“Mother, what have you done?”
Mother jerked her lance’s head free of Shadow Kicker’s body. “I have avenged my daughter.”
“By attacking Shadow beneath a truce flag.” I quickly set about securing Gale’s wings. I had felled her with a lucky blow while she was still in shock from her mother’s murder, but ‘twould not be long ere she recovered. I had not wished her violence, but had I not acted, she would have attacked Mother. Though I was quite horrified by the attack on Shadow, she was still my mother, and I could not leave her undefended. I misliked the idea of making Gale a prisoner in such a treacherous assault, but I did not want to risk Mother taking her life as well. There would be a certain cruel poetry in murdering Shadow’s daughter to avenge Lance’s death—I could only pray Mother would deem such an act pointless with Shadow slain and unable to bear witness.
Lance. I suppose I ought to be as furious as mother o’er her death—that I should share her bloodlust and demand the deaths of all Shadow’s clanmates as recompense for it. Yet instead I merely felt empty. I took no satisfaction from Shadow’s death, and Lance’s account of the clash between them inclined me to think that Shadow herself had not wished Lance any ill. Where Mother saw righteous vengeance, I saw naught but more blood soaking the ground. And I knew there would be more to come.
A furious cry from the fortress informed me that there was little time to wax philosophical. “Mother, I suggest we withdraw ere the entire loyalist army decides to avenge the commander we just betrayed and murdered.” My words grew hotter than I would have expected. “Will you help me carry off her daughter, or would you prefer to leave her free to avenge her mother’s death? Perhaps you would like to murder her whilst she lies beaten and helpless?” There might have been a slight note of condemnation in my voice.
Thankfully, she did not turn her weapon upon my prisoner—it seemed that the unicorn army mustering for an attack interested her more than Shadow’s daughter. “Do as thou wilt with her, I care not,” Mother snarled, readying what remained of her broken lance. “Let Celestia’s dogs come. I will kill Sunbeam Sparkle and every other miserable pony who stands ‘tween me and Celestia. Though ‘twas Shadow who did the deed, doubtless ‘twas her queen who gave the order. My vengeance has barely e’en begun!”
“Mother!” I quickly placed myself in her path, trying to force her away from the fort. “If you insist upon this course, you will surely die!”
She tried to bull her way past me, but I did not give her an inch of ground. When I did not stand aside, she growled in frustration. “Move, damn thee! So long as I see the life fading from Celestia’s eyes ere I take my last breath, I shall be content to join my beloved daughter. Let them bury us together and make this mountain our cairn.”
I could endure no more. “And what of the rest of your children?” A mad rage took me, and I shoved her back with all my strength. “Do you love us all so little that you will force us to bury our mother and our sister on the same day? Myself, Thunder, Flash, Dawn, Shield, and the others! Do we mean nothing to you, now that Lance is dead? I beg you, for the sake of what remains of our family, let it end here!”
A dozen emotions flickered o’er Mother’s face in as many seconds. Anger. Frustration. Sorrow. Determination. Uncertainty. Finally, she offered a single tired nod and slowly turned her back on the enemy fortress. “Yes. Lance would not want me to throw away my life and double thy losses.” She cast her broken weapon aside. “At the very least, I should properly rearm myself ere I venture once more to the frontlines.”
“Yes, quite. Thunder and Flash can adequately represent the clan until you are ready to retake the field.” I privately resolved to do whate’er I could to prevent Mother from returning to the battlefield until her blood had cooled. I did not want her taking the field again—in part because I feared to lose her when she had so little regard for her own safety, but also because she might dishonor herself further. I was still stunned that she had struck Shadow down in such a way; I had expected an honorable duel, not wanton murder in the midst of a parley.
Mother stalked off, leaving me to carry Gale unaided. She had awoken from the blow I had struck her head, but thankfully her mind seemed muddled and she was in no condition to resist me. A part of me was sorely tempted to leave her behind on the pretense that I was unable to carry her. Howe’er, I had my duty to Pegasopolis and my clan. ‘Twas fortunate that she favored light armor.
We shortly encountered our own front line, rushing up to meet the incoming attack from the loyalist forces. They quickly parted ranks around myself and Mother as best they could within the narrow confines of the tunnels, but e’en so it took us some time to make the journey. I was most relieved when we finally won free of the tunnels and returned to the open sky, allowing me to move without a constant press of bodies ‘gainst me.
I quickly rushed ahead of Mother, using the excuse that I needed to secure my prisoner. Gale still seemed rattled from the blow to her head, and likely in shock from witnessing her mother’s death, but I was sure she would become quite fearsome once the pain passed. Given her enmity towards me, I did not want to be too near her once that occurred. I might be fond of the mare, but I did not doubt I would be her first target if she were to lash out in blind, vengeful fury.
Thankfully, it seemed that after all that had occurred that day, fate or fortune decided I had earned a small boon. Gale was still insensible when I hastily bound her in my clan’s command tent. ‘Twas a poor prison for a mare of Gale’s skills, but ‘twould have to serve until we could transport her to Cloud 327.
I hesitated a moment, then gently gripped her shoulder. “I am sorry for thy loss, Gale. I cannot feel sorrow at the death of the mare who slew my sister, e’en though ‘twas not her intention to do so, but I know the pain of losing a beloved family member all too well. I would wish that upon nopony. Especially not thee.”
She regarded me with blank, unseeing eyes. ‘Twas as if she were a puppet with the strings severed. Seeing her in such a sorry state pained me far more than I expected. I was tempted to offer some minor provocation, in the hopes that she might regain some of her old vigor by insulting me. Perhaps I would do so if her state persisted, but at that moment a jest would have seemed far too macabre. Instead, I tried once more to offer comfort. “I will see to it that thy needs are well tended, and thou dost not want for anything that can reasonably be provided for thee in thy captivity.”
When she again provided me with no response, I reluctantly took my leave, assigning two guards to watch the tent’s exit. I could not afford to spend my time comforting a prisoner when our forces were locked in battle. I had yet to take action to mitigate the damage Mother’s temper might have done to our cause or to prevent her from retaking the field as soon as she replaced her broken weapon.
The second problem was easily resolved. Shield remained in Lance’s tent, still in a daze o’er our sister’s death. I might have been much the same were it not for my duty propelling me e’er forward. How could I mourn my sister when I had been thrust into battle mere minutes after her death? So long as I remained buried under new tasks, I could forestall my sorrow.
My brother was idly toying with one of Lance’s old helms when I entered her tent. “Shield.” My brother turned to face me, fumbling and dropping the helm as he did so. “I have a task for thee. Mother has damaged her lance and will soon be here for a new one.”
My little brother sprang to his hooves with an eager flap of his wings. I suspect he hoped to lose himself in work much as I did. “I will retrieve one for her at once.”
“Not so quickly, dear brother.” I dropped down to one knee so I might whisper into his ear. “I want you to go into the armory, find Mother’s lances, and snap the shafts of every single one of them.”
His jaw dropped. “Wh-what? Dusk, is this some sort of jest? Mother would be furious if I were to damage her equipment!”
“Then I would suggest that thou dost exercise discretion in thy task.” I suppose I should have done more to convince him of this course, but there was no time to play the diplomat when Mother might arrive at any moment. “I am thine elder, so see it done. If Mother is displeased, I shall bear the guilt for it. And I shall take thee as my squire if thou dost this task for me.” (1)
1: The usage of this term seems to be a consequence of cultural bleedover between pegasi and unicorns, since the general concept of knights and squires wasn’t a part of Pegasopolan culture. Most likely the pegasi adopted the term because the practice was effectively the same, lack of titles aside: a young warrior-in-training is apprenticed to an older, more experienced one who is usually either a clanmate or a close friend of one.
That won him to my cause, and the young colt rushed out to do my bidding. None too soon, for I had only just returned to Mother’s command tent when she arrived. She halted at the entrance and glowered at the bound Gale. Sensing danger, I hastily placed myself ‘twixt the two. Mother’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but she turned away with a snort. Now that we were outside the close quarters of the tunnels, I could finally take a proper look at her: she looked drawn and pale, as if she had aged a dozen years o’er the course of this day. Small surprise, given what we had suffered. Shadow’s blood yet lingered on her armor.
She trod into the tent, very slightly favoring one of her legs as she did so. “Those tunnels are a nightmare. The journey took five times as long as it should have. If we do not crush Celestia’s pets today, we will have to put what engineers we have to work widening the tunnels so that we can move our forces with any appreciable speed.” She trotted to the table and refilled her waterskin from a waiting pitcher. “I trust thou hast already set about procuring me fresh equipment so that I might rejoin the battle?”
“I have set Shield to the task.” Mother seemed satisfied with that answer, so I set to work fulfilling my promise to the young colt. “I had thought to take him on as my squire, now that Lance will no longer...” The remaining words died in my throat, for I could not bring myself to speak any further about her.
Mother fell silent for a long moment, then slowly shook her head. “Neigh. I do not deny thee for doubt of thy skills, but because I intend to keep Shield far away from any battlefield for the rest of the war. I will not bury another child.”
Alas, my promise to the lad would be broken. Though I could not fault Mother for that desire. “I suppose I shall have to wait until after the war to take him as an apprentice, then.”
“That should be acceptable,” Mother answered with a dismissive wave.
With that matter settled, I took a deep breath and tentatively broached a new topic. “Mother, I would advise you to make a statement of some sort once the battle is ended. The damage to your reputation and that of the rebel cause would be significantly diminished if you apologized for the trucebreaking and explained that Lance perished from wounds caused by Shadow mere hours before you met her. ’Twould not wholly cleanse the crime, but many would understand and sympathize with your actions.”
“I will not apologize for avenging my daughter’s murder,” Mother snapped, scowling furiously at me. “Let the world judge me as they will, but I am glad she is dead and only hope she suffers in whate’er awaits us beyond life’s ending.”
I could think of no fitting response, and ‘twas plain that I would accomplish nothing by further pursuing the matter. The two of us remained in silence for a short time while I waited for Shield to finish his sabotage mission. When the tent’s flap stirred I expected to see the young colt come to report his success, but while ‘twas a younger brother who arrived, ‘twas Flash who entered rather than Shield.
My brother had seen better days. More than half his silvery armor was coated in black soot, and his mane and tail were both missing large portions, as if he had let them rest too near a campfire. Given Archmagus Sparkle’s presence on the field, ‘twas not hard to guess at the cause of Flash’s sorry condition. Howe’er, most tellingly there was a slackness to his expression, a dull glaze o’er his eyes and a heavy slump to his wings. I had seen that look on soldiers before and steeled myself for grim tidings.
If Mother placed any importance on my brother’s battle wounds, she revealed none of it. “Flash. I take it thy brother is representing the clan on the field. I will be rejoining our forces shortly. How fares the battle?”
“Poorly.” Flash moved to nearby seat and fell heavily into it. He stare blankly ahead until Mother pointedly cleared her throat. When he spoke his voice was flat and emotionless, as if he were so drained that he could barely muster the strength to speak. “The loyalists succeeded in recovering Shadow’s body. The enemy fought with a fury I have rarely seen, whilst our forces fight with half their usual zeal.” Though Flash was displaying rare prudence in not saying so, ‘twas easy enough to guess at the cause for those morale issues. Treachery leaves a sour taste in the mouth of all true warriors.
Flash groaned and upended his waterskin, pouring the contents o’er his face. It seemed to rouse him from his stupor. “I ... Thunder and I felt our forces needed a victory of some sort to buoy our spirit. Unfortunately, there was only one enemy commander on the field who made a suitable target.”
His state made the target of his challenge plain enough, and my stomach clenched at the confirmation of my fears. Thunder’s absence was not on account of maintaining our clan’s presence on the frontline. I tried to keep the horror from my voice. The twins had always been bold idiots, but... “Tell me the two of you were not so foolish as to challenge Sunbeam Sparkle to single combat?”
Flash sighed heavily. “Would that I could, dear brother. Though ‘twas not single combat; she was willing to face myself and my brother at once. She declared her intention to destroy Mother and all her family line, and boasted that she saw no reason not to slay two birds with a single stone. I thought the advantage of numbers might allow us to prevail ‘gainst her.” His eyes flicked guiltily about the room. “We only wanted to earn our share of the glory. Lance and Mother had their victories; why should we not have ours too?”
Mother’s eyes locked upon his with the intensity of a hawk. “Where is thy brother?”
Flash’s eyes fell to the ground. “He ... he is...” He could not bring himself to say the words, which was answer enough.
A scream of fury rent the air, and Mother brought an armored hoof down upon the water urn, smashing it to pieces. I noted that the water dripping into the grass had a distinct pinkish hue. I suppose a shard of pottery must have found its way within her armor and pierced her flesh, though I could not imagine how that might have happened.
“Another one!” she shouted to the heavens. “Two of mine own flesh and blood in a single day!? Was my firstborn not enough? What sin have I committed that I must be punished so cruelly for it? Must I bury all my children ere this war ends?!”
Flash and I both moved to comfort her, but he was nearer. “He died well, Mother. He was very brave, and brought honor to our clan.”
Mother shoved him back with an angry snarl. “I do not care if he died well, he died! How couldst thou abandon him? He was thy brother, thy twin! How is it that he is dead, yet thou dost return to me alive and unharmed? Didst thou flee the battle like some craven?”
Flash squirmed, rooted to the spot by Mother’s explosive fury. “I ... there was no way I could hope to defeat her after I saw what she did to Thunder! Attempting to fight her would only have ended with me slain as well, and naught to show for it! Is it not better that one of us survives?”
“Would that the better of my sons had.” Mother struck him full across the cheek. “Instead he died so that thou might live.”
I might have offered some defense of my brother’s actions, save that something else demanded mine attention. The blow she had struck Flash had knocked Mother’s leg armor slightly askew, and I noted a slow, steady trickle of blood pouring through the gap. There was already a small but rapidly growing puddle beneath her hoof, and the flow seemed to be continuing on quite steadily. “Mother, you are wounded.”
Mother glanced down, and her eyes went wide. “Is all of that mine?”
“It is,” I confirmed. “Flash, find Dawn. Mother, pray hold still so that I might remove the armor and examine thy leg.” I did not have Dawn’s skills, but any warrior should know the fundamentals of battlefield medicine. Chirurgeons are not always close at hoof.
The instant I loosened Mother’s armor, I knew our need for Dawn’s skills was urgent. Blood exited ‘tween the newly opened gaps in her greaves like a torrent, and a layer of blood coated her leg from hoof to knee. That was far too much.
I desperately searched for the wound that had cost her so much, but found none. ‘Twas only on the third search that I realized mine error: I had assumed it must be some large, terrible wound to have made her bleed so awfully, but in truth, the wound was a small one, barely perceptible. Howe’er, it had severed one of the largest veins in her leg, and the wound had been unseen and untreated for far too long. Likely Mother had dismissed it as a minor wound that did not e’en cause any notable pain.
‘Twas as if seeing all the blood she’d lost suddenly made Mother realize the depth of her injury, for her legs collapsed underneath her a moment later. I hastily improvised a bandage out of some bedding and pressed it to her wound, hoping to at least slow the blood loss—though with how much of her lifesblood was already soaking the grass beneath her, I could not help wondering if mine efforts had been too little, too late.
“Dawn, where art thou?” I hissed underneath my breath.
“I am afraid thy sister is otherwise occupied.” I spun about and found myself facing Swift Blade, accompanied by a few of his unicorn cohorts—including the warlock archmagus Hidden Facts. Flash also stood at his side, to my displeasure. “She attends Ephor Steel, as he was badly wounded in an earlier battle and still hovers on the boundary of life and death.” His shoulders slumped in a o’erdramatic sigh. “Perhaps that is for the best; her recent record with family members does not inspire confidence in her abilities.”
“You dare?!” If not for the need to keep pressure upon Mother’s wound, I might have struck him then and there.
“Mind thy tongue, boy!” Swift snapped. I was tempted to strike him e’en more for the naked condescencion of his address. “With Bright and Steel both too wounded to lead, I am the Acting Commander of Pegasopolis.”
Flash’s eyes nervously flicked the warlocks accompanying the Ephor. “They promised that they could save Mother’s life. They have magic. Powerful magic.”
“Forbidden magic,” I snarled in reply.
“Forbidden by whom?” Hidden cut in smoothly. “By the very magi we name as enemies? The same mare who so recently murdered your brother? If Archmagus Sunbeam Sparkle were to declare the lance a forbidden weapon, would we abide by that restriction as well? I can save your mother’s life. What does it matter how it is done?”
“Aye, well said,” Swift rumbled in approval.
I immediately brought my weapons to bear against the lot of them as best I could while still tending my mother. It made a poor combat position, and likely stole some of the strength from my declaration. “I will not surrender my mother into the custody of warlocks!”
Swift Blade drew himself up to his full, though unimpressive, height. “That is not thy decision to make. As Acting Commander of Pegasopolis, I have final authority on the care of wounded soldiers, and I am giving mine orders now. Thou wilt grant the warlocks custody of Bright Charger and cease interfering in her medical care. Are mine orders clear?”
I might have made a fight of it, but I was outnumbered a dozen to one and restricted by the need to keep pressure on Mother’s wound. I could not hope to stop them, and trying would only result in my death. Likely an especially gruesome one, given the spellcasters I faced. There was only one viable choice: live to fight another day. “I understand, sir.” I stepped away from Mother with the utmost reluctance, allowing the warlocks to take charge of her. Flash took my place at her side.
“Very wise.” A smug smile crossed the Acting Commander’s lips. “Now then, I think we need to launch another assault on the enemy defenses. I would ask thee to stand for thy clan in leading that charge. With luck, thou might be able to avenge thy brother by facing his killer in single combat. Consider all of that an order.”
“No.” I drew myself up to my full height, which placed me a good few inches o’er Swift. “Since we are all using acting ranks, then let me say that as Acting Paterfamilias of the Charger clan, I am withdrawing my clan’s support from this campaign, effective immediately. Good luck taking the city without the largest of Pegasopolis’s clans. And others will follow my lead, I assure you.”
Swifts eyes bulged in shock. “That is treason! You cannot—”
I stilled the flapping of his jaws with a sharp blow. “You would name me a traitor, sir? I am badly insulted and demand that you give me the satisfaction of juris ungula, or withdraw your remarks and let my clan go on its way in peace. Have I made myself clear?” Given Swift’s abysmal reputation as a warrior, I felt perfectly safe issuing the challenge.
Swift scowled balefully, then turned to his pet warlock. “Very well then. Hidden Facts, dispose of this fool for me.”
A slight smirk crossed the cadaverous mage’s face. “Alas, this a pegasus affair. I’m afraid I cannot stand as your champion. It would be ... improper.” He nodded to his own dark mages, and they quickly transported Mother elsewhere. Flash spared me an almost apologetic look, then followed his new masters.
I breathed out in relief. It had not e’en occurred to me that Swift might show such utter disregard for tradition that he would attempt to name a unicorn warlock as his champion instead of standing against me himself. Though such might have violated tradition and invalidated the duel in the eyes of society, such would be small comfort if I perished.
Deprived of his prospective champion, Swift had little choice in the matter. He may have been proud proud, but not so proud he would die before his knees bent. “Very well then, Dusk Charger. I withdraw my remarks, which were spoken in the heat of the moment.” Despite those words, Swift’s eyes never left mine, and I could plainly see the hate burning within them. “I will not forget this.”
“Good.” I rose to my hooves and turned to face the exit. “If you do forget it, sir, ‘twould be my great pleasure to remind you once more.” ‘Twas most satisfying to see his jaw clench in impotent fury. “Now if there is nothing else, please leave my tent. There is a rather unpleasant odor of cowardice in the air.”
Swift had no choice but to let the barb pass. Once the supposed Acting Commander slunk out of my tent, I made arrangements to secure Gale, and then began planning Mother’s rescue.
Half an hour later, a small group of ponies met in my tent in utmost secrecy.
The first to join me was Sierra Doo. When I had risen to command of the hetairoi, I had named her as my second. While she was not a part of her clan’s ruling family, she was a respected warrior with a reasonable measure of influence, and a close personal friend as well.
After her came Bronze Striker, Ephor Steel’s younger brother. Mine uncle, I suppose. Like myself, he was effectively acting pater of the clan. His coat suited his name, with a close-cropped mane and tail which was rapidly fading from black to grey. A competent commander, but one who had e’er lived in his brother’s shadow. Mother once told me that not a thought entered his head that Steel had not placed there.
Then there was Solus Kicker, the closest thing the remnants of the loyal Kickers had to a proper pater. A veteran warlock hunter who had lost an ear, an eye, and his good looks in battle against a necromancer. ‘Twas those scars which kept him from taking command of the clan, despite being the best qualified for it. Rumor had it that he had refused to join Shadow not for any love of Pegasopolis, but because he hated unicorns. I could not say I approved of such sentiments, but it made him well-suited to our current purposes.
Last of all, I had mater Ardent Stalker. I dared not move against Swift without some support from the minor clans, or I risked splitting our army in twain. She was small, lean, and unimposing like most of her clansmares, but I did not for a second believe that made her any less dangerous. As importantly, I knew she had no great love for Swift Blade.
The Stalker Clan constituted some of our best skirmishers, and all of their number had served in the Long Patrol at some point. Their influence was perhaps less than they deserved, as many warriors felt skirmishing to be somewhat dishonorable compared to standing and fighting. I suspect this sentiment comes from the fact that a good skirmisher can make short work of a fool who insists upon standing out in the open and demanding his enemies face him directly.
Five ponies, one from each of the major clans and one from a minor clan. The number and arrangement of this meeting was not a product of happenstance. ‘Twas strange to think of myself as the acting paterfamilias for my clan in this matter, but I had no time to dwell on that when my mother needed mine aid.
I stepped forward, positioning myself so that I could see all of them at once. ‘Twas fortunate that my new post as commander of the hetairoi had allowed me more spacious quarters than I had once enjoyed. “Let us begin. There is much to discuss and little time to see it done. With Ephors Steel Striker and Bright Charger both wounded in action, Ephor Swift Blade currently holds sole command of Pegasopolis’s armed forces. I consider this an unacceptable state of affairs and intend to take action to correct it.”
“Unacceptable because you do not want to take orders from a pony who comes from a minor clan?” the Stalker mater asked suspiciously, though her tone was not quite as cutting as it could have been. I suspect she asked the question in part to allow me to answer it and put an end to any such suspicions ere they arose.
“Neigh, materfamilias. I care little for what name a pony bears; I do not wish to take orders from him because he is unfit for command.”
My response seemed adequate, and Ardent Stalker relaxed in her seat. “I have ne’er cared for him. Were it not for his low cunning during the selection process, I might well have his seat in the Ephorate.” She waved for me to continue.
“Swift Blade has ne’er distinguished himself in battle. He has not commanded a force larger than a few squads, and ne’er in any true conflict. I do not deny his skill with managing our supply lines, but that is a job for a clerk rather than a commander. He is craven, and we all know it. ‘Tis no secret that a sharp blow and an issued challenge will always suffice to make him bite his tongue. Most critically, he is consorting with practitioners of the forbidden arts.”
Solus Kicker growled several words which should not have been said amongst polite company. “We should not have taken those accursed unicorns prisoner to begin with. I told Cyclone that they deserved the noose. No good could come of letting them live.”
With the benefit of hindsight, I quite agreed with him. “Ephor Steel and my mother were considering how best to punish him for his flagrant disobedience when they were wounded in battle.” I struggled to keep my choler in check with my next statement. “One of his first acts upon learning that my mother was wounded was to entrust her care to his pet warlocks. Had I not been alone against him and a dozen of his mages, I would have cut him down then and there. I know not what his warlocks intend for my mother, but I doubt ‘tis anything good. She stands ‘tween him and control of our armies.”
“You think he would go so far as to murder her?” Sierra asked.
“Neigh, but he need not take any action against her. She was already badly wounded.” I thought back to my mother’s lifeblood spilling onto the ground and trembled. “It may well be enough to merely have his warlocks be less than diligent in their efforts to aid her.”
Bronze sighed and ran a hoof down his face. “‘Tis unclear if Steel will e’en live through the night. And if he does... he is not as young and strong as he once was. He might well have to retire, and e’en if he does not, ‘twill be many weeks ere he can return to the battlefield. If Bright falls, Swift will take command unopposed.”
“No.” I looked to each of them in turn, weighing my words carefully. “Not unopposed.”
Solus scratched at his scars with a hoof that had been cracked many years ago and healed badly. “So that is the way of it? Well and good. I can have fifty blades ready in ten minutes. Not the best of our clan, but they will obey mine orders without doubt or hesitation. I think the loyalty of our blades will be far more important than their skill for this.”
“I can bring a hundred from the Doos,” Sierra offered. “I think it likely the hetairoi would stand with us as well. ‘Twould add to the legitimacy of the proceedings.”
“Aye, but there are a few Blades in the hetairoi,” I cautioned. “I would not risk one of them finding some way to forewarn him of our coming. If we arrive and take him unawares, this should go smoothly. If he has time to muster his clan, we risk a civil war among our ranks and the utter ruin of our cause.”
“How quietly do we want him removed?” Ardent asked with a cold smile. “I could arrange for something very discreet. A poison that mimics the symptoms of a common camp illness. None might e’er know he was murdered.” Her smile widened. “And I do like the image of Swift spending his last days perched o’er a chamberpot.”
While I could not deny the idea had a certain appeal to it, I shook my head. “He has my mother. We cannot afford to wait a few days for him to expire.”
“So we take the warlocks now,” Solus Kicker suggested with a smile that pulled his scars tight across his face. “Kill them all and string their corpses up. Better than they deserve, but we are in some haste.”
“I would prefer we avoid bloodshed if at all possible,” Bronze opined with a frown. “We are not so flush with soldiers that we can afford to waste lives fighting our own. I would suggest we march openly on where’er Swift and his warlocks are meeting, and demand his resignation and the warlocks’ imprisonment whilst holding five hundred blades at our back. No threats need be spoken—the mere presence of such numbers will make the consequences of refusal plain.”
“Just march our forces right through the middle of camp?” Ardent demanded incredulously. “Surely we can come up with a slightly subtler plan than that.”
“Subtlety takes time, and that is a resource we have little of,” Sierra parried.
“Why spare the warlocks?” Solus Kicker demanded. “So they can be released by some other damned fool or escape? Kill them and be done with it.”
I did not want to risk the meeting devolving to petty bickering, so I did what Mother would have to restore order: I took a deep breath and spoke as loudly as I could without shouting. “If I may make a suggestion...” The others all paused, turning to face me. “I think Bronze is correct that it would be best to avoid bloodshed if at all possible. Any deaths could spark a blood feud we can ill afford in the middle of a war.” I noted the scowl forming on Solus’s face and moved to dispel it. “We can always give the warlocks a swift trial and justified execution after they agree to be taken back into custody. ‘Tis likely they would only attempt to manipulate their way to freedom once more, anyway.”
“So long as they die,” he growled.
Bronze naturally had no objections to his own proposal, and Sierra seemed quite content with it as well. That only left Ardent objecting. “I grasp the need to recover your mother from the warlocks as swiftly as possible; howe’er, must the rescue and our action against Swift occur in the same stroke?”
“I think that would be best.” I turned to face her directly. “Once we move against his warlocks, Swift will know us for his enemies. If we give him time to prepare himself, he will make our lives far more difficult.”
Ardent Stalker sighed and waved her concession. “Aye, he would. Likely by doing something so terrible and ill-considered that we had not e’en entertained the possibility. So be it—we will move against him swiftly and directly.”
Ten minutes later, we marched on Swift’s tent. We had assembled o’er five hundred loyal soldiers ‘tween us, though I suspect I might have been able to rouse the entire clan given more time. Howe’er, I worried that I might already have waited too long to rescue Mother from the warlocks. Better to take action now with sufficient force than to arrive too late with o’erwhelming force.
Darkness had fallen while we readied ourselves. The wind had shifted, and now our camp was experiencing some of the torrential rains we regularly inflicted upon Canterlot. So much the better, as it served to drive most soldiers to their tents. Swift would receive less warning of our approach, and most of his clan would be huddled where’er they could shelter from the rain rather than closely attending their pater.
As we neared the warlocks’ tent, there was an unnatural chill in the air, especially for a late summer’s night. “Sorcery,” Solus Kicker hissed. He pointed to a pair of empty cages. “No, not just that. Blood magic.”
Sierra approached the cages, making a quick inspection. “These held the Archmagi we were to trade for Rightly.”
“Not anymore,” the grizzled mage-hunter snarled. “They have likely been sacrificed to fuel whate’er dark magic the warlocks are weaving. We must stop them, and quickly.”
I quite agreed with him, and we approached the tent’s entrance. A small contingent of Blades held the entrance, some warily looking towards the large force of approaching soldiers, while others seemed more frightened of what they guarded. I recognized both Swift’s children among their number and turned to the elder, his son. “Stand aside.”
The son—Quick, if I recalled his name correctly—shot an uncertain glance o’er his shoulder, then firmed his stance. “Commander Swift Blade has ordered that none be admitted into the tent until the ceremony is complete. Who are you to countermand his orders?”
My companions stepped up to my side, adding another subtle layer of intimidation to the scene. “I am a very angry and very well-armed warrior who is in command of five hundred other very angry, very well-armed warriors. I ask you once again, stand aside.”
Quick’s sister, a rather comely young mare named Skilled, hissed something into his ear, but he waved her off. “I have mine orders. You cannot enter.”
Solus Kicker strode forward, the light glinting menacingly off of his wing blades. “Tell me something, child. If we want to get in, how exactly do you plan on stopping us?”
‘Twas plain to see that Quick was all but petrified. Once more Skilled whispered to him; I could only hear a few words, but those that I did pleased me. “Not worth dying for.”
Unfortunately, Quick did not heed his sister, waving her off. ‘Twould seem that while he knew he could not hope to stand against us, he was possessed of too much loyalty to his father to abandon his post e’en in the face of certain death.
Perhaps inspired by mine earlier encounter with Swift, I decided on bold action for my course. My punch caught him in the cheek, carefully aimed so as to do no significant harm to him. The young stallion was caught quite by surprise, losing his balance and falling face-first into the mud. His sister and some of the other Blade ponies glowered at me, but none seemed o’ereager to do more than that when my forces had theirs outnumbered by more than twenty to one. For all their anger, they stood aside.
I opened the tent, finding the air thick with incense and other smells I could not identify save for one: the thick, cloying stench of blood. I could see the bodies of the murdered Archmagi, and a large bloodstain in the center of a large ritual circle where my mother must have been placed. Yet her body was no longer there.
I espied Swift Blade and all but charged him. Unlike with his son, I took no care to avoid harming him with my punch, and I could feel his cheekbone cave in under the blow. The supposed commander of Pegasopolis fell to the ground, and I unsheathed a knife and pressed it to his throat. “Where is my mother?!”
Ere he could answer me, I heard her voice behind me. “Release him, Dusk.”
I instantly did so and spun about, searching for her. She stood at Hidden Facts’ side, though now she dwarfed the warlock. Mother had always been large for a mare, though her build was more lean and muscular. Now, she was a giant, almost comparable in scale to Queen Celestia. And from her forehead...
“Mother?”
“Yes,” the alicorn Bright Charger answered me with, a cold smile upon her face. “But so much more as well. I am Equestria’s salvation from the evils of the Sun Tyrant. I am freedom. I am a goddess’s will made flesh. I am Luna reborn, her avatar on this world!”
Oh crap...
On a sliding scale of "bad to worse", said scale just spontaneously combusted. And then exploded. Twice.
Oh shit. So much for all the theories that Lance's body was going to be the Nightmare Avatar. I suppose the new question is whether they let Bright die and animated her corpse, or if this is still her with the crazy dialed up to eleven.
Does that mean we just lost Archmage Copper?
On a different note, I like this coalition of young fighters and have hopes that they will have sense that their seniors do not. We know that some of the clans stay in Equestria as opposed to fleeing to Freeport, otherwise we wouldn't have Rainbow or the Canterlot Doos, so maybe this is where that group comes from.
You just went full Denethor, Bright, and you never go full Denethor.
5547796
I think this is it for Archmage Copper.
I assume this new Bright Charger has either been brainwashed during the process or the ritual itself already scrambled her brains. But I bet that anger she had towards Celestia is still there.
Also will please someone just cut Swift Blade's throat?!
Well, we all know just what hit the fan
Yanno... this reads somewhat like what happened with Horus Lupercal... intriguing!
So, in the end we will have a final battle between Bright and Shadow. Also, the history books kinda failed to make mention that Bright didn't so much die as become an evil blood magic alicorn.
i.imgur.com/7d3ff.jpg
Yeah... that's not good. This chapter marks an extremely dark turn for the entire fic, actually. I did not anticipate Gale being captured, so I can't imagine at the moment when Shadow might get her back before the end of the war. Whenever it happens, their reunion will most certainly be full of feels given that Gale will presumably still be under the impression that she's dead.
Now we see all of Pegasopolis's codes of honor falling to pieces. Despite the fact that for the most part they were doing pretty well up until now, they should've been more wary of there being snakes in their nest, so to speak, given that they were still committing treason. It was a mistake needing somepony like Swift Blade to begin with, despite his talents, and now... well, some crap's about to go down, that's for sure.
One question: wouldn't Nightmare Moon's avatar be referring to herself as, well... Nightmare Moon, in this instance, rather than Luna? I only ask because I'm pretty sure that's what Nightmare Moon always called herself during her existence; she never made any sort of pretense or tried to fool ponies into thinking she was Luna. I mean, if that's what she's doing here, and just trying not to scare the pegasi away from her cause, that'd be an acceptable explanation, but still, given that she's a goddess who doesn't have any qualms about abusing her god-level powers (which I assume could extend to enslaving most of ponykind, if she wished) I don't see why she'd care about the pegasi voluntarily supporting her. As far as she's concerned, her will is correct always, and if anypony disagrees with her, too bad, they're going to follow her or die. Just thought I'd ask; it's a little thing, but it did still catch my eye and pique my curiosity.
Wonderful close to the second act, all in all! I can only imagine what Sunbeam's righteous fury was like when dueling Thunder and Flash. Would've liked to see Shadow recovered and treated upon, but I completely understand given the way the chapter ended why this chapter was told from Dusk's POV. I imagine the climax of the final act will be Shadow's duel with the avatar of Nightmare Moon? If so, I cannot wait to finally see her illustrious armor in action, given that presumably Celestia's going to give it a few upgrades as well!!! Wonderful work as always, Chengar, and thanks again for a great read!!!
UHHHHHHHHHHHH.....
Not good. Jeeeezus, everything got darker and went downhill in a hurry, all in just one chapter.
5547885
Yeah, I didn't see this coming at all. I expected dead Bright, and the eventual breaking of the rebellion.
Possible bias in the history books, maybe? Perhaps they wanted to hide this information of Bright being turned into a dark alicorn puppet? I'm pretty sure the Chargers didn't want their name sullied for the remainder of history even further by being noted for having one of their members play host to dark magic. Better that Bright Charger died as a normal pegasus from an unnoticed wound than what we just saw.
5547922
It could partly be political, it could also partly be semantics on the part of pony historians themselves (not to mention some creative liberty from Chengar as well to build tension as to who would be the avatar of her). After the war historians might have decided that, for all intents and purposes, "Bright Charger" was dead when the avatar of Nightmare Moon took over her body (again, that could've also been a somewhat political decision to mollify Clan Charger). How much of her is actually still alive, that's hard to say; there could be some small part of her in the recesses of her mind, but my personal opinion, her body's probably no more than a vessel at this point. Maybe the avatar has her memories, but I don't think it's her anymore.
Hm, was fully expecting Lance to be the one transformed. Kind of makes her whole story arc a bit of a red herring. Not her role in the story, but the whole thing about transforming into an alicorn. Rather pointless in hindsight. Oh well, at least now we know how utterly depraved Swiftblade was willing to become in the name of victory.
Awesome! That reveal was excellent. I loved the meeting between the lesser players of the rebels, as well. I hope we see more of them at some point.
It's neat how Dusk even went so far as to try and leave the rebellion. That certainly would have changed the tide of the war sooner.
HAHAH! Yes! Once again, you did it!
By mentioning her Charger's death somewhere else, you got me (And probably many too) off guard at the end! Good writing, good writing
I am actually somewhat relieved they didn't use Lance's body, because that would have been a terrible thing to do to her.
5548054 That's the point, isn't it? We got caught by surprise.
5547904 Well looking at the overall story is this. Both sides made HUGE errors leading to the war. Celestia on berating the Ephorate for doing it's job. Sorry Celly but giving the communication tech of the time it would be wiser to trust they commander in the feild then some one who only knows as much as you do. The Phorate, well they should have taken the clipping more seriously. Hammer had to have gotten the idea from somewhere. Either from an old tome that didn't have the update saying this was no longer acceptabole or someone taught him wrong.
I bet this whole thing was because of Swift. I bet he was the first one to suggest not having Shadow in the meeting to discuss removing Celestia as C&C, which i think breaks the spirit of the law they use to remove Celestia. I beleive Swift is also the first to suggest getting involved with the Earth pony Elections. Would not be surprised if he was the one to coin the term Sun Tyrant for Celestia even though she has done nothing to actually warrent the title. And he was really for the Warlocks from the start. From the sounds of it he feels that his clan owes a debt to Luna and wants her back and be her right hoof pony. This chapter confirms what i believed happened.
The warlocks either on their own or with Swift's blessing try the attack during the meet for prisoner exchange. When that failed the warlocks posioned lance hoping Shadow would be blamed for it. i think they were going to use lance's body but with Bright injured and her curent mindset made her a better host.
My Question is, how can Bright be an avatar for Nightmare Moon? NMM is not dead and still has a body just imprisoned. I hope we get this idea answered.
5548263
I agree that Swift is far more to blame than he's let on, but based on his earlier chapter I don't believe he meant to bring back Luna from the start, much less seek the help of warlocks. He clearly was uneasy about that from the get-go, and it took a lot of smooth talking from Hidden Facts to reassure him and convince him to embrace the warlocks as allies. What I'm curious about is when Hidden Facts and the warlocks started planning to betray Celestia's cause. Were they simply being opportunistic and saw the rebellion as the best time to strike as any (i.e. bring back NMM and with an army to back her up to boot)? Clearly they've had these thoughts in mind for a lot longer than anypony could've suspected. Swift definitely was making a power play for his own personal power in pushing the Ephorate towards war, but he's so pragmatic that he would never have automatically sought the warlocks out right from the start. It took him convincing because he knows they're such a wildcard. I'm pretty sure he's a lot more for the idea now, both because his own standing stands to improve as well as he might even be being manipulated to a certain extent by Hidden Facts (we've already seen he can do so more forcefully, and Swift was uncharacteristically brash and petulant when he addressed Dusk, though that could've been his supposed seniority talking).
As for Lance, I'm 10-1 certain she actually was inadvertently killed by Shadow after inhaling a bit of the tanglehoof. Given that the assassination attempt was so sloppy, I think the warlocks just wanted to suspend negotiations, keep the archmagi to use as sacrifices, and still use Lance, not actually kill her (and keep Rightly from resuming his command). Lance dying was as unfortunate for them as it was for Celestia, though in the long run it'll probably work out as she seemed a far stronger pony than her mother, and just an unforeseen tragedy of circumstances. You can double check with Chengar to be sure, but I'm positive her death was just an accident.
And as for Nightmare Moon, it's a dark magical ritual combined with a dark entity that even the canon material hasn't fully explained. NMM is very much unlike pretty much any other villain in the show; it's an entity with a conscience of its own, but also to some extent functions like a parasite in that the host retains a twisted form of their personality. In some ways, it's like the Venom symbiote from Spiderman, albeit with less of a distinct personality of its own (i.e. you won't hear Bright arguing with the NMM entity or anything like that, it takes over the host too much for two personalities to be coexisting with each other). My guess is that the NMM avatar is an extension of the entity in its current form; it's ultimately still fully bound to Luna on the moon, at the moment (I don't think it can move that freely without a host, but at the same time Luna's physical form, and by extension its as well, is bound to the moon by the magic of the Elements of Harmony) so it can't completely come back to Equestria, but thanks to this ritual, it can at least have a shade of its presence on Equestria. The fact that we know that ultimately Shadow defeats the avatar, despite being greatly assisted by Celestia's enchanted armor, lends credence to the idea that this avatar is not the whole entity, but merely a shadow, and therefore not as powerful. I'm thinking that, in its current form, it's probably as powerful as, say, Twilight when she first became an alicorn, albeit with a lot more knowledge of how to wield its power given that its an extension of the NMM entity's conscience.
5548263 'Alicorn' Bright is more or less a false prophet. Of course Celestia still won't take the field.
Great chapter, as always.
From what I can tell, this will probably serve as another tipping point. Those that don't support NMM will likely leave, but not form a force of their own. This will make the remaining forces actually more radical, and less likely to surrender. This act essentially makes peace via diplomacy nearly impossible.
As for Swift Blade, I have no idea what he thinks he's doing. Unless he can brainwash all his troops, this will result in a net loss of force. Especially when you consider that this might force Celestia to act.
And as to Bright Charger's reactions to everything; I can't help but see the similarity of her death and Lance's. Both disregarded something that most likely could have been rather easily cured. Although Bright survives, it is questionable how much she changes with this transformation.
5548352 Well, no. But Celestia does take a more active role in this instance, making the first set of alicorn enchanted armor. This creates an artifact so powerful that it must be protected for times of great danger, and only used by the truly worthy, or until one of the Kickers can trick it into allowing it's use while transporting it to somepony more worthy. (Point Storm Kicker, Cloudy wasn't quite slick enough for that trick) The armor is basically the ultimate anti-magic. Ironically, it's main flaw is that while being the best magical defense, it will not prevent you from being physically damaged to death. So death bolts will fail, but if a mountain is thrown at you, the armor will now have a great new hiding place under a mountain, despite being very messy. It would not harm the armor, of course, just the squishy pony inside of it.
Well, this just got extremely intense. I was a little behind, so I just read the last two chapters back to back. I'm really looking forward to seeing where you take it next!
Okay: Prize question for Swift Blade and cohorts:
The last time Princess Celestia entered the fray of battle, who or what caused her to do so?
Bonus points for remembering what Celestia is capable of.
Extra bonus points for an appropriate reaction to realizing what exactly you just did.
Here's a hint: You just created an avatar for the omnicidal goddess and blight to ponykind known as Nightmare Moon.
Also, would someone please give Dusk Charger a cookie? Boy deserves one for being such a decent and respectable bloke.
I love how you absolutely pulled the rug out from under us and made Bright the avatar. Well done with all that Lance Charger misdirection.
5548337 don;t you dare go the parasite route. NMM IS Luna. Just Luna's alternate personality. Very much like Batman's Two Face
Well... that's interesting. Is Bright now Acting Commander again? Is she still Materfamilias of the Chargers? Are the Charges going to have a schism over this? Does Dusk hook up with Gale? All these questions and more in the next Lunar Rebellion.
5548828
It's not the stupidest move in the world, to be fair. Radical, yes, extremely radical and dangerous, but stupid for their cause? That's harder to say.
(1) We've seen that a lot of ponies, especially pegasi rebels, but also some earth ponies and clearly even unicorns as well (i.e. the warlocks) have their doubts at this time about the legitimacy of Celestia's banishing her sister in the first place. Some think she actually killed her, some think there was no NMM at all and it was just a power play, some think NMM wasn't bad. They all think that because, despite not knowing how long Luna refused to lower the moon, we do know that NMM was only fully manifested for about 5 minutes before Celestia banished her, and she alone saw her (not counting any ponies in or around the castle who may have seen her as well, but we've heard of none). Point is, it's not a terrible PR move, even if obviously there'll be a lot of more rational ponies, especially in the army itself, who quickly figure out "ya know something, this queen sounds kinda crazy and maniacal, maybe we shouldn't help her out."
(2) I don't know if anyone will be able to leave their cause of their own volition, at least in the main body of the rebel army itself. NMM is clearly a tyrannical entity, and as such I don't think she'd be above enslaving the wills of others. Obviously there might be limits to those powers, but she could most definitely I'm sure enslave the minds of the most troublesome leaders among the rebels, who could reassure their own troops then that she's alright. Even if she doesn't enslave others, they might be too fearful to doublecross her and her warlock minions. I know Freeport gets taken over by rebels who refuse to come back into the Equestrian fold, but I'm guessing the elements that do so may leave the cause at the earliest after her avatar has been defeated. I could obviously be wrong, but I just don't see her tolerating deserters. The warlocks alone wouldn't be able to stop them, and once she's gone they'll still be around and rallying the radical elements to their banner, but sounder minds probably won't follow their lead alone. Nightmare Moon though? I think most will be too afraid to abandon her while she's around.
(3) Celestia is in an extremely melancholy state right now, and given that she did make mistakes that led to the war (plus we know that Shadow defeats the avatar), even now she'll be hesitant to step onto the field of battle. She banished Luna by herself before, which thankfully spared most ponies from really seeing the full extent of what she could do, heck, that's why she's stayed out of this conflict. She doesn't want to reunite Equestria by mowing down the ponies she loves; in her mind at this point, she'd be no better than NMM if she did so. With the avatar, obviously it's a bit different matter. My guess of why she'll stay out of this still is because (1) the avatar has taken over Bright Charger's body, and so laying waste to their "commander" would hardly endear Celestia to the rebels as a benevolent leader, (2) if they did battle, it could cause some massive damage to the surrounding area, plus the siege is still going on, so Celestia might not be able to battle NMM at the risk of lowering Canterlot's defense's. At that point, even if she did beat her easily, the rebels would still be free to descend on Canterlot anyway and so she'd probably have to use her power at that point to spare the city from a bloodbath, but at the cost of wiping out the rebels. I guess if push ultimately came to shove and she had no choice, Celestia would face NMM, but I can also understand why Shadow beating her is going to be her first choice.
My ultimate point is that while obviously this was a dangerous move on the rebels part that would do absolutely no good for anyone in the long run, in the short term it's actually a fairly sound tactical move, at least when it comes to the sole purpose of dethroning Celestia.
5549490
Like I said, I only meant somewhat parasitic in nature, and I'm really only saying that because of the events with Nightmare Rarity. Obviously Nightmare Moon was born of Luna's own personality, we know that, but based on what happened in the comics we know that at some point that darkness inside her became its very own entity as well. Again, I don't think it's a parasite; in Rarity's case I think it assailed all of the Mane 6 and found her insecurities to be the easiest to manipulate into twisting whatever darkness lay in her own soul for its own purposes, but it clearly was acting on its own after being banished from Luna. It's actually why, for the sake of the story, they need something like the magic of friendship or the Elements of Harmony to defeat it; otherwise, it'd be an extremely ambiguous and difficult to understand personality disorder similar, as you said, to Harvey Dent's bipolar disorder, which plotwise would be very hard to get rid of. Thankfully, for the sake of the stories it's shown up in, we know that while it's part personality disorder, it's also more so a dark magical entity of its own, though I will again concede that it originated in Luna. I think she was able to bring forth something like that because of her alicorn nature; most ponies couldn't conjure a darkness like that in themselves, much less on accident and through a combination of sadness, rage, and insecurity, but an alicorn? I can totally see that.
Mo' Chargers, Mo' Problems.
I dunno about you, but I'm getting some serious Denethor of Gondor vibes from
LanceBright right now.It's too bad that we know how she dies; I find the prospect of Lance running off a cliff while on fire to be rather promising.
Also, Swift is in command now?
Well,
f*ckhorsefeathers.And now that I've actually read it all, I just want to say...
OH, HORSEFEATHERS!
5549582
I think you mean Bright, not Lance. Lance is already dead.
5549533 the comics are soft cannon AT best. and Nightmare Rarity is a wreck, such one that not even their normal writers were involved. So just ignore it.
The physical change is the outward sign of the personality shift. Remember in Luna Eclipse Luna can physically turn into Nightmare Moon and perhaps act like her at times. Will she ever want night eternal, no but in one fanfic she uses NMM to instill fear upon those that threaten Twilight.
Luna's current form is her preferred form, not her actual form and she is on par with Celestia in terms of power.
As for Swift and the Warlocks. well they may have started out on different paths but both want the same goal. Luna back. I agree that he may not have sought them out but embraced them when they approached him. He started calling Celestia a sun tyrant well before the rebellion, even though their is no real proof of it.
5549611
I liked the Nightmare Rarity storyline, though that's mostly nostalgia since it was their second major storyline in the comics (but still, I kinda liked it ). I know that Luna can transform herself into the physical form, and I never said she wasn't on par with Celestia in power, but when she's transformed herself into NMM physically since the season opener (which was only once) I guess I assumed she was just using illusionary magic to do so. We've never really gotten an explanation for what that was, so that's my best guess still. I'm not sure what you mean when you say that "her current form is her preferred form, not her actual form" because, frankly I disagree. Luna looked exactly like she does now prior to transforming into Nightmare Moon, and if we're bringing fan work into this, Silly Filly Studios has given us the closest thing to concrete origins of NMM we have in "Fall of the Empire" (at least as far as canon or fanon speculation goes). In that and in the Season 4 opener, Luna let's her power overcome her, but at the cost of giving into her darkest thoughts (the difference in Fall of the Empire being that she's able to reign it in after disposing of Sombra). So my theory, and this might be what you're saying as well, is that yeah, she was still Luna physically when she became NMM, but she lost herself completely in allowing all that power to flow through her. Celestia could probably do the same thing and wield even more power than she normally does, but she too would probably do it at the cost of her own personality. If we discount the Nightmare Rarity storyline, I can't really describe Nightmare Moon as a separate entity then, I will give you that, it would be nothing more than Luna just being totally out of control and giving into darkness inside of her. I don't mind including Nightmare Rarity into my head canon and adjusting NMM canon as such, but that's my personal preference.
So is the darkness still there? Discounting Nightmare Rarity, yes, without that canon it probably resides inside of Luna still. Can she change into that on a whim? No, I don't think so; I think when she did so in "Luna Eclipsed" that was just an illusion, not a physical transformation. I think the actual physical transformation comes with giving into the darkness as well, so that would require Luna going off the deep end again, just like Celestia releasing her full power would require her going off the deep end as well. So I think the only thing we're really disagreeing over, besides whether or not we prefer accepting Nightmare Rarity as canon, is whether or not she can physically transform into Nightmare Moon easily. I tend to think not, but if you do, I'm sure there's plenty of justification for thinking so as well.
5549499
There's also the issue of how much of their army they're going to lose to this.
Bright Charger is already known to be a backstabber by a portion of the army, and word will get around quickly. Then if consorting with Warlocks to become a blood magic abomination gets around too?
I'd imagine that they're going to lose the support of several pegasus clans over this.
5549713 my theory goes into this. Pilot Luna and the fact NMM is the same size as Celestia. I think Celestia is in her true form but you have to admit it's pretty intimidating. Luna's size however is closer to norm pony's thus easier to relate to. I think she tries that prebanishment and continued after the Elements. Cadance and Twilight would eventually be the the same height as Celestia but can act like Luna and be smaller for relatablilty
5549747
Again, it all depends on when they could even make a move. If none of them feel like they could stand up to NMM's avatar, they might stick to the course despite their own personal reservations until she's defeated, which might come no sooner than the fall of the siege of Canterlot. At that point, I can see desertions happening enmasse. Right now, only the boldest would leave, and they might join the loyalists if they were willing to leave at this point, but it wouldn't be very many I don't think. After she's gone, I'm sure a lot more will leave, but they won't be flocking to the loyalists either, I don't think. Some might, but most rebel deserters might just be disillusioned with Equestria in general at that point and go the way of Freeport.
5549766
That can work as a theory. It doesn't work for me personally, just because (1) I don't think enough is known about alicorn size to concretely speculate about how it works, (2) I don't think Luna was very concerned with relating to other ponies until very recently given that her personality until "Luna Eclipsed" was the same as when she was banished, and suggested that when she was banished she was very formal and regal with common ponies, even if she did desire their love ,and (3) I've always attributed Luna's size to her standing as the younger sister, but it can definitely work as a theory in general, and I can see why others would be able to fit that into sound head canon.
5549790 I admit the pre banisment size is a weakpoint but the question of why is Celestia so large in comparison to the other known alicorns. Cadance proves that they do grow.
Ooohkeyyy... now let's go chronologically through whatever-the-f@!k-just-happened:
1.
No, you have your IQ above 100 so you should't. Don't compare yourself to your mother, she's retarded.
Yep, here comes Sunbeam.
tattwa.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/b0eb661f6693b4242fd225b30c33ad9f.jpg
Shipping intensifies.
And this year's Darwin Award goes toooooo..... Thundeeeeeeerr... Chaaaaaaaaargeeeeeeeeeer.....
Bright dying due to bloodloss - check
And then he was sent to recover Osgiliath... oh wait, wrong story.
Swift in power - check
And what follows is a badass reveal of "Ascendent Shadows" second protagonist group. I actually didn't expect that.
How many times did Copper die already? Doesn't matter, he's really dead this time. RIP
Also this entire scene was badass. We have another side in conflict.
Uhhh... ok... you got me... that was unexpected... wait that's it? I inderestimated you Cheng... you actually DID pull out a Valve tier cliffhanger.... good thing I have Fluid mechanics to care about now, I'm not sure how I'll... oh, forget that, I' m still waiting for HL3 anyway.
Now, my predictions, CHENGAR DON'T READ THIS:
1. The next volume begins with Gale breaking free and saving Dusk's ass. The duo, togeather with the afformentioned dream team go on an epic black ops crusade to stop the Lunars, aiding the solars in process.
2. Then we're treated with a surreal picture of Shadow wakimg up a few weeks later, with shit already in the fan.
3. Copper turns out to be alive in the end
4. Rightly joins the Solars to redeem himself and dies
5. Brighticorn goes Saren kills herself when she realises the degree of crap she's done.
6. Gale and Dusk love arc happens in a meantime.
7. Radiant dies.
8. Midnight was mentioned by Hidden, not sure what's her role going to be though, especially that it was Ponibiuses chapter.
Lastly, I find tvia oddly fitting:
Blind Guardian - Nightfall
5549814
Oh yeah, they definitely grow, heck, Twilight's even more proof of that given that she's quite bigger than she was as a unicorn.
5549832
This is already the best chapter summary ever, but please, continue.
Sigh. Warlocks. Can't live with them, can't summon twisted mockeries of life into the world without them.
What is even IN this for Swift Blade that he's putting up with these guys, and why do I have the sneaking suspicion it's actually just going to be a swift blade to the neck?
Okay, just DAMN.
Now's the point where things are at the darkest. Lance Charger is dead, Rightly's captured and Bright is...its unclear if that's her or not. Between that and Blade already trying to send Dusk off to his death, the best of the Lunars leaders and those most open to negotiation are dead or sidelined leaving...Swift Blade. The guy who, if he was a human would (personality wise) be Joseph Stalin. And with Crossguard and Shadow dead, that leaves Sunbeam Sparkle in charge of the Celestials...a pony who is shown to be sociopathic and prone to despicable acts. So you basically have the worst of both sides now leading things and the best have been removed. That's never a good sign.
Poor Copper. Makes you wish Dusk and his mini-Ephorate had been just a bit quicker, for him and for Bright...Hope they can stem the madness, but that's unlikely. As long as...whatever the Avatar is...pretends to be Bright, many if not most, of the Chargers and other Rebels will continue to follow her, which they probably wouldn't do if Swift and the warlocks ruled in their own names.
I feel especially bad for Flash. He lost his big sister, then his twin and Bright's last words to him....you know that if she hadn't been injured she would've eventually calmed down and apologized. What she said was spoken in a moment of grief and horrible pain after losing a second child in a day. But Bright won't get that chance to make things right now. And that's going to torture Flash something bad.
So just ... well, clustercrap all around.
5549832
Bright's "retarded?" Really? Did you miss the part where her daughter was killed--accidentally or not--by Shadow?
5549960
Have you read other Winningverse stories? I'm not asking that mockingly or anything, I'm seriously asking if you have because if you had you might realize things aren't so grim for the Loyalists as far as their leadership goes. If you haven't, I won't spoil anything, but I'll just say don't worry, things aren't as bad for the Loyalists as you think they are.
As for "Bright's retarded" I think he mostly meant that in hyperbolic jest. She's definitely too hotheaded to lead the whole army; her best position is as a clan leader, not overall leader. She needs someone to rein her in or direct her to be at her best. It's like how some generals in real life are good brigade, division, or corps commanders, but just not right to lead an army; a good historic example would be John Bell Hood. For the first half of the Civil War, he was one of the Confederacy's best brigade and division commanders. But when in the latter stages he was given command of the Army of Tennessee, he proved to be extremely ineffective in such an independent command and ended up nearly destroying the whole army, not to mention leaving Sherman free to tear up Georgia and South Carolina.
Point is, just because she certainly had sound emotional motivation, that doesn't justify from a logical standpoint Bright's rampaging offensive. It's bled the Lunars a lot with little gain to show for it (aside from gaining such a powerful magical ally through Swift Blade's treachery), more than likely marks a turning point as far as morale in their ranks is concerned, and leaves them with ineffective and radical, evil-minded leadership. While from a practical standpoint the Lunars could still easily win the war at this point, in fact they might be closer to it than ever before, their cause itself died this day. Whatever noble sentiments they touted before, whatever rationality may have driven them, they now are tied to the banner of an evil, tyrannical goddess who hopes to enslave Equestria to her will. Her will is their cause now, not their hopes for freedom, and even if the war is not over when she is defeated, no doubt her rule will leave many disillusioned with the whole war among the rebels. The war just transformed from a civil war in name and reality to a civil war in name and a fundamentalist crusade in reality, and a lot of that is on Bright's shoulders for injecting so much zealous, blind emotion into her command.
5549953 Swift Blade gains a very powerful elite force for working with them, and he's relying off the twisted logic that since they're the enemies of his enemies(Unicornia, making all the magical laws, was the nation to say the dark arts were forbidden), they must be his friends.
5550161
Yes, I've read the other connected stories and I know how things turn out. I was trying to not spoil it for other readers by inserting knowledge I have from other sources.
And my post was largely in reaction to, what I consider, to be a blind spot others have. There were several comments in this chapter and the one before it, acting agog at Bright's actions in violating the truce to attack Shadow...again, after her daughter was just killed by Shadow...and not batting at eye at the lack of honor by the Celestials. We have seen several times the Celestials, including Shadow herself, not adhering to the strict honor code of Pegasopolis. Sunbeam's attempting assassination of Lance, her sabotaging Shadow's duel with Lance, lying to Bright about dueling her to keep her occupied, etc. with Shadow just going along with it, each time.
I'm not saying that the Lunars are right or that their honor code really works. It's like the story of a lone Japanese samurai who rode up to the invading Mongol horde, retold his lineage and honor in great detail--and was then killed by a barrage of arrows by the entire horde. But I think the reaction, overreaction, I'd say, to Bright's violation of the truce is indicative of what Oscar Wilde said of hypocrisy, that it was the tribute vice paid to virtue. We've come to expect that the Celestials will use betrayal and deceit. Part of Shadow's character arc has been setting aside the strict honor code of the pegasi when it gets in the way of doing what needs to be done. But everyone is acting aghast that Bright Charger ... is now acting the same way.
Saying that Bright's actions are what ruined the rebel cause is a bit of an overstatement. We've seen her in the past as a very capable commander and not just as "the hot-headed one." What pushed her over was the death, sudden and unexpected, of her daughter. Her attack, while costly, DID break through Canterlot's defensive forts. Her killing of Shadow, while shaking a few, wouldn't have been a deathblow, had she remained in command. Even if she had died, a settlement between the two sides wouldn't have been impossible. It was her death and resurrection through sorcery by Swift and his associates that doomed the Lunar cause.
5550213
I'll admit that some people unfairly make the Celestials to be saints, but to be fair, most of the evidence we have so far suggests that it was the warlocks, not Sunset, who tried to assassinate Lance (probably more so to disrupt the negotiations than actually kill her, seeing as it was such a sloppy attempt, I think they wanted to use her as the vessel for NMM and not Bright) and Bright had no good reason to do so. Pragmatism in that scenario suggested it would be much more fruitful getting the archmagi back than killing Lance in the long run.
But to be fair as well, the Lunars have gone along with compromising their honor just as much as the Celestials. The other two instances you mentioned of Sunset interfering were hardly that bad, even if Shadow had a hard time letting them go, but compared to what the Lunars have done (especially Swift in Manehattan) it was nothing. The Lunar command has mostly been blind to or unwilling to simply admit when they have had to compromise their honor, though again, to be fair Swift did a whole lot of his nastier bits behind their backs while most of the command was at the front. But yeah, what Bright did was hardly the same as the times the Celestials have compromised (both of which were initiated by Sunbeam, who doesn't even care about codes of honor, not that that makes it right, it just makes her actions make sense, and also, her trickery were both times employed in less blatantly odious manners and with less repugnant results). I wouldn't expect even Sunbeam unless it were the most desperate of situations to violate a flag of truce, that's one of the most sacred institutions of warfare period. That has nothing to do with Pegasopolan honor, you just don't violate a flag of truce that you yourself extend in war, to do so is seen as about the most underhanded thing you could possibly do in battle, and no foe has any reason after you do that to trust your integrity should you extend another flag of truce. So I think that's why everyone's aghast at what Bright did. I do wish Shadow had been a bit more cautious, but she still doesn't know that Lance is dead, so she had no reason to suspect that somepony as committed to honor period as Bright is would dare violate one of the most sacred institutions of warfare.
5550283
Cogent points, with one or two issues: Sunbeam undoubtedly -would- violate a truce in a heartbeat and assassinate the Lunar leaders. That's what she wanted to do to Lance, recall. And Shadow ... she just kinda rolls with what Sunbeam does now. Like breaking up the fight to save Shadow from being captured or killed by Lance. But my point is that Sunbeam is a sociopath. She lacks empathy and morality. The only way ponies like Shadow or Crossguard got through to her was by arguing on the basis of self-interest. Violate a truce or a negotiation? Sunbeam definitely would, except that they would argue that it would so infuriate the Lunars to do so that the cost would outweigh the benefit. The only reason Bright did is that she's in deep agony because, ya know, her daughter was killed and she isn't thinking straight. Breaking a truce or violating her honor is the exception for Bright. For Sunbeam, its the rule.
Even in the real world such things are hardly sacrosanct. Even when officers cross the line under a white flag to parlay, they'd often take the opportunity to scope out the enemy positions and relay it to their intelligence/artillery, which violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the truce.
And now both of the two ponies who reigned Sunbeam in are out of the picture. She and Swift are of a kind in my eyes, separated by their loyalty to rival causes than by any moral issues. You can argue that either side, going from before the war started, have engaged in acts of extreme moral turpitude--but I'd argue that it was Swift's rogue actions in Manehattan and with the warlocks that truly passes the event horizon. Bright's actions, in the heat of the moment and fueled by the pain of a mother who lost her child...I really can't put in the same camp as cold blooded mass murder or dark sorcery.
Is it bad that I'm legitimately more upset that Copper got offed behind the scenes than literally anything that's just happened? Not even mad that he died, just that he died out of sight.
5550323
You make fair points as well, but I'm not putting Bright's actions in the same camps as Swift's. I'm mostly saying there were a lot of red flags when she took over command to begin with. As I said in my first post, it's not that she's an incompetent commander, it's just that there are certain things about her that limit how far she should go in her command. Clan leader's about as far as she should've gone, for one big reason: her family and passionate love for her children. Rightly or Steel (if the latter had been in command) might've been able to keep her from throwing the Chargers so furiously in retaliation for the death of a child, but with her in command, and how many children she's got in the field, there was a great chance that under the right circumstances, given her emotional, somewhat battle-hungry nature, she could be driven into an attack like that. There's a great passage in Killer Angels where Robert E. Lee is musing to himself about what makes a good army commander (there's a few passages from other POVs that address it as well), and one of the things he frequently brings up is how he must love the men but at the same time be able to send them to their deaths, and that's why he owes it to them to make as sound decisions as possible. Bright in this instance, given that her children were soldiers whom she commanded herself, was undone in her command by her love for her children; tragic to be sure, but I think that Steel Striker should be chided for not pushing harder to be interim commander after Rightly was captured. He would've been far more levelheaded under every circumstance than Bright would.
5550379
That sort of statement, of Steel vs. Bright, is hard to say for sure. There's no way of knowing that things would've been better the other way. Remember what happened when Steel's daughter was maimed at the start? His reaction was colder...but no less emotional.
That's the Achilles heel of pegasi warrior clan culture--they love war and they fight alongside their families. You have parents leading their own kids into battle. Objectivity for them is nigh impossible. Which is perhaps an argument about why soldiers are superior to warriors.
Bright wasn't just stepping into Rightly's role as a military commander, but also political leader. And as a leader, the Lunars needed someone popular and charismatic: two things Steel Striker was not. But being level-headed isn't the end all-be all of command. To continue the Civil War analogy McClellan was as level-headed as they came ... and was useless. Many brave, daring and even reckless leaders meant the difference between victory and defeat in war, including at the C-in-C level. Trying to come up with a formula for all times and places for what makes a good leader is a self-defeating exercise.
5549969
Hmmm, let's summarise.
1. Shadow kills Lance by accident. Dusk realises that. Bright doesn't.
2. She decides to avange her with the whole army... She uses army for her private revenge, causing additional hundreds of deaths and familly tragedies, including her another child. (this is where Steel should've taken a few soldiers with him and stripped her of command - he didn't oppose and agreed to attack without the plan or preparetion: Why rebels shouldn't rule #164748)
3. She attacks Shadow under truce flag, stripping herself of honor, messing up the morale and almost dying in process.
4. She wants to fight Sunbeam alone - read: commit suicide stripping the Rebels of their current commander.
Retarded may bot be a good word here, you're right, it implies mind degradation that's been building up for years. She was always hot blooded but she went clinically crazy just recently...
You know what she should have done? The same that Achilles did when Hector killed Patroklos. Go ALONE in front of the Canterlot gates and yell Shadow's name until she answers, then challenge her. She would agree if Bright told her the reason.