Afterword to 16th Edition

It has been two hundred years since the first print run of this book was published. This edition reproduces in precise detail that very first issue, including the annoying smudge the first run had on page thirty and the missing page number on page seventy two. Subsequent editions corrected these and other errors, most notably with a clarification of the most likely causes of our still-unsolved gender imbalance, and the addition of more up to date explorations of various social phenomena.

The purpose of this reissue was two fold. First, as a historical reference, as few copies of the original issue are available any more. Second, as a reminder to myself and others what the world was like in those days, when the human walked our world, and everything was new.

I miss his warmth. Of all the things I remember about him, that’s the one that truly stands out. The four of us cuddled up on a couch while Lero told us another tale of high adventure from his home, a fire crackling in the hearth our only light. Contentment. Peace.

Together we four saw the world through one another’s eyes. We saw that world change in ways too beautiful to describe, though we tried to describe it anyway. In the end we didn’t need to. We became one, and through the merging of our lives and experience, every moment of joy and sorrow and love we shared became a foundation for each that would follow. Four bodies, one soul, seeing the world anew every single day.

Now two bodies, and a soul that has taken many years to remember who it was.

It was inevitable really. We - Rainbow, myself and my friends - were touched by the Elements. They changed us. The moment we joined with them we were destined to experience first-hand the immortal’s curse, to watch those we loved grow, rise, fade and fall into shadow, while we remained untouched by time.

We two stayed together because we could think of no other way to live, and when we remembered who we were we stayed together for the love we had always shared, a love we had found thanks to him.

Lero, my beloved Lero, lived to the age of eighty two, and was taken from me in his sleep. My precious Lyra died as she lived, in peace and stillness, meditating the sunrise that very same day. I am certain she knew he had left, and just as certain she chose to follow him rather than wait.

There are days when I wish I could do the same. Perhaps I shall, when the sun has burned cold and the moon has ceased to wander. Until then I choose to remember them both. To remember him, who changed everything I knew and made me complete, and who would encourage me to see the blessing I now hold: That I shall see the future. And I shall carry his memory into it.

Twilight Sparkle
15th May, 1418

Author's Notes:

This was originally going to be attached to the end of The Xenophile's Guide once I hit a point where I couldn't go any further, but then, after careful consultation with a test audience consisting of me, AnonAuthor and a bottle of cheap hooch, I realised it would be so gut-crushingly depressing that it would ruin the rest of the work completely. So here it is instead.