In the nights following her adventure with Novella, Luna would return to the pony's dream orb. Luna never entered the orb; instead, she only checked on it to make sure that Novella was no longer having nightmares. Sure enough, each night, the orb shone pure white, indicating that whatever dream the pony was having, it was fun. After several days of this, the orb disappeared, only to be replaced by a different orb a few days later. Most likely, the pony had finally checked out of the hospital.

Celestia offered to help her sister locate Novella, but Luna decided that she should give the pony some space. For weeks, Luna hoped that one day she would be told she had a surprise visitor, but instead, life went on as normal in Canterlot. Luna soon settled back into her normal routine, though she found herself checking books out of the Canterlot archives much more often than she used to. Luna continued to visit colts and fillies in their nightmares, but she never was able to connect with any of them as well as she had with Novella.

Over time, Luna realized that Novella had been one of the few close friends she had made since she returned to Canterlot. Novella had thanked Luna for being the sole light of hope in an otherwise lonely existence, but Luna soon realized that aside from her sister Celestia, Luna also had few close friends. Over time, the princess made an effort to reach out to other ponies, sharing stories about Canterlot, magic, and the various books they had read. It wasn't long before Luna had several friends who she could count on in times of need. As the months went by, Luna thought of Novella less and less as her circle of friends grew, though she still hoped that the two of them would meet again someday.

However, one day, a small package arrived for Luna that she had never ordered. When the princess opened the box, she was surprised to find that there was a children's book inside titled, “When I go to Sleep.” The book had large pages with easy-to-read text, as well as lots of colorful illustrations for young readers. Luna wondered why this book had been sent to her, until she noticed the name of the author: a pony named Novella.