Dear Princess Celestia...
Twilight exhaled as she watched the sun sink over the horizon. Cleansing Day was over. Secretly she was a little relieved. Even though she could see the point of all of it, she wasn't quite sure she was okay with being called a bunch of racial slurs. Even less with being good at slinging them back. It seemed okay, but then she heard Rainbow and Fluttershy's perspective, and she was even less sure about what to think about the most unusual of Ponyville's holidays.
Twilight walked over to her desk and looked down and the stacks of parchment and the perfectly organized quills and ink. She ignited her horn and a single piece of parchment, a fresh quill, and a solitary inkwell slid to the middle of the desk. She dipped the tip of the quill in the ink and brought it to the paper.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I found out that Ponyville has a most unique holiday, if I can even call it that, that it celebrates once a year. Every year on this date, they eschew all social norms and choose to be as racist as they want. There are a few rules and regulations, but otherwise, all racial taboos are null and void.
I found out about Cleansing Day, as they call it, the hard way. I went to go talk to my friend Applejack and she called me, with some malice in her voice, a "stick head." I was, as you can imagine, shocked and hurt by her words. You know as well and I that that is not something frivolous to call a unicorn. Applejack promptly explained to me that today was a holiday called Cleansing Day, and that the purpose was to take the power away from racial slurs. Giggle at the Ghosties, as Pinkie Pie put it when I talked to her about it later. Once I understood what Cleansing Day was about, I started getting into it too.
Looking back, it disturbs me a little bit how easily I was able to keep up and spew racial slurs at the earth ponies that I interacted with. I didn't really have to think about it much. I even asked Pinkie Pie if I was a racist, and she told me that I was. To hear her say it, we're all a little bit racist on some level. What disturbed me the most was that I couldn't argue with her logic, even though she waved it away by saying that it was a benign form. It's more predisposition to the familiar than straight racism, right? I think that it's a little hard to say.
Then I heard the perspectives of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as to why they didn't want to participate in Cleansing Day. They had seen the nastier side of racism between the three pony tribes, and they couldn't condone it even for the reason that the rest of Ponyville did. That made me wonder if the ponies who were participating in Cleansing Day were being ignorant; that they meant well, but they were trivializing something that was really hurtful to other ponies.
So what did I learn in the end and what is my overall perspective on Cleansing Day? Well... I'm not sure. I don't know, is it possible to go through some event and not really learn anything to speak of? To be left with even more questions than you began? Because I think that's what happened to me. I think that what I got from learning about Cleansing Day is that sometimes some event is going to come by and you're going to use it to reflect on how you view the world and your actions and your place in it, and you're not going to have any idea of what you learned. You know you learned something, but you're not quite sure what.
So I guess what I'm saying, Princess Celestia, is that I'm sure that there is a definitive lesson that I can learn by finding out about state sponsored small town racism day, but after hearing everypony's conflicting opinions on it, for the first time in my life, I'm not sure what that is. I'm sure I can better myself by really deeply reflecting on what I can get out of today, but I'm not really sure how to go about that. It's a heavy topic, to be sure, but I'm not sure how to approach it.
Maybe, just maybe, I'll ignore it and think about it later. Maybe I'll reflect and figure out that I didn't really learn anything. Maybe there are some events so bizarre and conflicting that you can't learn anything from them. It seems too confusing for me to sort out right now. I thought that if I put quill to parchment and wrote out my thoughts that I'd have some epiphany and get some paradigm shift about race relations in modern Equestria and how I and my perception of race fits into the grand scheme of things, but I don't really have anything like that.
If you have any advice for how to deal with what I went through today, I'd love to hear it. You've been around for some of the worse moments in Pony history, so I know you've seen how bad ponies can get when they conflict racially. So who is right about Cleansing Day? Is anypony right? Is nopony right? Is either one possible?
There's a lesson to be taken from Cleansing Day. I'm just not sure what that lesson is. Maybe the lesson is that you aren't always going to know the lesson.
I guess I can always think about it more next year. For now, I'd say that I didn't learn anything concrete about myself or how I view the world.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
* * * *
Celestia put the letter down on her bedside table and gave an approving nod. Her student had learned nothing that she was aware of, and for the first time, she was okay with that on the whole. She learned that she didn't always need to learn a lesson. Learning that you didn't need to learn anything may have been a paradox, but she felt that Twilight had really developed by looking at an event that she didn't fully understand and not forcing a learning experience out of it.
Celestia smirked and picked up a book on Ponyville history with her magic. So, let's learn more about this Cleansing Day.
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well that was weird...............
what slur could you use on an alicorn? you can call them stick heads or anything, but ultimately theya re also earth ponies and pegasi at the same time. so no slur actually fits.
I want to show this fic to all the racist people of the world, and show them how silly it all is.
Great work.
3639890 "Fucking god-mode hackers."
That was an interesting conclusion.
I wonder how Celestia will respond?
the ending could use Celestia's reaction to Twilight's letter.
3639922 fortunately they ain't god mode. there aer no gods in mlp. if they were god mode, well, they could not be overpowered or hurt. so dat don work.
sounds more like a slur you would throw at discord though.
3639936>>3639937 I put a little bit about Celestia in. Nothing too extensive.
3639890
Actually, every slur could work. Just roll from one right to another.
I think the lesson that one should take from this is what Pinkie said that words only have the power that we give them, take it away and they mean nothing. Those are words everyone should live by.
It would be nice to hear what Celestia's advice for Twilight about Cleansing day would be or just about racism in general, though I feel that it would leave Twilight just as conflicted as she already is so that wouldn't be necessary.
3639984 And that's the big thing about Cleansing Day: everybody can take their own lesson from it. That's a big reason why I didn't give Twilight a solid lesson. Well, that and I think her bemused letter fit the tone of the fic pretty well.
3639890
None immediately come to mind, but maybe I'm just tired or too nice of a person.
3639901
"You made pastel ponies partake in painfully pretentious perversions of pandemian, panglossian paralogistic pandation of paronomasia predominantly produced through purpureal platitudinarian pantopragmatic paragnosia."
"What."
If I see the letter p again, I might be sick.
3639956 Depends on your meaning of 'god'. Gods in most ancient mythologies were not undefeatable. Look at the Greek or Roman mythos, which FIM derives a lot of its creatures from(Cerberus and Hydra). They were immortal, but only to aging. They could be hurt or killed, but were still extremely durable. They also had many negative personality traits, such as being selfish, vain, and lustful. They created problems for their own entertainment and toyed with the lives of mortals. The Judaic-Christian god is relatively unique in that he is seen as all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing.
With that in mind, I see Celestia, Luna, and Discord on the level of Greek gods. All three of them have lived for well over 1000 years, so they're immune to aging after a certain part of their maturity. They also make mistakes and are not infallible.
As of right now, I see Twilight and Cadence as demi-gods since they haven't been shown to be immune to aging.
Poor Twilight, she's so confused and I don't blame her.
"Then I heard the perspectives of Rainbow Dash ad Fluttershy as to why they didn't want to participate in Cleansing Day. "
Twilight is so confused that she misspelled the word "and" in her letter.
3640038 Fixed...
3639890 easy call them Mary Sue
3640079
I'm sure many feel the same way when I say: I'm just as conflicted as Twilight.
Hoo-boy, did you just hint Celestia is going to attend next year's Cleansing Day?
Well That was a great story over all, I feel that Twilight could have learned something as well because there are sure many moral lessons behind this story; however increasing her level of maturity taken to accept the absentse of a need of improvement and learning it's something that might be even more valuble. Doing that takes character. Personal character just may very well be more valuable than any understanding of social behavior and social norms.
Thank you for this wonderful story. I say it thought be somethings.
~Leonzilla
3640114 You know what this means, there now has to be a sequel next year with Celestia, Luna, and Discord all participating in Cleansing Day. Much lulz will be had. Bonus points if he includes a TDverse version, nopony would know how to insult the guy and he'd be dropping insults like an F bomb.
... Dangit Bronywriter now I need to see this.
Wait, Celestia has never heard of Cleansing Day?
I mean it makes sense that that's the reason why Twilight wouldn't but, how could Celestia not?
Holy crap, I've already started to nick pick stories, this is why i should never comment on things.
Awesome story. Many ideas, Much learning.
3640158 I'm sure she's heard about it, but never studied it in huge detail.
3640163
Fair enough.
3640147
It would be great to see the Princesses attempt to join in and have everyone complete fail at insulting them due to the fact that they were scared Celestia engages in a much advertised form of punishment.
Also Luna would be probably be amazing at insulting ponies due to the language she would be able to employ. Princess Luna, being racist and sounding awesome while doing so.
3640147
But this story was not about trolling or lulz, those were just a bonus.
I thought that the main idea of the story was to reflect on the controversial issue of verbal labels and their impact in our physiological perspective.
A sequel that has nothing else to add to the conflict would be bad for the integrity of the whole continuity of the story-line.
So....
A full 12 hours of racial remarks?
... Fuck that.
Signed,
My Personal Opinion.
3640174 Bingo.
Barnacles.
3640047 ohh... I thought that was on purpose...
3640241
Sorry, had to be done.
I liked it. Something both simple and entertaining. I actually liked the letter that Twilight sent to Celestia at the end as I think it sums up this story perfectly. While I'm happy with the little we got from Celestia at the very end there, I still would have been interested to see her in depth response to the whole thing. Ah well, can't get everything, eh? Loved it!
~Have a good one.
Wait until Ponyville's "Boot to the Head Day" comes around!
America should have a Cleansing Day. (and now the governments watching me:)
I don't want to make fun of other racist tho. I want to make fun of Religion and politics (Outside of the internet).
3640395 Oh dude, who says you need a holiday to do that?
Just find a dumbass with a sign that reads, "Evolution is a lie" and ask em about Pokemon.
3640557 DEMONS!
3639890
You could call them mix and match freak.
3640010
Problem is, how do you know the difference between Immortal (Say, gods) and Extremely Long Lived (Elves)
3639890
Chimera? Mix-&-Matchers? Pweddy Widdle Pwincess? Flag-hair?
3640097 True Alicorns are not Mary Sue,but this Is a racial slur, which is an insult about another race that play on invalid stereotypes. So a good stereotype for an Alicorn is she's little miss perfect that every pony just loves, and she's so powerful she can do no wrong or never lose. Now this works because I think that's how ponies think of the royal pony sisters before Twilight or possibly Cadence. but the stereotype will still be there to some. An example is that some in the brony fandom thinking they are more goddess then pony. Well mabe up until the royal wedding.
I think that is one of the mane reasons many got annoyed about twilight when she became an Alicorn. They thought of her as acending to god tier. So Mary Sue would be a decent slur because it is an insulting stereotype that is hurtful. That doesn't mean I believe they are Mary Sue, but it got you to send me the analysis video on Mary Sue to tell me what one is, that means that It is a decent racial slur. well to me at least 
.
Well another one that would be a good one is calling them a mule. Since a mule is a hybrid of a horse and donkey that rarely can reproduce, oh and rarity even called mules ugly. That one is pretty easy to see since they are hybrids and we haven't seen an official Alicorn child on the show so someone like Fluttershy's uncle would love that one that is a good stereotype and racial slur as well. Oh or a barren dream eating mule wow that could make Luna cry.
Dang I could've made this short by saying I was using it as a slur because I was saying what they are perceived as by a group,not what they are.
3640010
Well I agree with your statement for the most part.But I'd like to clarify something:
That's actually never fully agreed upon in the bible. You have verses that say one thing, and turn around and say it's not so. For instance.
Edit: No offense to anyone meant by this comment.
Knows and Sees Everything:
Pro:
Jeremiah 16:17 & 23:24. Says
and
Acts 1:24 Says:
Yet. Also in the bible says the opposite:
Genesis 18:20-21 Says
Meaning that he had to physically go and see. Rather than Omniprescense.
Deuteronomy 8:2 Says
He tested the Israelites to see whether they would do something or go astray.
So God will leave others, and would abandon others to test them so that he may know their hearts. Rather than be all knowing. And there are passage where others "left the presence" of god, or God left them, or God had to have others look into them. Which shows that he isn't all seeing. Yes, He could eventually know or see like any other diety or person by learning or going somewhere. But that knowledge isn't pre-set up.
_____________________________
All Loving:
Pro:
1 John 4:8 and 4:16 say:
and
But. God is also shown as not all loving. That there are those he hates. Now I'm avoiding the whole "hates the wicked". That's justifiable for convos sake.
Leviticus 20:23 says:
Malachi 1:3 and Romans 9:13
and
. Now Psalms 5:5 is a partially confusing verse. Since the Foolish aren't nescessarily wicked like the rest of the passage that the Abhramic Faiths God despises in verses 4 - 6. But there are those who are hated by that deity, and those whose very culture is hated by God. So not All Loving.
__________________________________
Then of course you have All Powerful:
Pro:
Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27 States, and Luke 18:27 basically say the same thing with very few variants:
But:
Judges 1:19
and
Mark 6:5
So yes ... Other than against Iron, and where he can't do great works. He does have alot of power as a deity.
________________________________________
But all in all like Deities in other religions. He's as flawed, and as diverse as other deities. There's plenty of atrocities in the old testement, or places where he just went ape 5h17. I do wonder what happened historically to the other Elohim [I know of the northern [YHWH [whose symbol was originally the Thunder Cloud and a God of Divine Judgement and Retribution.] whom Moses ran into.], and the southern [The Golden Calf, whom the Isreal Slaves of Egypt followed until Moses broke the tablets.]
But I agree Alicorns, and Discord are the Physical Gods of that place. And yeah a good racial term for Alicorns probably isn't done since they are the eternal leaders of Equestria and any racial slurs against them probably died out way before the founding of Equestria by the 3 tribes.
Loved this fic. I wonder if we'll see what Tia does once she reads up on that historical background for that holliday.
3639922 I wanna call an alicorn that....
3640174 True enough, but a comedy sequel does have quite a bit of potential. It would deviate quite a bit from the more reflective nature would be a downside, but as a pure comedy it could do well. Up to Bronywriter on whether or not he would want to take that leap.
3640557>>3640592>>3641128 This is really not the place for this kind of thing. This story is reflective about racism in Equestrian society, not comments that could lead to flame wars. Please take it somewhere else.
3641507
Sorry no flame war thingie was intended. Still I'm interested to see how Celestia deals with this if this has a later story someday. Thank you for writing this fic.
3640191
3641315 Which I won't. I wouldn't destroy the reflective tone of this one for some cheap laughs.
All in all, liked the story, the way you ended it was good, it felt... natural (I guess that works to describe it.)
3641128
Nice work; however I would like to elaborate further.
Humans have free will therefore god all knowledge ends with avoiding pre-conceptions on our actions.
Whether or not he is all powerful the question boils down to:
Is he incapable of acting the way he has done before; because he is incapable of ding differently due to some limitation of his or because acting differently wouldn’t be okay for some reason therefore he is incapable of doing anything that is truly not okay?
Either way we know that he would not change the way he acts therefore it’s something trivial and redundant to know whether he is all mighty in one way or other.
Anybody may believe one or the other, without ever being critical knowledge to any of us.(Although I still would like to know just cause).
I wish to interpret the not all loving part as a sign to the things that just aren’t ideal.
People tend to interpret that the thing that is hated is harmful to the whole and therefore must be gotten rid of, however it’s also believed that this things have a purpose that’s why they exist as I quote a common religious fragment ”God has a plan for everything”.
~Leonzilla
Edit:3641507
btw this comment is constructive discussion not something that's intended for a flame war.
and sorry, I didn't read your comment before I wrote this.
3641908
Bronywritter said that he doesn't want to have this convo on his story. So I'll PM you.