While I feel that ending Shadow’s narration with the Pegasopolan declaration of war on Unicornia makes for a natural break point in the overall narrative, there is one final matter that I feel should be included to properly close things out.
I would like to thank Dusty Scrolls of the Royal Cloudsdale Archives for all her hard work in helping me find the minutes of the Ephorate’s meetings. After some consideration, I have decided to simply present the records of their conversation as it is written, rather than adapting it into a proper narrative. I would like to think I’m a passable editor, but trying to turn a bunch of dry meeting notes into a gripping piece of writing is probably more than I can manage, especially since I would have to wildly speculate about some very important things like the body language of all the ponies involved.
In the interests of brevity, I have only included a small passage from the Ephorate’s meeting after Shadow’s departure. The minutia of their plans for the coming war might be of great interest to a military historian, but would just bog down this particular account.
Rightly Doo: ‘Tis agreed that Manehatten shall be the first objective of our campaign?
Bright Charger: Aye. We must liberate the earth ponies before all else. With luck, once they have shaken off Celestia’s yoke she will grasp the weakness of her position and sue for peace.
Steel Striker: Optimistic. But aye, Manehatten.
Cyclone Kicker: Aye.
Swift Blade: Aye.
Rightly Doo: Very well then. Have we any other business to attend before we return to our clans and begin making ready for battle?
Cyclone Kicker: There is one matter. We have not yet confirmed who holds the post of commander.
Bright Charger: A mere formality. Rightly has been a fine acting commander, and I see no reason not to convey the title upon him in full.
Steel Striker: Formalities matter.
Rightly Doo: ‘Twould be best to officially put the matter to rest. Before we vote, does anypony wish to suggest an alternate candidate for the post? The only other pony named as a candidate when I was made acting commander is no longer available for the post.
Swift Blade: I have a candidate in mind, though she is something of an unusual choice.
Bright Charger: How intriguing. Do you intend to actually share her identity with us, or will you simply offer cryptic statements for us to speculate upon?
Swift Blade: My proposal is somewhat unique in that she is not capable of acting as Commander, and thus Rightly would be required to remain as acting Commander for the moment. However, as a former Commander of Pegasopolis she is eminently qualified, and I believe there would be many other advantages to naming Luna as Commander in absentia.
Steel Striker: Nightmare Moon?
Swift Blade: By Celestia’s word, aye. But history is written by the victors. Who here has borne witness to their battle? We have only Celestia’s word that her sister fell into darkness, and Celestia’s own actions in recent days have shown that her word is not to be trusted.
Cyclone Kicker: It is possible that our accounts of Luna’s downfall do not reflect what actually occurred. Still, that is mere speculation.
Swift Blade: Regardless, there are numerous practical benefits to naming Luna as our commander. It elevates our cause beyond that of a mere revolt against Celestia. In the eyes of Equestria and the world, we would go from malcontents seeking to preserve our own privileges to liberators valiantly struggling to restore our rightful ruler and o’erthrow an usurper. ‘Twould also serve to make our cause wider than a mere Pegasopolan crusade. With all respect, what do the earth ponies or unicorns care for Rightly Doo? I cannot imagine his name is e’en known to them. Luna, however, is known by ponies of all the tribes, and has her supporters amongst them all. What better banner to carry when we march into Manehatten than that of Luna, who freed the city from griffon occupation?
Cyclone Kicker: Supporters. A kind word for mad cultists and warlocks.
Steel Striker: Enemies of Celestia. Like us.
Rightly Doo: We will not traffic with such individuals. E’en if we both stand to gain from Celestia’s removal, I will not demean our cause by aligning it with practitioners of the forbidden arts.
Swift Blade: But of course not, Rightly. However, I would point out that ‘warlock’ and ‘cultist’ are very useful titles to bestow upon one’s enemies.
Rightly Doo: Nonetheless, we must uphold not only the reality of honor, but the appearance of it as well. Whatever gains we might make from naming a more prestigious commander would be lost if ‘twas thought we made common cause with enemies of all decency. Just as I would not send emissaries to the High King of Griffonia, the Zebrican Emperor, or the Swarms of Chrysalis, so I will not make common cause with warlocks.
Swift Blade: E’en those who we have reason to believe are falsely accused of the crime?
Cyclone Kicker: We hardly have the time and resources to investigate every single warlock’s claim that they are mere political opponents of Celestia accused of foul acts to blacken their name. I would rather turn away a dozen innocents than allow one viper into our midsts.
Bright Charger: Agreed. Our situation is not so desperate that we must seek unsavory allies to bolster our strength.
Swift Blade: Very well then. However, we have not yet spoken on the naming of Luna as commander.
Bright Charger: I see no need for it. If Rightly is to exercise the powers and duties of commander, he should hold the title as well.
Steel Striker: Politics. Could be useful.
Cyclone Kicker: Though I am wary of her reputation, Luna’s name is known far and wide. As Swift said, by attaching her name to our cause we make it plain that we fight for the good of all Equestria, not merely the pegasi. However, it would be of the utmost importance that we maintain our honor, for e’en a single foul act would quickly blacken our name.
Rightly Doo: And if Celestia did not lie? If Luna did indeed go mad, and was rightfully stripped of her position and powers?
Swift Blade: Then she is still useful as a symbol. I cannot imagine she is likely to be easily returned from whatever imprisonment or exile Celestia has condemned her too. ‘Tis e’en possible that Luna is a century dead, and Celestia’s claims of exile and imprisonment merely serve to cover her kinslaying. Such things have little bearing on her usefulness as a rallying point to our cause.
Steel Striker: Well reasoned.
Rightly Doo: I am uncertain of the wisdom of this course. Bright, Cyclone? I would have your thoughts on the matter too.
Bright Charger: She acts the part of a tyrant now, and given that, it is certainly possible that she acted the same in regards to her sister. Luna’s banishment made her sole ruler of Equestria, and now she works to consolidate that authority. Still, I am uncertain. I defer my vote to thee, Rightly.
Cyclone Kicker: Speculation on what occurred a century ago does not change the fact that Luna’s name and reputation are now fouled. And our own would quickly be fouled by proximity.
Swift Blade: You do the common ponies of Equestria too little credit, sir. Surely they can follow the same line of reasoning that we have, once the matter is explained to them. Reputations and opinions are easily shifted once lies are cast aside and the light of truth shown.
Rightly Doo: So be it then. My vote, and Bright’s, are cast in favor. We hereby name Luna as Commander-in-Absentia of Pegasopolis.
Bright Charger: Aye.
Steel Striker: Aye.
Cyclone Kicker: Aye.
Swift Blade: Aye.
Man, why you gotta be so boring, history? Would a blood oath to a dark master have been too much to ask for? But nooooo, it's all cynical politics and arrangements of convenience.
Ooh boy. Here. We. Go!!!!
...And that's all I have to say about that.
HOLY CRAP.
I knew she should have killed Swift Blade when she had the chance. Little snake.
Yeah, everyone would have been better off with Swift Blade's head mounted on a pike many chapters ago.
I'm suddenly wondering if this twist really is entirely political, or if the elements moving behind the scenes have been planning it from the get go. There may be pegasi who have never given on up the alicorn they consider to be their real princess.
The amount of epic in this story has increased exponentially since shadows 8...
Kind of like this:
|| 1
|| 2
|| 3
| | 4
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| | 6
| | 7
| | 8
| | 9
| | 10
| | 11
| | epilogue
And with that, I now can safely say that I hate every member of the Ephorate. At least one of these ponies is a scheming snake in the grass, and my money's on Swift Blade or Steel Striker. It was in Striker's compound that we were introduced to Pegasi clipping and that has yet to be resolved despite being but a footnote in the presence of war, but Swift was way too quick to name Luna (and Nightmare Moon by extension) as their figure-head to not be up to something.
3693373 If you want a real life world-shaking war involving blood vengeance oaths, giant monsters and straight up crazy-person zeal on both sides, look at the Punic Wars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbBHk_zLTmY
Don't smack talk history, history is awesome.
This was the point where I realized Swift Blade wasn't the chestmaster, he's just another piece in somepony else's game.
Though he probably thought otherwise.
1336 words in this epilogue? Needs one more.
Anyone else, think that Swift was a little too defensive of cultists and warlocks?
Suddenly our former archmage feels much less monstrous to me.
I hope you realize, this means war.
All I can say is I look forward to Swift's ass getting kicked.
3694104
You have a very good point. Perhaps if that was mentioned more in the story, it would make things easier to bear. As it is, I only saw mention of that reason twice.
3694187 I have a feeling that Swift Blade is one of those cultists that the others were not too fond of associating with in the first place.
3694420 This story is being told from the first-person perspective by an unreliable narrator. Very often, in that style of story telling, what you have to infer is actually more important than what the narrator chooses to focus on. In this particular case, since the narrator is a soldier rather than a politician, she will inevitably ignore a lot of the political facts, or even miss them all together.
There is ample reason to conclude that the leaders of Pegasopolis at least acted inappropriately, and arguably committed sedition or out-right treason. That point isn't weakened just because Shadow chose not to make a solid case for it in her narration.
Any plan that involves the phrase "they'll understand if we just explain it to them" should be considered dead on arrival. I cannot see this going at all well for anyone.
I see a lot of "liberation" at spear-point in Manehattan's near future.
Interesting to see the reasoning behind the legends. The political decisions and causes that, 900 years later, would be looked upon as madness and high treason. Oh, the fickles of fate.
How come I have this feeling that earth ponies would get the worst of both sides of this future war?
Good ending to part 1.
Speaking as a history major, this is my favorite chapter so far. I think more "primary source" chapters like this would be awesome.
3695923 But the problem with that is obvious, to anyone looking in from the outside. It's not possible to wash your hooves of responsibility for your actions by claiming that you were fulfilling the wishes of your leader in absentia. That's just the Nuremberg defense, "I was only obeying orders," where *you* are the one giving the orders to yourself. Not only does that stretch an already-unacceptable excuse beyond the absurd, they're trying it with Nightmare Moon herself, who is hated and feared by much (maybe even most?) of Equestria. Even if this move wins Pegasopolis some supporters, they're going to make a lot of ponies very angry.
And then there's the claim that there were no witnesses. Did everypony really miss that fantastic light show we saw at the beginning of Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 2? And even if they did, how likely is it that everypony also missed the fury and madness that drove Luna to that point? It seems to me that the pegasi are banking an awful lot on the idea of undermining Celestia's word on this, but history isn't only written by the victor. It's also written by the bystanders. Not to mention, Celestia's word is still going to be worth a lot to many ponies, no matter what Pegasopolis have convinced themselves to believe.
And the hell of it is, they probably didn't even need to do this. Likely, they could have gotten a lot of sympathy and support by justifying this as a simple "war for justice." Instead, now they've made it a more polarized conflict, almost a religious war. That's going to turn a lot of ponies against them who would otherwise have supported them or stayed neutral. It's also going to turn a lot of ponies into cult-like fanatics who won't know when or how to stop fighting. That's going to make everything a lot meaner and bloodier. All in all, this seems like a pretty stupid move. They've walked into a trap of their own making.
I was really shocked to find this updated just to have it be the epilouge and at first I was disappointed but after reading this little excerpt I realized that not only does it give the title meaning it sets up the plot of the actual war fic and makes sense as a stopping point.
...there IS gonna be a sequel to this, right? You can't leave me with these well developed characters and relationships and end it on this!
3697182
My guess is that there will be a new story arc regarding the war in this story.
cannot wait for rising shadows
What a bunch of idiots. This is like if, in thirty years, someone starts a rebellion in Germany and names Hitler as their leader. And to keep up the Godwin's Law, sure he "liberated" the Rhineland, but that doesn't mean those who live there now are going to welcome his supporters with open arms. Just because it's been a century doesn't mean everyone's just gonna forget what happened. In fact, depending on whether the author's going to use the "NMM's war lasted for a prolonged period of time" headcanon or not, there could still be Earth Ponies that were alive when it happened and can testify to the horrors that she did. The Earth Ponies, which canonically appear to give a great deal of respect for their elders, would take that advice to heart, and see the pegasi not as liberators, but insane followers of an omnicidal maniac bent on planetary destruction.
3703681
With them saying that they only have Celestia's word on what happened, I'm going to guess that Chen is lining up to use the canonical version of events, with the singular battle, rather than a drawn-out civil war. In that case, it's far less surprising. After all, nobody really saw Luna's fall to darkness, so far as we can tell. Or if they did, it would be in the manner of bystanders watching the lightshow from afar.
3704072
Exactly. Going by what we see in canon, Luna turning into Nightmare Moon and Celestia banishing her all happened within a very short timeframe, and only the two of them knew the full story. The ordinary pony citizens in the capital would only know that Celestia and Luna fought each other for some reason, and after Celestia won she said her sister turned evil and crazy.
3704316 I don't buy that. Just because we didn't see witnesses during Twilight's flashback doesn't mean there weren't any. The moon suddenly eclipsed the sun *in the middle of the day*, and nopony noticed? Also, what we saw was just the very end of things. What about the lead-up, as Luna gradually got angrier and crazier? It's simply not realistic that Celestia was the only pony who witnessed anything.
3704929
Which would probably why I specifically said that ponies might have witnessed things, but didn't have all the information needed to put what they saw in context. Sure, ordinary ponies would see the sun being eclipsed, and might have heard rumors that Celestia and Luna weren't getting along. However, the average pony in the streets is hardly going to be privy to the details of every single private conversation between the sisters, and all that seeing them fight would prove is that they're fighting. The eclipse proves that Luna struck the first publicly visible blow, but anypony with an agenda (like the Ephorate) can easily find a way to say she was justified in doing so.
3705540 No matter how often you repeat that, it still makes no sense. We're talking about a spectacular battle on a very important site (the Royal Palace) in the middle of the day. It is not possible that there were no reliable witnesses. There had to have been plenty of ponies in or near the castle, including courtiers, bureaucrats, guards, visitors, and more. Some of them would have seen it, and would have talked or written about it later.
And sure, a group of over-zealous idiots like the Ephorate could find excuses to deny those eye witness reports, but that doesn't change how events like this work. When you have something big happen in a very important and well-traveled location, you're going to have witnesses. And if that location is literally the nation's seat of government, you're going to have *lots* of witnesses.
3706336
I'll say again that there were witnesses to the fight. However, these witnesses did not have an omniscient godlike perspective. They were not present for any private conversations between Celestia and Luna. They also could not read Celestia and Luna's minds. Celestia and Luna did not stop in the middle of their battle to sit down with every random pony who saw it, and spend several hours explaining all their private thoughts and all the causes of their conflict.
The only thing an eyewitness to the fight is going to know is "Celestia and Luna fought, Celestia won." Ponies who regularly interacted with the Sisters (A very small and elite group) might know about the tension between them and Luna acting increasingly erratic. However, 99.99% of Equestria's population only see Celestia and Luna at a few carefully scripted public appearances, and don't have any personal interaction with them.
The common pony wouldn't know why Celestia and Luna fought, other than Celestia's after-the-fact explanation. Even the few courtiers who have some regular interaction with the sisters wouldn't know much beyond the fact that Luna's been acting oddly and hasn't been getting along with Celestia. Maybe Celestia and Luna had a trusted adviser who was actually aware of everything that went on in private between the two of them. Maybe. Everypony else wouldn't be aware of their private life; that's why it's called a private life.
Just finished the final chapter and the epilogue, and I gotta tip my hat to you sir once again. Fantastic ending to the first part of "The Lunar Rebellion", and very intriguing indeed. Glad to see that blood was not shed in Shadow's departure, if only because it would've been terribly tragic for Clan Kicker to become bloodied before the war proper had even begun (though I'm sure plenty of tragedy is going to ensue in the next segment). Cyclone Kicker's shift was a bit sudden, I felt, but not entirely unreasonable; I suppose he simply had never considered until the final chapter that his daughter would remain loyal to Celestia no matter what. Once again, great job; hope you have a Happy New Year Chengar!!!
One final question: do you have a name chosen for the next segment of "The Lunar Rebellion"?
3711315
Yeah. The three books of Lunar Rebellion are "Gathering Shadows" "Rising Shadows" and "Ascendant Shadows"
Well, just read through the last five chapters today.
... I want the next book...
img.pandawhale.com/post-25067-And-Here-We-Go-Joker-gif-Imgur-x71M.gif
3706336 3706648 When a tree falls in a forest, you get three stories: your's, mine, and the tree's. Some see one thing, some see another. That is the beauty of point of view.
Odd how a snake fears other snakes And liberate the earth ponies my right eye. If these self concerned jack asses had won, their next job would have been to go after the unicorns over land grabs and the lions share of the "liberated" (read "slaves.").
Ha! Ciphers and fools, the lot! Made up of useful idiots and leeches! Not that the unicorns are any better, they're just more subtle. I used to question Celestia's actions in Maresidian... I've decided to amend that statement. She should have boiled the whole lot of them in their own clouds the second she got wind of this madness!
Hm. Well, despite my extraordinarily strong dislike of the protagonist as a person, even this version of herself which she chooses to present, I think that I shall favorite this story. The faults are wholly internal to the universe, and, much as I despair of the war's foregone conclusion, I would like to know more of what happened. I do hope that, one day, Shadow Kicker will be exposed for what she was, but that is sadly unlikely; I expect that her modern worshippers and descendants would be quick to defend her, and I wish no ill fate on them for being taken in.
Well, you know you've done good when I've set aside Game of Thrones to finish this. I don't know what you did, but you made the motivations of all characters on all sides perfectly believable, which makes watching their mistakes with the knowledge I have as a reader thoroughly frustrating, but not necessarily in a bad way.
I love the format the story is presented in as it allows for some very neat devices. Having Shadow switch to addressing her father as Cylone in the prose after that scene was a stroke of genius and really hit the old emotions hard. I can't help but wonder if when writing these memoirs, poor Shadow had to stop and take a break because the memories she was digging up are just too painful. :flutter cry:
Before I ramble too far I'm just going to say good job and I eagerly await the next arc/book!
is what I have to say to that.
Great story! It gripped me in and kept me reading. While it had long chapters they felt like a good length for them for the story. I am not necessarily a good reviewer, just saying I loved the story. :)
4085243
Yes
4085500
(Mashes refresh button repeatedly...)
4127637
I am about 8k words into the first chapter of Rising Shadows, for what that's worth.
4127898
Great! If this story makes it in to print too, I'm getting a few copies.
The votes are in Luna is best
PrincessCommander.Somehow I just knew that Swift Blade was going to be the one to suggest Luna as the figurehead of the rebellion.
He is one good manipulator. Smart enough to realize that pride isn't everything. He got beaten more than once by Shadow but he recovered.
Wouldn't surpise me if his goal was to bring back Nightmare Moon from the start.
Lookikg forward to how the rest of the ephorate eill react. Especially Bright, but also Cyclone.
Bright followd her own honour, and might even try to take on Nightmare Moon in single combat, ala Rainbow Dash. And I can't help but get the feeling that Cyclone had an ulterior motive he has yet to reveal.
Woo. Okay, so, I finished up most of the Freeport Venture stuff and Winning Pony side-stories, and in the course of all that, the amount of references to Lunar Rebellion and other ancient history that I kept stumbling over was becoming more and more noticeable. I'd previously tried to start this story and not gotten far into the first chapter, probably because I was tired and not in the mood at the time, but it seemed high time to push through and actually read all this. Despite my previous lack of enthusiasm, I really do like world-building and background history for fictional universes like these, so this really is right up my alley. Plus, as a fellow author of multiple stories set in a single universe, I know how important the long and bloody historical epic is to building the rest of the universe, and I knew I should probably finally get around to this before going any further.
So far, I've read the first third of the story, and it really has been an amazing journey. It's so very different to everything else I've ever read of the Winningverse, even the Freeport Venture stories, and I think it's impressive how much range this shows. I particularly enjoy the older, more archaic style of language present throughout the story, which really helps nail the feel of the setting, and the framing device of edited memoirs allowing for interesting asides in the footnotes (is Cloud the editor? I don't know, but I think so). But the plot itself has so many intriguing twists and turns too. Like, for example, I knew going in that there would be a rebellion, so I was constantly looking out for some reason for the pegasi to turn against Celestia, and I was sure that Shadow's execution of the griffon archduke would be it, but then Celestia was mostly totally fine with it. I also really like how slow the build-up has been. In a story all about something called the Lunar Rebellion, I did not expect going in that it would take us 160K words before pegasi either rebelled or aligned with Luna (who still hasn't even appeared yet). But I'm glad that the story took its time getting here, and really characterised the major players to show their reasons and motivations.
I'll also say it's been a while since I read Winning Pony, so not everything in that story about Shadow's history is fresh in my mind. However, what I do remember does leave me wondering about the future direction of the story. I know that Shadow came to be worshipped and deified centuries later, but I'm still wondering what on Earth she did to become such a legendary figure, besides the obvious, and where her super special enchanted armour came from. So far, I'm guessing that Sunbeam will make it for her. I also know that Clans Doo, Striker, and Charger are defunct in Equestria by the present time, aside from Ditzy Doo's family and the remnants in Freeport, but I don't remember ever hearing anything about the Blades at all, and I'm wondering if that's just because they were a smaller clan and less worth mentioning, or if something else happened to them, particularly since I highly suspect Swift Blade is a secret Nightmare Moon cultist. And I'm wondering about how and why Celestia became a princess instead of a queen after the tribes were finally united.
By the way, I love the inclusion of all these ancestor characters. Aside from the pegasi clans, I also really like the inclusion of Sunbeam and Midnight Sparkle, Apple Tree, and the references to House Lulamoon. Here's hoping to see an obvious ancestor to Blueblood once we get into the next book. Though, Daylight Shimmer is probably the most intriguing inclusion to me. I seem to recall Sunset in one of the Freeport stories saying that House Shimmer descended from Sunbeam Sparkle just like House Sparkle did, so seeing a Shimmer here as a separate, already established entity is curious. I wonder if Daylight Shimmer is Midnight's father? It would explain why Sunbeam didn't want him to duel. And there's the name similarity, of course.
Speaking of Sunbeam, I must confess I really didn't expect to see her in this story. I'd been hearing references to her all throughout the Freeport Venture series, but until now, I for some reason thought that she was just from Rise of the Phoenix Empress, and that she wouldn't appear in any stories in the mainline Winningverse. In hindsight, I suppose it should've been obvious that this would be the story she's from, but by the fact that there's a whole AU about her being a freaking alicorn princess, I just never imagined her in the role of side character. I'm very glad she's here, though. She makes a fantastic foil to Shadow Kicker, and every scene with her in it is entertaining. I really have to applaud the writing with her. She's even worse than Strumming Heartstrings, and yet, somehow, I like her more. Midnight is adorably creepy, too.
While we're talking about characters, I'll also say I really like Shadow Kicker as well. She's very different than Cloud or Sunset, much more... mature, for lack of a better word. I find it interesting that the story started later in her life, with her already in a position of seniority and power. It really adds something to the story, though it does make me wonder a lot about her history, such as her romance and adventures with that magus guy. Very tragic stuff with her father, as well. There's something bitterly ironic about the fact that she was so deeply outraged by someone daring to strike her father over a political argument that she sought to take her clan and leave Cloudsdale, only for her decision to spark a huge political argument with her father that resulted in her striking him.
Though, that reminds me, I still find the whole idea of Shadow's two fathers mystifying. Seriously, how does that work? I know the Magic of Love allows two mares to conceive in the Winningverse somehow, but how does that work for two stallions? Doesn't even magically assisted childbirth still require a womb? Magically created sperm is one thing, but a natural process that magically alters a stallion's entire biology so that they're no longer a stallion is a bit more than I can just accept without a fuller explanation. But so far as I know, no Winningverse story has yet answered this.
Which also makes me wonder if Shadow will ever have any biological children. I'm not sure, because Gale is already there, and the modern Kickers that Cloud hails from could very well descend from either her or any of the other numerous Kickers we see here. I would find that strange, though, if Shadow weren't actually an ancestor to any of the Kickers we know, just a very distant aunt or cousin, or an adoptive parent from a bloodline that none of them would share.
On a final note, that remark about Steel Striker's son setting all this into motion amused me. It reminded me of Game of Thrones, and how the War of the Five Kings basically started out with a child climbing up places he shouldn't have. It's funny how the actions of the smallest players seem to have the largest consequences sometimes.
Anyway, so far, I'm really liking this. Let's see what's up next.
Well, at least most of the Ephors are either against (or at least uneasy) with allying with warlocks and the like. Why do I have a horrible feeling that their morality won't last?
3693373
I was under the impression that this history was the Express appeal of such a tale