A wave of magic swept Twilight aside and a much more threatening blast was fired at Bark Back. Before Twilight's trajectory carried her into the wall and the blast had time to reach its target, though, a dark blue aura caught her and shielded Bark Back.
Celestia's formerly narrowed eyes shot open as she looked to her sister, "What is this?" she nearly shouted, eyes returning to their previous, unquestioningly threatening slits.
"I am defending my citizens, what else would be expected of me?" Luna responded firmly, rising from the throne, eying her sister critically.
"Your- ...citizens?" Celestia's firm and intimidating facade melted and was replaced with one of confusion, then fear, and then finally a teetering edge between anger and sadness. "Sister... Are you saying you are behind this?"
"If you mean to ask if I have defended rightful citizens of Equestria from your misguided attempts at the same, then yes, I am wholly responsible. Beyond that, I am conspicuously unaware of to what you could be referring, a matter I must express a measure of discontent with. Tell me sister, whatever has driven you to the point that you would attack your own student on sight?"
Celestia looked taken aback, glancing between the Luna, who wore a hurt frown and the wolf, who sat with a similar look of worrisome confusion in its eyes.
"I'm sorry sister..." Celestia said quietly. The words brought a smile to Luna's face. "I'm sorry you got involved at all." before Luna could question, a bright flash filled the room to reveal the lunar princess unconscious. The lunar guards may have reacted to the affront, had they not shared a similar fate.
As the dark alicorn fell, Twilight and Bark back were once again suspended by a golden aura. Celestia's sad eyes turned hard as she turned from her fallen sister to the wolves suspended in her grasp.
"So this was your intention? You knew my sister would not fall to your temptations directly, so you possessed my student and used her to drive my sister to re-establish the Night Empire? You may have gotten Twilight, but I will not lose my sister as well!" she shouted furiously, her mane's normally soft breeze quaking and snapping like a pennant in a gale. "I shall never lose my sister again, I swear it!" she screamed as the wooden wolf in her grasp was engulfed in solar flames. The other suspended wolf looked on in horror.
She turned to the remaining wolf, speaking with a much quieter, but all the more frightful for it, tone, "You will release your hold on my student, or I will make you suffer until you do!"
The wolf looked her gaze, Celestia's purple eyes meeting the wolf's blue. ...blue? Celestia's horn brightened, but the magic fizzled out as so too did the magic holding her up.
"I am stunned by your cruelty. The sister I know and love would never act this way, but then again, you must be in a poor state of mind if you thought a sleep spell would work on me sister." the wolf said calmly, in a familiar voice. The figure began morphing into a the same form that lay limp across the room as that and all the other present bodies dissolved into smoke, the very room quivering and reshaping into a familiar starry void of Luna's realm. "Now, what is this about the Night Empire? Surely you do not think I have fallen prey to the Nightmare once again?"
Celestia's anger was clear to Luna, though she could not tell if it was at her, at herself for falling into her trap, or for another reason. Regardless, her anger carried through her grimace and into her words, "You stand before me defending the Nightmare's monsters and claim to not be influenced? The farce has ended, it is all too clear what has happened here."
Celestia's scowl faltered as if surprised though, when, rather than taking action, Luna merely continued to talk, “Well then sister, please enlighten me; What is it that has clearly happened here?" The action, or the conspicuous lack thereof, caught Celestia unguarded.
"You! You... The wolf! Twilight was possessed by some force that has transformed her and continues to influence her! She has brought the Nightmare's wolves from hiding and atempts to bring you back to madness!" Her tone turned incredulous, "Such must be the case if you believe them your subjects!"
"Sister, your student is under an influence, one that she has been doing her best to fight, but it is not what you appear to think. I know not the circumstance, but she speaks in the voice of your student, she herself has expressed the fear that she is tempered by the instincts of a predator, but I have seen no more reason to distrust her words."
"But she fought me! My student would never raise a hoof against me! It is against her nature!" Celestia exclaimed indignantly. To any other the retort would have sounded like a confident statement of fact, but Luna could hear the confusion and concern underlining her words.
Luna took a long breath and spoke her reply slowly and deliberately, "I have no doubt it was hard for her to do so sister, but to simply abandon her friends would be an even greater betrayal of her morals, would it not?"
Celestia's confidence faltered, “What is this of her friends?" she asked, "The Element Bearers were the ones who brought my attention to this matter in the first place out of their concern for her! How would fighting me be in the interests of being loyal to her friends?"
"Because those are not the friends she needed to defend." Luna replied calmly.
For a moment Celestia merely stared at her sister, but quickly her expression changed again, "Surely you do not propose that she has befriended the Nightmare's creations!"
The look Luna returned said all it needed to.
"Sister, surely you are aware that such beings are not capable of-"
"My conversation with Twilight and the timberwolf would attest to the fact they are capable, not just of speech and cognition, but of independent complex thought, and indeed friendship."
Celestia remained steadfast, "If it is as you say, and these creatures are capable of thought, that does not change that they are still allies of the Nightmare! They-"
"These wolves have no more allegiance to the nightmare than our thestrials of today. In fact, their ancestral counterparts likely had even less reason to fight when compared, if our assessment rings true, for they were not even given a choice, rather having been forced into the conflict in order to survive."
"But-" Celestia called out, "Sister, they kill ponies! Even if they can, as you claim, channel the magic of friendship, they are dangerous and wild! There is no way-"
"How many ponies have they killed?" Luna interrupted.
"Many!" confidently shouted in return.
"After the war, how many did they kill after the conflict had ended?" Luna asked, still calm.
"Parties into the Everfree have been reporting attacks ever since! Likely hundreds have died by their claws and teeth!"
Luna did not seem surprised or even all to upset by this number, "Yes sister, but how about Manticore, Hydra, Ursa? Have they killed more than any other creature of the Everfree? Do their actions fall out of line with any other predatory or territorial race? Is there anything to say that their actions have been anything more malicious than trying to survive? You as well as I know the forest does not give special dispensation to ponies and I would not ask that of it, for that is not its way."
Celestia opened her mouth, "Wh-"
"...and I will not hear you make claims against the natural order either, not now, and especially not on the case of a species so closely tied to our last conflict of that very subject."
"Fine! What is it then? What do you propose I do? Allow the wolves to run free? Continuing to kill indiscriminately all those who wander too close to the forest?" Celestia asked, stomping a hoof, "I intend to protect my little ponies, if that means that there is one less type of monster in the forest then so be it!"
"Are you listening to me sister? Or even yourself? Harmony should always be the first choice!"
"Harmony with monsters? We cannot-"
"They are not monsters!" Luna shouted “Are you not listening to me? They are an organized sentient race, and should be treated as such! Can you name one reason that this is not the case?"
"They hunt and eat ponies!" Celestia replied without pause.
"So did the griffons. We can work past it. Further, your student has already presented a method of doing just that." Luna replied, "That is why I have already gone ahead with giving them the rights they deserve. I have already made them citizens."
Celestia gaped indignantly, "Citizenship! They are but magical constructs! How can you think of them as citizens!"
"Are not we all magical constructs sister? Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies, all formed by the great magic that flows within and between us?"
"You know very well what I meant." Celestia retorted unamused.
"Surely I did not! What separates them from us?" Luna shouted, stomping a hoof.
"They are magical constructs! Look at them!" Celestia shouted back, obviously becoming frustrated with her sister's lack of understanding, "They are made of wood held together by magic!"
Luna rose a brow, "So you claim that not being of flesh makes them monsters? I would dare say Princess Cadence would disagree on behalf of her crystal ponies." Luna paused, but continued before Celestia could retort "Do you have yet more reason to persecute them? Or do you need further reason to finally accept them as the rightful citizens I have already made them!"
Whatever response Celestia had been preparing was lost as she sputtered."Persi... I am not persecuting them! I am defending my little ponies! You are the one making a mockery of our nation by offering citizenship to these creatures! What next sister? Will you elevate cragodiles to nobility? This is absurd!"
"No, what is absurd is your refusal to see the truth of the matter!" Luna shouted as she stomped a hoof, "To be certain, I would elevate a cragodile to nobility if it preformed deserving service to Equestria!" Luna paused as her sister stared, aghast "That is precisely the point that you need to see!" she continued much to her sister's consternation, "Do you not remember Prince Platinum the forty-third?"
Celestia was taken off guard by the question but gave a cautious nod.
"Do you remember why we finally ended up removing the power of the Unicornian royal family?" Celestia gave no response. "I believe his exact words were not too far from your own just now, something about making a mockery of Ponydom by allowing the first Pegasi and Earth ponies to live in the royal capitol. Do you remember? I believe that he also made a similar comparison, likening our plan's 'absurdity' to that of an Earth pony becoming noble. I regret to admit that at the time I was more inclined to believe him, but I trusted your judgment. Now here we are, positions reversed, and I hope that you will trust me."
Celestia could no longer hold her sister's gaze...
"Mistress,” Bark Back asked as the limp forms of the Diarchs began to stir, "The Moon Bearer and White Hunter reawaken."
The lavender wolf scrambled to her paws, unsure how to proceed, but preparing to cast a shield just in case.
She sided up to Luna's rising form, keeping her eyes on Celestia's.
"Princess, how did it go? Is she...?"
"She acts as a detestable mule, and has the stubbornness to prove it, but yes..." she said with a weary but contented sigh, "...she has relented."
Loved it. Not sure what is supposed to be unclear though. Celestia falling into Luna's trap when she tried to kill a timerwolf?
Great story, definatly want more of the same kind.
4543944 but what was the trap? When was it sprung? that's what i'm not sure was clear...
4543948 Um... (Not sure if serious...)
4543959 I'm serious. When you finish it, you should defiantly make more like this one.
4543970 On it!
It is good. Finish it out and it will be fine good story !
Ponysax
4543977 Yay!!!
So glad to see an update!
Everything seemed clear to me. Good work!
Possible spoiler maybe?
It may be that luna anticipated this situation and placed a sleep spell over the area. As the mistress of dreams she may well be more skilled in this area than celestia and could bypass any defenses she had. Also this explains that their entire talk took place in a dream
But I could be completely wrong
Hahahhaha. KABLAM !!! Not so all powerful and all knowing now, huh bitchlestia!
Not only did you get your ass handed to you by luna on a silver platter your stubbornness in your incorrect view of the whole situation almost had you assaulting your student and other sentients for no good reason.
Also wtf RU SERIAL. You seriously attacked luna with a sleep speel thinking she had gone nightmare because she wad defending the timverwolves? Overreaction much!!
4543959
I just kinda figured that Luna redirected Celestia's own sleep spell back at her in a seemless fashion. Part of her domain is dreams so it seemed like a logical conclusion. Was that not it?
I don't care what people think when I say this: Wolf beats Pony. Well good job and hope you keep up the work.
4544230 Nope, you were perfectly correct! My worries were for not! Thanks for clearing that up!
4544230 Yeah, that's the conclusion I came to after a bit. Didn't have to reread to figure it out, either, so while there was some initial confusion it wasn't enough to detract from the story.
To sleep perchance dream
How much time...one thousand tears
Makes care important
☺♥☺♥☺♥☺♥☺
Have a haiku.
Almost cried during the argument.
Congrats, you almost made me cry.
Probably the sad music in the background too, but still, bravo. Bravo to you.
So far so great!
One of the best wolf stories I have read.
Nice!
so much linguistic speech thingy between them i liked it instead of the usual you are wrong oh of course i see it now
this was more trying to convince celestia
OOhhhh! Spicy argument! I love it! ^.^
Wow Celestia's acting like a real "B" I cannot wait to see what happens next! Keep up the great work!
Welp this is another story you made that I like so you just earned your self a watch
Celestia has been metaphorically back-handed by Luna, I like it!
"But ... but ... I'm Always right! I'm Celestia!"
"Not this time ..."
I guess Celestia just isn't a dog person and isn't impressed by Twi & Luna's dog and pony show.
Hey... Hey Celestia... Do you feel... Illuminated?
Has a ray of sunlight pierced your logic?
Has it dawned on you how wrong you were?
Did you- *thud*
...Just shut up, Tal. They get it. Sorry guys, had to KO my creator there. Great chapter. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an unconscious human to deal with.
4546041 But I still don't get it!
According to "The Journal of the Two Sisters," Luna can understand animals like she can in the story. Do you know something we don't?
I like what happened, with Luna talking down Celestia, but I also don't like the portrayal that Celestia would need to be talked down at all, mother-hen instincts over Twilight and Luna or no.
Sorry for nitpicking!!! "I am defended my citizens, what else would be expected of me?" Luna responded firmly, rising from the throne, eying her sister critically.
Should be "I am defending my citizens"
Nonetheless, wonderful chapter as usual! Keep it up!
4550797 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I don't know how much more out of character Princess Celestia would come to be. I came here just to see how Twilight handles the situation rather than turn a character totally 180. As far as I know, Celestia is the type who listens to reason first rather than butt in on her own counter argument. She isn't a tyrant.
... But this isn't my story. Breaking the character without a proper cause or reason and within character's limits is what turns away a couple of readers. Like I said, I want to see how Twilight handles it but It feels like every chapter is a force to read because of how butchered Celestia's character is.
Sorry that I couldn't end this off with nothing nice to say, but at least you nailed down the basics that some other authors throw out: Pacing. I may not be the most experience of pre-readers, but the pacing and character continuity (to an extent) was stable.
I'm gunna read it!
4546315
You're lucky his horrible puns were lost on you, then...
Let me enlighten you then! *thunk*
Just... Stay down, Tal. Nopony cares.
4551135
Oh, for God sake! Let him speak!
OR WE WILL EXTERMINATE YOU!!
Sorry 'bout that! A Dalek got loose.
4551478
Yeah, seriously, Blue. I'm entitled to my opinion. And all the bad puns that go with it.
I'd say you really blue it out of proportion!
*sigh* Why me...?
4551500
Well Blue, you remind me of my cousin actually
He has an account here, I think.... Franz Ferdinand was it? I don't exactly remembered it
4551570
Blue's how I'd generally act, really. Or at least how I think. He's giving my honest commentary while I thought I'd be funny and make bad puns. (Also, self-insert OC in my stories sorta)
Mystery solved!
4552116 Yes and No
well it seems that the wight alicorn is a bit racist.
4550887 You know, I've seen a lot of people turn away a good story because they believe a character is acting OOC only to find out there's a very good reason for it. Even one of my own stories had her OOC for a while, but that was because the Nightmare was slowly working on her since shortly after being defeated by Twi and friends (yes, cliche, but my readers thought it was well done).
4554156
Ahhh, paradoxes make for the best fun, dont you agree 5 year old me?
AHH, Horses are girly. yuk
You have much to learn
luna like a boss for the win. it is now down to the wire folks. will celestia finally lose?
4553190
Which story is that I may read it, it sounds interesting
4555182 Chaotic Harmony. It's currently going through revisions, though. When I first wrote it, I didn't have an editor and my grammar was even worse than it is now. Also, the Nightmare part is actually a very minor arc, only really setting up future events, and explaining a few past ones.
hmmm....
it seems a little bland to me. Celestia never got to finish her sentences and Luna finished every one of hers. Again a great concept but there is still room for improvement. Try and make it longer, that Celestia simply doesn't believe Luna in the first place and that their full powers are stirring in their anger. Something to spice it up a little.
Also Celestia is acting quite out of character. Normally she very quickly changes her mind if she is wrong and is very forgiving and gentle while Luna tends to be more stubborn and also more violent and aggressive. It would actually make more sense if you reverse them in the story; that it is Luna hunting Twilight because she wants to eliminate any traces of her time as nightmare moon. She is then so caught up in that, that she doesn't completely realize what she is doing. It would make more sense. Try consider it.
4553190
it wouldn't be so bad if Celestia had seemed full of rage and anger and not being completely with the world. However that is not the case here, she is just being stubborn but does still think clearly.
That is the problem. You can depict Celestia as violent and cruel if she is confused or in a fit of rage but not while being calm. It's just not how she is.
4555574 I disagree. I can see her acting like this if she perceives something as a true threat to her ponies. Also, you say she admits when she's wrong, but when has that ever happened in the show? The only time I can think of was in the season finale, but that failure was indisputable. Discord was openly helping Tirek. In this, though, her mistake isn't so obvious. Twilight could very well have been under the Nightmare's influence. Perhaps Twilight herself doesn't even know it.
The fact is, it's Celestia's love for her ponies that's making her irrational, and that seems perfectly IN character to me. That's just my opinion, though.
4555641
I agree with you that it could make her act violent and cruel but she just doesn't seem that way in the story. She still seems rather calm and rational. Angry for sure but I just don't feel the rage that would make her act like that.