• Published 5th Sep 2012
  • 4,722 Views, 147 Comments

Lunar Lights - BlackRoseRaven



Old enemies return to Equestria, seeking revenge on Luna and Celestia. Second of six stories.

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Epilogue: Obfuscation

Epilogue: Obfuscation
~BlackRoseRaven

A month after the Velite attack, Twilight Sparkle stood silently outside the library in Ponyville, looking mutely up at the ivory moon in the night sky before she sighed softly and turned around, striding back inside and looking around at her gathered friends. Fluttershy, in a medical outfit with Scarlet Sage beside her, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all wearing golden, tight vests with the Crest of the Sun stitched onto them, and Rarity wearing a heavy, stained green apron and looking tired after a long day of work.

Ponyville… no, all of Equestria, was getting ready for war. The Velites had been beaten back, but no longer could anypony ignore the fact that darkness had returned. Monsters strode brazenly though the night, and things slithered along the borders that had once existed only in the nightmares of ponykind, now suddenly real… and awfully hungry.

Yes, something was coming, to try and swallow up their light, to try and destroy their homes, to try and ruin the world they lived in… and Twilight gritted her teeth as she looked over her friends. After Trixie’s death, she vowed that she wouldn’t let that happen… that another life wouldn’t be uselessly lost. That she wouldn’t permit another friend to die if she could prevent it… and then she glanced over her shoulder as there was a knock at the library door before she flicked her horn, opening it as her mouth opened… before her breath caught in her throat.

Luna strode in, smiling calmly, her mane once more filled with stars and bright, dressed in tight-fitting blue armor that locked over her frame as the others stared in surprise, Pinkie dropping a muffin she had been about to bite into… and behind her, Scrivener Blooms followed, his glasses gone, a black vest over his charcoal body, his white mane and tail now seeming to glow faintly as it half-floated. For a few moments, there was only silence as they stared at the two, and then Luna finally looked towards Twilight, asking with a wide grin: “Did thou miss us?”

Twilight could only stare, and then a smile broke out over her face and she stepped forwards, hugging them both fiercely and whispering: “You have no idea.”

And Luna and Scrivy both gazed warmly at each other even as they hugged her tightly back and the others cheered and stamped their hooves, all too well aware now that even in the darkest of times there could be the glimmer of the stars and the radiance of the sun… and, on nights like tonight, the dancing of the trails of the lunar lights high in the ephemeral black skies above.



There’s no cruelty worse than killing yourself to help the ones who love you.
Save two lives: help them stand instead of letting yourself fall.

November 15th, 2011 – November 22nd, 2011

Comments ( 44 )

Another great story.... I'm curious how far Scrivy's whole transformation is going to end up going, if his mane is 'billowing in the cosmic winds' or what have you, the divide between him and Luna really is getting thin. Does this make him immortal, or her mortal? I hop it is the former, he can be even more the brother to Tia that she sees him as, and they won't really have to concern themselves much with the death til us part clause in the marriage....

1714482

Thanks very much. It's a pleasure to hear you enjoyed this one, too, since I got a bit crazier with things in it and really started the whole... well, Starlit Knights will get into all that. I really appreciate all the comments, and I'm glad you're still liking my writing, and hope that continues. And as to the soul-binding, I'll explain the depth of that pretty early on in the next story, so I won't ruin the surprise of what the benefits are, and the dangers. Thanks again, for commenting and reading.

That.. was a fairly epic story! Read in about 1.5 sittings.. in a single 24 hour period.

Sad about Trixie.. more relieved than I should be (in reference to a work of fiction) about Luna and Scrivy.. Looking very forward to seeing how things have developed or will develop between Twilight and Celestia, as well as what roles exactly the mane 6 will have in the upcoming war.

What I'm not sure on (and may well be explained in stories I've not yet read) is if Tia's corrupting of the elements has permanently weakened or destroyed the mane 6's ability to wield them.. and how that will have an affect on things in the future.

In short - once I started reading, I couldn't stop! Very easily given favorite and thumbs up. I look very forward to more, even if I know beyond a doubt that my sleep schedule is going to suffer severely until I've read everything you have written.

1808908

Wow you're moving through these fast. I am impressed. Thanks very kindly, though, I am glad that it proved enjoyable, to say the least. As to your questions, you'll be glad to know that they actually will be answered in Starlit Knights, and I'll be tying up a few other loose ends from both SBP and these stories as well. Thanks again, and I hope you continue to find the stories just as good, and also that I don't cause too many sleepless nights.

2797484

Thanks very much. Yes, from here on out, the stories start having quite a few more twists and turns as I start putting together the major storyline, and I hope it proves an interesting ride.

2977173

These stories can do that. Thanks very much for the fave, I hope you continue to enjoy the series.

2983044

It'll be poked at a little here and there, but Six Broken Ponies is kind of a... in-between story that covers those events. Which is why it kind of is sudden, yes.

3895969 Finished last night, but my computer at home is crap so I didn't mark it. Anyway, as per usual...
georgejackson.com.au/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1up2down_logo3.jpg

3928780 No. she needed another funeral to find the guy.

I like how you are commissioning artist for cover art for your stories.
But Luna looks like a drug junkie.That look of hers just screams
" Now I'm losing touch with reality and I'm almost outta blow,
it's such a fine line. I hate to see it go." :pinkiecrazy:

4049176

Thank you very much. And yeah, that's a good way to put it about darkness: it's something I focus on a lot in my stories. I hope you continue to enjoy, though, since this is really just the start and it'll pick up quite a bit from Starlit Knights onwards.

I don't think I am emotionally ready to deal with Starlit Knights again just yet. Still going for it though.

All your stories seem even better the second time I read them, but I don't know if that is because of me slowing down and paying attention or just nostalgia talking.
Either way I still love it.

Whelp another one down in an actually respectable time, won't last long just had a free day unfortunately. But I'll be starting Startlit Knights tomorrow so I'm looking forward to it.

4708077

Thanks very much for reading, and for the fave, then. I'm glad the series has your attention and I hope you continue to enjoy, since Starlit Knights is where it starts getting really uh. Interesting.

4782476

Oh, yes, yes. Uh. Six Broken Ponies kind of explains that. It's a side story that sort of shows a different angle of the mane six, and a lot of what happened there comes into play here. It's not necessary to read, but I do know it is a little confusing, since you have DashBro and uh... one or two other related things that will crop up.
But I'm glad you're enjoying it so far all the same. The story takes some interesting turns from here, and really starts to set the stage for things to come.

4848144

Yeah. It'll get pretty rough now and then, I should warn you. Especially in the later stories, stuff will get uh... heavier now and then. But it'll all serve one purpose or another, I promise, and I do always try and give a... balance, to the stories. I hope you enjoy them overall, though.

5310039

I'm glad to hear it, and I much appreciate the readership in return. I just kind of wrote the stories for fun, after all, so it's really a pleasure to see people enjoying them. From Starlit Knights onwards it'll get much more interesting.

This is taking me longer than I'd like to get through, namely to the fact that I've been spending less time on my computer which is bad because I can't read glorious fics like these.

5586493

No worries. That's the great thing about stories: they're always there whenever you want to come back and pick them up again.

So I googled 'Velites' and all I turned up were articles about Roman Infantry?

5888434

That is a pretty good choice, especially from Iggy's point of view.
Thank you very much for the faves so far, too. I hope you continue to enjoy the stories. Starlit Knights definitely takes things up a notch.

5964699

I think it all got mixed up because I screwed up the order while transferring all my stories. I think what I did was just put the Chronicles up originally, then I added the one-shots and side stories afterwards, since I tend to forget what a big impact SBP has on the main series. I mean, yes, you can still read the Chronicles without it, but. A lot of things in Lunar Lights will make more sense if you do read it.

Holy carp, I just finished this one. Can I tell ya, I had to finish reading it in the bathroom so my husband and kids wouldnt laugh their plots off at me. Well done. This is definitely a series I will be adding to my Dropbox for future rereading and sob fests.

6213116

Thank you very much. I'm glad to hear that you were able to enjoy the story and that it ended up having such an emotional impact. I certainly did my best to try and hit the right emotional cues with this series, and... well, it's just getting started here, really. There's a lot to go and a whole lot of other joys and sorrows to be had, and I hope the stories continue to be as compelling along the way.

6426089
I guess that works too

6431439

I always find a way to take something and make it even worse.
Thanks very much for reading and commenting. I hope you continue to enjoy the series. It starts to really pick up with Starlit Knights.

Hmm this was considerably darker than the first. If it gets much darker I may have to get off this ride. It started getting a little much for me at the pinkie chapter. Quality is good, story is good, just may be a bit much for my personal taste. Whelp time to go to the third book and see if the rabbit hole goes deeper.

6486829

It does get darker, yeah. Some people are very tempted to give up at the third story because of how deep it goes. But I can promise there's always a light at the end of the story, that no matter how dark it gets, things do get better.
All the same, it's admittedly not everyone's cup of tea and all, so I can understand that. I do hope you enjoy what you do read, though, and it continues to be a worthy adventure, either way.

6560130

This actually ends up being quite an important question for the series as a whole.

6566027

Well, thank you very much for the in depth review, I really appreciate it, and it means a lot to me. I'm glad to know that you found it to be such an improvement overall: hopefully you'll continue to enjoy the buildup, and I do promise that while some of my errors tend to persist through the series - run-on sentences, for example, I've never gotten over my abuse of them - I do my best to include and tie up loose ends as the stories progress. I can promise that Luna's dialect will grow stronger as well. That's one of what I felt was one of my largest flaws in Moonrise, was not trying hard enough with it. I built on it as the stories progressed, and eventually aimed not to make it grammatically correct as according to the actual Englisch rules, but instead I developed Luna's own sort of unique speech patterns.
But thanks again. I really do appreciate it, and I hope you continue to enjoy the series. There's lots of bumps ahead, but I hope the journy still proves an enjoyable one.

And that's another arc finished!

I have to say that the pacing was somewhat odd here. For so long, it's just stuff happening with Luna, Scrivener, Twilight and Trixie (though entertaining stuff), punctuated with a few sudden crises and an overarching threat that's brought up just as suddenly yet doesn't have much done with it until the last few chapters- at which point, much like in Moonrise, the final bosses are also introduced suddenly and defeated just as suddenly. And yet... for these ponies, it really works.

6599040

The pacing will get much better in the next stories onwards. Lunar Lights was still me... really rushing things and not getting into the story as deeply as I could have. Of course there will always be a few twists and turns and sudden stops, but I like to think they serve more of a purpose in the later stories than they did in these ones.
But thanks very much for the fave, and I hope you continue to enjoy the stories. There's lots more to come, after all.

This was excellent for the most part. I'm looking forward to more.

7676224

The series was started pre-Shining's introduction, so I actually left Twilight as an only child.

I think the first story was better. but this one still leaves me with very high hopes for the rest of the series. I feel like you were struggling to find your stride with this book and I have a feeling that'll fade over time in the next couple.

At least now I know where my inspiration for my pony name came from now
This epic ass story!

8525485
I finished the series quite a long time ago, and I understand it in its entirety. It is a fascinatingly complex world.

8528126
Oh, I have no doubt of that. Trust me, I know how fast and well you read, I've seen you around. Most notably in the Rainbow Dash Flies East series, which I still haven't finished. I just realized from your comment that people unfamiliar with the series would be missing a lot of important information going into this the first time. Lord knows I was confused as all hell back in the day, having started with Absolution. Yeah.

...Is it just me, or is the cover art Luna with a ballgag?

O__o

Just finished this story - I was sad to see Trixie die, and even though I know there's a few more stories, the moment when Luna fused her soul with Scrivy really hit me, with how seemingly at peace they were despite they might be dying.

8739194
So, just as a heads up, this series gets crazy. Really crazy. Alternate timelines, rewinds and all kinds of shit. Some of them may be dead, but it means little in the long run
Oh, and as for Fluttershy, she will be fine XD. Trust me.

And you are welcome. As I wrote that list, I was thinking "if only one person finds this helpful, it will be worth it."

9460754 so I see. It’s intrestong actually catching references in a story I usually never do cause the reference is of something I never seen or herd of.

This was excellent. I'm looking forward to beginning Starlit Knights soon, but I may take a bit of time to first read Discord's Lament, Angel of the Sun, and When Scrivy Met Twilight.

Speaking of, is there a recommended reading order for the series? I know that those three stories (plus Six Broken Ponies) are technically side stories...

9713228

Shoot. I had a chronology somewhere. As far as I can remember, the rough timeline goes...

So stories that happen pre-series...

Rising Fire - But this is technically another character's backstory and we don't see him for a long time yet. I would recommend maybe waiting until post-Absolution or even after Synthesis for this one.
Gjallarsong - This story follows two characters who are also way, way down the line, and it reveals the underpinnings of the entire 99 Worlds universe, which we're just going to start getting into in Starlit Knights. This one is probably better to read post-Synthesis because it'll explain a lot about the characters, but it was written sort of as a preamble to Hecate's Orphanage, so it could almost go with Songs of Lost Children.

Discord's Lament
The Angel of the Sun
When Scrivy Met Twilight
These three are pretty safe to read any time.

Six Broken Ponies takes place during Moonrise, essentially, Guys' Night Out is an insert to Starlit Knights that takes place after... chapter twelve? I don't recall off the top of my head but it's before the big group leaves for Canterlot. Condensation literally condenses the first six stories to help make Absolution make sense for people who are starting there. And Sleipnir's Big Adventure is basically a side-story to Glory Be, it doesn't reveal anything but it's still probably better to read it afterwards.

Then you have the second series, Songs of Lost Children. and Tales of Eden occurs long after that.

I hope that helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, and I'll be more than happy to get back to you.

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