Luna swirled her mineral water around in her bottle, absently levitating it for almost a full minute.
I asked, “Do you hate yourself because of Nightmare Moon?”
"No. Emphatically. Twilight and the element bearers cured me of that particular guilt. I hate myself... because I enjoy killing. Not even Nightmare Moon killed wontonly—she was most pragmatic in her evil and parsimonious in her effort. She wished subjects, not victims."
I looked at Luna, then at Rosie, then back.
Rosie said, "I don’t think so. You didn’t kill those dumb colts, even though they had weapons out."
"Well, not idiot foals, of course! Even if they were older than me.... but there are certain ponies I actively thrill at killing. And the next day, in the mirror, I see the monster still caged within me."
Wow. I recognized somepony else I knew in her words. "Whom," I asked, "do you like to kill?"
"Necromancers. Rapists. Drug dealers. Their ilk."
I said, "Those seem reasonable, really."
"Would you stand as executioner, Proofie? If a necromancer wended his way through the court system? There was a case in Tröttingen last year—I took his leg and horn and arrested him. He was convicted in open court by a jury of his peers and condemned. Did you put your name in the pool when volunteers were recruited?"
I shook my head no.
"Imagine you were conscripted to pull the gallows’ lever. Do you strut happily afterward? Or vomit?"
I nodded. "Probably throw up."
"I do not."
"Don’t anymore?" Rosie asked. "Or never?"
"My first time... the first time I killed... I have no recollection. Perhaps I vomited. I suffered a simultaneous blow to the head and other injuries. I was unconscious nearly a full day. The second time I killed, outside of open battle, that is, I was enraptured and joyous. That is why I hate myself. What kind of monster kills happily? My victims earned their fate, they were guilty of rape and foal rape, but death’s application should be solemn, not rapturous. It would have been better if somepony else had killed... those particular rapists. I might not have learned to savor revenge.”
I pointed with my horn. "One of your friends is coming." It was the muscular buttercream-yellow pegasus with the short mane.
Luna looked behind. "Ah. Blizzard Walker. How are you?"
She said, "Madam Merlot, you are needed at the family compound."
"My friends here have defeated my disguise with deduction and observation."
"Princess, I told you it’s not a very good disguise. Her Highness Celestia commands your presence and that you explain why you ditched us, again. And I’m hearing rumors of swordplay in Griffontown. Princess Celestia is threatening to have your chambers lined with anti-teleport spells.”
Luna looked at Rosie and I. "Until my eighteenth birthday last year, Celestia held my legal guardianship. I am recently a legal adult, and equally diarch under the law, but I defer to her as I once did to mother. I shall make an exception, here, however, and refuse her command. Blizzard Walker, sit."
"That would be inappropriate, highness."
"Blizzard Walker, sit."
Blizzard Walker sat.
Rosie said, "My name’s—"
"We keep dossiers on everypony who spends time near the Princess, Ms. Bayes. Dr. Pudding."
I shivered slightly. I’d been hooded only ten weeks before, and still I didn’t know how to cope with being 'Doctor.'
"I asked you to sit," Luna said, "because you have sworn to trade your life for mine."
"It’s my honor, ma’am. The Royal house has spent a thousand years—"
"Shush. I am an unworthy scion of the Royal house. Hear the story of how I learned to love killing, and then you may decide if I am worthy of a dedicated public servant like yourself."
“You saved my life in Tröttingen,” Blizzard Walker said.
“Piffle. I can wear much heavier armor, is all. My armor outweighs your entire body by a factor of two. ‘Twas only fair that I take the trebuchet shot. I was without heartbeat less than a minute, thanks to your epinephrine injection, and my bones healed. Listen to the story of my foalhood.”
And then Rosie, Blizzard Walker, and I became the first ponies in a thousand years to hear how Luna had become an Alicorn Princess.
And, by the heavens and the seas and the lands, the tale was dark.
Im just loving this Fanfiction. Pls never stop it! :D
9519292
you! Thanks!
This one is fairly short but I’m working on a novel set three months later. I hope to drop it in late spring or summer. (I have to write the whole thing before I drop the first chapter—that’s my process.)
Thankyou for your updates.
It's been almost a decade and fresh, untold history fics such as these still manage to appear.
'tis a good story so far.
9520215
Thanks! I’m polishing chapters 6 and 7 with a tentative drop mid-next week!
I guess I feel obligated to stick my oar in, given that the story is inspired my comment on the prequel.
The darkness has been considerably dialed back, way too much for my taste. Luna's injuries seem to come and go with all the import of hair dye. She has them, but they are irrelevant. The assertion that each cut, broken bone, and severed nerve left a wound on her soul is simply gone. They might as well be press-on tattoos at this point.
Her frequent absences from class are likewise irrelevant. Apparently, in-between fighting monster, recovering from fighting monsters, training to fight monsters, fighting monster in her sleep, carrying out her other royal duties, managing the affairs of an uncountable number of noble holdings, she's managed to master an abstruse branch of mathematical practice while also mastering all the other learning, magical and mundane, necessary for her many, many jobs.
Now, I'm not going to say that it's impossible for her to earn a doctoral thesis in an amongst all the other things she has going on, but, as with everything else related to Luna in this fic, it's robbed of all gravitas. This ought to be a crowning moment of awesome for her, a vindication that she can rise above her role as Equestria's executioner, that she can contribute positively to the intellectual life of society. Such a moment deservedly belongs in the very last chapter as a capstone to her character arc in which she expended much in the way of tears, sweat, toil, and blood to achieve.
But when does this happen? Chapter 2. She scoops up the doctorate as part of a victory lap of which the emphasis is how goddamn amazing Luna is. Because that's what this story is. Luna is rich, smart, strong, confident, beautiful, and all-around wonderful in every way. Granted, that's a tune that many authors on this site are willing to play, but I'm sad to see that the unique themes of the prequel are being abandoned in favor of telling yet another tale of Luna Sue, Warrior Princess. I'd love to be proven wrong.
I'll have to see if the dark tales of Luna are as promised, though if it turns out she could hold her breath for an hour, I'm going to be upset.
Luna is 18??? I can under stand not counting the 1000 years on the moon, but that still seems young. Or is this an equivalent age, like Spike being a baby dragon despite all the years that have past because of their long life spans.
9522183
From the prequel:
In my defense, I hashed out this storyline before I saw “Horse Play,” which put the lower bound on Celestia’s age (1,111+a few).
9522077
Wow! Thank you very much for an excellent and well-considered comment. I shall ponder deeply upon these, and endevour to ensure the remaining chapters do not disappoint.
Again, and sincerly, this is an excellent comment and I appreciate your time and thoughts.
9522884
Darn show, always messing with fan fics.
9522972
I know, right? My kid controls the Netflix remote when we’re watching MLP, so I get them hella out of order, too. I’ve seen some episodes 50 times and Tirek once... (he’s scary to 6 year olds, apparently).
9522077
To me, it seemed more like Alicorns in general are like that in this story.
9522077
Jeez...