Learning to see Luna, the story of Vivid Colour.

by Hope

Chapter 5. To meet a murderous mare

Princess Luna strode from her room with smooth gliding steps, noticing but not reacting as four of her royal guards fell in step behind her. Had someone been listening from behind a closed door, they would have been hard pressed to notice the princess’s steps among the others.

After several hundred years of ruling Equestria alone, she’d been stunned to find that her joints had ached. Not from age, but from every little step too hard, every little bruise or bump that followed her along her eternal lifespan. She’d softened in the years between, and she’d become a better ruler for it. Her gleaming silver crown, torc, and boots shimmered in the light of the electric lights that had been installed only a few years ago. They were a new invention, a gift from an eclectic mare who had found a way to turn bottled lightning into energy that ran over wires.

Another sign of progress, another sign of time passing Luna by.

She looked like a princess, now more than ever. She cared for herself physically in large part to project a sense of security and confidence to her little ponies. It seemed to work. But there were times when no appearance could calm her ponies, and this was one of those times. Her guards were slightly out of formation, her servants muttered in the halls, and the newspaper distributed throughout Canterlot had a clearly sensational headline.

“Serial killer to be exiled to Equestria, after slaughter on the border.”

Luna sighed, looking to her assistant who had just trotted up next to her and read the headline.

“I will hear what she has to say, Fine Line. The truth is rarely so bold as the print on the page,” Luna said with a bit of a smile.

“You should meet with her in private then, not in a public court session. The Dusk court, no less! At least switch to the Dawn court, your highness. There will be fewer attendees.”

“I am not fond of my reputation as the queen of secrets, Line,” Luna replied, looking to her assistant, smiling fondly. “We will air the laundry as needed, and then in private we will speak with her again. But so long as the public does not know anything of this exile, it will remain the story of a vicious killer.”

“Very well, your Highness,” Line sighed, shaking her head. “Let us just hope that it doesn’t become a spectacle.”

The great doors at the end of the hall opened, revealing the great hall, and the throne. Two trumpeters sounded her arrival as Princess Luna entered the great hall and sat on the throne.

“Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna of Equestria presiding. The Dusk court is called to session,” the seneschal called out, and Luna was able to watch as the first petitioner entered the hall.

First, two griffins in armor, who stepped to the sides to allow the main group to enter. Then two more who were holding chains that linked to the shackles around the ankles of a pony.

The mare was much taller than the average pony and looked to have been starved, yet she had strong muscles, and a curious shine to her coat that emphasized her every curve. She also had never gotten her wolfteeth removed, which meant that two sharp canines just barely showed when she opened her mouth.

She was a unicorn, her thin sharp horn sloping to a fine enough point that it indicated more than a genetic predisposition, it indicated such heavy use of magic that it had sharpened her horn over time.

Her mane was a thousand hues of blue and cyan, ragged cut and unkempt. Her coat was maroon, deep and without any fading.

Her culture mark showed a circle of six purple darts that matched her magic aura, facing out from a flaming sun.

She faced forward but her eyes were white, without iris or pupil. Clearly she was blind, and judging by the ease with which she walked, this was not new to her.

“Presenting the Griffinstone delegation, and prisoner of the griffin crown, Vivid Color.”

“Colour,” the pony corrected as the griffins drew her to a stop. “With a proper Or sound at the end, not er.”

The seneschal looked to Luna, who just nodded. So, the seneschal re-announced the prisoner.

“Presenting the delegation and prisoner, Vivid Colour.”

Vivid nodded in his direction, smiling, before returning to face forward.

One of the griffins stepped forward and unrolled a scroll before reading from it.

“Your Highness, Princess Luna, and attendant nobility. Today we bring to you an exile from far away Bitain, who had settled in Starcross. Just two weeks ago, she slaughtered every inhabitant of that town, but for a few of the children and one old hen. In accordance with the Starcross treaty, we now bring the accused pony to stand before their own kind, to receive judgement and never again to set hoof in our lands.”

Luna nodded, but was curious.

“Commander… You are Commander Gullet, are you not?”

Once he nodded, Luna continued.

“Commander, For the sake of fully understanding the situation, please list the charges for me, in as much detail as time will allow.”

“Of course, your Highness. Twenty one counts of slaughter, eight counts of orphaning, and… though it is not a crime, due to the culture of your country, we feel that we should mention that she is accused of cannibalism of an equine, and consumption of the flesh of a griffin.”

The uproar of outrage that carried around the room was deafening, and for the first time, Luna wondered if she had been wrong, and she would have been better to make this a private affair. But, what was done was done, and she now had to contend with the accusations. The room quieted when Luna raised a hoof.

“Vivid Colour, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty by reason of self defense,” Vivid replied, the familiar excuse easily rolling off her tongue with barely a thought.

“And in regards to the consumption charges?” Luna pressed.

Vivid smiled, sitting and letting her chains settle around her.

“Your highness, I consumed the meat of chickens at the encouragement of the griffins I was staying with, and found it to my liking. When abruptly I was alone, unable to forage safely, and at my disposal I had great quantities of potential food about to go to waste, I saw only one option. Rest assured I have never sought the flesh of a sentient creature by choice.”

Luna truly wished the mare knew not to smile, but it was at the least a reasonable defense to the charges. It was enough to cast doubt upon the story of Vivid being a vicious killer.

“Release her. I will determine her fate.”

The griffins unshackled her, gathered their chains, bowed and left as quickly as they had come. Clearly they were glad to be rid of Vivid, though they had left a metal ring around the base of Vivid’s horn, a suppressor that would make it difficult for the unicorn to do any magic at all.

“Ms. Colour, do you need a guide to approach the throne?” Luna asked, relaxing a bit as the griffins left.

“No, your highness. I simply need to know when I have approached sufficiently,” she said as she began to walk, and stopped quite quickly when Luna said “There.”

“Now,” Luna sighed. “You claim self defense, but an entire town, Ms. Colour? It is hard to believe.”

“When an entire town gathers to kill a pony, defending oneself requires to deter all of those gathered. It is singularly unfortunate that I have only one defense.”

“One defense?” Luna asked curiously. “One defense which kills all in your presence? It is no wonder that the griffins have left a suppressor on your horn. Describe this defense to me.”

Vivid hung her head, facing the floor rather than the throne. Luna was about to ask a second time, when she noticed the metal ring hit the floor of the great hall. It rang out and bounced, but before it could hit the floor a second time, Vivid caught it in her magic and set it down gently.

“I would be happy to demonstrate, without hurting anyone of course, your Highness.”

Though the guards had readied their weapons, Luna nodded to them so they could stand down.

“Proceed,” Luna said, though her tone was more brisk than it had been when she’d felt more in control of the situation.

Vivid’s horn lit in pure white, and a moment later, thin lines of magic began to spread out from her horn. The lines became blades more than a meter long in every direction, curving around her to protect every part of her.

“I can extend my magic the distance of four ponies away from me.”

“An impressive and frightening display, Ms. Color,” Luna said as she stepped down from her throne, walking slowly closer to Vivid. “Please, maintain this…”

She paused as she realized it was not a spell, it was a shaped form of pure magic, which was unusual. She shrugged and approached until she was only a few steps away from the blades. She took one of her boots off and impaled it easily onto one of the blades. It pierced the silver and steel effortlessly.

“Hmm.”

Luna removed the boot from the blade and then lit her horn, creating a shield of magic, which she placed against the blade. Though it stopped it for a moment, it ate through and soon blew the shield apart. Curious, Luna cast another spell on her boot and placed it against the blade. This time, the blades all dissolved as Vivid gasped in shock. The boot glowed and warmed up as it absorbed all of the excess energy, and Luna nodded.

“You are a singularly impressive mare, Vivid Colour,” Luna said as she turned and returned to her throne. “And I must say, I believe you. Being blind, and being assaulted and fearing for your life, you--”

Fine Line tapped Luna’s shoulder gently as she sat down, and pointed up at the sky above, growing quite dark. But the sun was still above the horizon.

“Excuse me, Ms. Color. I must set the sun. It will take but a moment.”

Without further ado, Luna lit her horn. But when she began to set the sun, she noticed that Vivid’s whole demeanor changed. Wide eyed, she turned her face to focus on Luna, and her mouth fell open in awe. As Luna set the sun, and then rose the moon, Vivid looked up towards the sky, following the path of the rising moon even as it was out of view. She looked like she was experiencing a religious moment, and as soon as Luna released her grip over the moon, Vivid fell to the floor in a bow towards Princess Luna.

“Rise, Vivid Colour,” Luna said softly, curious how Vivid could have witnessed the rising of the moon, despite being blind. “I did not command you to bow.”

“Your majesty, I… I must apologize, I did not… Understand that you were the… The Alicorn, Luna. I thought it was a name you had taken. I should have…”

“Calm yourself,” Luna sighed. “You grew up in Bitain, correct? So you were raised with an understanding of the alicorns as… gods.”

Vivid nodded and Luna got off her throne again, walking back to stand in front of the little pony, before taking her hoof in her magic and placing it against Luna’s leg.

“I am flesh and blood,” she said as she let go. “Like any pony. I may fail, and I may make mistakes. I have blood in my past as well! Wars, and… times when I was forced to eat things I did not prefer, to survive. I am not a god. Provide me only the respect due a ruler, not that of a god.”

She then went back to her throne, smiling a bit at the thought that she was getting her exercise this court session.

“Now! In regards to your supposed crimes. I believe you are not guilty of slaughter. I believe your claim of self defense. I also would like to note that the consumption of meat or the already passed is not a crime unless the one who passed did not consent or they were killed to obtain it. Since this unique situation begs for some nuance, I will give you a single sentence. You are guilty of a loss of control of your magic. This is usually used to punish unicorns who accidentally cause harm, but due to the massive harm done, it will be assigned to you despite your need for self defense. Your punishment will be training and monitoring here at Canterlot Castle. I will ensure you never hurt another being who you do not intend to harm. I call this court session to a close to further address this in private. All further petitioners will return at the Dawn court.”

She then turned to one of her personal thestral guards and gestured to Vivid.

“Bring her to the chamber, I need to talk to her alone.”

The guard saluted and walked down to Vivid, explaining the plan and then watching as Vivid spread a magical pool on the ground in front of her. The thestral nervously backed up so that it wouldn’t touch them, then guided Vivid to follow Luna out of the great hall, then into the great chamber where Luna had quickly settled. Two guards remained, and the door was closed.

“Vivid Colour, you were exiled from Bitain. Why?”

Vivid stood awkwardly by the door, her white pool of magic around her shimmering. After a bit, Luna used her magic to pull out the other seat, which jolted Vivid into action, walking over to the chair and sitting.

“I… had a similar accident. I accidentally killed two colts.”

“Well, it is fortunate I did not ask that particular question while in public court,” Luna sighed, nodding to one of the guards, who poured them both glasses of wine. “Do you drink wine, Vivid?”

“I do,” Vivid said as her magic pool spread up the table leg, across the table, and then seized the bottom of the glass so that she could then lift it and sip the wine.

Luna watched the whole process with fascination.

“How did you learn to do that?” Luna asked, leaning forward as she watched the pool return to the floor, except for the bit that held her glass.

“My magic? When I was young, I was taught how to seize things that touched my horn, so I could carry things. I then learned how to feel things, when they wanted me to carve. I could… press things with my magic, feel the curves of it. From there, over time, I learned to use it to get around without assistance.”

“Once again, you impress me,” Luna chuckled. “Such unique abilities, developed to circumvent your disability. It is of course unfortunate that you have such skill in offense, but not in defense. If you’d been instructed in the proper use of shielding spells at a young age you may have never injured anyone. That is something which I hold your tutors and environment responsible for, not you.”

Luna lit her horn, and watched as Vivid turned slightly to keep Luna’s horn in her field of “vision.”

“In addition, you seem able to perceive other unicorn’s magic.”

Vivid flushed, her expression confused and surprised as she turned back to her glass.

“Is it not true?” Luna pressed.

“It… It is true, but I’ve never discussed it with anyone.”

“So that is how you witnessed the moon, despite being blind. When I connected directly to it, you were able to see it. To see the moon for the first time.”

Vivid nodded, her head turning very briefly towards the sky before going back to the wine glass.

“I… ponies spoke of the moon, certainly, but as a vague thing. The word silver means nothing. So it is just a disc in the sky. But to witness it, the power that flows through it, the majesty of it…”

She fell silent, cheeks red, and sipped her wine again.

“You compliment me,” Luna said, amused. “You have my thanks. I suppose there is a certain distance you must be from the source of the magic to sense it, or you would have sensed the moon every night of your life. But that is just the musings of an old alicorn who knows too much about magic.”

“Fifteen meters,” Vivid mumbled. “Then I need to know exactly where the source is to focus on it, but it fades easily.”

“So you have the same sort of curiosity in magic. Perhaps shield spells will be second to magical theory in our lessons,” Luna hummed as she swirled her glass, smiling. “You will be kept safe here, Vivid Colour, and unlike in Bitain or in the griffin lands, you may someday find love here to heal your past pains.”

“I don’t need love,” Vivid retorted, far quicker and bolder than Luna had expected.

Luna raised her brow, and thought as she sipped her wine. This was an attitude, an approach to the concept of love that she had not seen in a very long time. A flat denial of the need for it. Not from somepony who preferred independence but understood social love, or from somepony who was nervous or scared, but from a pony that seemed to declare that she had no need whatsoever for any sort of love. It was hard to believe.

“Maybe you are right,” Luna mused as she stared into the crimson wine. “After all, you are a from a land I do not know. Perhaps ponies there are born without the need for compassion, for care. Maybe you and they do not need love, or community, or family. In which case, I would understand your reaction and allow you to retreat to some room alone, untroubled by society, and I would tell my little ponies that you just wanted to be alone.”

Vivid’s expression was conflicted. She wanted privacy, to hide away, clearly. But she was hiding something, lying in a way by misrepresenting herself, and Luna knew that look too well to ignore. Luna wondered if Vivid knew that her emotions were so plain to see by others.

“But perhaps you need love as much as any other pony, but have abstained from it as a way to reject the world in return for rejecting you,” Luna hummed, watching as Vivid curled up a little more, vulnerable and scared. “I see no reason to adjust my plan for you. As a pony who is in need, you will be provided for. A place to stay here in the castle, and opportunities to learn from or teach the other mages in my court."

"Why would you allow me to stay here. For all you know, I killed the griffins I lived with," Vivid said defiantly.

Luna marveled for a moment at the way the mare let her anger control her utterly. She seemed incapable of caring for herself or even accepting kindness. Rebellion and fury were her crutches.

"Did you?" Luna asked simply.

"Why not? I'm a murderer, I must have," Vivid snapped, her tone still brash and full of fury.

But Luna could see the sheen of tears gathering in the corners of Viv's eyes. The slight tremble in her hooves. It was self destructive behavior at its most grand and passionate.

"So?" Luna finally replied, setting her glass aside and gesturing for the guards to step well back.

"So execute me! My land has laws against such barbarism, but I'm certain that your people would allow it. Vivid Colour, the carnivore murderer from a far away land! Vicious and untamable!"

"Is that what you think I aim to do to you?" Luna laughed as she leaned forward, a subtle glow traveling across her body from the tip of her horn down to her hooves. "Tame you?"

"Is that not the goal of every ruler? To bend her ponies to her will? Make them do what she wants?"

"No," Luna said simply. "A ruler should aim to love and care for her ponies, so that they will love and care for her. The only matter in which force of will and desire become paramount are in matters of war, and I have ensured that we have not had such conflict for many centuries."

"Well you can't love and care for me, princess," Vivid said bitterly. "I am a lost cause, so let me leave or execute me."

"No," Luna said again. "See, I don't believe you. Any of this. The bravado, the anger, I've dealt with murderers, I have even been attacked by them, and they do not cry when they call themselves such. They do not insist on being killed, unless they have all the conscience and guilt that any pony would have if they caused the death of another. You are no murderer, Vivid Colour, any more than I am."

The rage in the little pony boiled over, and her magic lit in a thousand brilliant needles of white light. Like a sphere of daggers, the impossibly thin lines of magical energy blasted out from Vivid, piercing drapes and shattering glasses, even piercing windows. But when they met Luna's aura, they dissipated like so much seafoam crashing over a rock. The magic that struck her swirled around her, and Vivid's eyes grew wide.

It seemed that Vivid had lost control in the face of Luna’s goading, and was realizing as the energy from her attack wafted to the floor like so much dust, that she’d just attempted to take the life of a princess.

Luna leaned over the table and grabbed Vivid’s hoof in hers, pulling it so that the mare was forced to lean on the table, instead of recoiling.

"You will be cared for, and instructed in a finer control of your magic, and resisting your anger. You will be provided with the food you are accustomed to. But if ever you are inclined to hurt yourself or others, you will come to me. Do you agree?"

When Vivid nodded, stunned, Luna lit her own horn, and Vivid gasped. Luna's magic wrapped around Vivid and bound her magically to the agreement she'd just made, before setting her back on her hooves. Luna then let the magic around her dissipate, and Viv turned her head down to face the floor.

"I do not force my ponies to obey me," Luna said as she stood and began to walk back to the door. "But I do force my ponies to live, when they wish to die. It is not noble to pass, it is not a sacrifice for the good of others. It is a tacit surrender of the hope for a perfect world."

She paused at the door, lighting her magic and letting it flow across the door itself, opening the heavy doors without a sound.

"A perfect world I will someday build."

Comments

[mishun]

Twenty one counts of slaughter, eight counts of orphaning, and… though it is not a crime, due to the culture of your country, we feel that we should mention that she is accused of cannibalism of an equine, and consumption of the flesh of a griffin.

Jeez, WTF has happened in that village?

“I can extend my magic the distance of four ponies away from me.”

Did those guys decide to burn the witch?

Princess Luna seems to be shockingly nice to her under circumstances. Especially taking into account:

“I… had a similar accident. I accidentally killed two colts.”

It is not noble to pass, it is not a sacrifice for the good of others.

There is a good reason to thing that It kinda is: if she died in the sea that would have reduced total death toll by 20.

[Hope]

This is true! Even if the deaths were in self defense, and so on, it is quite true that if Vivid had died, many others would have lived! It is also true that Luna is taking all of this in stride and not reacting as she likely should by our norms. But by the norms she is following, and what she wants out of her country, she is playing a waiting game and neutralizing a threat. For as long as Luna is able to completely neutralize her only weapon, and able to provide the needed defensive spell to all of her guards, she sees Vivid as a... one trick pony. (I'm so terrible, so very terrible.)
8858416

[mishun]

8858437
It's not "our norms", it's consequentialism. The question is if Luna is sure that she can fix her robustly and safely enough to gamble with pony lives on it. So Luna's arguments are better to hug this query very tightly

[Hope]

8859172
So you're saying, in order for me to be a good writer I'd better have Luna be right on Vivid's tail every chance she gets? Veeeery conducive to romance!