Rainbow flew through the air near Cloudsdale. The city of clouds looked awesome as always to the speedy Pegasus. All around she could see the winged ponies flying from cloud to cloud as they went about their day. Part of her wished she could hang back and just chill with them since this was her hometown before she moved to Ponyville. Sadly she had no time to waste.
A few miles away from the aerial city, Rainbow stopped in front of a cloud home that stood alone in the middle of the sky. Unlike her home, or the homes of any other sky dweller for that matter, this house was made completely out of dark thunder clouds. It had no windows, no rainbow waterfalls, or anything that would make it look friendly. But then again, that was the point of its appearance.
Rainbow landed in front of the only door and knocked four times. A moment later she heard several looks being unlocked before the door opened to reveal her cousin Color Scheme. Like Rainbow she had a multicolored mane. But instead of it being striped like hers it looked like a tie dye style shirt with blood red in the center followed by dark green, purple, and then black. Stuffed between both ears of the midnight blue mare were several colored pencils and pens. While she couldn’t see it, Color’s cutie mark was a paintbrush covered in rainbow colored paint.
“Hey Rainbow,” said bat pony with a grin. “What’s up with the visit? You usually stop by at the end of the month to pick up my transcript.” In order for Color Scheme to actually have a job, practically the entire family had to help out. For example, Color’s mother went shopping for her once a week. Rainbow’s job was to pick up Color’s transcripts for X-Ponies and deliver them to her publisher.
“I, ah, need to talk to you about something,” said Rainbow as she looked a bit embarrassed. Color said not a word, she just moved to the side to allow her older cousin to come in.
As Rainbow entered the house, she couldn’t help but notice the differences from the outside. Inside it was bright and colorful. She had managed to fuse paint vapor into the clouds so that each room was a different bright color that didn’t match the furniture. In the family room, for example, the room was a bright red while the rugs were green, the tables were pink, and the sofa was orange. Sometimes Rainbow wondered if her cousin was color blind or just plain weird.
As the two walked into the kitchen, a green room with neon pink seats. Color pulled out two mugs before filling them both with hot chocolate. Once she handed one of the mugs to her cousin, Rainbow began to go into the details of what had happened yesterday as well as this morning. Color sat there, not saying a word, as Rainbow told her about Twilight and Shadow and what had happened with Princess Luna. By the time Rainbow had finished Color picked up her mug to take a sip only to find the liquid had turned ice cold.
“Well it looks like it was an eventful Summer Sun festival,” said Color as she set down her mug.
“I know,” said Rainbow. “And the weirdest part about all of this is that I feel…confused. I really liked them both. They seemed cool and all, but then they go up there and say that the Republic shouldn’t join Equestria.” Rainbow then let out a sigh. “I just don’t know what to think right now. It’s all so confusing. Lunar ponies are supposed to be these big jerks, but neither Shadow nor Twilight seemed to be that bad.”
“Maybe things got out of hoof back in the day,” said Color as she got up. She then walked over to cabinet and then pulled out a pad of paper. She then returned to her seat so she could be comfortable as she began to draw something.
“What do you mean?” asked Rainbow.
“Well,” began Color slowly. “Remember when you had to do that project with Sunny Sky back in Flight School.” Rainbow nodded. Sunny Sky was a big time fillyfooler back when she went to school. One day the two of them had been assigned a big project for class that was worth a major portion of their grade. On the first day Sunny had asked Rainbow to meet her at a café close to school to talk about what they were going to do. Wanting to get it over with as soon as possible Rainbow had agreed. Once they got there, Sunny had tried to flirt with Rainbow every other minute. While she had rejected every advance others in the café, including three very annoying stallions who she hated, saw everything. By the next day ever Pegasus in Flight School had heard about her ‘date’ with Sunny.
“It was horrible,” grunted Rainbow as she crossed her forelegs. “No pony would listen to me when I said it wasn’t a date! I was being hit on by mares, parents would give me dirty looks, and don’t get me started about what they did to my parents home! After over a year of that crap I had to drop out.”
Color nodded. “And you moved to Ponyville only to find that they had also heard the rumors.”
Rainbow groaned. “It was so unfair! They never met me before and they already assumed that I slept around with every mare I could get my hooves on. It took years before they realized that I was into stallions.” Rainbow paused before raising an eyebrow. “What does any of that have to do with what happened at the Summer Sun Festival?”
Color shrugged. “I was just thinking that it could be the same,” she said. “I mean, we only know what the history books said happened back then. But most of them were written long after Nightmare Moon or Princess Luna left. Who’s to say that what we have learned about wasn’t a small thing that was later blown out of proportion? Also, most of what we know about moon ponies is mostly guesswork. This is the first time in a thousand years that we have ever had any contact with them. I guess they didn’t like the rumors that were being spread about them like a certain blue Pegasus I know.”
Rainbow felt her ears flatten against her skull. She had never thought about it like that. She had assumed that they, the ponies of Equestria, were in the right. It had never occurred to her that they might be wrong about the Republic and that Twilight was just making a scene. As always, Color was able to give an outsiders perspective on the subject.
“You are really good at this,” said Rainbow.
“I have to be,” said Color as she set down one of her pencils. “I tell stories for a living. Maybe I can incorporate some of this into the next saga of the X-Ponies. Like having the tensions between the ponies and the mutant ponies become so bad that Magneta feels like she has to create an asteroid that will be the new home for ponies like her. A place they can be safe. Who knows, maybe that’s what Princess Luna did a thousand years ago.”
-x-
Princess Luna’s School for Gifted Ponies was one of the largest buildings Scootaloo had ever seen. It was shaped like a giant silver dome with thousands of windows on it. Off to the side there were several athletic fields as well as dorms. According to Twilight, they were for students who didn’t want to commute from different Domes everyday.
When Scootaloo had first heard about this school she had assumed that it would be similar to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns in the way that it was just for unicorns. She couldn’t have been more wrong! Watching from the sidewalk she saw hundreds of student leaving the building. Most were walking while the pegasi flew through the air along with some earth pony that were on devices that Vinyl called hover cycles.
After gawking at the sight of these machines for a bit the young Pegasus felt someponies hoof gently touch her side. Looking up, she saw it was Twilight. Wordlessly the three of them left the sidewalk outside of the school and began walking down the long walkway towards the school. On both sides of the walkway were stone statues of various ponies. They were each posed in some epic fashion while their names were engraved below their feet.
“So who are these guys?” asked Scootaloo as they passed the statue of a Pegasus who had his wings extended. As she looked a bit closer she noticed that one wing looked a bit smoother, like it didn’t have any feathers.
“These are all Princess Luna’s previous prized students,” said Twilight. “Once a prized student graduates, a statue of him or her is built so that they will always be remembered as well as their achievements.” She then pointed at the statue of the Pegasus. “That one, for example, was called Jet Wing. He went on to create cybernetic attachments so ponies who had lost limbs could once again function.”
Scootaloo was about to ask another question when they passed by the only broken one. No, broken wasn’t the right word. It looked like somepony had tried to smash it up a long time ago. It also looked like no pony either noticed or cared. The ruble looked like it had been left there for a long time. Only an inscription remained, ‘Genetic Code: May you Suffer till the end of time for your Crimes’. Just passing by this spot made Scootaloo shiver.
Once inside the group decided to split up. Twilight was going to find the Dean while Vinyl was to show Scootaloo around. Once the Dean was ready to see them, Twilight would then teleport them outside of his office.
To be honest, it looked like any other school to Scootaloo. Student’s lockers were on both sides of the hallways and the doors seemed to just lead to the various classroom. It didn’t look very impressive, just bigger than the one back in Ponyville. As they walked, Vinyl began to tell stories about her time here with Twilight. However, some of the things Vinyl said made no sense to the filly. Like, for example, how the two of them made a fusion reactor for a science project and how somepony name Star Scream tried to steal it from them right before them could turn it in. He had not only failed, but also almost caused the reactor to malfunction. While the thing was about to blow, Twilight had been trying to fix it not only to save the Dome but also their grade.
As the two walked, Scootaloo began to hear the sounds of ponies her age. She ran towards two doors that lead to a large gym. Looking through the window she saw three ponies standing in the middle. One was an adult wearing a black and white striped shirt. The other two were closer to Scootaloo’s age. One was a bright red unicorn with a black and red striped mane. The other was a white Pegasus with an orange spiky mane. Both of them were holding metallic sticks, one by magic while the other held it in his mouth.
“Alright, I want a good clean fight,” said the adult as he took a step back. “Begin!” What happened next caused Scootaloo’s eyes to widen in utter shock. Both metallic sticks began to emit a light that seemed to take the shape of a sword. The unicorn swung his light blade downwards at his opponent’s skull. The Pegasus, on the other hoof, backed away before taking to the air. Scootaloo watched in awe as the white one circled around before making a diving motion towards the unicorn. The unicorn managed to block the attack but was pushed back by several yards due to its force.
“Awesome, right?” said Vinyl who was now standing next to Scootaloo.
“What are they doing?” asked the orange filly while keeping her eyes on the fight.
“Light Dueling,” answered Vinyl. “It’s a sport up here in the Republic that is very popular. The point is to strike one of your opponent’s vitals first with just the light blade. The ref there decides if the attack was a glancing blow or a serious blow.”
“This is…the most awesome thing I have ever seen!” exclaimed Scootaloo. The sports back home were not nearly as cool as this. Or at least the ones that Ponyville Elementary would let them play. Mostly it was straight up racing. Hoofball was alright, but it was more of an earth pony sport since ponies weren’t allowed to fly or use magic. Light Dueling didn’t seem to have that restriction.
“You should see the team matches,” said Vinyl with a grin. “Twilight and Shadow took the championship three years in a row.” Scootaloo’s head snapped in the direction of the DJ as her mouth dropped open. Twilight had done this to?! Scootaloo was about to start asking questions when the two were suddenly covered in a purple glow. A moment later there was a flash and the two of them were standing in front of Twilight.
“Well I hope you two had fun,” said a smiling Twilight. “And I hope you like the school because now we get to meet the Dean.” She then knocked on the door.
“Come in,” said a stallion’s voice from inside. Twilight opened the door to reveal a bare office. The only things in it were a deck and a couple of chairs. Sitting behind the desk was a light brown earth pony with a white beard and mane. When he saw Twilight entering, he smiled. “Well, I never thought I’d live to see the day you would walk through these doors again.”
“It’s nice to see you again Dean Learning Curve,” said Twilight as the group walked towards him.
“Hiya Deany,” said Vinyl, causing the Deans smile to flatten.
“Vinyl,” he said in a less cheerful tone. “What are you doing back here?”
“Just chilling with my friend,” said an oblivious Vinyl.
“We’re here to see if we can enroll Scootaloo into the school,” said Twilight quickly as she gestured to the orange filly.
“I see,” said Learning in a more pleasant tone. “But you must know that we are in the middle of a semester right now. Putting her in might be a little difficult. Did you bring her transcripts?”
Twilight bit her lower lip. “There are none,” she said. “Well, there might be. It’s just that I don’t have them. See I adopted Scootaloo from Equestria.” When she said this, the Dean’s eyes grew very wide. He then began to stare at Scootaloo for a moment before turning his attention back towards Twilight and clearing his throat.
“Well that, ah, complicates things,” he said. “Twilight, you know I would do anything for one of the brightest students ever to enter this academy. But I just can’t allow a filly into the school who has no written transcript halfway through the semester. It just wouldn’t be fair to all the other students who studied hard to get in. But…I’ll tell you what. Come back at the end of the semester and I’ll give her the entrance exam. If she gets above a seventy-five we’ll accept her. Does that sound fair?”
Twilight thought about it for a moment. Doing this she would be able to give Scootaloo some time to adjust to live if the Republic. She would also be able to help Scootaloo study so she wouldn’t be so far behind. For Scootaloo, it seemed like the best thing for right now.
“It does,” said Twilight with a nod.
Star Sream, I see what you did there.
Get Scoot a hoverboard, stat!
YOU GAVE THEM LIGHT SABERS!?
Mane 6 Comments:
Did we really have to hear all that?
It's just another Rainbow Dash's history? Or is it?
Yeah.. you're right Twilight; all very interesting though. *{At least she didn't get beat up, stupid Cloudy Sky, she was like dense or something}*
It's ok Rainbow Dash. *{I'll keep her story secret}*
You're cousin has terrible taste in interior design; the colors clash and..... (insert long drawn out critique)
-Facehoof-
What about instead we talk about those awesome light sword things!
They looked scary.
They don't look that scary to me! *Holding one up and twirling it around*
Eep!
Pinkie! I already told you that we are not supposed to leave this bubble. *{How did she even do that...}*
Awee..... but I could reenact Star Wars scenes then.
What?
The following fic is Star Scream approved! fc08.deviantart.net/fs30/f/2009/251/5/4/Starscream_says_thanks_a_lot_by_rattrap587.jpg
what about this Genetic Code?
Let the learning begin!!!!
2437783
Is that a problem?
This story deserves its own TVTropes article.
Transformers + Star Wars Refences.... can anyone say AWESOME!!!!!
I have only one thing to say : May the horse be with you !
YAY more problems for equastia
it looks like ponies are starting to realize what is going on but how will these ponies contact the republic radio? magic? who knows
sadly I have a feeling Learning Curve is going to fail Scoots no matter how well she does on the test.
2438003
Ah, that is the one million bit question. Thanks for noticing!
2438003 Ever seen the movie Jurassic Park?
You made a good chapter,
Star Scream, Light Sabers, what next the force?
I saw a lot of foreshadowing, I just wounder what's going to happen next? Is this Genetic Code a part of the future? (You don't have to answer it)
I also liked what you did with Rainbow Dash.
I like how you worked in "The Victor holds the pen" angle.
I like that you explained that there was a lot of your own experience in this chapter if you did not then I might have been tempted to ask.
Trust me I understand as well.
Well all that aside, I glad you wrote this chapter
I hope you keep going.
Good luck in the future
Great chapter. Is Dash not close to Scootaloo like she is in canon? What did this Genetic Code do? Star Scream huh. Will we be seeing him or other crossover characters as ponies in this story?
Now that I read through the story I can honestly say I've enjoyed it immensely.
As a fan of both Princess Luna and alternate universes/history I find this story fascinating, enjoyable, and well done.
The characterization seemed fine, although Shadow Blade needs some more character development.
If memory serves the grammar is fine but there might be some editing issues throughout the story.
You've managed to make Princess Luna a mostly competent and interesting ruler, however she has her flaws and her style of ruling over her subjects is different than her sisters. Her ruling style seems to be consistent with the general idea that Luna is both very compassionate and perhaps not as naïve as her sister about the horrors of prejudice, political corruption, and mob violence that her fans embraced before ''Luna Eclipsed".
Now I'm curious to see your vision of what would happen if Luna stayed by her sister's side but still founded "the Lunar Republic" as a colony possibly to be ruled by an eternally young Princess Cadence.
I do find it somewhat unbelievable that two of the main six had some history with (Rainbow Dash being related to one and Granny Smith having one as a farm hand) bat ponies, if they are so rare.
Luna having her own plans for the elements and perhaps her own set of bearers makes for an interesting conflict, I wonder if she is a "chessmaster" or rejects that form of thinking entirely as "dehumanizing" to her subjects. Also if the Moon ponies have nano-technology then why can't they use it to just assemble the molecule's necessary to create water?
Of course the real problem is if Luna's people do end up becoming a part of a larger nation won't they just end up being marginalised all over again? If that's the case, then wouldn't that be the real long-term issue that everyone should be concerned about?
Also, will there will be only minor differences between this universe/timeline and the ordinary one? I hope there will be some major differences as it would be a waste of good storytelling potential. How could there be just "minor" differences when the ramifications of the moon pony's advanced technology and magic, their radical ideas about unicorns not being the only ones worthy of being taught magic, the fact that Equestria could easily leapfrog from a preindustrial society to a (potentially) post-scarcity one (never mind the fact that the moon and perhaps eventually a nearby planet like Mars are going to be terraformed) in a decade or so, the possibility that Luna or Shadow Blade would have likely given Twilight some combat skills/strategies for dealing with mind games considering the existence of Discord and his possible release, the incredible culture shock that's going to happen if the two nations rejoin not to mention the technological arms race that's going to issue unless Luna can use magic to keep dangerous advanced magic and technology out of enemy hands, and the fact that Twilight might actually live to see warp drive? Lunar Society might have its flaws but the author has created a world that is both populated by interesting reinterpretations of familiar characters and is a gold mine of potential stories for the "Lunar Republic" setting alone.
Also, this chapter was quite good, I had some interesting foreshadowing and world building.
I do have some questions for the author but those can wait for a personal message.
2443174
Thank you for the comment and I will be happy to answer as many questions as I can without giving to much away.
Luna, in my mind, is the opposite of her sister. She is far more passionate and straightforward which would make little sense for her to be a chessmaster type ruler. So far she has talked to her subjects in a direct fashions, telling them what they need to know.
As to the bat pony subject, it is true that I said they are rare. However, please remember that Granny met one back when she was much younger and Rainbow's cousin is in Cloudsdale. There are a number of bat ponies out there, but it is still a small number.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Twilight is a bit different as well. Sure she is still a bit of a bookworm, but she also has combat training which was stated in School Days. In The Lunar Senate, Luna's pop quizzes are a bit more demanding than a couple of essays. There is more to come so don't worry.
2438402
AWESOME!!!!!!
See, it's bits like this that get you accused of things like pandering and gary stus
To be clear I'm not complaining about the light sabers, I'm complaining about Twilight Sparkle and her boyfriend being the three year champions. There's really no reason for this except to point out how super-awesome Twilight and your OC are. It doesn't even play to Twilight's canon strengths (ridiculous magical power and the ability to learn spells just by seeing them cast) which are already very strong. She's also a sword master? No, sorry, too much too fast.
Even Applejack didn't take first at the rodeo (though placing in every event was extremely impressive, most people wouldn't even have the energy to compete in every event at a rodeo, my theory is all the firsts were taken by ponies with cutie marks for that specific event that didn't do as well in any of the others).
What's there to hate about professional athletes? I hate sports, but I'm glad at least some people get to enjoy what they do for a living. Honestly, you're just coming off as jealous. And, no, there aren't a lot of athletes that do that sort of thing. It just seems like that because the ones that do, do it a lot.
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130405221911/mlp/images/e/e1/FANMADE_Luna_I_see_what_you_did_there.jpg
When did Rainbow Dash kiss Applejack? I don't remember that...
5915109
It was in the Mare-Do-Well episode
5087628 I notice he still as incompentant as ever
2437867 dude I'm loving these
Why didn't I give this fanfic a chance earlier! I'm pretty mad that I let it sit in read later folder for like seven months!
Onwards to next chapter!
I know it's a spoiler... But I hope the Royal Sisters do get back together
The thing I find hilarious is that people assumed she was gay just because of her mane color. Yet for all we know she could be asexual! I mean she's never shown a romantic interest in ANYONE!
Rubble
When did rainbow and AJ kiss?