Art Attack Redux! · 6:24pm Mar 23rd, 2013

O dearest and most beloved of diaries! At last we have found you, sealed away in the inglorious exile of a shoebox deep within the archives.

Glancing back, our last entries were... less than pleasant. Perhaps we are now 'turning over a new leaf', to wield that more modern of parlance. Although, if recollection doth serve, thine paper consists of papyrus stalks, and not the leaves of some plant...

Regardless, we art reminiscing, when we ought be emptying our heart unto thee, o secret companion.

Today, we art recieving... well, art, from one of our subjects. A most delightful stallion, in fact, in whose presence we... delight?

Surely, our prose hath aged as well as our sister's flank. How doth she walk? Still, perhaps we I shall accept her challenge, and bear my message unto thee as our subjects do. So, to begin, we hath our art.

Foremost are two of our closest companions, and the champions of the new Night Guard:

Eldest Sister:

and Third Brother:

Third Brother looks as pensive as usual, though Eldest Sister has, as usual, managed to entirely subvert the purpose of a portrait by endeavoring to seduce its creator. Or perhaps to consume him. Are such actions even mutually exclusive?

Forgive me a moment diary; I fear that I am going to be unwell.

Ah, much better. Where were we? Yes, memories return now. The next portraits!

A number of these ponies are members of our sister's Honor Guard, and consequently, we find them to be most dishonorable in nature. Still, it is hers to choose her company, and we shall not complain outside of thy pages.

Foremost, we see the mare known as White Flag.

I hath been told by Eldest Sister that there is some great ignonimity in her past, though it is oft considered an ill act to address it. Still, I hath done a bit of research in sister's over-grown library, and discovered the name of a single famous battle: Treasonfang Pass. While I do not know its details, one must imagine that a site does not earn such a name without an equally ill act befalling it.

Regardless, this image is most true to life of the mare I hath witnessed. Clearly pushing five decades of age, with another of stress marring her features, and perhaps the coldest demeanor I have ever come to know outside of Stalliongrad. I confess that I rather tend to avoid her company, though out of the Honor Guard, she seems to dislike me the least. The problem is that she largely dislikes everypony equally, and that equality comes in large doses.

Following White Flag, we have a mare who I have come to be equal parts amused and befriended by: one Private Marathon.

She is a positively gorgeous mare, bearing a charming demeanor and a kindness in her heart even for me, in spite of my past. Hers is the duty of diplomacy, and so she is rarely in Canterlot, but in recent days, our sister hath had her spending time in our company, in preparation for our coming trip to the Domain of Bitaly. We have learned much from her of volume control, for hers is a voice both soft and yet forceful all at once. Amusingly, she considers our speech to be charming and endearing. Celestia was most cross when I told her so.

Next is our new 'bodyguard': Warrant Officer Mirror Image.

One surely cannot decipher his nature from this portrait, so we shall inform you of the truth, diary. To hold his attention so, we must imagine that there is a mass of no fewer than five fertile young mares standing off to the left side of the frame. While a pleasant enough stallion in private company, Officer Image is simply insufferable in the presence of young members of the opposite sex. We hath threatened to geld him, but he laughed off our
words as humor, and in fact offered to bring back a second mare for us if we so desired.

Our outrage at such a comment was immense. How bold was he? And how forward, that he should suggest we are unable to find company in our bed if we so desire it?! Are we no longer the symbol of beauty that inspired artists millennia ago? Are we aging, dearest diary? Hath our most recent conflict left us scarred and deformed in a way we doth not perceive? For surely, in our day, we could have any mare (or stallion) we so desired wandering at the gates of the palace simply with a careful glance and a subtle smile. Hath Celestia taken that from us too?

Forgive me, diary, for surely I have gone too far. I shall conclude with Officer Image thusly: despite the lustful flaw of his character, his behavior toward myself has been most noble, and when truly on duty in an area of threat or concern, his behavior fades away and he becomes a truly model guardspony.

We still wonder how he got that scar...

Finally, for the Honor Guard, we hath Thunder Crack.

Our detest for one another is as mutual as it is bountiful. (Perhaps that was an odd metaphor...) I know precisely for which of my actions Thunder Crack holds me in ill regard, but the issue I draw is with how far out of his way he goes to make his spite obvious. I imagine that in his mind, the stallion must be behaving in the manner of that stallion whom it seems everypony has labeled 'The Commander'.

Which, I might aside, is an entirely stupid title. I must imagine they intend to do him the honor of a favorable comparison with Hurricane, but whenever I hear that title, I am left only in contemplations of his interactions with my sister. That this new stallion wears the black armor certainly does nothing to clear my mental image...

Regardless, we are discussing Thunder Crack. He draw difference from the Commander in that he lacks any sort of subtlety. Would that he were a unicorn, and I could simply duel him for his honor and be done with it. Alas, it seems our sister frowns upon my using immense physical force against her guards. Instead, she hath docked him of all his pay and forbidden his visiting his favorite public house in response to some action he hath performed against our savior, Lady Rainbow Dash, Bearer of Loyalty.

Having finished the Honor Guard, we see three more portraits which require observation. The first is some notable architect of Cloudsdale, who I have met only in the process of commissioning a new bed for our chambers. Silver Lining.

But o, I doth recollect him perfectly. Mine is not a heart to embrace moustaches, but were I to see that most glorious specimen, I fear I would find myself on long lonely treks across the beach in its company, sharing in wine and staring up at the stars. Truly, never before have I seen such a masterful instance of grooming.

Oh, also, Mr. Lining is a very nice pony. Most agreeable in discussion.

But that moustache...

This, dearest diary of mine, is Tsar Watchful Eye.

He is truly an odd pony, for any number of reasons. Foremost in my mind is that he is the smallest alicorn whom I have ever observed - not solely in comparison to myself or my sister, but to Princess Cadance as well. Though he is taller than the average unicorn stallion, their distinction is not a broad one.

Regardless, he is a kindly pony, taken to wise and well-chosen words. I have had few opportunities to speak with him, but what little he has said to me has been most encouraging. He approaches my sister and myself as an equal. At first, I had assumed this was in effort to make us feel comfortable, or because he was prideful, but in fact his stance was one that I had never considered. He labels himself a believer that all ponies are equal in nature and in spirit, and that magic is of secondary consequence to quality of spirit. A most interesting philosophy, and one which I had hoped to discuss with him more closely. Alas, I had only a few moments to speak with him. In that time, all else I learned was that his lack of magical power was a conscious choice, and that he elected physical fitness over magical prowess as a means of remaining in touch with his subjects in Stalliongrad. I am told he makes use of the hot springs beneath Burning Hearth Castle as a swimming pool. Yet it is most amusing to me that his elder son is a recognized Magus with a full degree, and his younger son is perhaps the foremost Empath in any Domain's guard. Perhaps they do not share in his philosophy?

Our final subject is one I would rather not discuss at length. I hath never seen her face in color, though at this very moment she resides behind a marble white many floors below my chamber. She is the assassin who sought to claim my life: Masquerade.

I truly know little about her, so I will simply observe this: if she is as smug as her portrait here proclaims, I shall surely afford myself the pleasure of punching her in the face before her execution.

Oh, and verily, there is one more image I have been given, that I feel I ought mention to thee, dear diary, though I have yet to find a use for it. Third Brother has produced for me an image, heeding the advice of some unknown benefactor. When I inquired of him, he only responded that such a pony had likewise aided in Rainbow Dash's quest to cure the poison in my veins. I inquired no further into the topic.

Regardless, he advised that there would come a time when this image would be of great import to my quest in reforming Captain Ink. I know little of what it depicts in truth, though I am certain I can hazard a guess.

I shall conclude with the picture, dearest diary, and so for now I bid thee rest.

-~~Luna~~

Ah, it has been so long that I hath forgotten how I sign these. Forgive me, diary.

-Lūn

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The 24th Pegasus

The 24th Pegasus #1 · Mar 23rd, 2013 · · ·

Hooray for more art! I enjoyed the last one, and this one was just as great. I especially liked the pictures of Masquerade and the Night Guard. Unfortunately, at the time of posting, Marathon's and Mirror Image's pictures aren't working...