to write, but not to speak, and who has never heard speech before, understand spoken language while not being able to speak it? I mean, I can understand that the muscle memory isn't there, and so of course they'd be functionally mute, but I still wonder how they could understand spoken word. I'm tempted to explain it away by saying that the voices are in their head, so perhaps they are merely understanding the raw meaning, and not really hearing anything, but there are a number of instances in the story that require that the Champion is actually processing the words as sounds. I want to dismiss this as a nitpick, but it felt integral enough to the setting that I found it difficult to ignore that niggle in the back of my mind.

I also have to say that the romance in this story isn't especially strong. It sort of comes across as Luna making goo-goo eyes at the last stallion (of sorts) in the world, because he's the one rescuing her. For sure, I can understand the attraction there, but I can't help but feel that once the monster was defeated and she was surrounded by other ponies and her duties, she'd quickly find that she really doesn't have a place in her life for her Champion to inhabit. Let's just say that from a storytelling standpoint, the ultimate fates of the different characters felt carefully planned to avoid any real relationship problems down the road.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the romance in this story is bad; it's simply serviceable to the plot. For me, the true centerpiece of this story is the world you created. I wish that you had spent more time exploring how the Champion reacted to being able to see by the new light in his world, because that bit was one of my favorites in the story. It really cemented the reality that the Champion had been living in, while also forcing the point that the Champion must see things incredibly differently than a normal person (pony).

Anyway, I think that's enough rambling for now. Thanks for recommending this story to me, because I'm glad that I read it. I'll be watching you.

Seraphem

Seraphem #22 · Sep 9th, 2017 · · ·

Like I said on Discord, this was simply an amazing story, it started slow, and I was worried going in, but it quickly got going and became so so so amazingly well done. Champion was so great and emotive and sympathetic and just, all around a wonderful character who you really felt for, and in the end, proved himself to be worthy of that name. Hopefully, Luna will one day find him again.

Sawtoothetherium

Sawtoothetherium #23 · May 23rd, 2018 · · ·

Will Luna find him? I must know! If ther is a sequel where she finds him tell me!

Matthewl419

Matthewl419 #24 · Jun 5th, 2018 · · ·

Part of me wants to kill you, part of me hates you, and a lot of me wants to cry...

Basically: good job, man... good job.

Corejo

Corejo #25 · Jul 4th, 2019 · 1 · ·

9714045
You chose a rather opportune time to start reading this story. I don’t know if you found this by happenstance or because of my earlier blogs linked to it, but I’m actually on the tail-end of remastering this entire story as part of my contribution to the Bronycon Bookstore this year. Feel free to keep going, but if you’d like to see this story up to my 2019 standards, then sit tight for a day or two. I’ll have the new version up on fimfiction as soon as possible.

Random Bits

Random Bits #26 · Jul 15th, 2019 · · ·

Somewhere, within the deepest recesses of the dreamscape, at the spindling edges of her mind, he drifted. Perhaps only a whisper on an invisible wind, another thread waiting to be pulled free from the dark infinity beyond. But he was a pony, and it remained her duty to see him home.

This is a very dangerous thought. Given that he only existed within a dream, and literally died within the same dream, it is highly unlikely that he may yet live, anywhere.

This thought alone already feels like a delusion - but even if it isn't, it still looks like the path to isolation and madness. This Luna of yours just can't learn her lesson, can she?

Corejo

Corejo #27 · Jul 16th, 2019 · · ·

9732960
It's a twisted tragedy all its own, isn't it?

Not many people saw it this way, despite this being the intended reception—minus madness. I would say that she has learned her lesson, but is the type willing to try again if the reason is just, and thereby proceeds with the caution lent by past experience.

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the fic!

Conscat

Conscat #28 · Jul 27th, 2019 · · ·

I'll have to re-read this sometime. I honestly didn't love it to death the first time, but the very strong tone and intriguing premise left a VERY lasting impression on me, and I still think about it time to time. I bet I'd like it even more now that it's revised!

Nadnerb

Nadnerb #29 · Aug 12th, 2021 · 2 · ·

I just finished reading this on the flight to everfree. I picked up a hard copy at BC2019, which interestingly seems to have no text on the back, unlike the pictures you posted of the jacket on your blog.

Fantastically evocative. I listened to this most of the way through the early chapters. It was an experience not really knowing where it was going for most of beginning, and it was kind of startling to reach the end and see Equestria whole and relatively no the worse for wear after the opening making it seem like it had been basically destroyed for centuries. The final chapters were like putting down a long story and coming back to the real world, yet the feelings remain. How odd to have that specific experience replicated within a story.

Corejo