We're going to build an exact copy of Ponyville... right over there! We've got less than a minute!
"The Night is not as forgiving as the Day."
When Twilight agrees to become Princess Luna's personal student, she discovers the hard way what Luna's Night and her Lunar Court are really all about.
This story is thematically a darker flip-side to "My Little Student", but is written so that it can read on its own. Also, while for the most part this is arguably compatible with show canon, I've turned on the AU tag anyway, just to allow myself a little elbow-room for world-building.
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I liked this.
It was fun with a bit of world building and exploring with some dark elements but not to the point it overwhelmed the story or sucked the fun and joy out of reading it and going gloom and doom on the audience.
It should be heard not head
9085793
Fixed -- thanks for catching that!
The Gate is magical, right? That means it might be able to sense magic, right?
Twi-Twi, use Ember!
Yes.
9167803
The Gate is a little more subtle than that -- it responds either to total, focused mindfulness... or to the Royal Canterlot Voice and the threat of a large enough axe.
(BTW, The Gateless Gate also puts in an appearance in Chapter 3 of My Little Student, if you haven't read that yet -- its appearance here is a humorous take on its more serious introduction there.)
I'm going to guess that rising without the go ahead from your sovereign is an insult, like it was in real world Medieval and Renaissance times? They should probably go over those kinds of rules before they actually start.
9196426
It's particularly meant to contrast with Twilight's first lesson with Celestia (in My Little Student), where Celestia specifically forbids Twilight to kneel in her presence, at least during their one-on-one lessons. And serve as a heads-up to Twilight and the reader that there are some unexpected turns ahead...
So is Derpy a Planeswalker in this reality?
An interesting take on the bat ponies. I like it.
I like Zeugma. He reminds me of a more chill version of Abridged!Alucard.
Nice.
Fun, intense, and well-written. Bravo, thou prodigious purveyor of peerless prose.
9197034
I think Twilight would be closer to the concept of a Planeswalker, actually!
Derpy's more like the Ruler of the Universe in the Hitchhiker's Guide radio show... the one who runs the universe because no one who really wants to can be allowed to:
[A door opens... there's a sound of pouring rain outside.]
"Excuse me, do you rule the Universe?"
"I try not to. Are you wet?"
"Wet? Doesn't it look as if we're wet?"
"That's... how it looks to me. But how you feel about it might be a different matter. If you find that warmth makes you feel dry, you'd better come in!"
9197131
Thanks -- I was half afraid readers would be up in arms about the Mane 6 summoning demons... but then I remembered what happens when you turn the Mature filter off, and I didn't worry any more.
9197161
)
Many thanks for reading and commenting, oh exceptional expresser of encouraging encomiums!
(Yeah, I totally had to break out the thesaurus for that one!
Ah Tia. Even in pleasant conversation you can’t help but traumatize.
Gonna be an awkward conversation with Dash I expect.
One of the more grim views of their origins I’ve seen. Fitting.
I’d think Twilight would have switched from greed to wrath after that ordeal.
9403128
Thanks for reading, and thanks for asking!
Taken together, My Little Student and Acolyte of the Lunar Court serve as a headcanon basis for several of my stories, since they establish the categories of magic and some of the conventions I tend to assume.
The Night that Luna Returned implicitly takes place soon after Student, and draws out some of the Celestia-related aspects of that story. (I should add a cross-link in the description of Student -- thanks for reminding me!)
While not direct sequels, the stories The Sixth Element, Shopping Spree Day and Princess of the Day can arguably be viewed as taking place in the same continuity, and Derpy plays a similar "wild card" role in each of them, to a greater or lesser extent. (These were fun to write, and hopefully fun to read -- I'm hoping more folks will discover them!)
And if you're looking for Twilight as Nightmare Moon's acolyte, Nightwaker covers that, though it necessarily takes place in an AU timeline.
I did do some deliberate world-building in Acolyte, like Dark Town, the origin of Luna's nightmares, and of course the scenes with Derpy, with the intention that this could be a basis for follow-on stories in the same space. The only reason I haven't pursued those yet is because it's been hard to judge whether there's general interest from the readership for these "early season" stories with Twilight and friends... I'd love to do more along these lines, no question about it!
Anything in particular you'd want to see more of here?
9404581
Ah, I get it -- you were looking for more continuity, more of the same story... fair enough!
Of course, you do realize that's why we have a Shrek Five and I don't even wanna think about how many Sharknado movies, yeesh!
(I have tried writing a direct sequel to a story that readers really liked (see Nightwaker), but I didn't see nearly as much of a response from the readership, so it wasn't clear to me if that was the way to go in general.)
True.
Awwww that's sweet!
Twilight, you don't know what you're asking for. The last being to walk into Pinkie's dream a dream that isn't being interrupted by outside forces (looking at you Tantabus) was Sunset when she was awake and she was disturbed by what she saw. That was when Pinkie was conscious and awake. But with her asleep? Twilight don't do it! XD
It's been a long while since I've encountered a story about Luna taking Twilight as an apprentice, so I'm really glad to have read that. You said in your notes that there has been lots of fan stories about the same, do you know if they are collected somewhere?
9900335
Did you mean the note on Where Nightmares Come From? That was referring to the numerous (and very inventive) stories around Luna's guard ponies; for more of those you might try groups like Bat Ponies and Thestrals.
My take on Luna's "nightmares", as I call them, is a little different, though I don't discount the possibility of there being a Thestral-like race of ponies as well...
Shadow magic is all about deception: there was no fallback spell.
Lol. "Harvey the Pooka".
I see where this is going, and it’s not good...
Yep! There it is! Don’t do it! No matter what he says, DON’T DO IT!!
OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! The others I can see buying his crap, but Twilight!? You should know better!! Never, ever, under any circumstances are you to trust a bloody demon!!
9197056
Same.
comment
Did he go to the school of false incompetence?
Neat training method
9197578
We shal not speak of the 9/10ths of the M rated stories, that are not here to be actual stories
I can’t figure out if she even left the dream