“The Diamond Dog walked up to the small wooden house. Raising his paw, he pounded against the door and snarled, ‘Little pony, little pony, let me come in!’
“‘No, no!’ The pony cried back, ‘Not by the fur on my muzzy, muzz, muzzle!’
"The Diamond Dog reared back with a roar. ‘Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!’”
Trying her best to look menacing, Celestia stood up as tall as she could and took a deep breath. She held that pose for a second, before leaning down and blowing as hard as she could right in Luna’s face.
Luna in turn, just continued to lay there, though her eyes darted back and forth for a moment before once again locking onto her older sister.
Celestia sat waiting for a moment, with a hopeful smile on her face. When she got no other reaction, however, she leaned back into her chair with a sigh. Even though she hadn’t really been expecting anything to happen, she still hoped that perhaps this particular book would spark something in her sister. It had always been one of her favorites after all.
“Luna…” Celestia trailed off. Seeing her sister’s eyes alive yet no other part of her body moving was a short-lived victory for her. She tapped her chin in thought, until an idea came to her head. “I’ll be right back.” She told her sister and gave her a gentle peck on her forehead, and she was rushing downstairs to a bookshelf intended for foals.
Where is it? Celestia scurried through the books, finding the sortation of the books to be in alphabetical order by author and not by name. I will have to have a word with Twilight on this. As she was thinking this, the door of the library opened up to let a familiar dragon in.
“I’m home!” Spike called out, putting his backpack aside and looking around him. When he saw Celestia, he waved at her and moved towards her. “Hey Princess.”
“Hello Spike, how was school?” Celestia asked him curiously, as she leaned down to Spike’s level and gave him a brief nuzzle.
Spike shrugged and grinned. “Pretty easy with the work and all, made some friends too.”
Celestia’s ears perked at this and she smiled proudly at Spike. “That’s good to hear, what are their names?”
“Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” he replied to her, before looking behind her and see the foal’s section. “Any book you're looking for Princess?”
“The Little Seapony,” Celestia said turning back towards the shelf. “But I can’t seem to figure out how these shelves are organized.”
Spike laughed. “Yeah, Twilight’s system for organizing does take a little bit of getting used to I’ll admit.” Walking up beside the princess, he immediately reached onto one of the shelves and seemed almost magically to pull out the correct book. “Though once you do figure it out, it’s not really that hard to find anything.”
He held the book up to Celestia who gratefully levitated it out of the young whelps claws. She looked it over for a moment. It was a bright blue book with the title written on the front in large letters. Fanning it open, she was pleased to see that it had all the pictures that she was familiar with.
“If you don’t mind me asking princess,” Spike spoke up hesitantly, “but isn’t that book a little bit… I don’t know… simple for you?”
Celestia chuckled. “Even I enjoy a simpler story now and again Spike,” she said with a smile. “But actually, I was planning on reading this to Luna. It was her favorite story when we were younger.”
“Really?” Spike asked a bit surprised. “That’s kind of strange. Twilight used to read that story to me all the time when I was young... Well, younger.”
“That’s because I used to read it to her when she was younger as well. In fact, I think I’ve read it to all the ponies who used to study under me. Twilight, Cadance, even Blueblood. He in particular used to love this story,” she said, a warm smile gracing her face as she thought back to those happier days. “I guess, part of me just wanted to keep the story alive as a way of keeping Luna close while she was gone.”
Spike paused for a moment. “How is Luna doing?”
Celestia sighed. “Still no change I’m afraid. She can still move her eyes, and she’s started looking around at her surroundings more, but other than that there hasn’t been any other progress.”
“But at least she’s not doing any worse right? That’s something at least.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” Celestia responded with a smile. “These things do take time after all.”
“Exactly!” Spike said proudly. “And even if she’s not showing it, I’m sure she’s doing better all the time. In fact, I’ll bet she’s back up and on her hooves in no time at all!”
“I do hope so,” Celestia said with a light chuckle. It was nice to see that the young dragon’s energy had returned to him. She reached down and patted him gently on the head. “It would be nice if she…”
“PRINCESS CELESTIA!”
The door slammed open, startling the pair sitting there.
Twilight came rushing in with a broad smile on her face, albeit a weary smile from running all the way to the library. When she stopped before Spike and Celestia, she huffed with her head lowered. When she finally caught her breath, she raised her head and saw the two before her with the book.
“Oh…” she trailed off, her eyes darting from Spike to Celestia to the book. A small smile was present on her. “Spike, aren’t you a little too old for those books?” She asked him with a maternal voice and a gentle smile, completely misinterpreting the situation.
Spike snorted before shaking his head. “Not for me, for her.” He pointed to Celestia, who nodded meekly. “Anyways, what’s got you so excited?” He asked curiously, seeing Twilight was practically skipping in glee.
Twilight gasped and giggled, with a blush on her cheeks before using her magic to pull out a book. “I found this at Zecora’s! Look!” She literally shoved the book in Celestia’s face, before putting a little distance between the book and the princess’ muzzle. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright.” Celestia replied dismissively, taking the book from Twilight’s magic and looking at the cover. Her eyes widened in shock, nearly dropping the book. “What is this Twilight?”
“Well,” Twilight cleared her throat before answering. “Zecora tells me that what there’s a creature that’s been documented in their homeland that seemingly possesses equine beings. Ponies, zebras, kirins, donkeys, mules,” she continued, but noticed Spike staring blankly at her. “You get the point!” She waved her hoof before continuing. “This creature in her country is known as the ‘Ndoto’,” she tried to pronounce the name properly, but didn’t succeed. “But in direct translation to Equestrian, it’s called ‘The Nightmare!’”
Spike’s eyes blinked before the iris’ widened to the size of plates. “Hold on! Did you just say ‘The Nightmare’? As in like Nightmare Moon?”
“Exactly!” Twilight exclaimed. “You see, according to the legend this creature acts like a parasite. It finds a host that feels depressed or lonely and latches onto them. At first it feeds the host more negative emotions, making them feel angrier over time. Then, once the host has reached the point they are filled with despair, the parasite is able to feed off their emotions and take control. The host is still there mentally, but loses all ability to move their own body. The parasite takes over, speaking and acting in place of the host. The host in turn, can only sit and watch as the parasite continues to feed off of their emotions.
“In addition, the host’s body undergoes a physical change as well. The host body becomes much stronger, and the fur turns to a much darker color. But what is really interesting is that apparently, those who are infected gain what is called ‘Serpent Eyes’. Their eyes literally change and appear to look like a dragon’s would.”
“So…” Celestia said slowly, staring intently at the cover of the book, drawn in by the eyes printed there. “What you’re saying is, Luna had been infected by this parasite?”
Twilight nodded. “Everything that we’ve seen so far seems to match the description of the creature. It makes sense that Luna was feeling a bit depressed all those years ago, and the Nightmare saw her as the perfect host.”
“So,” Spike said thinking for minute. “Does that mean that the Nightmare was with her the entire time that she was stuck on the moon?”
“Probably so. In fact, that would make sense as to why Luna’s having so much trouble right now. She probably hasn’t had control of her own body for over a thousand years now. When we used the Elements of Harmony, it was probably enough to remove the parasite from Luna’s body, leaving her in control of herself once again!”
“So, what that means is…” Celestia slowly began.
Twilight didn’t let her finish. “What that means is that Nightmare Moon and Luna are, in reality, two completely different ponies!” she exclaimed proudly. “It means that your sister isn’t really evil, she was just under this parasite’s control at the time. And best of all, it also means that now we can look into the best way to help her recover! Isn’t that great?”
Standing tall, Twilight beamed while she waited for the princess to respond. After a moment though, she started to falter a bit as Celestia still hadn’t said anything. The smile on her face began to disappear as she looked over to the alicorn. Celestia’s head was bowed, hiding her face from Twilight’s vision. “Princess?” she asked hesitantly.
Slowly, Celestia lifted her head up and looked over to her student. She looked as though she was about to burst into tears at any moment. Her eyes were already moist and she was breathing heavily. “I… I…” she stammered unsure of what to say.
Then, without warning, she pushed Twilight aside as she ran towards the door. Her horn glowed for just a moment, throwing the door open as she charged outside into the midday sun.
Twilight sat stunned, though only for a moment. “Princess Celestia!” she cried out rushing over to the doorway.
Spike followed close behind. “Wait, what just happened?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Twilight responded. “I thought that she’d be thrilled to hear this news. I didn’t think she’d react like this!”
“Should we go after her? Ponies might notice if they see the Princess of Equestria running through town like that.”
Biting her lip, Twilight nodded. “I’ll go after her. You stay here and keep an eye on Luna alright?” Without another word, she ran off in the same direction, hoping to catch the princess before she did something too stupid.
Being discharged from a hospital can be a very enjoying moment, especially if a pony is more used to the outdoor air. This was especially true for Fluttershy, who walked out of the hospital doors with her best friend Rainbow Dash. She looked better than what she did when she first entered the hospital but she was still looking a little ragged out. The doctor told her that it would take a couple of days before she was as good as news. For now, she was given some medicine and a diet to follow for proper recovery. A diet that would be threatened by the arrival of a pink friend.
When the doors closed behind them, Pinkie Pie literally fell out of the sky and right in front of Fluttershy. “Oh my gosh! You’re out of the hospital Fluttershy! Let’s go and have a party to celebrate your ’Get Well Day’. Let’s go to SugarCube corner now! Huh! Huh?! Hu-”
“Pinkie!” Rainbow yelled out, irritated slightly by the excessive enthusiasm of Pinkie. “First of all, keep it down please. Second, Fluttershy is not in any condition to party now.”
“Oh…” Pinkie trailed off, sitting on her haunches with her mane slowly deflating. Her bright smile slowly turning into a dark frown.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, feeling a little guilty of making Pinkie sad. “Tell you what, why not walk with us back to Fluttershy’s home? Chat on the way okay?”
“Okay!” Pinkie jumped in the and bounced to Fluttershy’s side. “Let’s go!”
Fluttershy was silent the whole time, mainly because she couldn’t reply fast enough. She only nodded with a soft smile and they ventured off towards the cottage.
“So,” Pinkie happily began as she hopped along. “How are you feeling now?”
“Better…” Fluttershy responded quietly.
“Well of course you’re feeling better silly,” Pinkie Pie laughed. “If you weren’t feeling better, they wouldn’t have let you out of the hospital.”
Fluttershy smiled.“Yeah, I suppose so. I’m just glad that I get to go home again.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet Angel Bunny will be happy to see you again. I’ve been trying to keep all your critters in line while you were gone, but I don’t think they like me as much as you do. They really, really missed you Fluttershy.” Pinkie stopped mid bounce, slowly falling to the back to the ground with a sigh. “We all missed you Fluttershy.”
The change of attitude kind of startled the timid pegasus, though she kept walking with Pinkie Pie now trotting alongside her. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to make you all worry so much.”
Pinkie Pie smiled. “That’s okay,” she said, a lot of her energy seeming to return instantly. “We’re all just happy that you’re alright. Just promise me that you won’t do anything super crazy like this again.”
Fluttershy tried to agree, but couldn’t do so. “I’ll try,” she managed to mutter.
For a second, Pinkie faltered, but soon was right back by Fluttershy’s side. “You’re not still feeling bad about Princess Luna are you?”
With a sigh, Fluttershy nodded. While she was indeed feeling better at the moment, the memory of Luna lying helplessly at the abandoned castle still gnawed at her mind. No matter what she did, she could still hear the criticizing voice in the back of her mind, condemning her for what she had done.
“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself Fluttershy,” Pinkie happily responded. “Luna’s doing fine right now. In fact she’s getting better all the time.” Rainbow Dash let out an angry sounding cough, though Pinkie Pie seemed to ignore it. “Next thing you know, she’ll be back up on her hooves and perfectly fine again in no time.”
Suddenly, Pinkie stopped, letting out a loud gasp that startled the two pegasi. “I’ve just had the best idea!” she exclaimed. “We should all go and visit Princess Luna right now!”
Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie as though she had transformed into a giant insect. “Pinkie, are you crazy!?”
“Nopey dopey! Just happy!” Pinkie replied, oblivious to what Rainbow Dash had really meant.
“There’s no way I’m letting that mare near Fluttershy!” Rainbow retorted, her eyes showing no mirth to Pinkie.
“Aww! Why not?”
Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped and she blinked before closing her mouth. “Has everypony forgotten that she tried to put the whole of Equestria in eternal night?! Have you all forgotten what she did to all of us?!”
Pinkie waved her hoof to Rainbow. “Psst! That was Nightmare Moon! Not Princess Luna! Besides, we helped her with the Elements of Harmony…” she trailed off, her smiling losing some of its potency. “Mostly…”
“Whatever. I’m still not letting Fluttershy near-”
“I want to meet her.”
Pinkie and Rainbow looked to Fluttershy, the latter’s eyes shining in determination to the direction of the library. “I want to talk to Princess Luna, please.”
Rainbow placed her hooves on Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, no. She might hurt you if you come near her. She might be faking the whole thing to—”
“Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy initiated the legendary ‘Stare’ on Rainbow, who fell on her haunches at the sight of the new eyes. “Please don’t speak badly about the princess like that.” She didn’t wait for a reply, walking past her friend. “I just need to speak to her for a moment, please.”
“Okie dokie!” Pinkie said as she bounced past Rainbow Dash and towards Fluttershy, both of them heading to the library.
Alone on the ground, Rainbow stood up and looked stunned. She looked back to where her friends had ‘deserted’ her and to where they were walking. A frown formed on her muzzle and she shook her head.
What is wrong with everypony?!
Cadance sighed as she set down the quill beside her. She had never realized how much paperwork her aunt went through during a single day. Even after more than a month since taking the throne, she still hadn’t gotten used to it.
She groaned once again. Had it really been that long? When Celestia had sent her the letter asking for her assistance in this matter, she hadn’t really thought about how long Celestia was going to be away. She’d assumed that it was going to be for a couple of weeks, maybe a bit longer, but not for an entire month. What was worse still, she hadn’t heard anything from her aunt or even Twilight since then. Who knew what condition Luna was currently in.
The nobles were starting to get restless as well. There had been a couple of problems when Celestia first left, but for the most part things were pretty calm. However, as the days kept ticking by, there were more and more complaints being filed. Celestia had never taken a vacation longer than two weeks before and certainly not completely disappeared during that time. Ponies were starting to get curious, and Cadance was quickly running out of excuses to tell them.
Still, she was trying her best to keep everypony happy. The best that she could do was continue to tell them that everything was alright and keep ruling to the best of her ability. However, there were a few that refused to listen to her.
One in particular happened to catch her eye as he trotted past. Blueblood appeared to be in a particularly sour mood this morning. His head was bowed and he was grumbling something to himself as he trotted past.
Cadance bit her lower lip, a part of her wishing to just ignore him. She knew though, that family came first for her. She quickly followed him. “M-morning Blueblood.” She tried to greet him, hoping he may respond well enough.
“Hmm?” Blueblood turned around, his frown still present. When he saw Cadance approach him, smiling kindly to him, he felt his stomach curl and a deeper scowl was now on his face. Oh no, not her…
“How are you doing today?” She asked, trying to look as oblivious as possible to his miserable state.
Blueblood pointed to his face. “Does my expression not tell the tale?”
Cadance blinked and looked over his face. “What? Did you get a new haircut? Didn’t exactly work for you?”
Glaring at her for a second, he turned around and starting walking away from Cadance. “Blind like Princess Celestia, how typical.”
Her smile dropping, she cocked her brow at him. “What’s that suppose to mean?”
Blueblood didn’t even bother turning his body around this time. “Are you deaf now too? Trying to win over some subjects’ sympathy votes? You really take a leaf out of Princess Celestia’s book.”
Cadance jaw went agape. “Auntie Tia is not blind!” She told him sternly, though this did not seem to affect Blueblood one bit.
“Denial.” Blueblood shook his head, letting out one laugh without mirth. “Spoken like a true politician. She really is teaching you well.”
“Blueblood!” Cadance marched over to him and actually stepped in front of him. “I don’t like what you are insinuating about our aunt.”
“I only speak the truth.” He replied flatly to her, not bothering to blink when starting at her eyes.
Cadance mouthed soundlessly until she shook her head and looked back at the stallion. “Where’s your love for the family?! The royal family.”
“Love in the royal family? That’s quite the most ironic thing I have ever heard you say.”
Before Cadance could even say a word, Blueblood walked past her and left her alone with her thoughts.
Standing alone in the hallway, Cadance’s anger slowly subsided as it was replaced by sadness as she looked down. Her eyes turned moist as a myriad of images from the past flashed before her. Most of them pertaining to her cousin in his younger years.
Why did you rid yourself of your kindness, Blueblood?
Fanfiction is like coffee-- it's necessary to wake up to and you're always wanting more when you finish it. Good development in this chapter and I'm left wanting more.
Twilight Sparkle sure is thick headed and naive, but she means no harm. She just made Princess Celestia realize she had fail in all form as the older sister to protect her younger sister, worse yet, she unjustly punished her when she sent her innocent sister to the Moon for a thousands of years.
First Princess Celestia didn't pay attention of Luna's depression when their subject were ignoring her. Second, she failed to notice that a parasite had latched on her sister, instead assuming wrongly that her sister had only become jealous and angry because their subject loved Princess Celestia but ignored the younger princess. Finally, instead of using the Elements of Harmony to cleanse her younger sister of the parasite, like the new bearers did, she sends her to the moon for those thousand of years. The parasite still latch on her sister and feed on her emotions.
Here's the other thing, that explains why Princess Celestia no longer could control the Elements of Harmony, the Elements of Harmony some way knew the truth and the Princess used them to do more harm than good. So Princess Celestia was perplexed why she could no longer yield the element. Did she used them to fight evil? She was probably thinking it wasn't all her fault what happened, most was her sister for being unreasonable and jealous and letting it take control over her. It was just a simple case of solving their minor differences when she came back.
Now she knows the truth. She failed in all the sense of the word and her little sister is that way because of her. It is all her fault. And now would Luna ever forgive her foolish older sister? She has all the right to hate her guts.
P-p-p-p-parasite! He has a parasite that's going to eat at his emotions and then he will be Nightmare Blueballs!
Hmmmm... yeah, I think I see why Princess Celesita could be very upset, mostly thanks to DeerHunter's post through I don't agree fully with it... nor do I think Celestia had full control over the elements.
As for Prince Blueblood, what did happen to him... is the parasite infecting him as well?
Whoa. Something must have happened to Blueblood to turn him into the stuck up, arrogant, cold hearted pony that he is now. I wonder what though.
Also, the direction that Rainbow Dash seems to be taking is starting to make me worry a little bit. I understand that she is really angry for what Fluttershy did to herself, which was indirectly caused by the Elements of Harmony curing Luna of Nightmare Moon. However, Rainbow's blaming of Luna for everything is starting to get out of hand...er...hoof. I just hope that she comes to her senses soon before something bad happens.
On a lighter note, I glad that they were able to find out exactly what happened to Luna thousands of years ago. However, the way Celestia acted once this knowledge was revealed, was startling to say the least. I think I know why she acted in that way though. Now that Celestia knows this, she is taking a ride on the proverbial guilt train. She is feeling guilty, realizing that she banished her sister to the moon, who had no sort of control over her own body. Poor Tia.
Very interesting turn of events and I look forward to further development of this story.
~ Super-Brony12
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Oh, please. To be Prince Blueballs he would first have to have balls.
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That sure helped me understand a bit more of what happened here without having to contemplate it for the rest of the night. Celestia knows I'll do that anywho but now I have somewhere to start the contemplating.
// Sphex
Oh Luna! I just can't wait until you get better! also, I love the nightmare parasite idea! Poor Luna, I think I'd be completely catatonic too if I had no control over my body either
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Well, the parasite idea is pretty much how it is in the offical comics.
3209842
I don't read the comics so I wouldn't know Still enjoying the story though!
Even though I was a bit skeptic about reading this chapter today since I wanted to continue Past Sins, I was left with a (somewhat) satisfied hunger and new information to keep my mind preoccupied.
It was a pretty good way to continue it, and I liked how you added "The Nightmares" to this. Now, I've never read the comic that supposedly this originated from, but I can honestly say that I'm willing to take some time to search for it (Really hope it does exist).
There were a few more mistakes that plagued this chapter more than the others, but it didn't really bug me, so good job!
~Tempered Metal
3209327 Well to be fair, I suppose from RD's perspective, they don't know for certain that Luna was possessed, all she knows is that because of "Luna's" actions, Fluttershy was hurt (indirectly), so she's trying to protect her friend.
I think Rainbow has the parasite now
So....can we kill Blueblood now? Damn, poor Fluttershy, how tragic, glad she's gaining her confidence back though, Pinkie getsannoying sometimes but she has a good heart Though it would be nice to see more serious sometimes, I really liked the start of this chapter, Celestia reading bedtime stories to Luna, how cute Aw shit, Spike is hanging out with the CMC, this is going to end badly, TO THE BATMOBILE!!
okay so the parasite might have some new targets to latch onto?
Okay, RD, now you're just being irrational. Even if the first thing Luna does on Fluttershy's arrival is spring out of bed and try to murder her, technically, that's still a good thing. It means Luna isn't locked in anymore. The likelihood of that problem solving itself anytime soon is... minimal.
As for Blueblood - here, he does seem to be a bit of a jerk. He could simply be having a bad day, however.
That said, even if he is having a bad day, what he says about Celestia is indicative of some serious underlying problems
If I were to start planting epileptic trees, I would say that, extrapolating from his comments regarding being pranked, he has been the subject of a long term campaign by Celestia, due to the fact that he is family, and therefore the only person she can prank without fear of political/sociological/diplomatic repercussions. He has viewed this as a bullying campaign, rather than mere fun, and so nurtures a hatred for Celestia, which is tempered by either genuine duty, or by an understanding that she is popular to the _rest_ of Equestria, and so he is unable to badmouth her to any but his closest friends.
The campaign of terror against his person has left him wary of her, and now that the majority of her time has been freed from Royal obligations, he is getting increasingly paranoid about what she is planning for him.
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I'mma have to disagree with you. Certainly, Celestia hasn't lived up to the filial ideal, but you can hardly say she is a complete failure as a sister.
The level of awareness you request of her is more suited to caring for a young child - prior to the Banishment, Luna was considered perfectly capable of ruling the nation as Celestia's equal. To observe such a pony as closely as you desire would either smother her, or violate her trust - both, I might add, failures wholly attributable to Celestia, whereas the current situation splits the blame.
But let's look at the points you raise.
Your first point fails. Celestia does not control the flow of public opinion. If she did, she would be a tyrant, and a failure as a ruler. If she took action directly, it would be her solving her sister's problems for her - a trap elder siblings should try not to fall into, as it is detrimately for the shielded party. The most she could have done in that situation would have been to give Luna moral support.
Your second point also fails. We have no reason to believe that Celestia was even aware of this parasite's existence - how then, can we expect her to look for evidence of it? Moreover, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation already present, one which she could not resolve herself without becoming either a tyrant, or an overbearing big sister. Why look beyond the obvious explanation when there is no evidence to suggest that it is incorrect?
Your third point, as it builds off your second, also fails. When faced with a person who has plunged a nation into civil war, and is attempting to not only usurp your throne, but is threatening the lives of all your subjects, there is precisely one obvious solution.
Celestia could not do that _because_ it was her sister, and so opted to banish her to the moon for a thousand years.
Your final point is flawed also. The M6 had less knowledge than Celestia did, and precisely no experience wielding the Elements. How on earth would they know to cleanse the parasite, instead of killing or simply just re-banishing her?
Your follow-up theory then supposes that Celestia lost control of the Elements because they are sentient, but allowed themselves to be used for evil (thereby apportioning themselves some of the blame). Which quite clearly doesn't work, as, if the Elements were partially to blame, why would they break contact with a pony doing the best she can on the best information she can?
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-Nightmare Celestia: World over. Thank you for playing.
-Nightmare Cadance: "NO MORE HEARTS AND HOOVES DAY FOREVER MORE!" I could learn to live with that.
-Nightmare Fluttershy: "THE PETTING ZOO IS CLOSED! IF, UH... THAT'S NOT TOO MUCH TROUBLE, I MEAN". Even as a demon from hell she's still adorable.
-Nightmare Blueblood: ...
... why am I suddenly overcome with a nearly uncontrollable urge to laugh 'til I piss myself?
3211464
Celestia didn't need to influence or change public opinion. That's why i didn't mentioned about public opinion because that wasn't the issue. What she failed was to give her sister support, explain things to her, and comfort her. That change will come and the ponies, being a primitive people as it seem in the story, in that time were still afraid of the star filled night sky. That is where Celestia failed. She failed to pay attention to Luna's depression.
That she didn't noticed or was aware of the existence of the parasite could be true there was no indication that she knew. But there is that underlying issue that Luna seemed to be possessed since she aged and acquired the dragon eyes, plus her the increase of her powers. Didn't that tipped her off?
The Elements of Harmony are able to choose their bearers, so they seem capable of awareness to do so, and rejecting Celestia. The Elements of Harmony were never to blame anything nor were they made to do evil, they simply repelled Nightmare Moon and banished her to the Moon because Luna essentially became evil by bringing disharmony and harm to the ponies. But they did not destroy her.
After Luna was banished to the Moon, the Elements now rejected Celestia because she allowed these events to take place. In part it was her fault that disharmony fell on the lands. Hence why i consider the Elements of Harmony do have some form of sentience.
My brother thinks I'm nut that I'm passionately arguing over a cartoon.
Ha, I knew she was posessed!
Congratulations Twilight, you've proved once more how oblivious and insensitive you are. (not purposely, but still) Celestia now has every right to feel bad about what she did to her sister. (I am not sadistic, I actually feel sorry for both of them.)
Really curious what the deal with Prince Bluebrat is, would be cool if we could get a look in Cadence's and Bluey's past together, sounds like they grew up kinda like siblings.
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So, you're arguing that Celestia failed by _deliberately ignoring_ her sister's depression? Or by merely not noticing it?
Either way, what can Celestia do? She is a constat reminder of the reason her sister is depressed - attempting to comfort her could easily make the situation worse.
As for not noticing it - I again say they were both full grown mares responsible enough to be entrusted with governing a nation. In such a situation, even if Celestia _did_ notice there was something up, it is simple enough to assume that she trusts her sister to speak to her when she is ready - the only reason to broach the subject first is if she started failing in her duties.
Also, I would ask where you are getting this idea from. I don't recall anything pointing quite that conclusively towards Celestia's being at fault in the show.
As I understand the story, the physical changes only manifest when the Nightmare has acheived complete control. As such, it is impossible to detect the parasite before it reaches the final stage of its infestation - the only defence is to attempt to ensure no pony is allowed to remain in a depression for an extended period of time.
Okay, so you are claiming the Elements are not blaming Celestia for banishing her sister, but for allowing the situation to progress to a point where that became necessary? The reasoning behind that is ... shaky. The blame in that situation can be assigned to a very large number of people, and no single one can be apportioned a large enough amounnt to justify claiming that _they_ are responsible. Even if Celestia was fully aware of Luna's depresssion, and the reasoning behind it, a normal depression would have resolved itself, without her interference, eventually. The situation only escalated as it did because there was an unknown factor whispering dark thoughts into Luna's head whilst she was most vulnerable. Reasonably, the Nightmare should take the majority of the blame here, anyway, and the Elements, being alive, and responsible for throwing Luna to the moon, should know of this.
That said, if the Elements _are_ sentient, they carry a large chunk of blame for this current situation. They had the ability to eliminate the Nightmare a thousand years ago, but instead chose to banish it to the moon. When used again a thousand years later, they now eliminate the Nightmarre, but it it is too late for Luna, who by this point has completely forgotten how _her own body_ works.
Not only that, but by choosing to banish the Nightmare, the Elements are directly responsible for the emotional torment inflicted on both Sisters in the period immediately following. That's three seperate acts of great evil, and it can't even be argued that they were 'for the greater good', as a better way existed in each case, a way the Elements were perfectly capable of acheiving.
Finally, you're not 'arguing over a cartoon', you're 'exercising your critical thinking ability', whilst also polishing up on your debating. That the subject of the debate is relatively unimportant simply makes it better practice for the time whenn it _is_ important. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
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I see. You do raise a valid point there. Only Twilight, Spike, possibly Zecora, and Celestia are the only ones that know that Luna was being mind controlled by a parasite. The others have no idea about that tid bit yet.
Here's hoping that RD and the others find out about this soon. Rainbow Dash especially, as she needs to realize that Luna had no control over the actions that were enacted by Nightmare Moon.
~ Super-Brony12
The Nightmare is in Fluttershy!!!!!
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DING DING DING DING DING!!!
There's the entire story right there. I say in three chapters, we'll have a Nightmare Fluttershy.
This is so cleverly written (at least definitely for the "Nightmare" bit) So i'm sensing that you're writing in the direction of the so called parasite infecting one of the other ponies, and i'm absolutely sure it will be Fluttershy if that is the case. However i like this game of Roulette you're playing with us. And you're theory for why Luna has no control of her own body is also a very good one, well thought through I think.
I'm worried that "The Nightmare" may already be controlling Fluttershy, as i'm curious as to why she would want to see Luna at all at the moment, my theory is that potentially there could be a Re-possession threat here by Flutters getting close to Luna. Though i may be completely wrong, in which case i'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!
3212097 Nightmare Rarity: Same as Nightmare Blueblood.
-Not in the mood for deep commenting right now... did find my comments useful or interesting?
“Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy initiated the legendary ‘Stare’ on Rainbow, who fell on her haunches at the sight of the new eyes. “Please don’t speak badly about the princess like that.”
-I was about to say that she won't/can't use that in her own defense, but now I get it.
I believe either Fluttershy or Blueblood are possessed by the Nightmare now.
Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie as though she had transformed into a giant insect.
-[joke]Well, it IS true that "all she needs is a smile, smile, smile, from these happy friends of mine". Pinkie Pie is best Changeling. [/joke]
She's a grown fucking adult...
Read her Shakespeare, Wilde, Camus, Pen Stroke...
That eliminates all of Luna's complexity, as a character.
I almost quit reading right there, but if she's just going to be baggage, and the story is going to be about everyone else's character development, then I guess it's too early to abandon ship.
Pie
_______________
yup Parasite route. lost me.
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I think the deal maybe that when a single person tries to use the elements, it does not work right, that is why Celastia left the duty of using it to the harmony 6, so it does work right.
The nightmare moved into flutter shy?
oh my god, im having those 'AskLoona' Flashbacks