Princess Luna's Lunar Stallions are an elite guard force of seventy, the descendants of the originals from a thousand years ago. Her lover leads them, and they've begun to flourish and be accepted by society. But now there's a new super-power in Canterlot, and she's killing the criminal ponies she catches rather than arresting them. The descendant of Luna's avatar of WAR has emerged. Her ancestor was the one mare to ever go into battle with the Lunar Stallions, the Moon Champion. Can the Lunar Stallions stop this killing machine? Who is she?
Chapters (10)
SEQUEL?! BRILLIANT!
And on top of that, the culprit may be a mare? This is going to get interesting.
Oh dear Celestia, YES!
Lunar ponies are best ponies
great way to start the sequel
Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!
A great start!
Fantastic start!
Hmn, 10 bucks says the Moon Champion isn't actually the murderer.
Instantly faved, so dont let me down.
521054 My dear gilded unicorn, have I ever let you down before?
521084 your words ring true. You have yet to let me down.
Just know, im watching you. In your nightmares, and in your dreams. Im the pony that you fear, the one sitting in the corner of your eye. The one you do not want to see.
*pinkie pie voice*
Anyway, good luck and have fun with it.
521040
If i was a betting pony it would kind of be an abuse of me being a time traveler.
Yay Luna fic!
Hmmmm a sequel, and it's pretty good so far. Oh and please god no more castration talk... it hurts.
this is great more more MORE !!!
HOLY SHIT something bout to happen and one thing I got to say BRING IT ON!!!!!!!
521200
*squeak!*
Well, well, well. I have to say, this is a bang-up job opening the sequel. I'll admit I had wondered if there was a female counterpart to the Lunar Guard out there, since it seemed illogical that Luna would have completely ignored the more deadly portion of the species when it came to creating her personal forces. Although, if that is indeed a singular set of armor, it would seem that tracing down the family tree of the last known owner of the armor wouldn't be too hard to do, providing that Luna remembers the name of the last mare appointed to the position. And I have to agree with djthomp on their point, I'm more inclined at the moment to regard the Moon's Champion as the Internal Affairs division of the Lunar Guard, though I'm afraid that with an intro like that I keep hearing the Sailor Moon theme music playing in the background instead of the Hymn to the New Lunar Republic.
I'll go out on a limb here and speculate that in the "vigilante" we're seeing the bad results of an unchaperoned Lunar Stallion transformation. I'll be looking forward to the next installment to see where this leads our band of stalwarts and their Goddess of the Night Sky.
Edit: I did notice one questionable grammar point, though:
“Presenting to her majesty, the entire lunar stallion core.
I'm mostly certain that "core" should have been "corps", there.
This is looking good.
It is nice to have a story evolving a military unit without a full blown war. My complements to your story line. I look forward to reading more of your work
Also, thanks for making a lunar guard able to pass inspection
this story is going well so far.
stalwart hide x moon champion?
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oh and for the record
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This is awesome! I love the quick updates as well.
Well, so much for my theory from last chapter's comments.
WHOA!!! that was a nice battle though I approve of this and one more thing BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!
523863 *squeak!*
Ok, my thoughts on the nature of the duties for the Moon Champion were way off base, but it's looking more like my idea on the vigilante being the result of a faulty lunar metamorphosis still could have some merit. You're doing a great job keeping the pace of this story rocketing along (and not just with the quick turnaround on chapter postings, either.) Looks like M.C.'s got a handle on using the feminine wiles portion of her armor in battle for an advantage, and it just goes to show that Kipling was right all along.
On the other hoof, Stalwart put up a pretty decent showing, ending notwithstanding, so I imagine that ought to win him style points when they cross hooves the next time. And it does seem odd that none of this squad noticed what was going on soon enough to rally at least for the end of the fight. Makes one wonder if either the robber or the Champion has access to a stealth magic that suppresses sound in an area. If I had to place bits on it, I'd put it as another facet of the Lunar Champion Armor, maybe right along with the teleportation. After all, if the lunar stallion armor can give an earth pony wings, why couldn't the champion armor give its wearer a horn? (Just to muddy the waters so the guys don't automatically discount two thirds of the female populace as possible suspects.
)
Looking forward to the next installment.
Edit: Ok, now I'll admit to shooting for the moon on this, but allowing for cutie marks having some bearing towards one's destiny in life, who do we know in canon ponies who bear a lunar crescent in their cutie mark? Just saying.
dropped into my read later. gotta go to work T_T
This is brilliant.
523959 I don't recall the armor giving anypony wings. As for giving a pony a working horn, that would be a bit much.
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526136
Think back to the chapter in the first story, "Muster Thy Brothers". There are some unicorns and earth ponies wearing the armor, but I don't see any mention of their "on-duty" form being any different from their brothers in arms. It would seem to me that implies the lunar stallion overlay is standardized. Now, it doesn't say that any of the normally non-fliers can make use of those wings, but I'd argue that it's at least likely that the image of the wings is maintained across all species of pony wearing the armor.
526136>>523959
Malcinar is correct. Thus far the armor has augmented what is already there, turning feathered wings into batlike wings. The original lunar stallions were all pegasi. But after a thousand years the bloodlines have crossed into all three pony breeds, so they're a mix now. I like the diversity better, personally. Now we have lunar stallions that are earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns in their transformed states.
That'll be something to explore later, huh? We know how strong and agile the armor makes a pegasi.... what will it do to the other two breeds?
527634
(chuckles) Ok, that's the definitive answer for that issue from the Author's keyboard, then. I kinda liked the idea of earth ponies and unicorns getting ready to go on duty, reciting their oath of office and then *schnickt!* instant disguise form, but your way is intriguing as well. It's obvious that a unicorn's augmented form would give their horns a more alicorn-like length and sharpness, just as the Moon Champion armor does (and if that is a similar augmentation of the form underneath, then I retract my earlier conjecture about the field of suspects, but not about a possible cutie mark connections.) Earth ponies.... probably when they're on-duty are the most massive of the lunar stallions, and you wouldn't want to try and tackle one if they were set and expecting attack. Likely it would be an earth pony that could give a run to the transformation vault door being bucked off its hinges during the initial change.
Making love in front of the mirror? This calls for a certain kind of music...
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Sooooooooooooooo lets get this party started, lets get this part started, Part hard party hard
Combat aftermath, and Luna laying on punishment detail for faulty squad tactics. Very much a logical extension of the actions from last chapter, and totally in character from everyone.
(And why isn't there at least one Luna emote?)
Ouch, I suppose we should have expected something like what happened to Hammershot, considering the repeated references to the pegasus wing bow.
Time for another guess that will probably be shot down, I am thinking that the Moon Champion will be either Trixie or the unseen Moondancer mentioned at the beginning of the first episode.
Great story I love it and BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!
Great development. Keep up the good work.
I don't think they'll be disobeying orders again any time soon.
530105 No comment on yourself being in the story? None? Aww...
>> Cleff Scratches I already thanked you for that. I didn't want to seem egotistical on this great honor.
Oh my damn I have a feeling he found out what she really is a porn model lawl
SO BRING ON SOME MORE!!!!!!!
Excellent chapter.
532571
I doubt its Twilight because she didn't give Rarity a second glance or any thought at all. It could still be Trixie but that's also unlikely for the same reason. I also see no reason for them to be in Canterlot at all or kiss a lunar stallion and act flirty with them. Neither have that personality and this writer seems to keep ponies in character.
Another good chapter, I really enjoy reading this.
Your Muse is just rocketing along on this, I approve! We got a glimpse under the armor of the Champion, and I see that you're definitely taking Kipling to heart. And it still has the feel of a case of the armor bearer not having quite gotten out of the original transformation shock feral state, especially when you take the altered Oath into account. Nice touch with the anti-theft enchantment on the swords, and that's a truly excellent burn comment she scored when recovering her property.
Yeah, based on her internal dialog with her set of ancestors and the mention of training I doubt she will end up being Trixie.
I imagine the Lunar Champion is an OC. Her being Trixie would make no sense and I can't see Twilight killing ponies so she's out too.
532549 That'd be funny, haha.
532964 What's "Kipling?"
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532980
I'll agree, it does look less likely, though I could argue that said training is all in learning how to accommodate dealing with the ancestors' voices after the first time the armor is activated. I'll grant you, though, that with Trixie's canon personality, if she had access to the medallion in the first place, she would likely not have been traveling and making a living as a stageshow magician... unless she was simply rebelling against family duty for personal reasons in the first place. Her trigger to accepting family duty and taking up the armor could have been the disgrace she received in Ponyville at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle; after all, one thing that she would know that she'd automatically be better at than Miss Element of Magic would be her position as Moon Champion.
Am I jumping to a concussion on this one? (shrugs) Could be. But as Adam and Jamie would say, "condition plausible with the known data," at least for now.
Edit: Hmmm, just went back and looked at the timeline in the first story for the Lunar Stallions. It's hard to pinpoint individual episodes, but I'd also say that it could very well be that Luna's collapse was tied to the first time that the Moon Champion donned the armor. I would imagine that the deeper link it engages could have been a system shock that put the Moon Princess down in the first place.
533310
Rudyard Kipling, author of the lovely little poem, "The Female of the Species." It's a cautionary tale about why males need to be wary when dealing with females. Made a lovely filksong when put to music by Leslie Fish a bunch of years ago now.
Check here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05MImdJIrLo