Double-feature ahead... · 8:01pm Jan 14th, 2017
Not one, but two chapters near completion. The next chapter of Rise of Firefly is in prereading, and if all goes well, will be released tomorrow morning. Also, the new Unleash the Magic bonus chapter is nearly done; I expect to finish the full draft tonight. I will probably release them on different days, or at least a few hours apart so they don't compete with each other in the feature box, which they both tend to hit.
For Rise of Firefly readers, the last chapter of The Lawyer and The Unicorn contained some material that relates to RoF, which I will now excerpt below. To set the scene, the following takes place at the very end of The Heart's Turnabout, where The Nightmare attempted to possess Twilight Sparkle as she once had Luna, by convincing her she was guilty of various crimes against Phoenix Wright. The Nightmare prosecuted, Trixie judged, and Twilight was defended by Mia Fey and Phoenix, the former crossing over from the spirit realm to enter the dream one as spirits may do. As the trial progressed, various other spirits appeared, not the least of which was those of the Bolt Knights, acting the part of bailiffs to keep The Nightmare from escaping when things went sour for her. At the very end, when The Nightmare is defeated and all is well, Luna elects to take advantage of a very unexpected opportunity to recognize a warrior who served her even when she was long-banished.
Both Celestia and the rest of the mane 6 are present, pulled in by Luna to help reach Twilight, and Luna herself because she was trying to help Phoenix and Twilight through their dreams before The Nightmare appeared. And thus, when all is finally well...
“We thank thee for thy wise ruling, Thine Honor. But for now… we feel a change of decor is in order!” Before Trixie could ask what she meant, the lunar princess closed her eyes as their surroundings rippled, the courtroom replacing itself with a far different environment, one reminiscent of olden times with blue firegem torches lining the walls alternating with large tapestries of famous scenes and ponies, all night-related, the Equestrian flag behind her beneath a large circular window with painted glass, but the banner of the night draping her desk.
“Wait! This is—was—your Night Court!” Celestia recognized with a startled look around. “Back from our old Everfree castle!”
“Indeed, sister!” Luna acknowledged as she ascended the stairs and sat down at her desk, suddenly garbed in what Celestia also recognized as her sister’s old Dream Warden armor she had worn during her first few hundred years as Princess of the Night. “For if we are to give an olden award, we shall call back to olden times! “First Lieutenant Fell Flight! Step forward!” she commanded in her Royal Canterlot Voice, and though surprised, the spirit of the large thestral-eyed pegasus mare immediately did so, taking a knee before the bench.
“My Princess,” Fell Flight used the olden address and the same formal bow with splayed wings Phoenix had earlier seen from Firefly. “We are honored by your presence and that we were able to serve thee not just in life, but now in death!”
“The honor is mine, great warrior and emissary,” Luna acknowledged, raising her swords vertically into a salute. “Thy life is legend, and thine achievements both in war and in peace rank with the greatest of all time. Since our return, we have studied all thy Bolt Knight brethren, but ’tis certain we took particular interest in thee. For thou wert the greatest champion of us and our servants, and thy legacy is all around us,” she noted with a look around the courtroom at her mostly-thestral dream guard, who, at their captain’s instruction, quickly fell into an honor guard formation around her and came to rigid attention, the Bolt Knights quickly doing the same.
Luna waited until they were finished before continuing. “’Tis to our great regret that we were not there for thee in life, but perchance we may now rectify this in death,” she told the long-passed warrior. “For thy great martial prowess, long service to Equestria and unquestioned love and loyalty to the night, thou art awarded the revered and rarely given title of… Shadowbolt!”
With a flare of the Moon Princess’ horn, Fell Flight’s uniform was transformed into the ornate dark armor the elite lunar guard once wore, the ensemble completed by prominent crystal rank insignia on her shoulders of a lightning bolt against a crescent moon, the moon itself suddenly shining even more brightly through the painted glass a window above the princess down onto departed spirit, illuminating her like a blue-and-white spotlight, causing her slitted thestral cat-eyes to glow brightly.
“Is that a big deal?” Phoenix wondered out loud as gasps were heard from the Dream Guard and even Fell Flight looked shocked.
“Uh… yeah?” a hovering Rainbow answered like it was self-evident. “Way back when, the Shadowbolts were Luna’s elite! They were her Bolt Knights! You had to score like a hundred aerial victories to be one, and either win a duel with an existing Shadowbolt or perform a battle feat so amazing that there was no choice but to let you in!” she said in excited tones. “There weren’t more than fifty in all of history!”
“Quite,” Luna acknowledged with a slightly annoyed glance up, at which point conversation ceased. “To be named a Shadowbolt is to be elevated to the fourth order of the Lunar Guard, an honor granted to only the most elite of lunar warriors and greatest servants to the night! Know that by our command, honored emissary, thy life will be remembered, and thy deeds immortalized in the annals of lunar history for all time!”
The cheers that followed from the thestral members of the dream guard present were loud and raucous, the ponies pinwheeling their hooves and stomping them appreciatively, even the gryphon warriors present nodding their heads in agreement.
“My Princess honors me,” Fell Flight bowed low, Phoenix wasn’t certain but he thought he saw tears in her eyes for a moment. “To serve thy cause ’twas my greatest honor in life… and to be recognized by thee as having done thy work ’tis my greatest honor in death.”
“’Tis well-earned, noble warrior of the night. As our sister will say, we value long and loyal service above all, and how could we not recognize one who served us and our kindred so faithfully even when we were not here?” she mused, then addressed all present. “May the blessings of the Sun and Moon fall upon all of thee great warriors, whether allies or adversaries of old,” she nodded to the Bolt Knights and Red Talons in turn. “We thank thee for thy sacrifice and service here tonight, and bid thee our fondest farewell!” She finished as she offered up her ancient swords in salute.
“’Twas our greatest pleasure, Princess Luna,” Firefly answered for both the Bolt Knights and Red Talons as they returned the salutes, then she turned to Celestia. “My Princess… ’tis nearly time to take our leave. Once your sister departs the dreamscape, we will lose our anchor and be unable to stay in this realm.”
“I see…” Celestia’s eyes were suddenly glimmering. “Then may the winds be at your backs, and the rising sun guide you home,” she choked out, and had to look away at her recitation of the old pegasus funeral prayer, an expression that Rainbow instantly recognized as coming from an even older pegasi belief that the rising sun led the way to the Summerlands for fallen warriors. “I will raise it in your honor when I return home.”
“Fret not, our Princess,” Wind Whistler stepped forward, followed by the rest. “Be at peace, and know that through the centuries, our love and loyalty for you has never diminished.”
“My noble knights…” she sniffled again, basking in the presence of her former champions and friends for as long as she could.
Scene cut to later, when Celestia and Luna are alone.
“You did well here, Luna,” Celestia noted as the last of their friends, both living and dead departed.
“In truth, we did little, sister,” she shook her head , transforming their surroundings to the same beautiful night-kissed meadow she had earlier shown Phoenix Wright. “’Twas Mia Fey and Phoenix Wright who fought The Nightmare on her own terms and won. And had they not…” she hesitated, but decided she had to say it. “And had they not, we were prepared to do whatever was necessary to stop The Nightmare.” She gave her sister a meaningful look.
Celestia’s eyes closed at that, understanding exactly what she meant, considering again how close to disaster they had truly come that night as they began to walk together, taking in the scenery and each other’s company. “Then you would have done what I would have had not the heart to…” she said solemnly. “But thankfully, it did not come to that. Harmony favored us tonight.”
Luna rolled her eyes in response. “Oh, please, sister. We love thee, but methinks at times thou art far too reliant on the graces of the gods. Indeed, thou art far too forgiving and gentle for thy own good and that of Equestria at times, most notably during the prelude to war with the Gryphons. Having studied the conflict’s history, we can safely say had it been us, ’twould never have happened. For we would have slain Salvio Gaius following the attacks on Epsilon base and made an example their forward forces, then ordered the Empire to leave Equestrian lands forever…”
“And thus denied the gryphons our future friendship, one that has by now borne great fruit for both races. Or perhaps set the stage for an even worse war later,” Celestia shook her head. “In the end they fought us because they feared us. Feared me… and your actions would only have made that worse. Though you are correct that at the time, I thought too much of my own power and allowed our readiness to slip…”
“’Twould be a lie to say that ’twas not an egregious error borne of overconfidence. ’Twas worse still that thou had in large measure disbanded my Navy, which even reduced to but a dozen airships carried many a day. Though ’tis also certain that thou concluded the war far more honorably and less bloodily than we would have,” she closed her eyes. “If ’twas us in thy place, without thee here to temper our fighting blood… perchance The Nightmare was right and we would have not have needed her to become every bit the monster she was.” The moon princess went downcast.
“No, my sister,” Celestia draped a wing over Luna. “We cannot know what would have become of paths not taken, and ’tis pointless to dwell on them. How you would have fared without me, we will never know… though I suspect time itself would have changed and tempered you as it did me.
“All I do know that is without you, I was lost… variously in grief, lust, and loneliness. Thus, the real lesson is… that we are not complete without the other,” she said as she took her sister’s gilded hoof. “The real lesson is… we need each other, Luna. Just as day needs night, and the sun needs the moon…”
“For thou art Equestria’s shield…” Luna remembered the oath they had once taken upon their ancient ascension.
“And thou art its sword,” Celestia said the next line. “Together we protect our ponies…”
“And together, we serve them,” Luna finished. “Thou by sunlight, and we by moonlight. Thou in the physical realm, and we in that of dreams,” they hugged tightly for the better part of a minute. “Enjoy thy remaining leave, elder sister. And know that Equestria is safe in your absence… though we cannot promise that we may not yet lock all bickering nobles in the Canterlot Mines!” she announced somewhat more wanly as she personally returned Celestia’s spirit to her body on earth, and then resumed her watch over the night and nation she loved.
Chapter releases are imminent; there will be two over the next two days. If you want to read the whole chapter this excerpts, just look up Chapter 29 of The Lawyer and the Unicorn, which I cannot link because it is adult (but this chapter is not!). Enjoy!
