Line #36 Fanfic/AllTheWayBack


1	A ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction written by [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Jordan179 Jordan179]], this chronicles the recovery of Princess Luna's sanity and adaptation to modern Equestria, as she tries to do good to make up for her past sins. Available [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/157357/all-the-way-back here]]. Started in 2014, and as yet incomplete.
2	----
3	!!Contains examples of
4	* AGodIAmNot: Luna discovers to her horror that the Night Pegasi -- a race that she herself modified from normal Pegasi long ago to be her most loyal retainers -- have come to worship her both as their Creator and as TheSacredDarkness. This makes her ashamed -- not because she considers the Night Pegasi unworthy followers, but because she considers ''herself'' undeserving of such adulation, considering that she made a FaceHeelTurn and then abandoned them for her thousand years of exile. This is despite the fact that she is, in point of fact, a {{Physical God}}dess.
5	* TheAtoner: One of Princess Luna's main motivations. Not only did she rebel against her sister, but she did great damage to Celestia's plans to unify all Earth under Equestrian rule. She wants to make it up to her sister, and to all Equestria.
6	* BigBad: The [[DarkIsEvil Night]] [[LivingShadow Shadows]], [[StarfishAliens aliens]] from a [[EarthThatUsedToBeBetter dying Cosmos]], who [[FaceHeelTurn corrupted]] and [[DemonicPossession possessed]] Princess Luna in the first place, and who seem to be [[TheManBehindTheMan behind]] many of the threats now appearing at an unusual rate to beset Equestria.
7	* BizarreAlienSenses: Luna can generate and receive signal returns from electromagnetic radar, gravitic radar, and sub-spatial signals. It is implied that her sister Celestia has at least the first and last ability as well.
8	* BloodKnight: Luna has definite tendencies of this sort: she's ''happy'' to learn of a dragon invasion, because it means that she can make herself useful to Equestria as the War Princess. It snaps her out of her initial depression after her return.
9	* BreathWeapon: Dragons have these. Two examples encountered:
10	** Fischfootur spits lava from his throat.
11	** Blue Blaze casts lightning from his mouth.
12	%%* CoolCar: The Midnight Chariot.%%Quotes aren't acceptable context.
13	%%-->It had been based loosely upon the chariot the Viprallan warlord Tirek rode to his defeat at Midnight Castle, some six thousand years ago. As a young filly, Luna had seen pictures of that chariot, pictures taken soon after its capture and preserved for millennia by the magics of the Rainbow. It was made of black titanium steel, a long lean four-wheeled vehicle, with a sleek dagger-like nose Luna had modeled on the supersonic jet fighters Moondreamer remembered from the Age of Wonders; two millennia after the defeat of Tirek, twin vaguely draconian tail-fins springing from over the rear axle, inspired by some of the more extreme and impractical motorcars she remembered from a bit earlier in that same general period. Some essentially-unnecessary spikes rising from the rear body, which looked as if she might choose to impale heads upon them, but which she generally used for flags, completed the exterior appearance. It was drawn by two Night Guards, attached by metal chains as if they were dangerous beasts liable to tear apart spectators if not kept well-restrained. The whole was done in glossy black, with a green cat's-eye symbol on the front.
14	* DarkSecret: Luna is unhappy to discover that Prince Blueblood is probably [[spoiler:her own direct descendant]]. She despises Blueblood, so she does not want this generally known.
15	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Within a minute of defeating Fischfootur, Luna is addressing him as "dear foe" and complimenting him on his tactical fighting style. Within a few more minutes, Fischfootur voluntarily shows her his hoard (a very friendly gesture among his kind). Within an hour, they are kicking it back and chatting like old friends, trading gifts. He even gets romantic advice from Luna regarding his crush on an Earth Pony.
16	* DreamWalker: As in canon, Luna has this power. One important stage in her recovery comes when she starts again patrolling the dreams of the Equestrians.
17	* TheDungAges: Luna is well aware that the Time of Thrones was this, compared to modern Equestria. She's happy to see the ponies become so healthy, peaceful and prosperous. She often misses many things about the past, though.
18	* DyingTown: Dounika used to be a thriving community of refugees from the Crystal Empire. Now the town of Dunnich, many of its shops are boarded up and it is slowly drying up, because it was bypassed by the railroad.
19	* EmotionEater: Neither ''needs'' to do this, but both Celestia and Luna can draw strength from the love of others. This is interesting, considering that this is canonically a ''Changeling'' power, and the explanation in-story is that the Alicorns have the powers of every kind of ''Pony''! What does this imply about the history of the Changelings?
20	* EvilFormerFriend: It is revealed that Prince Crimson Quartz was this to Princess Luna over a thousand years ago. Crimson Quartz was the Pony who became King Sombra.
21	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Crystal Empire, to the UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire. Made obvious because Dunnich was founded by Crystal-Imperial refugees, and it's old name "Dounika" is very obviously Greek. Luna also uses the "-os" masculine ending in referring to King Sombra in her own thoughts, calling him "Sombros," which is probably the actual reign-name.
22	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Luna, in modern Equestria. It makes her feel very alienated, sometimes.
23	-->'''Luna''': I am ... lost ... in this time.
24	* GoodBadGirl: Luna attempts this at her nadir of depression and loneliness. She fails completely: she has ''one'' affair with a Night Pegasus which never gets beyond some stolen kisses and having [[SecurityCling someone to hold]] when the bad dreams come. In the end she winds up thinking of him more as a friend: she sets him up with a Night Pegasus mare and becomes his loyal patroness. Luna later reflects that she enjoyed doing him a good turn much more than she would have enjoyed taking advantage of him.
25	** More directly, Luna suspects Lieutenant Summer Lightning to be nymphomaniac through Lone Madness, but finds her to be a brave and loyal officer in the Rangers, and decides that she wants to have her seconded to the Night Guard.
26	-->That gave her far greater joy than could have any conceivable debauchery. And besides, she had always found debauchery rather repulsive, especially as a way of life for royalty.
27	* GoodOldWays: Luna comes off as this to most modern Equestrians. This is ironic, as in her day she was a social and technological revolutionary.
28	* GunboatDiplomacy: Luna's basic approach when asked to be diplomatic to those attempting to intimidate Equestria. (And by the way, ''Celestia'' wrote the script, she just knows how ''good'' her sister is in this sort of role).
29	-->"INTRUDING DRAGON!" she cried out in the Royal Canterlot Voice, full volume, as her chariot descended. "KNOW THAT WE ARE PRINCESS LUNA SELENE NOCTIS, PRINCESS OF THE MOON, AND HIGH LADY OF WAR OF THE REALM OF EQUESTRIA, WITHIN WHOSE BORDERS THOU TRESPASSETH! WE DEMANDETH THAT THOU IMMEDIATELY VACATEST OUR REALM, TAKING WITH THYSELF THY HOARD COMPLETE ..." that was a very important point, and phrasing it as part of a demand made it sound less conciliatory. "...ON PAIN OF OTHERWISE BEING CONSIDERED TO HAVE DECLARED PERSONAL WAR AGAINST OUR REALM, AND BEING TREATED BY US AS OUR ENEMY!"
30	* HoldYourHippogriffs: The phrase "lying doggo" is explained as originating from the fact that Diamond Dogs dwell underground and use stealth to avoid more powerful beings.
31	* InterspeciesRomance: Fischfootur (a young male Lava Dragon) and Meatpacker (an Earth Pony mare). Fischfootur is not sure if Meatpacker romantically reciprocates, but the two are definitely friends.
32	* LadyOfWar: Princess Luna, in fact and ''explicitly'' in one of her titles. Her main role in the past was to be the iron fist in Celestia's velvet glove, and she wants to be this again.
33	* TheLostLenore: Dusk Skyshine, the husband of her earlier incarnation as Moondreamer. Dusk was Luna's OneTrueLove. Now reincarnated as Twilight Sparkle, who knows nothing of all this.
34	* LovingAShadow: What Luna ''may'' be feeling for Twilight Sparkle, loving her as the reincarnation of Dusk Skyshine, rather than the pony she truly is now. Luna's somewhat aware of this possibility, too.
35	* {{Lust}}: The obvious flaw of Ranger Lieutenant Summer Lightning. This is a common manifestation in Pegasi who go Lone Mad. Luna doesn't reciprocate the sexual attraction, but winds up liking Lt. Lightning anyway.
36	* MayflyDecemberRomance: Most of Luna's loves, whether romantic or friendly, amount to this because she is immortal and normal Ponies are not. This bothers her a lot.
37	* AMotherToHerMen: Luna is like this toward the Ponies under her command, being very careful of their lives in battle. This is in part because she tends to find most of her friends from among her comrades.
38	* MultiMeleeMaster: Luna is an expert at using a wide variety of close-in weapons, including some which are foreign or have gone out of style. She relies mostly on her magic for ranged fighting.
39	* NonIdleRich: Luna is happy to discover that at least some of the old aristocracy and gentry still serve Equestria loyally; they have not all become {{UpperClassTwit}}s.
40	* OneManIndustrialRevolution: Now that Equestria has attained an Industrial-Era level of technology, Princess Luna wants to push it farther and faster -- even faster than does her sister Princess Celestia. Especially where aerospace and weapons technology is concerned.
41	* PetTheDog: Her mostly-chaste relationship with the young Night Guardsman illustrates Luna's basically-benevolent nature, even when in the depths of depression and emotional need.
42	* PhotographicMemory: A standard Alicorn ability in this fanon. Luna uses it, among other things, to aid her mapping and navigation skills when rescuing [[spoiler:Trixie]] from the Lightning Dragon.
43	* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Fischfootur wants to be respected as a warrior, which is why he challenges Princess Luna to a duel. Luckily for him, Luna is a merciful victor.
44	* RecurringDreams: Luna is tormented by terrifying dreams of the Night Shadows. What makes this worse is that she can't control the dreams, which is unusual for a DreamWalker such as herself. She sometimes wakes up screaming or actualy falls out of bed. She can't always remember them clearly, which frustrates her as she suspects they contain vital clues about the nature and capabilities of the Shadows.
45	* ShapeShifting: Celestia and Luna both have this power.
46	* ShoutOut:
47	** One of Luna's dreams is in part based on ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''.
48	** Dunnich is named after Creator/HPLovecraft's fictional town from "Literature/TheDunwichHorror".
49	** The strange fluffy pony was inspired by Blog/AskFlufflePuff. We know from Fanfic/AnExtendedPerformance that there are more of them, and they are called the Daughters of Paradise.
50	** The subplot with Luna seducing but not really taking advantage of a young Night Guardspony, then setting him up with one of her hoofmaidens, is taken straight from Georg's tales of Pumpernickel and Laminia.
51	* StrongerWithAge: Luna explicitly points out to the dragon Fischfootur that he will get stronger as he gets older, so that he should pick his fights carefully so that he ''lives'' to get older.`
52	* SuperIntelligence: Like all Alicorns, Luna is super-intelligent. She uses this for several purposes in-story, including integrating her PhotographicMemory and XRayVision to map out an underground cave complex.
53	* TooImportantToWalk: Luna can fly or ''teleport'', but she prefers to ride her Midnight Chariot. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that she wants to arrive at a possible fight as fresh as possible. Unless, of course, Luna is simply being hedonistic (both Luna and her sister have been known to wallow in luxury just because they can).
54	-->Not much point in riding to possible war in an uncomfortable chariot: that might reduce my battle-prowess, which would be bad for the Realm.
55	* TownWithADarkSecret: Dunnich, which is [[spoiler:the home of the Paradise Cult]]. Luna manages to miss this despite having meta-pony senses and actually ''meeting'' one of the Daughters of Paradise. To give the Princess her due, she was kind of distracted by a dragon hunt at the time.
56	* TravelCool: Luna's Midnight Chariot. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], in that Princess Luna is explicitly aware of the value of making the proper impression in any negotiation.
57	-->The Midnight Chariot was very diplomatic. Back in the day, some pony lords had been so terrified by the mere appearance of the Midnight Chariot, which implied that its owner tortured puppies and ate foals for dessert, that they surrendered the moment she rode it into the scene. One can't get much more diplomatic than that, Luna reasoned, with some satisfaction.
58	* UpperClassTwit: Luna is saddened to see how decayed has become much of Equestria's aristocracy. Prince Blueblood is her prime example.
59	* UsedToBeASweetKid: One of the old now-dead friends Luna misses is Prince Crimson Quartz of the Crystal Empire. His reign-name? ''Sombros''. This is the pony who became [[EvilOverlord King]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Sombra]]
60	* WingedUnicorn: Like all Alicorns (and Pegasi) Luna has wings. Unlike most winged Ponies, Luna fully understands the physics of her own powers and is hence capable of supersonic and even hypersonic flight.
61	-->Supersonic flight was beyond the capability of most Pegasi. It took both raw power, and fine control over one's flightfield. One's wings were important only as paramagnetic radiators, to generate the thruster fields which stood in the place of engines; any attempt to flap would have resulted in tumbling out of control. One steered by warping one's flightfield. It helped that Luna had been Moondreamer, who had designed supersonic and hypersonic aircraft -- though Moondreamer had never expected to in a future life be one.
62	* WarriorPrincess: All the Princesses, as they are both [[PhysicalGod meta-ponies]] and the [[GodInHumanForm Avatars]] of ''immensely more'' powerful Cosmic beings. Their duties are explicitly guarding their realm from invaders and maintaining its internal peace.
63	* XRayVision: Luna can use her graviton generation powers to density-scan a mountain and map its cavern systems.
64	* YeOldeNuclearSilo: An ancient ICBM base provides access from the main cavern system to the lair of Blue Blaze.

Context Fanfic / AllTheWayBack