Eureka!

As I've delved more and into My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on the insistence of friends and the research for the fanfiction I had completed a while back, I've come to like a few elements more. One of these elements is none other than Princess Luna. (What's a nocturnal fellow like me not to like?) Honestly, I just find her far more interesting than Celestia and since then, she's become the recent addition to the small list of MLP characters I like. (Most are meh and some I hate. No offense to anyone.)

That said, I was anonymously asked over FIMFiction.Net, where Jake insisted I should publish the fanfic, if I would join something called the "New Lunar Republic". My first thought was if it was some Luna-centric take on the New California Republic (NCR) from Fallout: New Vegas, the faction I loyally side with. (Mr. House and Yes Man can go to hell and I hate Caesar's Legion with a digital trigger-finger passion.) Following that, I had the mental image of Luna dressed up in the uniform and hat of NCR's own General Lee Oliver. I decided to put that idea on the backburner as I looked into this New Lunar Republic business.

And my MS Paint instincts took over, beginning yet another Fallout crossover pic (but considering that I've seen snippets of Fallout: Equestria anyway). As usual, it took forever to handle the proper outline and details of face, eyes, snout, and so on. With this idea, I just wanted to combine the two respective Republics into one package. (Not to imply that Celestia or her "Solar Empire" are anything like Caesar's Legion, but I sure as hell don't see Luna acting on behalf of Legate Lanius.)

Six hours later, I finished the work with the respective touches to Oliver's uniform to suit Luna as both an NCR and NLR head, using the NLR logo that came up the most in my Google Images search. The piece is named after the final mission in New Vegas on the side of NCR, which I felt was fitting for NLR purposes as well. And rest assured, while Luna would share Oliver's determination and (presumably, as I've seen SEVERAL takes on the NLR in my research) many of his ideals, she would not be burdened by that man's strategic incompetence.

Alas, finding or creating a decent caption to capture the essence of both the NLR and the NCR in one go was difficult. While the NLR featured a couple Latin slogans, it would clash with the NCR half considering the extensive use of the language by Caesar’s Legion that the NCR opposes. So I finally just settled with “For the Republic”-quick, to the point, and approaching both factions.

Luna © Lauren Faust, Hasbro, and The Hub
General Lee Oliver and the New California Republic © Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda Softworks
New Lunar Republic © The fans involved with that project

Note: I'm actually not a member of The New Lunar Republic. I just like Luna and play along sometimes.