There were a number of additional questions, and the circumstances meant Celestia actually regarded that as a rather reasonable thing: those who had just witnessed history were certainly entitled to think about the implications. However, ponies operating in the degree of shock which came from having witnessed a fundamental overturn of the universe generally weren't known for doing a lot of thinking, and so the voiced queries generally fumbled their way across an increasingly-ridiculous series of fractured parameters.
Eventually, they got the reporters out of the Lunar Courtyard, because articles needed to be written, type had to be set and in the case of far too many (and not just those who were against them), you couldn't get a really good distortion without a few hours of dripping acid upon the actual events. The fact that it had become just about impossible to get a full sentence out of Cerea following the oath wound up encouraging them to disperse: the girl had spent the remainder of her time in the public eye within what the elder had been interpreting as a state of deep stun, and the current worst part about being a ruling Princess was that Celestia had to lock every last possible expression for her own part of that perfectly understandable reaction completely out of sight. And then she had to keep it there while the sisters attempted to answer those questions which actually had them, while implications boiled inside her and the perfect illusion of the full Moon shone down upon the Courtyard. It was a constant reminder that she was deep into her sibling's hours, and Celestia did about as well under too much Moon as Luna dealt with an excess of Sun: a full week of schedule flip could turn both into a bomb, and the only consideration remaining might be just where to go off.
The centaur girl was sent off to bed, and Celestia watched her hooves move down the palace hallway in a half-stagger: something which was echoed in too many of the accompanying Guards because they had heard what Luna had said, it would be mere hours before all of Canterlot knew what Luna had said, the news would spread across the continent in about a day and once it crossed the world...
She watched that, and Nightwatch's awkwardly-flapping wings, until the girl was out of sight. And when she finally turned away, she discovered that her sister had used the chance to get out of range.
They both knew the palace better than any other living pony. But Celestia had (regretted, hated, loathed) more experience. And in this case, she suspected Luna wasn't hiding. She'd just chosen to relocate the inevitable to somewhere more private...
It turned out to be a balcony atop one of the old towers, and the dark eyes were staring up at the true Moon. Forelegs had been hooked over a railing. An alicorn who was effectively immune to cold silently ignored the weather: snow was blowing onto the balcony, and Celestia's arrival vaporized all of it.
"I believe we should maintain the conditions for an additional cycle," the younger proposed. "Simply to moderate the reaction when the articles are released, as much as such can be hoped for. Which should also grant us some time to begin the composition and printing of the informational one-sheets. Following that, we can grant Canterlot a compensating period of unseasonal warmth --"
"-- how long have you been planning that?"
The younger carefully reared back, wings flaring slightly to aid in the turn. Landed to face the elder, or least what could be seen of the white form through the cloud of steam.
"It was not a plan," Luna coolly declared. "It was a -- consideration."
"You had her take up her sword before the press! Promise to defend! She was halfway to being sworn in before you --"
She had every intention of continuing, had in fact planned out the rant during the search and at one point, had nearly turned the opening stages into a mantra to help her stay both enraged and awake. But there were certain things which couldn't help but interrupt arguments, and the sound of a heat-abused part of the floor cracking was one of them.
"Concentrate on your breath, sister," the younger advised. "Not many know that stone can burn, and this is not the night to teach them."
Celestia raised her right forehoof, stepped back just enough to see both wound and glow. Glared at Luna.
"You didn't tell me." The words were slightly less heated than the air. "Everything that's happened, and you still didn't --"
The dark head dipped.
"...yes."
"Why?"
Softly, "This."
Celestia stopped.
Breathed.
It took a little time. Precious seconds before she stopped feeling as if every strand of her fur was a wick, with the world around her as waiting candle. And the whole time, Luna wouldn't meet her eyes.
"You were not with us, Tia," her sibling quietly said. "You did not see her fight, when the neurocypher came. I feel I would have survived: it... chose a different first meal, and that would have provided me with time to reach instinct. But some of our own would have died. They did not. I saw her fight, through the haze of the monster's power. It... required some nights to fully assemble the memory. And I realized -- what is her place? Abjura asked me that, at the arrival point. What does the world hold for a centaur, after Tirek? Fear. You saw that tonight. It holds fear. But when I could truly remember watching her battle..."
The silver-clad left forehoof scraped at the cooling floor.
"...you said you found beauty in watching her run? She fights like nothing I have ever seen. So few centaurs in our lives, and their ways were not hers. Certainly not Tirek's, content to drain from those in flight, watching pegasi plummet to their deaths while his only regret was that they did not possess more to steal. She is new, sister. Something strange, something unfamiliar, and... someone whose heart has been wounded. Who bleeds within every night. And who, when confronted with danger, gallops towards it. She brought back a memory..."
"He couldn't gallop." A statement of fact.
You invoked him...
Luna's lips almost quirked.
"Yes. Well. Two legs. She hardly reflects him in form, Tia. But -- a bleeding heart, a wounded soul, and a noble purpose. Look within and..."
A mare immune to cold shivered.
"...find a mirror," the younger concluded. "From the instant we first discussed the immigration option, I recognized the employment issue. Who would hire her? Even the boldest of our nation might hesitate. I can perceive the potential for somepony of great love to take the chance. I can think of such to have crossed our own lives. I remembered the first."
"The only reason I allowed some of them to retain the title of 'noble'," Celestia softly said. "And?"
"And he would not have been enough," Luna said. "Because there would always be others, forever the chance for one to successfully channel fear into aggression. She needed protection. The shield created by the palace, in so far as that might hold. And for employment here... what can she do?"
"Fight," the elder slowly acknowledged. "And that's part of the problem, Luna. You turned her into a combatant --"
"-- she needed her weapon."
"I know. We agreed on that days ago." The huge white forehoof stomped, doing so as the mane accelerated its flow. "Every sapient species has its own magic: a minotaur's strength can potentially break a unicorn's field, donkey endurance pushes forward through altered weather. We can't always counter each other directly, but everyone can at least try to find a way to defend themselves. Everyone but her. A sapient without magic, the only one I've ever seen, helpless every time she goes out in public. She needed the sword, and you were practically waiting on Wordia --"
"Somewhat predictable," the younger judged. "In a few ways."
"-- but this puts that sword in our service," Celestia forced. "You saw the original round of articles, when the rumors were going around. The fears of what we might use it for. That's international, Luna. They already deal with the fact that we're the only things standing between the world and global extinction. Most of them try not to think about it, and all of them do." The words were getting faster. "But they know they have their own magic, they tell themselves that their magic has a chance, and now we have someone who breaks magic. Try to guess what this is going to do at the next Zoology Conference. I'm guessing someone's going to propose rewriting the Treaty Of Menagerie to cover her, or exclude her, or just walk out. And that's before we get to what this is going to do with our own citizens, because some of them may decide that this means she's under our control, but others are going to see a centaur that close to a Princess and wonder when she's going to strike. Once again keeping in mind that if we both go down, Sun and Moon go --"
"-- I. Do. Not. CARE!"
The dark eyes had come up again, and frost began to creep across the stone. Radiating out from silver.
"Let them talk." The words were all too close to a hiss, cold syllables slicing through the air. "Let them scream, let them come. She has earned her chance, and how many of them can say the same? I know what we risked by bringing her into the light, sister: we both do. Two suicide attempts in Canterlot alone after the articles appeared, both stopped. An entire continent of police on high alert. And she is not stupid, Tia: she heard your request for a moment of mourning, she will realize that the fear may rise to the point where it could have started again. She already blames herself for --"
Stopped, as stars dimmed within the flaring mane and the ice chose its border.
"-- no," Luna whispered. "I still have not galloped that down, and I may find myself unable to tell you when I do. For having potentially tantalized... for that, I offer apology. But it comes back to those discarded options, sister. There is potential damage in every second she spends in the world, and we -- brought her into the light. Because the other choices equaled imprisoning her for what might have been a lifetime, and a rather short one. For the crime of existing. And rather than do that -- we took the chance, and hoped to avoid the worst of the toll. For one cycle, we did. And did you not say it should never be worse than the first night?"
Celestia did the only thing she could, in the presence of reflected (and echoed, so many echoes) pain. She waited.
"Her only chance," the younger finished. "Earned. So I do not care. They would talk regardless. Some scream because they wish to. They charge because it lets them pretend they are not afraid, while we remain ourselves and she bears her sword. They will come? Let them come. And I did not tell you, because..."
She sighed, and freshly-crystallized snowflakes fell to the floor.
"...we are equal in the Diarchy. That is the law. But even now, after the Return, and the era of new Bearers... not always in your own eyes, Tia. Too much time alone, and --"
The dark eyes looked away.
Gently, because that was what Luna needed now. "It wasn't your fault."
"Regardless," was a rather flat response. "So I allowed it to happen, before witnesses. And then you would have to support me."
The long white legs risked a step forward -- but just one, at least to start.
Celestia looked at her sister for a while. Considered that there were many ways to describe Luna. 'Diplomacy's other option' was internationally popular, along with being among the few such terms which remained printable. But there was something more accurate. For most of the palace staff, the younger could, with some truth, be regarded as a hyperintelligent force of nature, only one with lingering emotional issues and the public relations skills of an avalanche.
But for the elder, it was a sibling who still wasn't completely sure how to be home.
Ice slowly began to melt.
"I admit to being at something of a loss in one regard," the younger admitted as she once again stared out into the falling snow.
"Oh?" Genuinely curious.
"The training. At least the combat portions of it. We have never seen a centaur fight as she does: nopony has. We require somepony used to dealing with potential Guards, who is capable of not only adapting to new circumstances, but constantly dealing with having to be in the presence of a fighting centaur..."
The warm white wing draped itself across the cool dark back.
"Oh, Luna," Celestia smiled. "Have I got a pony for you..."
Mmm. Nice!
...
I wonder if old ponies were better at resisting the herd, and so, Luna thinks this new generation is sorta weak.
...
So much meaning!
...
If this is Emery Board...
10105300
Who could it be but Emery Board?
10105300
10105325
For those not familiar with Emery Board, see Like a Well-Oiled Machine.
Or just watch Full Metal Jacket.
10105300
That's JUST what I was thinking!
- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
Shortly after the Elements were rediscovered, somepony decided the new Bearers needed combat training...First training mission:recovering the dead bodies of the Bearers from Mary Sue and her village.
He returns.😁
10105379
Referenced in various places, including Triptych & "Princesses Can't Cook"
Yes, there's a story.
No, Estee hasn't written it yet
For one moment I thought they were going to hire a foreign Minotaur Maître d'armes to teach her but you wrote 'pony'... guess it's Emery Board big comeback!
But the thing his, Cerea already do have warrior training. And if it's inspired by knight tradition, she probably know how to use a plethora of weapons to fit any situation. All kind of spears, shield, daggers, swords, mace, warhammer, javelin, bow, crossbow, etc. Being a knight wasn't just sword and jousting lances after all. And knowing Cerea mother, she probably made sure she was good with all.
Making those weapons will be... quite interesting I believe.
Haha, I was thinking it could have been Iron Will.
Loved getting to see some Sisters quality bonding time. I enjoy them. It's so interesting how you balance the immortality effects with their personalities. I feel like it can be hard for people writing them to not fall too far to one side or the other, making them either too God-like to be relatable or not wise enough for their years. You strike that happy balance, imo.
Good work this month dude, you've definitely packed a lot into the shortest month of the year.
Typos: choose when you meant either chooses or chose. idk it's in Luna's dialogue when she's talking about the neurocypher. Another one is option when you meant options
10105408
If they called in Iron Will, it'd be to provide therapy for Cerea's myriad emotional problems. Estee's version of Iron Will is a trained psychologist.
I suspect it will be a learning experience for both Cerea and Emery Board. I hope Equestria survives it.
I just hope Emery knows that Cera has like, no self confidence, so he needs to build her up before tearing her down
10105388 Ok, as a martial artist, I am going to politely ask you to stop. As a martial artist, I am going to tell you Cerea needs training. I am also going to say that I think Emery is the wrong creature for the job. As as centaur Cerea was taught how to fight other centaur, and probably humans...not the menagerie of creatures of Equestria. Fighting isn't swinging your sword harder and faster than the other guy, it's knowing all the different ways that weapon can horribly disassemble a living creature with the least effort and risk. With different anatomy and kinesiology, necessitates new strategies. It's the same reason why most every story of ponies in combat makes me cringe, because people don't understand that ponies won't fight like humans. They can't, they're literally not built for it.
Hmm... has Luna ever actually met Emery Board?
I'm picturing them getting along like a pair of old criminals; they both understand the power of fear and hatred, and Emery hasn't lived his life serving under Luna, so might treat her less formally. This could be a wonderful meeting.
The memes became too potent for some travelers
10105537
I have to agree. Even something as basic as which side of an opponent is their most vulnerable is species specific. Getting behind a human gives you an advantage, getting behind a horse just invites it to kick your silly head in.
Regarding Emery, he's trained lots of species so should know their strengths and vulnerabilities.
10105537
Liminals encompass a variety of body forms and abilities. I am very certain the centaurs did not create soldiers to fight predominately amongst themselves, but to keep in preparation for war with liminals and humanity. I think with that in mind, she is flexible enough to apply training she already has and adapt it to her new lessons in Guard Combat Training. After all theres only so many ways one can weild weapons with how their body moves and how it is shaped. This is why mastering a martial art takes many years but when they train in others they rapidly learn them in much quicker succession than their first. Training never ceases, which is the best part for Cerea
10105554
Emery Board is a lifetime servant of the crown. He would be absolutely out of line to disrespect an equal in the diarchy. He would know better than to be anything but the consummate professional and I wouldn't see him as less than that.
10105440
Nah its actually easier to do the low confidence ones because there's less to need to break. Personally at this stage in my life i have a hard head and would need serious breaking.
10105625
Again, the point is:
By this I mean, you need to know the anatomy of what you're fighting to know how to take it apart.
10105300
We don't know about resisting the herd, but it is Continuum canon that Luna instinctively looks down on modern ponies, and she's still struggling with reigning that instinct in... not helping is the many, MANY examples of ponies who, frankly, exemplify the negative stereotype she has of them as weak-willed, spoiled, lazy and fit only to feed worms. The topic is discussed in the fic "Horsefeathers", although she does admit that, even as annoying as she finds the weakness to be, she does intellectually understand that life in modern Equestria is an improvement over the lethality of the Discordian era.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/371665/horsefeathers-or-ill-say-she-isnt
10105649
Keep in mind I said she can apply what she learns to what she already knows. Spelled out I am saying her training is involved with where to attack not how to attack. There are only so many ways to swing a sword(which we both agree upon in this part) but you appear to have the perception she has no experience, training or expectations on techniques outside of fighting with human opponents. Her ability to fight off the encounters she experienced in the forest shows she is familiar with non-human fighting tactics and I would take the implication there are aggressive nonsapient creatures the centaurs would patrol for. That implication of her lack in abilities is where the first part of your statement is absolutely and interminably incorrect.
Damn, Estee's on a roll!
10105625
Fair enough, I was just saying that because he's based off of and written like the Drill Sergeant from FMJ, and Ermey even said in one interview that that character was based off other drill instructors who were too hard on recruits, since that's possible (looking at you, Pile), and something as intense as FMJ would crush someone as insecure as her
10105669
I put humans second there, with a probably (because to the point I'm at in the manga) it has never been made clear if she has.
I think you're latching onto all the wrong parts of my declaration. My point is that very few of the races of Equis have a direct analog in the Monster Musume universe, Lumials and Humans are very different from a pony or a gryphon. As one human fighting another human, we have relative parody of abilities, weaknesses and strengths. I can teach you, because I know these things. If I were going to learn how to fight Equestrians, I'd have to learn everything but how to use my weapon, and I might even have to relearn that, if I need a new weapon to fight the little horses.
TL;DR: Fighting's complicated, yo.
Two great chapters with very different reactions to the events! Cerea's reaction to becoming a Knight was a wonderful, emotional payoff! And the tense exchange between the sisters was some great character work.
I understand the need to shut Wordia down and reassure the public, but surely they do intend to train Cerea in how to defend against ponies, do they not? It was an artful non-denial denial, and a lack of such training would leave her with a huge blind spot that would be exploited by the likes of Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Sombra, Cozy Glow, Tempest Shadow, Stygian, Gentle Arrival, Quiet Presence, and (to the extent that their abilities allow them to duplicate them) every Changeling... not to mention any gone-rogue Alicorn.
Besides, her experience with Crossing and his field leading her unwillingly into this mess certainly shows the need to be able to counter ponies that would do her harm (intentionally or not)... and she’ll need the knowledge to keep her from overly harming any of them in return, as well as protecting ponies from threats themselves (such as knowing that Backlash comes in stages.)
I see the debate below about the amount of martial training she might need, but what she definitely needs to learn is magic: how the creatures of this world wield it, and what she can do to shut it down if necessary.
I just wish Emery Board was more Battery Sergeant Major Williams than Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.
I would expect if Cerea needs Guard combat training, she needs someone with more limbs than the average pony, someone who knows how to dissasemnble all forms of body and probably put them back together quickly and efficintly, someone who also is a compound or hybrid?
Would there be any viable Griffin Drill Sergent, Medical wing, retired, enjoying his down time as a Butcher?
A loyal Knight to a magical princess of the night? Oh boy, that's a live story waiting (and wanting) to be told.
I ship it so hard Rarity could find it with her Mark
That certainly explains a lot. (For those unfamiliar with the deeper lore, the sisters' Bearer of Kindness was a unicorn noble—inasmuch as a such a thing was possible during Discord's reign—who took in two weary earth ponies on the basis that having all of that wealth was meaningless if he didn't do anything worthwhile with it.)
And so the sisters get back onto the same page, and a certain somepony gets called in for the most unusual recruit he may ever train. Fantastic double update and introduction to the next arc of the story. Looking forward to more. Especially once the populace read the papers...
And another quite good chapter. And I look forward to seeing where this goes. :D
I have a few suspicions about that bit at the end, in particular... :)
10105682
Too true, very very true... *fortunate sun plays in the bg*
10105537
I'll admit I didn't explained my point correctly about fighting since I was more focused on talking about what type of training she may already have. From a historical point of view, that knight weren't just sword and jousting, that she probably received a military education that covers a wide variety of subjects. Also I never said that she didn’t need additional training, just that she already have received training earlier in her life. That mean conditioning, how to use weapons and probably military tactics and strategy. In fact, she will probably need to "unlearn" some preconceived stuff she knows because it can't be applied here. Or turn it around and use it on unsuspecting foes. But what I wanted to underline here was because she have hands on top of four hooves, is that she got more options to compensate for her lack of magic.
Yes, what she have learned was made with other centaurs and human in thought and maybe some other linimal. But it doesn't mean everything she learned is trash. Luna stressed that she needed to learn about the various threats Equestria face, I completely agree with this. But that's another challenge in itself. All the chaos monsters roaming the lands, legendary monsters and the like (I am not talking about sentient ones like Minotaurs, Ponies, dragons, Yaks, Griffon, etc. Those are another ballpark) have motley collection of limbs and abilities at best of the time. Some should not be fought at melee range AT ALL with the danger they represent. How do you learn how to specifically fight each chaotic body type out there? How do you prepare for every possible scenario with giants proportions, tentacles, fire breathing, poison, extra mouths, limbs, etc? How do you safely prepare for something like that?
The ponies don't know how a centaur fight so there will be some learning to do on both side. But what they know is how to fight all those monsters. They have experience, proved tactics, books. They have ponies whose jobs is to studies those monsters. So they certainly developed the best way to tackle the problem. Can it be applied to Cerea? Maybe. There will be some addapting required but they do can teach her a lot. They have magics, they can use illusions for combat simulation! Don't tell me they can't teach her with that.
As for Emery teaching her? I also agree that he is probably not the best teacher to refine her fighting style against foes like Ponies, Diamond Dogs, Griffins, Dragons and everything else. He can probably analyse and teach her a few things but Cerea will have to learn and find things on her own a lot but she could still use an experienced ear that won't run for the horizon in fear when seeing her.
It's a bit why I mentioned having a Minotaur trainer, like her they have hands and their torso is in an upright position, so the similarities could help. And Minotaurs probably have their own solution for monsters and fighting other creatures. And given their strength, habits of building solid and their mecanical aptitudes, it probably involves small handheld siege weapons to pulp the dangerous ones at distance.
10106035
Guard training is only partly about combat. Your hypothetical minotaur would probably be better at teaching her how to shoulder throw a yak, but Emery Board has a proven track record at everything else.
10106246
True, that's not everything a guard need to learn. There is uniform maintenance, rules, decorum, ethics, laws, etc. A good drill sergeant and an instructor for the rest will do wonders.
This may well be like the second Coming of the Sisters in terms of miracles for Emery Board.
He gets to forge the Anti-Tirek.
Emery Board
YES!
10105669
She's certainly inexpierenced in taking brunt of thesocial side for that occupation though, which says that she had only formal and pracrtical training, but not service drill
Insecurity in that case is a sign on inexpirience.
10107616
agreed
Actually, it's not usually the case.
Exceptions, stones which can burn, include coal and sulfur, which we often don't think of as types of stone, and possibly sulfide minerals such as pyrite (FeS2, "fool's gold"), which certainly exothermically oxidise but I don't know if they can actually undergo self-sustaining combustion.
With types of stone like marble (calcium carbonate, CaCO3) or gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate, CaSO4.2H2O, often artificially made, eg in drywall, household plaster, and drawing chalk), what is actually going on is endothermic decomposition into, respectively, lime (calcium oxide, CaO, which is dangerously corrosive and can cause chemical burns) and anhydrite (anhydrous calcium sulfate CaSO4), with the loss of volatile molecules (respectively CO2 and H2O); especially in the case of gypsum, this gives them fire-retardant properties (although anhydrite decomposes even further under sufficiently intense fire, yielding lime, sulfur dioxide, and oxygen, which is not helpful).
However, most types of stone simply melt.
10107999
While that's true under most conditions, anything will burn, given enough oxygen and heat. Granted, for stone to truly burn, rather than melt, it would require large amounts of liquid oxygen or some other oxidizer, and intense, focused heat, and while these are not particularly likely conditions, remember that this is a fictional universe we're talking about. Specifically one where magic is a thing. And magic fire may very well not obey the same laws as regular fire. Plus, who knows what kind of stone the castle is made of?
10105651
10105300
There is one Triptych story (that I don’t know which one shames me, it might even be the one linked) where Luna values the worth of a pony by how long they would have survived in her time. Rarity is one of the ones she imagines would survive. Very few manage seconds in her estimation.
So no, not a lot of respect for the modern pony.
So I begin to realize this takes place between S4 finale and S5 opening, only Tirek’s actions did a deeper effect on all Equestrias.
Also I can’t wait until Cerea meets the Mane 6
Setting aside everything else going on, it might have been a pleasant change for Luna to have had the advantage of her sister with a plan, when it's so often been Celestia who was the chessmaster with Luna relegated to the role of blunt object.
10107999
reminds me of an old magazine article about someone who mistakenly built a fireplace out of Oil Shale...which burns quite easily.