Questions and Answers

by mouse222

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Slice of Life
Length: 3068

Some deep questions are asked, and some (hopefully) well-thought answers are given by Princess Luna herself!

Different philosophical questions are resolved by our very own lovely Princess of the Night, Luna!

An ongoing project, basically, ask a question in the comments and Luna will respond with an essay briefly (or maybe not so briefly) answering the question!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-30 01:02:11 UTC

Existence

Why is it that night seems to be the best time for thinking? Is it because the cool, pale light from Luna’s moon spreads out eerily across the landscape, encasing hills and valleys in a sort of mystical glow? Or perhaps thought is helped by the catalyst of serenity, the chill quiet of chirps and wind.

Whatever the reason, I have always found night to be the time for reflection, a time for staring into still pools of water and wondering about the deeper questions, like our own existence.

This night is like many before it, the wind rustles through the window into my room, causing small insects to unsettle themselves and search for a new perch, only to be devoured by a swooping bat. Did those insects ever think about their death? Can insects even think? Or maybe they are trapped in this reality, bound to live their days as tiny flying dots in the night, until something ends their simple existence.

What are we to do then? If insects cannot think, but we can, where does that leave us? We can question our own reality, wondering continuously whether anything can be really real. Some ponies become so lost, so trapped in their own thoughts that they might as well not even be doing the one thing that is most definitely real, living.

Because we know, without a doubt, that we are alive. How else could anything happen? Questions of whether or not this is real only come about because we have the life force within us, because we live. If we did not live, then how could we question our own existence? In some way, then, the fundamental question of all philosophy is whether or not we should live, because deciding to live means that all other questions can be thought through. Questions, for example, like whether or not this reality is the "true" reality (what is meant by the "truth" will be discussed in a latter essay.). This question carries long philosophical foundations, from the days of Ancient Mareece, about the fundamental nature of reality and whether this world is just the shadow of a perfect, ideal, world or if we can trust our senses. This question of trust is exemplified by solipsism, wherein the central argument revolves around the trusting of our own hooves.

This is the first, and last, argument against solipsism: We, as ponies of a living nature, cannot disprove or prove that we are in fact not in a reality separate from ourselves, that is, that this reality is real. The argument saying that this reality is not real falls flat when such a proposition is questioned with the burden of proof. After all, how can one prove that we do not exist. Clearly I can touch my own legs with my own hooves, is that not proof of existence?

But ah! the solipsistic philosopher would point out that one’s senses may deceive, that this could all be a simulation, a “brain-in-the-vat” scenario in which we ponies are encased in a giant tank with naught but our minds being kept alive. How do you disprove this, because what if we cannot trust our senses?

Thus solipsism is neither provable nor refutable, but merely exists.

And maybe that is what we ponies find ourselves in, a case of merely existing for no other reason but to exist. Perhaps the reason why Celestia is an alicorn is simply because. But this is circular, and hardly “good” philosophical reasoning. So the question as to our existence needs to be answered through study: continued acquisition of knowledge of ourselves and the universe.

Take one situation, however. I, Luna, was trapped on the moon for a thousand years, and my sister took hold of my duties and performed both, all the while suffering in silence. But while I was trapped on the moon, ponies eventually forgot my history, they practically forgot about me.

Did I exist then?

Certainly to my sister I did, every night she would look up at my prison solemnly, and bow her head in guilt. But did any other pony in the age leading to my return as Nightmare Moon know of my existence? To me, they did not know of my existence. As proof, Twilight Sparkle had to “discover” me from an old prophecy, but had she never read that book, I would have never existed until that fateful night.

This is true about so many ponies in history, the ones who are never recorded.

Starswirl the Bearded is well known, but are his parents? IF his parents are not recorded, then can they be said to exist?

The answer to that would easily be, “they existed because Starswirl exists”, but what if Starswirl simply came to be through the power of Celestia? Then that statement would be false, obviously, and Starswirl’s parents would not exist. Thus, any pony not recorded and learned about from the past exists in a state of both nonexistence and existence until some proof as to their existence is found.

To summarize: Solipsism is neither refutable, nor provable, but still exists as a mode of thought. Our existence can be neither proven nor disproved, but we can take our own existence to be real simply because we live, and thus have some form of life force that gives us existence. But this lasts only for the present, and unless recorded by somepony else, or remembered by somepony else, we fade into a state of both nonexistence and existence.

Q.E.D

The door creaked open to reveal Princess Celestia.

“Hey Luna.”

Princess Luna set her quill down with her magic and turned towards her sister, “Celestia! You’re just in time to look over something.”

The next thirty minutes were spent examining the essay Luna had just written, Celestia turned her head towards Luna.

"So... What is this?"

Well, I recently started reading some books when I had the idea to put down my thoughts on paper. But then I thought, ' why don't I send this out to the newspapers and do a running section'! So I did, just now. Oh I hope somepony responds!"

"Wait, so your plan is to have ponies ask questions and then answer them? Isn't that kind of mundane? What if they're just boring questions like 'What toothpaste do you use?'"

"Well I'll answer those too, along with the hopefully really deep and philosophical ones. Oh 'Tia, it'll be so much fun!

"I hope so Luna, I really hope so."

Emotion and Purpose

To say how I was, those precious four years ago, requires first understanding my emotions leading up to the debacle of my own demise. I was sad, yes, but I was also angry. There is more to the story of how I became Nightmare Moon, and some questions about what that even means.

First, I was both angry and depressed. There is no reasonable way to separate the two for me, because anger and depression are so inextricably linked. An angry mother may stay so for a while, but do they not feel any other emotion besides anger? What if underlying that anger is a deep sadness? In my case, I was angry at the innocent ponies who slept during my night, but this in turn led to my own depression.

I wouldn’t want anypony to spend one-thousand years isolated on a moon.

Now this anger, and depression, can be justified, but only outside the realm of justification. Counterintuitive, but also necessary to understand that emotions take place outside of our own logic and sensibility, that is, a form of “common sense”. Emotions are the antithesis to logic, fear can make all reason wash away, but some emotions can be used to propel a rational cause.

If Celestia wanted to pass a bill through the nobles, she would first analyze their logic, how they think about the bill. But after this, she would analyze their emotions, how they feel about the bill, to gauge how much passion or neutrality she must use when describing it. If the nobles are already wanting to pass the bill, then no new emotion need be introduced to the situation. But this talk about using emotion borders on communication theory, and I would direct you to Twilight Sparkle for that.

So if emotion is taken outside the realm of logical justification, then there is no rational way to justify emotions. My anger and depression were irrational and destructive and nearly led to an eternal night for all of Equestria, this is not a very reasonable thing to do, at least given my morals. But having emotions is justified because, like our own existence, they merely are.

Psychology, and all the ponies that study it, has shown that a dual-process theory operates in we ponies when we process our emotions. We observe the event, which causes emotions to rise, but then we think about the event, which causes emotions to rise. Cognition and reflex meet at the intersecting point of the complicated area of emotion, and hopefully someday we ponies can fully understand the process behind emotion, but until then I have given my explanation behind Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon, that situation is an interesting transition into a brief about purpose and our own place in this universe.

When I was Luna, before Nightmare Moon, my purpose was given to my by rather arbitrary means. Certainly, anypony would love to live as a princess, but being a princess or any kind of royalty leads to some loss in your own self-determination. As royalty, you are expected to be leaders of the ponies how put their trust in you. As royalty, your purpose is given by those ponies when you serve them, but this means that you give up determining your own purpose.

A unicorn from Canterlot  can decide how they want to live their life, even if that lifestyle is impractical, it is still the choice of the unicorn. However, we ponies have an interesting condition to our definition of purpose: cutie marks. These mythical markings are to tell us what our special talent is, but do they take into account what our interests are? Normally a pony has some interest in the cutie mark given to them, but what if a pony did not? What if a pony was given a “wrong” cutie mark, or no cutie mark at all? Wouldn’t this be a harsh prison to find oneself in, not having any given purpose in life? No! It is not a prison, but rather a whole new, unique opportunity to turn your cutie mark into whatever you want.

So our purpose comes from our cutie marks, and failing that it comes from our activities, but how does a cutie mark come along? Unfortunately, I can only make observations that cutie marks come with time and patience. For example, three fillies in Ponyville are currently trying to obtain their cutie marks through trying different activities. While this may be just a way to spend time with each other, it is also a unique way to try and find their special talent. If a pony’s cutie mark comes from doing activities that interest them, and that they have a basic talent for, then trying different activities is a viable option, as opposed to just waiting for time and the universe to tell them their special talent. This would be the best example of purpose, either finding it through patience and time, or seizing life and discovering your own talent.

But what if a pony rejected their cutie mark? What if a pony decided that they would not live within the chain of a tattoo on their flank? The most obvious consequence would be social alienation, as pony society currently places much emphasis and prestige on having a cutie mark and adhering to that special talent. If a pony rejected that mark, then they would be free to live their own life, but the practical cost would be great, and the danger of not having another talent is ever lurking.

But then again, what if a pony trained themselves and found a new talent?This would not only be self-determination, but also a great show of personal strength and will. This pony would find their own purpose, in a way they would create it from the environment, and would hopefully live to that purpose. Or maybe the pony that rejected their cutie mark would live life with no purpose at all! Insated, they would derive their purpose simply from living.

To finish, I was asked if my philosophy can be traced to Descartes. In a way, all philosophy can be traced back to a point, but each philosophy is wholly a pony’s own philosophy. My personal thoughts can come from a number of places, but I do have a few ponies to whom I reach for inspiration. Descartes is not one of them, though he may have influenced the philosophers who I look up to: Russell, Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Schopenhauer.

I will not reference books directly through my writing, but I can allude to them, and if I do so I will make sure to tell what book and what author it is. No footnotes for the present time, but that could change in the future.

To summarize: Emotions are not justifiable within the confines of rational thought, but can only be found in the realm of the irrational. I was not justified in my anger and depression by reasonable means, but those emotions came to be nevertheless, and I must still deal with them. Our purpose is found either from our own actions, or from the universe giving it to us, either way our cutie marks tell us what our special talent is.

Q.E.D.

Luna barged into Celestia’s room, “‘Tia, ‘Tia, Celestia, come quick!”

“Ehrmehrmeh, what is it Lulu?”

“I’ve been asked my first questions, oh they’re really good ones too!” Luna was jumping around Celestia’s bed, gleefully laughing as her hooves shook the floor.

“Luna! Stop bouncing!”

Luna stopped, “Oh I can’t wait for the next set of questions, it will be so much fun!”

Celestia rolled onto her side, away from Luna’s beaming face, and tried to fall back asleep.

On Defense

The Lunar Guards are one of the most revered and mysterious fighting units in all of Equestria. And as my own personal guard, the responsibilities carried by these brave ponies is something that can barely be described in words, though I can try. But to first answer the question of how many guards I have, the answer is dynamic, as I have to explain something unique about the Lunar Guard.

The Lunar Guard are not a static force, they do not operate in one place, and for only one purpose. No, rather, they are a strike team, frontline attack force, last line of defense, support brigade, intelligence collective, and patrol platoon. At any given time, the Lunar Guard are spread across Equestria in a number of roles, doing a number of tasks, all of which help keep Equestria safe.

This would be surprising, because the common perception of the Lunar Guard is that they are my personal guard, and nothing more. Now, I cannot blame ponies for thinking this, as I have never allowed commoners to be privy to this information, but I think that if all were made aware of the Lunar Guard’s duties, maybe the few ponies who are paranoid of the guard may change their minds.

So as to the number of Lunar Guards, the answer is many and few, and no real number exists in any sort of paper form. Rather, the Captain of the Guard holds the total number in his or her own mind. Though this is inefficient and dangerous, it ensures that no pony can steal the information without facing the Captain. (Something which should most definitely not be taken lightly.)

As to how one would become a Lunar Guard, the answer is possibly even more complex than the first.

All Lunar Guards are a special kind of pony called the vespertilionis equus, more commonly referred to as “bat ponies”. These special ponies are made, not born, from the fusion of my own personal magic and the natural magic of the pony. In this way, it does not matter the race of the pony, whether unicorn or pegasus, because by this infusion the fundamental nature of their being is changed. The core of their magic is morphed into a new form, and so does the pony's body become something altogether different. Thus, they are a new breed, and not a new race, because the essence of their being is changed.

This distinction is important, because by understanding that their entire being is changed leads to understanding that the process is not without pain. In fact, it takes three years of observing a candidate in order to know whether they could survive the process. Once the candidate is deemed able, they are put through a rigorous physical and mental aptitude test involving incredible feats of strength and will. Even after the candidate passes this, if they do, the pony is sent into a direct interview with the Captain. Then, finally, the pony is made aware of the process and what it will mean, and only if they choose to accept will the pony pass on to the ritual.

Lunar Guards live longer than any other pony, besides Alicorns, and have increased abilities overall. So that while the process to becoming a Lunar Guard is fraught with peril and pain, the outcome is a pony that stands above regular equines, in a breed all of their own.

Luna sighed. Her bath was going quite well, and all of the toils of night court washed away into the sudsy tub. It had been a risk to tell such knowledge of the Lunar Guard, but even if somepony wanted to abuse it, the very thing that they have learned about would end any action.

The Lunar Guard somewhat scared Luna. In battle they were as ferocious and dangerous as her, and even outside of the lines of war they could be terrifying. Luna shuddered, the bath was getting cold, and she knew that they would never betray her, but the mixture of cold water and repressed memories were a toxic combination.