Twilight and Spike lived their childhood in Canterlot Castle under the benevolent eye of Princess Celestia and violent protection of her resident, so called, monster. A monster she returns to to find peace with but also unexpected danger and threats.
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ohshit
It went into weirdville a bit too fast. Can't really understand Raegdan, but I'm not exactly a mental patient. Still, that was tremendously stupid from a person who shown himself to be smart (I'm thinking about the taking Luna from the hospital, not the running away).
7297258 Fear and experience are great motivators to do something stupid thinking it is the only choice available. Raegdan is used to ponies trying to kill both him and Luna, he thinks that them being in hospital surrounded by potential enemies is dangerous and the only option is to run away.
Not smart with regular logic and hindsight but fear for their safety and experience telling him everyone wants them dead pigeonholes his thought process to "fight or flight" where he knows he can't really fight in his condition effectively.
It was the reaction of Celestia that was a highlight for me since her reasoning and genuine anger as a sister was really a polar opposite to Raegdan in general and will be interesting to see if he mulls it over or just disregards it
Someone is getting an earful when he wakes up.
Third degree burns are actually painless. It's one of the medical problems associated with them: third degree burns scald so hot and so deep, they destroy all nerves in the affected area. For all intents and purposes, that area of skin is just dead. A painless burn is bad, bad news. It's the kind that never heals.
I very much agree.
Recently, anyway.
Fun fact: that actually only works in the tropics and subtropics. The exhaustion people are usually talking about when they mention that kind of thing is heat exhaustion. Humans are specifically evolved to be resistant to that. In temperate biomes, the purported stamina difference quickly shrinks to nothing, or at least very little. Our biggest advantage there is that with the help of containers, we can eat and drink on the go, while everything else needs to actually stop somewhere.
There is a difference between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Raegdan never learned it.
Sometimes, when reading this, I can't help but wander if Reagan is Doom guy.
I'd say Celestia finally put an end to Reagdan's shit but somehow you know he and Luna will find a way.
This pinkie feels a bit more unstable then most and...I love
Yep, it's official, I love this pinkie and will one day marry that pone...nah.
If there is one thing my brother ever taught me, is that you don't stick the dick in crazy.
I'm not sure how to feel about Raegdan at this point. On one hand I actually feel sorry for him and all the crap he has to put up with. On the other hand I really feel like slapping some fucking sense into that thick skull of his.
But right now, the only thing that comes up in my head is: God fucking dammit Raegdan, you god damn stupid moron....
Please never stop writing. This is currently my favorite story in this site!
So now he has to face his demons. Lovely.
7297276 I meant it as him being smart enough to know that Luna is in critical condition, especially since he was there when she became like that. And he'd most probably know getting her out of the hospital would end up with her death. So between being in "danger" and certain death due to injuries he chose the latter. Which he should've been smart enough not to do. He could've just stood guard just as he usually does, despite his injuries.
One can say he was delirious due to said injuries, but he did show he can think on his feet well enough considering his escape.
Finally the new chapter is here. And it's worth every second for wait for it.
he takes 1 step to twily and then makes 10 steps back.that was stupid move he did but i think he was to many times in simaler positions.fear is poverfull and i do beleave he is not going to forget all experienc he earned over his travels over someting like this
Heh, I love this. Also not going to lie, as this went on the thought that Raedgan was the one who took her became more likely. I was thinking he would have been just delirious due to pain and confusion and took her thinking to keep her safe. Technically he was right though, there was a score of Griffons in that city with orders to wreck Luna's day. I really do want Raedgan and Luna to be proven wrong, that there is goodness and forgiveness in the world and for them to live a happy... most likely immortal life.
Luna is going to be pissed when she wakes up. Not at Raegdan, but at Celestia for replacing the captain of her guards which is out of her jurisdiction I believe.
Freaking finally, Raegdan gets called out on his bullshit. Too bad he had to almost kill Luna out of stupidity for someone to do it. Now we just need to give Luna a similar chewing out herself when she wakes up and maybe some actual progress can be made.
7298082
Like I just said, Luna needs her own shit straightened, so she can shove it for the time being.
Okay, ignoring all that silly stuff like plot development and The Great White Bitch finally calling a certain human on his shit, I’m here to ask the important question that everyone has on their mind...
...Why do the names of all the griffons begin with G?
7298628 Because silly naming conventions make it easier to come up with a lot of them on the fly!
seriously, by continually piling misfortune and pain on Luna and Raegdan, all you do is bring down the other characters for it. honestly it's amazing Celestia hasn't had more trouble, she seems to believe any of her policies make any sense, they don't. honestly you have a gift for writing but you seem to have a horrible need to continually and pointlessly punish your own characters.
7298910 Perhaps. It is the characters who do this on themselves however. I don't just push them into sinking sand and declare they have no rope or anyone to help them. Raegdan here could try being more trusting or assess the situation a bit better before going into a panic and making a run. He didn't, and to be frank he couldn't, not unless I went too far from how I have him in my head. There are plenty of reasons of why he did that, most of them making only sense to himself in that state. Fear, panic, past experiences, a hidden want to go back to a life that though hellish made sense to him, a voice that keeps screaming in his head.
(A small interruption about how I make up the story; I don't. I usually lie down with some instrumental music blasting in my headphones and imagine a few characters talking (or even just one) either to each other or directly to me, retelling past events as they saw them happen. They explain themselves and their actions, almost just like they do in the story, and I'm often caught by surprise. Retarded I know, but that's how it works for me. I let the subconscious do most of the work.)
So, why are they being so unbelievably stupid and don't change their stupid ways? Because change is hard. Immensely hard. I mean change of character, and these two have been like this for a very long time. Keep in mind that so has Celestia. What Luna and Raegdan wish for is redemption, but they go through it in the only way they know. Imagine a warrior that one day his thirst of battle has caused him to do unspeakable things. He then decides to redeem himself. So he sets himself in the service of a church and goes off to slay and do unspeakable things, only this time he claims he does it for a god.
If change is hard, then redemption is almost impossible. It is a rare thing, not something that can be attained easily, and they will not even step in the path for the second without the first. I don't want to cheapen how difficult both of these are by making them even an iota easier. Heck, I'll up the difficulty.
As for Celestia... I kind of hate how being long lived makes people think she must think of everything or make no mistakes. She might be functionally immortal, she's no god or perfect being. She does mistakes, like everyone does. She has her own moral code and she tries to stick with it, other times with success, others with not. Things escape her, she can be fooled, and she can get complacent. She is alive and therefore she fails. Like Dumbledore said, "I have already proven to you, I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being – forgive me – rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger".
I fail to portray what I want to accurately enough though. I talk and talk and finish up not making my point at all, I know. I'm trying to fix that.
7299089 it would be nice if you could stop for a moment and let the two chars absorb something good for a change, besides celestia seems to have forgotten that the reason warriors exist is so everyone else doesn't have to do the terrible things they need too.
honestly it's no surprise that the changelings took canterlot so quickly when the guard practice combat in an idiotically repetitive fashion relying on rules that the enemy is sure not to follow and having there head so far up there own asses with self importance. honestly these gryphons got so far because they handled the combat directly, celestia needs to be aware that in current regards equestrian cannot wina war with the gryphons or the minotaurs right now.
well luna has no power to push it, it is notable what celestia did was treason against the lunar crown. I do hope luna at least calls celestia out on that. celestia in this story needs to desperately be put in a situation wehre she can only rely on luna, because she is too used to being soley in power she forgets much including that the dungeon is under lunas power as well. all i'm asking is that you let off on them enough for us to absorb them having a genuinely good moment.
morally speaking for all there mistakes luna and raegdan are far on better ground then celestia and her entire guard.
7297646 Im sure she knows that. And that as soon as luna finds out she is likley to give his captain ship back.
However its likley that she knows that removing his position of power and tearing into him like that is the only way to get him to open up.
7299760 yeah. They all know that hes done some truly horrible stuff and some just as bad stuff has been done to him. But they do not truly know the extent of it.
Also celestia thinks that it is because of a lack of trust that he doesn't tell her things. But that is not completely true, he mentions on multiple occasions that its because he doesn't want to burden her anymore than she already is.
I expect all these things to come to light in the next chapters and for there to be a big shift in thinking from all the characters namely celestia and ragedan.
7299670
Go ahead. You'll have to come up with the finer details if your characters happen to have advanced technology that is able to explain anything. Both humans and equines use Vitamin D, but that's why I pulled the convergent evolution card. Otherwise, I could dump the more detailed world-building lore if you want.
If Luna rejects the idea of Raedgan being put in prison then by right of crown, even if Celestia wants to, he can't be jailed. Although a compromise would probably be reached at that point. Luna could also, if she wanted, make Raedgan the commander again, since it is her guard that she created, she has full control over it.
Haha!
When the world is against you, all you can do is run.
7299089
I really love that way of putting it. There's an earnest effort there, but in the end, it is mistakes compounded over mistakes.
One thing you didn't mention is that change isn't merely hard by and of itself. It also takes humility. To really change requires earnest, heartfelt regret over the things you've done - an admittance that not only what you did was wrong, but also how you did it. It requires facing the fact that you failed, that you didn't do the best you could have done even though it was within your power, and that the people who told you so all along knew better than you. Many people would rather admit to horrible crimes of all kinds than to admit that they simply weren't good enough. Both Raegdan and Luna are very proud people. It's a sentiment I can sympathize with, because I'm a proud person myself.
Sometimes, this is a helpful trait to have. It can keep you going when you don't have anything else left. Here, though, it's what's standing in their way.
7301105 More about the fact that he's immortal as it would seem
7299947
No she cannot, she is a second tier ruler at best. What she wants means nothing unless Celestia allows it. She is in essence toletared mostly because Celestia says to do it and even THEN there is assassinations and she is shunned.
What would you think would happen if they were in open dissagreement about something? Luna's station as ruler would be taken in consideration IF Celestia would allow it to happen.
7298088
Yes, Nightmare sure needs to be put in her place. How dare she.
Edit:
Also see how casually Celestia just walks over Luna's jurisdiction with smile. It matters not to her.
7306151 Now there's where you're wrong. Despite public opinion and a corrupt nobility, Luna is a co-ruler, so there can be no decision without a compromise between her and Celestia, regardless of what others want. Although since there is a corrupt nobility, if Luna were to use her position as co-ruler to oppose one of Celestia's decisions, then there would most likely be consequences.
7306245
I could be a cynic but those consequences would most likely involve noone taking her orders, all she is saying being sidelined, ridicule and maybe few people trying to impress Celestia with various implements on her dead body...
Unless yet again, Celestia would in her benevolance allow her to have some scraps of power. This will be so for a long time to come, even if Celestia really would try her bestest to make Luna a true Diarch and would be smart about it. Titles, names and legal process means very little in the end.
Edit: Which is why i still think Luna should move from shadow of Celestia and take over some area like Crystal Empire or go even further away from Equestria. Maybe re-integrate as diarch in generation or two.
7299089
Uh oh. The writer is just driving the story train, it got no brakes and the rails are a metaphor for the choices the characters make, based on their previous experiences and knowledge. CHOO CHOOO! I wish I could write like that.
7306151
First off, Luna is in no condition to assume her duties at the moment, so they would default to Celestia anyway. Second, her captain of the guard JUST NEARLY KILLED HER BECAUSE HIS PARANOIA SHOVED HIS COMMON SENSE IN A BAG AND BEAT IT WITH A BAT!
Yes Luna's authority being usurped by Celestia, even unintentionally, is an issue...but in this case Celestia is fully justified in doing so. Luna is out of commmision, and Reagdan, her captain, isn't competant to perform his duties at the moment, nessictating his replacement, at least temporarily.
Also, how much of the issues in this story could have been avoided if either Luna or Reagdan had put aside their pride for one second and brought the fuckery going on in Canterlot to Celestia's attention? Heck, Reagdan's actions this chapter brings into question just how much is ACTUALLY going on, and what's all in their heads. Equestria is supposed to be a diarchy, but while Tia seems to be trying to trust in Luna and her decisions, neither Luna nor Reagdan have put any trust in her, leading to where we are now, with Reagdan "rescuing" Luna from her friends, guards, and needed medical treatment, putting her back in the sights of asassins who probably would have been unable to reach her, and nearly getting them both killed!
7306318
And by sights you mean removing them from security area which Raegdan managed to infiltrate alone and wounded? The security area which had NO coordination and extra support? Lets face it Celestia dropped the ball in security arrangements BIG time here. This is a KEY fault of her and one of the great reasons she should not be trusted... she is a blind idealistic fool.
And lets talk about trust, remember the Paladin Order/Royal Guard she still keeps around? The one which things it is their DIVINE duty to be ready to reach to nighmare incase she returns? The one Celestia created and which she seems to have no control over since she has grown decadent in her worship? Also lets talk about the issues Luna is having? This is a suprice to our naive Celestia? Seems to be so.
With what is going on in her palace and what has been going on in HER watch would you trust her? Personally i would have quite few reservations to do so. Specially when SHE was the one who pulled the trigger and send Luna to the moon all those years ago. Here is what i think is the greatest of kickers: Luna is IMMORTAL, can she die? Will she be ALLOWED to die if she would so choose? This has been hinted to a bit in the story but one of the plans Luna and Raegdan has is to make sure Luna will not end up in moon again for 1000 years, nomatter the cost.
Celestia cannot be involved in such plans, she would never approve of them. She has very solid idea of how world should word and she WILL strong-arm and impose her ideals on any and all solutions Raegdan and Luna have. Trust is a two way street and neither is walking down on it. Should Celestia been rudely awakened to her incompetency? Yes, but would she have seen reality as clearly if she had not found out about it herself? Personally i think not.
tl;dr
Celestia is naive fool who has grown decadent with worship, and who is blind to all bad things.
Luna is messed immortal who lives in constant fear and despair, trapped in golden cage.
Raegdan is messed up mad dog who tries his best to help, sees reality but is a basketcase.
The security area he was already inside BECAUSE he was injured? Or how about the fact that most sane security measures don't account for said injured captain going nuts and kidnapping the princess himself?
Yes, because letting the world die to endless night, or killing her sister were so much better choices than an option that allowed her to live.
Given that this is the number 1 thing Celestia is mad about this chapter, YES, she CAN die.
Except that a giant part of both their problems is that they seem to think Celestia will send her back if Luna farts at the wrong time! Unless she's braindead enough to actually do something that actually warrants it (in reality and not her paranoid head) it's not going to happen. Celestia would rather off herself than do it, so it's doubtful the nobility could convice her, and in any case, the only ones who COULD are Twilight and co. Though thier relationship with Luna and Reagdan may be rocky, they mostly want to smack them for all the lies and secrets, not bladt them with the EoH at the drop of a hat.
As for the trust issues, Celestia is like a good school principle, while the nobility are the playground bullies. The bullies know how to look innocent when the principle is around, so while she can't just punish them for crimes without proof (which they've actually had in some cases, by the way), she could st least be more alert tp try and catch them in the act if told such things were going on. Problem is, EVERYONE, not just Luna and Reagdan, are so worried about upsetting her, they don't even hint that anything is wrong, so of course Luna's issues are a surprise, and OF COURSE she doesn't realize anything is going on, because she trusts the people working for her, and no one is giving her cause to think otherwise!
I don't deny that Celly needed a wake-up call to what she was blind to, but maybe, just MAYBE, if they'd actually shared their concerns with her, things could have been handled better than Reagdan almost getting Luna killed by lack of treatment/asassins because he dragged her out of the hospital to go hide in diseased, toxic leviathan guts, rather than place ANY amount of trust in his surrogate daughter, her friends, the guards HE recruited, or her freaking sister who's given HIM far more chances than even he admits he deserves, let alone her own flesh and blood.
All I have to say is this to everyone else here going "Yeah! Raegdan finally got his comeuppance!";
No.
Raegdan and Luna are the unsung heroes of equestria. Their job is thankless but necessary in not only equestria, but our world as well. The difference here between our world and equestria is that the ponies are the absolute worst when it comes to showing gratitude and deference to their silent protectors. This indifference, disrespect, and outright hostility is what caused Luna to become the Nightmare. Celestia herself has fallen victim to this attitude that is so pervasive amongst her childish subjects, it just expresses itself differently, and the expression of this attitude at the highest echelons of power made way for a massive wave of corruption and sin to spread on down. The naivete and ignorance of the common equestrian only empowers and emboldens the subversive forces in equestrian society that much more, leading to the hidden hell that we see Raegdan and Luna currently struggling against.
I would not be surprised if Luna has stopped this damn thing before in equestria's past, her interlude as the Nightmare surely must have stopped it dead. On that note, Celestia saying how Raegdan is a coward is just absolutely rich coming from her when she just endlessly fled from Nightmare Moon instead of trying to do the right thing and own up to her mistakes that led to the Nightmare. Rot from within is worse than enemies without, and Celestia needs to sit down, shut up, and let Luna clean house. Only afterwards can she be that "oh so shining example of morality" to her little subjects. Intractable codes of conduct are for polite company.
Expediency has a moral value of its own. And sometimes, all you have to do is hold the thin red line, and when you are holding the red line, anything goes, as it is the last line to ever defend.
7306890
I can't speak for everyone, so I'll just clarify my own position. I don't think Reagdan got his comeuppance, I think he finally got a wake up call that he, and Luna, are being idiots in their methods of doing things.
I get the part about how Luna is trying to resume her duties of being Equestria's protector, and that its thankless position played a large part in her going Nightmare. My problem is that she's going right back down the same road, only Reagdan is now along for the ride, when the thing is, she doesn't have to, but their pride and paranoid fears of Celestia keep getting in the way of changing their course before it ends in tragedy...again!
People keep jumping on how Celestia has kept the Solar Guard around, but they seem to forget that aside from guarding against Nightmare Moon, they were also formed to do her job of protecting against monsters. However, they either were never as good at it, or have gotten lazy about it, because monster attacks are a bigger problem than publicly reported. BUT, even with actual proof that these guys aren't doing their jobs, they're too scared of upsetting Celestia, or her image, to bring this (among other things) to her attention.
This makes the formation of Luna's own guard look redundant, at best, except that the formation of the lunar guard seems to be a farce only intended to keep Reagdan as her bodyguard, because of the few recruits they have so far, they show no signs of actually intending to train them to fight monsters, and thus give them much needed competant backup, instead preferring to just throw themselves at the problem until they end up killing themselves.
In the meantime, they also seem intent on attempting to clean up the evils in the government, both real and imagined, behind Celestia's back by making themselves out to be bogeymen, which does absolutely nothing to help the situation with Luna's reputation.
In fact, their only workable goals seem to be to either flee Equestria entirely, or martyr themselves in a blaze of glory. However, when trying to do the latter with the leviathan, they instead pull off a miracle and killed it, making them heroes in Baltimare, at the least (which is a lot more than they had before). However, when Reagdan wakes up, he not only immediately assumes the worst, kidnapping Luna and almost getting her killed by asassins who probably wouldn't have been able to get to her otherwise, but ignores literal piles of evidence to the contrary that things have actually turned around for them.
So in short, yes, I APPLAUD Celestia for her chewing him out, and hope Luna gets something similar, because it's about time someone called them on their bull, and she's the only one he can't intimidate into backing off.
Now that Celestia is FINALLY getting in on what's really going on, maybe they can all work towards an actual healing for Reagdan, Luna AND Equestria.
All caught up and it hasn't changed up and down, Down and up. I may mark this read later I may not it shall be a coin toss.
7306798
Accepting something as needed does not mean you forgive the person pulling the trigger. Look this from Luna's pov SHE must be the perfect meek sister who forgives all so she is not send back to the moon for another 1000 years. Whether she really needs to play this part she MUST play this part where she stands. She is feared and hated, and if you are correct about her being able to die then only person who stopped her ending it all was Reagdan.
I wish you are correct it would take this story a step down on the darkness-o-meter. As i read teh story Luna's only options were moon for another 1000 years, escape or somehow managing to make herself not hated. Could be i misunderstood it and it is not as grim then and she can just opt out.
Paranoia is reality to paranoid person. Perception IS reality and only thing you can do in this life is to act based on what you believe is right.
What you are descriping is an idiot who should not be in position of power. If you are a monarch or ruler and your own machine is eating you after 1000 years of you ruling it then you are naive tool. Anytime during that age she could have turned the whole system around or subtly changed to fit whatever she wants it to be.
To me it seems she just was all "i want my sister!" and she had NO plans on how to inegrate her to the society, she DID NOT CARE to think any such things or plan any plans to help the matter. All she has is her precious paladins ready to cap her and Elements of harmony to send her back. This time it will be better too since SHE was not one to pull the trigger. If people are afraid of upsetting Celestia, it is for reason.
7307166
She will try to light shine in dark places and then monsters which she allowed to come to be due to her decadence will lash out. You think Luna had it bad. Now consider how assassinations will step-up after she has shown she can take down a leviathan, has growing support and has obviously mislead her dear and innocent sister.
A lot of things yes, Reagdan has to hear. But Celestia has no leg to stand on while telling it.
7303192 you know what? The warrior trying to fix his mistakes by killing stuff in the name of God is exactly like kratos in God of war, at least in the beginning
I knew it was him that took Luna. the window was the absolute dead give away and Twilight should have known that instantly. They all should have.
Raegdan Theme song for this moment
https://youtu.be/3uYST9R9Z58
7566105
I would say the fire was a dead givaway to the readers at least. We've seen him use that tactic in the past. Set a catastrophe to allow his own escape. And the achohol to start a fire while inconcluse rins all sorts of bells
Not sure if i want to continue this jojo stoty (uo and down about twice every chapter). And to
7306318
Heres the thinhg from what ive gathered is celestia has to mutch trust in her belifes (people are good) to see wrong. And this backfires with luna and reg getting the short end of it since they coundt do anything about the things celestia "ignores" (corruption, her not being up to date with the people)
I want to know why the fuck Celestia claims to care about Luna. Why she's angry Raegdan almost gave Luna mercy.
Celestia didn't seem to care enough to notice how hard it was for Luna to fight alone for ~500 years. That Nightmare Moon was a suicidal front. She doesn't seem to care enough about her little shits to fight for them since DISCORD. She hasn't bothered to root out the corruption in her country that would have seen Twilight raped or Luna dead.
Words are cheap Celestia. A "vaunted diplomat" such as yourself SHOULD realize that words only have meaning when you can back them up with actions. By your actions Equestria has rotted for 1500 years. Shut up and put up.
Once again, nothing wrong.
To do list:
- Celestia needs to get her fat flank of her throne and fix Equestria. Assasins need to be exterminated with extream precision.
- Luna needs protecting.
- Thestral need a breeding program so they don't go extinct.
- Raegdan... He needs medical and Guard support.
It seems in the chaos, she was killed
She couldn’t be! I saw them come and save her!
Noooooooooooo