The Only Chapter
Copyright © 2012. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro. The cover image is owned by grayma1k.
Version 2.0
The statistics end now.
A sister, ignored and bitter.
An evil released.
Nine hours of useless negotiating.
Thirty-five hours of night.
My greatest failure.
Six Elements, lost due to the relationship broken.
A majestic capital, wiped out.
Six thousand, nine hundred and seventy-three square acres of land rendered inhospitable due to the damage from my failure.
One hundred and seven thousand, thirty-five citizens displaced.
One hundred and ten gallons, two quarts, three pints, and five ounces of tears shed over your loss.
Five thousand, four hundred and seventy-one questions asked about the new features on the moon.
Five thousand, four hundred and sixty-eight teary eyed answers.
Fifteen psychologists seen to try and stop the guilt I feel.
One hundred and six mirrors broken in anguish.
Three suicides attempted in despair.
Eleven million, five hundred thousand, twenty citizens saved from starvation.
Thirty-one billion, five hundred and fifty-six million, nine hundred and ninety-five thousand, two hundred seconds without your smiling face.
Fourteen thousand, thirty-six Night Guardstallians relieved of duty for lack of a leader.
Fourteen thousand, thirty-six citizens unable to believe you betrayed them.
Thirty-nine years, seven months, one week, and six days of unrest followed my failure to save you.
Seven wars fought excluding your help.
Five invasions repelled.
Two civil wars won.
Six million, one hundred and forty thousand and five lives lost.
Five hundred and twenty-five million, nine hundred and forty-nine thousand, nine hundred and twenty minutes in between conversations.
Three hundred and forty-four thousand words invented since you left me—fifty-seven relating to “grief”.
Fifty-one Chancellors who tried to comfort me.
Four thousand, seven hundred and twelve addresses to Parliament with only an empty chair next to me.
Four hundred and eighty-eight thousand, nine hundred and fifty-seven acts signed into law excluding your signature.
Seventy-seven thousand, seven hundred and seventy-three laws repealed minus your discretion.
One thousand, seven hundred and two days spent reshaping Equestria into a monarchy.
Thirteen Ministries reorganized without your input.
One hundred and eighteen thousand, nine hundred and eighty-one nobles suffered through alone.
Twelve thousand and five textbooks written blotting you out.
Sixty-one thousand, five hundred and twenty-five documents classified about you.
Eight million, seven hundred and sixty-five thousand, eight hundred and thirty-two hours without the love you brought me.
One heart torn.
Nine million, seven hundred and eighty-two thousand, one hundred and six criminals were convicted precluding your judgment.
One million and three sentenced to jail time or temporary banishment.
One million and two's sentences lasted less then one hundred years.
One hundred and one thousand, nine hundred and thirty-one High Court rulings in your absence.
Three hundred and sixty-five thousand, two hundred and forty-three failed attempts at recreating your perfect night.
Nine thousand, three hundred and eighty four hours spent appreciating your night as I always should have.
One hundred and fourteen million, four hundred and sixty-six thousand, three hundred and fifty-eight bits spent on astronomy programs.
Three thousand, one hundred and seventy-one hours of encouraging ponies to enjoy the night.
Six thousand, eight hundred and four laws passed to ease restrictions on nighttime activities.
Two thousand, five hundred and ninety-nine businesses open twenty-four seven.
Four hundred and thirty-two million, one hundred and sixty-five thousand, three hundred and one citizens enjoying your night.
Fifty-two thousand, one hundred and seventy-seven and a half weeks of doubt about my failure to save you.
Three hundred and eight million, one hundred and six bits spent trying to find a way to return you home.
Two desperate attempts to use Dark Magic to rescue you.
Three hundred and fifty five deaths as a result.
Fifteen years, five months, and two days spent trying to atone.
Two hundred and thirty-eight thousand, eight hundred and thirty-eight miles of vacuum that prevented me from comforting you.
One hundred and eighty-three thousand, two hundred and four alcoholic drinks consumed to numb the pain.
Thirteen thousand, two hundred and eighty-four hours of radio listened to, trying to forget your screams of hurt and betrayal.
One million, seven hundred and one books read attempting to fill the void of entertainment and joy you left in me.
Six million, eight hundred and fifteen thousand, two hundred and fifty-one calories consumed trying to fill the emptiness you left.
One million, one hundred and ten thousand, two hundred and thirty-nine meals eaten alone.
Six hundred and nineteen sleepless nights thinking about you.
Seven thousand, five hundred and sixty-two dreams about my greatest failure.
Three hundred and sixty-four thousand, one hundred and nine Day Court sessions to think about what could have happened.
Ninety-one Faithful Students who have tried to replace you.
Twelve thousand months spent worrying the public because of my sadness.
Thirty thousand, three hundred and eighteen concerned citizens seeking to help me.
Sixty-one thousand two hundred and ninety-seven gifts received, trying to cheer me up.
One blue stuffed alicorn which I stained with my tears.
One hundred and sixteen years, four months, two weeks, and three days of apathy.
One thousand, four hundred and thirty-three monuments to my failure to save you were built.
Eleven thousand two hundred and eight settlements established while you were gone.
Five billion, one hundred and seventy-one million, three hundred and twenty-five bits invested in infrastructure.
A Fifty-one percent expansion of Equestria since my failure.
Three hundred and four years of peace between the nations.
Three billion, one hundred and eighty-nine million, two hundred and fourteen thousand and one deaths since I lost you.
Nine hundred and eighty-two years waiting for somepony to be able to save you.
Two hundred and fourteen documents signed to place the Festival in Ponyville.
One student who had potential.
Four hours, thirty-three minutes and eight seconds of night eternal.
Five friends, who were willing to help.
Four hours, twenty-seven minutes, twelve seconds for them to reach the site of my greatest failure.
Six Elements—lost no longer.
Eight point six terajoules of magical energy released.
My greatest failure: rectified.
An evil destroyed.
Ten point two seconds to raise the sun on a glorious new era.
Thirty seconds to reunite with you.
One thousand years of regret: redeemed.
An eternity of joy regained.
The End
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Silver Cloud · 4k words · 1,096 29 · 16k views
- Bad Horse · 4.1k words · 1,749 28 · 28k views
- Cyanide · 1k words · 1,347 51 · 14k views
- LittleAngelStocking · 1.3k words · 1,658 49 · 21k views
- GhostOfHeraclitus · 1.7k words · 1,557 30 · 17k views
- device heretic · 3.2k words · 1,622 53 · 19k views
- device heretic · 5.6k words · 2,485 62 · 35k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.192 seconds
Total duration
1,003 users online
270,731 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Authors Notes: AKA "The Padding Story". The cover image provided the inspiration for this story.
praise jesus, you made numbers interesting
This is one of the most unique piece of writing that I have ever read. Very fine work, keep on writing.
Pretty unique way to tell a long story in a short way
My face is leaking. Brilliant, I say. Also coincides with my headcanon!
I like my numbers.
This story has numbers.
I like this story.
Definitely an interesting way to show this kind of story. I liked it.
My response, good sir.
It's very great story, and reminds me one story of great sci-fi writer Lem... But I lost name of this novel.
Anyway, great way of showing thousand years of Celestia's pain.
(And it gave slightly robotic, GLADoS-like feeling)
You forgot:
Six thousand, nine hundred and seventy-three acres of forest permanently made uninhabitable due to the magical backlash of our last battle.
Great fanfic!
Sometimes the best stories are the simplest ones. You have done a superb job writing this... words can't really describe what I think. Thank you for sharing this.
Celestia's Paladin
Beautiful. I'll see you on the featured section, hopefully.
1187384 Ditto.
Great fanfic, but I also think you should have mentioned the Everfree Forest there. Fave'd.
dear internet:
go ahead. try and call Celestia a troll. make a bananas joke. I freaking dare you.
this was amazing. it's difficult for a mortal mind to comprehend just how long a thousand years is, but this certainly gives us a basic idea. good grief.
I'm curious how much research and calculations went into making these stats realistic? Off the top of my head, I've got no idea how many laws are passed each year, or how many criminals are convicted, etc... you really must've gone full Twilight with this. I commend you.
GOOD stuff!! emotional range =
1187384
1187995
In hindsight, I really should have added something about the Everfree Forest but I was too worried about padding the story out to 1,000 (I never want to have to write out numbers again) words for it to even cross my mind. Yes, I see the irony.
1187943
Thank you for reading it.
1188217
The hardest part was trying to figure out how many leap days are in a 1,000 years (I calculated 143) due to all the rules (every 4 years except for years divisible by 100 and that rule is excepted for years divisible by 400). Everything else was educated guesses (i.e. "How many seconds in between conversations?" 60x60x24x365,243=31,556,995,200. Leap seconds were not included because I said "screw it".)
1188595
But WOULD there be leap years in Equestria? Remember that there, the sun goes around the planet, so 1 year could be exactly 365.00 days, not 365.23 days as there is here.
Another fanfic theorizes that their planet does indeed rotate, but at a rate of 1 revolution every 365 days, allowing for the seasonal tilt and the rotating of constellations.
God. This fic is amazingly simple, yet it says what need to be said.
It's nice and unique.
Amazing.
This...this is genius with numbers static3.fjcdn.com/comments/fluttershy%2Bapproves%2B_e2d69148151b74cbdd07b72835f1cac4.png
1188740
For all we know, one Equestrian year could be 500 days long; it's Like Reality, Unless Noted.
I remember when there was a rule stating that stuff uploaded here had to be stories. Guess they missed one.
Truly awesome. I love stories about the fall of Luna tha6 focus on Celestia's guilt and shame. WAY too many Tyrant-lestia who write it being a cold, harsh thing she did. Imagine having to banish your own sister to 1,000 years of solitary confinement because you failed to see the signs. Heartbreaking in the best ways.
Another like for thee.
Oh noes, I see some rumblings about the numbers. Lemme grab some popcorn and watch.
Very rarely does a story grip me enough to have to read it out loud. Congratulations for making such an amazing story.
I am amazed how you combined the cold, hard numbers with the swirling emotions, bringing those numbers to life. Looking at it, I can see that the smallest of things can create the greatest of difference, right towards the end. Top marks!
>"Six million, eight hundred and fifteen thousand, two hundred and fifty-one calories consumed trying to fill the emptiness you left."
and
>"One million, one hundred and ten thousand, two hundred and thirty-nine meals eaten alone."
That's just over 6 calories per meal
>"Four million, seven hundred and eighty-three thousand, two hundred and four alcoholic drinks consumed to numb the pain."
That's about 13 per day
Interesting take and format!
1189643
The calorie number isn't how many calories she's eaten overall, it's how many she's eaten while depressed over Luna. (Like how people eat ice cream when they're sad.)
As for the second one, um, oops
. (I'm surprised you didn't notice how many sessions of Parliament she's attended.) Looks like revisions will be in store (and I can add that little bit on the Everfree Forest too).
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Redheart_smile.png
I haven't felt this involved by an Excel spreadsheet about ponies since I read the Best Pony Survey at Bronycon.
The juxtaposition between the cold, calculated facts and Celestia's personal inputs regarding the data was oddly effective. As you read line by line, top to bottom, you really understood how much grief she went over, having calculated such an exhaustive list, each marked by her emotional input. Yet the very end, the change of tone and rhythm as she is redeemed, was very powerful. It was different, but moving all the same.
Just have to ask: other than the scientifically-specified values, how ever did you come up with all those numbers?
1190021
As lame as it sounds, I simply guessed. Some of them I used math on (i.e. "How many meals had she eaten" 365,243x3 and then I added or subtracted a few to make it seem more realistic [how often do you really eat three times a day?]) while others (like the "hours of radio listened to") I guessed based on generally how long radio would have been around for (say a 100 years) then converted that into hours (876,000) then grabbed a small, random number (13,284). Other times, my guessing failed miserably (as Bulbasaur pointed out above.).
I don't know why I did it but I read this story immeadiately after reading I Miss You, and while listeneing to Viva La Vida on repeat.
Saddest thing I've ever done.
And I'm not including any emoticons because they cannot even come close to portraying the sadness I feel.
These two lines...
Combined with Viva La Vida...
And Reading "I Miss You" beforehand...
My feelings are going to be locked on "Sad" for hours.
Excuse me. I need to go and let some of those feelings out.
Good story, by the way.
That was when I ruled the world...
Is it wrong to want to hug a magical pony princess and say that everything is going to be okay to her?
Being immortal sucks if your alone. Though I would wonder how she could even attempt to kill herself.
It's a new way of looking at things, I'll give you that.
that was beautiful. if i knew how, i would post the picture of sweetie staring into the bright light.
1188986
These statistics painted a pretty vivid story about all that happened in the thousand years of Luna's Banishment.
It just approached it in an very unconventional fashion.
Have a good day, sir
1189687 earned you a fav on this.
author: *takes most boring thing to people and writes a story that puts a real perspective on life"
if you think about it.
A great concept and near-perfectly executed.
What a great story, but now I have a strong urge of doing math.
Also, I have a question. I might be wrong here. When you wrote:
"One million and three sentenced to jail time or temporary banishment.
One million and two's sentences lasted less then one hundred years."
Was the one sentence supposed to be Discord?
1190610
The one sentence was Luna.
Wait, so where exactly is the story in all this?
Quick, somepony put the "I'm still alive" sung by GLADoS!
Saw the title, Intstantly reminded me of this quote.
"One death is a tragedy, A million is a statistic"
>>xTSGx Oh. I thought you were talking about after Luna's banishment. It makes sense now. Thanks.
1182647
Are you sure all your figures add up? Some of them seem a bit large.
1190664 Churchill.
1190646
This is Princess Celestia recounting the loss of her sister, things that happened in between, the prep work she did to regain her, and their reunion.
I saw this in the featured box and wanted to make that old joke: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Then I read it.
You have acquired a like.
A new and interesting take on things!
1190710 Yep, Though it sometimes is credited to Josef Stalin