It was surprising to find not only Celestia waiting to have breakfast along with Luna’s dinner, but also Twilight Sparkle who must have stayed over to deal with the solar princess’s current project as well as Cadence and Shining Armor. While Twilight wasn’t that big of a surprise, the other two were and it was almost enough to make Luna change her mind about confronting her sister this morning. It needed to be done though and Twilight had to know as she would be needed to help keep an eye on Sunset. While Luna was still really worried about the fiery pony, it was now for different reasons than before. As for Cadence and Shining Armor, the princess should know as in some ways it concerned her and anything she was told would most likely make it to her husband.
“Good morning sister.” Celestia greeted, causing the other three to mirror the greeting to the night princess. Confused looks spread around as Luna took her seat without returning any of the greetings, instead choosing to shoot Celestia a look that screamed disappointment.
“Sister, we need to talk.” Luna said, keeping calm as she motioned for the other three to stay when they went to get up to leave the sisters to speak. “This involves you too Twilight and Cadence, and by proxy, you as well Shining Armor. We need to speak of Sunset Shimmer.”
“Sister, we will speak of this later.” Celestia sighed, earning a glare from her sister.
“If something is wrong, I want to hear it. Sunset is one of my friends.” Twilight insisted.
“Is she okay?” Cadence asked with a worried look, though her husband didn’t mirror it. It was understandable though as he was extremely overprotective of his little sister and hadn’t really trusted Sunset ever since the crown incident.
“For the moment, but I want to talk about something else first.” Luna scowled, “Such as why you treated a poor filly the way you did and denied her the love she desperately needed.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, a sad expression crossing her features as her ears folded back.
“Luna, drop it, please.” Celestia whined, tears forming in her eyes.
“You will sit there and answer my questions, Celestia!” Luna snapped, surprising the others. She never snapped at Celestia as the two were very close and was working hard to make up for lost time.
“I know I messed up dear sister, there isn’t a need to bring it up now.” Celestia let out softly.
“There is a need, sister, because of your treatment of Sunset, she has some deep running scars that might be used against her soon by that monster!” Luna growled.
“What monster?” Cadence asked, her worried look growing in intensity.
“It was a long time ago, and Luna doesn’t need to bring it up again.” Celestia said, trying to avoid the subject which Luna appreciated, as it was painful, but she would dig it up for Sunset’s sake.
“We need to talk about this as it now involves Sunset.” Luna sighed, blinking away a few tears. “Back before Nightmare Moon, an invitation was sent to us from a place called Kandrakar, which is a fortress at the center of infinity that was being setup to protect all the worlds and dimensions from great evils and to setup a council of representative from each sector to said cluster of worlds and dimensions.”
“I don’t understand, what does that have to do with Sunset?” Cadence asked in confusion.
“You mentioned something about Kandrakar when Sunset came to see me, does she have something to do with them?” Twilight asked, trying to piece together the clues to figure out what Luna was getting at, be it unsuccessfully.
“I did. I will get to them soon though.” Luna said, clearly fighting back tears as she thought about how to explain what she needed to. She waved Cadence and Celestia off when they tried to move close to comfort her. “I was chosen to be the delegate for our little corner of the cosmos, so I went while Celestia stayed and took over my duties along with her own. All of the delegates, including me, had our powers sealed and given temporary names when we arrived. We were assigned quarters to stay in for the six months the conference was planned to last, teaching all of us about what was expected of us as members of the Council of Kandrakar.”
“With all of those worlds, I’m surprised everyone spoke the same language.” Twilight said, before shuddering. “I imagine there were creatures that were pretty scary.”
“That was something else, all nonhuman worlds had enchantments put on the portals that changed the creature that passed through it into a human-like appearance. I was a lot younger then, and I will admit I was scared, if a bit excited for the chance to learn about other worlds and cultures. I came off a bit shy and eventually a man who was known as Alpha Seven Zero Three asked me to have dinner with him.” Luna explained.
“Oh, did you like him?” Cadence asked clopping her hooves together in excitement, momentarily forgetting what they were originally talking about.
“Cadence!” Celestia admonished, sending the pink pony a glare that Cadence wilted from.
“She doesn’t know sister, so settle down!” Luna snapped, Celestia looking sheepish and whispered an apology to Cadence who looked highly confused now. “And yes, Cadence, I liked him. Over the next few months we spent as much time together outside of learning our duties to the council. We actually fell in love, and I found myself with a child from our union. I was going to tell him the night he proposed to me, but I didn’t get the chance. I mentioned needing to consult my sister and see how it would affect our little ponies. He grew angry with me, demanding to know what I was talking about. Asking why I cared more about pets than our relationship. I explained that I was an alicorn princess and he exploded in rage and struck me. I ran from his quarters and when asked what had happened by what Kandrakar called their guardians, I told them. They were more like enforcers though, and they confronted Alpha and he claimed I lied and seduced him. I was threatened with sanctions to Equestria if I caused any more problems.”
“Wait, he didn’t even get punished?” Shining Armor growled, earning a shake of Luna’s head in a negative response.
“No, he didn’t. I started watching those who were in charge, including our instructors, and I noticed some of them, including myself, were looked down upon by them. I talked to a few of them and found out they were nonhuman species and I realized Kandrakar wasn’t the paradise we were led to believe it to be. Then the news hit of one of our sister planets in an alternate dimension was literally wiped clean of all life. While we didn’t really know about these other worlds before, it was unbelievable that we would never get the chance to get to know those ponies that we just learned about.” Luna explained, her expression going back and forth between sadness and anger. “I learned it was done on purpose, that someone had purposely caused it under the orders of Alpha.”
“That’s horrible!” Cadence gasped out.
“That monster!” Twilight hissed.
“More than you know Twilight. I took it to the council and only two full fledged delegates believed me, the rest of the council told me it looked petty of me to bring up false charges on somebody because he wouldn’t submit to my seduction. The two delegates withdrew from Kandrakar after warning me to do the same and sealed off their worlds. I was foolish though, I let my anger and grief blind me and I confronted him in his own chambers. I had no warning before he attacked and began beating me. It…” Luna shuddered, this time letting Celestia move beside her and wrap a wing around her in comfort. “It happened so fast when I asked him if he hated us so much, if he was going to hate his child too.”
“I heard a plea for help and I stormed Kandrakar. I'm not sure how many I injured and for that moment, I didn’t care. After what they did to Luna and let happen to that world, I used the Elements of Harmony to seal us and all worlds connected to us from Kandrakar.” Celestia said, “The only reason we have the mirror portal was because Starswirl discovered the magical connection between Earth and here and he built the mirror to investigate it.”
“I lost the child that day and I’ll never forgive that bastard!” Luna snarled, “It was what started me down my path of corruption as I grew angry at everything and my hate grew with each passing day.” Luna sighed.
“Not to interrupt, but I still don’t see how this has anything to do with Sunset Shimmer.” Shining Armor said, earning a sigh from Luna and glares from the rest.
“Sweetie, maybe you will find out if you let the nice princess talk.” Cadence said stiffly, making Shining wilt under her piercing gaze.
“I’m getting to that. I visited Sunset Shimmer’s dreams last night and searched through her memories and what I saw greatly disturbed me.” Luna said through gritted teeth as she pulled away from Celestia and turned to glare at her. “I also found that monster there as well, he boasted that she is already so messed up that he wouldn’t need to do much to push her over the edge and get control of her.”
“I know she is hurting over the whole Anon-A-Miss thing Luna, but is she really that broken up over it?” Twilight asked, missing the guilty look that crossed over Celestia’s face.
“This Anon-A-Miss doesn’t even scratch the surface of her mental scars she suffered throughout her life. Tell me, dear sister, why did you take a young foal in and tease her with glimpses of having a mother, then turn around and destroy her over and over?” Luna demanded.
“Sister, it wasn’t like that!” Celestia cried out in shock at Luna behaving this way.
“Not like that?! Do you remember her attacking a mare from the school with a fireball?” Luna asked, earning gasps from the others.
“She attacked somepony with a fireball?” Shining Armor asked through gritted teeth.
“It took months for the poor filly’s mane to grow back right.” Celestia defended herself, everypony turning to look at Twilight who was trying to hide her snickering.
“Do you honestly think delinquent behavior like that is funny, Twily!?” Shining Armor asked aghast.
“Well, yeah. That filly must have deserved it if Sunset resorted to that. Even during her worst times she would never have done that.” Twilight said, defending her friend. Sure, there was the time when Sunset was changed into a demon and threw a fireball at her, but Twilight knew that wasn’t the real Sunset Shimmer. That was the corruption that had taken hold as Twilight could literally see the exact moment Sunset lost control as the power overwhelmed her and the tears were falling from only to be burned away. Twilight would never forget the look in those eyes as if they were begging for help at that moment.
“How can you say that, Twilight?” Celestia asked aghast.
“Because she is right, sister! That filly was part of a group of bullies hurting Sunset and they were attacking her! Sunset merely defended herself the only way she knew how, but she still pulled the attack back so it would only scare them and not actually hurt them!” Luna growled out.
“That’s not what the headmare of the school reported to me.” Celestia said, a dumbfounded expression crossing her face.
“Did you ever let Sunset give you her side?” Luna asked.
“No, I did what needed to be done and scolded her so the teachers and nobles knew that I wasn’t being soft on her.” Celestia sighed, her head dropping in guilt. “You don’t understand, the nobles and teachers were already riding Sunset hard and using every little thing they could to punish her. If I looked like I was letting her get away with something like that, it would only get worse. There were even reports of some nobles talking about making Sunset disappear since nobody would miss a streetrat and open up the spot for one of their one foals to become my student!”
“So instead of comforting a hurting foal, you just enforced that she wasn’t worth listening to? That she wasn’t worth the little bit of love to comfort and listen to her side of things?” Luna asked.
“How could you, Auntie?” Cadence demanded slamming a hoof down on the table. “You of all ponies should know better than that! You should know there are always two sides to every altercation!”
“The teacher I know would have never done that.” Twilight said in shock, shaking her head in denial.
“How about a young filly, who after mastering teleportation, targeted you as an anchor and came to show you? She was so proud that she couldn’t wait to show you, but waited for an hour when court was supposed to be over at which time you should have been alone in your study?” Luna asked, ignoring the pained look in Celestia’s eyes, even as it was hurting the night princess as well. She had to make Celestia acknowledge what she had done if they even had the slightest chance to start fixing the damage done.
“She appeared out of nowhere when I was dealing with a difficult noble and called me mom! How was I supposed to react?” Celestia defended herself.
“No pony is saying you had to be her mother, but you were the one who strung her along saying when you were in private she could call you mom. Telling her that and taking that away because of one mistake? You told her you were her mother and took that away from her!” Luna exclaimed. “You even told her you would be her mother when you first found her!”
“I didn’t string her along, I did what was necessary to protect her as well as my reputation as princess!” Celestia snapped, earning a harsher glare from the mares in the room.
“Sunset was a young filly with no memory of where she came from!” Luna shouted.
“She had the Heart of Kandrakar!” Celestia roared back, cowing the others in the room. “I was scared, alright? I was terrified that she was some kind of plant at first! Then I came to love her but had to keep her at hoof’s length to keep the nobles from destroying her!”
“Those are excuses, sister.” Luna sighed, a part of her wondering if maybe she was being too hard on Celestia. She wasn’t there to see everything, and there were two sides, yet Luna couldn’t see any explanation that would be valid enough to treat a young filly in such a manner. “Did you know that Sunset was actually excited when she first met Cadence?”
“She was?” Cadence gasped in surprise. “I always thought she hated me.”
“She thought that since you were acting nice and not trying to get something out of her that there was a small chance she could trust you. That you could actually be her friend, and she was so excited for that. Then she found out you were considered family to Celestia after years of trying to prove she was worthy of her love. Celestia told her she couldn’t be her family as it would cause trouble among the nobles, yet there you were, showing up out of the blue and calling Celestia Auntie with no warning.” Luna explained.
“I would have loved to be her friend, I really tried to get her to open up to me.” Cadence sniffed, giving Celestia a dirty look as the pink alicorn was remembering that very incident.
“It was a lot, because after that, all Sunset could see was the pony who stole her mother away from her.” Luna sighed sadly. “She never truly hated you, she hated what you represented to her. She felt she had to compete for Celestia’s affections which was barely there before, but after that had gotten even less.”
“I can’t believe you would do these things.” Twilight whispered, tears falling freely as she stared in shock at Celestia. It was easy to tell Twilight was feeling very disillusioned as she had Celestia on a pedestal.
“Are you enjoying this, sister?” Celestia sobbed out.
“No sister, I am not. You need to face your past mistakes and make up for them. A girl’s life may be at stake.” Luna said, “No matter how much Sunset denies it, she is hurting inside more than any pony I’ve ever seen. And that monster is planning to take advantage of that!”
“How could you be so cruel, Auntie?” Cadence sniffed, her husband snuggling up next to her to add his comfort and support.
“I remember you once told me I had a lot to think about.” Twilight said almost too softly to hear, “I think you are the one who has a lot to think about now.”
“What do we do about her? If she’s in danger, shouldn’t we help her in some way?” Shining Armor asked.
“I think we need to get her here and talk to a certain pony when that pony gets her head out of her flank and start the actual healing process.” Luna explained, “And I think she needs to actually work things out with those human counterparts of your friends, Twilight. She’s bottling up too much and it is going to cost her dearly.”
“It might be a good idea to get her to talk to somepony about all of this. An unbiased third party who can help get her feelings out and work through them.” Twilight suggested.
“I was thinking along the same lines, Twilight.” Luna smiled.
“Auntie, I don’t know what to think about all of this.” Cadence said, once again turning her attention to Celestia. “I don’t think I can ever look at you the same again. I just don’t understand what could have possessed you to treat any filly that way. Even if you take away the whole mother thing, you treated her badly. Just to look good in front of nobles without even listening to her side of things.”
“Don’t you think I realize that?” Celestia sobbed out. “Don’t you think I think about it everyday since she ran away?”
“Just answer me one thing, Celestia.” Twilight asked, a pleading look in her eyes. “Did you ever love her?”
“Of course I did!” Celestia gasped.
“Then why treat her that way, yet treat me the way you did? Did you act like a second mother to me because I was from minor nobility?” Twilight asked, “Was I any more worthy of love and support than a common orphan you picked up off the streets?”
“Of course not, Twilight!” Celestia cried.
“I’m sorry, Princess Celestia, but for the first time I can’t call you my teacher. I’m actually a little ashamed of how I idolized you for years.” Twilight sighed.
“Only reason I’m not walking away is because I can feel your love for Sunset. I don’t understand why you just couldn’t show it to her, Auntie.” Cadence sighed, Celestia burying her face in her forehooves on the table crying.
“I’m sorry, dear sister, I’m not doing this to hurt you. I know you are a better pony than this and I do love you. You need to face your failures though and move on because there is a girl out there in even more pain. As much as she may deny it, she needs you. She needs to face her own demons, including you, before he gets to her.” Luna sighed, pulling Celestia into a side wing hug.
“What do we do?” Celestia sobbed out as she looked to Luna for answers.
“That, dear sister, is what we must figure out, and quickly for Sunset Shimmer’s sake.” Luna said sadly, yet with conviction.
“What about Kandrakar?” Shining Armor asked, “What does Sunset have to do with them?”
“I don’t know how exactly it happened, but she has somehow inherited the position of the Keeper of the Heart. She is the leader of what Kandrakar calls their guardians, though they act more like their enforcers. As far as I know there are usually five who transform and take on a form that reflects their body in their prime, as well as be able to handle large amounts of magic channeling through them. It doesn’t matter if they are from a magically gifted race or not.” Luna said, “And that monster wants that power for himself and wants to use Sunset to get it.”
11504063
That is a great point, unlike Celestia who did spend 1000 years on Equestria, Luna spent 1000 years trapped on the moon. So unlike Celestia, it is unlikely Luna managed to learn stuff like forging during that time and I really don't think she did before being banished. She would likely be able to create regalia as it wouldn't need the folding, shaping and sharpening (among other techniques) a good weapon would really need. And even then, it might actually be more likely Luna supplied the materials and had her regalia forged by a very good smith. Maybe a dragon or minataur. Presea is from one of my favorite classics, Magic Knight Rayearth.
I love the thought of it, especially Luna getting her own students. I do love those images, especially thinking of Twilight as Sailor Moon wannabe with Martin being her Tuxedo Mask. Then again, maybe a more Kamen Rider Martin with arcane warrior abilities might be better. Love the thought of Luna bringing back the old dialect through her pupils and telling them to go spread the word.
Those are good points and I guess either way they really wouldn't be natural on the material plane.
Yep, though I do have a lot of changes to it. As for the more serious part, I would love to be able to write a good comedy story, but that is so far out of my league lol. Usually there wouldn't be zords, though there was a giant sentient beetle robot that did show up a few times fighting an evil version so I might replace that with two zords from one of the biggest changes being the fourth and fifth beetleborgs if I go the zord route.
Aaaaaaand that is almost exactly what I was thinking that could be worse than genociding the planet or playing seduction ... well it is was the second position on my list.
Truth be told I was thinking he killed the older child that Luna had from another union instead of his own unborn one ... and I don't want to judge which one of the two would be worse...
Alpha703 ... A ... S ...Z ...T... well I don't discern any clue about identity from that and I suck at anagrams. That may be a world number used for representatives and alpha suggests that he was/is of primary importance...or maybe I'm too stupid to see it ...
Well there is that confrontation ... well it was supposed to happen and it happened.
What was that Peryite saying from Skyrim? "The world must be cleansed by pus?" And now stinging truth cleanses ... I don't know if this classifies as delusions...
That is one thing beyond my understanding, I understand that nobles in many universes use reputation, money, or favors as weapons ... but all those three parts of political power can't compare to physical or magical might, and in that Celestia and Luna hold positions that are nigh-impossible to reach. So why care about something as temporary and meaningless as reputation ... especially for someone ageless? If a noble becomes troublesome or prissy, no amount of favors or money will save him or her from being pasted on all the walls in the castle, if they even think about threatening a family member, their lives and all their possessions are forfeited simply as that.Besides in many episodes when Twilight had panic attack and she was thinking about all those possible punishments ? If they didn't have any basis in reality , maybe it's time for them to be ?
Is this tyranny? It can be interpreted that, this opinion comes from the fact that if I would need to choose between a loved person and a country, I burn and ravage this country myself. Besides they will forget in decade or two ... century at most ... considering it's not Starks from Winterfell (Those have looooooong memories)
I just don't understand why all that behaving as if those nobles' opinions matter?
And let's not forget that all those idjits behave that way because they think that since they have something as silly (in my opinion) as pedigree that they are beyond consequences. In Equestria, this opinion is reinforced since the "mother of the nation" at best will threaten or scold you (Seriously, that theory about "Curse of Elements" looks more and more solid, that kind of behavior is not natural even for Celestia , I don't even fear of "going Daybreaker" could cause this behavior... unless it's some kind of madness and/or grief induced self-appointed duty (Celestia and Luna's family history is ... malleable) ... or some sort ancient noble conspiracy with passive, centuries in the making magical collar...but that's silly no one is that stupid ... except nobles ...)
Besides all this talk about letting Sunset get away with things so the nobles won't "destroy her" (Argument for sanctioned incineration if you ask me) ...
Counterpoint : Blueblood
...
And now I start to think why he has so much free space , maybe it is centuries old conspiracy and Blueblood is latest ... let's call him "leash holder" ... well and aren't those dark thoughts?
As for the scene ... well it may look like "gang-bang" but it is not, everyone had their perception challenged and that causes anger , and Celestia is a big part of reality that is seen as epitome of perfection . even subcionciously by herself thanks to last milenium spent without confidant and with all those "yes-man" ... problem is that there is no such thing as perfection.
You can aim , but you can never reach.
Celestia is not bad character , simply flawed ...
11504153
Yeah Martin tuxedo mask in base form, and streamlined Reinheard from Overwatch in luna/twilight color scheme after transformation (with tower shield replacing barrier , and lightsaber replacing hammer for maximum knight-iness)
As for Twilight ... sailor senshi looks nice but I was thinking more along the line of Palutena/Midnight Sparkle with Luna colors.
...
How I curse human inability to take image from brain straight to art without learning how to paint , I suck at drawing.
Maybe since there is only one mechanical beetle that probably serves as "nuclear option" , instead of zord route , Evangelion route?
Or maybe second non-bettle zord?
So the two work like Ninja Storm duo megazord pr Mystic Force Manticore Megazord?
Pony zord + Bettle zord = Changeling Megazord that works more like "kinetic bombardment" than "nuclear option"?
... just throwing blind ideas...
Oh and don't worry about comedy-inability , humor is subjective.
11504166
Yeah, he messed up really bad and while his original punishment was going to be a bit more lenient I have to figure out a better one. I was originally going to have his memory wiped except for basic knowledge and dumped in the women's hot springs in Konoha in the Naruto universe with all magic and powers sealed. I really need to think of something much worse for what he did to Luna.
Don't worry about trying to figure something out from it, when I assigned the designations I just went with random stuff to keep from giving too many spoilers. Though it was an accident, something in the name does resonate with something you suggested.
Celestia actually has many excuses and some does sound justified to herself at first the more she thinks about it the more she realizes she bucked up. It all just comes down to her simply being afraid of where she possibly came from and of losing her just as she lost her sister. She realized too late she bucked up as Sunset went through the portal and Celestia has regretted it ever since trying her best to make up for it by treating Twilight extra nice. She went from one extreme to another creating a lovable neurotic mess that freaks out when she doesn't have a friendship lesson. I hope that makes sense.
Truthfully, Celestia really should have went down the middle with both Sunset and Twilight and both probably would have turned out a bit more well rounded and both there to face Nightmare Moon. I do agree she should have repainted some of the castle walls a nice red.
The conspiracy theory makes a lot of sense though, even in canon as I don't see any other reason for Prince Blueblood not being in the dungeon at the very least the way he acts.
Thanks, I tried hard to make it not seem like it though a part of me still worries it looks a little bit like it. I agree that she isn't a bad character even if she isn't high on my list, just a bit flawed. I realy do think she should go Daybreaker though and start back over with the nobility as many of them aren't worth listening to or humoring.
11504178
I really love that image that this creates in my head, both Martin and Twilight. I really love Midnight sparkles look, that color scheme might even make it better though. I also loved Sunset's angel form, but I hate to say I didn't care for Sunset's demon form. It was all pretty good except for the hair, I really hated her hair like that. I think she would have been much more intimidating if it was either down or actually like fire. The way they did it makes it look like she stuck her finger in a light socket.
I'm with you on that, I suck at drawing but so wish I could get the image out of my head in someway.
For the zord, I was thinking the Gold & Silver ranger zords from Gobuster/Beast Morphers. Just the beetle forms though.
And possibly the Striker combined form of the two.
If I used zords. I might not mess with the giant stuff though as it wasn't very prevalent from what I can remember and not really important to the story. Though I do like your idea of a second non battle zord too if I do the giant stuff.
11504188
... well death is a mercy after all. Konoha hot springs without memories... meh. I mean painful for sure but with sealed memories it's not villain suffering but "new" person. It works if memories are unsealed later when new experiences can change old perspectives.
True punishment works well if it's tailored to the character.
For genocidal xenophobic maniac ... there is an "Infinite Tsukuyomi"/"Omega sanction" route where he is reborn in a dream world with sealed memories as a member of different race&random gender from a local one that lives abused and dies before his/her sixteen birthday via xenophobic/racist crime (big bad four letter R-word might be included in his/her death). One life for each sentient that his action killed times three, and when he lived out all of those, then all accumulated memories unseal at once. Either his brain melts from sheer accumulated agony, or he reforms (And even after reformation he would be wreck that questions if all is real and when all that is nice will once again turn into suffering...or jump onto closest rusted blade with smile). One out of two outcomes.
...
Or if he is judged non-reformable, good old sensory deprivation (all magical and non-magical senses sealed) with occasional illusions that give him a feeling he's not alone in that small room for around one century, his mind should be pernamently destroyed by the end of the month.
As for starting over with nobility ... why start over at all? They are not needed , meritocracy that is not inheritable for the win.
11504192
... I guess , for me those hair were not bad ... also not good...
It kinda reminded me of Chandra Naalar from MtG ... or disney hades.
Well zords don't need to be for battle,
They can serve as armored transport , source of SWAG ("I have bigger and cooler car"), mobile base/house , or just as heavy machinery for disaster relief.
...or just to look nice.
And Celly has to foot the bill for Sunset at long last.
11504210
Good. I certainly don't know why she keeps playing their games when all it does is push her away from everyone who cares. The nobles are spoiled children who have never learned the golden rule. They are long overdue for someone putting them in their place. Sunset shouldn't have been punished for self defense and the guardians need to figure out what happen all those years for peace to happen.