When a freshly crowned ruler of Equestria Twilight Sparkle finally finds some free time from her new royal duties, she decides to make the most of it. Having recently found an interest in learning about the EUP Guard, she decides to peruse the palace library. While browsing the large array of books, she becomes taken by surprise when she accidentally opens up a secret passage.
Venturing inside, she discovers a massive labyrinthian temple hidden beneath the palace of the two sisters. At first, she's hesitant to explore the structure, but when Spike gets lost within its walls, she finds her decision getting made for her.
As she heads deeper into the ominous crypt, she'll find herself confronting unspeakable horrors and learning dark secrets that should have stayed buried. As well as forever tainting how she views the once illustrious princesses.
Written as part of a trade with kleia
Art by kleia
The premise for the story was their idea, I'm just simply bringing it to life on their behalf.
08/28/23 - 08/29/23: Featured.
Wow, just wow! Luna was being a total bitch! Being no better than her Nightmare Moon counterpart. At least Celestia has some regret/guilt, but it doesn't excuse her actions either.
minecraft adventure map vibes
What’s the EUP Guard and how is different from the royal guard?
BULLSHIT!
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I'm no pony historian, but I think that the EUP thing was what evolved into the Wonderbolts, I just replayed the episode "Testing, One, Two, Three..." which explains the beginnings of the 'Bolts. (Good episode, but we could have done without Pinkie's silly rap.)
You Know what would be cool, that this story was read by scribbler productions, maybe sometime in October, just a cool thought.
With any monarchy, there is a dark underbelly to maintain order. Although there is no clear evidence that Celestia had overseen what her guards were doing, it is quite evident that she was complicit. But that could be said of any monarch over the course of history, Human history, to be precise.
And don't forget that the ruling class of ponies are alicorns, thus making them magearchs, not merely monarchs. Thus, Equestrian rule is through magical means, so there would be some kind of dark underbelly to the civilization.
I have always thought that such was the case. True, the show began as a wholesome bi8t of family thing. But there would be just that something hidden away from what was shown publicly to the general pony population.
As for Luna, she probably knew enough what her sister was doing, yet clung to the notion that being a princess made them both above the law, which is never the case. (And I am looking at you, Donald J. Trump)
Nice bit of storytelling. Have a moustache:
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Going by how both were acting, Celestia and Luna were both very complacent in this. Celestia may have tried to convince herself that she was doing the right thing. Luna never has come across as the most mentally stable and didn't care period probably.
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I would love it if this story got an audio reading, so far only one of my fics has gotten one, so I'd always be up to receive another.
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That unlocked a core memory of mine. Fits the vibe.
Also, that pfp is cultured. 😌
This Idea desevered a Longer running Story! Theres SO MUCH you could do with this!!
I loved it!!
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The EUP guard is the Earth pony, Unicorn and Pegasus guard. It's just another name for the Royal Guard.
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I have a couple of theories as to why Luna acts the way she does at the end of the story. One of my guesses is that Nightmare Moon wasn't fully destroyed and still had more control over Luna's body than Luna herself. Rather than anger Celestia and meet the same fate as her other political rivals, she took out her own anger at not being able to usurp Celestia or speak against them on the prisoners and actively participated in their mistreatment.
Theory two is that NMM wasn't around but Luna was forced to be silent about it by Celestia, and to defend her older sister if ever the secret was leaked to the public. Her fierceness here could be because she's scared that not defending Celestia will lead to her sister pulling a few strings and getting her a much harsher punishment.
The only other reason for Luna acting like this is that maybe she wasn't told by Celestia about any of this. I know that it says throughout the story that "the princesses" set up the prison, but hear me out. She was on the moon for a thousand years, so how would she know what Celestia was up to? We never hear her admit to being complacent or knowing anything about it, whereas Celestia immediately jumps into trying to justify her actions. The only thing we hear from Luna is that she's angry about Twilight and a bunch of guards storming into her home and arresting her on the spot, with very little explanation except for a few wild accusations that seem to be more directed at Celestia, who then admits to the crimes. For all we know, Luna could have been oblivious to all of this, but hey, that's for the Equestrian Crown Court (and the author) to decide, not me.
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Thanks for the kind words, but I'm only half the mind behind this, as kleia deserves just as much credit.
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Maybe a new mini chapter to show the court case, them being completely guilty ( unless Luna didn't know about this and was actually innocent. ), and the aftermath of it.
I like to see how the other Mane Five, Spike, Starlight/Trixie, Discord, the non-pony leaders, Young Six, and others react to this? ( P.S. Does Starswirl and the Pillars not know about this either? )
Edit;
Nevermind then, Luna is definitely guilty.
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Wow, those are a lot of well-thought-out theories, Unfortunately though, the truth is a lot more mundane. Both Celestia and Luna were equally guilty when it came to the temple. And as far as how she was acting when they were arrested, she just thought herself above the law.
OP Omno God-Emperor Doom phrased it perfectly. "Luna was being a total bitch! Being no better than her Nightmare Moon counterpart."
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Hmm, we'll see...?
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*Mini* chapter.
Typing on my phone gets stupid on the spelling.
WOW, just WOW! Thank you for bringing my concept to life! You brought it together far better than I feel I ever could have. I love the twists and turns this story took, and I love the implications that Celestia and Luna were complacent, that they knew what was going on, and they did nothing to stop the EUP prisoner abuse. Maybe even more so perhaps Celestia and Luna weren't complacent. Considering how luna is acting, I wonder if they ordered the EUP to mistreat the prisoners as horribly as they did, seeing that Luna was without remorse. And maybe it was Luna's order, Celestia didn't agree, and that's why Celestia even feels a shred of remorse.
I love how you wrote this though! I love that this left more questions than answers. Congrats on the well deserved feature :)
Eh, pretty silly story.
Seriously, why would Celestia and Luna just leave all that crap behind? Twilight is going to be living in that castle for the foreseeable future, literally hundreds or thousands of years, in fact, so her finding the temple was a matter of when, not if.
Plus it staying underwraps was pretty much impossible. Sure, Celestia and Luna would just have it swept under the rug, but think of how many missing peoples reports would have been filed after they stepped down? Ponies were going missing literally right up to the day that they stepped down, so ponies, such as Silk Heart's family, would have been going to police stations and putting up posters for their missing loved one. While nothing would be done before, Twilight would take these reports seriously.
Also what about the EUP guards who were running the place right up to the present? They are all presumably still alive, so Twilight would have them rounded up, especially as their actions went beyond merely following orders as the torture indicates. Each one is obviously evil and would need to be dealt with. You can't just leave individuals like that go free; they're a danger to society that Luna and Celestia would have had to address before they gave up their rule.
All in all, the story could have worked if the temple and deeds had stopped hundreds of years ago. If anything, I can see political dissent being a problem in the past when their power base was still new, but after literal generations of their rule, I highly doubt there would be many ponies actively trying to go against Celestia, or that their dissatisfaction with her rule was so intense that they would need to be killed and not just bribed or otherwise convinced to shut up.
On an unrelated note, I honestly expected the temple to have been a sacrificial alter to Celestia and Luna. Imagine if the reason they're immortal isn't because they're just alicorns, but because dark rituals were used to extend their life and power.
A story where Twilight finds a grey hair in her mane and is confused, going to them and asking why she's aging. They sit her down and explain that alicorns age slower, but are not ageless, and that as she is now, Twilight will only live a few hundred years.
Twilight asks how they've lived so long, and they tentatively agree to show her the way, but only if she swears not to hold it against them.
Twilight is left with the choice in the end to use the ritual on herself, or merely die and let the rule go back to Celestia and Luna once that happens.
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Oh. So NMM was just that same anger and evil directed at Celestia specifically?
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Admittedly, a sequel would make for another interesting read...
...All I've got down my basement is a couple of dead rats. I'm feeling pretty outdone now.
This is only the first chapter I assume because as horrible as all of this is I can think of only one thing that could possibly justify constant Sapient Sacrifice. The Prosperity and Complete Weather Control of the Continent along with it's Day and Night Cycles. Celestia and Luna made an unspeakable bargain for power from the very Sun and Moon itself and whatever granted it feasted for over a thousand years on whatever Celestia and Luna could get away with feeding it.
There is a problem with this though.
Why build the City of Canterlot on top of the Mount of the Temple? Surely thy must have known that was an unnecessary risk from the start. Unless everypony once knew. Unless there was a time THIS wasn't a secret. At some point it had to be hidden. What series of events determined that the Paradise That Thirsts for Blood must be made "palatable" for everyone and it's appetite hidden from the world?
Why did the EUP allow itself to allow sadists into Sacrifice Duty, or worse purposefully recruit such ilk into the Guard from the start? How the hell did they for CENTURIES kept their mouths SHUT about this?
Does Equestria implement unscrupulous hypnosis and brainwashing of government agents in all branches and the military to uphold this massive farce? What could POSSIBLY justify such massive measures and resources to do ANY of this?
Did you plan ANY of this out and really consider this massive Lore Plot Twist?
Why did Celestia and Luna submit to the terms of this deal at all?
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I'm really glad to hear you liked it, I spent a lot of time on this, so I'm happy you enjoyed the final product and to hear I did it justice.
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I imagine that the EUP who were involved with the temple were eventually rounded up after Celestia and Luna were arrested. As far as everything else however, you need to remember that I wrote this for someone else, based off an idea they had, so I was dealing with a ridged outline, with not a lot of room to tweak it.
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Unless I decide to write a follow up chapter that shows Celestia and Luna being sentenced in a courtroom, this is just a one off. As I mentioned in the story, I wrote this for someone else, based off an idea they had, so a lot had already been predetermined before I got to it. I in fact did make a plan when I started writing this, but that was just me adding skin and flesh to the skeleton they provided.
Cthulhu Ftaghn
Oooohh, yes, this was actually an idea I had if whether or not Canterlot Castle has a dungeon and since I don't think it has been mentioned, maybe Celestia and Luna forgot about the prisoners there. Also, Luna seemed like she had no clue what was going on and since she was on the moon for a 1000 year's, that might be the case.
Jeeze, poor Twilight and Spike are gonna have nightmares for a long time due to what they saw down there especially their encounter with poor Silk Heart. I do wonder if Luna's defiance is because she's in denial or truly thinks she and Celestia are above the law.
Too little, too late Cakebutt!
Interesting would be if this is Canon, it would explain, why there are no Sun or Moon Symbols anywhere in G5.
They would remove every Symbol, Image and Statue of the Sisters and it would explain, why the Tree of Harmony is not longer surrounded by the castle of the two Sisters and why the Events Nightmare Night, Festival of the Two Sisters (former Summer Sun Celebration) and Hearts Warming Eve not longer exist in G5, because they are all connected to the Sisters.
But in the end I not see G5 as the same World as G4, until Hasbro connect both Worlds somehow.
Until then G5 is just an Post Apocalypric alternate Universe of G4, similar to Fallout Equestria.
It is not unusual to reuse Stuff from the former Generations.
After all, the G3 Ponys Twilight (Twinkle), Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Cherilee, Moondancer, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, the Dragon Spike and the Town of Ponyville are not the same as in G4, so its even possible that G5 Twilight, G5 Celestia and G5 Luna are not the same as in G4, they not even have the same Design as in G4.
Some Ponys like G1 Posey are also reused in G5 Posey or Twilight to Twilight Velvet.