It had once been said -- by whom the Vicereine could not remember -- that all beauty was a matter of perspective. Suppose one had, for example, two sculptures, one a hundred times larger than the other. In order to enjoy the smaller, to examine it fully and note all its artistic elegance, one must move in closely to examine it -- but then one could never enjoy the larger from that position; one would likely be unable to even see the entire thing. Even if one could, how could it be beautiful, with every detail magnified beyond all recognition? But move further back to enjoy the larger one, and it would be a challenge to even see the smaller, much less note its artistry. No, a sculpture -- or a painting -- or any other work of art could only be enjoyed from just the right perspective.
The same argument had been applied to governance as well. How could any pony understand a city, a province, and a nation all at once? Focus on the city, and one would be too close to understand the national interest. Serve the nation, and one would be too far away to know what is occuring in the city. And so one should pick a realm and stick to it; one could, perhaps, try to rule a city, but then one should forsake national interests, or to rule a nation, but surrender control and possession of the city to another official. Only then could good government be maintained.
It was -- in the Vicereine's opinion -- complete and utter nonsense.
Puissance Noctilucent Optiebeurs-Golo! Vicereine of Equestria, she was the ruler of the provinces Califurlong and Palomino, as well as numerous other sub-provinces located within their borders. She wielded the highest political power imaginable and bowed only to Princess Luna Equestris herself. In terms of ministries, she held key positions on six of the most important, and vast -- albeit unofficial -- influence on many of the rest. Combine that with her vast wealth and her other resources, and her power grew to even more rarified heights. But despite all that, the reason she was walking down the corridor with a purposeful step and a gleam in her eye had nothing to do with the most weighty of national concerns. This was not a matter of national security, or national welfare, or provincial security or welfare, or even a city's safety or welfare.
Rather, she was concerned with a single, tiny, five-acre park.
Puissance walked through the silver-paneled doors of the Ministry of Finance and, as always, allowed herself a slight smile. This Ministry had two departments, both of absolute vital importance to the nation. The Equestrian Revenue Service gathered the government's income, and the Equestrian Budget Office paid the government's bills. Virtually every bit spent by Luna, the Night Court, or any other government entity passed through the Ministry of Finance. And that ministry was hers.
Puissance liked it when things were hers.
She walked through the rows of perfectly silent clerks, noting with approval that none of them looked up or stopped their work for even a moment, even though they all had to know who the old, purple-coated, silver-maned pegasus that walked amongst them was. She had taken great care to impress on all of them the awesomeness of their responsibility as the accountants and bookkeepers of the nation. If they were lazy or sloppy and made a mistake in collecting a tax or overpaying a bill, Puissance had instructed them, they were losing the nation money. In fact, as Puissance ran two provinces and owned various properties all over the nation, they were probably losing her money. Had they perhaps heard of what had happened to other ponies who lost her money? She could give them references and addresses, if they needed it -- although it might take a while to contact them, since their new homes in the Griffin Kingdoms, and the Mild West, and Neighpon took a while to contact by post.
Other nobles sometimes complained that their clerks were sloppy, that they chatted during work or were a few minutes late from lunch or that they occasionally made mistakes. Puissance listened to their complaints and smiled to herself. That was never a problem in her Ministries... but of course, they were hers.
The Vicereine stopped by one of the mid-level employees -- a middle-aged former actuary, with a dull orange coat and mud-colored mane. He was in charge of expenditures in Konetikut, among other things. "I want the file on Sunshine Park in eastern Brayzil," she ordered.
The clerk immediately bent under his desk and retrieved a thick file, which he gently placed on the corner nearest Puissance. In the next moment, he had resumed his work.
Puissance nodded slightly and took the file. Then she went to the only vacant desk in the room, a silver-plated, amethyst-studded thing that looked more like a work of art than a place of work. But she sat at the desk as if it were any other, opened the file, checked to make sure all the relevant forms were there, and got to work.
She knew a few of the other nobles thought it odd that she sometimes personally contributed to the Ministry's efforts, as if she was just a commoner clerk. Her response to such comments was that she liked to audit her clerks from time to time, to verify if they were actually collecting every bit the nation was entitled to, and eliminating any and all forms of waste from government projects. And this was true. But it wasn't the real reason she was there at that moment.
The real reason was that this park was going to be hers. The park was government funded in order to provide a greenspace to a quiet little corner of Equestria that had lost a lot of the surrounding greenery in a bad wildfire, but a private company was going to actually build, and then maintain and operate, the park itself. Puissance owned the company that owned the company that, several steps down the line, was going to build and run the place. It would be her park. And that meant she was certainly going to make sure that it was the best park it could possibly be.
"Total budget," she said to herself, and made a note of the figure. "Line item budget... paths... gravel expenditures, three bits two jangles per unit..."
Aha. She had done her homework before, and she knew of a new, but reliable, vendor in the area that would sell gravel at two bits nine jangles per unit when buying in quantity. She drew a line through the old figure, wrote in the new, and made a note to the side of how much money would be saved over the whole park.
"Fences... signposts... signs... good. Grass... seed..."
The grass seed being purchased was, in Puissance's opinion, an inferior type. It might look cheaper at first glance to a clueless bureaucrat, but it would wilt and die very quickly with a bunch of bratty foals running around and rolling in the stuff. When you factored in maintenance costs and the expenses incurred in replanting the grass so much more frequently, it made more sense to use a hardier variety. Plus, the second variety was a better shade of green in Puissance's opinion.
"Flowers... lilies, daisies, violets, roses, impatients..."
Roses were more expensive than they warranted, and the color schemes of impatients clashed with the others. By buying fewer types of flowers, but in bulk, money could be saved. Puissance recalculated the figures and noted how much money would be saved by sticking to lillies, daisies, and violets.
"Now on to the water feature..."
And so it went. Puissance, who had no committee meetings or other matters that night, went through each and every item on the park budget. By the time she was done, she had saved about five percent of the budget. The Vicereine nodded in approval; she had never met a budget that didn't have at least 3% waste in it, and anything above ten percent usually warranted firing the offending clerk. Five percent was very good, and perhaps merited a word of praise for the clerk with the mud-colored mane. But that could come later. It was time for the fun part.
"Let's see," said Puissance to herself, eyes bright and sparkling, "What that five percent can buy my park."
There was a small plot of land just slightly south of the park's location. Puissance looked through the maps and surveys of the area in the file and noted that they could be purchased cheaply and added on to the -- to her -- park. Then with the rest of the saved money, maybe, could be used to build a small -- but very tasteful -- art area, with three sculptures set up around a small open space. The image formed in her head; her park would have a few sculptures in that little area, and it would look wonderful. Yes, she could use that one sculptor from Hoofington whose work she'd been planning to obtain if only she could find a good place to show it off; this would do very nicely. She'd add the annex and the sculptures to the park, and incidentally acquire a few more works of art that she wanted and display them to the general public... and it wouldn't cost the Equestrian taxpayers a jangle more than they'd already budgeted. Not even Luna could complain about that.
She rewrote the budget incorporating all of her improvements, then left, tossing the file back on the mud-maned clerk's desk as she went. It hadn't taken her as long as she thought, and she smiled as she realized that she had a few hours with no work in them. She could go back through one of her museums in the city, or maybe that little vault she'd had built under her Canterlot estate. She hadn't done that in a while, and it might be nice to look at her famous Fabregallop egg collection again. After ten years she had finally obtained the complete set, and they looked absolutely perfect in the display room she'd had set up. A replica of the treasurey that Princess Platinum had built for her most prized possessions in the ancient Unicorn Kingdom, she could think of no finer place to store her jeweled eggs.
"Vicereine?"
Puissance turned to see a grim-looking Night Guard. "Can I help you?"
"Vicereine Puissance. Princess Luna desires your presence at an emergency meeting in the Guard Captain's meeting room." The Guard bowed his head. "Please allow me to escort you."
Puissance was surprised for a moment, though of course she agreed and began to follow the Guard. But this was still a very unusual event. It had happened before, twice in her long memory, both presaging imminent disasters that could have badly hurt the nation and its provinces. Her provinces.
Puissance began working out how to clear her schedule for the next few days. If this was really a disaster, she might need the spare time to help resolve it. Otherwise, it could hurt her, and her possessions.
That would not be allowed.
***
The meeting room was very full.
Puissance took one of the three chairs just to the side of the head of the table. She nodded at Viceroy Night Light, who was reading a file with a smile on his face. "Good night, Night Light."
"Good night, Puissance." Night Light chuckled as he turned over a page. "How are you?"
"Oh, as well as can be expected for a mare of my age." She smiled. "And yourself?"
"Wonderful. Twilight's been writing me from Ponyville." He nodded at the letter. "And she's been doing very well there. Apparently a pony named Pinkie Pie threw her a big welcoming party, and so Twilight has been trying to host one to repay her the favor." He blinked. "I didn't know they made so many books about hosting parties..."
Vicereine Wallflower, to Night Light's left, seemed about ready to laugh at that, but she checked herself and only smiled politely. Puissance nodded her head and was about to say something else, when another pony interjected:
"I'm glad your daughter is doing well."
The viceroys turned to see Archduke Bobbing Fisher, a brown-ish coated unicorn who ran the province of Rushia. "Also, of course, that she was safely found and returned to society--"
"We know about your opinions on families," said Duchess Fragrant Posey, sitting as far away from Fisher as she could without leaving the table.
"Yes," said Night Light. "We do."
Puissance fought hard and managed to supress her smile. While the Grand Galloping Gala had been an utter disaster -- a blackmailer had been arrested and had spilled all of her secrets, including a few minor trivialities Puissance had committed that Luna still hadn't forgiven her for -- there had been some interesting reprecussions. Apparently, Posey had some younger relative who was a shut-in living around Ponyville, and Fisher -- while under the influence of a poison that had forced him to speak whatever was on his mind -- had loudly wondered how Posey couldn't even make this Fluttering Posey develop into 'somepony with actual worth', but purport to guide the development of a province. That had somewhat spoiled relations between them, as well as between Fisher and Night Light, who of course had his own family problems. Fisher had apparently attempted to apologize at a large public gathering, only for Posey to pointedly wonder how Fisher, who had not seen his son for years due to family tradition and who hated his wife with almost as much passion as she hated him, could possibly run the province of Rushia, according to his own standards. It had been something of a mess for him.
And ponies wondered why Puissance took a... firmer hoof with her family.
There were two other ponies sitting by Fisher. One wore the uniform of a Guard and the insignia of a Commander, while the other looked very awkward in formal clothes and looked like he'd rather be home. The latter fidgeted, while the former leaned back and said something in Rushian to Fisher. Otherwise, everypony was keeping well away from him.
There were a few more nobles after Fisher, including Posey, and then a few castle officials. Wandza Waving, the archivist of the castle's magic library, Ghostly, archivist of the mythology section, and Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guards, were among them. And that brought things all the way back to the only remaining open seat, the one at the very head of the table. Princess Luna's seat.
And then the alicorn walked in, face tight and worried, and Puissance felt her stomach sink a little. I have a bad feeling about this.
"There's been an incursion on our northern border, "said Luna, without preamble.
"By Corona?" asked Night Light.
"No. By something we aren't familiar with." Luna nodded at the fidgety colt sitting next to Fisher. "Mr. Widgeteer, could you please repeat your story?"
Widgeteer gulped. "Um... okay. My special talent's mechanized flight, right?" He stood so everypony could see the steel wings emblazoned on his flank. "I wanted to test a new thing I was inventing, but I wasn't sure how safe it was. See, it's like a saddlebag or packroll that contains this kind of magical energy ponies could use to propel themselves places..."
Puissance groaned to herself. If this went on, it would be like when her great-grandcolt Scepter had cornered her and begun recounting the plots of those silly comic books his father let him read instead of the textbooks he should be reading. "What was the incursion like?"
"Oh, right. So I was out in the steppes when I noticed it getting windy and cold -- I mean, moreso than it already was. I saw this... thing... appear in front of me. It looked kind of like a pony, but big, and made of snow. And its teeth were really sharp. And I was just, like, frozen stiff, and it came right up to me, and..." Widgeteer shuddered. "It was really scary."
'Really scary' didn't merit an emergency meeting, though. Puissance frowned.
"And then it... spoke? I think it spoke. I heard words in my head... well, not words, but concepts." Widgeteer paused for a moment. "I had this vision, and it was in my head... and then there was another one of the same creature, but little, standing by him kind of like a kid. And I felt that it really, really wanted that kid. Like it was his child he'd lost or something, you know?"
Puissance felt herself stiffen, though the story was engrossing enough that she doubted anypony else noticed. She knew what was gong on.
"And I asked, 'Are you looking for him?' And he nodded. I asked, "Is he yours?" And he nodded again. And then I saw us -- well, ponies -- bringing him the kid. And..." Widgeteer took a deep breath. "I made like I was going to run away, but then I saw myself running, and nopony coming, and this... thing... going into Equestria to look for the kid. And that seemed... uh, bad, so as soon as I could, I ran off and I telegraphed the local garrison."
The Commander leaned forwards. "We got the message right away," he growled in a thick southern accent. "Sent a note to the Guard, an' got a Shadowbolt out within the day. She went with an escort to talk to the thing, which hadn't moved. Communication's tough, since it's all visions an' head-stuff, but near as we can tell, it's like Widgeteer says. That thing thinks it's got a kid in Equestria, an' if we don't pony it up, it's gonna to start pokin' around."
"What is it?" asked Posey. "Could it just be a regular pony, maybe with a talent towards winter spells?"
"Doubt it. Shadowbolt brought some gizmos the eggheads in Canterlot dreamed up. Said it ain't no pony. Dunno what it is, but the 'Bolt didn't know either."
Ghostly coughed. "If you'll permit me... based on the descriptions by Widgeteer and the Shadowbolt operative, this creature seems most familiar to the 'windigo' of ancient legend. A pony-shaped entity, which feeds on hate and spite, and brings winter wherever it goes."
"But those don't exist!" protested a Marquis. "Those are just stories we tell bad foals. Get along or windigos will eat you."
"They are real," said Luna. "My sister and I have dealt with them."
Puissance said nothing. She already knew that windigos were real. In fact, she knew that this specific windigo was real as well.
Among all of Puissance's possessions was a quiet little village set in a mountain valley of Califurlong and known only as the Vault. Within that valley some very special ponies lived. Some were hybrids, ponies with the magic of more than one tribe. There were null ponies, which were immune to all magic. There was a pegasus with four wings, and a unicorn with a horn that was bent and curved like a spiral, and a descendant of the legendary King Sombra, and other such entities. These were some of the rarest ponies in the world... and they were hers too. They loved her, because she provided for their every need, and all she asked in return was that they be hers -- that they live in her valley and abide by her rules. Could even the finest painting or palace compare to the rarity and splendor of such creatures?
Her most recent addition, though, had been a pony that was rarer than all the rest in her collection. This was a half-pony, half-windigo hybrid foal, a bouncing and bubbly pony named Ice Heart whose body was perpetually half frozen and who liked nothing more than making snow ponies and chasing his friends around to play tag. To Puissance's knowledge, he was the only such hybrid in history. In that sense, he was perhaps her very rarest and most valuable possession.
And now his father wanted him back.
"... we of course don't know if such a child really exists," Luna was saying. "But it seems clear that the windigo believes it does. How long do we have, Commander Storm?"
"The Shadowbolt said he persuaded the beast to wait fer two weeks," said Storm.
Luna nodded. "Alright. I'd like to hear your thoughts on what to do."
"It seems clear to me," said Puissance. Maybe I can head this off. "Just send a military unit up to drive it away. We can't have a monster threatening our nation, child or no child."
Fisher frowned. "I'm normally the first to promote the power of our military, but in this case, it isn't that simple. Commander Thundering Storm prepared a briefing on the matter."
Storm nodded. "The windigo's camped out at our very northern border. Only town anywhere nearby is Noam, an old trading post that used ta be used by ponies heading into the west Griffin Kingdoms or up to the hippogriff lands -- but that town's been declinin' ever since they put up the through railways from Moscolt an' Stalliongrad an' the other big cities. Ain't enough housing or supplies in Noam to use it as a base."
"How many soldiers do you need?" asked Posey.
Storm frowned. "Look, we don't know if weapons'll hurt this thing at all. Now, if Ah field a few thousand troops, Ah can detach some to hold a line of retreat. If we can't crack it an' the windigo sends a snowstorm at us or somethin', we can still get out. But Noam's only got two hotels left, an' both are old an' fancy, not efficient-like... no more'n room for a hundred ponies, max. Maybe two or three hundred if we start quarterin' in the local residents' homes. But with two hundred, if the attack fails, there ain't enough ponies to help any injured retreat through a snowstorm. So Ah'd have to build a base out in the steppes to field enough troops, an' that's gonna take time Ah'm not sure we have."
Luna nodded. "I'm more worried about the first point. I can't support using our troops unless we know that they can actually hurt the windigo, but windigo thrive on hate and spite. It's possible a group of angry soldiers would just make it stronger."
"What about a magic spell?" asked Duchess Posey. "It's been a while since I've attended a Hearth's Warming Pageant, but wasn't there some spell that could drive them off?"
Wandza Waving frowned. "I could take you to the archives right now and show you a thousand spells purporting to do that. Windigo haven't shown up since... what, the nation's founding? No way to know which ones work and which ones don't, and I don't think it'll end well if we send some mages up and their first spell fails. Plus, we're only guessing this thing's a windigo anyway. There's other things it could be."
"Um..." It was Widgeteer, who didn't seem to have noticed, Puissance thought, that he had nothing more to contribute. "Windigo are winter spirits, right? Couldn't we just... make it summer? I mean, we can control the weather, so--"
Posey was already shaking her head. "The environmental effects of trying to warm up the land enough to drive out a windigo could be catastrophic. You're all familiar with the unusually cold winter we just had -- and that was to counteract a mere few hours of Corona moving the sun nearer the earth. Using weather to heat the steppes up more, and over a concentrated area like that... we couldn't compensate. In fact, we could wreck the Rushian ecosystem for years."
Puissance still said nothing. She had a feeling where this was going, and needed to work out her strategy.
"The Elements," suggested Posey. "Let them drive the windigo away."
"No," said Fisher immediately.
"Why? Because you don't like them?" challenged Posey. "They've beaten Corona twice, the ram Grogar--"
"Both entities the Elements fought before!" said Fisher. "As I understand it, Princess Luna used the Elements against her sister. Both princesses used them against Grogar. They have never been used against the windigos; we have no way of knowing if they will work. And if they fail and the windigo kills even one of them, I assure you all, we will have much bigger problems."
"It is my belief," said Luna, "Based on my knowledge of the Elements, that they will indeed work on a hostile windigo."
"But we don't know for sure. As Minister of War, I can't condone the risking of such vital national resources."
"Wait," said Night Light.
Everypony turned to him, and Puissance frowned. He didn't look like the stern, unwavering warrior that he so often appeared in Court events. He looked almost tender.
"The windigo has done nothing hostile thus far," he said. "It did not attack either Widgeteer or the Shadowbolt, and it's ultimatum wasn't that it would attack us, but just that it would start looking for his child. I think we are making a mistake if we treat it as hostile right away."
"But we can't have it just standing there," said Fisher. "And I doubt it will leave if we ask nicely."
"And he's violating border and immigration laws," hazarded a young viscount. "I mean, that's... kind of hostile, right?"
"...maybe this is just because of my own recent experiences, but I think we ought to consider locating the windigo's child, if it exists, and allowing them to meet." Night Light shut his eyes for a moment. "For all we know, he's just worried that his child is lost and wandering around Equestria without its parents. For all we know, he's right. If a pony lost a child, we'd all support reuniting the too. Is this really different?"
"We can't trust a windigo!" said Fisher. "We don't even know the child exists, is alive, or is within our borders!"
"Be that as it may, we should at least look -- either to present the child, or, if necessary, to protect it from the windigo," said Night Light. His voice sounded unusually calm and sincere to Puissance.
And then the other nobles began to all talk at once.
"If we present it we could not guarantee it's safety--"
"Well, then get the Elements involved --"
"Might not even exist--"
"Maybe we could fake it--"
"What if it's working with Corona?"
"What if we could get the windigo to ally with us against her?"
"What if there's more windigos? Diplomatic relations..."
"Maybe it's a hoax?"
Puissance said nothing and thought to herself. If she knew Luna, the soft-hearted monarch would likely take at least some of Night Light's suggestions onboard. If the windigo was safe, she'd want to at least have the child and the adult meet; if not, she'd want to ensure the child's safety. At the moment, Luna likely only knew that Puissance had an 'artist's colony' in the mountains; she did not know of Ice Heart or its other inhabitants. That gave her some latitude -- for the moment. But she'd have to choose soon. Surrender the foal? Hide Ice Heart? What were her options?
Option 1, her first thought, was to say and do nothing. Luna probably had no reason to suspect that Puissance had Ice Heart, and personally, Puissance was quite confident that the Elements could and would be used to send the windigo back to wherever it came from. But there was a chance, albeit a small one, that the windigo could do some damage before it left. And if that happened... well, Puissance might be able to keep Ice Heart secret for the time being, but what if there was a slip-up in five or ten years? Luna would remember, and she would want answers.
Besides, for all Puissance knew, the existance of Ice Heart and the others had been known to the blackmailer, or maybe the Shadowbolts. Luna might in fact know of Ice Heart. Keeping the secret now, with the clear and present danger before them, would... well, it would likely end Puissance's career. And she would not allow that to happen. Her career would not be lost over something like this.
Option 2 was just to present Ice Heart to Luna and wash her hooves of it. But that was a bad option too. What if the windigo wanted to keep Ice Heart? Luna wouldn't like that at first, but maybe she'd be swayed by a claim of actual parenthood. Even if that didn't happen, Puissance didn't want Ice Heart to be out of her control for any significant length of time. What if Ice Heart said something to Luna that made Luna want to investigate the valley? Or what if Luna said something to make Ice Heart want to leave the valley? Or what if Ice Heart just saw something that made him yearn for the outside world? That couldn't be allowed either. She had worked too hard to convince the Vault ponies that their little valley was the best place for them and that they needed nothing else. So, no, no giving up her foal to Luna just like that. Ice Heart was hers and would stay that way.
But... Puissance was, technically, Ice Heart's adoptive mother. What if she brought Ice Heart up north herself, going with Luna and whatever other forces she took? Luna couldn't deny her that; of course a mother would want to be with their foal on such an important mission. And that would give Puissance control over what was going on. She could spin it to Ice Heart as she, Puissance, giving him just what he wanted -- a chance to meet his real father -- which would further cement his loyalty and love to Puissance, the mare who could fulfil all his desires. At the same time, Puissance could make sure that Ice Heart didn't say anything stupid to Luna or anypony else who was brought along.
Besides, windigos were allergic to friendship. If Puissance were involved, she could bring some of Ice Heart's Vault friends -- ostensibly to help keep him at ease during the potentially-frightening encounter, but in reality so that the windigo would be less likely to be able to even approach Ice Heart safely. If Ice Heart himself wound up driving away the windigo, that would solve the problem, and solidify Puissance's control over Ice Heart.
Your father literally can't bear to be near you? I'm so sorry. But Puissance will always be there for you, and she'll give you anything your heart could ever desire, and all she wants is your love...
Yes. That would work. Puissance would get to keep her pony-windigo hybrid, and she'd do it without risking her entire political career. It was the best plan.
Luna called for a recess so the ponies could continue to discuss things. Puissance immediately approached her. "Princess," murmured Puissance. "I would like to invoke my Right of Approach to speak with you on this matter... privately."
Puissance wielded vast power in the nation. But she did not believe this should preclude her from work at smaller scales as well. She was Vicereine Puissance Noctilurne Optiebeurs-Golo. And she was going to manage each and every one of her possessions, from her provinces to a little foal in one of her many, many, many properties.
Because they were hers. And that was what mattered.
Interesting view of Puissance not what I expected of her at all. She actually a efficient ruler, as long as she benefits from what she does anyway.
I'm planning to have Windigo appearing in the next chapter of my non-cannon Dr Who / Lunaverse story so it'll be interesting to see what you make of them vs what I had planned.
Hmm, nothing wrong I can see with her for the Golden Horseshoes bit. That's about how I see her, too. Thanks for the heads-up concerning her. As long as she doesn't lose her fortune, should be fine.
When Night Light and Puissance are greeting one another, shouldn't they be saying "Good Evening"? Isn't "Good Night" something that is said as a farewell?
3140585: The Night Court meets at night. I see the scene as taking place at maybe 1 AM.
3140543: I doubt Luna would let her be Vicereine if she weren't good at her official duties.
She might be greedy beyond all measure, but I see her as good at her official job.
3140611
I was merely pointing out that "Good Night" is a common way to say farewell at night. Regardless of the time, Good Evening is just the more common way to greet one another at night
3140832
That would work...but it also suggests a solidarity between Night Light and Pussaince that I'm not sure would really exist.
3140962: I could see the three viceroys being reasonably friendly with each other.
Neat, I like the setup here. Hope we see more of the windigo itself soon. In my head, he's named Thyrm.
Three (minor) points:
1) It's Noctilucent, not Noctilurne. Though as the vicereine's your character, I can change it in Gala if you like.
2) Not sure if I wanted Equestria to be implied to be tens of thousands of years old
3) Right of Approach, not Appearance.
3141110: Oops, my typos re: Noctilucent and Approach.
I'll edit those, and also make the year references more vague.
Thanks for looking at this!
So, did the previous Puissance's Vault story end up becoming canon?
I do like this one so far, especially the little bit with Night Light.
3142309: This story assumes it is. It was a webisode, so I think that it's canon as long as a full episode (like this one) references it.
Alright... got good reviews from the community, especially RDD and RK, so I'm going to go ahead and find a good cover image, then submit. Thanks, everyone!
"And ponies wondered why Puissance took a... firmer hoof with her family."
...Doesn't her son hate her?
This sounds like another really well-written and interesting story. I love the Lunaverse ... except for one tiny detail: Luna. By god, she is a TERRIBLE ruler. I'd pick Celestia over her any day of the week. What kinda craptastic government is she running anyhow? Gyah! Always gets me worked up.
But I love Posey sticking it to Fisher. She is awesome. Though I do wonder ... they mention Fisher being a plot-head about families, but not his fantastic racism against "mud ponies" and "feather heads"? Really?
Love the descriptions, love the writing ... you really captured Puissance's character with just the simple act of going over a budget. Can't wait to see what you write next.
I was and am still not entirely for this concept as a canon story, but that choice is out of my hands, so onto the review, beyond what I feel to be a shaky premise it was well written, as all your fics are and served as a solid introduction for the story. I do feel the "hers" bit was overstated, I understand that was sort of the point, but I feel it started to get a bit repetitive to damaging point and maybe finding a different way to phrase would have helped ease it's repeat appearances. I feel the use of Fluttershy to be a bit, unnecessary ad the final planning phase that Puisance went through was a bit awkward to read and seemed a bit mroe show than tell and might have worked better as an internal monologue. My apologies if this seems rude, if I didn't mention something it's because it was solidly well written.
3143231: In defense of Luna here, I think she's handling this one about right. the Vault isn't illegal (even if it is deeply weird); Puissance can offer free room, board, and art supplies to whoever she wants, even if that's based on things like 'Ooh, this pony has a curly horn. I want it!' As long as it's all consensual and ponies in the Vault can leave at any time (hence Puissance going to such lengths to keep them perfectly content so they do not want to leave), I don't see why there'd be a problem.
As for FIsher... I think, once he's called Posey a crappy parent/aunt/whatever she is to Fluttershy, he can't really sink much lower in her eyes. The tribalism is probably just the cherry on the sundae at that point.
Glad you liked the story!
3143231
The problem seems to be that Luna is too blasted afraid of becoming Nightmare Moon to function. Once Celestia comes to her senses, things will start getting better governance-wise.
3143277>>3143304
It wasn't so much just this as it is everything that's come before it. From the Night Court, the Ponyville aid fiasco, the Grand Galloping Gala, that business with the Moon and Sun symphony ... it seems like the weakest point of the Lunaverse is, ironically, Luna herself. She comes off as either ineffective, unlikeable or just plain awful--as a ruler mind you.
3143324
Which is why a pony like Trixie can find a USEFUL role for herself.
3140666
I suppose so but I expected it to be that she had someone else be efficient and do her job for her while she collects her pretty things rather than getting her hooves dirty, it a pleasant surprise.
Very interesting! Puissance appears to be a terrible pony who shouldn't be in charge of so much as a cider stand. I wonder if her adventure will teach her the true meaning of family, because she seems to have a lot to learn.
Puissance clearly has an issue with property, be that a building or a pony life. She reminds me of a ruthless businessman who has his fingers in just about everything or the Think Tank from Star Trek Voyager in that she has to have something unique no matter what it is or how she gets it. This makes her a good antagonist for the story.
I do not see her selfish attitude getting her anything before the end.
3143505>>3140567
No, she apparently has to make it through this so that she can then put on some magic armor and explode.
I'm still not sure how I feel about that, by the way. So far Puissance has done nothing worse than be a greedy old miser. She's pitiable, if anything. You don't kill greedy old misers, you send three ghosts to them on Christmas. Preferably in Muppet form.
3143231
I think all her kids hate her. And her grandkids too. Her great-grandcolt Scepter probably doesn't actually hate her, but he is more than a little afraid of her.
Anyway. Grass&Clouds, buddy, pal, take a seat a moment.
First off, I like this story as it has been presented at this moment, and I do not mind it being canon. Let's make that clear right now. I especially like how the windigos are coming across as sort-of-intelligent, but in a different way from ponies, that makes speaking to each other on a complex level basically impossible.
Just...please do me a favor and make sure that by fic's end they don't end up turning into misunderstood creatures or something. You've got this kind of alien, unknowable, eldritch thing going for them right now, and I think that should be preserved. This should be a rare occasion where they can actually be negotiated with, but otherwise they're just too monstrous, too alien, to ever really coexist with ponies.
There's just one small thing that occurred to me while I was lying in bed last night trying to get some sleep. TIM. I don't mind TIM as a descendent of King Sombra...but I do kind of mind the half-shadow powers that you gave him. From what I'm looking at in the sequence of events of "The Crystal Empire," he (Sombra) only developed that after being thrashed and banished under the ice for a thousand years.
TIM can stay, but I wonder if you'd be opposed to a retcon that the shadow-magic that he can do is purely because of his own abilities, and not necessarily related to Sombra? Like, his dad had some different magic, his grandad something different as well, etc.?
3144063
Exactly what I was planning on. This is NOT going to be a case of just finding a competent translator and it turns out the windigo really just wants to be understood. The windigo is monstrous, alien, and weird. Negotiations are barely possible, but only because of these extreme circumstances. And there's no chance of permanent cohabitation of the windigo in Equestria.
3143890
Puissance reminds me this guy:
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt0ogyvacg1qiwe3lo1_400.jpg
What story is the Vault from?
3147954: "Treasure City"
3146996 Yup, We have got a pony Larfeeze on out hands/hooves.
3150144
And considering Equestria´s magic is kinda tied to emotions, virtues and vices, I wouldn´t be surprised if Puissance ends turning herself into something... umpleasant.
Something tells me that this will end badly for Puissance.
Finally got around to reading this. All in all, I wanna see more.
Having finished work on the latest chapter of my own fic, I finally took the time to really read this in full detail. I'd only skimmed it before, and mostly only in regards to the windigo stuff, which I still don't care for. Lets table that for now though and talk about what I liked, and I mean really liked. The opening section with Puissance, mere words can not adequately describe the ecstasy and exhilaration. You brought the vicereine to life in such richly exquisite detail. I've been largely indifferent if still supportive of her as a character before, but THIS made me care about her (not like her, mind, but care never the less), want to read more about her, and is some of your finest work ever -- pity it has to be bogged down with what I still feel is the miss-appropriation of what a windigo should be.
That said, while I really, really still wish you would just use something other than a windigo, and even the story as written so far even leaves that possibility open without the need to retcon anything. I do still rather like the way you handled the details of the defense meeting. Military force was disregarded for practical reasons, not moral ones (which shouldn't apply to monsters made of hate). The excuse regarding spells is just barely passable, but still rather weak. Starswirl the Bearded has a whole wing in the archives, and according to Twilight, Clover the Clever was chiefly responsible for organizing and annotating all of his research, even though otherwise only being know to have developed the singular Hearth spell independently, so it would seem odd for that spell not to be thoroughly documented and archived as well. Moving on though it was interesting to see Fisher doubting the EoH, which makes sense; the "greatest magic known to ponydom" they may be, but they operate on friendship, a concept utterly alien to Fisher, so of course he can't understand how they work. Whereas conversely, Luna who does understand friendship is fully confident in there effectiveness to the task.
What I really liked most of all though, was the way you used Night Lite to propose actually finding the kid as an alternative to conflict. As a father who only recently got his own daughter back, that suits him very well, and hopefully can go long way to affirming (mostly to the audience) that his own actions in AtGGG where grossly atypical of an otherwise good pony.
Then of course though we get back to what this story does BEST, expounding on Puissance as a character as she debates her options, and it's nearly as delicious as in the opening scene. Though in her internal discourse there is one thing I hope you back off on, and that is bringing in any more vault ponies for this fic. Between, Puissance herself, Ice Heart, the L6, possible military escorts, and maybe even Luna herself, this story is already looking pretty crowded. If you must bring in any more vault ponies could we maybe limit it to just the two that are acting as his surrogate parents, they'd seem the most sensible, and I think it would make more sense if on paper at least they were the ones that adopted Ice Heart, with Puisances "official" role being more like a Guardian Ad Litem. (also, with both Puissance and Ice Heart presumably playing such large rolls in the fic I think you should really give this fic the OC tag, yes it would mean not listing one another of the L6, but one is already as such so another shouldn't be a problem.)
Anyway, in closing. I'm moderately more receptive to this fic than before, but still very tentative about it as well. For now though, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, and just hope this lives up to RDD's expectations. You've actually managed to remind me of what I really like about you as a writer here, so I really, really hope that I won't become disappointed in the end.
3140585
I've got to agree with Spammy, Good night is a parting phrase, not a greeting regardless of what time it actually is. Plus the phrase, "Good night, Night Light," just sounds very awkward. That said the fact he chuckles when returning the odd greeting, makes me think we could just pass this off as more of an inside joke between the two.
3140666 I'm fairly certain (not too sure about it though, still new to the Lunaverse section of the FIM-multi-fiction-verse) that sooner or later, lets hope never, that she might allow her "possessiveness" to REALLY get the better of her and endanger everyone.
*crosses fingers* Here's hoping for the best.
Seriously good piece of character building. Vicereine is Scrooge McHorse.
It is nice to reference TreasureCity here and in the adventures of the Doctor. Many readers want to keep the Windigos as enemies, but one must interact with them in this story. I see 3 ways of doing so:
* Make communication difficult.
* Make the Windigos predatious on ponies.
* Give them Yellow/Blue morality instead of Black/White-Morality.
You already made communication difficult with the Windigos sharing concepts.
Windigos feed of strife, which can weaken ponies to death and make ponies commit equicide.
In order to function in groups, animals need a few rules. If one throws a bone to a wolfpack, Rather than the wolves killing each other to get the bone, the animmal at the top of the pecking order gets it.
In wild horses, the oldest mare leads the group. 1 stallion who drove off all other challengers follows the group. The mares tolerate him and let him breed with them as long as he helps protect the group from predators. If a stallion flees from predators leaving the mares alone to defend the foals, the mares will not let him rejoin the group after the predator leaves. Stallions who have not achieved dominance, exist in unstable bachelorherds.
The best ethical system humans have is secular humanism, so I shall use that as an example of black/white-morality. Basically, if something increases human welfare it is good, and if it hurts people it is bad. In the modern times we have other systems such libertarianism created by Ayn Rand in which the principle underlining it is “¡I have mine!”. Historically, we had biblical morality in which it is perfectly more to murder and enslave nonbelievers (most theists are more moral than their religion).
Yellow/Blue-Morality describes a situation where the rules governing how sentient sapient organism use for interaction are so different that they make no sense to us. It is sometimes called “Tie/Bacon-Morality”:
“If one wears a tie, one looks nice, but bacon is tasty.”
One is supposed to scratch one’s head at the above statement.
One might want to give the Windigos Yellow/Blue-Morality with these 2 characteristics:
* WindigoMorality is incomprehensible to the ponies and readers.
* WindigoMorality is fundamentally incompatible with the mores, ethics, and laws of Equestria.
If we follow the above principles, we can maintain Windigos as an incomprehensible threat to Equestria.
Ever since I read the short story about the town of misfits I have wanted that explored more. its a neat idea to debate about whether what she is doing is wrong or not. I love it.
3268275
Only one variant: for Puissance, is not so much about having money, but more about possessing "things" ( lands, buildings, bussiness, ponies, etc...). She doesn´t mind about spending her money for a thing as long as it is worthy the investiment and remains as her thing.
...which is a very screwed mentality nevertheless.
Wait, given that the creature is literally allergic to friendship and Puissance is keeping the child happy in a valley with lots of friends and every need catered to, I dearly hope we're not supposed to be rooting for the father to take his child back to live alone in the snow and be raised to... what? Feed on anger and misery, with no company except Windigoes who by definition can't be friends?
3144063
Yes, Muppet ghosts are pretty fun, except for Yet to Come, he's always sinister, then again, he looks like the Grim Reaper, he's supposed to be sinister. The previous ghosts show him how wonderful Christmas and being good can be, Yet To Come finishes the job by frightening the greed out of the Scrooge by showing him just how nmiserable his future can be if he doesn't change his ways.
Anyway, Puisance seems like a bit of a Scrooge but it's more posessions she wants then money, though I believe that she is fundamentally good, as the Vault isn't illegal, just a bit wierd, and she's very competant. Let's see hwo things go.
This Puissance seems like a very brittle individual. Speaking as someone who has dealt with people who love the thought of having 'control' over another, they're always, always afraid of those who can think for themselves. Puissance undoubtedly has some deep rooted issues, ones that make her crave managing others lives. Sad really, they're so weak and once they lose control, their fears tend to get the best of them.
5349616 old post I know, still just gotta say, that's not even getting into hwo she treats her own family, to the point where she decides what her grandson is named rather than the child's actual parents. and this same pony was peeved at luna appearing at the grand galloping gala naked because it made puissance look bad. Not to mention she's one of the three most corrupt ponies in the night court (the other two being fisher and, formerly, greengrass)
Is that an intentional Star Wars reference, or just an accidental one?
Yeah, a creature of ice and snow is working together with the alicorn of the SUN.
3140962
Technically, evening and night are not the same time of day. Or at least it refers to early night. In fact, the time I consider evening would still be when the sun is up during summer. I consider evening to start at around 7pm. By 1am, evening time would be long gone.
3143324
What I find ironic is that one of the issues you have with Luna is now canon to the show. Celestia and Luna are confirmed to actually require assistance with running the government. Now imagine the Season 9 mid-season finale of the show (episode 13), but Lunaverse style, where instead of both Celestia and Luna, it's just Luna. The assistance in running the government would then play a much bigger role in said government. And with Luna afraid to become a tyrant like Celestia/Corona did, the Night Court would have that much control. As for the Ponyville Aid fiasco, that was technically coexistent with the Grand Galloping Gala. And a lot has changed in the government after the Grand Galloping Gala for the better.
As for the Moon and Sun symphony, what does that have to do with the government (aside from the fact that Green Grass was involved)? In fact the symphony episode alongside the gala episode and the series as a whole in general, you realize that when you look beyond the surface level interpretations, you see that Luna is suffering from trauma. She's afraid of herself. She's afraid if she takes on too much control, she'll end up going insane like her sister did.
3144063
Thanks to you, if I ever make a Lunaverse story, I know what I'm gonna do (and what songs I'll use).