What I've Done

by BlazzingInferno

Eleven

So here I am, on the train back to Canterlot.

Twilight blames herself, not me. She’s almost got me convinced, but it doesn’t matter, right? The point is she caught me skulking around Ponyville looking for a free meal. I was just passing through, but then this purple mare is in front of me and smiling and talking and so excited she’s bouncing on her hooves. Did I mention she was smiling? Seeing ponies smile at me takes more getting used to than seeing them in the daylight.

We talked for a really long time, and I met all the other ponies (and a dragon!) that… finished saving Equestria. I almost put “did what I couldn’t” right there, but I’m not not going to think like that anymore. Twilight didn’t save Equestria on her own. She had a lot of help, starting with me pointing her towards the Elements of Harmony.

I just hope Princess Celestia knows it too. I can’t believe Twilight and the others convinced me to go see her. I keep thinking she’s going to be mad or disappointed, and I’m not sure which would be worse, but Twilight swears it’ll be fine. We’ll see.

Either way I’m coming back to Ponyville afterwards. I’m going to take Twilight’s advice and give this friendship thing a second chance.

- Moon Dancer (always)

Comments

[Level Dasher]

Wow. In so few words, that showed quite a journey. I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed we didn't get to see dates, so I don't know how long it really took, but considering she didn't mention milestone dates (birthdays, celebrations—even obsolete ones), I'm guessing it was all within a year. Could be wrong about that, who knows? But this was definitely an interesting side story. It was very in-character for her. Honestly, I'd kinda like to see a sequel to this. I can see her developing into a much more friendship-accepting mare...
And we don't see a lot of Moondancer as it is.

[redmar]

I haven't read the Where we belong but I'm going to put in my read later list. Like the other commenter I think we need more Moondancer stories and I'd like to see a sequel to this focused on Moondancer.

[FanOfMostEverything]

A fascinating exercise in minimalism. We get a sense of both Moondancer's crushing guilt and just how hard she pushed herself in her efforts to assuage it, even when she felt hopeless. And she did manage to do one thing right, and that helped save the world. I hope she takes comfort in that.

[Venerable Ro]

Quite an odyssey, though I feel I've missed how Twilight could have known that it was Moondancer that left that book. From the sound of it she just dropped it in the returns bin and kept walking.

[BlazzingInferno]

9781513
I agonized over not putting dates in, so much so that I added what’s now the first entry to make it a conscious decision on Moondancer’s (Moon Dancer’s?) part. I had to concede that time is somewhat fluid when there’s zero sunlight and an endless supply of guilt all-but destroying your circadian rhythm. Plus, time is intentionally vague in Where We Belong .

[BlazzingInferno]

9781869
I doubt Twilight put two-and-two together as far as that book goes. She’s referring to their very first conversation mentioned in Where We Belong

[Venerable Ro]

9782413
Eh?

Ah, there's another book. I'd quite missed that.

[Bugsydor]

I wonder if Moondancer filed the book under 'E', or if she used a more sensible library organization system.

[BlazzingInferno]

9783271
I could totally imagine Twilight spotting it solely because it hadn't been shelved correctly

[PaulAsaran]

You can has review!

[BlazzingInferno]

11675605
Yay, thanks!