CH 67 Moonlight Awakening
The vaguest hint of self-awareness floated up from the darkness of oblivion. The first thing to impinge on her was a sound. Something so familiar and yet so alien after the nothingness before.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
It was more than just a sound. It pounded within her as if whatever made it was a part of her. Realisation crept in. That was her heart, and with that realisation, that muscle deep in her chest sprung into action. Pins and needles spread through her chilled flesh as it warmed with each pulse of blood. Despite all that, she was still too comfortable to move.
Everything was the tight embrace of soothing darkness and the drumbeat of her heart in her chest. It would have been far too easy to stay there like that forever, but that was not to be. The mummers of voices dragged her from the abyss that enveloped her.
I’m alive? The thought hit her like lightning. Her jump-started mind churned that over for a moment. Why am I so certain I should be dead? The fact no answers came to mind was unacceptable. Alright, what's the last thing I remember? As she searched her memories, time and time again, she found only a void. So, I either just had a nightmare, or I was just in a dangerous situation.
It would have been so easy to dive back into the silken softens of sleep, but there were questions she needed answered. The one that really lit a fire under her hooves was, how safe was her current situation? She pushed through the quilted comfort of unconsciousness and latched onto the voices.
Other senses imposed themselves upon her consciousness. First, the sensitisation of her barrel moving as her lungs took in air, the scents of fabric, feathers, and weapon oil joined the distinctive aromas of thestrals. Finally, the murmured words started to make sense.
“Aw, she fainted,“ a mare complained.
“Come on, pay up!” A stallion's voice said.
“How do you always know?” The mare asked.
The jingle that could only be a bag of bits was almost deafening. The second one, when the clearly thrown bag was caught, was not less loud but was far more tolerable.
“I'm just ‘that’ good.” The strangely familiar stallion’s voice said. The image of a cocky and fanged smirk came to mind just from the tone, a rather familiar-looking smirk.
She felt her tongue and lips protest as she tried to speak, but she did not let that stop her. “Striker?” The newly awakened mare croaked out through an aching throat.
“Ah, you're awake. Welcome back to the land of the living.” Striker said. Even with her eyes closed, she could hear the playful smile in his voice.
Her ears felt heavy as they twitched and tried to orient themselves on the speaker. Heavy eyes fought back as she tried to open them, but she persisted.
The mare’s voice turned soft and soothing, like a mother talking to her foal. “Easy there, you've been through a lot.”
Have I? Her mind provided no answers, but as if guided by a will of its own, her hoof found her throat and gingerly made contact. She held her breath, braced for some agony or dire discovery. But no, only her own warmth and intact, pristine flesh covered by a coarser coat than felt right.
She let out her breath and stroked her throat one more time. Despite nothing being wrong, a bone-deep certainly insisted something was.
“You're safe here.” The motherly voice said. The tone was so earnest it could only be accepted as truth, or as least truth as the mare knew it.
Bit by bit, her eyelids pried themselves open. Colours she did not have the words for swirled across the ceiling, and a pair of mesmerising eyes looked down at her. For a long moment, she just stared. The sight was like nothing she had ever seen before. “Where am I?” She asked, focusing upon those eyes.
“Hey, there, beautiful.” Striker said. His eyes were full of colours they never were before. His fangs poked out past his playful smirk.
She sighed in familiar exasperation. “That's not an answer to my question, Captain Striker.”
A leathery wing moved between them. The wing connected to the body of a bat-winged mare. That mare had a far softer smile, and her eyes were just as radiant as Strikers, if not more.
“Name’s Mercy, tis nice to meet thee.”
Strike snorted. “Stop trying to talk like the Sovereign.”
Mercy stomped her hoof. “She likes it, I think it sounds cool, so why shouldn't I?”
“I’m…” Her words faltered as a cold realisation set in. She had finally noticed something was missing. “I can't remember my name.”
“Of course not,” Striker teased.
“Of course not? Of course not?” The unmanned mare rolled and tried to push herself to her hooves. Her body did not quite cooperate, and another wave of pins and needles ripped through her limbs. She settled on simply pointing her hoof at him. “I'm clearly not a full amnesiac if I remember you and your mango habit.”
“There is nothing wrong with appreciating the best fruit.”
“Mangos are not…” The unmanned mare’s words tumbled to a halt as the most delightful sweet scent reached her nose.
Striker chuckled, suddenly an oddly cloured mango balanced on his upraised hoof.
“I don't even like mangos.”
“You do now.”
“What did you do to me?”
“Get your fangs in this first.”
“Fangs?” Her tongue explored her mouth, and yes, he was right. Four sharp points now had a home in her mouth. “Why do I have fangs?”
“What do you mean? You always had them,” Striker started in that infuriatingly smug way he had.
Thwack.
“OWWW!” Striker glared at Mercy, whose hoof was poised to deliver another thwack to the head.
“Stop tormenting the poor mare. You know what it's like. You went through it too.”
“You're no fun.”
Mercy hit him on the head again. “She does not need to have tricks played on her. She needs to know she is safe and amongst friends.”
“Where am I, and why does everything look so strange?” The unnamed mare asked around a mouthful of succulent mango that she could not quite remember how it got there.
“You mean the new colours?” Mercy asked.
The unnamed mare nodded.
“You have new eyes. This room is in total darkness.”
The unnamed mare looked around and studied her surreal surroundings. There seemed to be no source for the colours of the ‘light’ she thought she was seeing. None of it caused any illumination. It was as if the world was made of liquid, and fluorescent inks swirled and danced within it. So this is how thestrals see the world… wait Her hoof shot up to where her horn should be. “Thank Celestia.”
“That's a saying you may want to stop using.” Mercy said.
“Why?”
“Let's just say, the Day Princess does not have the best reputation with us at the moment.”
She let that lay for the time being and moved on to the more important issue. “What happened to me?”
“The short answer, you chose to live.”
“So, what part about that choice means I can't remember my name?” The unnamed mare asked as her mind tried to piece together the chain of events that led to this moment.
“Because you had to die.”
What? The words struck her like a hammer blow. A flash of another pony and the taste of muddy blood flooded her mind. “The Sargent…” She started, but Mercy just shook her head.
“He made the other choice.” Striker said uncharacteristically somber. “The slacker.”
Thwack.
Striker’s muzzle hit the floor from the none-too-gentle ‘tap’ Mercy’s hoof applied to the top of his head.
“What did you do that for?” Striker glared at Mercy.
“Go and let the others know she is awake,” Mercy said as her cocked rear leg threatened to give him a powerful incentive to leave.
Striker slipped somehow deeper into the colours and faded from view. Ripples spread through the world like a pond with a stone dropped in it.
“Your friend was dying and made the choice. He wished to be with his family in the Enteral Fields instead of facing the Blight again.” Mercy moved closer and proffered a set of brushes. “Unlike Celestia, Luna won’t force anypony to fight monsters.”
The Blight? As if summoned by the thought, a flash of memory returned. Her heart hammered in her chest as she panted for breath. An image of a pony's body twisted into that of a monster accompanied by the sickening sound of breaking bones and ripping flesh. She closed her eyes and gave her head a little shake.
A thought or something half-remembered came to her in what sounded like Princess Luna’s voice. Even time travel can not alter the past. What has been is now naught but memory. All anypony may do is decide their path in the present. Remember, treasure and learn from each moment that has slipped away. Honour those lost, but never let the past bind you nor stay your hoof when the time comes to act.
She held her breath for a moment and smoothly let it out. The near panic, the fear and worry left with the exhaled air.
The wonderful colours came back into existence as she re-opened her eyes. “You believe in the afterlife?” Unnamed asked as she rolled and pushed herself to her hooves. The motion was too easy, and it turned into a little hop. I'm lighter? She thought, but that felt wrong. She could see the extra thickness of her legs. She could feel the extra muscles wrapped around her body as it bunched and extended. It felt wrong, and at the same time, it felt right, as if it was completely alien and exactly how she should be at the same time. So, at least I have some concept of what I used to look like.
Mercy nodded and set to work with the brush. “Believe? No, I’ve seen it. When one of us falls, the Sovereign takes us under her wing and personally walks us to that door.”
The slow, steady motion of the brush through her coat felt as soothing as it did wrong. The way it pulled and tugged was just a constant reminder that her sleek Canterlot beauty was gone, replaced with a lethal athletic look.
The grooming was no spa treatment, but after the week she had the still unnamed mare just let herself relax into it. “Why did I have to die?” Unnamed asked with a quiet hum of contentment.
“The Sovereign’s the best one to ask for that, but my guess was so she could steal you for herself.”
“Steal me?” That sounded familiar. Her mind drifted back and found a name and a moment in time. Atop a rooftop, lit only by the moonlight, an odd mare with oversized wings rolled her eyes with a slight nod towards Princess Luna before, with a burst of silvery magic, she launched into what should have been a hopeless death trap. Candice, the last mare Luna had ‘stolen’.
“Do you know how much of a joke RGIS is? How much of the evidence or confessions you get are just manufactured by Celestia to fit her narrative?”
The world faded away to black, only to be replaced by a different scene. Dozens of nobles lay down, their forelegs covering their heads. One noble was held by Celestia as she reached out and broke their horn off. The sound was horrible. The lack of reaction and the serenity on Princess Celestia's face was worse.
A tug on her coat snapped things back to reality as the brush caught on a knot. What?
“And now she has you, you of all ponies, playing toy soldier?” Only the tremble in Mercy’s otherwise calm voice betrayed the anger that was so at odds with the soft strokes of the brush.
Her body shifted, adjusting in anticipation of an undesired burden. Irritation shifted to resolve as she levely met Mercy’s narrowed eyes. As much as she had hated the heavy armour and the dull monotony of a guard’s job, she had to do her part. For Celestia’s sake, they were bringing retirees back into the force and strapping armour onto foals. “I was needed.”
“Yes, but not for that. With your talent and skills, you are needed to track down those that caused this, not die in a fight you're not prepared for.”
On reflex, a part of her reached inside for something, a warmth, a core of certainty that had always been there and found nothing. Her mouth slipped closed. The words that might have once come, did not even try to pass her lips. A cold dread bled down to a sense of loss with a spikey hint of guilt.
A bittersweet smile graced Mercy’s muzzle. “You no longer have Celestia’s loyalty spell on you.”
Loyality spell? Such things were meant to be plot devices in bad fiction where the author could not come up with completing reasons for allegiances to change or even exist in the first place. She narrowed her eyes. “I trust you have some proof?” Even as she asked, the claims of Candice came to mind.
“There is a simple spell to let you see the effect. It makes it very easy to spot anypony in the Solar Guard, even if they are undercover.”
Mercy’s eyes held not a hint of deception, only utter certainty in the truth of her words, and a maternal care. She cast her eyes over the fruits of her labours and gave a firm nod. She put the brushes aside and spoke. “We should say hello to the others.” With that said, she walked toward the lone door in the room, and with a sweep of her wing, beckoned the unnamed mare to follow.
The door opened with hinges that definitely needed more oil and broke the sanctuary of the dark. The hash light burned her eyes, she hissed and shielded her poor sensitive eyes with a foreleg.
“Yeah, that bit sucks. Give it a moment, and your eyes will adjust,” Mercy said.
Slowly, little by little, she opened her eyes, and the ‘normal’ world revealed itself. She looked around, the small crack of sunlight lit the room completely.
The shadows still had hints of the fantastical colours, but only hints. It was if the sunlight smothered their beauty with its hash light. A part of her almost wanted to weep at the harsh blandness the daylight brought from the corpse of the slain darkness.
Mercy's wing extended, and the tip almost brushed the surface of an Alicorn-sized mirror. The two ponies in the mirror captivated her. Even in the shadowed sections, none of the umbral colours, the true richness of the world could be seen, but that was just details. Two ponies in the room, two ponies in the reflection and yet neither felt like her.
As if her hooves had a mind of their own. She moved in front of the mirror. Just by the sight of her muzzle and what she could see without it, she knew she would look different. Well, not like this is the first time I became another pony. She thought as she tried her best not to add ‘but it is the first time you had to die for it’.
She took a claming breath, and then like so many times before, she deliberately met her reflection's gaze. There was nothing of who she once was, not a feature, not a line.
The mare that looked back possed dangerously, her predator's eyes stared with keen intensity that could be either intimidating and alluring. Her thicker coat could not quite conceal the taught lines of powerful muscles. She cycled through facial expressions and poses, each from a pony she had once bean. None of them quite fit.
“Who are you?” She asked the mirror as her mind played with the possibilities of this new look.
The mare in the mirror smiled, showing fangs. “You assume my identity, and you don’t even recognise me?” The tone dripped the playful confidence most of Luna’s ponies had. Somehow it just felt right. The pose though, that needed a bit more. Less Canterlot and a bit more Cloudsdale?
A shift in the legs, a hint of a hunting cat's grace and danger. She traced every line of her new body. I can work with this.
She turned side on, revealing her mark. Her new mark.
You are my Moonlight. Illuminate those that would hide from my wrath. The remembered words hit like a ton of bricks. Pride and exhilaration like liquid lightning sent a shiver dancing down her spine.
The newly named Moonlight spoke to her reflection. “Hello, Moonlight.”
“You know that's my line, not yours?” Striker’s smug voice called in.
“I get working for Princess Luna now… but do I really have to put up with you?”
“Burned,” another voice called out before it broke up into hyena like cackling.
With dual thwacks, Striker’s complaining, and the evil laughter stopeed. As if she had done nothing, Mercy spoke, “Now normally, there would be a party, a great celebration to welcome a new sister to the night.”
“So, I died and I don’t even get a day off?”
“Nope.”
Lethargically, but in a heartbeat, she was awake and at peace, being fully alert in a strange duality. Soft sweet grass cradled her as she lay under a beautiful star-lit sky. A deep breath filled her lungs as she savoured the forest scents around her. Night flowers and morning dew stood out the most.
“This is nice,” she sighed out. It had definitely been far too long since she had even a moment to rest, let alone go on holiday. And all you had to do was die… The thought bit like a thorn in her hoof, a small thing, but an insistent one. A slow breath expanded her barrel as she tried to discard that particular thorn.
Before her eyes, the moonlight that was now her namesake revealed even more wondrous views. All around her a fairytale forest expanded in every direction for the clearing she lay in. Hundreds of different types of trees and thousands of varieties of night flowers combined in a pattern that only appeared to be natural. The more she looked the more she could sense the deliberate care with which each had been placed.
A hunch backed with iron clad certainly marched to the front of her thoughts, trampling any doubts. I’m dreaming. None of this was real, and yet, to every sense it was.
As if summoned by the thought, a voice spoke from behind her. Just the first syllable froze her insides and clenched her heart with icy talons. “Just because none of this is physical, does not mean any of this is less real,” The regal voice said.
“Princess Luna?” Moonlight choked out, a familiar phantom pain clutching her throat.
The Princess of the Night prowled from the too-small shadow of an ancient oak. Moonlight's hooves scrambled for purchase as they proppeled her up and into a ‘muzzle trying to bury itself in the grass’ deep bow.
The living incarnation of the night moved closer on deathly silent hooves. The only sound the russle of the wind though her wings. “Be at ease my seeker of the truth.”
The tightness trying to asphyxiate Moonlight vanished and the peaceful scent of lavender settled her trembling limbs after a few breaths.
“Better?”
A nod was the only response she could manage. Dispute being calm, ideas, emotions and the ramifications of all that had happened still spun in both her mind and heart, if slowly and in ordered patterns for now.
Luna moved closer and with a brush of a wingtip under her chin, gidded Moonlight to rise. “Do you like your new office?” Despite the solemn expression the Night Princess wore, her tone was almost playful.
"Well this is larger than my last office," she said.
“Everything you need is here, every dream report submitted, a way to pass messages to those in the field and an escort to aid you in investigating the dreams of those you suspect.”
The whole setup was surreal, so very different from the small offices she never used. If this was the resources of the Night Guard, what was even the point of the RGIS?
As if sensing the question, her companion spoke. “This is all new, created just for you.”
She slowly turned in place, dream or not, this must have taken some effort with all the magical connections and reporting spells that would be required to allow this to work… It was truly amazing to think all this had bene done just for her, just to allow her to use her talents.
Princess Luna swept her wing in a graceful gesture and first one, and then dozens of the stars above floated down as if tame birds summoned to hoof. As each drew nearer images appeared flitting in each. Without even being told, Moonlight knew what they were. Memories and Dreams.
With a single stomp, the ground shook, and a circular table of dark stone erupted from the grass, a perfect relief map of the continent opon it. As if laying the table, Luna placed each captured star upon the map. Around each star, the map gained colour and details.
Looking down from above, the full extent of the blight was impossible to ignore. A full quarter of the wild spaces were twisted and corrupted.
The growl startled her, it took a full second for Moonlight to realise it had come from herself.
An approving smile formed on the Night Princess’s muzzle before her expression settled back to the icy coldness the Nocturnal Alicorn was known for. “We must return to the battlefront,” Luna said as she placed a token bearing the image of her legendary weapon Starfall upon it. “Attend to your duties.”
With a flash of light, Moonlight was alone in her office.
“Well, I always wanted a chance to make more of a difference… be careful what you wish for, I guess.” With what she knew was rapidly becoming a habit, she pressed her hoof to her throat to confirm it was still intact.
Tokens and little flags told the story of the current state of Equestria. Little silvery lines led to each memory orb that contained a more detailed report.
Some places were unassailable. Cadance and her husband each protected a city. Detachments of Solar Guards secured many others, unfortunately not casualty free. Moonlight’s eyes lingered on one particular token where two little flags were not needed to let her know how they were doing, but they did formalise it. The red of being engaged and the black that marked them in danger of being wiped out.
She had seen many newspaper reports declaring the death of, or the fact one of assumed identity was missing. Never had she simply been a notation on a casualty report. She dragged her eyes away from that stop and pushed those memories to the back of her mind. She had far too much to do.
The strategies at play were clear as day. Protect the major settlements, abandon the lesser ones where needed, contain the spread of the blight where possible and have Princess Luna and her Nightguard jump form concentration of hostiles smashing each one with overwhelming force. It was simple and direct, but left large tracks of land unguarded and unobserved.
As horrible as the situation was, it was clearly now stable. There would still be more deaths, maybe many, but it was now simply a matter of time before this threat would be dealt with.
Her eyes traced each and every token and flag. Every detail found its place in her mind as she reached for any hidden pattern, any misdirection to draw or discourage attention. “There's no true pattern here… the blighted are simply spreading as far and as fast as they can… this is more like a plague than a strategic action.”
She double-checked everything. “No, there are only three anomalies here…”
The first was a magenta shield dome encasing the refugee settlement next to Ponyville. Impressive, but nothing to worry about there.
The second was a pair of tokens far outside the borders of Equestria. The lavender one was an outline of an Equestrian airship with Twilight's mark on it. A brown one with a Griffon's claw and bow painted on depicted Griffonstone militia. “So that's why Twilight is not helping here…”
The third was a single token. A pair of villages marked as threatened by the blight had a single orange token of an untrusted allied force placed in defence. There was nothing remarkable about the area. The only thing that made it unique was that it had not been abandoned or destroyed. She tapped the token. “So you're my only lead… Let's see what we are dealing with…” She reached for the first nearby star.
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Welcome back. Hah, I was right, she did die! Let's see now...
Yeah I don't like this, Luna is playing the same games Celestia is, just slanted a bit to suit her own mores.
Midnight release of a new chapter - lets fucking goooooo
11415563
"Congratulations. You just died. Sure, you felt like you were doing a good job, being where you were forced to believe you should be, doing something you should never have been forced to do, only to witness what can only be described as a living hell for the last few moments. Your value to the world squandered, your life treated as a chess piece and nothing more. It's a shame that death incarnate (which is apparently what Luna is to the world as it currently exists, given the comments of how she escorts ponies to the afterlife) didn't deem you valuable enough to save... or worse... decided not to save you because it would be unethical."
The problem here is that alicorns in this canon are literally god-like beings, and you just can't fight that with ethics. When Celestia can just stare at someone and they can become a different pony entirely, you kind of have to play those same games just to stay in the game. In this, "Noble Guide" isn't entirely wrong. And, as a result, he's playing the exact same game. There is no system to really get angry at here or some societal norm that can be corrected. There is a massive power gap. One so insurmountable as to require the sacrifice of an entire city just to uplift ONE individual. Makes you wonder what Celestia did to uplift Twilight...
11415563
Agreed her death has not been justified at all.
Nightclaw you better have it explained more.for this is not really satisfying with the core issue here. No need for Revealing Light to be killed. This is still a very black mark on Luna.
Yay it is back!
11415745
No Nightmare is not lolicon
11415727
Yes it is, sorry for being gone so long.
11415563
Thank you.
The largest difference is that Luna will give ponies a choice. It may be a bad choice but she knows there is life after death, from her point of view death is merly retirement from life.
Hey, it’s a far better fate then having your soul destroyed
11415688
Think back to the previous chapter where Celestia walked through her hall of lights, which I now suppose may be the physical manifestations of the "Loyalty spell" described in this chapter.
Celestia saw that RL's light was back. I assume that she literally had to die because there's no real way to remove that light unless Celestia does it herself, like in Candice's place.
And yes, while Luna used RL's death for her own gains by convincing Celestia to let Luna loose on their enemies, RL's talents were being squandered by her being sent to the front lines. This way, she can make full use of her potential, and Luna gets what she wants. Top it all off with the fact that RL chose to live should mean something.
And as a side note sort of off topic: the memory erasures are for her protection from Celestia.
I was absolutely stoked to get the email notification of a new chapter last night. Was just about to go to bed, but absolutely could NOT let it wait til today. Extremely glad to see you back!
11415836
So, the poor mare had retired, then Celestia reactivated her, then she "retired" again, only to be conscripted again by the other one?
11415887
The poor mare got pulled from her normal work and put in armour to be seen to make ponies feel safer. Then when things went wrong she got sent into combat, combat she was not really suited for. Then she saw something she should not have, something Luna could not let her live after seeing at least not in her sister's service. Like with all things Luna does its serves more than one purpose.
11415905
Celestia would know about it and can make Light keep quiet.
11415871
It feels.like the wrong thing to do.
Luna is openly supporting Celestia, but in the shadows is pursuing her own agenda. Both claim they are doing what they do for the greater good. Neither is a good pony in my opinion.
But time will tell which is the villain. But everypony thinks they are the hero of their own story.
11415833
As long as you come back, take your time.
I did not notice any mistakes worth mentioning in the last chapter either, so i guess a good portion of time was spent on spellchecking etc.
You just made my day, no my Week!
I literally screamed when I saw this!
So happy this Story is back!
11415688
I mean thats the entire point!!
Luna is not a Saint!
She does some messed up stuff as well!
And I bet history will repeat itself again with Twilight and Cadance ,Twilight’s away from Equestria, they both probably will learn something (different) about Alicorns ,they will have a huge fight , but by the end of it all they will solve it by properly communicating their issues !
Because that is what Started this entire thing in the First place!
I think the big twist in this Story is going to be that Lunas Second Master Wasn‘t going to kill her and she judt jumped to a conclusion and acted on that!
I‘ve been rereading this Story and Candice is always the Character who seems the one most likely to actually get people to talk about stuff!
So she‘s probably going to play a big role in the future
11416098
not saying for her to be a saint and most of her issues stem from her torture by the alicorn masters and what Celestia did to her.
11416025
Actually did less spell checking on this one than on most of them. Just did it when we were both wide awake instead of one or both being tired.
11416113
Result matters.
And it has improved.
Wb. I’m assuming the loyalty spell is life long and soul bound? Is that why she had to die?
Might be time to star a reread, see if any lost threads can be tugged for what’s to come.
11415905
And that right there, makes Luna just as evil, if not more evil, than Celestia. Death to them both, let Twilight and her daughter/half soul rule the world.
11415918
Celestia knowing would be exactly the problem! What Light witnessed was an indication that Luna has some deep seated hatred for her sister, the kind that can only really come from learning what Celly did in the past. If Celestia learned what Revealing Light saw before she died, it could spark round two of the battle of the sisters. Only this time one has been hoarding power for the last millennia.
So, Luna's careless (yet artistic) venting put her in the position of either recruiting (read as murdering with a side of "oh, by the way, want to work for me?") an innocent, or get herself murderized by Daybreaker. Given thr inevitable fallout and Equestria losing the ruler of the night/grim reaper, I think Luna took the lesser of two evils here.
11416830
11417658
I definitely agree with the though of it being the lesser of two evils, but still definitely evil. Actually, a webcomic explained it to me in a very good way; Sometimes there will be moments where there are only bad options to choose from, like this moment. However, the lesser of two evils should never be thought of as good, because that's how you stop looking for better options and in many cases stop thinking of the lesser evil as evil at all.
I think this was a good example of that; Luna made a mistake (if an understandable one trying to vent and keep herself from making things WAY worse) and the result of that was only bad choices; Kill Revealing Light (and revive her in a new identity if she consents), or let Celestia know that her control over Luna has slipped and possibly start the equivalent of a civil war in the middle of what is basically a magic-zombie apocalypse. She went with the one that would hopefully result in only one death, and even offered Revealing Light options to try to mitigate how much she'd lose as a result... or at least choose exactly WHAT she'd be losing.
In short, it was a terrible situation that probably could have been avoided, but mistakes were made and Luna handled it as best she could. Celestia, meanwhile, seems to be on the other side of things where she picked what she might have originally considered the lesser of two evils, and decided that since it was necessary it was Good. And thus the evil spiraled out of control and she lost track of the fact that it was evil in the first place. ...assuming she even knew to begin with, given all the indoctrination and other seriously messed up stuff the original alicorns did and went through...
11417731
I disagree about having only bad/evil choices. Cause she COULD have chosen to let her LIVE. And instead go to Twilight, Cadance, and band together while revealing the truth of the Matter to the General Public FIRST before Celestia finds out, and FORCING her into the Light and view. Even if it leads to thousands dead in a civil war, it is the BETTER and logically MORAL and CORRECT thing to do.
I also don't remember Luna giving her a choice. I just remember Luna killing her and her team. And then she wakes up here. Which chapter did she give her the choice in?
Secondly, you are forgetting they are GODS, literally Divine Entities on a level of reality ABOVE the normal ponies. If Luna wants something it is FORCED to happen by her divine powers, rather she wants it to or not. She could go up to a pony, and say "Kill yourself" and they WOULD, with a SMILE on their face. They have THAT much power over a normal pony, who is basically an NPC to them the Admins with Dev commands. So how do we know if Luna ACTUALLY Gave her a choice, or if she was forced into it. After All, Luna picked her SPECIFICALLY cause 'Her Talents were being Wasted'. We can not trust that Luna FORCED the action on her, against her will, and she has no free will to deny it.
Now matter how you slice it, her evil is GREATER than Celestia's. Cause under Celestia they didn't know anything was wrong, a well treated slave who was taken care of, well fed, and happy. Then luna came in, freed them from Celestia's slavery into Luna's Slavery, forced them into Conscription, and is using them only for Luna's own benifit only, and not letting them be free and do what they want with their own freedom.
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She wodmlikely knows that. Hell there likely always hatred for what Clelestia put luna thriugh back when the other alicorns were still around. This is not justified
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I put luna better because she at least cares.
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The choice was given in the same manner as it was given to Candice. It just wasn't given the detail because it's already known.
Giving two ponies the options of seeing their families again in the afterlife instead of forcing them to fight a blight that could literally destroy your soul is actually the Kinder thing to do.
Giving the release of death to two ponies is objectively better than causing thousands to die in a civil war if it can be avoided. Not sure where you are getting the idea that taking an action that would lead to thousands dieing is somehow the morally correct thing to do when you have a mind editing tyrant in charge that already edited her sister's memories just to avoid having her sister mad at her.
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"Not sure where you are getting the idea that taking an action that would lead to thousands dieing is somehow the morally correct thing to do"
Cause under your and other's belief and view, then WW2 and American Civil War, are evil actions cause they lead to so many deaths. And that leaving people in Slavery, and allowing The Holocaust to continue is the morally correct thing, cause there would be less people hurt and dead.
I have the belief that it is better for everyone to know the Truth and have 100% freedom, even if that means they have to fight and die to protect it, is better than people living on their knees in ignorant bliss.
To again, put it into another perspective from a movie situation. In the Matrix you would be Felix, willing to kill the Free Humans and allow the Matrix to exist. Cause less people die if those outside the matrix didn't keep on trying to free people and fight against the Agents and Machines.
Which is just something I don't view as morally correct. It is evil. It is lazy. It is cowardness.
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First, you are making several wrong assumptions.
One, given the matrix scenario, I would not be like any of them. They exist in a world where you can resist and win.
Two, you make the assumption Luna doesn't have a better plan that won't result in millions of ponies being mind wiped and rewritten.
Three, you mistake what's at stake here that completly changes the equation to something most humans would not be able to comprehend.
When you are up against someone that can alter your very sense of self and prevent you from doing the job you were meant to, then you don't start a civil war that you stand no chance of winning. You have to play it close to the chest, because letting Celestia find out how you really feel will result in her changing you against your will and you lose, and all the others lose that you were trying to save. Tip your hand too soon and you've lost before you even had a chance to start. Doubly so when you are talking about one who has stored a millennia's worth of power and could glass the entire world.
I won't lie to you I really hate what Luna did to her. why would she do that to 'Moonlight'? Why kill her and bring her back as another servant? And to add further insult by changing her body into something completely different is just wrong. Kinda disgusting imo.
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Do you feel the same about Striker, Mercy, or Candice? The same was done to every thestral type in Luna's service. What makes it acceptable to me is the fact they are given the choice. Every single one of them made the choice. Every single one understood what they were choosing when they made the choice, even if they don't immediatly recall it when they wake from it.
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Were the circumstances that brought about such changes the same as what 'Moonlight' went through? I'm talking about the context in which such an 'offer' was made. Luna just showed up, murdered everything around her, and basically went 'Oops, you weren't supposed to see that. Let me kill you, mutate your body into something else, and bring you back to life so you can be my pawn instead of my sisters. Oor alternatively you can just die lol'
Not much of a choice is there?
Just my views on this but now i far less tempted to pick this story back up since Luna is proving to be just as bad as the oft-labeled tyrant Celestia. Luna was supposed to be better.
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First thing, thank you all for your interest in the story. It means a lot to me that people are engaged by my work enough to want to comment.
One of the themes of the story is power, in this case, what having too much power can do to both the person and those around them. Celestia, Luna and Twilight each provide a different look at how too much power can go wrong, be used, or be abused.
About what Luna did to Moonlight. This is a complex issue, I will not say what is right and wrong on the grand scale of things as I do not have the right to claim such but I will explain Luna's take on it if you are interested.
Is Luna a monster? She thinks she is and she knows why she is. She does the best she can by picking her prey from monsters and threats to her ponies.
Is Celestia a monster? Again Luna thinks she is just in a different way. From Luna's point of view, Celestia is too blinded by her own certainty that she is right, has the best solution and just sees those around her as pieces to be moved on her board.
Thank you and all the best.
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So again a pony.has to suffer and lose contact with her family because of Celestia's arrogance. I hope.one the blighted and noble are taken care of there is a recloning on her
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As for Luna's take on the situation regarding the poor mare she remade into a 'chosen'
She did the same things that she was horrified of Celestia doing to not only twilight, but herself as well. So for Luna to go and do the same thing, even if it is one of her 'chosen' it's still disgusting that she would do so no matter how 'different' Luna is. She's being the same as her sister, morphing and altering ponies as she sees fit. Either way you look at it, Luna just showed some great hypocrisy no matter how kind, logical, or other term you might use to make her reasoning seem better. It proves that Luna is not all that different no matter how much her reasoning might be. She still did what Celestia did to twilight; She tore a pony apart, regardless whether she was willing or not, and remade them in away she approved of to do her bidding instead of her sister. Shame.
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So as much as I would agree about her remaking a pony without consent, I can't because that is not what happens. Both in the story and the authors comment it is stated explicitly that she agreed for this change to happen to her, that she chose to become one of Luna's chosen. She simply had amnesia from, ya know, dying. Is it horrible that she had to die, yes. Did Luna really have a choice given the situation, not really. At the very least she still gave Moonlight the choice to become her chosen, unlike Celestia who just kinda gives out mind control like Halloween candy.
Hrm…yet more revealing of the consequences regarding the usage of one’s power. I understand why Luna did what she did. Put in the same situation, I honestly would have done the exact same thing. This story always makes me think of various lessons my OC has learned regarding power…in particular, one need not declare their power unless the need arises, and even then, only use as much as is needed. He (my OC, that is) despises his own power, preferring to use wits, cunning, strategy, and tactics. He is first and foremost, a warrior. Not a leader, nor a power-hungry egomaniac. He struggles everyday to contain and resist his powers…
Stops and reads over comment so far
Oh, frak! I let my mind wander and ramble aloud again! Bottom line, out of all the alicorns, I can relate to Luna the most in this story. She has a code, and her decisions are guided by that code; She does what she feels is right in a given situation, realizing that consequences will occur no matter the choice. While that code can so far be summarized as “I shall not be my sister”, she at lest has a code that is neither benevolent nor malevolent.