“So? What do you think?”
“…it looks fine.”
“Are you sure? I thought that placing the moon between Canis Major and Canis Minor might make for a nice nocturnal scene, two dogs chasing a ball, but now that I look at it I wonder if they’re too far apart for it to really work.”
Luna bit back the urge to snap at her sister, knowing that Celestia was trying to draw her into a conversation. It was the latest in a series of attempts that the elder alicorn had made to engage with her over the last few days, taking time out of her schedule – despite being busier than ever – to talk to Luna about everything from the gemstone statue that was being constructed for the upcoming Grand Equestria Pony Summit to what gift they should send to Cranky and Matilda’s upcoming wedding. Each new day saw something new, and invariably trivial, on Celestia’s mind that she just had to share with her sister.
It wasn’t dissimilar from what had happened at breakfast just before they’d headed to the Crystal Empire. Or at least, Luna knew that’s what her sister was hoping: that there’d be some inconsequential nonsense – such as fruit faces on pancakes or Blueblood’s overwrought efforts to marry back into royalty – that would serve to distract the alicorn-turned-unicorn from the reality of her situation. Perhaps even lead to her shaking off her doldrums and facing the future with optimism rather than malaise.
But if that was what Celestia was hoping for, then she was going to be disappointed.
The laughter that Luna had found bubbling up inside of her that morning hadn’t been because she’d been able to momentarily step outside of herself. It had been because, in the wake of publishing her tell-all about what Lex Legis had done to her, she’d still been able to do something of importance, even if only a little. It had been because the prospect of using the Crystal Heart had still brimmed with possibility rather than failure.
It had been because there was still hope.
But now…
“It’s fine, sister,” replied Luna at last, dragging her morose gaze away from the night sky that she no longer controlled. “You raised and lowered the moon for a thousand years while I was banished. You’ve long since grown more proficient at it than I am.”
“That’s not true!” Celestia stepped closer, concern written all over her face. “Luna, this is your destiny,” she insisted, pointing at her sister’s cutie mark, “not mine. Once you’re back to normal-”
“Why did you meet with Willow Longtail?”
Celestia blinked, thrown by the sudden change in topic. “What?”
“Why did you meet with Willow Longtail?” repeated Luna, desperate to avoid listening to her sister’s empty reassurances about how things were going to be alright. Those were even worse than the blatant attempts at buoying her mood. “I’m aware that you invited her to a private conference yesterday with Shining Armor, but none of the castle staff seems to know what it was regarding.”
“…I was seeking her advice.”
Luna arched a brow, both at the half-second’s hesitation that preceded her sister’s answer, and at how non-specific the answer was. “May I inquire as to what you needed her to advise you on?”
Celestia sighed, an uncomfortable look crossing her face. “Luna…”
Her tone of voice was almost pleading, clearly wanting her to let it go, but Luna had no intention of doing so. Quite the opposite, she felt an almost vindictive glee at pressing the topic, suddenly wanting to pay Celestia back for how smothering her attempts to cheer her up had been. “I am still a princess, am I not?” she demanded. “Is this castle still not as much mine as it is yours?”
“Of course you are,” replied Celestia, her tone subdued, “and of course it is.”
“And may I presume that the advice which you sought was not in regards to your personal affairs?”
Seemingly resigned to where this was going, Celestia shook her head. “It was not.”
“Then I don’t believe that I’m out of line for wanting to know what you met with Willow Longtail about,” finished Luna pointedly.
A tired look crossed Celestia’s face then, and she crossed the balcony to head back into Luna’s boudoir, picking at the sugar cookies that the steward had left out for them. “We spoke about several topics,” she murmured between bites. “Chief among them being the possibility of appealing to one of the pony deities of Everglow for help removing your curse.”
Luna’s eyebrows rose at that, and for an instant she felt a renewed surge of hope. But it came crashing down in an instant, knowing that if there were any sort of good news to be had, Celestia would have been far more animated. “And I take it the conclusion was poor?”
Her sister nodded, not looking up at her. “It’s apparently very difficult for gods to project their power into a world where they’re not worshiped. Willow thinks there might be ways around that, but they all involve either summoning that god directly – which is either difficult, or dangerous, or both – or bringing in some sort of aspect of their power that they can use as a conduit. But even then, she’s not entirely certain.”
Finally stepping in from the balcony, Luna frowned. “What about-”
“We discussed the possibility of you going to Everglow and asking for help there, too,” interrupted Celestia, her tone flat. “Either from the pony gods or one of that world’s spellcasters, since the magic developed there is stronger than our own, but Willow was dubious of those possibilities as well.”
That brought a frown to Luna’s face, both from the interruption and the further bad news. “Why?”
Celestia didn’t answer right away, instead pouring herself a steaming mug of tea and taking a sip. The strong odor coming from it caused Luna to wrinkle her nose, recognizing that it was a caffeinated blend. Though that wasn’t surprising, considering that Celestia needed to preside over both the day and night now. It was only when she put her mug down that she at last looked at Luna, and her expression was haunted. “Because she thinks the Night Mare is personally maintaining the curse Lex put on you.”
Luna’s eyes widened at that, and if she’d still had wings she would have flared them in surprise. “What?! His goddess is…?!” A shudder ran down her spine then, her throat going dry. “Is Willow certain?”
Celestia shook her head. “No. She’s neither an adherent of the divine, nor an expert on curses. But she’s of the opinion that while a static effect can be self-sustaining – like a curse to inhibit arousal or experience sympathetic pain, like Lex put on Produce Aisle or Comfy Cozy – a curse that exhibits more malleability in its application, or which resists being easily lifted, must have an intelligence behind it. One whose strength is proportional to the effect in question, and since Lex is apparently a living channel for the Night Mare to project her influence into this world…”
Suddenly numb, Luna sat down, thinking of how her curse had fought back so ardently against being removed. “It…it makes sense,” she muttered, as much to herself as to Celestia. “That would explain why Discord wasn’t able to fix this. Why it was able to persevere where King Sombra’s magic failed against the Crystal Heart.”
Pouring a second mug – this time from a pot of non-caffeinated tea – Celestia levitated it over to her sister. “That’s why Willow is uncertain how much a mortal spellcaster could accomplish. While she doesn’t think it’s impossible to find one who remove it, since the curse is only being sustained by a god rather than having been given by one directly – which she thinks is an important distinction – she’s not certain who, if anyone, would have the strength to do such a thing.”
Taking a sip of the hot liquid, Luna let it warm her for a moment, still wrestling with the idea that a goddess – a real one, not the would-be deity she’d set herself up as – was personally taking a hoof in her suffering. “What about the queen who rules that world’s ponies? Ilena, wasn’t it?”
“Iliana,” corrected Celestia. “And no, she won’t help.”
The certainty in her sister’s voice drew Luna’s gaze to her, studying her for a long moment. “You already contacted her.”
Celestia nodded, her expression dejected. “Spike met her briefly while he and Twilight were on that world. I sent him a missive to send to her, telling her what had happened and begging for her help.”
“And she said no.” Just like before, Luna phrased it as a statement rather than a question, Celestia’s expression making the answer evident.
In response, the elder alicorn drew forth a scroll, unrolling it and skipping past the greeting before reading out loud. “‘While you have my deepest condolences for what has befallen your beloved sister, I must regretfully inform you that I cannot lend you my aid at this time. Though I do not carry the tenets of her religion in my heart, the Night Mare is still a member – indeed, a senior member – of the pony pantheon, making her a patron deity of the Pony Empire which I have sworn to protect. To act counter to her interests beyond the borders of Everglow in such a partisan manner runs the risk of angering her at a time when unity, among both the gods and ponies of the Empire, is critical.
“‘I likewise have no wish to become entangled in the internal affairs of another nation. While I cannot speak to the character of the pony whom you named as being responsible for your sister’s malediction, I am not prepared to undertake what could be construed as an act of hostile interference toward someone who has, by your account, assumed a position of importance in Equestrian politics. While I have every hope that you will find a solution that both restores your sister and protects the stability of your realm, I’m afraid that solution is one that I cannot be a part of.’”
Sighing, Celestia rolled up the scroll. “She offers more sympathy after that, but nothing of substance.”
“I suppose that would have been too easy,” grunted Luna, leaning back in her chair. It was funny how the queen’s refusal to help didn’t sting nearly as badly as the Crystal Heart’s failure did. But then again, she hadn’t spent weeks wondering if she’d receive Iliana’s aid, nor had that world's pony queen let her down as spectacularly as the Crystal Heart had. “What about the other idea? That I go there and appeal to one of the benevolent gods directly? Willow didn’t think that would work either, I believe you said?”
“She thinks that it would be like with Iliana, that they’d refuse to get personally involved,” replied Celestia as she put the queen’s answer away. “Gods apparently prefer to act via mortal proxies, since taking direct action invites retaliation. That’s why she thinks it’s significant that Lex was the one who actually cursed you in the first place.”
“Oh.”
The renewed sense of helplessness that she felt right then must have been audible in her voice, because Celestia looked at her then, anxiety reasserting itself. “Luna, except for Iliana’s refusal to help, this is all supposition on Willow’s part, something she openly admitted. It’s entirely possible that she’s wrong about any or all of what she said.”
Luna could feel a mirthless laugh bubbling up inside of her. “Do you think she is?”
“I think we need more information,” replied Celestia diplomatically. “With any luck, Twilight will be back soon, and we can see if she has any insights.” For the first time in a little while, a smile reasserted itself on her face. “Knowing her, she’s already retrieved Starlight Glimmer and Silhouette and is researching alternative ways to restore you right now.”
The platitude made Luna grimace, hating that they were back to those. “No doubt,” she muttered, standing at last.
Despite having been the one to bring this up, Luna suddenly found herself not wanting to talk about it anymore. Whatever other possibilities Celestia and Willow had discussed for removing her curse had no doubt come to the same conclusion, since Celestia would have been quick to inform her if something more viable been found, and as much as Luna disliked being treated as if she were fragile, she didn’t want to hear a list of reasons why there was no hope of her ever being an alicorn again. “Forgive me, sister, but it’s past time for me to look in on the dream realm. Even diminished, I can still protect the peaceful slumber of our subjects.”
If she was surprised by the abrupt dismissal, Celestia didn’t show it. “I understand. But please don’t push yourself too hard. You’ve already informed everypony of what’s happened to you. They’ll understand if you-”
“Thank you,” smiled Luna, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
Celestia bit her lip then, before letting out a slow breath. “Goodnight, Luna.”
Thankful that the issue hadn’t been pushed, Luna nodded as she turned and headed back toward the balcony. “Goodnight, Celestia.”
Sighing as she closed the door to her sister’s room behind her, Celestia headed back to her own chambers, stifling a yawn. As much as she wished she could go straight to bed, she knew she didn’t have that luxury. Not when there was still so much to do; answers had to be written to the condolence letters that were still pouring in regarding Luna, plans needed to be reviewed for the upcoming summit, groundwork needed to be laid for potentially reopening diplomatic relations with Yakyakistan, and so much more.
And, of course, the moon would need to have its position periodically readjusted throughout the night. That required her to sleep in increments, waking up every few hours so as to move it across the sky, but while it wasn’t an ideal schedule, it was one she could live with. She had for a thousand years, after all.
What she couldn’t live with was seeing Luna continue on the way she was, bereft of hope. After everything that had happened – becoming Nightmare Moon, her failed attempt at starting her own religion, Silhouette’s death and subsequent madness – Celestia couldn’t bear to see her little sister continue to suffer like this. She deserved to be happy.
That was why Celestia was glad Luna hadn’t pressed her for what else she’d talked to Willow about.
The purrsian had been doubtful that Lex’s curse would come undone if he died, reasoning that his goddess – if she was indeed the one maintaining the affliction – would continue to uphold it whether or not her servant was still alive. But as with so much else that they’d talked about, she’d admitted to not being sure. That was enough for Celestia; while his death would close off the possibility of Lex ever removing the curse voluntarily, that was a possibility that she couldn’t bring herself to put any stock in. Lex was, after all, not trustworthy. Better to make it so that he wouldn’t be able to curse anyone else ever again, so that once they found a way to make Luna an alicorn once more there’d be no chance of her ever having to go through this a second time.
Of course, that ran afoul of what she’d told Shining Armor about potentially starting a civil war…but that was only if Lex’s death was attributed to them.
If he simply disappeared, or was killed by someone with no obvious connection to Equestrian royalty – such as a purrsian from another world – the chances of his followers blaming the country’s reigning monarchs would drop precipitously. That wouldn’t solve everything, of course; the Night Mare’s worshipers, the Siren sisters, and likely several other troublesome ponies would need to be carefully managed. But without Lex Legis there to act as a symbol of rebellion, Celestia had hope that they’d be able to defuse the situation.
And at the very least, it would give Luna some comfort to know that the pony who had hurt her so terribly was gone.
But even that thought couldn’t make Celestia feel entirely at ease with what she’d asked Willow to do. Assassination was an option she’d sworn never to avail herself of, and she’d kept that promise for over a millennium. But in the face of what Luna was going through now, her only remaining relative who had already endured so much hardship, it had been surprisingly easy to break that vow, even if she hadn’t fully made peace with it yet. Shining Armor had been similarly shocked when she’d raised the possibility, but after what he and Cadance had lost during the Elemental Bleeds, he’d eventually come around as well.
This is no different than confronting any of the other villains who’ve threatened Equestria over the years, she told herself as she trudged back to her room. Discord. Tirek. King Sombra. We never had to resort to lethal measures, but we were prepared to if they couldn’t be contained. This is the same, except Lex is too powerful to face directly. I’m simply adjusting my strategy accordingly.
She continued telling herself that the entire way back, and by the time she’d reached the door to her suite she’d managed to quiet most of her doubts. Besides, it was out of her hooves now anyway. She’d already told Willow to do whatever she had to, so long as nopony else got hurt, in order to make Lex go away for good.
But as she sat down to begin working her way through the pile of correspondence she needed to answer, Celestia couldn’t completely banish the sensation that somehow, she was making a terrible mistake.
IT TIS TIME FOR A HARVEST OF FOOLS
Ok, Celestia has lost it. Not just her morals, but she gone into stupid plan mode. Unless she manages to succeed without being seen, how exactly will Willow NOT be traced back to her?
For starters, she's a purrsian, a species not native to Equestria, and in fact native to Everglow, whom the only people with (mostly) reliable access to and from there being Twilight and co., and thus the Princesses.
Secondly, again given her non-native status, it probably won't be hard for anyone investigating to learn that Willow and her son have been living in Ponyville...home to Twilight, whom all of Lex's confidants already think sent Starlight after him, meaning at best they'd think she also sent Willow.
Thirdly, at this point the number 1 suspects for having Lex assassinated would be the royals themselves.
So yeah Celestia better hope Willow's good enough to not only succeed, but to do so without revealing herself, or it's practically guaranteed that the blame will come back on at least some of the royals, if not her directly.
Standard conspiracy theory, an opponant of the current rulers died of whatever reason? Its the rulers fault, because they either did it directly, indirectly, or couldnt be bothered to put up enough defences so anyone else could do it would they would get the blame instead?
Yeah, Lex and I might have a bit of a disagreement over which species is superior. I say humans are, by far. Now part of that is because...it's bloody ponies for crying out loud, while Lex would say ponies for whatever reason. Even with an abundance of curses and magic at his disposal, Lex has never faced a descendant of or a reincarnation of the hyperaggressive Norse Berserker. The handful of us left in the world get so furious that we lose lose both our self-awareness and awareness of our surroundings, so much so that we could get an arm blown off and we'd be too furious to notice, much less feel pain from it when we go into that state of mind, or rather lack thereof, since it's basically like being mindless. Severe injuries don't slow us down either, since, again, we get too lost in fury to notice. So even most curses and spells won't really do any good just because our minds are too far gone to process the injuries or afflictions, such as paralysis, electricity, itchiness (curse), mentally disabled (curse), tranqilizers/sleep spells, broken bones, ect. The only way to really stop someone like me and my ilk is to land a lethal attack, and even then going for an instant kill-bullet between the eyes, ect.-is advised, as unless it's instant, that still leaves us what little time we have left to take our opponent (and whoever else is in the way) with us. Even blowing up someone's heart still leaves the person 10 to 15 seconds left to love afterward, and while most people would probably stumble back and fall over in shock, that means 10 to 15 seconds more for someone like me to tear my opponent to shreds before kicking the proverbial bucket. So if Lex were to face off against someone like me, he would have to kill in order to win.
Despite all of this, people like Lex and I would still probably get along decently. The only hiccups would probably be my ilk smashing a fist on top of people like Lex's head whenever they-knowingly or otherwise-do something morally wrong and yelling, "You dumbass!" ...Now that I think of it, that would probably look comedic.
10769112 It's certainly looking like that might end up being the case, at least if this Willow doesn't do her job properly.
10769265 Several things to keep in mind, here:
First, Celestia isn't exactly known for being a strategist of peerless ability. I mean, "Tirek is coming! We need to give up our magic!"
Secondly, and more seriously, this isn't exactly Celestia's wheelhouse. She's tried to stay away from doing exactly this, and so it's perhaps not too surprising that she's not exactly going to be a master of it. As it is, she's being driven by emotion more than anything else, her heart being unable to bear the sight of Luna suffering and knowing that there's nothing she can do to help (as the chapter itself notes, when Celestia ruminates about how she can't live with seeing her little sister like that). She's all out of good options, so she's ready to go for the bad ones.
Thirdly, Celestia's idea of having Willow be the one to actually take on the job isn't as poor of a choice as you might think. That's because, in the event that any sort of clandestine operative is caught, captured, and/or killed, the issue for their patron becomes one of deniability more than anything else.
Consider, for instance, that most ponies outside of Ponyville won't know who - or even what - Willow is. While the wings might throw them off, most ponies would probably guess that she's an Abyssinian, and they certainly wouldn't know that she's from Everglow unless she tells them. Similarly, most of the people who do know Willow (such as Sonata) think that she's in Lex's corner. While it hasn't come up very much in the context of this story, as far as everyone else knows Willow parted ways with Lex and Sonata on good terms; her wanting him dead is only known to those ponies who were at the conference Celestia held before the lhaksharut attacked.
And even beyond that, Willow's living in Ponyville is an issue of guilt by association rather than proof of anything. That's still enough that Lex's followers could easily assume the worst, but it's not on the same level as Starlight Glimmer. Remember, everypony only started associating Starlight with the princesses because Twilight and company not only arrived in the immediate aftermath of her assault (with Rainbow launching an attack on Lex mere minutes after Starlight was defeated) but also because they then went out of their way to rescue her, and were seen with her in public, including taking her home with them when they boarded the train to leave.
Now, there's still enough for people to presume that there's a connection, but there's no obvious proof, which means that if worse comes to worst, Celestia can issue an emphatic denial about having anything to do with Willow and say that any suggestions otherwise are conspiracy theories. That's not perfect, but Celestia is likely betting that it would be enough for her to work with, compared to having troops march into Vanhoover and start making arrests.
It's not necessarily the best plan, but it's better than a potential civil war. With the state she's in at the moment, that seems to be enough for Celestia.
10769287 That's presumably what Celestia is counting on to deflect potential blame from herself and the other royals if Lex suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances.
10769350
Lex's belief in pony superiority doesn't really have anything to do with military ability, but rather with societal development and moral culture. It's based on his comparing the values and social progress that ponies have achieved versus those of other races. For instance, consider how Equestria looks compared to any of the following:
The takeaway here is that this is the subtext of what the show itself said for most of its run. Even in the last two seasons, when it tried to adopt a more diverse array of races, the underlying presumption was that Equestria needed to export its own moral values onto other cultures for their own good. Twilight flat-out says, in the eighth season premiere, "the world is filled with so many different creatures who know nothing about friendship," which isn't that far removed from saying that Equestria is morally superior and that she feels an obligation to civilize the savages.
Lex feels the same. It's just that right now, he's just more focused on lifting up his own people.
Something to keep in mind, when it comes to this story, is that I've deliberately set it up so that everything that happens can be quantitatively measured via the d20 System, which is the underlying game engine for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, Pathfinder 1st Edition, and quite a few other related tabletop RPGs and compatible products.
I did this because I wanted an objective metric by which powers, combat potential, magic, and various other aspects of the story can be judged. This way, it's not about narrative descriptions of how things function, but rather by how the numbers shake out. That's how I can quantify how strong Lex's magic is, whether or not he can invent a new ritual (and how long it takes), how his fights against various monsters and enemies progress, etc. It's not just me deciding to go with whatever comes across as most interesting, but because I'm working under what the system tells me.
Now, various rules can be bent, results can be interpreted in different ways, and there's usually always a die roll associated with something (even if the results of the aforementioned roll aren't usually something you can see just from reading the story), but the overall framework and structure is one that's remarkably robust for what it measures. Hence, descriptions alone aren't how I judge how something will work in the context of what happens here. It's all about the d20 System rules.
10769658
So basically it's more about numbers and rules rather than the exception to the rules. ...Makes sense.
10769789 To be clear, it's not that exceptions can't exist, it's that they also need to be defined in terms of the rules (or rather, exceptions tend to be the result of using different aspects of the rules compared to what most other characters use).
Ah, okay. Anyway (completed version), as for moral superiority, I can see where Lex is coming from. However, the thing that I hold in the highest regard is a warrior. Now in this day and age, everyone's more worried about safety and comfort than everyone wanting to be just like a soldier, kind of like like how everyone back in the dark ages admired and wanted to be just like a knight when they grew up. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. However, there are warriors who still exist in this day and age, and a handful like myself, so I'd say that humanity hasn't completely fallen apart yet. Then again, this is just by my standards.
Welp, if Willow is exposed during an assassination attempt then it will undoubtedly reinforce Lex's negative views on non-ponies and place all of them under further scrutiny when he formally establishes his kingdom. If that does occur, Celestia will need to carry the guilt of playing a part in their 'suffering' as citizens of Lex's kingdom but it'll probably be more palatable than outright civil war.
Still, Lex isn't a fool by any definition(aside from his sociability but he's getting better...ish) so he'll undoubtedly connect the assassination attempt to the Crown or the Mane 6 at the very least after what Rainbow did but given how much trust the people have in Celestia, he can't do much about it except to prepare for future attempts.
Of course, all of this depends on whether or not Willow can even get to Lex in the first place since they all assume that Lex is still in Vanhoover so she'll need to go a roundabout trip from Ponyville to Vanhoover then if she realizes that Lex isn't there anymore, go to Las Pegasus and figure out where he'll be(not too hard since it will undoubtedly be published in the local papers) and all while being inconspicuous. It will undoubtedly be hard in Vanhoover but in Las Pegasus...not so much. Though I do wonder if she even knows how to navigate her way there...
10770039 She hasn't had very much presence in this story so far, but Willow's no fool. She's a competent summoner in her own right, and she has a keen mind, as well as a strong sense of pragmatism. So my guess is that when she makes her move, she's going to make sure she's put everything she can into it. Hence, I suspect she'll make sure that Lex is present when she gets ready to spring whatever plan she comes up with.
Of course, Lex isn't exactly a pushover. But at this point most of his exploits are either public knowledge, or are known to Celestia (who would have told them to Willow), so she probably has some insight as to what he's capable of. More than that, she's almost certainly been briefed on Twilight's theory that something is wrong with his magic. So it'll be interesting to see what she comes up with.
Having said all of that, Willow had better hope that whatever she tries works, because if it doesn't I doubt that she'll escape Lex's wrath easily. She's not a pony, so in all likelihood he won't hesitate to kill her if he judges it necessary. And Celestia can make all the disavowals she wants, but I suspect he'll figure out that she was behind it. If that happens, then a civil war could be the result regardless of what Celestia's intentions were.