Chapter 1
Luna woke up screaming, her body drowning in a sea of cold sweat. Another day, another nightmare, not that the horror she woke up into was any better…
She had lost track of time for how long she was locked in this tiny stinking cell. She was alone, with only chains and flickering shadows to keep her company and the pain of magic suppressor biting into her horn. The damn contraption made sure she couldn’t use her magic to dispel the nightmares. Maybe that was the point.
As she sat there, rocking in her stinking bed, a clicking sound filled the air, and the heavy metal door opened with a high-pitch screech. A commanding yell quickly followed.
“Nightmare Moon! On your hooves!”
Luna’s squinted eyes adjusted to the bright light of the corridor just in time to see half a dozen guards walking inside her cell. They were all unicorns wearing royal armor and looking straight out of the gym.
“What? Who are you? What’s going on?”
“We have orders to escort you; that’s all you need to know.”
“Escort me... where?”
The head guard ignored Luna’s question and threw a pair of heavy shackles in front of her.
“Put these on.”
Luna shook her head. “First, tell me where I’m going—Argh!”
A sudden agonizing sting of magic coming from all the unicorns interrupted her, pinning her down – much stronger than it was necessary. A moment later, the shackles locked around her hooves and wings, but the guards held her in their magical grasp for a few more seconds. Judging by their grins, they enjoyed her screams way too much.
Finally, Luna’s body hit the floor, sizzling and twitching, her groans of pain echoing through the entire corridor. “W-why? Why are you doing t-this...”
“To show you who is in control here, honey. You’re not to ask questions, just follow orders. Try to attack us, run, or anything else and you’re gonna end up in a world of pain again. Get it, Nightmare Moon?”
“M-my name is Luna... Princess Luna.”
That only made the head guard smirk. “Well, in that case, your Highness.” He pointed his hoof at the door. “After you...”
***
As they made their way from the dungeons, Luna could hear the voices of the nearby crowd, but it wasn’t until they reached the large hall when she saw them all. Hundreds of creatures of all kinds sat in the oval room. There was one empty stand in the center and a large bench in the front of the chamber with a familiar face sitting on it.
“Celestia!” Seeing her sister for the first time in a millennium, Luna instinctively lunged forward, only to be snapped back by the chains. “Ugh... Celestia, tell them to free me!” Luna said, but Celestia’s face remained a stone. “Sister?”
A mix of loud clicking and clanking sounds interrupted Luna’s pleads. She turned her head to see her chain tightly fastened to the stand in the center. She was shackled in place, like some dangerous felon.
“W-what is this?!” Luna yelled, fighting her restraints. “I demand...”
Her voice suddenly died down, and the entire chamber quickly followed. A lavender alicorn the size of her sister entered the hall, walking towards the bench in the front. Luna blinked and shook her head, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her, but the alicorn’s cutie mark left no doubt. It was her.
“Y-you? I know you! But... you were a unicorn back then. How is that possible... And what do you want from me?” Once again, Luna’s question remained unanswered. Both her sister and the lavender alicorn just gaped at her with stone-cold faces. “Answer me—Ugh!”
“Silence, villain!” One of the guards ordered, crushing Luna’s throat with his magic. “You will address Princess Twilight only when asked, understood?!”
“Iron Shackle, that’s enough!” Twilight said to the guard, and he immediately released his grasp allowing Luna to breathe again. “Now, then, citizen Nightmare Moon—”
“L-luna!” Luna corrected, coughing. “My name is Luna! And what am I doing here?!”
“You are here to stand a trial for the crimes against Equestria and other creatures.”
“What crimes? What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything!”
The eyebrow on Twilight’s stone face arched up. “Allow me to refresh your memory...”
A scroll appeared in front of Twilight with a puff. The Princess cleared her throat and opened it, then the litany of accusations started.
“Destruction of property, namely the Castle of Two Sisters. An attempted coup to overthrow the legitimate ruler of Equestria at the time. An attempt to cause everlasting night by blocking the Sun with the Moon. And last but not least... An attempt to murder your own sister, Princess Celestia.” Twilight glanced back at Luna. “Does any of this ring any bells?”
Luna swallowed hard. It was all true, but one crucial detail was missing. “B-but, that was over a millennium ago! And I paid for my crimes! Is thousand years on the Moon not punishment enough?” She turned to Celestia, her lip trembling. “S-sister, I swear I’m a different pony now, tell them!” But Celestia glanced away. “Sister p-please! Why are you acting like this?! Please, help me!”
But no matter how hard Luna pleaded and cried, Celestia remained silent – gaping away with sorrow on her face, like some sculpture of pure misery.
Seeing no rescue coming her way, Luna turned back to Twilight. “I already paid for all the mentioned crimes. And when I came back, you and your friends freed me from Nightmare Moon only to banish me to limbo for many years!”
“The Elements of Harmony did that, not us, and they did it for a reason. Or did you forget how you tried to take over again? Or how you attacked my friends and me?”
“That was Nightmare Moon, not me!” Luna tried to explain but noticed Twilight arching her eyebrow again. “I can understand your skepticism, but Nightmare Moon and I are not one and the same!”
“Is that so?”
“It is! When the Elements struck, she was destroyed, and I was reborn a changed pony!”
Twilight nodded. “Fair enough... let’s talk about things you did after you came back as the ’changed pony’ you claim to be...”
Once again, Twilight levitated a parchment, opened it, and began reading.
“Taking part in the conspiracy to overthrow the legitimate ruler of Equestria. Spreading panic, chaos, and disorder by means of magic. And...” Twilight glanced up, frowning coldly. “An attempt to capture me, my family, and my friends in which many lives were lost.”
Luna bit on her lip, desperately looking for something, anything to explain her actions in a way Princess could understand. But with Twilight’s accusatory gaze locked onto her, her mind turned blank.
Seeing no answer coming anytime soon, Twilight decided to continue. “You say you’re a different pony, and yet you helped the evil trio after they freed you from the limbo! How do you explain that?”
“It’s not what you think!”
Twilight arched her eyebrow again and composed herself. “Do you deny you helped Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow to capture me?”
“... no, I don’t. B-but—”
“Do you deny that you caused an eclipse and held the Moon in place to create a diversion for the mentioned trio?”
“I do not! But let me explain—”
“DO YOU DENY that thanks to your actions part of Canterlot’s Palace lies in ruins, and nearly a dozen royal guards lost their lives?!” Twilight yelled, piercing Luna with a bone-chilling gaze. “Their blood is on your hooves!”
“I had no choice!” Luna yelled back. “B-believe me, I didn’t want to help them. And the nightmares of what I did to these poor ponies haunt me every night. But I swear, I had no choice!”
“There is always a choice, sister,” Celestia interjected with tears in her eyes. “And you chose evil, again...”
“Tia... they tortured me for days. They used my own magic against me, inducing nightmare after nightmare. In each one, they mutilated me and... made me feel all of it.”
Luna shamefully glanced down, her whole figure shaking at the overwhelming memories.
“Can either of you imagine the agony when your body gets destroyed piece by piece? How it feels when not even death can save you from the torment? You wake up from one nightmare into another, praying for some relief, but there is none...”
Luna glanced back up, looking the two princesses in their eyes.
“Yes, I am guilty of everything you accuse me of. But I ask both of you... if you had to choose between that and eternal torment, what would you do?”
The air filled with confused murmurs. For a moment, Luna could see that even Twilight’s face changed, and a ray of sympathy began protruding from under her stone-cold expression. Seeing this as her chance, she continued.
“Please, believe me, I have changed. I don’t want to hurt anypony anymore. I just… j-just...” Luna stammered, whimpering and sniffling like a beaten-up foal. “I just want to go h-home...” She bowed shamefully, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I beg you for mercy.”
For the first time since the trial started, Luna could see a glimpse of hesitation in Twilight’s eyes. The Princess had probably expected a ferocious adamant foe, spitting insults and threats of violence in her face. Instead, she got this wailing broken shell of a pony, begging for forgiveness. Looking confused, Twilight turned to Celestia, but one glance at the shaky older alicorn was a dead giveaway her heart was torn between duty and love to her sister.
Luna knew that the silence that hung in the air was working in her favor. But just when she thought mercy was within her grasp, someone from the crowd ruined it all.
“Don’t believe that murderer!”
The single comment filled the air with treacherous whispers that quickly crescendoed into full pitch screams of revenge.
“She killed my son!” One pony yelled.
“And my daughter!” Another added.
“Silence in the court!” Iron Shackle and a few other guards tried to silence the crowd, but every attempt only made the mob angrier and louder.
“Don’t let her trick you! She’s a cold-blooded murderer and a manipulator... like that Cozy Glow!”
“No! I’m nothing like her!” Luna cried out. “P-please... You have to believe me!”
But the more Luna tried to deny it the guiltier she sounded. She could see as that glimpse of hope she saw earlier in Twilight’s eyes was quickly fading away. When the voices finally died down, Twilight’s face was a stone again.
“You told us an interesting story today, but one thing doesn’t add up. Why didn’t you ask for help?”
“Ask whom? How? I was being held captive with a magic suppressor around my horn all the time!”
“Then how did you move the moon?” Hearing Twilight’s question, Luna’s lips curled, painting a confused expression on her face. “Let me rephrase that... Was your magic suppressed in any way when you were helping the fugitive trio create the eclipse?”
Twilight’s question hit Luna like a speeding train. Why didn’t she just teleport away once the suppressor was off? In retrospect, it seemed like an obvious solution. Yet... no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t come up with any logical explanation on why it didn’t occur to her.
“Well? We’re waiting,” Twilight said. “Was your magic suppressed or not?”
Luna locked her gaze to the cold marble floor and sighed in defeat. “No... No, it was not.”
“So, you could have teleported away and asked for help?”
“... yes.”
“Then, why didn’t you? If you are the change pony you claim to be... why didn’t you try to save lives?”
Luna could only shake her shoulders. “I don’t know. It never occurred to me at the time.”
Judging by her frown, Twilight wasn’t impressed. “It didn’t occur to you... Or maybe you’re just lying to us, and you helped them out, of your own free will?”
“N-no, I swear!” Luna said, but Twilight remained unfazed by her denial. “Please... try to understand – I wasn’t thinking straight at the time! The only thing on my mind was fear and pain... So much pain...” Tears of anguish rolled down her cheeks. “Please, I beg of you, your Highness, show us mercy.”
“Even if I believed you, fear is not an excuse for what you did. The facts are... you helped one of the worst villains Equestria ever faced and ponies died because of it.” Twilight shook her head and sighed. “Now, you say you’re sorry... Maybe you are, or maybe you are trying to manipulate us just like Cozy Glow... I’m not sure. What I do know is that was the third time you did something like that, and...” Twilight paused for a moment and glanced apologetically at Celestia. Whatever was on her mind, it wasn’t anything good. Then she cleared her throat and turned back to Luna. “I’m afraid that... we can’t afford you trying again.”
“W-what do you mean?” Luna asked, but instead of an answer, saw Twilight nodding to one of the guards in the back. Then a squeaky sound like fingernails on a chalkboard began echoing through the hall. Luna tried glancing back at the source, but the chains made it impossible. “What are you doing?! Tell me! I demand to...”
Luna’s voice died, and her eyes widened at sight. Next to her stood the evil trio; their twisted figures once again petrified into a stone statue. Luna glanced back at Twilight, trying to scream ‘no’ – but the lump in her throat would not allow it. Then came the final verdict, straight from Luna’s worst nightmare.
“Citizen Nightmare Moon, I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, find you guilty of crimes committed against Equestria and other creatures.”
Luna stared, frozen in horror. This wasn’t happening! It must have been a dream. Except she was awake.
“However...” Twilight continued. “This court also recognizes potential mitigating circumstances. While your claims cannot be verified due to a lack of witnesses, the court is willing to believe you based on data contained in the psychological profiles of your... companions.”
Twilight’s words forced some whispers out of the disoriented crowd. Luna joined in, as confused as the rest of them. “W-what does that mean?”
“It means that when it comes to charges of conspiracy, spreading panic, and even an attempt to capture me, the court shall grant you leniency due to extraordinary circumstances.”
Luna brightened up, the crowd not so much. But before their outraged whispers could turn the air toxic, Twilight added...
“But... the same cannot be said when it comes to the deaths you directly caused. The facts are – afraid or not – you had the means to escape. Instead, you stayed with the villains and helped them with their coup, which cost ten royal guards their lives.”
Twilight sighed heavily, her sad expression a clear proof she wasn’t enjoying doing this. She glanced at Celestia as if trying to apologize for what she was about to do. Then her eyes went back to Luna.
“If you were an ordinary pony, the sentence would be life imprisonment. But... given that as an alicorn you are immortal, that would be cruel and unusual punishment. Therefore, using the authority given me by the citizens of this realm, I sentence you... for a thousand years of petrification.” Hearing this, Luna’s eyes shot wide in shock. “A hundred years for the life of each of your victims. The sentence shall be carried out immediately,” Twilight said, nodding to her guards.
“No! Heavens, no!” Hearing the chains rattling and feeling the painful jerk, Luna began screaming and flailing desperately. Like a convict seeing the noose. Then her terrified eyes went to Celestia. “Tia, help me! Don’t let them do this! Sister!”
But Celestia just cried in silence, staring at the scene. Her red, swollen eyes were begging for forgiveness. Then, rainbow magic from Twilight’s horn enveloped Luna, turning her scream into a terrifying shriek.
“No! Stop!” Luna hollered in horror as her body began turning to stone in front of her eyes. “Tia, help me! Please! Argh! P-please! Heeelp!” She extended her hoof towards her sister just before the petrification spell reached it and let out one final begging scream. “TIAAAAAAA!” The stone reached the tip of her horn, and it was over.
As soon as Twilight’s magic died down, the air filled with soft whimpers and sobs. They were coming from Celestia.
“... the court is dismissed. Everycreature, please leave the premise immediately.”
Witnessing Celestia’s pain, everyone began to leave in silence. When the bystanders left, Twilight turned to the sobbing alicorn to see her crying a river of tears over Luna’s stony form. She opened her mouth to say something, but her throat was as petrified as Luna’s. She couldn’t utter a word. Or maybe there was nothing comforting to say.
“Leave, Twilight...” Celestia glanced up and whispered with a waterfall of tears still running down her white cheeks. “P-please, leave me alone with her.”
Twilight nodded and left the hall without another word.
Sniffling, Celestia grabbed her sister’s petrified hoof. With her voice trembling, she managed to whisper a single sentence.
“Forgive me...”
Her knees gave way then, and the pit of misery swallowed her up. Above, a single tear rolled down Luna’s stone cheek.
It's another one of the stories that have been 'cooking' on my hard drive for a long time. I hope you enjoyed it 
.
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Not a bad story. The drama and tragedy of it all were quite intriguing to the point I got hooked on to see how it ended.
I would also like to ask for clarification on certain parts of the story. First, is the story involved within that image linked to this story? Second, I am a bit confused from what I have read so far Luna was turned into Nightmare Moon from torture where she freed them, where they proceeded to rampaged causing irreversible damages, and when she turned back to normal, she was judged for her crimes, but the bit confused me was that is it Nightmare Moon torturing luna or the league of villains? Also, where was discord for when all of this happened?
More. Gib now. I will gib my love if you gib more.
worst part? worst part is like what Discord said: beeing turned to stone didn't keep me from hearing every word of what Celestia said,
10974558
I'm glad you liked it
as for the questions:
If you mean, whether that image was specifically created for that story, OR if that story was inspired by that image, then the answer is 'no' to both. I got the idea more than a year ago from reading comments under my other story, and I found that image after writing this thing. It was just the best fitting image I could find
.
As for the second part:
Luna wasn't in her NM form when helping the trio. When the Elements of Harmony hit her then - just like in the show - NM was destroyed. However, in this AU the Elements did more and banished Luna (in her normal form) to limbo for crimes she committed AFTER returning from the moon (in the first two episodes of the show).
So, Luna in her normal form was locked in limbo for years as a punishment for her crimes. But the trio didn't know that. They thought that Nightmare Moon was in limbo and hoping to gain a powerful ally, they somehow freed her.
Since she wasn't her evil form anymore, Luna refused to help, and they began to torture her to coerce her to help them. After days of torture, they broke her mentally and forced her to help them, and lives were lost before they were all stopped and captured. And to be clear, Luna did kill these guards, here she is 100% guilty.
Also, it was Luna's mental state that made her forget to escape when she had a chance. She was so broken she wasn't even considering it (AFAIK, this is 100% real behavior after days of torture)
10974566
I'm glad you liked it
as for more... we shall see 
10974579
Yup... Luna is 100% aware of everything. Frankly, it's a hell of a lot worse fate, than being blasted to the moon
. The question is... is it justified?
10974601
oof, that's a though one, on one hand, yes, because she did Murder those pones, on the other, no, she was Forced,
Well, that was a depressing read. It really goes to show how cruel Equestrian “justice” actually is. Twilight comes across as a terrible ruler, easily swayed by the crowd while giving little consideration to extenuating circumstances. The ponies themselves act very vindictive, especially the guards. This new regime looks poised to become even more authoritarian than Celestia’s reign ever was. I don’t know what Twilight is Princess of here, but “friendship” certainly isn’t it.
10974615
I guess some punishment is in order, but a thousand years of live petrification is... pretty messed up. Pretty much fate worse than death
.
On the related note, it makes me wonder what kind of sentence one would get in the real world for something like this if they were coerced or tortured into submission.
10974631
Yup. This is AU, but even in the show, Equestria's justice system seems to love extremes. On the one hand, some creatures are pretty much excused on the spot no matter how severe their crime was (Starlight, Discord). On the other hand, other, less lucky creatures deemed too dangerous are dumped into Tartarus and locked there... forever.
This is a really messed up approach if we think about it for more than a few seconds
.
I'll be honest, this is one of the truly dark/sad stories that i've ever read on here. It deserves to be part of my favorites.
Excellent work. Interesting AU as well.
I’d love a sequel where Celestia realizes it might have gone too far… only to unpetrify her sister to find a shell. Luna is depicted in the series as having deep issues, particularly self loathing, she literally made a monster to torture herself while she slept! On top of that she seems a bit more isolated then her sister, partially because of her dream duties (whether or not they are actually important is another matter), while Celestias work was no cakewalk it allowed her to better connect with her subjects. With this in mind, ponies really don’t know that much about Luna, she’s just the weird pony the princess claimed was her sister. So when she does something bad it’s easy for them to assume she’s evil again, instead of a deeply damaged mare. She needed Psychiatric help, although I have to wonder if that would be much better, for all we know ponies could have a very “Victorian” mental health system.
For Twilight, I do have to wonder if she would be a great leader… I mean besides sending her out to make friends and solve friendship problems does she actually have any formal training? Applying her knowledge of friendship to ruling could easily back fire, listening to your friends could easily translate to “mob rule”. Which historically never ends well for anyone who’s not in said mob. Imagine if ponies got it in their head that donkeys stole all the money, or that zebra hex’s were to blame for a crop failure. I’m sure there’s plenty of other friendship lessons that wouldn’t translate well to ruling, but I’m drawing a blank at the moment.
Seriously the Author and his readers should check out “Softening the Stone”, it really does depict Lunas guilt and insecurities well, along with the potential issue of leaving a mentally ill mare all alone in total isolation.
10974645
there is the Eletric Chair, horrible way to go,
10974656
10974676
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it
10974693
If you or somebody else wants to write it, be my guest. If you meant me... well, I can't promise anything, but I must say that this idea had crossed my mind, so who knows...
I pretty much agree with everything you said. I would just add that IMHO the show depicted ponies in general as jumping to conclusions about creatures (both good and bad) very quickly:
Heck, the evil trio could sew the seed of distrust between pony races without breaking a sweat! All it took was 'a whisper here, and whisper there' and a few random accidents. It really showed how jumpy the ponies could be. I would imagine that when they heard Luna - or rather Nightmare Moon - helped the evil trio, they probably gave into their paranoia. Luna would have a tough time changing their minds no matter what she said.
As far as we know, she doesn't. Honestly, this always was the biggest problem with the show's ending. The way they showed it was that Twilight took over while Celestia and Luna flew away, leaving her to deal with everything on her own. Worse, in 'Between Dark and Dawn' Twilight was shown to be rather clueless when organizing and performing Celestia's royal duties! And yet, just a few months later, they left her alone to deal not only with Equestria's internal problems but also with other nations... To me, it would have made much more sense if they ruled together, or at the very least until Twilight was ready to take over. She could definitely use advice from a MUCH more experienced ruler.
Oh, I know this one and love it! I love the very realistic way Luna was showed there and how she had to slowly develop her social skills from the very bottom. Too bad that story probably won't ever be finished
If you know of any similar stories, please let me know.
10974699
As accurate as that may be, the pain would last only for a few minutes at most on the chair. Here, it will last for a very long time. Given a choice, I think I would take the chair than what Luna got here
.
I liked this and honestly I think justice is not done but, more fair ,then people perhaps are aware of. People like Luna and I think in liking her gives her degree of freedom to make mistakes. By that I mean she is immortal. This is actually more important then people realize because she will live forever. Well, ten guards died. If their is any 'justice' then this will be suitably punished for this.
Because...for one...
1. She could help out all her victims familys but, consider they will to die one by one. What of the potenitial life expetancy? All that joy...lost? (Read the book hench if you want to read a book that plays with concept. Aka the cost of powerful super heros on the world)
2. I think the stoning is cruel and I think outside authoritian pony land (which it largely is in my opinion.) There should be a better way to punish her for those one thousand years then
3. I will also touch on something that is a little slipery that is how will the people (mortals) of the world see (any) immortal ruler if they can not be punsihed? Like think about if everytime a mortal incidentally dies weither this system is bad or not. Tortured or not (and I very sympathetic. That is why I say not stoning something like prison with little contact)
4. Because in my mind the truest punishment is reconcile not just with their deaths but, all they could have done and lived and what if they were going to change the world?
Which leads mean to the easiest and perhaps cruelest and kindest solution in any reality.
5. The empathy spell. My favorite solution to crazies and evil doers who dont get it. What does is this...Luna becomes each of the guards had they lived...(she sees what could have been and feels to their last moments in both lives) further, this hones in a lack and that is empathy becasue empathy spells forces her and the people performing this spell to feel the weight of all their actions. No more may be its not so bad...no...you have to live forever knowing exactly what you did to someone and all that.
You and everyone would go free. Because whats the worst pain then guilt and shame at knowing you have done...but, not in superficial sense but, a deep, deep level.
10974762
understandable,
10974766
Well, that's definitely an original approach, but I'm not sure how much would it change in Luna's case. I mean, at the very beginning of the story, she wakes up from the nightmare, screaming. Later we're informed that she's constantly having nightmares about what she did. Maybe she's not seeing everything that could have been through her victims' eyes, but she sure is very much aware of what she did, and it haunts her.
What maybe could work better is if she would have to relive the last moments of her victims' lives every day, seeing everything through their eyes and feeling it. Although, that would be somehow comparable to what the trio put her through...
Then again, it would still be a hell of a lot better than the solution presented in the story.
10974794
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Good idea. I had not accounted for her already be rattled with guilt and all that. The only caveot to what I mean is it is a true feeling spell that is she has to feel their lives and so on. Which I think is different then just feeling really guilt, its more of forcing a immortal to bear true responbility in a world not as eternal as them? To keep them informed and less distant...after many things can be justified with the right...distance thus, forcing the eternal distance time, and apathy at bay by ...
Forcing them. To see themselves as more then just these consant things that can do what ever. Which is likely if not probable. Which is why it is important the memorys stay with and only when she really realizes what she took away can she be free. But! Not by anyones hands or hoofs but, by her own. And only she can know is she can let go or not.
Weird.
Well that managed to hit my emotionless heart like a goddamn freight train.
Fantastic work.
10975376
Care to elaborate a bit more on what was so weird about it, and whether did you like it or not
?
10977733
Thank you, I'm glad you like it
I didn't like the outcome of this story. Twilight is sentencing Luna as though she made the conscious and rational decision to kill ten guards, but from the context Luna was not in a state of mind to make rational decisions. She was being tortured unceasingly, night and day, conscious and unconscious. Torture is known to be a useless interrogation technique because the victim will break down and say anything, admit anything, and do anything to make it stop.
Luna was being tortured day and night, waking and dreaming. Her titles include Princess of the Night and Princess of Dreams, for those are her domain. Yet she was rendered powerless to stop her torture in the places she was supposed to have total control over. Any hope of resistance against the three villains was crushed and swept away; her only reality was inescapable torture and being subject to the whims of her capturers without even death as an escape.
The mind breaks. It cannot function in such a condition. When she was told causing an eclipse would stop the torture, she had already long given up hope of escape or resistance. She had been brutally dominated in the places where she should have been her most powerful; there was nowhere she could escape to that was out of their reach and power. The torture could not be stopped unless they willed it to.
A drowning man will grab the point of a spear. Luna should have been immune to prosecution due to insanity, with any of her actions clearly being made under the most extreme duress imaginable.
Separate from that, the story was well-written.
10983711
You're spot on, on all counts here. My idea was that they mentally broke her to the point where she would have done anything they asked her to. It's hard to blame someone for not thinking straight in such circumstances.
The only thing that somewhat justifies Twilight's harsh decision is that, in this universe, all her interactions with Luna were bad. That made Twilight suspicious of Luna's motives, and the mob's screams did the rest.
At least that was what I tried to show... judging by the rating, it didn't go as well as I had hoped.
10984312
I have to admit, the mob being present was rather key for the setting. The court already knew ten guards were dead either directly or indirectly from Luna's actions, that was the basis for the trial if I'm not mistaken. The relatives in the mob aren't saying anything that's new or unknown to Twilight aside from calling Luna a murderer, which only Twilight herself could legally declare.
Twilight really should have demanded or forced silence in the courtroom; as you noted, the mob is screaming for revenge, not for justice. That's why the mob's presence was key for the setting; without them screaming for revenge, Twilight would have made the correct ruling and recognized Luna was not culpable for the ten royal guards. With the mob pressuring Twilight during deliberation and sentencing, all the values of Equestria were thrown out the window.
I didn't like the outcome of this story, but that's not saying I didn't like the story. I do like it, in fact; it's an entirely reasonable presentation of mob-rule and the effects of letting it control the actions of leaders and authority, and how demanding revenge can render justice unattainable.
if you want to take this in a direction to make luna heal you could use discord to leave the statue and rescue luna and send her somewhere to heal.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it. But this feels like Celestia is disowning Twilight for giving in to mob justice. It felt like she was going to go somewhat easy on Luna. And then threw it right out the window when the crowd demanded blood. And she gave them blood.
Not literally. But still. Twilight doesn't deserve any of what she got in this universe when she does this. Whatever is wrong in canon, she's not like this for sure.
Or maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about. I do like the story though.
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My intention here was to show that while Celestia accepts Twilight's judgment as a bitter necessity, she still blames herself for not stopping it. I wouldn't go as far as to say Celestia disowned Twilight, but what happened would definitely leave a lasting mark on their relations... and Celestia's psyche
.
Well, it's alt-universe for a reason. But to be fair, from Twilight's perspective, Luna in this universe is just a villain who tried to kill Celestia and kill her twice. Since the Elements here blasted Luna into a limbo, Twilight never met her under normal circumstances.
It's hard to feel sympathy for someone when you almost end up dead every time you meet
.