• Member Since 14th Feb, 2012
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Chris


Author, former Royal Canterlot Library curator, and the (retired) reviewer at One Man's Pony Ramblings.

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Source

On one day each year, Celestia and Luna turn control of the sun and moon over to a group of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria. Twilight is finally old enough to take part.

But she can't.

*****

Winner of the Princesses Not Included Writeoff event. Thank you to all of the participants for both your support and your help in bringing this to its current form.

Cover art courtesy of the wonderfully talented CosmicUnicorn.

Now available in Spanish, courtesy of SPANIARD KIWI.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 23 )
Wanderer D
Moderator

Poor Twilight. :fluttercry:

Poor Twilight, it's a shame that she can't join in this event. :fluttercry:

Loved this in the Writeoff, love it now. Twilight never dreamt of her ascension, but that doesn't mean she never dreamt. Those wings come with more baggage than just a title and a crown. Still, you made it work without tipping into maudlin bathos. Thank you for bringing this to Fimfiction.

This is great. It was a really original type of story. Loved it!

screw it, shes gonna go do her OWN circular whatchamit with blackjack.....

i mwan it really isnt like she cant ask celestia for practice for the same reason

Nice bonding moment, and one more step in Twilight accepting how she isn't just a normal unicorn anymore.

I’m finally old enough to take part in the solunus circulum! and now, even though I’m perfectly qualified, I can’t.

Should And be capitalized, following punctuation?

was more just a fairytale setting.

more than just

“That doesn’t make it feel any better, does it.”

Should this end with a question mark?

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Sorry to make you sad, identical Fluttershys! :fluttercry:

7556833
I'm really glad this doesn't feel maudlin. Thanks for the comment!

7556864

Thank you!

7556879

Well, I'm sure that Celestia would let her practice with the sun if she wanted to... but then, "getting to practice with the sun" was never the real problem, was it?

7556907

Ninja-edited! Though the period on that last one was intentional; although it's phrased like a question, Celestia isn't really asking Twilight, and I felt her inflection would be better indicated with the period. Thanks for the fixes, and I'm glad you enjoyed!

loved it till

Twilight nodded. “I know. It makes sense to exclude me, really. It would be silly to let me take part.”

the feel of the conversation kinda just ends.

to me, you have twilights motivation down pat, but when celestia responds it just... meh.

i cant imagine knowing a life long wish was out of reach because of responsibility.

still get an up vote tho.

(Reads. Enjoys. Notices something missing.) Ahem. Guess what I'm going to submit to Horizon's Never The Final Word compilation? :scootangel:


Ten minutes later in the light of the new dawn, a single unicorn left the small group still discussing the ritual down in the bailey and vanished into the castle. Far above, Princess Twilight Sparkle watched, still respectfully silent next to the temporarily unemployed Sun and Moon. It was a moment she had dreaded far more than the ritual itself, and there was no way to prevent it other than flying away into the bright sky and leaving the inevitable confrontation to Celestia and Luna, who undoubtedly had faced far more embarrassing moments.

As the tapping of new shoes on ancient granite flooring neared behind her, Twilight turned to greet the young unicorn headed her way. She was far too young for this to have been more than her first circulum, and the bright and cheerful smile filling every single bit of her face indicated just how happy she was to have participated, or as Twilight's sinking heart realized from the tiny golden sun clipped to the unicorn's cape, to have been selected to lead the ceremony this morning. She stopped a respectful distance away from the three alicorns and bowed with practiced grace before speaking.

"This is such an honor, Your Highnesses. Thank you." Her grin became even larger. "With particular thanks to you, Princess Sparkle."

A response was warranted, and although Twilight waited for either of the elder alicorns to make it, they both remained stalwartly silent, with Celestia even prodding Twilight with the tip of one wing and just the faintest sly smile. Finally, Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath and said the words she had been dreading.

"You're welcome, Trixie."

The law is all about technicalities; she should take part in the next one. :rainbowlaugh:

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And guess what Horizon's adding to Never The Final Word right now? :twilightsmile:

Edit: Now live in the anthology.

This is a really interesting idea. Aside from the story itself, which was good, I thoroughly approve of the disaster recovery planning at the core of this tradition. Great world building.

You always capture those small personal tragedies or hang ups so well.
And I agree with FanofMostEverything

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It's definitely not maudlin.

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And it adds just that perfect bite to the end of the story that makes the sad go straight into a sensible chuckle, too.

I reviewed this story as part of Read It Now Reviews #97.

My review can be found here.

I am, as ever, miles behind -- so here at last is your fave! I said elsewhere that I found this "quietly heartbreaking", and I still think that sums up my experience pretty well.

Hmmm, not really 'sad', Twilight understood the logic here, her regrets were mostly those of old ideas and dreams that she logically knows she doesn't need. It would be nice to take part, but she gets why and isn't being melodramatic or overreacting. Maybe a tad melancholic, but not really 'sad' to me. Still an interesting idea that makes a lot of sense, making sure things have a way to keep going if the Princesses fall. Granted doesn't explain the odd sky in Princess Twilight.....

Still an interesting little idea, and does well to show how mature Twilight really is.... barring her freak outs.

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

N'awh. :C

Can I just take a moment to note my appreciation of the phrase "hooves-on astronomy"? Because I really like it.

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Yeah. And they can even let it be the same event. Nothing said you couldn't take on additional days to cover additional contingencies - just that you had to have 24 hours of no alicorns.

Of course, not so easy - maybe the other mages involved aren't so eager to just keep going since it apparently involves some sort of permanent draining (though in canon introduced since this story was published)

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