Chapter 8
The following takes place about a month after the previous section. Little of note happens after Midnight’s discussion with Snowfall, so I determined it would be best to skip ahead to future events.
Midnight writes nothing of what Snowfall and Freezy Hail said to one another, likely out of respect for their privacy, and the return trip to Canterlot was uneventful. After that, the Honeyfield succession isn’t mentioned again in Midnight’s journals until Freezy Hail’s trial.
I entered Princess Celestia’s private audience chamber shortly after receiving her summons. Where normally the floor was left open for ponies to stand, instead many seat-cushions had been set in neat rows for those gathered to listen to the proceedings. A pair of desks at the far end of the room faced the throne, which currently sat empty.
I was unsurprised to see a number of ponies from Honeyfield gathered in the chamber. Freezy Hail caught mine attention foremost as she sat at the accused’s table, her counsel seated beside her. Stripped of her arms and armor, the former house guard captain sat quietly with her head bowed. The experiences she had been subject to had taken a toll on her, for she seemed a very different pony from the proud and fiery mare I met in Honeyfield. Little surprise when she had slain her lover, dishonored herself, been stripped of her rank, and now helplessly awaited her sentence.
Still, she was not without supporters. Four of her fellow Honeyfield guardponies sat behind her in solidarity. Snowfall was not there, and I suspected that either her mother or other family members had decided not to include her in this sullen moment. Rumble squirmed in his seat while his Great Aunt Émeraude calmly sat beside him. Duke Fierté Ferme and Coin Count were there as well, each quietly talking to the other. The only ponies whose presence was unexpected was a small group of knights of the Order of Sol Invictus gathered nearby.
Curious. ‘Twas a small gathering in spite of the stir this case had created amongst the nobility. The only ponies here must have been directly invited by Her Highness, though why Princess Celestia would conduct things in such a manner was a question in and of itself. Perhaps she wished to address the more private affairs before publically declaring her rulings.
In any event, considering the sour looks I received from nearly everypony in the room upon entering, I decided it would be best if I sat by myself and pulled out a book to read. No one except perhaps Émeraude would desire my company after all that happened during my time at Honeyfield, so I saw little point in making myself or any of them uncomfortable. Part of me wondered if Mother would be proud of how I had managed to make so many enemies in such a short period of time or if she would lambast me for my behavior. ‘Twould likely be both.
I did not get far into my book before Princess Celestia entered the room. I and the other ponies rose in respect to our sovereign until she seated herself upon her throne.
Her Highness was grim as she addressed the court. “Freezy Hail, rise to face thy judgment.” Freezy dutifully did as she was instructed, her face carefully void of emotion. “For the foul and evil crime of murdering thy liege, whom thou wert sworn to protect, I must level a most stringent punishment. Freezy Hail, thou wilt spend the rest of thy days in atonement for thy crime. From this day until your last, thy life will be dedicated to charitable works under the supervision of the Order of Sol Invictus, to whom I entrust thy sentence.”
Interesting. Her Highness had decided to show mercy to the former house guard captain. There was precedent for it when the accused confessed their guilt, and while a life of atonement and charity would not be an easy one, ‘twas a kinder fate than the noose. She would still have her life, in addition to a purpose to that life, and I did not see the Order mistreating her.
I was somewhat ambivalent about the decision. She should be harshly punished for slaying the pony she had sworn to protect, but on the other hoof I could understand Freezy’s motives, even if she had gone about them in the incorrect manner. Really, the pony I felt the most pity towards was Snowfall. The poor child had just had her whole life thrown into heartbreak and chaos. The only good news was that her mother would live to see her grow old.
“Do you have anything to say, Freezy Hail?” Princess Celestia asked.
Freezy shook her head, her ears flat against her head and her eyes low. “I do not, Your Highness.”
Princess Celestia nodded. “Very well. Please be seated.” After Freezy complied, Her Highness turned her attention to the other ponies in the room. “Furthermore, I would like to address the Honeyfield succession. I realize this is somewhat unusual, but I think it prudent to settle the matter with everypony here.”
Ah, so that would explain the nature of our audience. I had been curious how Her Highness intended to resolve the issue, and when. I had of course offered mine own suggestions for a resolution, but she had not told me directly what she thought of them.
When nopony objected to the proposal, Princess Celestia continued. “First, I shall make Snowfall a ward of the Crown, since neither of her parents are in a condition to raise her. Furthermore, she should be raised by a proper family, and after making some inquiries, I had found a pair of fine ponies within the Order of Sol Invictus willing to adopt her.”
“Y-your Highness!” Freezy bolted to her hooves, earning a scowl from some of the nearby guards. “If my Snowfall is to be raised by the Order, can I please work near where she is to live?” She bit her lip. “I beg of you ... she is all I have, my reason to live. If no other comfort is to be given to me, at least give me the opportunity to see my daughter grow into a mare.”
Princess Celestia nodded. “Assuming thy good behavior, I will grant this request.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” Freezy sniffed and rubbed her eye. “That is ... thank you.” She sat back down, no longer looking like the utterly defeated mare she had been but a couple minutes ago.
“Though I state that is not all,” the Princess said. “Snowfall will also be given a stipend as she deserves as the daughter of a count. She will also be made a squire under the tutelage of the Order and raised to be a knight of honor.”
Émeraude stood and she frowned at Her Highness. “She is to be a knight? So then is Snowfall not to be the Countess of Honeyfield?”
“Hah!” Rumble smirked at his aunt. “Told you I would become count. I am the only right pick, after all.”
Princess Celestia shook her head. “Neigh, I am afraid that neither Snowfall or Sir Rumble Rapids are to become count.”
Rumble’s head snapped in Her Highness’ direction. “What?!”
“Instead, I have decided that in light of recent events that the County of Honeyfield will be absorbed into the royal demesne,” Princess Celestia continued. “House Honeyfield will be disbanded and its estates seized by the crown.”
Émeraude quivered as she glared at the princess. “But the Compact—”
“Shall be renegotiated,” Princess Celestia interrupted. She frowned deeply as she met Émeraude’s furious glare. “I have determined that the affairs of Honeyfield have fallen to a state where they need to be repaired under royal supervision before I can return it to my subjects, and amongst those affairs I intend on addressing are the specifics of the Accord. I expect thee to remain in Canterlot until this business is settled.”
“You cannot just do this!” Émeraude stomped a hoof. “My house has served you for centuries! It was founded under your direction by my sire. My family is not extinct, and taking their titles and property from them has no justice!”
Princess Celestia’s face was a stony mask as she addressed Émeraude. “‘Tis well within my power given the circumstances. What is more, thou above all others shouldst know that mine actions are just. The surviving members of thy family will be accounted for. Rumble will become a royal knight, for one, and Snowfall has already been accounted for. ‘Tis my hope that I can negotiate with thee to make a new Compact which allows my subjects in Honeyfield remain happy and prosperous, but I will do what is ultimately in their best interests for their safety. Especially in light of recent events.”
Émeraude trembled in fury, but gradually sat down. “Very well Your Highness,” the fey spat.
Rumble crossed his legs over his chest and gave his aunt a sour glare. “A fine job you have done. I could have been a count if not for you.”
Émeraude let out a harsh huff. “Now is not the time, Rumble.”
For myself, I was discontent. I had thought I had come up with a suitable solution to maintain House Honeyfield, but Her Highness had discarded it wholsale. It might not have been perfect, but I thought ‘twould receive greater consideration. Especially when the current solution would take Snowfall away from her family and home, though she would at least be allowed time with her mother. Here I had made the best solution I could to satisfy the princess, but it seemed I had failed.
Duke Ferme was the next to speak. “And what of the debt that Honeyfield owes my house? That has still not been resolved.” His eyes momentarily shot my way.
Princess Celestia gave the duke a pleasant smile. “Thou should of course receive thy due compensation.”
Duke Ferme smiled back, though his smile was a far less pleasant thing. “That is good to hear. Though if the crown does not wish to part with so much of its coin due to this unexpected and undeserved debt, I would of course be willing to consider alternative measures by which it could be resolved.”
“Naturally.” Her Highness’ smile widened. “Though there is one little problem.”
Duke Ferme’s smile became a less confident thing. “And what problem would that be?”
The princess shook her head with an exaggerated sigh. “Alas, the late count’s financial records are not what I would declare as ... complete.” That was excessively generous to the horrible mess I discovered in Honeyfield. I had managed to get a rough estimate of the sum Count High Stakes owed the Duke of Blackwood, but ‘twas not what I would call a full account. “Considering the inaccurate nature of those records, I must seek alternative means to confirm how much is owed. I have thusly decided to have auditor Busy Body look into the matter, starting with the financial records of the Duchy of Blackwood.”
Duke Ferme’s smile broke like a window that had just had a rock thrown through it. “That is not necessary, Your Highness. I assure you, I have brought all the necessary records with me for your perusal.”
The duke’s sudden discomfort did not surprise me. Busy Body was an infamously rigorous auditor. (1) More than one pony had been destroyed when the auditor had discovered evidence of tax fraud or other illegal financial practices. Considering what Duke Ferme was willing to do to a pony he called his friend, I could well imagine what he might do to a stranger.
1. Busy Body was an agent of the royal treasury who was despised by many among the affluent in Equestria for his knack for uncovering illegal financial practices. Known for being intelligent, hardworking, and incorruptible, he was subject to several assassination attempts during his career.
“But I insist.” Her Highness’ smile became overly sweet. “I would not wish for thee to feel cheated of thy bits.”
“'Tis quite alright.” Duke Ferme squirmed in his seat. “In fact, I forgive the debt. Consider it a gift to the crown. I would not wish to be seen as minsterley, after all.”
Princess Celestia frowned slightly. “If thou art certain...”
“I am quite sure,” Duke Ferme insisted. “I seen no reason to worry over a few bits.”
I would have argued about this being over only a ‘few bits’. The sum owed by Honeyfield was substantial, but it seemed that Her Highness had successfully intimidated the duke into releasing the debt, and all without a single harsh word. I suspected Mother would wish to sic Busy Body on the Duke anyways—after the debt had been forgiven in writing first, of course. If the duke was willing to give up such a substantial sum of money, then there must have been something considerable he did not wish the crown to know about. Mayhaps Her Highness already knew something about Ferme’s misdeeds, and had thus felt confident about this ploy she had used. Now I felt somewhat foolish I had not come up with something so clever.
“'Tis thy decision, my good duke.” Princess Celestia turned her attention to Coin Count. “I believe thou also had business in Honeyfield?”
Coin stood and smiled as he addressed the princess, though the gesture did not reach his eyes. “That is correct. My business associates believe that there might be untapped business opportunities in the county worth investing in.”
“And thou and thine associates are free to do so. I welcome good investments into territories I oversee.” The princess let that hang in air for a moment before continuing. “Of course, any natural resources in the area will first need to be examined, and as thou probably knowest, 'tis my policy to have such resources be exploited by the highest bidder and whose proposals best please me.”
Coin’s smile became something more akin to a grimace. “Aye, I am aware, and I will pass that onto mine associates.”
It seemed that Her Highness would be no kinder than myself to Coin Count. At the very least, he and his business consortium would not be getting their gem mine without a rigorous bidding war. With Honeyfield to be part of the royal demesne, ‘twould only be a matter of time until the gem deposits were found by royal agents, and thus the scheme would be at an end.
“Thank you.” Celestia’s smile faded. “And my condolences for the loss of thy friend.”
“Aye.” Coin sighed and ran a hoof through his mane. “My thanks for that. Shining was ... a good friend.” His gaze briefly turned my way. “At least her murderer is dead. It brings little comfort, but ‘tis something.”
“All I can do is encourage thee to move forward with thy life,” the princess said. “Remember the happy times thou hadst with her, but continue forward nonetheless.”
Coin nodded slightly. “I will take that under advice.”
Princess Celestia rose her head to address all those gathered. “If there is nothing else to address, I would like to call an end to this trial. Are there any objections?” When nopony spoke, then princess stood and stepped away from her throne. The knights from the Order of Sol Invictus immediately took Freezy Hail into custody while everypony else made their way to the door. I started moving to do the same when Her Highness called out. “Magus Midnight, wouldst thou attend to me for a while?”
I stopped, apprehensively curious what she might want from me. “What is it you desire of me?”
The princess smiled in an unreadable manner. “Walk with me, if thou wouldst.” She led the way and cast a privacy spell about us. Whatever she wished to speak of, she did not wish for others to overhear us.
Once we were in the hallways, I decided to ask a question. “Are you displeased with me, Your Highness?”
She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “Should I be?”
“I do not think so.” The disquiet in my heart grew as I thought over the details of the princess’ announcements. “Yet you rejected nearly all my proposals for dealing with the Honeyfield succession. I cannot help but think you are displeased if that is the case.”
“I am hardly displeased with thee,” Princess Celestia said. “‘Tis merely that I saw a better means to set things right in Honeyfield.”
I grimaced. “So you are saying that my proposals were insufficient? Strange, I had thought they were designed to please you.”
We entered the main throne room of the palace, though ‘twas largely empty except for the odd guard or servant carrying out their duties. “I think it might be best if I were to explain my reasoning. Was my sentence for Freezy displeasing to thee?”
I shook my head. “Neigh, I can see the logic in thy mercy. Freezy murdered her liege and that needed to be harshly punished, but I do not think her an unrepentant ne’er-do-well, but a scared mother who let her fear control her.”
“Those were mine own thoughts as well.” The corners of her mouths turned up into a smirk. “Though I suspect thy mother will lambast me for being merciful again.”
“Mother is not one for mercy unless it can be turned into some sort of advantage.” She was certainly capable of mercy. After all, she had argued for giving clemency to any rebel that laid down their arms at the end of the Lunar Rebellion, though that was merely to expedite their surrender. Harshly punishing every individual pegasus for the sins of their leaders would only have provoked them to fight to the death.
“Indeed so,” Her Highness agreed. “But just because the two of us disagree now and again does not mean I do not value her advice.”
I narrowed mine eyes. “Is this some sort of talk about how even if you do not always agree with my proposals you still value my counsel?”
Princess Celestia’s smirk widened. “Something like that.”
I sighed. “Some days I wonder if I will ever stop being lectured to.”
Her Highness shook her head. “Just because thou art no longer an apprentice does not mean that thy lessons have ended. Thou hast moved from learning from books and lectures, aye, but now experience is thy teacher.” She stopped before the pane glass window of her and her sister’s discovery of the Elements of Harmony. “Understand, I hardly expected perfection with thy first assignment. I have been doing this for many generations, so ‘tis hardly fair for me to expect thee to come up with a solution to the succession on par with mine own, and that is not even getting into how we are both to have our own opinions of the matter.”
“They why send me at all?” I felt my frustration grow. It was feeling like I was doomed to failure no matter what I did now. “Either mine opinions would differ from your own, or mine inexperience would make mine efforts insufficient. What use was there to me trying in such circumstances?”
“A great deal, actually.” She turned her gaze to the stained glass windows. “For one, ‘tis always valuable to get a second opinion. As the Princess of Equestria, ‘tis far too easy for me to become lost in an echo chamber.”
“I suppose that is a good point,” I allowed.
“Second, I only have so much time in the day,” she continued. “It would have taken me days to fly out to Honeyfield and then interview everypony to determine who should succeed, and even then I fear I would rush the task so that I could return to the many other things that require mine attention. That is not even getting into all the issues of changing my schedule to allow me time to go to Honeyfield, the trouble of creating a royal procession, how I and my retinue’s arrival at Honeyfield would have disrupted the lives of the ponies living there, and a hundred other issues. Sometimes such things are necessary, but in this case I think ‘twas not.”
I sighed and nodded. “Those are also good points. ‘Twould not have been efficient for thee to go to Honeyfield given the circumstances.”
Princess Celestia turned to face me. “And thou didst a fine job. Thou gathered the information I desired so that I could make an informed decision. While my decisions differed from thy recommendations, thy work was nonetheless instrumental.”
“That is ... good to hear.” I felt my cheeks flush. Even when I was displeased with Her Highness, her compliments were quite charming.
The princess smiled and placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Thou also stopped a werewolf from ravaging the countryside and uncovered Count High Stakes’ murderer. Either one of those things would have been above and beyond what I had called for, and I daresay ‘twould have been beyond the ability many of my servants would have been able to accomplish. Do not for a moment think I am displeased with thee, especially when this was intended to be a simple refresher task.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I will keep that in mind.” I was feeling a bit better now, though I still had questions. “So why did you decide not to have Snowfall raised by her uncle and great-aunt?”
Princess Celestia’s face creased into a small frown and she started walking further down the throneroom. “‘Tis a for a few reasons. Foremost, after interviewing Sir Rumble Rapids, I determined he would likely forever be more of an uncle to Snowfall than a father to her.”
I tilted my head as I followed Her Highness. “Of course he will always be more of an uncle than a father to her. He is her uncle and not her father, unless a great many ponies had been lying to me about Snowfall’s heritage.”
The princess chuckled and shook her head. “Thou dost not grasp my meaning. Snowfall needs parents who will raise her as their own, and give her the love, care, and discipline she needs to grow into a fine pony. Rumble is ... loving, in his own way, but he is far more the fun-loving uncle than a stern parent that a child needs to create structure in their life. To be a parent is to be equal parts teacher, disciplinarian, and guardian. Rumble lacks the qualities Snowfall will need in her life, and I do not see him growing into the role as most parents do when they find themselves with a child in their lives.”
“Qualities you think these ponies you are entrusting Snowfall have?”
Princess Celestia nodded. “They already have two children of their own, and I have every confidence they will do a fine job including Snowfall into their family.”
“And what of Émeraude?” I blinked slowly. “She also has experience raising children, and she is of Snowfall’s blood.”
Her Highness stopped before another stained glass window, this one depicting the Liberation of Manehattan, with the Royal Sisters leading an army of three pony nations to face the gryphon defenders. “Because I do not trust that fey. I suspect she has been behind far too many family tragedies in her desire to keep her house strong.” Her hoof lightly touched the picture of her sister, bedecked in her black arms and armor as she led the charge. “Family should never fight one another, and someone who provokes such conflicts in the name of making their house stronger is cursed in spirit, for they will find no true happiness in their actions. All they will have is power if they are the victor, but they will not have their family to love.”
“But what if power is what is needed to make others happy?” I questioned. “A leader who is powerless or pony who is beholden to a family member ill-suited can lead their house to yet more tragedies. What’s more, the common pony could suffer terribly under poor leadership.”
Princess Celestia smiled sadly. “The necessity of such an action will bring joy to nopony—trust me on that. ‘Tis not a choice I would wish on anypony.” She withdrew her hoof from the glass. “And I would condemn anyone who would intentionally provoke such conflicts. Émeraude has played her family members against one another, and what’s more, she threatened thee while thou conducted thy duties. That is not the type of thing I can tolerate lightly, and I intend on bringing her to heel by renegotiating the Honeyfield Compact. No more turning ponies into werewolves, threatening mine agents, or inviting conflicts amongst family.”
I thought back to Émeraude’s story about Azurite and his siblings. His actions had resulted in the death of his siblings, and based on what Émeraude had told me, had found little joy in becoming count. Neigh, in addition to the weight of his office, he had chained himself to the guilt of slaying his brother, and took a series of actions that resulted in the unnecessary death of his little sister. Even Émeraude had been unhappy with how events had transpired, and she had probably manipulated her family into conflict in the first place. Who knew how many family tragedies were of her design. Yet she kept doing it over and over again—her latest victim being her nephew High Roller—for she was a being without free will. She could do little else but what her nature demanded of her, even if it eventually led to the destruction of her house.
“I understand where you stand now.” Mine ears wilted and mine eyes fell to the floor. “I feel somewhat foolish now, but I knew not how to defeat her without it resulting in a bloodbath as magi and guardponies battled werewolves and fey under a full moon in a preventable conflict as each slaughtered one another at behest of their masters in an orgy of violence.”
The princess shook her head. “A battle with Émeraude would be a daunting conflict for nearly anypony. I cannot incriminate thee for seeking compromise and trying to maintain the prosperity of the county, even if that peace would be imperfect. Hence why I am taking on this burden myself: she has less to threaten me with, and she knows I am more than capable of destroying her if I must.”
“I still feel the fool.” I scraped a hoof along the floor. “I wish to be a great magus someday, though this is not the story of a great magus, but of a pony playing at being great.”
Princess Celestia shook her head. “Thou art too hard on thyself.” She sat on her throne and pointed to the grand vizier’s chair next to her. After a moment’s hesitation, I complied and sat in my mother’s chair. It felt strange to sit where Mother conducted public business from, even if this was an informal meeting. Yet did not Mother intend for me to sit here someday? I had even fantasized about doing so, but ‘twas a queer sensation now that I was here.
Once I had settled into the chair, Her Highness continued speaking in her maternal tone. “Thou art a new magus, Midnight, and already I have been asking difficult tasks of thee—more difficult than even I suspected. Mistakes are bound to happen. Even with all mine experience, I still err.” Her eyes drifted to the stained glass window that depicted the Lunar Rebellion and Shadow’s victory over the Avatar. “Overall, thou didst quite well considering what thou wert up against, as I have already said, and thou gave me everything I needed to make a proper judgment for the Honeyfield succession.”
I slumped in the chair. I knew Her Highness was trying to make me feel better, but a powerful melancholy had already fallen over me. “As you say, Your Highness.”
A small frown spread across the princess’ lips. “So my magus, how often does thy mother speak of her discontent with my decisions?”
I was wary to admit the truth, but even moreso about lying to the Princess. “Often.”
She nodded. “Quite often, I daresay. I can hardly think of a month where we have not disagreed on some course of action, especially when pragmatism confronts idealism. Wouldst thou consider thy mother to be a poor official because she disagrees with my decisions so often?”
“Neigh, of course not,” I was quick to say. “‘Tis the duty of an advisor to give her opinion to her sovereign, even if she might disagree with it.”
Princess Celestia smiled impishly. “And so should it not be with thyself as well?”
I frowned, having been captured in the logic trap constructed for me. “Aye, I have no counter to thine argument.” I was beginning to appreciate Mother’s times of frustration with the princess. Being lectured to could be irritating, especially when one was made to feel foolish.
“While I appreciate it when my servants hold themselves to a higher standard, I do not wish for them to do so to a level where ‘tis a detriment to themselves,” Her Highness informed me. “I have high hopes for thee, and I will have need of thee in the coming days.”
I tilted my head. “Me?”
“Of course.” To my surprise, Princess Celestia wrapped a wing around me. “Thou hast great potential. Already it has shone through in Appleton and Honeyfield.” She smiled as she squeezed me with her wing. “I know thou hast the ability to become a great archmagus someday, and ‘twill bring me great joy to see thee ascend to those heights.”
I blinked. That was not something I really expected Her Highness to say. Both I and my mother desired to see me succeed her as an archmagus, but royal approval was beyond mine expectations. “You really think so? ‘Tis my desire to become an archmagus someday, though that goal seems a very long ways away.”
“Most worthwhile goals can seem that way, but ‘tis a goal within thy reach.” The princess’ brow furrowed. “Though there are two pieces of advice I would give thee.”
Considering Her Highness would have to approve mine appointment, it seemed wise to accept whatever wisdom she might have to offer. “I would be happy to hear your words.”
“The first is to keep thy mind open and flexible,” Princess Celestia said. “Thou art an intelligent and gifted young mare, so ‘twould be prudent to use all of that to thine advantage. I am confident thou couldst have come up with similar ideas if thou hast allowed thy mind to do so. Do not let others constrain thy thoughts, or think that just because things have always been done one way they should always be done so. Always be ready to change the dynamics of the situation facing thee.”
I considered her words carefully. “I think I understand what you say. For example, if we find parts of the Compact with Émeraude undesirable, then we should seek to change them if possible. By thinking I had to deal with the Compact as it stood, I had limited mine options.”
Her Highness nodded. “Just so. Whenever thou dost find thyself in undesirable circumstances, seek a method by which to change turn. Do not work within the constraints thine opponents give thee—break through or around them in a way they had not considered. By giving thyself more options thou dost give thyself more power to act. Never forget this.”
“I will contemplate this wisdom in the future.” It gave me something to think about. Far too often I had felt constrained in one manner or another. Mayhaps the answer to my quandaries was to rethink them and approach them from a different direction. “What was the other point you wished to make, if I may ask?”
“This one is more warning than wisdom.” Her Highness looked to the window of the Royal Sisters’ defeat of King Sombra. “Be careful in thy pursuit of power, for that path is a treacherous one, and many a pony has fallen to evil by taking the wrong turn to their destination. I see great potential in thee, but potential cuts two ways. The more capable the pony, the more good or evil they contain within themselves.” She nodded at the depiction of Sombra. “King Sombra was one of the most gifted unicorns I had ever seen. Had he used his abilities for good, his reputation would have rivaled that of Starswirl the Bearded. But instead of using his powers for the benefit of ponykind he chose to enslave everypony around him with his power and become a most terrible tyrant. Now the crystal ponies are but a memory, their great nation lost to history, and the world more empty for it.”
I frowned. “I hardly have any intention of becoming a great and terrible ruler who uses her magic to dominate the whole of Equestria through insidious mind control magics, where the totality of all my citizens’ lives are nothing but a miserable state of soulless toil, where even death is no release as their bodies are treated as nothing but future undead masses intended to continue an endless cycle of tyranny and oppression, as the foulest magics are now a fact of life, and make the nations of the world tremble at the mention of my name. Such would be evil.”
Princess Celestia sighed and shook her head. “I know thou wouldst not seek such a path. But that is the insidiousness of it: even a righteous pony can fall under the right circumstances.” She pointed to her sister’s image in the glass. “My sister was once one of Equestria’s greatest defenders. Monsters, demons, and foreign invaders all fell before her, and she helped me bring justice and harmony to the land.”
She hugged me closer with her wing. “But then jealousy drove her to madness, and I did not see the danger for what it was ‘till ‘twas too late. Her madness drove her to attack me and threaten all of Equestria, and I was forced to banish her to the moon. My one true partner in life is now imprisoned, and now I must forever fear what she will do to the ponies that I spend my life protecting.” Her Highness pulled aside the locks of my mane so that she could examine my face. “If she is willing to harm a child for the sake of her mad ambitions, what is she not capable of?”
I could not continue matching the princess’ gaze and turned mine eyes to the floor. The memories of the closing days of the Siege of Canterlot were not pleasant ones. “That is something to keep in mind. If a pony such as your sister could fall—a hero for all of Equestria for so many centuries—then it can only serve as a warning to the rest of us.”
“That is not the legacy I would wish for Luna, but aye.” Princess Celestia let out a long sigh. “Just be mindful of the dangers of thy path thou followst, dear Midnight. ‘Tis the way of the magi to seek power and knowledge, and both contain their own dangers. All that separates the magus and the warlock are the magics they use and what they are willing to do to achieve their goals.”
I nodded. “I will keep that in mind, Your Highness.” These were warnings I had heard from other magi in the past. Often the most terrible of warlocks were former magi who had fallen to evil. Hidden Facts had been an archmagus before he revealed his true loyalties and created the Avatar of Nightmare Moon.
The true question was, why did Her Highness speak of this with me personally? Was she suspecting mine intentions, or mayhaps of the path I was on?
“Good, then.” Princess Celestia stood and smiled down at me. “But enough of such morose discussions. If thou hast the time, I would like it if thou couldst join me for lunch and some cake. It has been too long since just the two of us sat down to talk, and I am curious to know of thine exploits.”
“That sounds fine by me.” I could hardly reject such an invitation from the princess unless I had pressing business, which I did not. Mother would certainly scold me if I did not take this opportunity to get in Her Highness’ good graces.
“Excellent.” The princess wrapped a wing around me and led me towards the royal garden. “I did wish to know if anypony has caught thine eye as of late?” A mischievous smile slowly spread on her lips. “Romantically?”
I failed to suppress a groan. It seemed Her Highness intended to use me for her midday entertainment. The things I did for my princess...
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I must say, I was certainly surprised by how the ruling turned out. I honestly thought that Midnight's suggestions were going to be it. Oh well. Shame on me for making assumptions. Also, it's adorable seeing Celestia be all Auntie Tia with Midnight and Midnight not understanding why. Wonder if that's gonna be a thing that gets revealed at some point. Something for future stories I suppose. Curious to see how the next one turns out. Daylight is a candidate to become an Archmagus right? I sense family dramaaa... Overall great chapter. Can't wait for more of your work! :)
8575940
Supplies, and morale.
Overall, a good work.
8576037
I sort of understand Tia's plan on this but again showing her dissolving nature is very concerning.
8576117
I think it's worth noting that, much like with the Eart Ponies, the leadership of Honeyfield was basically in tatters. It's Count was dead, his son was turned into a werewolf then dead, his cousin was wholly unsuited to rule or raise Snowfall, his bodyguard/mistress killed him and is currently serving out her life sentence, his daughter is a child, and Emeraude is just too much of a wild card to leave unchecked. And I believe House Honeyfield was eventually restored, at least according to one of Twilight's annectdotes.
8576213
still she does this way to often.
8576238
We've seen her do it twice. Once after a massive and bloody civil war that nearly destroyed her country and here where every other alternative lead to the ponies of Honeyfield suffering. I'd say she's had some good reasons.
8576341
more so for the Honeyfield but look at it form a common ponies perspective. Celestia dislikes the clans, so she gets rid of the clans. Celestia dislikes the current state of the House of Honeyfield so that dissolves as well. without known al lthe deails we know what does that show to you?
8576460
First, it was a little more than she just didn't like the clans so she just decided to get rid of them. Second the decision to dissolve the clans was done at Shadow's prompting, herself an euphor of Pegasopolis and materfamilias of a Pegasus clan. Someone who had the most in depth understanding of Pegasus culture as you can get, and who was very proud of that heritage, thought that the pegasai would attempt a second rebellion to overthrow Celestia unless the means to do so were taken away from them. Celestia didn't just dissolve the clans because they disagreed with her, she dissolved them because they started a bloody civil war and she had good reason to believe they would do so again.
8576460
I will concede that those absent all this information may not be as sympathetic as I am, but it's also true the Rebels weren't especially popular after the war and the events in Honeyfield are public record.
8576502
I thought it was more Shadow agreeing with her then her coming up with it. Not her best choice in my opinion. It's ironic that celestia's moves actually point to tyrannical behavior.
8576518
Whether it was her plan or not, the fact that Shadow agreed to the dissolution of the clans at all lends a significant amount of legitimacy to the idea that doing so was necessary to preventing another war. Shadow has about as much understanding of Pegasus culture as is physically possible for any individual to have. When she says the pegasai would not accept a leader chosen by the Loyalists, and more than likely rebel again in order to remove these leaders from power and remove Celestia, it's easy to believe her. Shadow has no reason to want the clans broken up, but disarming the pegasai was the only method available to
Be absolutely sure a second rebellion would occur once morale and numbers recovered. Is trying to preserve peace and prevent the horrors of war from plaguing your people really the actions of a tyrant? Harsh, yes. Do many pegasai suffer under the new system? Certainly. Were Celestia's actions those of an autocrat? Definitely.But at least the realm doesn't starve because the farmers are all dead or off fighting. And the new Royal Guard is a more versatile, effective, and reliable fighting force than the Pegasus clans.
8576628
Another rebellion would not occur once numbers recovered. That's what I meant to say. Phone autocorrected.
When you don't like the rules, change them. When something's not working right, disassemble it and replace the broken parts. No wonder Celestia spent so much of this chapter discussing the care that the powerful must take. I'd think she was Discord in disguise otherwise.
In any case, fantastic blend of mystery, action, and Midnight's inherent unintentional hilarity. Thank you for a gripping read.
8576628
yes if you remove choice. She just eliminated many checks on her power. Now ponies have very little recourse if they feel she is wrong on something.l We all know she isn't perfect.
8576726
Well as Queen of Unicornia did she really have much in the way of checks on her power? Especially after Sunbeam got done with the nobles. When it came to the pegasus, well they used their check on her power as commander, what more of a check could they use besides war, and once they lost were they really a check anymore? Its not like they could argue that the clans should be kept around to rebel again if they ever decided that she is a sun tyrant again.
8577253
AND THAT is what was wrong. she has no check on her power. Unchecked power is very dangerous.
8577260
No one's arguing that there aren't drawbacks to being an absolute ruler. But the alternatives in this case are constant war. The clans of Pegasopolis were a proud warrior race. There entire cultural identity was built on the idea of their willingness to fight to defend their homeland no matter what. And they lost. Like, really, really lost. Badly. Such a stain upon their honor could not go unanswered. They would have been honor bound to try and defeat Celestia again in order to regain the honor and prestige they lost. Especially when you take into account who they lost too. From their perspective, they were defeated by pampered magi, spoiled nobles, farmers, shopkeepers, and traitors. They would not accept the rule of such people. What's more, the people who just beat them are technically foreigners. That just adds a whole new level of humiliation to their defeat. War. Was. Inevitable. Shadow herself said as much. And Celestia herself isn't inherently tyrannical. She listens to her advisors council, cares about the safety of her people, and doesn't seem to even particularly enjoy rulership. Not exactly an evil overlord. Yes total authority is dangerous, but it's a hell of a lot safer than anarchy and mass bloodshed.
8577416
Yet Fereezy shows they accept defeat. hell her complaint wasn't that they lost buit the fact her clan was no more. Her FAMILY was no more. With not disolved the Clans will likely be doign major rethinks.
8577769
They accepted defeat only so far as it was forced upon them. The pegasai suffered enough losses that surrender was the only option. They didn't not rise up again because they recognized the flaws in their cause or because they felt that peace was better. They didn't rise up because every means by which to do so were taken away, save for small regional banditry. And it bears mentioning that a member of that family she lost was actively participating in child murder. I've said before that I agree that it sucks that many pegasai do suffer under this system, at least in the immediate aftermath of the war, but the alternative would be just more death and detestation.
8577821
You have no proof of that. We have seen them accept duels and defeats from them. You can bet there would be hard thinking is a post rebellion pegaspolis. Again cons out wiegh the pros of Celestia's move.
I have a feeling that there will be a whole story/chapter based on the treaty that ends the war.
8577260
I suppose in theory yes, but you have been lamenting the death of the clans, both as proof of her supposed tyranny and now as a lose of a check on her power, and well its generally not the best solution to have the army be a check on the government, and this army specifically already waged a destructive war because they misjudged her to be a tyrant, I mean what, the next time they decided shes shady they launch another massive war? so ya kind of a terrible option to be an effective check. As for Freezy and the individuals you talk about accepting defeat, well there is a big difference between an individual and a nation, and losing a honor dispute through a duel and accepting being a conquered people subject to a tyrant.
Honestly if you where proposing other reforms aside from a hope and a prayer that unseen or established Pegasus could reform the clans into something that was not a direct threat to Equestria, or something other than the clans could serve as a check on Celestia's power for the sake of the common pony, a group the clans really did not give a damn about, I would not be arguing with you. Instead I am starting to suspect, based on past conversations your backing the Pegasus so hard because they were on Luna's side, and I mean no offence there, I have a Celestia bias myself. I mean it really sounds to me like you want essentially no consequences for the Pegasus, just a quick leadership and hope they learn to be better.
Could not the same be said of you as well? Your ideas are based around characters we have not seen, doing things that run counter to what we have seen of Pegasus society as a whole. It is all speculation until, I think the next chapter of the Luna Rebellion.
Not what I was expecting, but I can see why Celestia went this route. Now that they know about the lycanthropic possibilities involved in the compact, it makes a lot of sense to seize the current opportunity to renegotiate it.
Uhh. Sure, no thought of it at all.
Cake, a proud Celestia and Midnight tradition.
8577946
I am overall on Celestia's side it is just THIS move of her irks me. Before this I have always thought the clans survive the war but dissolve at a later date with the Kickers being the exception.
And one of the armies roles is to defend the people from both outside and inside threats. So if a pres went totally crazy the army can act to remove him.
Celestia needs a check on her power. and sadly till Twilight's time she won't have any check.
8578859
Celestia didn't dissolve the clans because she wanted to make decisions without anyone being able to object. She dissolved the clans because they posed a threat to her people's safety. It has actually been explicitly stated that the pegasai have chosen to fight to the death rather than surrender to foreign invaders multiple times. Why would that change now? And I think it's important to remember, the Rebels were the aggressors in this war. Celestia accepted the legality of her removal as Commander, it was the pegasai who decided to invade Unicornia and tried to unseat its very popular queen based on a very shaky justification. They had already proven themselves a tangible threat. Also, who was supposed to take up leadership of the rebel clans? Almost all the ephorate is dead, most of their obvious successors are dead, and those that remain can't be trusted to lead. Every Pegasus we've seen discuss this topic agreed that the clans would not accept a weak leader, so unless the a bunch of generals defected early in the war, the Loyalists don't really have a lot of candidates to fill the positions. Assuming the former rebels don't just murder them and appoint their own leaders. Another thing, if the clans aren't dissolved, what consequences do they face? What your proposing actually weakens Celestia's position as the victor. What's she supposed to say, "For invading my country, killing my people, executing prisoners of war, and a bunch of other war crimes, you all get to keep your leadership, armies, and means to wage war." Does that sound like a scenario in which peace lasts? You've said Freezy is proof that the pegasai accepted defeat, but she seemed pretty convinced that the Rebels were in the right, and even if she didn't, there's a big difference between one lone Pegasus having given up and an entire culture and nation accepting being conquered by who they view as a tyrant. Also, as I've said, how would the other Loyalists respond to the survival of Pegasopolis? Multiple high ranking members of the Loyalist government and military have suffered grievous personal wrongs at the hands of the Rebels, to say nothing of the rank and file. Not to mention, what happens to the Kickers? Do their fellow pegasai accept the traitors who heavily contributed to their downfall back into their ranks? This is all without addressing the fact that the Rebels view of Celestia and her government has not changed at any point. Look at Shadows first duel with the Avatar. Even after seeing their supposed unbeatable champion sent packing by Celestia's chosen warrior, not a single rebel chose to change sides. I'd say that puts a hole in the ideathat they were too scared of the Avatar to defect. They legitimately thought what they were fighting for was right. That doesn't change because they were defeated militarily. In regards to checks on Celestia's power, it's not as if she just makes decisions on a whim and tells every pony else to deal with it. She listens to the council of her advisers, even those that disagree with her, and makes an informed decision based on that. If, by some chance, you do need a check that can force her from abusing her authority, you have Shadows armor, which is shown to make a regular pony able to match an alicorn, to the point where Luna herself is more than a little nervous about it, and the Royal Gyard itself. I doubt if Celestia went full Daybreaker they would stand behind her. And I feel I need to point this out again, Shadow herself agreed that it was necessary. A pony who had every reason to not want Pegasopolis destroyed, believed it was necessary for the protection of the greater population. Since she has spent her whole life in Pegasus culture and intimately knew the leaders of the Rebellion, I'd say she knows what she's talking about when she says that the pegasai would rebel again if given a chance.
8578859
And why would the clans dissolve on their own? They wouldn't really have an incentive and if the Kickers have survived then it's clearly possible for the major clans at least to survive if they aren't forced to. I mean technically speaking the Doo's and Striker's did survive to the present day, in Freeport at least.
8579538
Yes the clans were stupid to go to war. I blame Swift for that. How ever New leadership can rise for the clans only the leadership broke rules of war and they are all dead or exiled. I think it more likely then you. Celestia made the move of a tyrant. there is no escaping that and ironically proving her oppnent's claim.
I could see them dissolving over being obsolete and not needed as the world goes more peaceful and end up more like the Apples are.
8579763
It's a little too easy to lay all the all down the blame at Swift's hooves. The rest of the ephorate unanimously agreed to go to war with Celestia, and Bright herself authorized Swift's purge of the Earth Pony government even before becoming the Avatar, and attacked Shadow under a truce flag. We've haven't been shown any character who could realistically make up any sort of new leadership unless Chengar decides to make up a bunch of high ranking and well respected pegasai who all have no hard feelings for all the pegasai who died fighting Celestia at the last minute. It's not tyrannical to do something for the sake of protecting ones people. Tyranny is when a leader makes decisions purely for their own benefit without regard for the wellbeing of their subjects. What Celestia did was disband forces hostile to her government and people so that they could never threaten them again. They invaded, were defeated, and now must face the consequences. You've said before that the cons outweigh the pros with this decision, but I've failed to observe any real lasting harm from it. Equestria has won every major military conflict from this point in its history onwards overwhelmingly, never had any large scale internal strife that we know about, has flourished as a culture, and seems to actually be the only nation in its world that doesn't suffer any significant internal political instability. The only downside I've observed is a few regional bandits raising hell and a lot of pegasai can't get decent jobs for a few decades. Compared to 900 years of internal peace, I'd say it's an even trade.
8579763
As for the clans becoming more like the Apples, I find it unlikely given that Pegasus culture is built on them being warriors. Even the modern Kickers are almost exclusively guardsponies, and the Doo and Striker remnants in Freeport became mercenaries. If they aren't soldiers, then they don't exist. Kind of how the dissolution worked. It destroyed their cultural identity.
8579763
If the pegasus were like a modern military I would be more inclined to agree, however I would be more than a little worried to look south and see the US military ousting your president by force. The problem with the Pegasus for me goes with Omer Bartovs definition of militarism, and while not an exact fit, the Pegasus do fall into that general mold, their entire society exists as an army for the sake of existing as an army, if they were not apart of Equestria they would still be an army. I legitimately can not think of a real life society that fell into that same mold that did not have to be changed by force (Examples, Germany and Japan) or essentially destroyed by their in ability to stop fighting a secure the peace, (Sparta). That along with Shadows own judgement is more than enough for me to condemn the institution of clans to immediate destruction.
I take serious issue with this as well, I mentioned it before, but after the second world war, the Allies, and what would be West Germany kinda agreed to white wash a lot of people actions before and during the war, all for the sake of reforming the German army in case NATO and the Warsaw Pact decided to have a go of it. It was all a few and the tops fault, the war crimes where all the SS not the regular military, Generals who should of been hung got to retire and several got to keep their over inflated reputations, it was not till 1987 i believe that the German public had to face the truth of their actions.
As Pithos said, the other Ephors had to agree, and the rest of the clans had to go along as well, not only that, but the rank and file had to propagate the war, they did so because they were sure it was the right thing to do and they were positive they would win. When that victory was not to be gained so easily, the supposedly honorable Pegasus time and time again compromised for the sake of that victory. They would express discomfort with several actions but they as a whole went along with it. There were those that were found to not be moral cowards and they defected, and their defection condemns those who stayed the course all the more in my eyes. Freezy's blaming of Swift for her and her brother's actions is an understandable attempt to absolve herself and her brothers memory, but not one that should be entertained.
I'm really enjoying the midnight series, and I enjoyed both this story and the previous one. I hope to see more sometime in the future
8580419
THis, this even light hearted where it is spoken is an issue. She has no check. That is bad.
I blame swift because looking at event he was always the first to speak out against Celestia. yes Celestia did help with her dumb moves with the Pegasi just gave his cause more validity. Both Steel and Rightly were hurt by her disasterous investigation, Bright again likes a challenge. The whole clipping investigation soured Celestia to the Pegasi so easy to side with them over her.
8580979
If you're saying the clans check Celestia, who checks the clans? You've said the average Pegasus fought primarily out of loyalty to their clan head, but that's a rather dangerous situation. It means that there are effectively dozens of small armies beholden only to their leadership, and their leaders personal sense of honor and morality. They don't even have to really work together if they don't want to. Immediately following Bright succumbing to her wounds after first attacking Shadow, Dusk threatened to pull Clan Charger from the war effort. Shadow herself had almost her entire clan side with an enemy of her people. This is what Rome looked like before it fell. And technically speaking, Celestia does have a check. The Royal Guard. Do you think if Celestia got up and said "Execute all ponies who have ever disagreed with me" the Equestrian military would just do it without question? I find it more likely she would at least be detained until something could be done about her. They aren't just mindless drones who live to serve. They can think for themselves and refuse orders that are clearly insane.
8580979
And I still don't see your point about the other ephors. Yes Swift was the most outspoken against her (I'd wager money on him being a cultist) but the others didn't really like Celestia to begin with. And saying Bright did it because she likes a challenge doesn't make her look better, it makes her seem worse.
8581717
She's like Dash and after seeing the Earth ponies attacked again and again with know action from Tia, easy to see why. RIghtly and Steel on the clipping investigatation. Steel because it was rubbing salt in the new wound that one kid is dead the other maimed.. Rightly was accused of killing his own wife and child by that unicorn investigator. ANd the fact Celestia wished to continue it was the final straw. And the check on them, the unicrons and a bit of the earth ponies because of food.
8581765
I wasn't confused as to why they didn't like Celestia. I'm saying I don't get how those reasons make Swift more responsible for the war then the rest of them. War couldn't have happened if they all didn't agree, and we've clearly established all the ephors all had reasons to hate Celestia. Swift didn't force anyone to go to war, they already seemed set on that option themselves. And look at how the clans tried to "check" Celestias power: by invading a sovereign nation with the intent of forcibly deposing its ruler, against the will of its people, with the intent to install a new leader they deem more preferable. All without any serious evidence of wrongdoing. As for the other two tribes being checks on the pegasai, how exactly? War? Stop sending them food? That will probably result in war anyway. Your system of checks seems to very reliant on the idea that each side can just try to kill each other if they feel the others are a threat to them. Also, Celestia is the queen of the unicorns at this point, so if the unicorns check the pegasai and the pegasai check the unicorns, then who's being kept in line? That just sounds like both sides being equipped to fight a war with the other over any given disagreement.
8581765
And this is all without acknowledging the fact that the clans don't have to work together. We've seen Dusk show that it's possible for a clan head to refuse to have their clan fight for a cause they don't believe in, and Shadow even more so. Like I said, you basically have dozens of different armies with various interpretations as to what honor, loyalty, and morality mean. We've already seen they are willing to bend those principles pretty far for the sake of victory. And I just thought of something in regards to your claim that the clans would dissolve on there own as they ceased to be relevant. When do good soldiers stop being relevant? Even if the world is generally at peace, war is always a possibility and Equestria clearly still has plenty of monsters and that need to be controlled. If there is enough need for quality troops that the Kickers are still around, why wouldn't any of the others?
8580979
So here are a few yes or no questions, are the other Ephors adults of sound mind capable of making their own decisions? Did Swift at any time force them to go along with him? Are individuals responsible for their own actions? Final could the Pegasus have gone to war if the other Ehpors disagreed? My answers are yes, no, yes, and no, and to head off any notion that Rightly and the others having good intentions or acting for the good of the nations as they saw it as a defense. Everyone involved acted as they thought was best, and yes this included Swift so no one gets any bonus points for good intentions. Every Pegasus had to make the choice, weather or not to make war on the rest of Equestria, and weather or not to go along with the subsequent escalations, as I said before the ones who defected make the rest that who stayed look that much worse.
I also don't see how the Unicorns and Earth ponies could be a check on the Pegasus, it seems to be generally accepted that the Unicorns could not defeat the Pegasus without the Kickers and the Earthponies seem like they would be occupied quite quickly and not be able withhold food. So the Pegasus hold, if not a monopoly on force, at least an overwhelming advantage, seems to me that Celestia herself was the check on the Pegasus, while they were apart of a unified Equestria, the rest of Equestria was not their enemy, 24 hours after ousting her and Rightly was preparing for war. I have to agree with Pithos, your proposal for checks seems less then ideal, maybe I'm misunderstanding you?
I wasn't expecting Celestia to make a different ruling than Midnight, but I can't deny that her ruling is even wiser than Midnight's own. Her talk about not letting the rules set by your opponent be untouchable or unable to be worked around was solid advice for Midnight. I look forward to how she uses that advice in the future. In any case, I'm glad that Émeraude ended up getting some comeuppance as well, as Celestia is nobody's pawn.
I looove this series. Thank you for writing this story!
Sunbeam was arguably both the best & worst archmage that Celestia ever had. She was one of the 2 ponies most responsible for Celestia's victory in the Lunar rebellion & her reforms shaped modern Equestria. On the other hand, her missteps, especially among the Pegasi were possibly the single greatest cause of the war in the first place.
Her allowing the magnates to gain control of the banking & farms of the Earth Ponies didn't help. (Yeah the problem had been building for decades but she wasn't even aware the problem existed, never mind trying to fix it.)
P.J. O'Rourke said In the Revolutionary War, the states ran up various debts. Alexander Hamilton (1st Secretary of the Treasury, picture on $10) got an agreement to nationalize the debts in return for giving the federal government various tax powers. Most important of these was an excise tax on alcohol. This led to the Whiskey Tax Rebellion"The government's first farm policy was to shoot the farmers. For once, the government may have gotten it right the first time"
8594626
I feel it's important to point out that Sunbeam was Grand Vizier of Unicornia at the time, and as such the economic disparity between the different classes ofEarth Pony society was beyond her jurisdiction. Not trying to seem condescending, just thought I'd mention that.
8600787
Maybe. I sort of got the Impression that Celestia ran the economy, but it wasn't clearly spelled out how much the Unicorns controlled. Could be I'm being unduly influenced by Apple Tree's blaming it all on Celestia (& she was the titular head of all 3 tribes)
8600834
She was the leader of each tribe, but she was the leader of each tribe individually. She was the elected Chancellor of the Earth Ponies, so her ability to influence their economy was limited to the means available to an elected official. She did have a plan, it just would have taken a few decades to fully take on the burden of the working farmers.
Well, hello gorgeous! New Midnight fodder, be still my desire for actual character growth as opposed to Mama cancer causer who simply shifted from being awful, to causing a bloody war with her reflex like need to be awful, at one point sleeping with Shadow, in an way that was awful and setting the bar for partner standards about as low as one can while sober, earning prestige and status despite being awful and by such a position able to effeciently and awfully spread her ample scrooge mcduck vault filled with awful to the little ponies because waking up in the night with visions of ones own soldiers slaughtering and capturing you and yours simply didn't give one enough punches in their terrible tango dance card.
If her being Vizier and Arch mage doesn't pull a MEGA on Equestria...
I'm sure Celestia being the sound old gal she is had a perfectly not remotely reasonable form of thinking that forbade her from, say, dissolving the house hold itself, or checking out the locals for a new person to be pretty useless if not outright a hinderance. Hell, poke your head and check out the will merc for food brand feeder. I'm sure one the now de armored and destitute pegasi of the rebellion would flip their furry lid to actually be doing something in a leadership role.
And now on with the show, with Minimal Sunbeam hopefully...
Nope, a few sentences, there she is. Its magic I tell, just when I think I can enjoy a new work here, up she pops like the measels
"Yes yes, the consort budget is secure. I'd rather pay them then those dopes I'm saddled with thinking of how to use the funds interfering in the serfs lives. Yes, keep them feeling important with the legalese equivelant put the lime in the coconut.... uh, teaching the foals to read? Eh, give it a few decades mate. Most of their parents would just burn the books and the landed gentry would launch their horse apples at high velocity if they though the serf threatened the landed gentry... yes, I actually own it, but they about enjoyed a consort minus the consort when they saw how much they'd get if they took it off my hooves and gave me allowance. No, Sunbeam will not be deciding policy, she's filler till her filly can fill the role and I can post that witch somewhere cold and cruel to her pus.... hey, hi Midnight!"
Bear the winds of frost upon thy crotch tits lady! Seriously, all things considered, the fact Midnight walked away mission complete and her issues largely being more emotionally taxing then physically, and all with no field experience, a few dings on the filly will build character. Also, any thing she could meet out there is but a tender massage to having Sunbeam as your sire (yes, I'm mean to her! She hurt my favorite oc Midnight! Only good that harpy gave the world was Midnight!)
Huh? Unicornia's answer to the Whore of Babylon still barking up tree Midnight? Jobs done honey, and since you didn't have to boink her, you pretty got paid to go on vacation. Granted, the local glee club was hankering for a shank of pissing farm pony or MAYBE they could check out mothers old recipes and make Midgalesub.
Anyway, back to the street mare. Its rather odd since she seems to, to my memory, been moonlighting as a mare of the night. And back then, I'd imagine being a consort of either gender or tribe was, while not entirely lauded as honorable means of employ, was seen as respectable work. As opposed to musicians, who were relegated into the basket of actors, and were viewed in the same catergory as thieves and mercenaries. Or worse really. At least a thief or merc could buy a room or meal, the entertainers had to hang out with the winos and gypsies under the bridge!
Okay, I know you guys like breaking gender roles, but if Sunbeam wanted to buy her girl a whore (in the case where dads do do this, its known, and not referenced to or regarded as good. Its viewed as, of all things, a right of passage, as opposed to doing something worthwhile) why not save her sheckles and poke around the upper crust for a viable means of meaningless and unfulfilling two minutes? Heck, God may toss the lass a mulligan and she’d bag herself one whose relatively not a complete tool, totally self absorbed, dumb as rock, a gold digging skank, or a political sacrificial lamb to land her parents a back table at a Sunbeam how to char broil a pegasi shit hoof, Genital wrecking for fun, profit, and the amusing squeaks a warlock makes, and How To Bag Shadow Kicker, a twelve step easy to follow means of somehow getting mares with a semblance of self worth and discipline and who hold you in such a way porking you gives them… well, a dirty feeling, and not in the fun way. The I just debased myself with Sunbeam Sparkle, with the subsequent sos boops that read out I need a confession booth hot water and some clue into the reason I hopped on the good hoof and did a incredibly horrible thing with Sunbeam she wanted to pork me the first five minutes we met Sparkle.
Anyway, back to Midnight. She’d be better off keeping Shadow Kicker as her back up to be honest. Tis best, as Franklin, to tend the field most often plowed, and at that point in her life, given pegasi incredibly aggressive disposition towards mate finding and even just one night stands, her foal Shade probably strolled out tipping a top hat and twirling a cane that could double as a gendarme baton in case a nurse acted shifty. Shadow isn’t much of a talker so one less thing to worry over since traditionally one talked with a partner at times. She is also older, has already foaled, and as such would be more cautious or simply less likely to concieve at all. Also, an older mare is discreet and not ones given towards kiss and tell, and since a horizontal mambo with Midnight, whose practically a daughter, would amp the stigma Shadow’s a cradle robber too cradle robber whose a dirty buzzard.
Shadow is also less given to being flighty and clingy. A bit warmerin private perhaps, but wouldn’t take things at more then what they established before hoof or things that made her of Midnight uncomfortable with the other. High status, viable sire material, stability, keeps in warrior tier levels of in shape, and is actually a pony who cares for Midnight. As opposed to Subtle... a town apple cart. Its a good thing Midnights a nerd, cause this conundrum is right up there with the meaning of life and why the hell my notes start out short but grow into short stories.
And thats the moment I realized I was contemplating pony pairing and shipped an army mule with a spring filly. God help me….
Hey, Stalwarts back! Speaking of things that seque from near incest pairings of two emotional cripples, lets say how do to Stalwart, who is so loyal he won’t even hug when asked!
Wait… didn’t he bitch and moan and cut off eventually needed resources, books on spells and monsters? And now he’s got a free ride where he can conserve energy to be ear marked later not being not stoic and not doing stupid things like not being driven to his sit rep with a pretty mare? Or maybe saving that energy to the mission where it can all go tits up at a breezies unexpected fart?
Most likely this was a result of Count High Stakes earning significantly less income than the county was accustomed to. Like most regions in Equestria after the Lunar Rebellion, records suggest that Honeyfield suffered from an economic depression that was typical of the Great Ennui.
No duh there sweety. But Equestria was fucked either way at that point. After the stud muffins of the stratosphere decided to take their all singing all dancing schlong swinging extravaganza on a whirlwind tour of subjugation and pony place putting, complete with the top hat of striving for mortal rule with Brightmare Bellendington as grand high pumba of insert reference to female anatomy here whose duty was to sit pretty and listen to the violins as Equestria starved in the coming winter since any young and virile plow horse or tree bucker, or even mildly aged, would have been killed in defense of their land or sent out back to be honorably split like cordwood by wingblade testers.
Ah jeez, its a fey huh? Why not go with an orphan or one of those humans who seem to pop up now and again. Orphans have return policies and humans are a breeze to be rid of when the welcome fades.
“She is the old blood of Pegasopolis,” Stalwart said.
Aaaannnnd there is the brass ring wrangler for shit that is a manors equivelant of a canary in the coal mine. As said before, in mating and battle, pegasi are brutal to near human levels at spartan levels of killer (sorry, the legionaires beat out both in terms of sheer ruthlessness, and yes, magic aura infused uber armor wearing death cult hawk horses who can fly and shoot lightning with flaming wing blades were no where near as terrifying as the legionairy of Rome, who in terms of instilling terror in others kept Rome fat and happy on orgies and circuses for centuries.)
And this is an old school wing mare. The ones who when held against Shadow would make the brawler seem a cute and cuddly teddy bear. An very cranky teddy bear, but at least not a old flint heart who would enjoy sending their father out to fail and would take satisfaction and joy he was stallion enough to slit his own throat then simpering up to their foals for death after their loss.
A fey steals foals. Pegasopolis she wolves toss them into wells in front of their mothers as examples and hopefully to draw out some dumb stallions who see a few foals lost as a reason to lose their head.
Though the noble houses of Equestria found a ready pool of warriors in the broken up remains of the Pegasopolian clans, considering many of them refused to work for the crown that had defeated them and many of them lacked skills beyond warmaking.
Oh poor wayward foals of the clans, far from the teets where you suckled your repugnant ideology and false notion of elitism far away from those dick head snobs and those rube mud horses! Its not like you totally didn’t make a choice to throw your hat in the ring with sadists who send away a broken child away with neither a last embrace or word of caring, or toss their desperate colt blades to let his despair lead the way instead of having their name tarnished by the actions your culture practically pimple burst across the whole of pegasi society.
And oh dear, no killing jobs? No wood to chop or plow to pull or dare I suggest lowering your throbbing murder boner to needing to maim or I’ll rip my own feathers out in withdrawl to a place where you wash dishes or become an apprentice and start over as a child. Because ones pride will feed hungry mouths or give one four walls for the cold. And there’s always begging or whoring. Because ones pride as a pegasus can bear the weight of being reduced to pity or viewed as a toilet.
Why would a pony hunt? Most don’t eat meat and are already furry. Also this is the very definition of the lout pegasi straw men and earth ponies feared as overseers. Irresponsible, needlessly destructive, enjoys drink and being addled, and wants to be in charge. And here comes our next contestants in this hellscape of wanton greed and hubris by a bunch of twits who literally have a Magus and the final word in who drives this place into the ground and are quite content with word shivs instead of say extolling virtue or good old fashion hoof licking and generally lips to rump on Midnight. She’d see through it, but its better then the upcoming testament to inbreeding the nobles will parade.
And there’s the signal that is sounded as our much revered Ponibus and/or Chengar take an already riveting story and toss in the curve ball that will, as in its as was the scorpion to the frog, and turns what should be Midnight’s endeavor to fend off the torpor induced by the most boring people masquerading as interesting since their too stupid to realize how empty and vapid their squabble over some vaporeous title is into what scientists refer to as class a cluster fuck. Also thats kind of an odd angle going on there. Wouldn’t the guard at that angle given him a shot to the ribs?
Thank God! Freezy, bless you for at the very least trying to be better then seeing your own as meat for the grinder or the horse in the proverbial horse trade. No doubt your honor garment adorned sadism and obscurisms for the greater good and your deeds and honor will rear its head to inform me how your eventual betrayal only seemed viable because I’m a overy sentimental putz. Till then though, your this stories point of light in a sea of perhaps the worst hat pulls in Equestrian history seek to show us the full range of how deep their insipidness goes.
Hell, why not toss the dam the title itself? Set a precedent, provide for the foal as they should whatever its legitimacy, take down the powerhouse thinkers lowering iq points with mere vacant stare alone, and actually put those who have no say in this exercise in immoral governing in the hooves of a mare who would actually view them as ponies then just background noise or expendable, and enjoy the novelty that comes with having a token at ones monthly bit counting, or annual orgy.
And thats first chapter. Not bad at all mate
It must be frustrating to put this much effort into writing a novel, getting it through edits and the like, publishing it, then to know that Admiral Q Poniform is going to drive the comments section to talk about someone else's story and his own faulty headcanon about a fan 'verse's politics.
I had several topics that sparked my interest from the story, and I'll try to separate them out from each other.
Typo:
The fey is an interesting creature. Others pointed out how she/they don't have free will, which is amusing in that we also don't have free will. Émeraude/the fey have much more obvious "rules and restrictions" on how they operate, but there is some obvious conceit going on.
Émeraude made for an interesting storytelling element. Even when she wanted Midnight to know things, she could not just give those bits of information to her, because of her "rules." That is interestingly different from Duke Ferme who also withheld aide due to personal ambition/greed. Their outcomes were similar at points, but their intent/desire polar opposite.
The other thing I considered at some point was tossing aside all plans current and future for Midnight, and just spawn an AU.
This story/timeline has Midnight wary of Émeraude's "firstborn bargain" and disinclined to accept it. Caution ruled her decisions as firmly as Émeraude was ruled by her "fey nature." This was later proven to be prudent by the story and setting, Émeraude's machinations, and ultimately by Celestia's depowering of Émeraude to resolve the story's conflict.
My alternate would have Midnight positive towards this "firstborn bargain." Rather than the story and setting unfolding in such a way as to reward caution and declining the offer, my alternate would explore caution in how to accept it, with the story and world being crafted to reward that choice.
I think part of the "problem" of at least the initial offer of the bargain is that Émeraude would present it as a "price" and imply to Midnight that their firstborn (which Émeraude would be mater to and Midnight sire to) would be Émeraude's sole custody and property to groom and mold to her own ends. Midnight would then be free to go on with her life. Later, a variant of this offer suggested that perhaps Midnight might mater and Émeraude sire, with more joint-custody implied, and the offspring being Midnight's heir to the Sparkle family being of value to Émeraude.
I think rather than immediately jump into bed and go about either of those, I'd have the two choose something more akin to a courtship (with benefits) but careful protections against pregnancy. Let Midnight and Émeraude explore a relationship as a couple, with both benefitting from it: Midnight from Émeraude's teachings and power, Émeraude from Midnight's greater mobility in the land and own powers. Among those things would also be Midnight overcoming her virginal embarrassment of coitus.
Perhaps down the road, the two would escalate their relationship to something akin to "marriage" and work on that heir. This story seems to suggest that Émeraude getting her way and having her bloodline mingle with House Sparkle would somehow be a bad thing, I'd explore it being a good thing in this timeline.
Where the real timeline has the fey as dangerous bargainers and all who truck with them falling to demise, thus Midnight's caution and avoidance being prudent, I think it would be interesting to let Midnight outwit the fey and be stronger for it on a repeated basis. Let her be the exception to that "rule" that "all who truck with the fey fall to their superior deviousness." It would remain dangerous, and her victories would not be one-sided, but that simply feels like a really interesting dynamic that could generate so many great conflicts and stories and progression and growth.
In the first Midnight story, I shipped her with Gale. After TLR's completion, and seeing Gale's fondness for Dusk Charger and that being a better-understood piece of the background of Midnight's Shadow, my interest in that ship and Gale Kicker herself dropped considerably. It is less, "I am sold on Gale + Dusk" and more "Gale is a boring hetero, meh." I dislike how Gale developed in TLR, which retroactively reduced my interest in the shipping fuel in Midnight's Shadow.
I don't particularly like Subtle Song. That one has always been and still is and is likely forever to remain dead in the water for me.
So, letting Midnight get cozy with a comely fey mare seems interesting to pursue. 'sides, it would be interesting to let Corva constantly bitch and complain at Midnight for her choice, and the caution urged by her and basically everyone else Midnight knows could be a fun contrast to Midnight coming out ahead anyway. It would be interesting to see what Sunbeam thought of her daughter's choice, and I'd propose in this timeline that she approves of it, becoming something of a sole voice of support for the union.
The ending moral from Celestia to not play into the restrictions/rules presented by the enemy is a strong one. Midnight considered the fey to be a) too powerful to defeat b) too entrenched/useful/necessary to the status quo, and c) morally distant from treating with proper regard. Celestia displayed her superior wisdom in dismantling the faulty compact, rather than attempting to shore it up.
I feel like this is a solid mirror to Celestia's dealings with Apple Tree in TLR. Both of these mirrors the much larger outcome of the rebellion and the dismantling of the tri-national system. In all cases, Celestia is afforded a much larger, longer-term view of things due to her long life, and can view things as temporary which last longer than mortal ponies' lifespans.
I think the rightness/wrongness of Celestia's stance needs to always take that into consideration. She simply operates on a much larger and longer scale than that of even several generations. Even the lengthy lifespan of Émeraude stretching her family's entire line is shorter than Celestia's perspective. Celestia deals in the interplay of nations while many ponies struggle with the idea of going larger than their own neighborhood to extend fully to their own country. Much more still struggle to even consider things on the scale of their own city.
Celestia's only necessary check or balance is herself. Even if she makes huge mistakes, she will right them. She can right them in ways others are incapable of enacting and seeing through. As was brought up several times in this story, proper leadership needs several virtues, and lacking a proper leader leads to ruin. Simply replacing a leader who has made mistakes doesn't fix the problem, just changes which mistakes will be made by the next leader. At best you can replace Celestia with someone new and exactly like Celestia, who will make different mistakes than Celestia, but why not just let Celestia fix the mistakes she has the power to fix and continue to make the best effort?
High Stakes was soft. Rumble was disinterested in the woefully negligent finances. Snowfall/Freezy was an underaged and unwilling combination, and Shining Quest was illegitimate/plotting. And murdered. High Roller was incompetent as well, as proven by Émeraude. The correct answer really was that no candidate was the correct choice, and Émeraude could not be counted on to turn any of them, even Snowfall, into a good leader. There was no right leader to pull Honeyfield out of this mess that had been decayed for generations, least of all Émeraude by proxy. Where Midnight sought to make the best choice out of the options present, Celestia was free to make use of none of them, and go for a real solution that would eventually fix everything.
Much like with the rebellion, the problem was too big, complicated, and long in festering to fix in a mortal span of time. In both cases, getting rid of the root of the problem was necessary. In both cases, no matter what was done, the short term suffering would not be lifted. Ponies would grow old and die angry. Ponies would be born into an angry setting, become adults, and grow old and die of age without a solution. Maybe the grandchildren of the grandchildren would be distant enough from the issues to reap the benefit of things being fixed, and that is the scale Celestia can operate on. You cannot make things right for those in the here and now, but you can either let the poison linger so that even the grandchildren of the grandchildren can suffer, or you can do right by them.
Most of the moral questioning and headcanoning going on misses this point. No matter what was done in the here and now, the ponies of the here and now would not be satisfied, and the correct course of action is not for them. There is no configuration of current options that would do that. At best a band-aid could be put on things, only for them to fall apart in a decade or a generation or two.
Simply dismantling the noble line does not actively increase the misery of the county's population. The existing leadership and recently deceased leadership are the cause of the misery. Removing it and putting royal agents at work to fix everything simply opens up more options than could be possible with leaving things to the failed count/countess line. Tradition and status quo could not be relied on to do anything other than, maybe generate a few counts/countesses in the upcoming line of descendants that would do OK, only for the less than good ones to undo their work.
As stated, that's a strong mirror to the larger rebellion picture. Three allied sovereign nations is not a unified Equestria. That was a fundamentally flawed setup, and it festered into open warfare. It needed to be destroyed, and generations of tradition and inheritance needed to be cast aside to allow for a proper functioning society to emerge. The war-torn families and bad blood could not be fixed no matter the outcome of the war. Only time and the distance of several generations to forget the slights and slings and arrows could do that. Celestia's dismantling/conquering of Pegasopolis and "Earth" to form Equestria properly was the only way to create the nation in which that could happen. We see in a millennium that the pegasi are fine and content ponies in modern Equestria. We see the earth ponies are perfectly happy and content too. Celestia made the right choice, and history proves her right.
Tyranny has many negative connotations, as does dictatorship. That is because in the real world, tyranny and dictatorship come at the opposition of those who disagree, and neither side of the disagreement is better or more right than the other. Celestia is right. Regardless of those who disagree with her, her decisions led to better society. She is a benevolent dictator, which is a thing that has never existed in the real world and likely never will. Where we're stuck trying to make the best of an uncertain and largely unknowable situation and future, Celestia is simply the best mare for the job in Equestria. Equestria does not become better for adopting out methods, it becomes better for solving its problems.
Much more closely focused on the story itself, I didn't really like the combat/violence aspect of the conflict in the story.
Shining Quest's death removed her and Coin Count as anything resembling a player in the story. Their plot was revealed easily by Midnight's dream magic, rendered impotent, and from then on Coin Count was set dressing. He said a few things now and then to remind us he existed, but he did nothing at all of impact to the story. They were padding and served as necessary victims to High Roller.
Duke Ferme was similarly toothless. We were told several times that he mattered, but the only impact he had was that he 'caused some of the pre-existing problems, and failed to give aid. Like Coin, he was set dressing that was entirely forgettable except when he needed to speak a few lines to remind you he existed and "mattered." There was, like with Coin, zero uncertainty by me as the reader nor from Midnight that what he wanted was at all the right path.
Contrast these with Émeraude, Rumble, and Snowfall/Freezy. Of those, Rumble is the easiest to address, so I'll explain him first.
Rumble had obvious flaws and wore them unashamedly. At some points in the story, it seemed like he was intended to be as one-note as Shining/Coin and Duke Ferme. Eventually, it proved true that he wasn't the one we were to root for, but at certain times he displayed a glimmer of good that caused doubt. When dealing with Warming Welcome, we saw his flaws raring to go, but he did listen to Midnight and proved that he was able to listen to reason, change his mind, and do better things. We saw that despite his flaws, he was still Snowfall's loving uncle, and would do right by her. We're led to believe at least briefly that, out of the available options, letting him be regent might be one of the least bad options to pick. When interviewing Herbal Remedy, we learned that even prior to High Stake's death, Rumble was favored by the community for serving the main purpose of the nobility: to protect the citizens from evil. Be it bandits, monsters, or rival lords.
Freezy Hail and her daughter were yet another interesting piece of the puzzle. Despite the fact that Midnight was eventually convinced they formed the best choice and future for Honeyfield, their contribution to the puzzle was complicated and ultimately too weak to be a good choice. Freezy's murder of her lover and child's father was a wonderfully gray act. Her desire to protect her daughter from the noble's life was both compelling and flawed, and when Midnight eventually confronted her in the woods, we saw the underlying flaw of her position: she represented symbolically the rebellion and the post-defeat sentiment of that rebellion. She was an up-close and personal reflection of that wide sentiment, and it was wrong regardless of how strongly it was felt. As Stalwart advised Midnight after their argument, it was not logic to pursue in dealing with her, but empathy. In the here and now, that was intended as advice on how to win more hearts with honey than vinegar. But in the long term, Midnight was objectively right, Freezy objectively wrong, and whatever was needed to get Freezy to that point was correct. Empathize with her pain, but she is in pain due to being wrong.
What makes her. and by extension the rebellion she symbolizes, wrong is that, fundamentally, the "warrior society of Pegasopolis" was flawed. "Honor" is a useless concept if it is so fluid as to be bent to allow the rebellion. Pegasopolis is not of value if it fails at its one job of protecting ponies so badly that Pegasopolis goes to war with Equestria in order to control it and make it bend to Pegasopolis. Freezy fears the machinations of the nobility, while turning a blind eye to her more familiar political scheming and machinations of Pegasopolis. She condemns one and worships the other.
Émeraude was easily the most interesting part of the puzzle though. As shown above, I both support the story's conclusion that she too needed to be dismantled and I also entertain the idea of letting her run off with Midnight on sexy adventures. So, I'll just skip really going over her value to the story. I think you get it.
High Roller needed to commit crimes to participate in the story, be a threat, and in doing so be unworthy of his birthright. That in and of itself would have been a more interesting part of the puzzle, except that he also had to be mostly dismissed and ignored. Midnight expressly wanted to give him a fair listen, and he went off and murdered Shining Quest anyway. From there, he was committed to his role, but that one act prevented both his own interesting participation in the story and hers and Coin's.
Prior to the battle proper with Midnight, High Roller in his werewolf form represented at first something of an unknown danger, and culminated with being a magically superpowerful beasty that could shrug off wounds, rip flesh and was nearly unstoppable. Even with silver spears, Rumble and his mooks could barely slow High Roller down, let alone threaten him.
Fiersome and appropriately powerful for a werewolf, but in terms of storytelling, the violence felt gratuitous. Shining Quest's murder may have greased some wheels to let us get to this point, but it came at the cost of more interesting "talky bits." High Roller injuring Freezy's wing served no real purpose to the story, though it contributed very slightly to the contrivance of the end confrontation between Midnight and Freezy in her bedchambers.
As is often the case in Winningverse stories, characters get injured/die more to show that this 'verse is a bit more gritty and violent than canon, but often without any compelling story purpose. It felt very much like this was yet again the case. It felt a lot like Twilight Sparkle's eye injury all over again in Study of a Winning Pony. Sure, it was sort of believable that it happened, and it was a "bad thing" happening to sort of contribute to the story, but it got resolved and didn't really impact anything. The main conflict of the succession and even High Roller's part in the story were not really furthered by Freezy's injury.
The battle between Midnight and High Roller didn't really do anything for me. The use of the bees seemed like it should have happened sooner in order to criple High Roller and render later attacks more effective, but instead it happened after some otherwise useless "DPS" spells were used only to be healed by High Roller's regeneration. They also were reduced in effectiveness by Midnight's preference for both hot and cold spells, though she only directly mentioned the inability to fully use fire without destroying the bees. So, overall it felt like a "clever" use of magic that ultimately simply wasn't that clever. The rest of the fight boiled down to Midnight protecting herself with shields/walls/wards, launching a bunchof "DPS" spells in a setting where we don't get to see her rolling a handful of D8's to show just how much damage she did to be impressed by, and instead it was rendered more "Midnight keeps hammering away. Hopefully she has enough mana to keep it up long enough to overwhelm High Roller's regeneration. Yep, she does."
Missing were things like High Roller's claws and teeth barely missing Midnight, or her narrowly avoiding a mortal wound only to suffer a painful glancing rake or nip. Missing were... well, any sort of attacks at all from High Roller once Midnight finally disabled him and proceeded with the "pummel" phase of the fight. Missing was a sense of choreography or interaction of the fight.
It was basically violence/action porn for the sake of violence/action and wasted time until the real battle between Midnight and Émeraude could begin. Despite not trying to appear one-sided, it felt entirely one-sided, and had not Émeraude intervened, I could almost expect Midnight to comment with, "that was easy."
High Roller did not represent a foe that could produce an interesting dance, such as the duel between Shadow Kicker and Lance Charger. He represented a bomb. You let it wound you, you die. It blows up. You have to confront it in such a way that it doesn't' blow up, letting you contain and defuse it. There were some elements of that, such as the bees, deafening, protective spells, and disabling attacks like the deafening concussion and attempts to freeze/skewer him in ice. But what we should have gotten was a depiction not modeled after a D&D werewolf fight, but more along the lines of Twilight Sparkle vs the Ursa Minor in Boast Busters: using her magic to contain, disable, and nullify High Roller, not DPS race him into unconsciousness.
Hell. Why didn't she simply lift him in her magic and hold him at several yards length and watch him flail in the air impotently? Then encase him in ice. Seems like that'd be less energy, less collateral damage, and far less action/violence. Would still get us to the point in which Émeraude steps in, and the actually interesting conflict begins.
Because we needed all that violence/action though, we couldn't have more investigation of High Roller's past and present goals and motivations. We couldn't let Shining Quest be a mystery that unfolded over time as well. We got an unsatisfying combat scene instead, and it necessitated that High Roller also be one-note and uninteresting rather than compelling or interesting.
By the end of the day, it was an entertaining read. Midnight is still proving to be the single most interesting character in the entire Winningverse at this point.
She hasn't become boring like Cloud Kicker, nor ruined by acquiring an intractable stick up her ass like Storm Kicker. She lacks the "I am honor honor honor honor, uh, wingblades?" of Shadow Kicker. She feels strong enough to handle some interesting opponents and situations, without feeling like she needs plot armor (literally; Shadow's Armor still is stupid), and generally puts an amusing macabre humor into things.
The setting allows for some morally unambiguous opponents that simply need to be stopped while giving us plenty of gray opponents to tackle with and explore their friend or foe status. The recurring theme of identifying when tearing down the establishment is necessary rather than patching up a flimsy foundation is a fun one that I hope continues to be explored.
This installment of her adventures was a mostly fun addition. It wasn't perfect, but it did enough things right and strongly enough right that it was solidly a good story.
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Good to hear you liked that story, even if not all the elements didn't work for you, which I can understand given your points. As a writer you try different things and see what does and doesn't work. There are a few things I'd probably change if I redid the story (bolstering up some of the characters that got neglected a bit, for one), but overall I'm quite happy with how it went.
It was my intention to put some difficult ideas and dynamics into the story, without there being easy answers to the conflicts in it. As well as throwing in some characters with some complicated features and goals to them.
I will say that this probably isn't going to be the last we see of Émeraude. Celestia's renegotiating the deal that made Émeraude, and it's not Celestia's way to destroy someone if she can help it. Especially when she thinks she can reform them. And Émeraude still very much interested in Midnight.
You know this really reminds me of V in this scene:
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Another enjoyable Midnight story, can't wait to start the next one and see if she'll eventually expand her fabled skull collection.