Luna has always been the watcher of dreams for her ponies, and caretaker of their private fears. Over time, she has come to see many of the ponies of Equestria feel oppressed and downtrodden, and yet she can find no reason for it. Everything is perfect in Equestria. Or so it seems until Luna discovers a secret history Celestia has tried to bury - along with a series of philosophical manuscripts and political manifestos.
Apple Bloom is one of the many ponies feeling trapped in her life, and this manifests itself in her dreams. Luna, inspired by the ancient philosophies from Celestia's forbidden library helps Apple Bloom through her problems by taking her on as a student. Apple Bloom, true to form, decides to share these ideas with her friends.
Little do they know the repercussions...
Something I've been dabbling in for the last few months. First pony fic, and - quite frankly - it's rather unrefined. Mostly me exploring philosophy from pony's points of view. I don't know if the Lunar Republic and Solar Empire are "fanon" material with their own respective histories, so I just made my own rather than research it. Sorry to any fans of that AU if I've stepped on toes. Also, I'm trying to keep this politically neutral; that is, I'm not trying to make the Republic or Empire, or their respective philosophies, the "good guys" of the story. Think of this as a crack fic, if it helps.
This fic centers on the rise of the Lunar Republic and its secession from Equestria. I plan on making a sequel fic which focuses on Celestia's transition into Empress of the Solar Empire, probably lamely titled "The Empire". Anyway, tell me what you think. Really let me have it. Also, I wasn't sure what category to put this in; it's not really dark, but it's not much else either. Any tips there would be appreciated.
I really feel that whole "Luna Gamer" thing really doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the story.
That being said, I LOVE everything else!
5297816 Lol, thank you. I know the Luna Gamer meme is a little old, so I've heard, and really didn't mesh with the overall theme of the fic, but I figured "why not?" Had to fit something silly in there somewhere. Anyway, thank you for reading it, and I'm glad you liked it.
plz make a sequel :3
5298959 It's currently a work in progress, but I'll try.
Perhaps you should name it: "Fight or Flight"
5305968 That's a good one, actually. Thanks :D
Scarlet Banner and Mare of Steel - Lenin and Stalin? O_o
5330783 Very astute, my friend. Scarlet Banner is representative of Karl Marx and Lenin, sort of like "Old Major" from Animal Farm, whereas the Mare of Steel, Crimson Sun and Pink Pots are representative of Stalin, Mao and Pol Pots, respectively. Every revolution has its... unpleasant members. In France, it was Robespierre. In America, it was tarring and feathering innocent tax collectors. Sad, but true.
5387779 Thanks for all your reviews :D
I admit, my writing is a little slapdash and fast-paced. I tend to write these things as inspiration hits me, and they often fit together... oddly as a result. Still, besides that, I'm glad it was enjoyable. It's sort of my first floundering step in MLP fanfiction.
THE ABSOLUTE BEST NLR STORY I'VE READ. THIS NEEDS MORE LIKES
6345544 Well thank you. I'm glad you read it, but I kind of ruined it with the sequel.
Hey, princess sunshine... ya dun goofed. Now everyone's gunna die.
And all the guards killed everyone in Ponyville including the mane 6, the cmc, and various background ponies. The end
oh wait... you made a sequel...
6356480 Yeah, not too proud of the sequel... I really went into left field with it.
The massive plothole of the Lunar Republic and Solar Empire, is that it requires people to basically disregard all we know for a fact about Celestia and Luna.
Same goes with a lot of fannon involving them.
And this is after I read the story and sequal too.
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Well, I did write these when I got into the fandom. And they sort of spiraled into subplots with dead ends. I've actually been thinking of scrapping them and trying this from an AU angle, so as to avoid working around the established universe (and constantly changing junk every time a new season comes out).
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Would make sense more that way. If you can come up with a believable "reason" for them to be like that. And put it that way because I'm still waiting for a believable one to ever be invented.
Zero luck so far. Doesn't mean I'll ever ddwnvote it though.
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I was fiddling with a fantasy AU where events proceeded much the same as seasons 1-7, but they aren't ponies. There wouldn't be any precursor civil war/revolution stuff. Setup boiled down to Spike and Starlight unintentionally sparking conflict between Luna and Celestia. There wouldn't be a "New" Lunar Republic because there was never an old one. Still have to disregard a lot of the show, though.
Finished a chapter, but I'm notorious for never finishing fics, so I try to produce five or so chapters before uploading.
I wonder if the Reign of Terror is an exaggeration or a case of corrupted perspective. If there were people (Pony or otherwise) actually calling for a violent overthrow of government, of course the people in charge (un-aging or not) would put them down. The flip side is, anyone who voiced similar believes would have to be tried and investigated as harshly as out spoken radicals. It's not like the radicals necessarily started out calling for the Rebellion/Revolution. These actions, necessitated by circumstance, would only affirm the claims of the radical elements in the minds of the moderates. The average person who read all of those tomes in the restricted section would come to their own conclusions, based on the writings of people who had to be persecuted. I'm not a fan of absolute dictatorships, but I do not blame this AU's Celestia for her actions... yet. The next chapters will determine if she's actually a power hungry tyrant or not.
Apple Bloom was using those texts as a basis for everything right? Couldn't she have just gotten the schematics for a Democratic Republic from those? That aside, I am now afraid that Luna is using the title Premier. Why is that worrying? That is the title used by Soviet Union despots. This can only mean that we will need more popcorn for upcoming events.
I like this a lot. You clearly thought through what needed to be done to set up for a grander tale. I didn't feel like anything done or said by the characters was a betrayal of character and I could really see them doing this stuff. It helps that Celestia has had almost zero character development. I have to wonder how Shining Armor and Cadance see all of this.
I have only one question that wasn't answered sufficiently: why is the Royal Guard going on foot to Ponyville when they have trains that go straight there, and Celestia herself has been shown to teleport between Canterlot and Ponyville. Of course, going straight to Ponyville by train would be a terrible idea, but they could stop the train a few miles out and then go the rest on hoof.
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The best thing about this fic is that we see how everything breaks down. While it wouldn't make any sense what so ever for the NLR and Solar Empire to exist at once during Luna's banishment, few things are as unstable as the balance of political power. They could rise and fall next to each other multiple times until they destroy each other completely, or until a third faction gets involved.
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I tried to balance out the semi-grimdarkness of the whole civil war plotline with reality from the TV show: that Celestia isn't inherently a tyrant. For the purposes of the fic, I had it so she was unbalanced after being forced to banish her sister, and thus unable to think clearly when faced with an uprising, prompting her to take increasingly drastic measures. Of course, I tend to side with revolutionaries, so some of that bias is my own, but I tried to leave it vague so the reader can pick which side they felt was justified, not the side I felt justified.
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I used Premier because it's sort of a defunct title for republics (most use Chancellor, Prime Minister, or President near as I can tell). The USSR was also a good example of republics that needed to get their hands dirty to establish themselves, but ultimately became corrupt. It was to set up the idea for the reader that neither side was wholly good; that way, you could pick a side without feeling like you were being "the villain".
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Eh, I didn't think the plot points through very well when I wrote this. I also derailed my ideas a lot! Hahaha!
kill meI appreciate you saying such about my work. I tend to look back on this view unfavorably, but I'm glad readers still like it, and especially that they don't see it as a failure.
Now that there sounds like propaganda!