Ascend Deleted Scene #6 · 8:02am Dec 23rd, 2012
A Christmas present, in the form of a short deleted scene from Chapter Ten.
Deciding on a section, Twilight flipped to “Succession and Future” and started reading.
'One of the things which worries constitutional scholars the most is the fact that, under Article Six of Equestria's Constitution, only an alicorn may rule the country. With Princess Celestia being the only current alicorn, if something were to happen to her, it could trigger a crisis that would be unresolvable and would lead to civil unrest and disorder.
'These concerns nearly came to fruition in 704 when, upon returning from her ninth Centennial Vacation, Princess Celestia was nearly killed by Lord Regent Hill Burrow. Regent Burrow had gone insane when he took possession of the Archmage's Amulet in an attempt to usurp the Arcane Magic Council's control over the sun while the Princess was on vacation.
'After the Lord Regent had been incapacitated, Princess Celestia was rushed to Canterlot General Hospital where she underwent medical treatment. Thanks to both her own healing magic and the medical treatment she received, Princess Celestia was able to make a full recovery.
'The uncertainty and fear that the Princess's stay in the hospital caused underlined the concerns that were had regarding Equestria's future. Despite this, the Princess has never been concerned about the lack of another alicorn, although she has yet to say why.
I really wanted to keep this, primarily because it was going to set things up for the sequel, but found that every additional tidbit I added, would only confuse the reader (why is the Arcane Magic Council in control of the sun? What's this “Centennial Vacation”?) and force me to do a lengthy, boring explanation now, instead of simply explaining things in a timely and sensible manner in the sequel.
Eh, those seem pretty obvious to me (Centennial Vacation is just what is sounds like, and the AMC is in control because Celestia's on vacation.) The real question is, 704 years since what, and why did she start taking vacations?
Reminded me of the time when Regan got shot (and following panic over control), is this deliberate?
641005
Nope.
Really? Seems pretty self explanatory. Celestia gets one holiday a Century hence 'Centennial Vacation' and the Council are the ponies who take over her Stellar duties so she can have it.
>>(why is the Arcane Magic Council in control of the sun? What's this “Centennial Vacation”?)
I didn't ask these questions. It seemed well enough implied in the context of the scene.
At a guess, I think most writers use year 0 for when Celestia loses Luna (or Luna loses Celestia in certain alternate universes); as such, the series starts in the year 1000. More explanation than given in Chrono Trigger, at least.
Personally, the Centennial Vacation and the Arcane Magic Council make sense given the info there. And it's rather obvious that she survived the coup attempt. 'Oh, that was the year I was assassinated, Twilight.' 'Um, Princess ... ' 'Oh, right.'
641032
Ah, but then Celestia's second vacation is 4 years after Luna's exile, which is weird; she'd most likely take time off immediately, or else wait until everything was cleaned up from the giant battle, which would take more than four years.
Also, isn't that dating system a little cruel to Luna?
"Welcome back, sister! Oh, we decided that your little tantrum was important enough to renumber the years; now you'll be reminded of how you screwed up every time anypony mentions the date!"
"Hmph. May we not at least start anew, now that I have returned?"
"Nope! It's gonna be 'Celestia's Reign, Year Whatever' for quite a while!"
641032
Plot twist: Celestia is a zombie. Her makeup technician is the real hero of the show.
There should not be deleted scenes in writing. There just shouldn't be. Since what you first wrote brought up broken questions, rewrite it so that it makes sense.
I didn't give a second thought to any of those subjects, as it's quite easy for me to come up with explanations that I suspect are at least partly correct, or in the right ballpark.
But then that's just how I am. Every fanfic I end up reading, I'm also analyzing the plot and details to try and figure things out before it's actually revealed, and critiquing how solidly it's been written, which on average is usually pretty good...otherwise I wouldn't be reading it, so the simple fact I'm reading it at all should speak highly of the fanfic as is, in a semi-egotistical sense.
puts a card in with explain all now please, if you don't mid that is*
Damn crazy nobility! They always seem to stir up trouble.
I think you could have left that in. Getting unexplained backstory snippets is all part of worldbuilding. I mean, Tolkien-fans must have been royally confused by Sam's mentioning "Beren" and "the Great Jewel" in <i>The Two Towers</i> when it was was first published, some thirty years before <i>The Silmarillion</i> was published. But the tale of Beren and Luthien isn't important in its details, it's important that Sam knows ancient Middle Earth history, and that he recalls stories that are darker and scarier than the one he's in.