Now Is Found
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected to find when I started following my tracking spell after our arrival in Freeport. Maybe for it to lead us to a hidden necromancer or warlock coven, or the private collection of some crime lord. Or why not both? Warlocks weren’t exactly known for their respect for other laws after they flagrantly broke the laws of magic. Certainly finding Luna’s sword in the hooves of a criminal monster would’ve made everything much easier.
Instead, the tracking spell lead me to just about the last place I ever would’ve expected: a big building calling itself the Freeport Liberation Museum. “Huh.” I stared dumbfounded at the structure as a class of schoolchildren trotted in. “So the ancient sword is actually ... huh. For something that really kinda belongs in a museum, I never thought I’d actually find it in one.”
Luna scowled suspiciously at the building. “Why would it be here? And why wasn’t I able to find out it was here? A museum is no place of secrets.”
I shrugged. “Maybe it's a decoy? Or ... something?” I could come up with half a dozen different explanations with enough time, but why speculate when we could just go in and find out? “If there’s a museum, there’re curators. If we want the full story about how the sword wound up here, I’m sure they’d know it.”
Luna nodded. “Mayhaps it rests here under a different name. However, the details do not interest me at this time, and I would prefer not to inform them of our interest in it. Can you find the sword without their help?”
“Pretty sure I can find it, yeah,” I assured my princess as I headed for the front door. It was slightly awkward to wait while the princess bought two tickets to get us into the museum itself. It was just the kind of mundane thing that I hadn’t really planned on doing in the middle of our grand quest to recover a lost artifact. At least Luna’s magical disguise seemed to be holding up. She wasn’t exactly afraid of being identified or anything, but we didn’t want to deal with huge crowds of curious ponies wondering what an Equestrian princess was doing here, and bogging us down with a bunch of pointless questions. We were here on business, after all.
Once the tickets were taken care of I led us further in. I was a little bit tempted to have a look at the rest of the museum, if only because I didn’t know all that much about the history involved. Not that we’d completely ignored foreign history in school, but that had been so long ago that the details were fuzzy. Cloud had always been the military history buff in the family. I liked it just fine, but I hadn’t really had time to go into that while also learning everything I needed to be a good tracker, gemcrafter, and military officer as well as picking up as much magic as I had.
Oh well. Maybe there’d be time to play tourist after we finished up the work part of our trip. It would probably take a day or two to get our travel arrangements settled if we wanted to keep our visit on the down-low.
Most of the museum seemed to be dedicated to the Council/Necrocrat War some four hundred years ago. I tried to dredge up some memories of the conflict from school, but the only thing that sprang to mind was that Equestria had been kind of indirectly supporting the Council. Well, more that we’d been having a bunch of naval skirmishes with the Necrocrats over our own beefs with them, mostly related to the Battle of Two Magnuses and Freeport’s eternal status as a haven of pirates and slavers. Officially our navy had just been doing anti-piracy patrols, but we’d effectively treated any Freeport-flagged ship as a suspected pirate. Which, to be fair, they had been more often than not. Seeing Freeport’s take on the history would be interesting.
Eventually the tracking spell led us to a large circular chamber at the center of the museum. The room was dominated by a huge sculpture showing a mix of ponies, zebras, gryphons, and changelings standing on an improvised barricade of furniture. I also noticed we were right next to a cafe and gift shop, and couldn’t help briefly wondering if the sword we’d come all this way to find would be for sale as a cheap keepsake.
However, the spell led me to a large display case holding a bunch of the personal possessions of somepony named Torch Charger. Most of it didn’t look like anything special—even the set of armor looked like it had been assembled out of cast-offs from a dozen different blacksmiths—but the sword...
Luna grinned as her eyes locked onto it. “Ah, there it is. The blade and hilt might be somewhat altered from the classic style of Selerika, likely in hopes of throwing us off, but I would know my work anywhere.” Her smile shifted to a scowl as she looked the case over. “And it seems they have the gall to display my friend’s sword as some sort of ... trophy.”
I had a look at the display card, reading the words under my breath. “‘The sword known as Chainbreaker was forged by Ushabti the Great, who used it during the War of Zebrican Liberation. After his death it passed to his friend Mors Charger, remaining within the family until Torch The Last Charger used it during the liberation war against the Necrocrats. Upon Torch's death the sword passed into the custody of the museum, though occasionally falling into other hooves such as when Magus Sunset Shimmer used it to—’” I turned back to my princess. “It doesn’t sound like they even know it belonged to Silver Ankh. They just assumed Ushabti made it himself and went from there.”
Luna grunted, glowering at the case. “Regardless of what they might know now, it does not sit well with me that pirates would possess this weapon.”
“I bet not.” I knew it wasn’t exactly the same, but the idea of Shadow’s Armor being in a museum in some other country instead of in our family vault where it belonged would’ve made me livid. Of course, it was with Skunky for now instead of being in the vault, but ... whatever. “So, what's the plan?”
Luna scanned the room, then leaned a bit closer and dropped her voice to a careful whisper. “That is the question. I do not wish to leave the sword here, but we are very far from home. And we are but two ponies. I suppose we could always seek help from the embassy, but at that point it becomes a matter of state to be debated ‘tween diplomats. I have not come this far to merely put the matter into another’s hooves. I said that I would take back Silver Ankh’s sword, and that has not changed simply because it is on public display.”
Oh boy. Well, orders were orders. “If that’s what we’re gonna do, I have an idea.”
Luna regarded me with a raised eyebrow. “Do tell.”
I took a moment to mentally line everything up—you don’t present a princess with a half-baked plan. “Let’s go through the museum like tourists. I’ve got enough trackers on hoof to pick up movement in this exhibit and a few of the closest ones, then track a path to and from the entrance. Once night falls, I can passively track anyone who comes near them. That would let us get in, avoid any patrolling security, then get the sword and get out.”
Luna frowned. “And the wards that might be over this place?”
“We can scan them while we go through the museum today.” I shrugged. “I doubt it'll be much. The place is just a museum. Even if they’re heavy-duty, I doubt it’ll measure up to the traps in Silver Ankh’s tomb, so...” I left the obvious unspoken. An alicorn princess could handle whatever magical security the museum had. “It’s your call of course, Princess. I’m just trying to offer some advice on how we could do this if you want to.”
Luna tapped her chin, nodding slowly. “We should at least do some preliminary reconnaissance. That will tell us much more about the viability of the rest of your suggestion.”
I was about to answer when something went crunch right behind me. I whirled around, prepared to defend my princess against incoming assassins ... only to find myself face to face with a mint-green pegasus who had one hoof buried in a bag of potato chips. “Aw, c’mon,” she grumbled. “Was that really the last crisp? I could’ve sworn...” She looked up from her bag, seeming to notice me there for the first time. “‘Sup?”
Princess Luna regarded the stranger with a raised eyebrow. “‘‘Sup?’”
“Short for ‘What’s up?’” the pegasus answered. “Means hello, along with an invitation to share any relevant information about recent events.”
I made sure I was standing in between this new pony and the Princess, though I tried not to be too obvious about it. “Can I help you?”
“I’m sure you can,” she answered. “I mean, obviously if I sat around thinking about it all day I’m sure I could come up with some way a modestly talented unicorn could help me out. Especially one who’s in the royal guards. That’s gotta come with a lot of useful skills.” She shrugged. “But then, if I dragged you around trying to find some way for you to help me, that’d mean taking you away from your principal.” She snorted out an off-putting giggle. “Oh ... you don’t even know why that’s funny. What was I talking about again? Oh yeah. Anyway, I was kinda curious about why you two’re here. Or actually, I wasn’t curious, but my boss kinda is. Or at least, she will be once she finds out about it. Or I assume she would—which technically makes asses outta both of us, so sorry about that. Though really, there’s nothing wrong with being a donkey. Not unless you’re some kinda racist. You’re not, are you?”
While I struggled to figure out what the hay she was talking about, Luna seemed to have followed her well enough to be reasonably confident answering her. “No, we are not. And who is your master?”
“I don’t really have a master,” she answered. “’Cause I don’t do slavery. Didn’t you know that’s been illegal in Freeport for hundreds of years? S’kinda the whole point of the big liberation museum we’re standing in the middle of, you know? So yeah, no masters. But I do have a cool bacon-haired boss-mare.”
Princess Luna’s eyes narrowed. “What is your purpose here?”
The mare groaned and rolled her eyes. “Sheesh, I already said that. My boss wants to know—would want to know, whatever. The question is what a princess of Equestria is doing coming to one of our museums incognito. Makes a gal just a little bit curious about the what the deal is.”
Luna scoffed and shook her head. “So you know me? Well, I do not answer to some minion. If your leader wishes to know anything, she should show herself.”
“‘Minion’? Ouch. That's hurtful.” She sighed and he wings slumped overdramatically. “Why you gotta be so hurtful? Just ‘cause I’m not at the top of the food chain doesn’t mean I’m not a pony with feelings and emotions and a name and all that horseapples. Oh, and thanks for confirming you’re a princess. Was pretty sure when a pony our intel files say is a royal guard showed up along with a mare under a high level disguise spell, but ... well, we’re already all donkeys here, so no need to repeat what they say about assuming. Anyway, my boss is busy Archon-ing it up.”
Luna scoffed. “You play at words and give me nothing of substance. I have no use for this.” She stepped past me and started going around the strange mare, giving her a wide berth.
The odd green pegasus shrugged and stepped out of the way. “Just saying, a princess showing up incognito in a museum has me wondering all kinds of stuff. Be nice to know why. I mean, it's kinda rude to not even stop by the Archon's tower for a howdee-doo. Could lead to all kinds of crazy stories about some grand conspiracy or something. Does it have to do with the mole people living in the planet core who secretly control the world? That’s always a fun one. But yeah, if we could just know the truth, that’d stop any mole people stories.” She paused, then frowned suspiciously at us. “Unless you are working for the molemen.”
I’d had enough of this weirdo. “I’m sorry, who are you and what makes you think we owe you answers? For all we know, you're a lying panhandler or a con artist.”
“Didn’t I tell you my name? I could’ve sworn I ... weird. Must be getting old, mind’s playing tricks on me.” She cleared her throat and struck a bit of a pose. “Strumming Heartstrings, unofficial asker of unofficial questions and annoyer of royals for Her High Archon-ness Sunset Shimmer. Basically, the big boss of the place. Well, actually she kinda co-rules with the Council, but ... meh, boring internal politics, you don’t care about that. Or if you do, I probably shouldn’t tell you anything about it. Actually, forget I said anything. But just that last bit, don’t forget the rest of it, or else we’ll have to start the entire conversation back from the beginning, and that would just be awkward.”
Once more, Luna managed to follow her random babble a lot better than I could. “Then mayhaps I should speak with your archon.”
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that decision considering I still wasn’t sure this Strumming wasn’t just some random lunatic who wandered in off the street, but she was princess. “Right behind you, Your Highness.”
Strumming shrugged. “Yeah, that’s an option too. To the boss-mare!” She started to lead the way out of the museum, but paused to shoot a sullen look over her shoulder. “Though really, I’m still hurting over the whole ‘minion’ thing.”
Luna regarded her levelly. “But that is what you are, is it not? You are an underling, a servant of the Archon.”
“She is my boss, but I prefer to think of myself as a friend and companion. ‘Minion’ kinda conjures the whole image of a weird hunchback with a lisp or those things from that one movie that everyone liked, until they got annoying and everyone hated them.” She paused at a garbage can to throw away her empty bag of potato chips. “Don’t suppose either of you have any crisps on you? I'm super-snacky, and I probably can’t afford to slow things down to restock. Since—you know, state business and all that rot.”
Luna scowled at her, her sharp tone making it clear she was just about out of patience with Strumming’s eccentricities. I sympathized. “Show us to the Archon, and then you may have your snacks. Do the people of Freeport know nothing of duty?”
“That’s kinda rude and judgmental. Anyway, I know all about duty.” Strumming shrugged as we stepped out into the street. “Besides, I’m technically not a native. Born and raised in Equestria. Used to work for your sister, actually.” She tossed an annoyed frown over her shoulder at Luna. “Celestia always had crisps for me whenever I asked her for some. See, things like this are why everypony likes her more than you.”
Princess Luna tensed up, then unleashed a glare that would’ve made most guards start quivering in their boots. “My sister is kinder than I, and willing to put up with the flippant behavior of minions who know not how to show deference to a princess.”
Strumming didn’t seem to care at all that a super-powerful immortal alicorn was glaring at her. “Again with the minion talk. Why you gotta be so hurtful?”
I did my best to glare at her as well, though if Luna’s didn’t work I doubted I would make any difference. However, maybe it was a good idea not to let her know that was getting under our skin. About the only reason I could think of for a pony to both bring up the whole Nightmare Moon thing and imply that Luna was still less popular than Celestia was to deliberately try to provoke her. I got a bit closer to her and murmured under my breath. “Best not to let her know she’s getting a rise out of you, Princess. Probably why she’s needling in the first place.”
Luna whispered back tightly. “So I should let her barbs pass unremarked? Sometimes a pony needs to be rebuked for their uncouth behavior. I cannot imagine my sister tolerated such antics while this mare was in her service.”
I knew I was stepping into hazardous territory, but I slightly contradicted my princess. “I don’t think she cares if you disapprove of her behavior, Highness.” In fact, she was probably going out of her way to get on our nerves.
“Then I shall have words with this Archon once we meet her,” Luna answered tersely. “And ensure that she knows how her servants treat distinguished guests.”
I was pretty sure the Archon had some idea of what Strumming was like already, but I really didn’t want to push things to the point of outright disagreeing with or questioning my princess. So I instead kept my mouth shut as Strumming led us through Freeport’s street and up to a large black tower surrounded by a couple squads of soldiers, a pair of unicorns in what looked like an imitation of Equestrian magus robes, and several golems. Strumming just waved to all the security and walked right through it, so I guess that did at least prove that she worked for this Archon after all.
Strumming continued into the tower, passing by several administrators and other civil servants. Eventually she got up to an office with two huge golems manning the front door, along with a desk occupied by a changeling wearing more of those knock-off magus robes. It was hard not to stare at the huge constructs. Each of the bipedal monstrosities was easily three meters tall, and considering they were made of metal probably weighed several tons. One carried a massive sword that could doubtless slice a pony in half with a single blow, while the other had a halberd that looked equally deadly. The bipedal design was a bit odd, but the arms did make it much easier for them to swing their large melee weapons.
Strumming trotted right past the massive guardians, grinning and waving to the magus. “Hey Facon, crisp me up!”
The changeling barely even glanced up from whatever project she was working on, levitating a bag of potato chips over to Strumming. “You really need to knock first. This one’s practicing its runework, and one interruption coul...” She trailed off as she looked back up at us again, her eyes narrowing as she realized Strumming wasn’t alone. “Oh.”
Strumming snatched the bag of chips, smirking at the changeling’s gobsmacked expression. “Got guests for the boss. Keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t steal the silverware or try to unleash eternal night or anything while I’m letting the boss know what’s up.” She tore open the bag and started noisily munching on her chips.
The bug stared at both of us. “Unleash eternal... Heartstrings-mare, who are these ponies?”
Strumming shrugged. “Nobody important. Just Princess Luna and...” She paused, looking me over. “I didn’t catch your name, so I’m just gonna go with Minion.” She turned back to Luna. “See? It’s hurtful when you’re on the receiving end.”
I was briefly tempted to try out that silence spell Sparkler knew and see if it would work on the world’s most annoying pegasus. Yes, Strumming was actually managing to top Skunky. That takes a lot of hard work.
The changeling’s jaw dropped as she stared at Princess Luna, then dropped even further when Her Highness dropped her magical disguise. Not like there was much point in keeping it up after Strumming had outed her. After several seconds the bug managed to stammer out, “Th-The Dark Pony?! Here?”
“Yup,” Strumming answered with an annoying grin. Then she turned back to Luna. “This is Magus Kukri Doo, the Archon’s personal assistant. No calling her ‘minion’. Or Facon, that’s my name for her, you can’t use it.” Having gotten the last word, she trotted through the secure door.
The changeling—Kukri, stared at us for several seconds, then cleared her throat. “Um, may this one offer you refreshment?”
“We are fine,” Luna answered tersely.
After a couple minutes of awkward silence Strumming trotted back out. “The Archon will see you now. You can feel free to to judge your importance on the basis of how long she kept you waiting. She wanted to do a couple magic projects and teach herself to play the ukelele before getting around to you, but I convinced her to be a bit more diplomatic.”
Luna calmly stepped past her, ignoring the blather leaving Strumming’s mouth and stepping into the Archon’s office. Archon Shimmer’s desk certainly looked big and impressive, and the raised platform it sat on ensured that she could look a pony Princess Luna’s size in the eye. The massive bookshelves behind her lent the place a scholarly air, which was a bit offset by the armor the Archon had on underneath her especially elaborate magus robes. The Archon pointedly set aside a stack of paperwork as we entered. “Princess Luna. This is an unexpected pleasure.”
“Likewise,” Luna answered neutrally. “My sister has told me quite a bit about you.”
“I’m sure she has.” Sunset waved a hoof towards Strumming. “Send Kukri in, and see that we aren’t disturbed.” I silently thanked her as the irritating mare trotted out, still noisily munching her crisps. “I’ve heard quite a bit already, but what brings you by?”
Luna got straight to the point. “I am here to retrieve something that belongs to a friend of mine. The blade you know as Chainbreaker, which is in truth the sword of Silver Ankh, stolen from its rightful owner by a warlock known as Ushabti.”
“That’s Torch Charger’s sword!” the changeling magus blurted out. “It’s a relic of Freeport.”
The Archon was a bit calmer about it, restraining herself to a single raised eyebrow. “One of our most important national treasures.”
“The most important,” Kukri insisted. “It’s especially important to this one’s family and the Strikers as one of the last remnants of the Charger clan.”
Luna scowled both of them. “It was stolen from the tomb of my friend, its rightful owner, late Pharaoh of Selerika.”
“That’s news to me,” the Archon answered calmly. “When did this happen?”
“Near nine hundred years ago,” Luna answered. “The necromancer Ushabti stole it from Pharaoh Ankh's tomb for nefarious ends.”
“Alongside the warlock Hidden Facts,” I added, assuming more details would back up our case. “Apparently they fought over the sword, and Ushabti came here. And apparently became known as Ushabti the Great after that.”
“He played an important part in freeing the islands from occupation by the Zebrican Empire during the Morning Wars,” the Archon answered levelly. “Regardless of any past sins, I think that’s an accomplishment worth celebrating.”
Kukri nodded emphatically. “This one doesn’t care about what one of Chainbreaker’s wielder’s did in the past. The sword’s history is beyond such things. In addition to the war with Zebrica, there is the blade’s involvement in liberating the islands from necromancer rule and ending slavery in Freeport. It’s called ‘Chainbreaker’ for a reason.”
“And that’s just a sampling of the sword’s history and what it means to us,” the Archon concluded. “I’m sorry if it might have belonged to someone else nine hundred years ago, but it’s been ours ever since then. Presuming you can actually prove your claims, I might be willing to look into the possibility of some form of reparations to Silver Ankh’s descendants. Of course, as long as we’re digging up ancient history, Freeport does have several outstanding claims from Equestria’s enthusiastic naval patrols a few centuries ago. Regardless, the sword itself belongs to Freeport, and will not be leaving.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed, and I heard her teeth clench. “So you claim it by conquest? It is Freeport’s trophy to be displayed before all?”
“It’s been a symbol of our nation and part of our history for generations,” the Archon answered without missing a beat. “Whatever history the sword might have had before it came into our possession, it’s now tied to Freeport.”
“Then it is not something you would readily part with?” Luna demanded. “Even after knowing what I have told you about the illegitimacy of Freeport’s claim?”
“Yes,” Archon Shimmer shot back. “Something that happened almost a thousand years ago isn’t enough to invalidate everything that’s happened since then. Especially when, so far as I’m aware, Selerika doesn’t have a royal family left to put through any claim on the sword.”
“As the Selerikan crown was absorbed by Equestria, their properties and legal claims naturally fall to myself and my sister,” Luna countered. “Freeport is in possession of stolen Equestrian property.”
“So far as I’m aware, the statute of limitations on theft is much shorter than nine hundred years.” The Archon crossed her forelegs over her chest. “Not to mention that you’ve yet to actually prove that Chainbreaker is, in fact, stolen.”
Luna scowled at her. “It seems we are at an impasse. Very well, there are means by which we can resolve this matter.”
“Chainbreaker is not for sale,” Kukri cut in. “Or trade, exchange or anything else you might suggest. It’s right where it belongs.”
“I was not about to suggest your pride could be sold like some mere trinket,” Luna answered, drawing herself up to her full height. “I suggest a contest of martial skill to settle the matter and put an end to this dispute.”
The Archon sighed and shook her head. “I’m not interested in starting a competition over something I already have, and already have a legal right to.”
Luna grimaced. “So that is the way of it? I cannot deny that Silver Ankh’s sword has been in Freeport’s possession for a long time, thus I will not demand that blade be the lone wager in this contest.” She closed her eyes and concentrated, then drew Nightfall out of thin air. The Archon and her assistant stiffened at the presence of a weapon, but with deliberate slowness she placed the sword on Archon Shimmer’s desk. “Nightfall, my blade and the twin of the sword you know as Chainbreaker. Equal stakes, would you not agree?”
I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting the princess to suggest but it certainly wasn’t that. Putting her own sword on the line was... I stepped up to her side and carefully whispered, “Princess, are you sure you want to…?”
“Yes,” she answered simply.
Oh. Well. That kind of settled that. Not like I could debate the merits of a royal decision, especially when we were in the middle of a meeting with a foreign leader.
The Archon frowned down at the sword. “Princess Luna, that’s a very unexpected and fair offer, but I’m really not interested in having your sword. It’s yours. Chainbreaker is ours.” She sighed and slumped back in her chair. “Look, the sword is in good hooves, if you were worried about some evil necromancer having it. What good would it do in Equestria, as part of some royal collection? In Freeport, it’s a symbol of hope and freedom for thousands of ponies.”
Luna scowled and took her blade back, sheathing it in whatever pocket dimension she’d been keeping it in before. “A symbol of hope and freedom, you say? I have trouble believing that in a place such as Freeport.”
Archon Shimmer frowned at her. “What precisely do you mean, Your Highness?” Her assistant was much more direct, scowling in a way that prominently displayed her changeling fangs. I made a point of placing myself in position to intercept the bug if it tried anything.
Luna drew herself up as regally as possible. “Freeport has never been a nation representing freedom or hope. It is naught but a hive of scum and villainy, where the worst elements of society were rejected from every other nation congregate. When I learned that one of my sister’s students had assumed leadership of the nation I dared to hope that I might find someone more accomodating of Equestria’s needs, as with Cadance in the Crystal Empire.”
“I’m not Cadenza,” the Archon answered tersely. “While I have immense love and respect for Celestia, Freeport is not a vassal or subject nation of Equestria. And we don’t give up our national treasures just because a foreign princess demands them. I would also suggest you not judge a nation on the basis of the reputation it had a thousand years ago. A great deal can change in that time.” The Princess started to open her mouth to respond, but Archon Shimmer cut her off. “I think we’re done here, princess. Kukri will show you out.”
The changeling dutifully stepped forward. “If you would please follow this one.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t press the issue. “Very well then. Lead on.”
I followed my princess and the bug out, in silence even more awkward than the one from when we’d been waiting to meet the Archon. As we left the central office Strumming grinned and fired off a cheeky salute at us. When Luna reapplied her disguise spell the pegasus idly called out, “Oooh, do black coat with red and black mane. Never seen that before.”
Once we were outside, Kukri finally broke the silence. “This one hopes you enjoy your trip home. It can suggest several captains who could take you as soon as the tide turns.” Then she slammed the doors shut with rather more force than strictly necessary.
Neither of us said anything until we were well clear of the Archon’s tower and out of earshot of her guards. Then I tentatively broke the ice. “So... that happened.”
“In truth, I am surprised,” Luna murmured. “The populace of Freeport have always been a greedy and craven lot. I did not expect them to place so much worth on a blade, no matter how magnificent. Likely something lies under the surface here. Mayhaps this Archon has some greater purpose in mind for the sword.”
I grunted and didn’t contradict my princess. Personally, I could believe that she just didn’t want to give the sword up if it really was that much of a cultural treasure. I certainly wasn’t an expert on Freeport’s internal politics, but giving away one of the nation’s big cultural artifacts to a foreign power would probably cause her all kinds of internal problems. She’d made a big point of how Freeport wasn’t an Equestrian puppet, which made me think that if she had given us the sword that would be the story every single one of political opponents would start spinning.
That said ... no arguing with the princess. “What’s the plan now, Your Highness? Do you still want to make a try for the sword, or...?”
“Or what, Lieutenant?” Luna demanded. “Go home empty-hooved, leaving this treasure in the hands of pirates and an ungrateful whelp? I think not. I believe this Archon Sunset does not wish to appear weak by giving up the sword, thus her reluctance to budge over the matter. However, if she thinks to make a fool of me...” The princess turned to me with a savage grin. “While the Archon and her minions will no doubt expect it now, I intend to take the blade regardless. Let them try to stop me.”
Her eagerness was infectious, and I found myself smiling as well. “Good thing I already left a few trackers next to the sword. Should we go back to put a few more, or just wait for nightfall and make our move? I know they might suspect we’ll try, but if they see us casing the joint...”
“I would prefer not to remove any doubt as to our intentions,” Luna agreed. “And of course, we will need to make our move well after the facilities close to the public. There were children touring the museum when last we visited. Even if the delay might make things more difficult for us, there are certain standards that must be upheld.”
I nodded along. “Yeah, obviously. And maybe if you change up your disguise and put one on me we could throw them off and do a bit more recon. At the very least, waiting a few hours will give us a bit more time to make arrangements.” We certainly wanted to be out of Freeport ASAP after taking back the sword—even if they didn’t suspect we might make a try for it, they’d certainly have us as their prime suspects when it turned up missing one day after Luna tried to negotiate for it. It would be a very good idea to be long gone before then.
It would probably cause a bit of a diplomatic mess, but Luna wouldn’t be doing this if she didn’t think she could weather the storm. As the Freeporters had pointed out when we asked for it back, possession was nine-tenths of the law. As for them trying to steal it back from Luna’s personal collection in Canterlot Palace ... that was gonna be a lot harder than robbing a museum, and they didn’t have any immortal millenia-old alicorns to help them do the job.
“Indeed so,” Luna murmured, seeming to have guessed what was on my mind. “In the meantime, let us plan...”
We made our move in the dead of the night. The moon was particularly dim, which I had to think wasn’t a coincidence considering who my partner in crime was. Part of me thought we should get some help from someone with actual experience in breaking and entering, but when I’d tried to carefully broach the topic Luna said she didn’t want to involve anyone else.
She was probably right about that, considering the way she used her magic to make the shadows wrap around both of us as we snuck in. That royal princess magic would be more than enough to make up for any little things that went wrong. When we ran across one of the night security guards she put him into a deep dream-filled sleep without any visible effort. I quickly picked the guy up and made him comfortable on one of the benches, so it would look like he’d fallen asleep on his own instead of being hit by a spell.
Then we were back in the large central chamber. The huge sculpture in the middle of the room looked downright creepy now that most of the lights were off. It was hard not to feel like all the statues were watching us. Judging us. Gotta admit, having Torch Charger looming over us while we tried to steal his sword was...
No. It wasn’t Torch’s sword, it was Luna’s. We weren’t doing anything wrong, we were just taking back what belonged to her. There was no reason for me to feel guilty. I took a deep breath, shook off any lingering doubts, and did my duty to my princess. “Looks clear.”
“So it does.” Luna nodded to herself, then stepped up to the display case. “Let us be done with this and away quickly. Watch for any guards.” Her horn lit up as she scanned the case, and after a few seconds a hint of a smile pulled at her lips. “How rudimentary. I would have expected better out of one of my sister’s students.” Her horn flashed a few more times, and I felt the magical defenses fall away.
Luna’s smile grew into a satisfied smirk. “All too easy.” She carefully opened up the display case, moving as slowly as possible so the hinges wouldn’t squeak. Then she reached out to claim the sword for herself.
Her hooves passed right through it. Luna’s eyes shot wide open as she realized she’d been duped.
With a flash of bright light Archon Shimmer appeared in the room, accompanied by Kukri and Strumming. The real Chainbreaker was sheathed in her side. She strode up to us, shooting an unreadable look Luna’s way. “I was hoping you wouldn’t show up.”
Luna slowly turned to face her, keeping her expression carefully blank. “I have found that life has a way of causing a great many disappointments.”
“I’ve noticed,” the Archon answered dryly. “Now then, I’d suggest you leave right now, and for your sister’s sake I’ll forget about this.”
“I am not leaving without that sword,” Luna shot back.
“You know that’s not happening,” the Archon scowled at her. “Last chance. Walk away.”
I bit my lip, and tried to think of what we should do. The only way Luna and I could get the sword at this point would be to attack the Archon herself. That ... was way too far. It was the kind of thing that could start a war, assuming Celestia didn’t insist we immediately return the sword along with profuse apologies and a bunch of diplomatic concessions. I took a deep breath, then whispered. “Princess, maybe we should...” Luna waved me down before I could even finish the sentence. Oh well. I tried.
Princess Luna turned to the Archon with a fierce grin. “Do you really think I will leave without taking what is mine? Whatever the cost?”
Kukri stepped up, glaring at my princess. “This one did some research after the Dark Pony left. You mentioned that Hidden Facts and Ushabti collaborated to steal the sword, correct?”
Luna nodded regally. “It is as I said.”
Kukri smirked in a way that prominently displayed her fangs. “This would be Hidden Facts, the notorious cultist of Nightmare Moon?” She gave that a second to sink in. “This one wonders how he knew where to find the tomb where the sword lay, and how to bypass the traps within. A tomb whose location only the Dark Pony knew...”
I flinched. My own early research had turned up the same connection. Or at least, it had started to before I hastily cut off that line of inquiry.
Luna’s reaction was pretty much exactly why I hadn’t dug deeper. “I AM NOT NIGHTMARE MOON!” she roared, her voice echoing within the room enough to make loose furniture rattle and knock dust off the ceiling. “I WOULD NEVER BETRAY MY FRIEND!” A raw, unfocused blast of power accompanied her Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice, blowing Kukri back.
“Oh horseapples.” I realized a second later Strumming and I had spoken almost simultaneously.
The Archon went to her fallen assistant’s side, making sure she wasn’t anything worse than stunned. Then her eyes snapped over to Luna. “Okay then.” She shot a fireball Luna’s way, while with a huge crash the two massive golems I’d seen outside her office earlier came charging into the room.
Luna shifted in an inky black cloud of stars and slipped away from the attack. When she reformed she was beyond furious, glaring at at the Archon. “You dare attack a princess of Equestria?! Insolent wretch!” She unleashed a blast of pure darkness at Archon Shimmer.
I was expecting that to be the end of it, but the Archon held up a single hoof. A foot short of her the beam stopped short as if it had hit a solid wall, breaking into half a dozen smaller blasts that wrapped around a spherical barrier protecting her. Once the attack faded, Archon Shimmer smirked at my princess, thought I noticed her outstretched hoof was shaking a bit. “What’s the matter? Is that all you got?”
“Not even close!” Luna snarled and unleashed another attack, but this time the Archon met her blast with one of her own. Then came a fireball, followed a fraction of a second later by a wave of razor sharp ice shards. Luna countered each one, spells blurring out of her horn as they exchanged attacks.
While the two of them exchanged non-stop spellfire, the Archon’s golems closed in. Luna’s eyes widened as she spotted one of them winding up to cleave her in half. She drew Nightfall from its pocket dimension, easily catching the golem’s blade on her own sword despite the fact that Nightfall was a fraction of the other sword’s size. The other golem closed in on her back, swinging low with its halberd. Luna easily hopped over the attack, then shifted the angle of her blade to go on the offensive.
However, the Archon smirked, and I saw a thin beam of energy shoot between her horn and the golem. A second later a fireball emerged from a ruby set in the golem’s forehead, almost point-blank to Princess Luna.
Luna’s eyes widened in shock, and she threw up a shield with barely a moment to spare. The sheer force of the attack sent her flying back, and although she managed to land on her hooves, they cut grooves into the tile floors. I also noticed a few wisps of smoke coming up from her mane and tail.
If the attack actually bothered her, she didn’t let it show. In fact, she was smiling. “If thou dost wish to play hard, then play hard we shall!”
I noticed several smaller bipedal golems that looked sort of like insectoid oversized chickens come scampering up behind Luna, intent on flanking her. Before I could call out a warning Luna stabbed her sword backwards, perfectly skewering the golem right before it could chomp at her with jutting tusked maw. A spell accompanied by a dramatic wave of her hoof brought down a wave of indigo energy that speared a second golem to the floor, and she followed up by freeing Nightfall from her first victim and easily cleaving another of the golems in half.
Kukri the changeling magus groaned, staring at the remnants of what were presumably her own golems. She started to take a step forward, until the Archon held up a hoof warning her off. Kukri grimaced, but slowly nodded.
Kukri’s abortive attempt to get involved in the fight reminded me of a rather salient fact. “I should help Luna.”
Strumming scoffed. “You really wanna jump straight into the middle of that?” She pointed to Luna and the Archon as they began exchanging another flurry of spells. “You saw how that went for Kukri, and you don’t have a bunch of golems to take the hits for you.”
Much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. Princess Luna and Archon Shimmer were throwing spells at each other so fast I could barely follow the action, and every single one of them was way stronger than anything I could ever try. Odds were if I tried to help Luna, I’d barely make any difference, and probably make things harder for her when she had to protect me from whatever the Archon did in response. That was doubtless why Archon Shimmer had warned off her own backup from getting involved in the fight.
This was what they called a Code Gold in the Guard. Something where the best thing we could do was just stay out of the princess’s way and let her handle things. They tried to word the official regulations to sound a bit nicer, with talk about dealing with secondary theaters and stuff like that, but the bottom line was that I was way out of my depth. By simple virtue of lasting more than five seconds in a fight with Luna, Archon Shimmer had to be a heavy hitter. Hay, from what Luna said she’d studied under Celestia herself.
Luna snarled as she used Nightfall to swiftly block attacks from both of Shimmer’s golems, then threw up a wall of ice to cut them off from their master. The two massive brutes immediately got to work smashing it down, but they wouldn’t be getting through anywhere near fast enough. Luna took advantage of the opening to charge Archon Shimmer with a fierce battle cry, countering her spells as she closed to blade range.
The Archon drew Chainbreaker and tried to match her blade for blade, but it quickly became apparent that she was grossly outclassed by the princess. Before long she had to start mixing in shield and teleportation spells to avoid getting sliced in half.
Luna grinned as she pressed her advantage “Surrender thy blade and I will grant clemency!” She slammed her blade against Sunset’s, forcing it back until Nightfall was inches away from the Archon’s eyes. “Is this the limit of thy strength?”
Archon Shimmer managed to force the blade to the side, though it left a nasty gash over her brow. As soon as the blade was clear she teleported away, unleashing a fire blast that reduced the ice wall blocking off her golems to rubble. She was breathing heavily and her mane was matted down around her face and neck by a combination of blood and sweat. Despite that, she tossed her mane out of her eyes and smirked defiantly. “I can do this all night long.”
The two golems charged in, making the entire room shake with the force of their footfalls. Luna neatly sidestepped as the halberd came crashing down where she’d been standing a fraction of a second ago, but she had to bring Nightfall up to catch the sword-golem’s blade. Then the ruby in the golem’s forehead flashed once more.
Luna snapped a shield into place with a moment’s thought. “Surely you didn’t think the same trick would work twice?”
Archon Shimmer appeared almost directly beneath her with a flash of light, well within her shield spell. “I didn’t.”
A flash of twinned black and white energy slammed into Luna at point-blank range, sending my princess flying. Luna crashed into the massive sculpture in center of room, sending several of the statues toppling and making a noticeable dent in the recreated barricade. The impact kicked up enough dust and debris that I lost sight of her for a few seconds, and almost started wondering if maybe she’d been...
Luna slowly climbed out of the remains of the statue, seemingly none the worse for the wear other than a few mussed patches on her coat. She grinned down at Sunset, stretching her wings. “Ah, that was a bracing warm-up. Just what I needed to get the blood flowing. Now then, shall we begin in earnest?”
I tried to follow her what she did next, but Luna moved so fast my eyes just couldn’t keep up with her. One second she was in the ruins of the statue, and the next she was behind Archon Shimmer. The Archon managed to just barely get a shield up in time, but Luna’s kick still sent her flying.
While the Archon recovered, the golems closed in on Luna. As the first golem took a swing at her with its halberd she met the attack with Nightfall, the blade crackling as she channeled her power into it. The first strike knocked the polearm wide, and the followup clove through the haft, turning it into nothing more than a damaged hatchet.
She followed up with a series of vicious blows at the sword golem. Archon Shimmer tried to hit her with several more energy blasts, but every single one of them was blocked by either a shield spell or Nightfall itself. After several attacks forced the golem’s blade high Luna made her real move, and bucked the golem in the knee. The golem collapsed as its leg went out from underneath it, she reversed Nightfall in her grap and brought the blade’s hilt down on the golem’s chestplate in the murder-stroke. That put a noticeable dent in the chest armor, and she followed up with a vicious thrust at the new weak point. Nightfall bit deep into the golem with a shriek of tortured metal as the blade penetrated into the golem’s core.
The golem didn’t go completely down from the hit, but after Luna withdrew her blade it staggered about like a drunken cadet. It took a swing at Luna that she slapped aside with contemptuous ease before locking its blade and forcing it out of the golem’s grip.
Archon Shimmer snarled as Luna disarmed her second golem. “Buck it, I don’t need my golems! I can take you all by myself!” She lashed out with a blast of raw fire, followed up immediately by a spear of solid ice, then a beam of light followed by several daggers of pure darkness, and then a couple other things I’d only ever read about in books.
Luna countered or blocked everything the Archon threw at her, using chunks of the wrecked sculpture to block whatever her shield spells or Nightfall couldn’t catch. There was no was way the Archon could keep up her offensive for long; nopony could possibly throw that many heavy-hitting spells that fast without getting worn out. With both golems down it was a forgone conclusion; Luna was gonna win.
Strumming seemed to have reached the same conclusion, sighing heavily. “Oh well, it was always a longshot for the Boss to win this one.” At Kukri’s reproachful glare she shrugged helplessly. “Oh come on, Facon. The boss is good, but she’s fighting Luna.”
“It’s a bit of a mismatch,” I agreed.
“Exactly.” Strumming reluctantly nodded along with me. “Only way she was ever gonna win is if she got lucky or pulled off a really sneaky trick. Or if her royal mooniness screwed up in a big way.”
Kukri smirked knowingly. “Or if the Hearstrings-mare tips the scales in her favor.”
I was about to ask what she meant by that when I felt the suppression ring slip over my horn, cutting off my magic. Strumming’s wing blurred, and suddenly there was a knife at my throat.
Oh.
Oh horseapples! Why hadn’t I seen that coming?
Kukri looked Strumming and me over with a dry smirk. “This one’s spent too much time around you, Heartstrings-mare.”
“Am I getting predictable?” Strumming asked, affecting wounded pride. “Damn, I really gotta up my game.” She shifted her attention back to the fight though the knife at my throat never wavered. “Hey! Cease-fire, I need a word with Princess Moonbutt!” She waited until both of them had stopped slinging spells at each other, and Luna’s eyes widened when she saw my predicament. “Good, got your attention. Anyway, we both know it’s probably a bluff, but please just surrender and don’t make things awkward by calling it.”
No way I was letting that happen. “Don’t worry about me, Princess! Kick their plots!”
Strumming groaned and muttered under her breath. “You are a horrible hostage. Stop trying to be all noble and martyr-y. Or actually, maybe don’t. I bet that’s the kinda thing that makes Luna more inclined to save you.”
Luna glared at Strumming, her lips curling up in a snarl. “Thou wouldst slay a prisoner? Hast thou no honor?”
Strumming shrugged. “According to just about everypony who knows me ... nope. I mean, I did kinda more-or-less defect to Freeport. Well, it’s a lot more complicated than that, but I’ll spare you details. Bottom line, used to work for your sister, and look what I’m doing now.” She smirked. “I’ve come a long way. Hope the family’s proud.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Then why should I believe thou wouldst honor my surrender? Thou couldst try and cut both our throats the moment we were helpless.”
The Archon stepped forward. “You have my word, as Princess Celestia’s student.”
Luna frowned and was silent for several seconds, then said. “Release the lieutenant, and I swear that I shall sheath my blade and withdraw in peace.” I growl entered her voice as she added, “And by the stars in the sky and the moon itself, you have my word as a princess of Equestria. For if thou dost harm her, my vengeance shall be swift and terrible, and thou wilt wish that I only desired Chainbreaker.”
Strumming shrugged uncaringly. “Yeah, but she’ll still be dead. So yield already.”
No. No bucking way. I wasn’t gonna let my very first real mission as a royal guard end with Luna surrendering to another nation because I was an idiot who let myself get caught. “Don’t do it, Princess! You’re more important than me!”
Luna ignored me. “Does your word mean anything, Archon Sunset Shimmer?”
“Yes, it does,” the Archon answered tersely. “I swear on all the love I bear for your sister, no harm will come to either of you. I just want this fight over with, and you out of Freeport.”
“And do you believe my word bears equal weight?” Luna demanded.
The Archon scowled at her. “Considering you came into my realm on false pretenses, tried to steal one of our national treasures when I wouldn't give it to you, and then attacked one of my oldest and closest friends, not to mention the fact that you apparently helped get the sword stolen in the first place and once tried to murder your own sister ... not really.”
I could hear the princess’ teeth grinding against each other, but she didn’t try to argue the point. “I swear to abide by the terms of our agreement and leave Freeport at once—without the sword that is rightfully mine, but with my lieutenant unharmed. You have my word as Princess of Equestria, and as sister to the mare who you claim to love.”
The Archon stared at her for several seconds, then grunted and nodded. “Fine. I’ll have you escorted to the docks. I’m sure you’ll understand I want to make sure you’re gone for good. And you can be certain Celestia's hearing all about this.”
Luna glared at her. “Agreed. I already intended to tell my sister of your actions as soon as I returned to Equestria.”
“Then we have a deal.” The Archon nodded to Strumming, and the knife left my throat. A second later the suppression ring came off as well.
Luna gave me a quick once-over to ensure I hadn’t been hurt. “Come, Lieutenant. We are leaving Freeport at once. Despite what some parties might think, I am a mare of my word.”
“Can’t leave soon enough,” I grumbled in agreement, trotting after my princess as she began marching as regally as she could towards the docks.
Stats
Page generated in 0.035 seconds
Total duration
1,067 users online
1,817,560 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Something is definitely going on. I doubt Sunset would try to fight Luna like this, force a ceasefire by taking a hostage, just to secure a supposedly historical relic. I think the core of it all lies in the reason why those two Warlocks started fighting, and parted ways.
Also, Sunset struck first. Sending a lethal attack against someone they have been deliberately provoking to use the Canterlot Voice. That "Blast" was clearly not an attack, but a side effect of Luna shouting. The amount of dirty tricks they use to keep that sword is insanely suspicious.
And on a sidenote, how didn't Star notice there were other people in the room? It's never addressed that she's surprised that Sunset and Co. were present, despite the fact that she must've used her tracking spell to search the building before they went in.
Damn, that was some great action. I love the name Facon for Kukri from Strumming, it's mean and accurate just like her.
Luna and Sunset not getting along makes sense, they're similar in all the right ways to piss each other off perfectly while not being able to see it.
8942818
Yeah, the two entitled brats thinking they're entitled each other's things.
Every single time Strumming ever shows up in one of your stories, I keep hoping she'll wind up with a shattered spinal column. Sunset is a massively unlikable bitch too.
I mean, i think I'm supposed to consider her the bold anti-hero who forged her own path and is flawed but still ultimately relatable? But I really just want to see her eat an entire Hostess factory worth of humble pies. And choke on them in the process.
... And then for Strumming to wind up with a broken spine, somehow.
Is Sunset using light and darkness spells new? Guess she picked up some tricks between the Venture stories and now.
Okay, so Luna definitely fell victim to PC logic. In general she’s pretty great but yeah, I’m with Sunset in this one. And Luna needs to get better at listening to her guard, while she needs to be more assertive to her Princess when she knows she’s right.
Stolen by cultist of Nightmare Moon, there’s a twist...
8942841
I like Luna, but in this case I’m pretty sure Sunset actually IS entitled to the sword.
Also, explaining ‘I need it to put my friend’s ghost to rest’ would probably have been far more productive than this...whatever this was. I’m thinking fiasco is the word.
Though she always had a habit of scribbling her theories about who was secretly banging who in the margins.
Hmm. Between the principal pun and the bipedal golem design, there's definitely a part of Sunset's story we don't know yet. To say nothing of how she wrangled Strumming out of the EIS. And where's Puzzle Piece in all of this?
Epic as the fight was, it was utterly unnecessary. On the one hand, Luna never made her strongest argument, the firsthoof testimony by Silver Ankh. On the other, a replica Chainbreaker might be advisable even if Freeport doesn't give up one of their cultural treasures; it doesn't seem like the sort of thing one wants hanging out in the relative open.
But yeah, I have to say Luna is in the wrong here. Yes, she has some claim to the sword on Silver's behalf, but he might even be happy to hear what it's done since. Trampling on another country's cultural legacy is not the way to go about righting the wrong she set out to correct.
This was a really fun and exciting chapter! Awesome to see Sunset as the Archon, doubly so to see her holding her own against Luna of all ponies! Kinda figured they would fail once we learned the sword was a national treasure of Freeport. Lotta cool sounding history here, definitely excited to see that expanded on in future stories. All in all, a great chapter in a great story! (PS actually kind of like Strumming. :))
8942941
(apologies for the word wall. I had a few things on my mind)
Actually, I think the golems were from the First Freeport story. Whats-his-face had two golems that were vaguely based off of minotaurs, and Sunset claimed them as spoils of war after she turned him into a vegetable and killed the first mate.
And since Sunny is now Archon, I get the sense that Chainbreaker is about as safe as it can get. The most likely people to know that Chainbreaker is a powerful artifact, and thus something to steal, are the residents of Freeport, and Sunset was already getting a reputation as being a pony not to be crossed before Twilight was Celestia's student. Years later when she is one of the leaders of the city? I think most natives are going to at least think twice about it. And, to be fair, Sunset might not known that the sword was a powerful artifact until Luna came and showed an interest in it. She doesn't seem like the type to care to much about history unless it affects her. Now that she is aware the sword has value other than historical, I imagine she'll get to work securing it better.
Finally, I agree that Sunset has the right of it. Sure, it originally belonged to a close friend of Luna's, and was stolen by a couple of real dickwaffles. But what Sunset said is true: one event a thousand years ago shouldn't take away from said thousand years of history. Hell, I'm willing to bet the only reason Luna thinks it is okay is because she still thinks of Freeport as the Hutt pit it was before her banishment, and because she is still having trouble internalizing the last one thousand years.
Frankly, Luna and a few historical scholars are the only ones who remember the sword of the Pharaoh. Generations of Doos, Strikers, and free people grew up knowing of Chainbreaker, the blade that delivered Freeport from slavery and necromancy. I think even said Pharaoh would agree that his sword is better remembered the second way. Hell, just slap his name on the plaque, acknowledge that he was the original owner, and that Warlock Asshat #2 stole it from his tomb.
8942768
Thought: pretty sure Kukri was the one who waved the Nightmare Moon flag at Luna and goaded her into using the instant Tinnitus voice. Which stunned her and knocked her sprawling. We've seen that Sunset will go long ways to protect Kukri, to the point where she will allow murder on her behalf. So, stupid move on Kukri's part, but once that train started it wasn't stopping anytime soon.
Towards Star not noticing them, the way they appeared indicated teleportation to me. AS the sword was fake, Sunset probably had an alarm rigged to it, so when it tripped, she just blinked in with her crew as backup.
8943095
It was Kukri who waved the NMM flag, but she is on Sunset's side. I was making a blanket statement about Sunset's faction as a whole, not individuals. As it is, however, I haven't read any of the Freeport Venture stories, so I don't know much about their relationships. Still,
HanSunset shot first.8942854
Not so much but I feel in the same general direction.
Ever since what she did to Cadance, I had a hard time sympathizing with her, so right from the get go.
I feel Luna in this verse is in the same boat, but trying to be better. From other stories, it sounds like Sunset is too.
8942887
Oh, I agree here, but as a general assessment.
Yeah, I feel absolutely zero sympathy for Luna. She was completely in the wrong, especially given her first instinct was to try and steal the sword rather than go through diplomatic channels. Yes, the answer would have been the same, but it would still have demonstrated she's at least willing to respect rule of law rather than being a petulant child who starts whining and throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way...which is all Luna's ever been, really.
Also, we finally know Sunset's fate! She never gets her wings, Celestia abandons her to mold Twilight into her replacement, and she's stuck in the shithole of Freeport for good. Oh, and Strumming's still around and breathing, to make things a thousand times worse. Guess we never need to read another Sunset in Freeport story ever, since we now know her story ends miserably; with all of her grand ambitions and plans and hopes and dreams for naught.
8943071
(I just thought I would respond as I also had a few thoughts about your thoughts)
The case of the golems is interesting. I think they might be the same golems from the first story, but its doubtless Sunset has gotten much better with magic since then, so I'm guessing that even if they are the original golems, she added extra wards, spell, maybe replaced parts and generally made them more battle effective since then. It might also be possible of course that she just built new ones in the model of the old ones. Also, as a side note, Kurki's chicken golems were hilarious.
Secondly, even though I'm sure bacon-mane has been working on improving the reputation, living standards, etc. of Freeport, it still didn't seem to me to be thoroughly cleansed of being 'the den of all scum'. I don't think it's as bad as Luna was describing it, but still, I didn't get the distinct impression that Freeport was now a respectable port. More respectable, but not respectable yet in its own right. Now, onto the issue of people potentially stealing the sword from the museum. I have no doubt that the common thief would think twice about stealing from the museum given Sunset's apparent protection of its items and such, but I also have no doubt, especially considering the assumption made above, that there are individuals who would attempt to steal it if they knew its value. Other ponies, griffins, etc have in the past trifled with Sunset like with the black codex fiasco. If the sword then actually does get stolen... Also, just as a side note, this 'chainbreaker' is apparently a national icon, passed from generation to generation, owned by multiple distinguished individuals, and the protection is still not very much. I don't understand what knowing about more history of the sword (especially since it doesn't effect Sunset) would make her care any more about the relic. I think the protection will only be moderately upgraded, if at all, and that there will still be seedy individuals who will attempt to take it anyway.
Thirdly, the matter of the rights of ownership. While I sympathize greatly with Sunset's argument, and they make a lot of sense, I think ultimately the most legitimate claim still resides with Luna. My first point would be to bring up the creator of the sword. Normally, they would be dead by now, but since Luna is still the creator, she has a serious claim to the sword. Especially if she could prove that some enchantment on the sword was hers, or if she has like a forgers mark or something, it could very well still be considered hers. After all, most swords are identified by the maker, and not the wielder. Secondly, is the fact that the sword was stolen. I understand the idea that is was a thousand years ago, and fairly enough, it is an extremely long time. However, it is ultimately still stolen property. At this point I would mention one example. In the 16th century, the Spanish attacked the Incan Empire and looted it. Many of its golden treasures were molten down, however some survived in Spain. In the 21st century, almost 500 years later, they returned a sizable portion of these statues, as Spain considered some of them 'stolen property'. This is despite the fact that they had right of conquest, which Freeport ultimately doesn't. Thirdly, I would point to the fact that the sword is needed to put a soul to rest. Common Freeportians wouldn't no the difference between the real sword and a fake. Freeport could survive with a fake sword. However, somehow I doubt a spirit of the afterlife could be fooled into accepting a fake sword for the real deal.
While I sympathize greatly with Sunset, because she does make a good case for it already being away from the tomb for nine hundred odd years, I think that they should still give it back. Freeport could live with a fake, Silver Ankh probably couldn't (unless he can be convinced that it's better there, then this point is moot). Also, as another side note, Freeport remembers ushabti as a hero. I don't think they will be willing to see his name so callously slandered in a museum of their own history. All this being said, I understand why Sunset wouldnt want to give up the sword and honestly, I would be surprised if she just went 'Oh you're right. My bad. Here's one of our most treasured relics for you to take.'
And finally, I would just like to enter one more thought addressed specifically to Star Kicker;
ahem... HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE SO USELESS IN A FIGHT. I mean come one. You had one job, just ONE. Don't interfere with Luna's battle. That is of course the one thing you end up doing. UBER USELESS. I cannot imagine this will improve Luna's image of Star Kicker. Not even putting up a fight. honestly. also, couldn't Luna have just telekinetically grabbed control of them? I mean, she is a princess of unimaginable power. I'm sure she could do a shield spell and telekinesis. I am a very pro pony person, so if this ends up with an unsatisfying answer, I WILL be annoyed. Wouldnt change it for anything, cuz I still love this verse with all its quirks and stories, but I'll still be annoyed.
With that, I apologize for torturing your eyes, and won't do so any longer. May Strumming go to Tartarus, back-stabbing traitor.
8943159
That seems more than a little inaccurate. Celestia didn’t abandon Sunset, Sunset actively cut ties with Celestia, admitted that a big part of her desire to become an alicorn was just because it would make her more like Celestia, and is now the popular leader of her own sovereign nation and has made great strides to improve it. I’d say things turned out pretty good.
8943147
For me, it's not even so much her beginning. She started out low. Lashed out in anger and then in panic. She was a sulky, angry, and increasingly desperate teenager. I can look past that.
The problem with Sunset is that she is impossibly, unspeakably, unbelievably arrogant, and she NEVER pays for that flaw. Or is even forced to confront it. She does outrageous, extreme things, justifying them with the belief that she's just better than other people and will get away with no consequences? She totally does get away with them. She toys with dark magic? She successfully resists its lures in the future. She routinely goes up against mages dramatically more powerful and skilled than her? She wins anyway, usually by cheating in some way or another - which is understandable in life or death battles, but hardly something I'm going to root for. She's arrogant enough to think she's going to change a centuries-old country all by herself, instead of just being swallowed by it? Well, jury's still out on that, but she's doing just fine thus far. She treats people like trash? It never blows up in her face.
Sunset strikes me as the kind of person who is never, ever going to be sold on the idea that she has limits except in the most abstract, theoretical sense. She is going to push the boundaries every minute of every day of her life, completely secure in the knowledge that she can handle it because she's just that good. And eventually and inevitably, one day, she is going to get a mountain of innocent people killed because of it.
Strumming is different. Yes, she goes out of her way to be as annoying as equinely possible, and yes, she succeeds. And yes, this is a perfectly legitimate conversational tactic. But again.... it NEVER BLOWS UP IN HER FACE, as it would a million times over in remotely realistic situation. She never starts diplomatic crises, she never gets a mob boss personally invested in mounting her head on a pike, she never angers a foreign monarch that costs Freeport millions of bits in lost trade. She ALWAYS gets away with it.
More to the point... Strumming kind of hits a personal button for me, as far as treachery goes. She was a servant of Equestria who, by her own admission, defected to serve Sunset instead. I'm sure she justifies it to herself as being that she serves Equestria best by staying in Sunset's confidence and keeping an eye on her.... except she's not keeping an eye on her FOR Equestria. As this chapter proved, in at least this particular case she was quite flagrantly working AGAINST Equestria.
And it just really, really, really ticks me off when people abandon their ideological principles at the drop of a hat to go work for the other team. If Strumming can abandon her sworn duty and her country just like that, and go work directly against the people she'd once taken a vow to serve, then it makes me wonder just how much her loyalty was ever worth to begin with. Equestria is better off without such a pony.
Sorry, with Luna on this. She tried to be polite ans Sunset ended up being a dick here.
8943197
Which I'm sure more than makes up for not getting to be immortal and rule besides her mother figure in her homeland and having to watch some new kid waltz right in where she left off and get everything she ever wanted with far less effort.
Also, Sunset is stuck with Strumming.
8943330
While I don't quite agree with you on Sunset, I wholeheartedly back you up on Strumming. She's scum, and if she could betray her country once, who's to say she won't abandon Sunset someday as well?
8943159
You mean the wings she never deserved because she is also a whinny, entitled child?
8943377
Well, at least she's not Rainbow Dash
8943405
I think Sunset’s worst.
8943409
No, STRUMMING is worst of all
8943411
I’ve paid very little attention to Strumming to form any kind of opinion on her. She’s just sorta there
8943173
(again, I apologize. I started typing a short response, and then kept adding as I thought of more.)
You make a good point about ownership and the Inca, but I would argue the case here is different. The gold and artifacts stolen by the Spanish were taken for their value, or as trophies, especially those that survived intact. Proof that they had conquered the "uncultured savages". Where as here, Chainbreaker might have been stolen for nefarious purposes in the beginning, but it was since used to defeat tyrannical necromancers and free slaves. Hell, it was named then!
Honestly, Luna should have lead with the fact that the loss of the sword was robbing Silver Ankh of his deserved rest. Sunset is/was a Magus, part of her job is taking care of the unsatisfied dead appropriately. I think she would have been more understanding if Luna had told her that her friend's spirit was stuck because Chainbreaker was stolen.
The reason I said Sunset would secure the sword more after she learned more of it's history is thus: Before she knew Luna created the sword, it was simply a historical artifact of some power. A powerful weapon to be sure, but nothing unique; I imagine every sorcerer of any historical reputation made at least one powerful artifact, this one just happened to gain a reputation beyond that. It has no legends that we know of that tell of it's amazing power, it is simply the sword the famous guy used to free everyone. The only people who may have desired to steal it would be the occasional warlock or collector of artifacts.
Now, we know that Chainbreaker is not simply an artifact made by a Warlock of some reputation, it was crafted by Luna herself from the remnants of entire dynasties of necromantic artifacts. Now people will know simply by the story of it's creation that this blade is possibly far more powerful than they might have initially thought, and on top of that, it was made by Luna. Now you have Nightmare Moon cultists after it as well! Suddenly, securing this artifact becomes a lot more important.
Finally, on Sunset and Freeport's reputation: Freeport at the time of Luna's banishment was ruled by necromancers and inhabited by slaves and pirates. Since that time, the slaves were freed and the Necromancers slain, the pirate have been leashed by and large, and the leadership at least tries to operate above the table now and then. In Star Wars terms it went from Nal Hutta/Nar Shadda, the center of the Hutt's crime empire and a hive of wretched scum and villainy, to something more like Cloud City, which was an independent state that was part luxury resort and casino, part Outer-Rim smuggler den. The similarities go further even; Cloud City was a producer of Tabanna gas, a valuable strategic resource, Freeport makes sugar, a valuable economic resource.
Luna is still thinking of the place as stain on the planet, one no one will complain about too hard if she decides to stomp on it. It's not.
Sunset is the final factor. Chengar is obviously drawing heavy inspiration from Harry Dresden with her persona in the universe. Now, one of the things that was a constant presence in the background of the Dresden Files, was that after the first few books, Dresden started to get a reputation. People who messed with him had a tendency to end up dead. People who messed with his family died, along with all their family, and most of the people they knew as well. This was to the extent entire factions stayed out of Chicago to avoid tangling with him.
Sunset has already killed one collector of dark artifacts, melted a powerful pirates brain, and fucked with a influential mercenary troop and walked away from it. I can only imagine what else she has done to get to the position she now holds. Odds are, anyone who is powerful or ballsy enough to try messing with her territory is going to be the kind of person Puzzle or Strumming will already be watching for.
I don’t know what everybody is talking about Luna is clearly in the wrong and toke the first swing when she stunned Kukri
8943531
At least until we get to the Special Edition release and Chengar edits it so Kukri shoots first after monologuing about how she hates sand.
8943531
On the contrary, Sunset was the one who shot first. By the description I think it's pretty clear that Luna's "Blast" was not an attack, but a sideeffect of her using the canterlot voice. Not to mention Kukri was the one who used every dirty tactic she could to provoke Luna.
Luna's not in the wrong. That weapon was made by her, and she gave it to a friend. That friend was then robbed of that sword, and other things. Whatever might have happened afterwards, and what was done with the sword, does not change who the original owner was, and who it belongs to. That sword did not belong to Ubashti (that was his name, right?) at any point in time. That he went and supposedly did good things with it does not change that it does not, and never did, belong to him.
I'll concede that it does have historical and cultural value to the people of Freeport, but it is still not equivalent to ownership. I suppose you'd still also want your priced treasure back, even twenty years after it was stolen? It was yours, after all, and even though the guy who stole it wound up doing really good things with it, I bet you would still consider it to be your property.
Luna reacted harsher than she should have, I'll probably agree. But I would not say she is in the wrong. The sword didn't belong to Ubashti, nor does it belong to Freeport. It never has. She has a right to claim ownership of that weapon or, at the very least, claim it back for her friend and deliver it back to his grave.
8943654
What if they took the sword back to the tomb, and once the ghost was gone give it back to Freeport?
This chapter made all the Freeport Venture characters really unlikable. Even Kukri was kinda petty. Reasons or no, all of them seem kind of out of character except Strumming, who was already petty, condescending, and antagonistic. I like your stories, but this chapter was... Not one of my favorites.
8943654
Kukri wasn’t knocked back by the voice, she was knocked back by Luna wildly firing a blast from her horn in anger. And bringing up Nightmare Moon to me seemed less like an attempt to provoke Luna as invalidate her claim to the sword since there is s high chance she helped it get stolen in the first place. Edit: okay looked back, and yes she was knocked back by the Royal Canterlot Voice. But intentionally or not, she still basically assaulted a foreign official in their home country in front of their leader/close personal frien, after attempting to steal possibly the single greatest national treasure of Freeport. Luna is in the wrong.
8943434
Actually, the necrocrats don’t come to power until after Luna’s exile: Ushabti was the one who founded them. Not that the people ruling Freeport before then were any better.
I guess I'm going to throw in my two cents as well, sorry, this is going to get a bit long.
A) Luna arrived in Freeport in disguise and made a point of not going to the Equestrian embassy, I'd say she forfeited any diplomatic claims and protections from the get go.
B) When acquiring Chainbreaker through diplomatic means was suggested, Luna immediately turned it down in favor of stealing a cultural icon of another country.
C) Sunset actually offered to consider restitution if Luna could provide proof that Chainbreaker was in fact the sword of Silver Anhk, Luna made no attempt to offer any proof other than her word.
D) As Sunset pointed out, the statute of limitations on theft (I'm a bit surprised that Equestia has that, actually) had long since run out, and since Celestia had been ignoring several outstanding claims from Freeport against Equestria, then there is ample precedent for Freeport to refuse Luna's claim in turn.
E) As several people pointed out, if Luna had just told Sunset about Silver Ankh's ghost, it may well have gotten better results. Unfortunately, Luna's argument is "it belonged to my friend a long time ago" and "Equestria absorbed Selerika, after the sword was stolen, so I have a right to it", and that somehow trumps Freeports claim.
F) When Sunset refuses to duel Luna for the sword (why would Sunset ever agree to that? Oh, let's fight an uber-powerful alicorn over part of our cultural heritage, in exchange for receiving another sword ... a sword that means nothing to Freeport or Sunset), she insults Freeport and all of its people and derides Sunset for not being "more accomodating of Equestria’s needs". (Equestria's needs? Equestria neither knows nor cares about Silver Ankh's sword. The only person who cares about it [as anything other than Chainbreaker] is Luna and Silver Ankh's ghost.)
G) Luna then attempts to steal the sword anyway, including assaulting a watch pony (yes, it was only a sleep spell, it was still assault) that same night.
H) Bringing up NMM was a low move on Kukri's part, I agree. It was also a legitimate move. Based on available information there is a strong reason to suspect that Hidden Facts gained access to Silver Ankh's tomb with the assistance of NMM (i.e., Luna) which would invalidate Luna's claim to the sword anyway.
I) Yes, Luna hurt Kukri by accident, but she (a high-ranking member of the government, after all Luna keeps bringing up that she's a Princess) assaulted a high-ranking member of a foreign government, while in that foreign government's lands, and while engaged in criminal activity against that foreign government. I'm not a PoliSci student, but I'm fairly sure that Luna's actions have been used as grounds for war before, so Sunset going straight to lethal spells is, IMHO, appropriate to the situation, especially since Sunset has no reason to know that Luna's magical blast wasn't intentional.
Was Strumming annoying? Yes, she always is. That's part of her character.
Could Sunset have handled things better with Luna? Possibly, maybe even probably.
Could Star have done more to influence Luna and try to redirect her actions? Yes, but Star is new and in awe of her Princess, I have high hopes that she'll improve as she gets more used to being a Night Guard.
Did Luna go about this in one of the worst was she could? Hell yes. Even if Luna had managed to steal Chainbreaker without getting caught, she would be setting Equestria up for economic sanctions, political backlash from other countries, and maybe even a war. (After all, how do you think Britain would react if the Vice Prime Minister of France or Spain stole the Magna Carta?)
Okay, I'm done. Sorry for the ranty post, but I had to get it out of my system.
8944257
Think you’re mostly on the right track, but I’ll add in one or two comments of my own
A: Sunset wasn’t going into the fight with intent to kill, just disable/subdue. She was using some pretty hard-hitting spells, but considering her opponent anything less than her best shot wouldn’t make an impression.
Actually, her best shot just got Luna to say “That was a good warmup, let’s get serious now.”
B: Star not having anywhere near the confidence needed to challenge Luna on a bad decision was the intent. The next chapter/epilogue will be dealing with that.
8943330
For the most part, I totally agree with you. The thing with Sunset is, she has good intentions. From the other Freeport venture stories, we clearly see that even though she has to acknowledge certain aspects of the society she now lives in, she does actively try to improve the society. I do agree with you that she barely has to face any consequences. I would like to see her fail once, like properly fail. It doesn't have to be many innocent lives lost, but she should still properly fail at something. I don't say this to be mean-spirited, but that this would be really good character development. How would Sunset react given that she properly failed at something? Even Twilight had instances where she failed, like with Starlight (initially), Chrysalis and the crystal empire, where Spike became the hero.
As for Strumming, when I read the other stories, I actually thought she was quite funny. After reading this however, I have to say that it's made me like her much less (in this version at least). The problem is that I KNOW she defected, I KNOW she directly opposed and even cheatingly stopped Luna from achieving her goals, which annoys me to no end, and all the while, I DON'T know is she even has good intentions. All of this combined certainly characterizes her as a less than good character, and an especially (presumably) less than good moral center. (I say presumably because we don't have direct access to her thoughts.
The one reason I have mixed feelings about this encounter is that characters I have increasingly grown to like (Sunset, Kukri, and yes, even Strumming) directly oppose Luna, who I consider best princess. I'm sure you can imagine that doesn't exactly raise my opinion of them significantly. Anyway, just wanted to share some of my thoughts. Sunset at least has good intentions.
8943434
(No worries about making it so long. That's exactly what happened to me in the first response, and will probably happen again now)
I think Chengar already said this, but the 'owner' of that sword actually started the necromancer club in Freeport. I actually think the Inca example is relevant, but let's look at it a different way. I'm glad the sword has been able to free slaves and whatever else it might have done, however, it doesn't just mean willy nilly that the sword suddenly belongs to them. Think about some circumstances with similar logic. Can I steal millions of dollars from a bank if I give it to poor people? No. Obviously not. Just because I use that money well (as in, with good intentions), that doesn't suddenly make it mine. Can I steal someone's life savings if I save someone's life? Still no. It is not mine. Can I steal a battleship to defeat terrorists? While that would be amazing, I would probably still be hunted internationally and court-martialled. In all these cases the answer is no. Just because I use what I stole with good faith, doesn't change the ownership of the property. What's more, Freeports situation is less than ideal because the sword, as you yourself said, was stolen in bad faith and only be happenstance was used in good faith. But anyway, that's beside the main point.
Anyway, besides that, the fact that the original sword didn't belong to Ushabti (he stole it), and that in and of itself doesn't entitle Freeport to the sword. The sword is still to be considered stolen property of either the forger (Luna) or the owner from whom it was stolen (Silver Ankh) (Unless Silver decided to give it away. That's the only justifiable way I could see Freeport keeping the sword.)
Next, with regards to Luna's arguments, here is where I agree with you. Luna should have just said it has to be used to lay to rest Silver Ankh. I agree that Sunset would be much more understanding. I also think it's a blunder on Luna's part to forget to mention that. Despite that blunder though, I still think Luna's in the right, for the points mentioned above. Also, I don't think it is a viable option to give Silver Ankh a fake, as I feel like I am correct to assume that this undead spirit could tell a fake from the real deal. Freeport, on the other hand, could probably live with a fake.
Here's my problem with the idea that Sunset would increase security significantly. Like you yourself said 'she doesn't seem like the type to care about stuff that doesn't directly affect her.' and I totally agree with this statement. The fact that this sword is Luna's, and all the other stuff is probably only relevant and worth thinking about to her is because Luna will try to steal it. No Nightmare Moon cultists have come yet, and neither have collectors, so she might (reasonably) assume that people don't know about the proper history of the sword. However, this doesn't stop the possibility of ponies finding out, especially after Star's involvement, and they might still come. Sunset is brash and powerful, which can be good in a fight, but it not particularly helpful for longtime security strategy. Also, how do you know the common people will know about the rest of its ancestry. Sunset didn't make any mention of changing the descriptions or anything. There was no indication of that. she might just write off this incident as a thief trying to steal 'chainbreaker' and leave it at that.
Ignoring the necromancer inaccuracy (we're over that), the place is still conducting illegal activities. Sure it's not as bad as some it was in the recent past, and definitely was not as bad as in the far past, however, that doesn't suddenly make their current state okay. Sunset threatened to bring up old Equestrian acts against Freeport, how about a blockade or embargo for illegal smuggling activities. That would destroy Freeport, and Luna is within her right to do that as a Princess of Equestria. Her sister might oppose her at first, but I think she would likely give in. They are theoretically equal in authority after all. I do agree it was probably a bit rash to immediately judge Freeport, especially since sights probably improved visually at least, but I think Luna ultimately still has a right to that sword and I not completely unjustified as thinking lowly of Freeport.
I love the Star Wars reference (I too am a huge fan) but you should note that there were still reports of poorer areas with scum (equivalent of slums) and the Imperial forces did actually invade and occupy the city under the pretenses that they were stopping illegal smuggling, although Vader was probably just after Luke/Solo. Good comparison actually, Luna is just after the sword. Should she invade? Embargo? Blockade?
Here's the one bit where I cannot comment on very well. I haven't read the Dresden Files. In fact, I hadn't even heard of them before coming across Chengars stories. So instead, I am just going to address the reputation issue. Let's look at some others who also have such reputations. Voldemort had a reputation like that. Anyone who opposed him ended up dead. Yet he still had massive opposition, and, eventually was beaten. Sauron had such a reputation. Same situation. I know what you might be saying "but those were villains, of course, they'd lose. Okay, so let's look at Tywin Lannister. Certainly not a traditional villain and yet he still 'lost'. So did Ned. So did Rob. So did Tommen. So did Joffrey. Hell, even look at Tirek, who attacked the princesses despite their MASSIVE reputation of power. Let's look at a real-life example. Hitler. He also grew such a reputation. and yet, he still had opposition, more than 14 attempts on his life, some of which came dangerously close. In short, just because you have a reputation doesn't stop people with nefarious intentions from attempting to slight you. Sometimes your powerful reputation makes it only worse as more powerful people seek to best you, especially considering a prize might be a sword forged by Luna herself. It's a lot likelier that she will encounter someone she cannot beat rather than Luna having the same problem. As for the last point; the Dark artifact collector was not a fighter, the red stripe she actually dueled was just a boy, and while I do not know exactly the power status of the pirate, considering a young, inexperienced Sunset beat him, I cannot assume he is THAT powerful.
Anyway, that's that. No more agony for you. Fun discussing though. Also, Star sucks at battle.
8943654
Exactly! Totally Agree!
8943731
I have to agree with you that it made many of the characters less relatable and less likeable. Especially Strumming.
8944438
All right, I concede the point of ownership; you're logic has effectively outmatched my own in that area. I will leave one final point for consideration: that sword has been a part of Freeport's history and culture longer than Notre Dame has stood in France, and from what we saw it had comparable significance to your average citizen. If Luna wanted it for any other reason than laying Silver Ankh to rest, taking it would be a dick move, and rather petty, even if she was legally in the right. Given Ankh is as he is, the situation just kind of sucks for both sides.
I won't deny that having a reputation for power invites others with power to test their luck. I was trying to say that Sunset's reputation is to the point that most low and mid tier threats aren't going to try, and the people in the bracket equivalent or above her are both few and far between. The kind of people that can be seen coming from a ways off. And unlike most of your examples, she isn't an evil fucker who a lot of good people want dead. She's just a pony who has decided to dedicate her life to protecting her city and making it a better place, one random act of destruction at a time.
I am still skeptical in Luna's ability to hold the city at gunpoint. In the Freeport Venture, it is mentioned the reason the place is independent is because the three local powers (Equestria, Zebrica, and the gryphons) prefer it that way, as opposed to under control of any of them. It's a natural trading hub between the three nations, and if any of them controlled it, their influence on the other's economies would be a problem. Any embargo or blockade that Luna could establish also has the problem of dealing with the trade from two other sovereign nations: Is she just going to stop them too? There is also the matter of Equestrian business interests there, who couldn't be happy about the situation, and the huge bank that was the big deal in the first Starlight side story.
Plus, there is the matter of political reputation. If Luna decides to embargo the city, presumably under the pretense of stopping smuggling or piracy, the question other powers will ask is, why now? Equestria has been content to let things lie the last few hundred years. So what changed? A little digging would show that Luna was strong-arming the city into giving up one of their historical relics, because it was hers a thousand years ago. At that point, legal right ain't going to do jack; her reputation is going to be worth dog shit for a long time after that. First off, it will look exceedingly petty, and then there is the matter of precedent. If it happened to Freeport, why not to one of them? It might be a different scale, but I just finished establishing that Freeport isn't the smallest fish in the pond by much. Now they have to consider the possibility of Luna remembering one of their ancient relics is actually her hairbrush or something.
To go back to Star Wars terms (nice to see a fellow nerd), I might have been mistaken earlier. While Freeport looks a lot like Cloud City, it was ultimately an Outer Rim colony; it wasn't that important on the Galactic scale. Freeport is more like Corellia; a rather independently-minded system, with a reputation for being a smugglers den. But also sitting on one of the major trade routes through the galaxy, and swinging enough political clout that it took the rest of the galaxy joining the new order for it to knuckle under.
8943699
Then the sword would rightfully belong to Freeport, since ownership of the sword had been transferred from one party to the other, voluntarily.
8943746
It might have been an attempt at invalidating Luna's claim, but it's conjecture. There is no hard evidence to support that claim, meaning it is completely invalid. No, the only plausible reason they brought up NMM is because they knew it would get under her skin.
No, I don't think Luna was in the wrong. The sword doesn't belong to Freeport, after all.
8944750
There may not be any hard evidence, but it stands to reason that she was likely involved. As Kukri said, only Luna knew where the tomb was and how to get past the traps, and Hidden was a cultist of Nightmare Moon. Not to mention Luna hasn't provided any hard evidence to Sunset either. She basically just went up to a foreign leader and demanded she surrender the single greatest national treasure of her realm because "I know what my work looks like." (After a thousand years of total isolation and madness and several more not making any attempts to retrieve this sword.). Let me put it this way: If it turned out that the Constitution was written on a sheet of paper that was taken from a member of the French royal family without asking, would it be reasonable for the French government of today to demand we give it to them? 200 years after the fact? And like Sunset said, there is a statute of limitations on theft, and its definitely more than run out. As for Sunset "shooting first", even if you consider Luna stunning Kukri a total accident, or the sword rightfully Luna's, Luna was still committing a felony by breaking in to the museum and knocking out one of its guards. Not to mention flat out saying she would not stand down to what was basically law enforcement despite multiple chances to do so with very little risk to yourself or any real long term consequences. Instead, she got into a fight with a foreign leader and likely harmed Equestria's relationship with Freeport.
8944825
I think I should have phrased myself better. I don't mean that Luna is right in stealing (the guard was put to sleep, not knocked out. There's a very big difference here, since no violence was used). What I think Luna is right in, is who the sword belongs to. It also had great cultural value to its original owner, after all, so the argument that it should belong to Freeport because it has "value" to them, and they possessed it illegitimately for 900 years, does not make it suddenly their sole property. It's a matter of Repatriation, which is essentially returning a historical/archaeological object to the former owners, heirs, or country of origin, especially after said item was looted.
Luna has every right to claim this sword back in the name of its legitimate owner. Could she have done a better job of getting it back? Certainly. Was trying to steal it a dumb idea? Absolutely. But the sword belonged, and still belongs, to Ankh, not Freeport.
8944726
And this is where I now come to agree with you. We have seen that Luna's primary purpose is to put Silver Ankh to rest. I agree that if she just wanted it back 'just because', then I would wholeheartedly support you saying Luna was petty. My previous points would still stand and she would still have the ultimate claim, but yes, without silver Ankh, it would, as you so delicately put it, be a 'dick move'.
To be honest, I'm not that worried about low or mid level thieves. Either they're stopped, like you suggest or they steal it but do what? they can't exactly wield it in any signifigant way. From what we saw of Luna using her sword, you still need lots of practice and all that other stuff. It would probably just be lost to time or end up in a rich snobs private collection. While my heart tears, that's not nearly as bad as it ending up with a powerful warlock (especially necromancers). As for the powerful opposition, my worry lays with Sunsets character. She does not seem the action sort of person, rather reacting to events happening around her (she responded to the codex being sold, she responded to Strumming being shot, she responded to Celestia not making her an alicorn, etc.) Not of all this is her fault, but I still feel like she would hunt for the sword once it's already been stolen when it might already be too late. My worry wouldnt be a NMM kind of villain who, as you said, you can see coming a long way off. My worry would be the Hidden Facts kind of villain, and I fear that by the time Sunset realizes what's happened, the sword is already gone and in dangerous hooves. You are of course right, Sunset is not a pony of bad intentions. That's why I have great sympathy for her cause. It does appear that as a result of her, Freeport has gotten better. Although it should also be noted, evil is a matter of perspective.
While I do grant that Freeport has some resources at its disposal, there are a few other things to consider. I didn't add occupation for exactly the reason you've mentioned. I think Equestria would look at Zebra attempts and decide that it's not worth it. However, I wouldn't necessarily classify Freeport as independent. It is independent like how Poland is independent. Sure it makes some of its own decisions, but major powers like the US still interfere in some of its policy, especially foreign policy, and make sure they don't step too far out of line. Here's where it gets interesting. You have said that it is a natural trading hub. What would happen if a significant portion of trade fell away? Luna has one significant way of stopping the other two countries from trading with Freeport. 'It's us or them' If the US forced China to choose between Singapore and the US as trading partners, I guarantee you China would choose the sovereign nation of the trading hub. You're right in saying that Equestria does have interests there, but Freeport survives on trade with Equestria and the other nations, while Equestria does not. It gives Equestria much more leverage. I agree that if Luna were to invade she would likely fail, barring some severe and brash actions unlikely to be supported internationally. However, Equestria most probably easily has the means to effectively embargo/blockade Freeport by forcing a choice upon other nations. Given Equestria's output and similarity to the US, they likely have great leverage to say that. My issue is not so much if they can do it or not, it's if Luna can convince Celestia to enact it. Without her support, or with her vetoing, I don't think she has the authority to order such a thing. That's the big hold-up.
First (ha, more like twenty-second), lets address Freeport weight. you say they are not a small fish in the pond. I disagree. Freeport is a collection of islands. The largest island holds the moderately large trading city of Freeport. I think somewhere it said 'thousands of islands' in another story, so I'll go with that. Anyway, that still doesn't leave much land. This is as opposed to one very large kingdom (Equestria) spanning the width of an entire continent, and Empire (the Zebra's) and another large kingdom, which I will assume is of comparable size because the three keep being compared on equal terms throughout the stories. Freeport, by comparison, cannot be that large or powerful, certainly not to seriously threaten any major power. It's like Vanuatu compared to Australia. Why now? That's easy. Luna returned now. she has always been characterized as the more action type with her sister being the more diplomatic type. She could easily say she was appalled by Freeport conducting illegal operations and finally doing something about it. Besides, once she has committed, she might as well get some more serious concessions, like an agreement to actively fight smugglers, in addition to taking the sword. As for the reputation. This could be a likely scenario. Freeport tells the world that it's because of the sword, attempting to discredit them to which Luna would just say 'no, false'. It would make Freeport seem like those that are trying to delegitimize Equestria. I don't think it would particularly harm or help them to be honest. Also, you are forgetting about Equestria's reputation. Celestia has built a massive reputation for harmony, and trying to spread harmony across the world, and especially in Equestria. She is known as a just ruler who tries to do the right thing. Even Freeportians grudgingly admit that though they may not like her. If an embargo would ever take place, Luna must have gotten Celestia's agreement, which implies she (the just and kind ruler) agrees with the course of action. I cannot say for certain this would happen, but it certainly seems like a likely possibility. As for precedent, the cover would, of course, be 'no illegal smuggling' and as long as the countries kept it hidden, kept up okay relations with Equestria, and didn't admit to it, they would not have a problem. Freeport is known for smuggling, whereas the Zebrican Empire is not.
I do think Corellia is actually a better example, nice thinking. I wouldn't have thought of that. And yes, it is nice to see a fellow ... wait, what are we actually called? Warsians? Nope. Anyway, you are right. Freeport is important because it sits at the crossroads of great states, and is in the middle of at least one important trade route. At this point, it should be important to analyze the way most trade hubs make money. They make money by transferring goods from one state to another via an easily accessible pass or route. They don't actually make the goods. In order for Corellia not to be taken over by Imperial troops, they had to maintain a semblance of legal trade, requiring legal businesses. If Equestria presses a choice, the other nations are likely to be upset that they have to pay more to export, but will ultimately find another way, as I doubt they would risk trade with Equestria for Freeport. Legal businesses would also leave, especially when doing business with Equestria as there is an embargo. This would only create more of an excuse for the embargo. If the other nations choose to side with Equestria, which they likely would, then legal means would become almost impossible. Like you said, Corellia didn't 'fall' until the rest of the galaxy accepted and if Equestria, a very powerful and productive country were to force a choice on the other nations ... Freeport couldn't survive nearly as prosperously as it would have and would likely collapse under the pressure. If you want to good example of the negative effects of something like this, even if only some powerful nations embargo, just look at Iran. Like I said, I think Equestria could embargo them rather easily by forcing a choice, but Luna might struggle to convince her sister to embargo a nation made better and led by her former protege who she still cares for.
Also, I love our huge posts. It makes me laugh.
8944886
Okay, that makes your point a little easier to understand. But I still feel like Luna's claim to the sword is rather tenuous. Silver Ankh has been dead for over a millennia, and has no known living descendants. Conversely, Freeport has had "Chainbreaker" for almost that same length of time, and it is a massive source of cultural heritage and national pride. It honestly seems like it has more connection with Freeport than it ever did with Equestria. As far as we know, the sword was only ever used really as a ceremonial gift used to better relations with Selekria (I think I spelled that right). Not to mention it doesn't seem like anyone in Equestria even knows about the sword even existing, or particularly cares that much besides Luna. And again, Luna hasn't really given Sunset a compelling reason to part with the sword. Sure she can say its stolen Equestrian property, but she A) hasn't provided any evidence that this is the case and B) Sunset has pointed out that Equestria itself is in possession of items Freeport considers theirs. As for the guard, while it is true that no violence was used, Luna did still involuntarily render him unconscious. That is still pretty close to assault.
8944910
Subjectively, on Freeport's side, it's true they have no proof that Luna has a claim to it. But we, as readers, knows that she does.
That being said, I get your points. I understand why Freeport lays claim to it. I just don't think their claim to it trumps that of legitimate ownership.
But I think we've exhausted pretty much all arguments at this point. What say you we leave it here, before any annoyance sours an otherwise reasonable debate?
8944929
Fair enough. I suppose 'agree to disagree' is a good enough way t conclude this. We'll probably see how this resolves itself anyway in the next chapter. I thank you for a interesting intellectual exercise.
8944979
You too!
8944900
We are totally ruining this comment section for the other people... anyway!
On Sunset, fair enough. I can't say she has ever been accused of being subtle, so I could definitely see Hidden Facts getting one over her. I would say that is what she has Strumming and Puzzle for, where ever he is at the moment, but there are no guarantees they can catch everything.
I still feel like Freeport is still in a better position than we give it credit for. You have pointed out the single most insurmountable fact: Celestia basically dictates whether this flies or not. Putting aside for the moment that she is going to be predisposed to favor Sunset, and therefore the country she is running, it wouldn't be worth it from a logical standpoint. It's a simple pros-vs-cons situation, and Luna isn't going to be winning it.
Pros of forcing Freeport to acquiesce: Luna gets her shiny, one disgruntled spirit laid to rest. Down turn in piracy and smuggling, at least until they find new places to work from. Black market price inflation, for the previous reasons. Perhaps some more favorable tax deals on Equestria's goods.
Cons: Prices on imported goods will raise, probably significantly. Middlemen like Freeport drive prices down so long as taxes are reasonable, as shorter voyages allow merchants to haul cargo more often and spend less on the cost of travel. Additionally, Freeport is providing regulation to the pirating population. Forcing Freeport to go full-legal means goodbye scruffy customs officials, hello rape and pillage. More danger=higher prices. Sugar prices skyrocket; Freeport is said to be the major supplier for Equestria, so they either need to grow more at home, or ship it from farther away, which is expensive. Plus, as supply just got shot in the foot and demand is just as steady as ever, prices will clime on their own. Considering the national love of baked goods, including an Element of Harmony and a certain princess, I imagine that would cause a lot of complaints. Less likely but still worth talking about, we have a possible crime wave. Freeport is well known as a place to hide out and do your thing if you are in trouble with the law back home. Again, if they go full legal, odds are those people will need to find somewhere else to lay low. Whether that ends up being in Equestria or not it's still a problem. You also have the Doos and Strikers, two clans of mercenaries/assassins who aren't terribly fond of Equestria. Whatever they end up doing, I can't imagine it'll be a pro for Equestria. Finally, assuming Puzzle Piece is still kicking, odds are his network is as well. And a pissed off information broker can do some nasty things to an economy, especially one that's already going to be dealing with problems.
Altogether, I can't see Luna winning that argument. Regardless of whether or not Freeport could withstand an Equestrian embargo, I can't see it being cost effective unless they start breaking the law in some really stupid ways. One stolen sword, a ghost, and Luna's pride shouldn't be worth the price of economic strife for an entire nation.
8945004
We are abusing the comment section. But like you said, anyway...
Puzzle is good, and Strumming is okay, but I can imagine a warlock like hidden facts to be subtle enough to do the deed. Puzzle is definitely not infallible (Strumming shooting affair) and don't even get me started on Strumming.
I see Freeport as kind of like Singapore, just with more history, more smugglers, and more illegal activities. It is definitely not a total pushover, however, considering it is surrounded by states (Indonesia and Malaysia) that have much more resources, population, etc. than it does, if they were to embargo Singapore, they would collapse. Freeport exists because the other nations prefer it like that. If Luna upsets the balance, it is not outside the realm of possibility to think she has very different thoughts on this. You are right in saying that Celestia is the prime obstacle. Whether she is biased towards Sunset I contest, because on the other hand is her sister, but I don't think she would take such a brash action unless much more was at risk.
I will address some points in your logic, but I have to say that I agree with you that it would not be the right move. I merely pointed out it was a potential possibility and would give Equestria a lot of leverage over Freeport. I'll adress some points, then offer some alternatives.
Here's the deal with trade wars. Trade wars almost always have a negative impact on all parties that partake in them. Now we have three different countries to deal with. the exporter (the country that produces goods and sells it to another country), the trade hub (the countries that act as middlemen for the goods) and the importers (the countries that buy lots of goods from other countries). Like I said, in a trade war, all parties lose. However, all parties do not lose equally. Importers will lose because their consumers will see a rise in product prices that uses imported material. This is obviously not good but is not THAT big of a deal. It just means you cant buy as much, and especially for a country as large and diverse as Equestria, they very probably have other channels they can go to for trade and goods. The exporters face much more problems. They lose jobs, factories close, unemployment rises, and that in and of itself creates a host of new problems. Governments have been known in the past to quickly capitulate from this type of pressure which creates resentment, unrests, and can even lead to riots or extreme polarization of the country (hitler). Trade hubs have it even worse because goods simply don't flow anymore. That's their entire source of income. Imagine the exporter's problems but tenfold. Now considering Freeport is both an exporter and a trade hub, it would fare much worse than Equestria which is the importer. Also, Freeport is mentioned to be a major supplier of sugar. Emphasis on the a. It makes a real difference. One of multiple as opposed to the only one. Additionally, while Puzzle pieces spy network is undoubtedly powerful, we have not had an indication that is is very deeply entrenched in Equestria, plus I don't think he will be able to match the EIS, which if Equestria=USA, then EIS=CIA. Very powerful indeed. Furthermore, a direct attack from the Doo's or Strikers could be considered an act of war, and this would be much worse for Freeport than Equestria. Yes, they are mercenaries but have clear allegiances to Freeport, and bias against Equestria. If Equestria feels disgruntled already.....
Where do I agree? It does increase black markets = bad. It forces smugglers to move = bad although I do think saying rape and pillage is a but too strong. If they were gonna do that, they would have already done it. Otherwise they just move their base of operations. I have no doubt that Equestria could embargo Freeport and that Freeport would fail. For reasons mentioned above and international affairs which I will not be getting into, I agree that it isnt cost effective.
Luna is immortal and honestly, I expected her to have a little more class. Why not use the EIS to build a network over time and just expertly steal the sword in 10 years. No confrontation with Sunset, just manipulation in a span of time that should be nothing for an immortal. Why go on a treasure hunt at all. Send agents dammit. This would seem to me to be much better, especially if Luna expertly, calculatingly, slowly and with trusted people set this plan into motion. An immortal can scheme much better than a mortal can. I agree, there are much more cost-effective ways to reclaim the sword.
Oh, by the way, when you said 'economic strife for an entire nation' Freeport or Equestria?
Also, I am very happy this has been kept civilized. All too often people refuse to logic duel with me or will become aggressive, so thank you for that.