*Luna crashed awake the moment the light faded. She stumbled to her fours from the limp trance she’d held up until that point, heart racing.
She’d just been outright evicted from his mind. And she wasn’t entirely sure how. She used a spell, but not an escape spell. The raging child… she wasn’t sure he had ever touched her. The only other thing that occurred was that chest, then the flash. A power great enough to expel her from her domain… such a power was, as much of her experiences with Isaac, unprecedented. Nothing about him added up, nothing made sense, he was an anomaly, but…
He was not a danger.
Her suspicions had led her astray. All that effort to find evidence of his folly had led to yet another of her own. He had been innocent- strange, but blameless for what had transpired. She- the protector of innocent lives- had persecuted, threatened, and nearly murdered him. And only on the fallacious suspicion she held, that she may be saving others.
She only hurt more.
Isaac was not the monster. And yet she had only made it clearer she was. Once again she had failed to protect the peace.
How badly she had failed. Her dearth of compassion left her bereft of all but obsession. To protect her kind, she had ignored his plight.
How wretched she felt. How hollow.
She snapped her attention away from her own mind. No. She would not yield to self pity.
Luna walked over to the window. Dawn streamed in, but even the light of her sister’s sun was unable to relieve her of the shame clutching her heart.
This abject depravity was well deserved, but Luna could not simply let it be suppressed in tense silence. She knew this lesson well. Enough.
She breathed, in, out. In, out. She would make amends, The Night Princess vowed silently. She would find a way to make it up to the boy. Somehow.
Her thoughts drifted to the treasure chest that had opened. All the children had been incredibly adamant that she not get near it- and it was quite obvious something had happened when she did. Not only that, but it wasn’t as if the children were worried for the box- rather, it almost had come off as them being afraid for her.
The raging child had mentioned her presence widening the gate. Had the chest itself been a danger, the gate he spoke of? Had she been in danger by nearing it? Mortified, she began to consider what else may pass through, if the last beast was but a glimpse of what may come. If larger creatures, more dangerous ones arrived- what then?
She may have committed far worse of a crime than she had imagined. She may have not only fallen on false suspicions, but now endangered her ponies again. So many would fall, so many would suffer, and it would all be her doing, her fault, her failings, her crimes-
The Princess stopped. Stopped cold. Focused on nothing. Steeled herself. She could not afford to be weak. To give into her fears of failings. Not now. Not ever.
Luna gave a frustrated sigh, and turned back to her study. Too headstrong, she had been. Too arrogant. She should have complied, asked the children, sought information through trust, not defiance. She knew not how she could speak to them again; she would not dare return in such a fashion.
As she began tidying the resulting mess her collapse had caused, she considered alternatives. Perhaps she could inquire of them through Isaac himself. If they had been of the same mind once, he may know of the chest they had been guarding.
Assuming he would talk to her once she admitted her unwarranted invasion of his mind.
She paused. Should she tell him? Anyone? Would it be wise? It would serve only to demonize herself, and sow distrust and disdain among her friends. And she could not be certain that the child would forgive her. She wouldn’t, in his position. But how else could she learn more of the danger to come?
No. She could not reveal her indiscretion. The only effects would be negative, and likely outweigh the lottery that is the chance he knows anything. They had said he’d not spoken with them in some time- perhaps he knew not of them anymore.
Whatever may come of it, she would handle it. She must. It was her duty to protect the innocent, and she needed to correct her errors on her own.
Luna slotted the final book into it’s place on the shelf, and left her study to complete her final duties of her night.
For some reason I thought the author's note ( the appreciation part) was a bit depressing
6766861 I'm just concerned for my editors! I hope they're okay, I don't think they've been on in a while.
One of my editors hasn't gotten back to me either, they're probably on break or something
Luna, Luna, Luna... you know well enough that one key to Friendship and Harmony is honesty. And yet you still want to hide your dirt from the victim you so want to make amends with?
This story....It makes me want to write a story about Flutters/Issac, Twilight/Eve, Cain/Applejack, Trixie/Lost, Pinkie/Maggie, Samson/Babs Seed, Eden/Little Celestia, SunsetShimmer/Lilith, (Yes the pony.) Judas/Rarity, Azazel/Rainbow dash, (That barfing rainbows though) Keeper/Spike, (His power is in his greed)and ???/??? (Except a pony) as they burrow through the depths and try to find the way out of that basement, even though Isaac/Friends has been stuck in that basement for months and has died hundred of times over.
But when The Afterbirth comes they get new friends, new Items to torture all of them selves, and a new way out. And the first new thing I'm going to use on FlutterShy is...........A New Pill.
And I'm already working on it...
6793157 Hah, go for it! Glad I inspired you in some small way.
6781826 Technically, withholding information is not lying unless he asks about it, which would be unlikely given his complete inexperience with the subject.
I mean, that sort of argument crumbles under any form of law other than the rationalizing of one who fears rejection and failure, but seeing as she makes up approximately 1/3 of the law here, and is not under scrutiny... Who'd stop her?
6794332 I never said anything about lying. I talked about honesty. And lies of omission are also dishonest.
6795249 That's true.
But no one knows she's lying.
And she doesn't regard it as such.
So she's rationalizing a poor decision.
I hope people like the new cover art!
... If not, I could change it back. :/
6795632 Indeed. But even if not acknowledged as such, lies and omissions tend to be brought to the surface sooner or later.
6799707 Is good.
6801985
To quote Doc Scratch from Homestuck:
Not to try and call anything because frankly this is far as I've gotten...
But am I the only one that's getting the "Luna touched his mind and is now experiencing various feelings related to him in the sense of anger, sadness etc..." vibe.
Because that's totally what I'm getting.
...Let's be honest I just Luna to go mad with the amount of madness that Isaac is hiding inside.
6813422 Lies of omission very much do exist. Deliberately giving somebody only partial information, for example, to impact the course of their actions.
Luna is simply choosing not to reveal what she has done. She has not yet lied, technically, so much as she has simply kept herself silent. Nobody knows but her, and she means to keep it that way. At least for now.
That said, one of the best ways to make things good with Isaac is to form an open, honest bond with the little guy.
In any case, I hope to see this continued.
7178995
Incorrect. Lies denote an “intentionally false statement,” meaning you have to claim something that isn’t true. Omitting something cannot be a lie because you have not made a claim that is false, knowingly or otherwise.
Say, for example, I have an apple. I know that the apple is from my own apple tree, but I do know that there has been an issue where the core of the apples slowly start to rot early. I pick up the apple, pinch it, and find that it feels and looks perfectly healthy, and find the same thing to be true for other apples. Now, let’s say that on that day my neighbor might have been rather impolite or broke my mailbox backing out of his driveway. For some reason, he decides to come by and ask for a couple apples. I tell him sure and bring out his apples, and he asks if they’re fresh. I tell him yes, and that they look perfectly healthy.
Note how I described the apple as appearing healthy and feeling healthy with some light pinch/grasp. For all intents and purposes, anyone who picked it up and held it would think the apple was a fruit that’s nice, healthy, and fresh off the tree. At no point is anything I say a lie when I tell them, “Sure, they look perfectly fine. You can even pinch it a bit to check.” The neighbor does so, and finds that the apple feels healthy. They thank me, and head on home.
Not a single thing I have said to them is a lie. The apple looks perfectly fine, feels perfectly fine, and I only said as much. There is no lie, just a lack of information, which is not and cannot be a lie. Therefore, the concept of “lies by omission” is a lie in and of itself, because it does not actually exist. It is simply a term coined to encourage people to provide all possible information, thus practicing transparency. Honesty would come from telling these details without fabrication.