Chapter 5
Luna disappeared out the door without another word, her countenance wavering. Twilight made to go after her, but Applejack mutely held her back by putting her forehooves on her tail.
Winter Sun was the first to move after the door had closed, heading behind the counter to fill up another set of seven wooden cups of cider. This time Twilight Sparkle did not make so much as a token protest. The only pony who didn't eagerly grab a cup was Rarity, who donned her hat and excused herself to take a walk to 'clear her head'. Luna had, yet again, disappeared without so much as commenting on Blueblood. Twilight couldn’t make herself resent her for it this time, though.
Two hours later, the pub looked much like it had when they had first arrived earlier in the evening. Wooden cups adorned every table, much of the floor, and, as part of something Rainbow Dash had been itching to try for a long time, a cyan pegasus' wings.
"How do you do it?" the rainbow maned mare asked as she lost the two cups she'd been trying to carry. Fluttershy yelped as she got drenched in cider. This all earned a giggle from Winter Sun who was currently strutting around the limited floorspace with no less than twelve wooden cups on her wings. The 'practice sessions' were doing a very good job of keeping the cider flowing, and Twilight appreciated the escape from her own mind. She didn’t want to think right now.
"Years of practice! It's the same muscle set you use on the upbeat, but it's more about stamina. I'm not a very strong flier. Heck, I think I'm a worse flier for having done this for so long!" Winter Sun explained.
"Still awesome!" Dash declared, grinning at Winter.
"Hey sugarcube, something Ah've been wonderin' about," Applejack began as she sidled up to Twilight and stole her attention away from the pegasi. "Luna left here after sundown, didn't she? Or, Ah mean, after moonrise."
"Oh yeah," Twilight said, frowning as she tried to remember. She was feeling a little light-headed. "She'll be back before we wake up though, I'm sure." She giggled as she accepted another cup from. "Very sure!"
The farmpony grabbed another cup from the pegasus cider patrol that passed by and downed it almost as an afterthought. "Uh huh. But see, ain't she supposed to be raisin' the moon?"
"Oh! Oh. No, she's super good with that, I don't even think it's like, magic," Twilight explained with a superior grin. She knew something Applejack didn’t. "You see, back at the inn..."
Pinkie Pie happened to choose that moment to cartwheel by, giggling madly. For a second, Pinkie met Twilight's eyes, and while she was most certainly smiling, it triggered a series of unpleasant memories related to secrets and the invasion of privacy. She and Dash hadn't actually Pinkie Pie sworn on saying nothing of what they'd seen, but the very thought sobered her up a bit. "Uh, actually, never mind," Twilight finished lamely.
Applejack raised an eyebrow, but didn't press the issue. Twilight sighed in relief.
"Aw, I wish we had some music or something to make this a real party!" Pinkie Pie said with a pout, lying on her belly over Rainbow Dash's back. Rainbow Dash had evidently just fallen asleep on the floor. "You know, like, some real entertainment! Not that I'm not the best entertainment anypony could possibly ever ask for, but you know, look at what I've got to work with!" The party pony poked Rainbow Dash on the flank and was rewarded with a groan.
"Entertainment," Twilight repeated, squinting and hunting for an elusive idea that almost managed to dodge behind a cider cup before she seized it. "Wait! Winter!"
The white pegasus looked over at her from behind the counter, frowning. "I think I'm gonna have to get a new cask from the cellar, actually, Twilight. Do you mind helping me?"
"Yes- no, wait, I mean, not that! You said that somepony had rented a room weeks ago? Or did I imagine that? Or was that Pinkie Pie?" She’d said it. The question was out in the open, and she no longer had to cling to it to remember it. Twilight sighed a sigh of disproportionate relief.
"Oh, yes. An entertainer. Oh hey, I wish she'd been here now! Uh, but she'd kinda kill the mood. Well, okay, I guess the mood is sort of dying anyway." Winter Sun giggled as she watched Pinkie Pie and Applejack carry Rainbow Dash upstairs, only to return a moment later. Fluttershy hadn't moved in a while, sitting in a corner by herself staring at a cider cup.
"Tell me everything!" Twilight blurted. "Important! Business with the crown. Of the crown. Whatever." This made the still fairly sober Winter Sun raise an eyebrow but she flew over to sit on top of the counter, sending a few empty mugs flying.
"Sure! She was a bright unicorn mare who came into town two weeks ago. Entertainers don't really do well here, because, um, I don't know if you've noticed, but the ponies here aren't exactly the type to appreciate a good comedy. Or even a fancy show."
Twilight frowned. "Bright? What color?"
Winter Sun blushed a little. "I don't know."
Blinking, Twilight tilted her head a little, almost spearing Applejack with her horn. The other ponies were taking an interest in the conversation, now. All except Fluttershy, who was still staring forlornly into her cup. "Didn't you just say she stayed here at your inn?" Twilight asked.
"I'm color blind," Winter Sun explained with a bemused smile.
"Ooh, how many hooves am I holding up?" Pinkie Pie asked, holding up both her hooves and smiling with intense delight. Twilight facehoofed.
"Color blind. It means she can't see colors, Pinkie," Twilight explained, making Pinkie nod in understanding, gravely serious for a split-second before she suddenly gasped.
"But, if she can't see pink, how will she know who I am and where I am? Oh no! Can you see me Winter? I'm heeere!" Pinkie waved frantically with both her forehooves, making the white pegasus giggle. Twilight had to admit it was, at the very least, one way of preventing an awkward moment. Winter Sun didn’t seem quite so ill at ease now.
Applejack grabbed Pinkie Pie by the tail and dragged her off to explain and calm her down, the pink pony giggling and offering no complaint.
"Anyway," Twilight said with a little chuckle. "Did she perform here? Her name began with a P, right?"
"Oh. Yeah, Phoenix. How'd you know?" Winter asked, raising a brow as she produced a ledger from beneath the counter. She opened it on the first page with reverent care. "Do you know her?"
"No," Twilight admitted. "I just heard of her and guessed. Truth be told, we're looking for somepony else. A blue unicorn, and Phoenix is red. What's that?" she asked, pointing at the book.
"Well, er, I like keeping a tidy business, so I have a little ledger that I ask visitors to sign when they rent a room. Would you mind signing later?" Winter asked. Twilight shrugged and nodded.
Indeed, on the first and second pages, a number of names were written in different styles, all identifying the tenants and listing the duration of their stay. Two score names were all the book offered. If these were all the visitors she'd seen in half a year, the inn side of her establishment wasn't going very well at all. Twilight looked at the recent-most names, scanning for anything remotely familiar as she read aloud.
"Ocean Breeze, Sunbeamer, Princess Celestia- wait, what?" Twilight looked up, meeting an even gaze from Winter Sun.
"No, not the real one. Sometimes, it's best not to ask, okay? It's not like I'm required by law to maintain this."
"Right. Green Sand, Potato Chip, Lovedthecider, and last, Phoenix, who stayed for four days it says here?"
"Mm. Who are you looking for? Maybe I can help?" Winter Sun closed the ledger and carefully put it back in its place.
"Trixie," Fluttershy suddenly said, hiccuping loudly in her corner of the room before going still again. Apparently, she was literally looking for answers in the bottom of her cup. Twilight had seen Fluttershy deep in her cider a few times before, and it invariably looked like this. It was one of the many reasons they were partial to sticking with sarsaparilla during Pinkie’s parties.
With a sigh and a shake of the head at Fluttershy, Twilight continued. "Trixie, yes, of the Great and Powerful Kind." She counted off two seconds on her hooves, and on the third there was a snort from Applejack behind her. It was almost comforting to know that when Trixie's name was mentioned, Applejack would react thus without fail.
"Oh, her!" Winter Sun beamed. "Funny you should mention it, actually. And she's so much fun." The pegasus smiled at some memory and giggled.
Twilight blinked. "What, you know her?!" It had come out a lot louder than she'd intended, and she covered her mouth with a hoof. "Sorry."
"Oh, well, she travelled by Grazeland twice, and I went to see her shows both times. She was really good! So many pretty explosions, so much fun!"
Disappointed, Twilight nodded sluggishly. "Ah, that makes sense. We just thought she might have travelled south, but I guess that's not-" The unicorn paused, suddenly dizzy. She fervently wished she'd thought to eat something. "That's not very likely," she continued. "Since there seems to be all of two entertainers travelling Southern Equestria at the moment, and of the two, the one who's a unicorn mare is the wrong color."
Winter Sun looked thoughtful. Twilight, figuring their conversation was concluded, walked over to where Applejack and Pinkie Pie were building a tower out of empty cups. As she watched, Pinkie Pie added another cup on top of their ramshackle construction. It was nearly as tall as a pony, and it looked like the tower would fall. Twilight very subtly steadied it with magic without either of the earth ponies noticing.
"Actually," Winter Sun said, coming up at her side. “I think she did come by here two weeks ago after all.” The white pegasus was sipping from a cup of water she balanced on a wing in an act of freakish flexibility.
The tower exploded, the cups scattering in a burst of purple light. Drunken magic was volatile magic. Applejack yelped as a cup bounced off her forehead leaving a painful welt. "Say what?" Twilight blurted.
"I think Phoenix is Trixie. I didn't think about it before now, but I'm fairly sure. Many ponies know of Trixie, especially in smaller places since travelling entertainers kinda make rounds of Equestria, you know? Perhaps others can be thrown off by a little color change, but not me!" She gave Twilight a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Her hair was the same, even if it was shorter. She was a lot thinner, too, but I'm still surprised I didn't see it sooner."
Rarity came back in through the door at that very moment. She took one look at the room, sniffed, and gave a mighty frown. "Are you inebriated? Eugh, this is positively disgusting!"
Applejack groaned. The way she and Pinkie Pie were all too literally buried in empty cups probably did not help Rarity's first impression along.
"Phoenix is Trixie!" Twilight exclaimed. She noticed her words were slurring a tiny bit, but she didn't care. The newly entered unicorn blinked and carefully picked her way through the embattled pub to come a little closer.
"Excuse me?" she asked, but Twilight just hushed her and focused on Winter Sun.
"Go on! Tell us!" Twilight ordered breathlessly. She had no idea how much of this was an earnest desire to find Trixie and how much was a cider-borne focus.
Realizing she'd been put on the spot, Winter Sun seemed a little nervous. "Um, right, no pressure, right? I'm no showpony!" Twilight nodded, as did the others.
"Sorry, just, how was she doing? What was she doing?" Twilight asked again, trying to sound less exited, but all she managed was an almost comically exaggerated whisper.
Winter Sun frowned. "Well, when I said it was funny you should mention it, it's because, um, because of the story that 'Phoenix' told, right? She told a story about Trixie. And what a story! When she came into town, she spoke to the elders- the Voice, that is, and explained that she was a storyteller with a cautionary tale of woe and despair. Her own words!" She shook her head a little in disbelief.
"That sounds odd," Rarity noted. "It doesn't fit with her personality to not take credit, does it? I mean, we are hardly experts on her, but she seemed to fit a type, would you not agree?"
Twilight nodded at this, something that was harder than she'd have liked. Bringing her head back up took effort. Why hadn't somepony invented a detox spell yet? "If she's boasting about Trixie, why not do it as Trixie?" She said.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie," Pinkie Pie said, gravely. "You have to say her full name!"
"Says who?" Challenged Applejack.
"Says I!" Pinkie Pie said, crossing her hooves and staring back at the farmpony. "Apple."
"What?" Applejack asked squinting at the pink pony who stayed miffed and silent. "Is it just me, or are you even more random when you've had a bit to drink?"
Pinkie Pie's reply was to touch a hoof to Applejack's nose, and that settled that. Winter Sun took this as her cue to go on, though she was still smiling at the exchange.
"She wasn't boasting, I told you. Woe and despair, right? She got permission to use the podium at the gathering place. She called it the second chapter of the Great and Powerful Trixie's 'fall'. When she announced it, I thought it'd be a bad idea. An entertainer doing a story about another entertainer?” Winter Sun shook her head. “At least, that’s what everypony thought it was. Besides, who the hay wants to hear chapter two when you haven't heard chapter one? Especially when she was gonna move on afterwards! I wanted to know how it ends."
The pegasus looked frustrated. "I still do, in fact. But anyway, it was good. I've heard a lot of stories back up in Grazeland, and I can tell a good story from a bad one. My family ran a huge inn, and we had lots of storytellers and stuff before everything went to the moon."
Sensing a story there, Twilight wanted to stop her and ask, but Winter Sun went on. "I can't tell you everything, of course. I mean, I don't remember it all, and you don't write down anypony else’s stories. Bad form, you know? It began with Trixie having left home seeking greatness. She was challenged every step of the road, but it wasn't anything special like you'd expect. Nothing about chimeras or dragons, just a tale of, hum, adversity?” Winter Sun nodded, apparently pleased with that word. “She was denied spots in magic schools because her parents wouldn't vouch for her. Got into bloody fights that were described in detail. It made her out to be frightened and lost, but determined to carve her own place in the world despite having nopony to, well, watch her flank."
The mere memory of the tale stirred something in Winter Sun, as much was apparent from the way her voice fell as she went. The pegasus shivered. "I thought and hoped it was just a tragic tale written to inspire, but this chapter didn't really end well. She eked out an existence as a street performer and returned home only to be scorned by her parents. Rather than let her help them out of relative squalor, they clung to some stupid notion of pride, and it all ended up in a great fight where Trixie thought she had mortally wounded her mother, and fled."
The room suddenly felt that much colder. "I- do you think it was all true?" Twilight asked.
Winter Sun looked unsure and a little frightened. "I don't want to think about it as truth. I don't retell the tale very well, I'm sure, but when she spoke, it was real enough. She didn't use a shred of magic in telling her tale, and I'd love to know why she's changed. If that's actually Trixie's past, I don't... Nopony should have to live with that."
"Have to live with what?" Applejack drawled. "If she's a murderer, how'n the moon does that make her the victim?"
"It's not always that simple, everypony can be a victim," Fluttershy muttered quietly, almost forgotten in her corner. She nursed her cup as if it were a loved pet. Applejack puffed out her cheeks but held her tongue.
Rarity walked over to sit by Fluttershy, slowly stroking her withers and doing an admirable job of keeping the disgusted crinkling of her nose very subtle. Fluttershy still hadn't washed since her cider bath.
"Where are all the other ponies, Winter?" Pinkie Pie asked suddenly. Winter Sun scratched a cheek and looked around.
"It's true, usually the pub's full by now. Aw horseapples, I really should clean up the place in case somepony does come by. Uh, I mean, paying customers." The pegasus groaned. "I don't even know what I'm saying, sorry."
Rarity chuckled as she got up, trying to get Fluttershy to do the same by nudging her. "Darling, you have a business to run. We will of course pay for the rooms as the Princess promised-"
"And Ah'll pay for the drink," Applejack added with a tip of her hat.
"-but we understand. Shall we retire for the evening, perhaps?" Rarity finished, looking at Pinkie and Twilight as Applejack went upstairs.
"Aw, if you want to hang with the grumpy ponies instead, that's your loss!" Pinkie Pie giggled and bounced up the stairs, leaving Twilight to help coax Fluttershy up the stairs. After trying begging, pleading, asking, demanding and dragging the intensely depressed and unhelpful pony Twilight gave up and simply levitated Fluttershy, carrying her upstairs. The pegasus pony said nothing, not even when Twilight banged her head against the roof by accident.
In the end, nopony wanted to split up from the others after the revelations of the evening. Though the single bed was slightly smaller than Twilight's own bed back in Ponyville, the five ponies ended up in the same little room where Rainbow Dash was currently sleeping. The chromatic pegasus was on her back and had every leg and wing pointing in a different direction as if she was trying to cover the entire bed in as much Rainbow Dash as possible. As it turned out, she was doing a fantastic job of it. Every so often, one of her legs would twitch violently, making reclaiming the bed a dangerous task.
"Right," Twilight said, not quite sure what she meant by it. She sat down on a pillow in a corner and leaned back until her head hit the wall, horn pointing straight up at the ceiling. The wall rewarded the back of her head with a small splinter, but she didn’t even care.
"Quite," Rarity agreed, sitting down next to the now-sleeping Fluttershy on the floor and giving her a very worried look. She fished out a brush from her own saddlebags nearby and began brushing Fluttershy's mane.
"Uh-huh," Applejack pitched in as she closed the door very gently so as to not wake up either of the two sleeping pegasi, tossing the proverbial torch to Pinkie Pie.
"What are you guys talking about?" Pinkie asked. Twilight shook her head. The simple question sounded so profound to her that she must have been very far gone indeed. What were they talking about?
Twilight got up and climbed onto the bed, very carefully lifting one of Dash's wings away with her mouth so she could lay down, making herself as small as possible. She felt heavy and tired, and the second she lay down on the bed, she knew sweet oblivion was waiting for her around the corner. "I don’t have a clue, and I don't care. I don't understand anything or anypony and I just want to sleep," Twilight said with a weary sigh as she closed her eyes. There was some noise and movement near her as somepony scooted up to her side, but she had no idea who it was. Sleep claimed her within seconds.
Only to throw her right back out. Twilight snapped awake, but she felt even more tired than before. She was left only with a vague memory of a dream where the moon loomed close and pushed the stars out of the sky. It was still dark outside, and the only thing that saved the room from total darkness was a few slivers of moonlight through imperfectly mounted shutters. It felt like somepony had sprinkled salt in her eyes, and when she lit her horn, the added light was a murderous series of stabs through her skull.
"What the hay?" Twilight muttered quietly, looking around. In the faint illumination granted by her horn, she could see that Rainbow Dash was awake too, staring at the room's sole door. They waited in silence for a few seconds before there was a series of knocks. Twilight had no idea why she was holding her breath. Who could it be except Winter Sun or Princess Luna?
Rainbow Dash carefully extracted herself from the middle of the pony pile on the bed and jumped over to open the door. This stirred the rest of them awake, and there was a series of confused looks. As the door slid open a crack, Rainbow Dash came face to face with an unfamiliar unicorn stallion whose colors were hard to make out in the relative darkness. There were more ponies behind him, but they remained in shadow.
"You are the princess' escort?" asked the unicorn in a gravelly voice, putting a hoof forward so Rainbow Dash couldn't close the door. Applejack, now alert, hopped off the bed to stand at Rainbow Dash's side, effectively walling off the entrance.
"Escort? Sure, what's it to you, and who the hay are you?" Rainbow Dash challenged, her voice as dangerous as she could make it. Applejack widened her stance and looked grim.
"S’alright, Dash. Ah'm sure they mean no harm, despite how they're comin' off. That bein' as a bunch of skulking creeps knocking on ladies’ doors in the middle of the night," the powerfully built farm pony said. The unicorn stallion appeared a little nervous, glancing behind him.
"We mean you no harm. Please. We are trying to help. The moon princess is gone for the night, yes?" came the reply.
The ponies inside the room glanced at each other, but nopony interrupted or made a move to stop him from speaking. The stallion seemed pleased with this, and gave a small sigh of relief before continuing. "I can see you are all mares of reason. We are only trying to warn you. You do not know the creature you travel with. She is not who she says she is. She is not merely the sister of Princess Celestia. She is much less, and much more.”
Twilight suddenly found herself between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and she couldn't tell how she had gotten there. She must have used her magic to blink. The purple unicorn stared straight at the mysterious stranger in a wordless challenge, and he seemed taken aback.
"You do not understand!" The dark stallion's words were desperate now, his words coming faster and faster. "If you heard our elders speak- let me explain! The words of the Founders tell the story of what happened a thousand years ago, of the secrets we guard!"
"We are well aware," said Rarity calmly, getting up to stand behind Twilight. "The princess has given us the full tale, and we know everything. Everything on that subject, at least."
"You know? You carry with you the tale of her betrayal, yet you stand by her?" The eyes of the pony on the other side of the door grew wide. “Lunatics, all of you! You know what she did, you know what she could do again, and you stay by her side?! She has fed you a false tale or poisoned your minds!”
Rainbow Dash snarled. It was a feral sound from the back of her throat that made even Twilight back off a little. Applejack did not move an inch, still staring at the strange pony. It was Pinkie Pie who spoke up, though, peeking her head out from under the covers on the bed. "You don't think a thousand years cooped up in the moon was enough? She’s all better now!"
"Exile for an immortal as a trade for near genocide? We still live with what she did. We are still in exile here," the stallion spat vehemently.
"More pain won't change anything," Fluttershy said softly, half-hiding behind her mane. "I mean, um, I’m sure nopony hates Grey Hollows and its ponies, but you're still angry with everypony else. Maybe it's time to let it go and move on?"
"Move on? You don't know what you're talking about!" the stallion yelled and there was a murmur from the shadows behind him. Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to give the unicorn a taste of her hooves, but he seemed to pick up on that, and backed away with a growl of his own. "You are not welcome here." Those last words lingered as multiple sets of hooves disappeared downstairs and out, their mysterious visitors vacating the premises. The pall of menace that hung over the room did not leave with them, and the silence stretched on.
"Well, that wasn’t quite as cozy as a meteor shower. You know, when it comes to stuff to lose sleep over at night," Twilight finally remarked. “Close, though.”
"Why are they so angry?" Fluttershy asked, looking thoroughly saddened. "It won't help at all. They’re hurt just as bad as Luna, but she’s not trying to stop it, and they’re not trying to stop it either." The yellow pegasus caressed an empty cider cup she had somehow managed to conceal while they brought her to bed.
"And who are they? Do their elders know of this visit, do you think?" Rarity asked. "And where is Winter Sun? I mean, visitors on our door in the middle of the night? Not very polite!"
Applejack perked up at this and immediately tore the door fully open, galloping downstairs. Seeing her haste, Rainbow Dash darted after her without question, and the other ponies followed suit, tackling the narrow staircase with reckless speed.
Downstairs, where they had been socializing earlier, they found Winter Sun on the floor by the bar with a huge lump on her head. Applejack had an ear to her muzzle, listening intently while she rested one hoof on the limp pegasus' neck. She waved for the others to be quiet, and got up a moment later, looking relieved. "She's still breathin'."
Fluttershy hurried back upstairs declaring she would get her saddlebags, dropping her pet cup on the floor in her haste.
"Okay, that's it, they're going down!" Rainbow Dash said, taking off and darting for the door. Seeing that nopony else would be able to stop her in time, Twilight held the door fast with a burst of telekinesis, jamming it. The pegasus crashed against the door and sank to the ground with a resounding whump.
"Medic," Rainbow Dash groaned as she tried to get back up, but Fluttershy ignored her, intently focused on making sure Winter Sun was going to be alright. Twilight fixed Dash with a stare.
"Haven't you been listening?” Twilight said, stomping the floor with a forehoof. “We don't know who did this, and we can't take on the whole town, even if we wanted to!" The burst of anger was wildly misplaced, and tired as she was, she knew she wasn't angry at Dash so much as she was frustrated with the whole situation. She turned around to look at where Fluttershy was carefully bandaging Winter Sun's head. The sight of the wounded pony did nothing to calm her down.
"The best we can do now is wait for the princess and explain to her what happened. She'll know what to do," Twilight concluded, sitting down. It was a terrible thing, feeling impotent.
Applejack didn't look entirely convinced. "You sure we should tell her, Twi'? She's a bit odd, that one. Ah ain't sayin' she's going to put the town to the torch or somethin', but as Fluttershy says, more violence won't bring anypony back. Might be the best would be to just up and leave."
"She said she's not here as Princess Snooty!" Pinkie Pie protested. "She said she's here unofficially and stuff! And besides, when she failed to declare her visit as official and specifically noted that it was an informal one instead, it would be hard to justify a political response, such as taking pre-emptive martial action!"
There was a round of blinking and staring. “How-?” Twilight sputtered.
Pinkie Pie shrugged. "I read a book once! Or, well, Neighton’s Laudable Lexicon of Law fell on me once, I guess. But it was open, and fell words-first! It was good."
"I see. I think,” Twilight said. “I don't think that really matters now, and this is where we're meant to meet the princess at any rate, isn’t it? We can’t just run off without her."
Applejack fixed her with a no-nonsense look. "You really trust her, don't you, Twi'?" she asked.
"I trust her judgment, at the very least, and I don't see why we should protect strange ponies who mean her harm," Twilight replied, trying to maintain her calm.
Rarity glared at Applejack. "It's a sensible point, and the princess hasn’t given us any cause to not trust her, has she?" the fashionista shot.
Applejack merely nodded, satisfied. “If you trust her, then Ah’ll make an effort to do the same,” she said to the two of them, and Twilight smiled back at her, glad for the support.
Twilight loved all her friends dearly, but she didn't think any of them were qualified to decide how to respond to these hostilities, especially since it was aimed at Luna and not them. If she didn’t trust her friends with this, she trusted herself least of all. When she had faced the unicorn stallion earlier, her primary instinct had been to take him apart with her magic and it had taken all her focus to stay her hoof. It was a terrible realization.
Winter Sun stirred a moment later, staring up at Fluttershy who cradled her head. "Eurgh, my head! I swear, I didn't even touch the shadow cider."
"No, you got knocked out by creepy ponies who hate Luna," Rainbow Dash said with enviable succinctness even as she inched closer to Fluttershy. Dash pointed to her head where a small lump had begun to form after her impact on the magically reinforced door.
Fluttershy wordlessly fished out a salve from her saddlebags and set to work on the second patient of the evening. Twilight hoped it would be her last patient of the day.
"What? No! Oh horseapples, why do I always get mixed up with the crazy ponies?" Winter looked all around the room trying to get her bearings. "Half a year without a single incident, and now this?"
Twilight scratched the back of her neck, a little confused. "Uh. Sorry? What happened? Do you remember anything?"
Winter took a deep breath. "Um, I don't mean to say you're crazy, that wasn't what I meant to say, though I guess I said it.” She blushed and chuckled weakly before going on. “And yeah, well, a couple of stallions and some mares came by. I told them that I had closed for the evening, and, well, they asked to see ‘the princess’ party’. I said you were asleep, and they didn’t really want to take no for an answer, and then it gets a bit hazy so yeah. I can add two and two together. Anyway, um, are you okay? Is the princess okay?"
Pinkie Pie almost looked disappointed at the suggestion that they were, in fact, possibly not crazy. Applejack helped Winter to her feet, nodding as she explained. "We're all okay, though Ah reckon' we got us a bit of a fright, too. How're you feelin'?"
"Alive!" Winter said with a broad smile just as the door to the inn opened and a tired-looking Luna entered. The princess of the night raised an eyebrow at the state of things in the inn, frowning at the scattered cups, the smell, the two bandaged pegasi and Fluttershy's medical supplies spread out on the floor before her.
"I appreciate that you believe in living in the moment, but you should consider going to bed soon if we are to leave at first light tomorrow," Luna said without any trace of humor. Twilight had underestimated how happy she would be to see that the princess was alright, and struggled to keep herself from running over to her. It was made easier by the fact that the floor seemed to wobble a little for some reason.
"Actually, I think we have bigger problems, princess," Twilight said, swallowing.
After the events following Luna's departure had been explained in full, the princess was quiet for a short while. The tale had been short, but Pinkie's miming and Rainbow Dash's sound effects had expanded a little upon it, especially when it came to their daring 'confrontation' with the proselytizers. Winter, in particular, seemed very anxious about the wait for an answer, and Twilight soon realized why as the second to pick up on it. There was a commotion outside, and one by one, the ponies’ ears perked up.
"It is clear we have to leave right away," Luna said to nopony's surprise. "You are of course free to come with us, Winter Sun." The pegasus pony just nodded at the mention of her name and trotted behind the bar desk.
"Ooh, yay!" Pinkie Pie cheered, though was the only one to do so.
"Do you not have a business to maintain here, Winter Sun?" Rarity asked, though she sounded very uncertain.
"I did," Winter replied, surfacing with a stack of three books on her back, supported by her wings. Around her neck she had a pouch that jingled with the noise of hard currency. "But I don’t like the way things are going here. I can’t live in a place where that kind of anger’s just beneath the surface. Or, well, it’s not really beneath the surface anymore, is it?" She gestured to her bandaged head.
"It's hardly fair that you lose your establishment over this!" Rarity complained.
“Yeah, well, like, what can you do? Not your fault, not my fault, and if it’s the hundreds of angry violent ponies’ fault, you tell them, I won’t. Besides, it’s a new record for me, I think! Half a year! My last inn burned down after two months.” Winter Sun almost sounded cheerful.
"Speakin’ of hundreds of angry ponies," Applejack said from the other side of the room where she was peeking out a window. "There's a lot of angry ponies out there, and they got torches."
Twilight and the others rushed up to the window in a near-stampede that shook the floor. Pressing their faces to the glass, they could see what Applejack had seen. A semicircle of ponies stood outside, many of which held torches in their mouths or levitated them with magic. More ponies arrived by the second.
"We should go," Luna repeated, still standing in the middle of the room. "Now."
"Can’t you simply blink us all out of here with magic?" Rarity asked, eyes still nervously glued to the spectacle outside.
"I could, but I fear that if they do not see us leave, they might set fire to the building or do something equally irrational." As she spoke, the princess was already moving towards the door. She had her mask back on, or at least, that's what Twilight had begun thinking of her expression as. A mask.
"They wouldn't..." Twilight said, running through the scenario in her mind, even though she didn't believe her own protest for one second.
"I hope you are right," Luna said, pausing before the door. Her tone was the spoken equivalent of steel, each word weighted. "Yet, I do not want to take the chance. Stay close to me and you will be safe. I promise you this. None of you will suffer for my failures."
"Who cares?" Rainbow Dash finally said, even as the door was magicked open. "I mean, if they're dumb enough to torch the place while we're gone, so what?"
"Rainbow Dash. The entire town is built of wood, and the streets are narrow. The entire city will burn." Twilight shuddered at the thought. "It's madness."
Dash paled, her wings drooping to the floor. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not, but I hope I’m wrong, too,” Twilight retorted.
The princess waited until they had all swiftly collected their saddlebags before she stepped out into the open. Her dark coat shimmered in the torchlight provided by the mob. There were jeers and insults, and more than one cry of 'for the fathers!', but nopony dared to take a step forward. Twilight and Fluttershy followed as close to Luna's flanks as they could get, with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity one step behind. Applejack and Winter Sun brought up the rear.
Without breaking step, prompted by Luna, the entourage marched straight at the crowd and towards the middle of the road. Reluctantly, the crowd parted, but not before another wave of insults was hurled at them. 'Betrayer.' 'Murderer.' 'Go back to the moon!' Twilight's heart sank at the hatred directed towards them. Towards Luna. While she herself had done nothing to these ponies, she couldn't but feel as if the anger was directed at her too, merely by association.
As they reached the road, a tiny bright green colt with a yellow mane barred their way, glaring at Luna with such intense hatred that Twilight's step almost faltered. She had never before seen a colt or a filly wearing such a dark expression. The princess was not thus deterred, and it looked as if she would trample the little pony until he darted off at the very last second, crying.
On the road and past the majority of the crowd, Luna marched straight south. She glanced backwards every now and then to make sure everypony was following, but she never stopped. She needn't have worried. Everypony stuck as close as was possible without tripping each other. The crowd followed them every step of the way and seemed to grow, still. Ponies appeared in the windows above them only to sneer and curse. 'You should have died, too.' 'We will never forget!'
The first stone was cast before they were halfway out of town. The ever-louder mob finally resorted to flinging rocks and other objects, but right before the first projectile would have struck Fluttershy on the flank, it evaporated in a burst of dark magic. A faint shadow of un-light clung to Princess Luna's horn now. Without fail, every time something would have hit Luna or any of the other ponies, the objects disappeared with an angry hiss of magic.
Twilight was so intently watching the phenomenon that it took her a little while to realize that amidst the shouts and roars of the crowd there was another distinct noise right by her side. It was Fluttershy, the yellow mare sniffling, trying to hold back tears and failing. Twilight exhaled deeply before giving her friend a wry smile. "Not quite the sightseeing tour we wanted, is it?"
Fluttershy's mouth twitched as she tried so very hard to smile, but ultimately she gave up and looked away. "I just don't understand why they're all still so angry. Nopony deserves this. And it's not just hurting Luna. They're all hurting, too." A rock whizzed over their heads and evaporated before it could hit an earth pony in the crowd on the opposite side.
"Yeah," Twilight agreed lamely, not sure how much she wanted to discuss this within earshot of Luna herself. The purple unicorn knew she was perhaps not as idealistic as Fluttershy, but it was hard to see and agree with a point of view that currently expressed itself as a lynching mob out for blood not five strides to your side.
Despite the relatively small size of the town, it felt like hours before they finally reached the end of the valley that was Grey Hollows. Every step of the way they were pelted with insults and rocks, and the press of ponies with bared teeth only grew and grew. Twilight could have sworn she saw the gleam of metal in the crowd, but suddenly they were out. The buildings finally gave way, and the purple unicorn breathed easier.
Before them lay a few large farms, and beyond that, the forest and the night sky waited. The mob gave no indication that it intended to part with them, though. If anything, they pressed on harder, mere hoofbreadths away from the party. Twilight imagined she could smell the collective breath of the entire crowd.
They made it halfway past the farms when Luna suddenly halted. The last words hurled at them hung in the air still, and time seemed frozen. ‘You’ll never be free from the Nightmare! You’re the real Nightmare, slayer!’
The speaker, a young earth pony mare, stood one step ahead of the crowd, sneering. Nopony moved except Luna. It took a moment before Twilight was sure nothing had interfered with the very flow of time. It was as simple as nopony daring to move. The princess wheeled around and lifted off the ground with but a single beat of her wings. The blast of wind forced Twilight to steady herself, and the dust that whirled up stung her eyes.
Luna hovered right over the heads of Twilight and the others with lazy flaps of her wings while the crowd slowly drew back step by step, further isolating the one mare. Thus, for the first time, Luna, Princess of the Moon, attended the ponies of Grey Hollows and acknowledged them. As they all watched, the princess wrapped her wings about her, suspended impossibly in mid air. Behind her, high in the sky, the Moon suddenly seemed to glow brighter, becoming an orb of pure silver. The moonlight bent around the Princess-Matriarch in unnatural ways, orbiting her form as no light had a right to do.
The princess spread her wings again. In an instant, the entire area as far as Twilight could see, from city to horizon, was bathed in a sharp moonlight that came from everywhere and nowhere. Not a single shadow could be seen. All that remained was a cool and omnipresent moonlight glow that set a chill in her. Twilight was horrified, but more than that, she was utterly fascinated. Her mind screamed at her, every instinct told her to run, but she was rooted in place, transfixed.
“Your hatred. It makes you blind,” Princess Luna boomed in a voice that seemed to rattle every bone in Twilight’s body. The goddess alighted on the ground in front of the crowd, wings still spread, drawn up to her full size. Slowly she stalked towards the crowd and the lonely mare. Under her gaze, the lonely earth pony’s legs gave out from under her and she collapsed.
“Your quarrel is with me and me alone, and I ask you now, citizens of Grey Hollows, does anyone here dare challenge me?!” the princess roared in a voice that must surely have been heard in Canterlot, rearing up on her hindlegs. Her horn flared to life with a bright silver sheen. Twilight tasted blood in her mouth.
Pure chaos ensued. Every single pony in the crowd fled, a wave of terror sweeping over the mob with such force that it seemed as if a gargantuan pony brushed an outsize hoof over it. More than half the ponies fell outright in their haste to get away, and the thundering hoof-falls took minutes to die away. Dozens of ponies limped after them with obvious injuries from the stampede, and a few lay on the ground still, trying to get away but their legs failing.
The fallen mare who had uttered those fateful words tried to stand and failed, looking like a foal trying to take her first steps. She looked up at the wrathful goddess standing over her one final time, pupils mere pinpricks. Convulsing, the smaller pony passed out on the spot.
Only when relative silence settled and Luna folded her wings again did Twilight manage to move and think again. A few ponies were darting out to try to collect their friends, but the moment had passed. Only the earth pony mare lay alone. She was moss green and couldn’t have been much older than herself, Twilight noted by way of nothing now that the regular moonlight slowly returned. Turning away from the mess, Twilight gasped at the state of her friends. They clearly hadn’t reacted in the same way to Luna’s power as she had.
Pinkie Pie's gaze was fixed upon the ground, the earth pony utterly expressionless. Tears were dripping steadily to the ground, and she did not move. Rainbow Dash stood in the middle of all her friends with her wings spread out to cover them as best as she could, but her face was averted. Rarity was staring at Luna with eyes wide and unblinking, her breath coming in shallow bursts. Applejack seemed out of breath, sweating and staring at the ground in front of Luna. Winter Sun lay huddled on the ground further down the road, apparently having fled.
And Fluttershy's face was a twisted mask of rage.
"You brute!" the pegasus yelled at the princess, spittle flying from her mouth as she blocked her path. "Haven’t you all suffered enough? What do you even think you are trying to accomplish!? You’re just hurting yourself and them, you’re hurting everypony!" Their eyes met briefly, and Fluttershy was heaving for breath, her incensed expression a perfect opposition to Luna's apparent impassivity. The alicorn responded by sidestepping and walking calmly past her, to all outward appearances unrepentant. For a second, it looked like the usually-shy pegasus mare would charge after her, and Twilight’s brain nearly shut down at the thought. Instead, Fluttershy ran over to the fallen mare. She barely had time to shed her saddlebags before Luna spoke without turning.
"We cannot linger. Can we just leave? Please. I am... sorry," Luna's voice cracked and trembled, drawing everypony's gaze, including Fluttershy's, almost against their will. She said nothing more, the moon princess walking slowly down the road without any further words. Rainbow Dash shakily collected herself, wings hanging listlessly at her side, and looked to Twilight.
"I'll make sure Fluttershy's alright, Twilight. We’ll be over in a sec. Just get going," Dash said, finding her courage and voice again before flying over to Fluttershy. Dumbstruck, Twilight just nodded, putting a hoof to Applejack's withers. It didn't take a lot of prodding to round up the rest, excepting a few words to encourage Winter Sun to move. The pegasus seemed embarrassed and frightened still, keeping almost uncomfortably close to Twilight and the other ponies once they got her up.
By the time they reached the edge of the forest, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash touched down next to them and fell in step. The forest looked depressingly similar to any other edge of the clearing.
Fluttershy would not meet anypony's eye. "I'm sorry," she muttered, all anger long since drained from her. The group walked a good distance behind Luna, unwilling to close.
"You've got nothing to apologize for, sugarcube," Applejack said, her voice hoarse.
Pinkie Pie shook her head slowly. "Luna apologized, too. So we're all going to be okay, right? We're all going to be happy and laugh together again, right?" Her big blue eyes bored into Twilight. "Can you go talk to her, Twilight?"
Twilight swallowed. She had no idea what she would say to Luna. Fluttershy quietly spoke up, adding to the burden. "I... can you please tell her I'm sorry? I didn't mean to, I- I just didn't want..."
"Dangit, Fluttershy, Ah told ya, you ain't got nothing to be sorry about." Applejack huffed. "But all the same, Ah'd like an honest answer on what the hay that was all about. Ah don't rightly blame Luna, Ah think, but Ah'd feel a lot safer knowing what was actually going on." The farmer grunted, and Twilight slowly realized it had to be her that talked to Luna. Rarity looked lost, and Rainbow Dash was quiet, now.
All the same, Applejack's words surprised Twilight. "You’re not mad, Applejack? You've kind of been the biggest, er." She paused.
"Stick in the mud? Seventh wheel? Yeah. Well, Ah still don't know about Trixie or Gilda or anything, but Luna's let her true colors show, an' now Ah know what she is, an Ah can look out fer it." She snorted. "Ah reckon’ they’re just as bad as each other, Hollowers and princess all."
Pinkie Pie looked away, and Fluttershy apparently could not bring herself to say what she wanted to say. Twilight was not restrained in the same way, feeling a sneer creep up on her face. "This is not the ‘real’ Luna."
Applejack opened her mouth, and closed it again, clearly taken aback by the sheer ferocity in Twilight's voice. "Ah didn't mean- or, well. We’ll see. That’s all Ah'm sayin'," she muttered, her trademark stubbornness apparently forgotten for a second.
"Right. Well," Twilight said conclusively, willing herself to up her pace before she could come up with some excuse to postpone this further. Soon enough, she drew level with the goddess who had, moments ago, routed an entire town with her presence. An alicorn who, despite Twilight's anger for what she had just done to her friends, despite disagreeing with her treatment and handling of the whole mob, she could not manage to fear any more. Luna still intrigued her, fascinated her and perhaps most of all, worried her. But somehow, after the recently display, it was impossible to fear her.
Because Twilight knew Luna herself was terrified. Perhaps it would have been more rational to fear her even more, now. An unstable, frightened pony with powers like these at her command was surely twice as dangerous, especially since Twilight suspected the subject of these fears was, in fact, Luna herself. It was something she had seen before.
But she couldn't. She looked up at the tear-streaked face of Princess Luna, and only felt concern and sadness. Perhaps Rainbow Dash had been right. She was just a pony like any other. The princess had alluded to as much herself; that immortals would go crazy if they couldn't adapt and be like most, laughing and crying.
"Fluttershy is sorry. Everypony worries about you," Twilight began, her voice soft. She hadn't really asked her friends. There was no way of telling if they worried, but she assumed. Or projected. "I worry," she admitted a moment later. "Are you going to be okay?"
The princess nodded mutely. She managed to look a little regal even in her grief, but only as far as grace went. There was no haughty poise or commanding aura surrounding the alicorn now.
"Please tell me. What happened back there?" Twilight sped up a little to walk a step in front of the princess, looking up at her and willing her to snap out of her reverie. It took a few moments, but eventually, Twilight could be ignored no longer.
"Why did you not side with the people of the Hollows?" Luna asked, her voice thin. "Why do you refuse to hate me still? You have seen how wretched I am on the inside. Why are you even talking to me, Twilight Sparkle? You want the sun goddess, not the damned princess of night, and you are right to do so."
Twilight felt as if she'd been slapped, though the words have had neither anger nor disappointment in them, only sadness and loss. "Y-you're wrong," she stammered, looking behind her to see her friends still following. Pinkie Pie saw her looking, and gave her a confident smile. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash perked up, too, draping a wing over Pinkie Pie and smiling, too. Rarity gave a little nod, and soon, everypony silently lent Twilight their support. That was all she needed. Maybe she was right after all. They were with her.
"You've got it all wrong," Twilight repeated, putting everything together in her mind as she spoke.
"You may think of us as pupils or companions, but everypony around you is trying their very best to think of you as a friend. Sure, you make it hard sometimes, but you haven't scared us away yet, and I don't know if you could do that even if you tried." Luna offered no comment as Twilight spoke, but the bookish mare didn't stop.
"Perhaps what you just did was wrong, yes. You hurt a lot of ponies, but the why matters as much as the how." Twilight blushed a little as she realized she was reprimanding a goddess. She didn’t let that stop her. "I don't pretend to understand you entirely. None of us do, I think. But that's just because you're not trying very hard to let us understand you."
The moon goddess, it seemed, wasn't very used to being spoken to like this. She looked at Twilight with a mixture of surprise and an indeterminable something else. Respect? Recognition?
"I'm not going to ask questions, because I know you probably won't answer. You do that a lot, but if you want to talk, I'm all ears. I think Fluttershy would love a word with you. She's very scared of you still, but she’s tough. If you win her over, Rainbow Dash won't be far off. She thinks you're cool, and that's a start."
"Pinkie Pie already wants nothing more than to be your best pal. She's the most open-minded pony you'll ever meet. Applejack will come around, too. She's just trying to protect us, but I think she realizes now that you're not a threat to us at least. I don't know what Rarity's thinking at the moment, but you know she's reasonable and smart - even though you’re ignoring her." Twilight sighed and threw her head back, exhaling. "We all have our bad days, right?"
"If I am feared, then I have already lost, so I will try to make amends,” Luna agreed, letting out a rather mundane sigh. “But what about you?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "What do you think of me, Twilight Sparkle? You fear me too, but in a different way. I do not understand how or why."
Twilight found it hard to reply, and harder still to look at Luna, now. This only proved the princess' point but certainly didn't help explain it. "I, um. I worry about you a lot. And I want to help."
"Obviously," Luna said with a little grin, finding a hidden reserve of mirth somewhere. "Considering you are here playing ambassador for your friends. I think even my sister fails to understand your true strength, and it has nothing to do with your magical powers."
Twilight's cheeks felt hot, and words were harder to come by all of a sudden. "Uh, right. When you say make amends, do you mean with regard to the ponies of the Hollows, too?"
Luna's smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, and Twilight almost regretted asking the question. "I will have to think on what to do about the Hollows. I do not know what I can promise you beyond that. Can I ask you a question, perhaps?” Luna asked, waiting for Twilight’s nod before she went on. “Do you, Twilight, feel I was unjust? I may have had an... unfortunate reaction, but those ponies were getting violent. Perhaps they would have left us alone, eventually. Alternatively, it could have escalated and somepony would have gotten seriously hurt. What would you have done in my stead?"
"Princess Celestia always stressed that with great power comes great responsibility," Twilight began, a little uneasy. "And few have greater responsibility than the two of you, but I don't know what that really means. They are empty words. All it says is that you have a responsibility to use that power properly, but what is proper? You defended my friends, but you hurt others." Twilight tried very hard to form an opinion. She knew Fluttershy was somewhere between enraged and mortified, or rather, she straddled the two reactions. It was not as easy to find her own answer when she was put on the spot, though.
Philosophical questions had never been easy. They had no clear answers, and while Twilight knew she couldn't ignore the study of morals, it was all too easy to end up stranded and lost. Just like now. All she had left was what she felt at the moment, and it threatened to express itself in tears.
"I'm sorry. All I can think of is that I'm glad I'm not you, and that I didn't have to make that choice myself," Twilight said, swallowing. Luna leaned over to gently nuzzle Twilight as they walked, stopping her tears before they could form. The unicorn’s heart skipped a beat.
"I did not mean to trouble you. I could have gone easier on the ponies of the Hollows. It is always my own responsibility to find a way. Do not think too much about it, and do not mourn for me, ever,” Luna implored.
Twilight felt the final words, even though Luna never said them. She had no idea how, but she heard it. 'I'm not worth the tears.' Twilight was still completely blank, torn between shock and depression as the other ponies trotted up to join them, seeing their conversation concluded. They all fell in step around Luna in relative silence, though Winter Sun still shied away from the princess. Noticing this, Rarity moved a little closer and tried to talk to her, but the pegasus was a shadow of her earlier talkative self.
Nopony set to broach the issue of their pace, and the eight ponies walked slowly through most of the morning. The canopy gradually thinned, and even though the sun had risen, the air was still cool. Before long, it started raining, though it never amounted to much more than a light drizzle under the protection of the oaken forest.
Even though nopony complained, yesterday's drinking, the lack of sleep and the fact that nopony had eaten much all finally expressed itself in Fluttershy stumbling and falling to her knees. While she was quick to get up and pretend nothing had happened, Applejack stopped, which in turn made everypony halt.
"We can't go on. We need a break," the farmpony said, as if daring Luna to disagree.
"I'm fine, Applejack," Fluttershy protested, rubbing her eyes.
"No, she is right. We need to set camp and have something to eat. We should not really sleep until nightfall, but a nap would be welcome. I need rest as well," Luna admitted. Twilight noticed that the moon princess did indeed look haggard, and she couldn't help but wonder whether that was a result of the power she bared yesterday or something else entirely.
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drats the romane is comeing around oh well its still adventure and you already got me hooked so ill bear through the romance
Just a quick comment here (haven't read the full chapter yet), but you do know its pretty rare for a female to be colour blind right? Its because females have 2 X chromosomes and both of the X'es need to have the sickness (or whatever colour blindness is considered as), which means that her mother and her father needs to be colour blind or else it would be impossible for a female to become colour blind. Guys on the other hand have a X and a Y chromosome, so they will become colour blind if the father or the mother has it... just in case that you didn't know... also on a side note: OMG I know stuff! xD
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Rare, yes, but not impossible. It does happen in real life.
I have to say you have gotten me addicted to this story as it is wayyyyy beyond my usual bedtime and i ALWAYS go in time :P I even have exams in a couple of days but this story is just sooooooo AWESOME!
I havent had this adventure like feel since LOTR so thats just excellent work. Also the romance is really good. I loved how you introduced the OC as a stranger accompanying the travelers always is a good thing in my opinion :)
So long story short EPIC FANFIC!
i had alot of trouble reading into Luna because of her (intented i suppose) confusing behaviour.
but the ending of this chapter gives me hope that pieces will fall into its place. off to bed now but tomorrow brings a new day of reading
Yes! the romance i was looking for!
I don't feel even the slightest sympathy for the ponies of Grey Hollows. I literally had to stop reading halfway through, before I could continue, I was that mad. The sheer, unbridled arrogant bigotry! They have NO cause to complain about something that happened A THOUSAND YEARS AGO to somepony else. It doesn't MATTER what Luna did then; she did not do it to THEM. It is, quite literally, ancient history. Their ancestors, yes, I would grant some reason to be angry... But not the current lot. The fact they still think themselves hard done to, after generations speaks to what a horrid, hateful, pathetic and verminous little crowd of scum they really are. They're sulking in their village, sulking like little children. The only reason they consider themselves lost and isolated is because they WANT to. There has been a whole millenium for that community to get over itself, and rejoin the rest of the nation, but no; apparently they want to stay in their little village and hate hate hate. And they clearly result to violence at the drop of a hat, and to someone who's living in their own village.
I wouldn't have blamed Luna for razing the village to the ground; hell I'd have done it myself without even a second's hesitation. I seriously hope they all get eaten by an Ursa Major; what a truly vile, risible bunch of individuals. They are quite probably the most willfully stupid, arrogant and foul ponies I think I have ever read about.
There's just something about that sort of insular "we don't want outsiders round here because we think we're tacticitly better than everyone else", mob-minded self-important (and as often as not, positively Luddite) mindset that enrages me something rotten.
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you are apparently neither german nor a jew then. From what I learned in school all germans are bound to eternal guilt towards the jews. Im not saying what is right or wrong here, but it is interesting to think about a similar matter in a different context. One difference: Luna is still Luna, although she COULD be considered her own descendant, because she obviously changed over her millennium on the moon.
sorry to have made ponies political
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Please tell me you are joking. Seriously, tell me you are joking, because the thought of a school that teaches the concept of eternal guilt pains me deeply.
I'm with Commander on this one. For a group of people to hold a grudge for that long over something that happened to ancestors of theirs a millennium ago, and not even consider the fact that things may have changed speaks to me of an arrogant, self-absorbed, hateful community that thrives only on its victim complex.
Other than that, my reasons for hating them are simple. If someone attacks my friends or family, I will destroy them, utterly and without any trace of remorse. No matter how their ancestors may have been wronged, those ponies still had a choice, between violence and reason. They chose poorly, and if I had been in that situation, with no powers but my own, I would have fought to my last breath as soon as one of my companions were injured.
At least, I'd like to think I would...
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It's natural that you wouldn't let your friends be hurt were they not at fault. But if they were the aggressors, you still wouldn't let them be hurt, right? If you'd attack someone who's a threat to your friends, and they'd attack someone who's a threat to their friends, it's a prisoner's-dilemma situation in which violence is guaranteed.
(I'm not a pacifist in the slightest, mind you, and I believe that violence in the present can sometimes be the only way to prevent violence in the future. I just hate when people throw away the possibility of both sides walking away unscathed.)
There is a reason why she was called "Nightmare Moon".
Okay, everypony could have handled this better but, honestly, I don't think that there's anything that the Six could have said that would have defused the anger. This is the power of generation after generation, building on the tale, forcing their foals to memorise it and muttering "Never forget!" to them in a dark tone of voice. Fear that leads to hatred that leads to suffering all with its own momentum so completely divorced from reason and actual personal experience that it has become close to a town religion. No, there is nothing that anypony could have said that would have made a difference.
However, perhaps it would have if Luna had told them the tale. Maybe they wouldn't have believed but, at least, they will have had reason to question.
"You don't know what she is!"
"Oh, you're talking about Nightmare Moon? We know about that; we've faced that. We know just why that isn't something that we have to fear... at least not anymore."
"Pinkie Pie's gaze was fixed upon the ground, the earth pony utterly expressionless. Tears were dripping steadily to the ground, and she did not move."
I bawled like a little filly. Pinkie in distress is hard for me to bear. The first few chapters were very good, but this was exceptional. Can't wait to see where it goes next.
I think the best part so far is how they are all... expanding. Hidden depths and flowing motivations are weaving the characters into something more.
And the shipping opps are very nice as well.
It is good to see the madness being lanced like a boil.
I realize that brooding Luna is an overplayed trope within this fandom, but there's a fine line between brooding and sullen, and your Luna represents the latter term perfectly. She isn't wailing and angsting without cause, but she's markedly pained by the lingering darkness she's endured. Despite Luna's conflicting characterizations within the fandom, this one strikes me as the most reasonable. Love the story so far!
This chapter began as drunken hijinks and morphed into real horror. Quite a turn.