Chapter 1
Princess Luna and her loyal guard, her faithful companion in these endeavours, Gate Crasher, stood concealed in shadow, watching over the distraught pegasus they had been following for most of the evening. He had stopped at a cafe, a little hole in the wall type place in one of the back streets of Canterlot, ordered a cup of coffee and a slice of strawberry pie. He drank the coffee, ate one bite of pie, and then had left every bit in his possession behind as a tip before leaving.
And then he had gone.
He had roamed the streets for a long while, saying nothing to nopony, occasionally casting sad glances to those he passed by. Nopony seemed overly concerned about the sad looking figure. He went from place to place, his face grim and full of sorrow, as though he were looking for something, and perhaps, he was. But nopony seemed to care. Nopony seemed bothered by his condition.
At least, nopony that the pegasus noticed.
Feeling a pained ache in her heart, Luna observed the lone figure, feeling his pain, deeply concerned over his well being. All of the signs were there. All of the terrible disturbing signs. For too long, Princess Luna had seen events play out, seeing all of the disturbing signs in dreams, and then finally watching them play out in life, always a tragic ending. At some point, Princess Luna had experienced enough tragedy and now moved to actively prevent these terrible mistakes.
Suicides belonged to her. Princess Celestia had reluctantly agreed.
The lone figure now stood atop a jutting rocky protrusion, peering out over the several hundred foot drop before him. He wasn’t crying, or ranting to himself, or doing any of those worrying things. No, what he was doing was even worse somehow. He stood looking out over the cliff with his face full of silent resolve.
“Princess, I don’t understand something, he’s a pegasus, if he jumps, instinct is going to take over and he’s going to fly,” Gate Crasher said in a shadowy whisper.
“Be patient Crasher,” Princess Luna replied. prodding the burly lunar pegasus with a hoof.
The pegasus paced back and forth on the rocky edge, looking down, looking up, and finally over at a pile of jutting rocks. Looking determined, the lone figure strode towards the rocks, extended his wing, wedged it between two stones, and then rammed his body forward.
Princess Luna and Gate Crasher both winced and shuddered when they heard the sickening crack of bones splintering.
The lone figure moved once again towards the edge, peering over, and finally letting out one wretched cry, a heart breaking sound that made Princess Luna remember a very dark time in her own life, the point where she had thrown her own life away and something else had come along to claim it. And so many had suffered from that tragic mistake. Princess Luna had resolved to learn from the past.
“No you idiot, don’t do it!” Gate Crasher warned, knowing that there was no way the pegasus on the edge could hear him. Gate Crasher turned away, unable to look any longer, and felt a gentle touch of Princess Luna’s wing.
Bone was visible from the broken wing of the pegasus, there was no way he could fly with it being the way that it was. He stood at the edge, pacing back and forth, tossing his head around, steeling his nerve.
And then, he went silent and stood still for a moment. Without another sound, he stepped over the ledge, plunging forward into the dark night, falling downward towards the earth below, throwing away his endless potential.
Princess Luna cursed, causing Gate Crasher to blush heavily, and then took wing, moving to claim what had been so carelessly thrown away. She swooped through the dark night, dropping over the edge of the cliff, ready to take what was now rightfully hers.
Just before he splattered into the rocky ground, Princess Luna gathered up the troubled soul, cradling him in her dark shadowy embrace and singing to him a gentle loving lullaby as she put him to sleep, giving the troubled soul the much needed rest that he had been denied for so long.
Noctilucent became aware of a blue figure standing next to him. He was standing in a strangely familiar classroom. He turned to the strange blue figure, and with a certain sense of dread, realised he was looking upon Princess Luna.
“Noctilucent, such a lovely name you have. The world would be a poorer place indeed if you were no longer around to grace us with your beautiful name,” Princess Luna said, turning to look at him. “The clouds of evening. The clouds of twilight. Beautiful clouds that frame the sky of the recently departed sun and enhance the beauty of the evening. Night Shining in the tongue of my parents, from the old language.”
“What are you doing here?” Noctilucent asked, suddenly very afraid.
“In due time my precious Night Shining. Do you know where “here” is? Do you recognise this place?” Princess Luna asked.
“It looks familiar,” Noctilucent said, his eyes darting around.
“Wait, here we go, look right over there. Here is where everything started to go wrong for you,” Princess Luna said, gesturing with her wing.
Noctilucent turned and watched as he saw a younger version of himself slowly and shy approach a little white earth pony filly foal with pink and blue hair.
“No,” he murmured, knowing what was about to happen.
“If it is any consolation, she never found love either. You two would have been very happy together, but fate conspired against you,” Princess Luna said, looking sad.
Noctilucent watched as the younger version of himself slowly handed the filly a Hearts and Hooves Day card, and then asking if she wanted to be his special somepony. He couldn’t bear to look, and turned away so he wouldn’t have to watch her say “no” again and crush his dreams.
“Why are you showing me this?” Noctilucent whimpered.
“Because, you threw your life away, and I have claimed it. I am surveying what I have to work with. You, your body, and all of these memories, are now all mine. You carelessly threw away years of precious life experience and I have decided to sort through the trash and see if there is anything valuable to salvage,” Princess Luna explained.
“Get stuffed,” Noctilucent stammered, staring at the Night Princess.
Princess Luna laughed in reply, closing her eyes and throwing her head back. “If only you had used that courage to go on living,” she said, still laughing.
The scenery changed suddenly, Hearth’s Warming Eve. Noctilucent began to panic, knowing all to well what was about to happen.
“No,” he begged, closing his eyes.
“Silence, you are a non entity. You gave all of this up. You no longer have a say,” Princess Luna replied.
Very much against his will, Noctilucent’s eyes opened. He saw a younger version of himself, his best friend, and one very drunken filly passed out and sprawled on the couch.
He could hear the heated words between him and his friend taking place in this back room during the Hearth’s Warming Eve party. Angry words. His own best friend calling him a “coward” and laughing at him.
Noctilucent watched himself leave, fleeing the room, and knew what was about to happen next. He cringed. He had done nothing to stop his friend. Instead of trying to stop what had happened, he had fled, and the worst had taken place.
“If it means anything to you, you could not have stopped him. He would have snapped you like so much kindling and then still had his way with her. She recovered, just so you know. She was troubled for a very long time, but her foal saw her through, even though she had some trouble accepting the foal for a while. She came around. She was resilient and life went on,” Princess Luna said soothingly, gently touching Noctilucent with the tip of her wing. “She is now a school teacher that loves foals,” she added, a faint smile on her lips.
“I should have stayed and fought, even if I couldn’t stop it,” Noctilucent said guiltily as the scene faded away into grey nothingness.
“I am impressed that you left. You desired her. You wanted to stay. You wanted her very much yourself. You helped get her drunk, so generously giving her cider and mulled wine,” Princess Luna said. “Most in your position would have stayed, would have participated. But you had a change of heart.”
“I was wrong,” Noctilucent cried as the scene began to take on colour around him.
Noctilucent and Princess Luna stood in a crowded room, they were in a hospital, surrounded by foals, small sick foals, some who sat on cushions on the floor, others who had been wheeled in in wheelchairs, and others who had been rolled in in beds. Noctilucent whimpered as he saw the scene around him.
“And this,” Princess Luna began, “is the last time in your life when you had any measure of happiness.”
“No!” Noctilucent argued. “I was miserable! I hated doing it and that is why I quit! I couldn’t bear to look at them anymore…” his words trailed off into sobs as he spoke, unable to finish to his sentence.
“But this is the last place you felt like you had meaning and purpose. You took comfort in that. You were happy, deep down inside, it was the sort of happiness you had to be miserable and work for to experience it. In this room, reading this book, this was the last time you knew peace in your life. You made the decision to quit later this day, and so began the downward spiral that has taken you to where you are now,” Princess Luna said as the scene around them both faded away into nothingness.
“Am I dead? I remember jumping,” Noctilucent whispered, now floating in a grey void.
“No. I saved you. Right now, I am settling your body into a hospital bed. Your wing is going to require painful surgery to repair. You broke the ball off of your primary wing bone and it is lodged in the socket. You are hemorrhaging internally as a broken bone has severed an artery. I have recovered what you have so carelessly thrown away, and, I must say, I have found something of interest to me. You are mine. I will find purpose for you. And then you will do as I bid. You do not have a choice. You will not run. You will not escape. Even now, in the waking world, I am saying the words that are placing a powerful geas spell upon you, binding you to my will. Suicide is a terrible thing, to throw away such potential. Endless potential. I have seen into the center of your soul, and since you could not do what was best for yourself, I am now stepping in to do what must be done, because I love you and want what is best for you, my subject,” Princess Luna said, her voice imperious and commanding.
“So I have no say in this at all?” asked Noctilucent.
“No. You gave up that right when you stepped over the edge. Allow me to say this again… you are my possession. I have salvaged you. Noctilucent, somepony loves you, and wants to save you from the darkness,” Princess Luna said, gently taking him into a warm almost motherly embrace. She kissed him once on his cheek, and then everything began to fade.
Noctilucent slipped off into a dreamless slumber.
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This is interesting
go on.
Very good I see a lot of potential this could go dark or humorous in one chapter.
*reads description, then checks tags* this isn't dark?
4370328
No. She saved him. Dark would have been letting him die.
She wants him to live.
Not considered to be a dark piece huh? Well i guess that depends on how you look at it. On one level this is very very dark. On another its somewhat heartwarming. This stories level of lightheartedness is very dependent on perspective.
4370334
I dunno... I really haven't forced an opinion on all of this yet. The first chapter is maybe a bit dark I'll admit, but I wanted it to be a hopeful piece.
Sort of a this is what happens when I find you in the darkness and the lights come on sort of thing.
4370330 suicide in itself is dark. I should know, I've considered it at times. I always get over it, though.
4370341 she technically took his decision to die, and decided, slavery is better. I can look at how she will proceed, and depending how it pans out my opinion will differ greatly. Maybe it is for the better, but people will different perspectives will have very different opinions on her decision.
Too many stories are about somepony falling into a hole and the long ways down that they go.
I wanted a story that starts out in the hole and showcases the way up.
I really don't know how this is going to go, except that since its very first inception I had plans to add a certain blue unicorn to the mix and then, I don't know.
4370348
Funny, isn't it.
She is a Princess though. Technically, she already owns him. He's a subject. People seem to fail to understand this one very important point. Theocratic diarchy.
She's just taking an active interest in what was already her property. I dunno. I don't see it as slavery. I see it as being committed against your will to a psyche ward. "I'm doing this for your own good!" sort of thing.
Okay, I'm going to break character for a moment.
*flicks Luna off*
He commited suicide so he wouldn't have to bear with these memories. Your some bitch who is making it even more painful for him.
Sorry, I always point out a characters moral flaws first.
All aboard the horror train!?
4370367
Was she hurting or helping though?
Pointing out what went wrong and where. See, it is all very morally ambiguous and I really haven't planned things out to my usual careful level of detail.
I just sort of let everything happen. And it felt weird.
4370376 yes, I'll admit she's doing good. But it is his life, and his potential. What lawful right does she have to own his soul.
Still a good concept. Still needs the dark tag, too.
Alright, you've gone and made me interested. Provide me with more procrastination material!
4370391
Theocratic diarchy.
See, people just don't understand, this is not America we are dealing with. Nopony really has much of a say in anything. They're born, they get a cutie mark, and that's it. Life is set for them. You do as you were born to do and the Goddesses on top of Canterlot decide what is best for you.
4370360 Going by that logic you are minutely implying that all the ponies are slaves to the princesses. I am not entire certain of the all the details of physiological illnesses and their treatments. I believe in them if the subject of the treatment is a threat to others due to their mental state. If the subject is only a danger to themselves, then i start to feel uncomfortable making decisions "for their own good". With different perspectives people value different things. Some would rather choose to die miserably than to live happily entirely without choice. Maybe these ponies would rather be happy than have choices. But I feel very uneasy with such subjective matters. Its a slippery slope to darkness
I do not see this as dark at all... yet. After all, if something like this happened here on "our" Earth, the suicidal person would (hopefully) be institutionalized or have other extreme measures taken. Of course, this isn't "our" Earth, it's Equestria, and (I think) it makes sense for magic to be employed. Also, I love the whole "you threw your life away, so I decided to take it" reasoning.
However, I the question from here is this: Just how severely is Luna tying the suicidal ponies' wills to hers, and does she have a plan to actually rehabilitate instead of just use?
4370409 i don't like that... Politics always get me angry.
4370413
Do you understand the differences between "subject" and "citizen" and how they apply here?
In the show, they use the word subject many, many times.
Subjects are people within a demesne or a region where the right to rule is absolute, and subjects are property that comes along with the land.
Very important to note that ponies are considered subjects by their Princesses. Hence, property.
4370417
Yes, there is a plan to rehabilitate. I have a skeleton planned out to that end. Just no flesh.
The hint for rehabilitation lies in the last sequence she showed him.
4370441
Thanks for answering, even if it might be a tiny-teeny spoiler. Now I know I'm going to love this!
Maybe it is a little bit dark, but not in the shock-value grimdark way. I like it and I would definitely like to see more.
4370432
Are you saying that because the political model is set up that way, it makes it completely ok?
I realize the difference, but it doesn't really change anything. They might technically have the right to treat all of their subjects that way, but that doesn't mean its a good thing to do. What if Celestia and Luna were tyrants, would it be fine for them to treat their subjects like dirt because they are allowed to?
The political system that includes people as part of property is the type of system that western society frowns upon. That is why i said in the previous post that it is subjective to what each individual values. Maybe it works for the ponies, maybe they are happy with it. But i am a human reading this story with a human perspective. All because i can understand the other perspective doesn't mean i will agree with it.
4370467
I am not saying it is OK at all.
All I am doing is writing a story within the framework provided.
Frankly, the idea horrifies me...
Keeping my own human and western values biases out of this, I could see this being a moral act for a Goddess to do, keeping her subjects safe and secure from harm and repurposing them.
But it scares the heebie jeebies out of me.
Just because I present something in story doesn't make it my opinion or even my belief, it just means I use it as a framework.
this is a decent idea and i can see the reasoning behind it as well perhaps you could give Noctilucent the role of a reaper perhaps? a pony that goes around and collects the suicides for luna to sort through is my guess but you are the author but i would actually like to see that done
also does luna have an ulterior motive for collecting the souls of ponies who feel they have no use?
hope this helps i know the feeling of a story without a plot!
4370477 I get that, and that is why i favourited it and am planning to read it, but i was just making a point to justify my considering the story to potentially be marked as a dark story.
4370484
Oh, he's not dead. Luna doesn't have his soul.
He's alive, and Luna has his body.
Big difference!
Oh, and if anybody is wondering, Noctilucent's cutie mark is a candle in a candleholder.
4370497
guess i didn't read it right then. sorry about that.
but its still a good story!
Its not exactly slavery...
4370348
4370527 she has cast a spell that forces him to obey to her every whim, that doesn't sound like slavery at all -_-
4370548
Well, they were going to use that spell on Discord and it was perfectly alright.
4370367 I would of stared at her and then viscously attacked her
4370552 we have no way of knowing what that spell would do, it could of just twisted his mind to think harmony was better but still leave him with will. But I do hope this turns dark...
I kinda want to see her rescue someone who is damn determined to die. Maybe I'm just being morbid but i think it would be interesting to see how Luna handled saving someone and then cracking into their memories to find out they have no redeeming memories who honestly believe that suicide is the best answer
4370548 but she cares for him its not like "go get me some soda" its like don't kill yourself. So HA.
4370603
Somepony like
<=== this pony right here?
As said earlier in the comments, I planned to add a certain blue unicorn.
4370610 not necessarily her but somepony. I feel like she is too easily manipulated though and Luna is rather clever ... I could see how it could work with Trixie though if you ignored the manipulation
.
4370557 yeah.
4370610
There was a man who drank poison, set himself on fire and jumped off a cliff. Maybe a pony like that?
A really interesting start, can't wait to see where you'll take this
4370330
no, death from pain is generally better than becoming someones slave, no matter who they are.
because she could have just kept him alive, got the guy some therapy, get his head on straight, let him restart.
but nope! your a slave now!
4370607 OBJECTION
It means that luna has the ability to make him join the army or make him do something against his will like NOT COMMIT SUICIDE
Heh maybe he could pay a pony to kill him
4370796 if anything I would see this as a challenge and try to figure out how to outmaneuver the Geas
wow luna is an asshole here
it's called therapy
slavery bad
Please continue; this story seems to have a lot of potential and could do a lot of good.
My attention has been obtained. I have a friend who has gone to a mental hospital twice and I now I wish there had been a Luna figure for him. He is alive! In case you were wondering.
Interesting indeed... The story itself is very bare bones so far, but you have stated as much, so I will be watching to see how that plays out. I find it interesting that you bring up their society as a justification for why she can do this. And you are absolutely correct. By the canon that we have been given so far, The Royal Pony Sisters are the supreme authority in Equestria, by virtue of practically divine power. (Control over stellar bodies alone is a level of power that no human made weapon has even come close to matching) While they have been shown to have moments of weakness, I tend to stand that it is mostly because neither sister has tried to just kill a would be threat. Given they can move the Sun and Moon, it wouldn't be too hard to suggest that if they really wanted to they could just crush something with their magic and move on. But they wouldn't be benevolent dictators at that point, and it wouldn't really be the same story anymore. I'm not misusing that word, while they may have the title of 'Princess', a dictatorship is far closer to their government than a monarchy. Even in a monarchy there are rules, and the ruling monarch typically has to answer to the Lords & Ladies of the court, if only because the nobles would revolt if they didn't. In the case of Equestria, there has been no sign that anypony other than the Sisters even remotely has power or authority. Even Cadence falls under the status of being their subject, and she is Princess of the Crystal Empire. When Luna and/or Celestia make a decision, NOPONY gets to question it. Even in the show, the few times somepony has remotely thought that a decision one or both of the Sisters made might be wrong, they do it anyway.
Now, from a pure Western outlook, the very idea of a society where 2 people have such complete and absolute authority is both monstrous and repulsive. Part of this is because of how strong the desire for Individual Freedom is in Western cultures. The other part is because the very idea of anyone having the divine right to make any and all decisions they deem fit is utterly foreign to such culture. Now, in other parts of the world, such things are somewhat more accepted. The reasons for this are too varied to list. The final part where this feel wrong, even for those raised to accept the idea of a single body with vast authority like a true monarchy, is that we accept that people are flawed, and nobody can be perfect.
This is the biggest disconnect from a human outlook and a pony outlook. Most ponies believe that the Sisters have an Omniscient Morality License. Ponies have this outlook due to both the Sisters' staggering level of power, and because they HAVE proven it right more often than not. In the 4 seasons that the show has ran, Celestia has pulled off several Gambits, of various types, and to date never lost in the end. Give no evidence to the contrary, it must be assumed that either both Sisters did this during their joint rule prior to the Nightmare Moon Event, or at the very least Celestia has been doing it for the last 1000 years or so. Granted, that is partly because if things went wrong and stayed wrong, the series would either have to end, or change its target demographic entirely. Still, when you have a history of playing the odds and never losing like they do, and also have more power than anything less than a god, (Discord) ponies are going to simply accept that "Yes, you really do know better than we do. We will just go along with your plan now". It's similar to how the Mane Six deal with Pinkie Pie. They just accept that they don't understand, but still go along with her anyway, because it will be alright. Ponies are just naturally trusting creatures, willingly going along with those they understand to have reason to lead. Which makes perfect sense for a species that evolved from one that lived in herds dominated by a small number of Alphas.
Now, as for my personal opinion, I do NOT see anything wrong with Luna's actions, legally or ethically. She is legally taking no further control over him than she already had to begin with. As Princess of the Moon, she could at any time give him an order, and by law he MUST obey it. She is merely making sure that he obeys the law. She is Princess Luna, thus has every right to enforce the law. As for ethically, there are some who might argue that Noctilucent was only hurting himself when he was going to commit suicide. And they would be WRONG. Anyone, pony or otherwise, claiming that suicide is either painless, or only hurts the one doing it, is either ignorant or trying to delude themselves. Even in those Eastern cultures where ritual suicide was/is an accepted practice, there are those who still suffer, and almost always its those the suicide was trying to protect/save. Not saying I agree or disagree with the idea of killing oneself to protect the lives/honor of your family, but nobody can say it doesn't still harm those who live on. Luna saw that Noctilucent was throwing away his life, and seeing both the harm that it could cause, as well as his wasted potential, chooses to act. She takes him, make sure he will be treated for physical injury, tells him she owns his ass, taking magical steps to make sure he knows it. Noctilucent doesn't have a single moral leg to stand on. He wasn't dying for somepony else, or a cause, or for anything. He wanted to die simply because he couldn't find a reason to live. There is no honor or morality in his choice. Luna has the full legal right to step in any time she wishes, given to her and her sister by Equestria. And she as the moral high ground here, by virtue of Noctilucent being an ignorant fool.
4371327
**Wakes up, sees this, eyes open wide**
That pretty much sums up everything sir. I may include your entire post as an author's note next chapter.