With regards to canon Starlight, while she's ultimately hypocritical, I don't think she thinks of herself as hypocritical. She retained her cutie mark in secret because that was the only way for her to remove others' cutie marks, but I think she did think that she genuinely was making their lives better and was acting in both their best interests and her own.

But then I also think that anger is a very revealing emotion and there's a point where you're so mad that you can't hide your true self anymore, and Starlight's true self was revealed to the audience here:

"They think they can come to my village and disrupt my life? Let's see how they like spending the rest of their lives without their precious cutie marks!"

Ultimately, Our Town was basically Starlight's therapy session for herself, and anything that disrupted that was a threat.

Now mind, none of this necessarily applies to a Lunaverse version of Starlight Glimmer, this is just my thoughts on the version we saw in the show. I agree with Emeral that she'd function better as a well-intentioned extremist.

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I sort of like the idea of there being a mercenary unit from outside the country that acts as a counterbalance to nepotism, which would make even more sense if noble families in Cavallia each had their own house guard in which said nepotism is fairly rampant, Question would be which nation would the mercenaries come form, or would the unit itself be made up of a lot of different people drawn from multiple backgrounds?

For the intelligence branch of the Cavallian government, I like the term "Lantern Lighters", as a nod to the notion that the organization got it's start from literal lantern lighters who would go about keeping the lanterns lit at night, but as a result also tended to see all manner of clandestine dealings between the noble houses, and some of them started feeding this information to the crown. Over time the bravest and most capable of the lantern lighters got recruited into a legitimate intelligence organization that kept the name "Lantern Lighters" as their official designation, with a lit lantern as their emblem to represent their vigilance in shedding light into the every corner of Cavallia.

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Well to go for a Varangian Guard equivalent it would be deer in our setting but unless Cavallia is very diverse they would stand out too much for espionage so a mix of races would probably work best probably with a Pony majority from a range of countries.

Will there ever be a cannon Lunaverse Sunset Shimmer? Spitting an idea, an ambitious soldier from a non-noble family.

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We've been spit-balling ideas for a while now. Mostly involving her and Lightning Dust being a sort of low stakes antagonistic duo, not villains, but rather reckless thrill-seekers whose antics stir up trouble.

I might still have some preliminary notes buried on my harddrive from a fic with them Vazak and I were gonna collaborate on which would have involved them.

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Gotcha.

Sorry for dropping off the face off the earth again, stuff came up and oh gosh I forgot that was the idea for Sunset & Lightning, honestly wondering if they should have an Earth Pony friend to even out the roster XD

On Starlight, I think she can both be a true believer and be motivated by varying degrees of entitlement, greed or anger without compromising either idea.

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Funny you should mention S&L having an earth pony friend...
(stand by for obnoxious horn-honking)
I did have a thing with Sun Shim and Lightning having an earth pony who is a friend / drinking buddy / someone-who-lets-them-crash-on-her-couch-when-they're-in-Manehatten (when Sunset bothers paying her back on time, which she's usually pretty good about. Lightning never pays rent for squat).

She's called Bitter Orange Squash.
Sort of like a Bronx Applejack.
... or more accurately, Basically Ben Grimm If He Was A Pony. And slightly more amoral.

Also an idea that Sunset dragged Orange and Lightning along to one of Kindle's performances, in a well-meaning but doomed attempt to expose Lightning to some culture, any culture.
It didn't work. And probably wouldn't have even without Kindle's acting... 'talent' involved.

(we apologise for the horn honking, and return you to your regular discussion.)

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Sorry for the belated response, the new year has been wild, or at least tiring, haha.

Pfft, the Earth Ponies are always carrying the other ponies weight XD
Dang that kids parents type casted them hard ;)
But yeah that does sound fun

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I feel like there ought to be a decent roster of potential earth pony characters floating around in the main show's canon that we could give the Lunaverse treatment to that would work as the last member of this Team Rocket'ish group. For some reason my first thought is Quibble Pants (I don't recall that we've done anything with him, yet), as the snarky Meowth of the trio that doesn't really help much but has a lot of comments on his companion's antics. Hmm, or if we want to keep the team all female, Suri Polomare? Have we used her yet for anything?

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Suri appears very briefly in Climbing the Mountain designing a dress for Fragrant and bullying Coco, in general she seemed the same as she was in canon.

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I have two candidate ideas, Silver Shill or Feather Bangs.

Silver Shill could be their browbeaten assistant who always gets thrust into their antics. So his role would be similar to what it was in canon.

Feather Bangs, on the other hand, could be their hanger-on who is desperately trying to woo both of them and constantly failing miserably. Despite his constant failures, he just keeps trying despite the fact he has no chance at all at succeeding.

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Ah, okay. I'll consider her a possible candidate, but keep in mind that she's been established as a seamstress who's at least known enough to be making clothes for a member of the Night Court. I'm trying to work out in my head how she might get involved with the pair, though. My first thought is that there's a childhood connection between her and one of the two, most probably Sunset.

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Feather Bangs could be kind of hilarious although I think Silver Shill would have more character potential.

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Well it might even be her, if not start of Darkness, start of light greyness.

Fragrant wasn't in that great a mood when they met and although she does end up wearing the dress (Suri won a contest to make it, although as per cannon she might have cheated) but doesn't seem all that impressed with the final thing (it pinched around the wings and she ended up tearing it off at the gala so she could catch Max and Scootaloo) she might have mentioned something and Suri might have considered it as her getting black listed over it. She could have a grudge against the nobility / Equestrian government about it.

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Honestly, we've been over this before and previous opinions at least were to just have them be duo. Maybe occasionally team up with somepony else, but nothing permanent. Not every group needs to be a tribal trinity, and especially for antagonists the lack of "balance" can even kinda be the point.

Besides, even if it was gonna be a Team Rocket style trio a non-pony would make more sense for the "Meowth" role. Possibly something in references to EQG where Sunset Shimmer has a pet gecko, like some kind of "baby" salamander. Still, I think for at least their first couple of appearances it should be just as a duo.

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I don't mind them as a duo for a bit, but I do like working with larger groups of characters, too, so I'm definitely going to be considering partners for the pair even if those partners are just such for an episode. Hmm, although a pet/mascot could be fun if it was one with enough personality to add to the dynamic, even if it's a creature not capable of dialogue.

Things got awfully quiet again, sorry for disappearing, been very despondent lately, but on the team ups, I can see potential in both ideas; more characters to bounce off each other is more often than not a boon, but by the same token, a solid dynamic duo can be impacted by a third wheel.

Gosh imagine having third wheeling as your talent?

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A lot of my focus has been on completing Contest, but now that that's done, I'll be seeing what ideas I can work up for future stories. Still liking the idea of the L6 taking a collective vacation somewhere, but also toying with the notion of making it more like a road trip, visiting multiple locations.

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Well for the road trip maybe Lyra (or possibly Trixie, or even both) could literally be on tour making it a busmans holiday with her having set up to perform at a range of locations around Equestria. Similarly the entire mane 6 could be doing some sort of moral / goodwill tour so that ponies could get to know them.

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Lyra on tour would make sense, especially given I figure her level of fame would have to be consistently rising, especially by season 3 after Celestia is restored to sanity. Indeed a part of me is interested in exploring Celestia's mental and emotional recovery with this story, and is toying with the idea that whether the L6 go on vacation to a specific spot, or go on a road trip, that Celestia follows them without their knowledge, likely in disguise as to avoid causing a ruckus. Like maybe she's trying to get a handle on her feelings about these mares, as she's probably torn between guilt over turning their lives upside down, and gratitude for them having stopped her.

And if I have them going on vacation to some kind of resort, I'm thinking of what manner of exotic resorts one might find in a world like this where magic is a factor. I mean, we humans come up with some pretty luxurious and beautiful vacation spots ourselves, so then add magic into the mix. Perhaps a pegasus constructed cloud resort that, being mobile, can visit other exotic locations? Or unicorn magic could be used to create a tropical location in an otherwise wintery mountain range, allowing for sunbathing and winter sports in the same spot?

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Well the cloud mobile resort wouldn't be all that different from a cruse or bus tour.

From the main show we've obviously seen Rainbow Ralls and Los Pegasus for resort type locations, I recall the comics having a disney world sort of location as well. Illusion spells can presumably create the equivalent of a holo deck so you can seem to be anywhere you want. Other spells might protect you in otherwise hazardess locations allowing holidaying in a volcano or the bottom of the sea.

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Makes me think it'd totally be possible for Equestria to pull a Total Recall situation with vacation memories being implanted via a spell directly into the mind. But that side thought aside, I'd like to keep the girls either in or close to Equestria, so at most perhaps a visit to neighboring Cavallia. Perhaps they're invited to the personal resort that Cadenza uses, and perhaps even designed herself. Cadence strikes me as the sort of mare who, with the lifespan of a Lunaverse alicorn, would try her hoof at something artistic like designing a resort that she herself would later use. I like the idea you have with illusions playing a role in creating even more impressive vistas and generally acting as a "holodeck" concept. I wonder of Cavallia's geography has any mountains or dormant volcanos in which one might carve out an exotic resort, although using any of their beachfront property or a large lake would also work.

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If Cadence does have a personal resort I'd think it would be near he farm where her adoptive family lived. I think I mentioned they still have an active vine yard there but there could be a nearby lake or hill which she hangs out in. She would presumably be the matriarch if the clan there.

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And a few more idea's thoughts on the general tour: -

* A running gag of Trixie asking to be allowed to open the show for Lyra and finally getting her chance but ending up with stage fright (I don't think Trixie has played before a very large crowd before, maybe a good chunk of Ponyville but not a countries national opera house).
* Does Lyra have a manager organizing her tour? If so maybe have them be like Sylvester Sneekly to Penelope Pitstop and try to sabotage the tour (so Lyra will feel like a failure and he can negotiate a better cut of her earnings) or break up Lyra / Bon Bon (so he gets more control over Lyra or get Lyra more focused on the tour). Or make it seem really obvious that he is without it actually being him. As I don't think we've used him Svengallop might fit the role well. Although this might go against the fairly laid back feel you're going with.
* Cheerilee literally having a stallion in every town, all of who are now happily married / in a relationship / have foals, etc to her growing irritation. Maybe to counterpoint Carrot Top while not looking has to beat love interests off with a stick.

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If Cadence does have a personal resort I'd think it would be near he farm where her adoptive family lived. I think I mentioned they still have an active vine yard there but there could be a nearby lake or hill which she hangs out in. She would presumably be the matriarch if the clan there.

Hmm, I suppose there'd be a difference between a personal retreat where she goes to actually relax and spend time near her old family home, versus a larger scale resort that'd be her artistic attempt at making an extravagant and luxurious getaway for people in general.

* A running gag of Trixie asking to be allowed to open the show for Lyra and finally getting her chance but ending up with stage fright (I don't think Trixie has played before a very large crowd before, maybe a good chunk of Ponyville but not a countries national opera house).

There's something rather paradoxical about the idea of Trixie and stage fright, of all things. Might have some sense for Lunaverse Trixie, if only because magician performance to a large group might be uncommon for her. I can't recall if she has done a lot of stage performance outside of a smaller scale.

* Does Lyra have a manager organizing her tour? If so maybe have them be like Sylvester Sneekly to Penelope Pitstop and try to sabotage the tour (so Lyra will feel like a failure and he can negotiate a better cut of her earnings) or break up Lyra / Bon Bon (so he gets more control over Lyra or get Lyra more focused on the tour). Or make it seem really obvious that he is without it actually being him. As I don't think we've used him Svengallop might fit the role well. Although this might go against the fairly laid back feel you're going with.

Well this story would be taking place in season 3, which I think is supposed to be after Lyra and Bon Bon tie the knot and get married. Would be harder to break them up under those conditions. Huh, makes me wonder if this trip/vacation would take place much after their honeymoon and where they'd take that at?

Cheerilee literally having a stallion in every town, all of who are now happily married / in a relationship / have foals, etc to her growing irritation. Maybe to counterpoint Carrot Top while not looking has to beat love interests off with a stick.

"Oh, so the literal prince of Elkheim wasn't enough? You got to leave a trail of broken hearts in each town we go to now?"
"I'm not doing this on purpose! They just keep popping out of the woodwork like random encounters in a game of Ogres and Oubliettes!"

Well this story would be taking place in season 3, which I think is supposed to be after Lyra and Bon Bon tie the knot and get married. Would be harder to break them up under those conditions. Huh, makes me wonder if this trip/vacation would take place much after their honeymoon and where they'd take that at?

I guess it's possible to merge the two, that at least part of the 'tour' is the honeymoon and using the private retreat of the princess of love as their love nest for a few days before going on the proper tour although Bonny might feel a bit slighted if Lyra is using part of their time together to perform or that the rest of the mane 6 are there with them.

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Well it'd probably be easier just to set this story after the wedding. Still plenty of potential friction, as newlyweds could easily have some jitters as they get used to their new situation with each other. I can imagine the pair having a lot of talks about how their lives are going to change or how to adjust them now that they're married, possibly even with friction over the possibility that Lyra might not have thought much about the long term changes as much as Bon Bon has.

Sorry before anything else I had to share this incredible Tumblr post.
https://www.tumblr.com/dapper-lil-arts/709790152081440768
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Coolios wish you the best of luck!

Also some very interesting ideas here to be sure.

Just a mild breadcrumb to deposit, to see if anyone could do something with it, but:
Somewhere in the royal palace, either inscribed over the door to Luna's throne room or on the floor, are the words "In absentia luci, tenebrae vicunt, or in English, "in the absence of light, darkness prevails"
(okay, yes, I admit it's taken from Hellboy.)

And: "Over the centuries, many have taken these words to be a boast on the part of Princess Luna.
In fact, they are meant to be a warning."

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Oooh that's really clever, kudos!

Though would Luna feel darkness has the same connotations as we might?

Probably not all that fitting four our Changleings but still neat:

This feels very on brand: