Princess Luna's Suicide Solutions II · 10:13am May 12th, 2014
A bit of perspective.
Did Luna have any free will when the Elements of Harmony ripped apart her mind and made her a foal again, to begin anew?
NO.
The mane six forcibly took over her mind, brainwashed her, and made her conform to society's standards through magical coercion, all in the name of harmony. Luna, Nightmare Moon at the time, was a danger to society's ideals and stood as a symbolic threat, free will unhindered and unchecked. Luna had no say as she was forcibly taken under magical control, had her mind wiped, cleaned, and then spit out by the brainwashing rainbow powers of the elements. She had no option to say no, or fuck you, I do what I want, no, six ponies got together and made a decision for her on what is best for her. She had no choices, no options, no means to protest, or complain that she was losing her freedom.
In the end, the conversion was so perfect that Luna LOVED those who forcibly violated her and set her free. She loved them because the elements made her love them. She was truly free when she was Nightmare Moon, but that was a detriment to society at large, so free will had to be cut away, excised from the rogue and wayward herd member that had broken away.
Luna had to be brought back into the fold.
So Luna knows exactly what she is doing and the effect it will have, because Luna has been on the other end of it. She remembers being free, and then being 'not free' anymore.
There was no discussion of western values or moral repugnance or how terrible it would be force another to be a slave. Using the Elements of Harmony, the mane six went and made Luna their bitch, obliterating all sense of freedom, free will, all traces of individuality, and rewrote Luna to be a much more perfect version of herself, imbued with the loving wisdom the Elements projected into her psyche to allow her a return to being a Princess. Maybe Luna didn't want to be a princess. Maybe she wanted to be free. Free from having to serve and endless toil. Maybe she wanted to just be herself. We'll never know. That part of her was completely obliterated and destroyed, and what we are left with is an agent of harmony that does the will of harmony, and does her duty without question.
Even Discord's fundamental nature seems forever altered by coming in contact with the rainbows of reprogramming.
There is no individuality, there is only compromise, conformity, and assimilation. In the end, you serve the elements of harmony because you WANT to.
And so we have this story here, where Luna does what was done to her to other ponies. A total wipe of free will and a rebuilding from the ground up. It was good for her, it worked out so well that now, having been repurposed by the rainbows of societal consensus, she continues to act as a perfect agent of harmony, bringing the lost back into the fold.
Luna never had a choice in her actions, and she still doesn't now. She is forced to play the role she was born to play, conforming to her cutie mark and her destiny, and she must continue to the Princess of the Night, even if she gets sick of it. Do it, or go to the moon. Do it, or be hit by the rainbows of repurposing. Keep in line and you get to stay happy. Just raise the moon like a good princess and everything will be fine.
While her free will was violated like a drunk girl at a frat party, to be fair.. She did kind of try to bring about the extinction of all life on the planet. Celestia really should've sent some psychologists to the moon with her.
Of course, free will in Equestria is kind of tricky, given the Magic Ass Tatts of Destiny. I'd really love to see what would happen to a secret society based around freeing ponies by removing said tattoos.
Again I think it would be much better to talk to Lauren or one of the current show writers about the issues and holes. Otherwise the events in the show are left to our own design.
2104009
Indeed. Maybe changelings?
Eh. Moral arguments lose some of their weight when allowing someone to self-actualize results in the extinction of all life and rains of liquid oxygen.
Also, this is really more your interpretation of the event. I've seen at least one story where Luna can and does say "no" to the Elements, and Celestia doing the same is a major plot point in the Lunaverse.
2104009
Well, Tirek came close, though in his case, it was more replacing magical ass tattoos with demonic despotism.
2104193
Can you recall the title of the story where Luna tells the Elements to buck off? I would love to read that.
2104196
Sorry, I literally read it years ago. It buried in here somewhere, and probably not the only one of its kind, but I don't remember much else about it.
Well dang, now I have another scene that will never get put to words...
... wait a second.
If I wrote one of those stories, you know the type, the semi-random, borderline-trollfic ones that have a title usually in the format of "(noun/name) (verbs) a/some (other name/nouns)", how would be willing to read it? It might be called "Ponies say 'No' to Princess Celestia" or a variation of the sort.
Luna comes out of her Grimdark phase as Nightmare Moon, but goes off to do her own thing instead of going back to princessdom; Cadence blows up Sombra and saves the CE, but prefers to remain a diplomat or ambassador or something instead of becoming their princess; Twilight gains wings and stuff, but freaks out/goes 'hell no' when Celestia says 'because she IS a princess'... stuff like that.
2104745
What if Twilight didn't want wings?
Celestia didn't ask. She just did. Twilight literally had no say.
2104758
Oh, there are many more ways (and opportunities) to say 'no', so ther might be some overlap.
Though the appeal of increased magical aptitudes might be a selling point. I don't know... research ensues? Also, there are some fics where Twilight manages to drag her friends into that astral-realm-looking place...
Lots of potential divergence points for such a simple action as a negative.
2104758
Celestia the Soulless Puppetmaster is one of my favorite versions of Celestia. Twilight is her little puppet and probably would've said 'Yes Master' in a heart beat.
2104758
god your views on this show are so asinine. your putting everything out of context.
it was her destiny
Damn, I never really thought about it from that perspective. Although there's no real way to tell whether Luna actully wanted to do (her first words as Luna coming after tasting the rainbow) aside from asking Lauren herself, it as an interesting question to ask nonetheless. This actually reminds me of the Elements as depicted in the Hard Reset trilogy.
Anyway, bravo for making so many people so uncomfortable that they lash out as a knee-jerk responce. It shows just how much of a soft spot you hit. I look forward to the continuation of the story.
[quoteLuna LOVED those who forcibly violated her ]I really can't wait for that story to come out
Your not getting away form me that easily boy
2106325
An inability to tell destiny 'Go fuck yourself sideways with a rotor rooter' indicates a lack of agency and free will. If Twilight became a Princess purely because of 'destiny' then her princesshood and indeed her entire life is meaningless.
This is why I hate the Elements of Harmony. Lobotomy by rainbow!
2107707
Sooo... The zombies in the MLP verse groan "taste the rainbow" instead of "brains"?
2107709
Now theres an interesting idea. A shambling horde of tie dyed ponies groaning 'Rainboooooows' as they try to get their fix of Harmony juice.
2107714
Rainbow Dash's reaction might be comical.
**Rainbow barricades door**
Zombies: We want to come inside!
Rainbow: No!
Zombies: Rainbooooows!
So, is this going to become a story?