Two Sisters' War (Working title) · 7:09am Jun 25th, 2015
Two Sisters’ War – Prologue
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The moonlight danced across the well-polished floor, moonbeams lancing in out of the night sky and bouncing up onto the opposite walls, bathing the Canterlot Royal Palace in an eerie, if markedly beautiful milky-white glow. Twilight Sparkle watched the shadow she cast cross the mirror-polished tiles, a figure four times her size walking in-step with her down the solemn hallway, her only companion on the midnight walk.
She was alone that evening, though her destination would see her in the company of someone she held dear. A smile crossed her lips as she levitated a small dossier out of her saddlebags, going over notes and schedules and questions she had for her friend and mentor.
After a moderate walk through the quiet castle, Twilight finally approached a hefty set of doors, wreathed by pegasus guards armed to the teeth – literally. Twilight dropped to her haunches and rose her forelegs, smiling at the formality.
“State your business.” One of the foremost peagsi growled, leveling the gleaming point of his spear at Twilight’s throat.
“I have a midnight meeting with Princess Celestia.” Twilight rolled her eyes patronizingly. “Come on, Fleetwind, you know I meet her every night at this time.”
“Passcode.” The pegasi growled, not relenting an inch. Twilight harrumphed and mulled through an algorithm in her mind, one designed to randomize a pass phrase on any given day.
“It’s Corona Dawn today.”
“Alright.” The spears were lowered, and all four guards relaxed back into an attentive state, their eyes sliding off of Twilight and back out to the windows and corners, the dark places between pillars and stands of armor. Twilight rolled her eyes again and moved for the door, flicking the uptight pegasus by the name of Fleetwind with her tail.
“You all should take it easy now and then. You’ll start getting grey hairs in your mane by twenty-five.”
“You can never be too careful.” Fleetwind muttered cryptically, his wary gaze passing over the shadow cast by a nearby suit of armor. Idly, Twilight wondered how many times he had checked that spot in the past ten minutes alone. Probably close to a dozen.
“Well, you keep an eye on those spooky shadows for us.” Twilight’s horn leapt to life as she grasped the sturdy double doors leading into Celestia’s private office. Immediately, the scent of vanilla and lavender washed over her, cutting straight through her sense and triggering a nostalgic, comfortable reaction that, quite frankly, she craved more than anything. Twilight left the superstitious guards behind and slipped into the office, taking a moment to relish the warmth and comfort that she felt whenever she found herself in this room.
This had been the room she’d spent much of her foalhood in. Studying, reading, practicing, training… The warm marble tile beneath her hooves had been her bed, playground, grindstone, and office space on more than one occasion. Hundreds of candles lit the room, hanging in scones from the walls, dangling in special holders from the ceiling, dripping wax onto well-worn tables laden with books and scrolls in a myriad of subjects… In a way, the outside world had no sway in this room. In here, it was always daytime.
“Good evening, Princess Celestia.” Twilight bubbled cheerily, forcing her way past the nostalgic memories to greet the Princess. “How are you tonight?”
“As fine as any of us ever can be, Twilight.” Celestia sat with her back turned to Twilight, the golden glow of her horn turning the desk she sat before into a bright beacon of knowledge and tranquility. Twilight watched Celestia’s back for a long while, a faint smile playing across her lips as the princess’ mane wafted around her head, revealing faint peeks of her strong, white neck beneath. Her wings were tucked, her tail drifting across the floor like a pastel-colored mist.
“Still unable to sleep?” Twilight asked, her tone changing to something a little more somber.
“I haven’t slept for almost a millennia…” Celestia sighed, and Twilight watched a quill appear from before her, dipping into an open ink bottle before returning to whatever it was before the princess that sat out-of-sight. She was likely drafting a letter, or perhaps a memo of sorts. But it wasn’t the quiet scratch of the quill on parchment that drew Twilight’s attention as much as it was the somber admittance to a thousand years of sleepless nights. “… and I don’t plan on sleeping any time soon.”
“Not for lack of trying, I would hope?”
At that, Twilight finally got a faint chuckle. Celestia turned her head, a smile curling the very corner of her mouth upwards.
“Certainly not. Give me a minute more, would you? I hadn’t expected you this early.”
“Take all the time you need.” Twilight shook her head warmly, turning towards her usual table, still sporting an open tome of ancient knowledge she had tasked herself with translating. “I’ll make a little more headway on Starswirl’s work, and review our schedule for this evening.”
“About that.” Celestia turned her head back to the parchment before her, just as the scratching returned in force. “We’re altering out usual evening activities. I have a different plan tonight, and I hope you’ll forgive me the dalliance.”
“Oh. Uuh… okay.” Twilight felt the mood shift immediately, almost as if a dark cloud had scudded across the surface of the sun. A chill passed over her spine, and Twilight turned towards her desk with a distracted mind. Celestia’s somber shift in mood and the mention of an entire evening cancelled in favor of something else entirely took place of the ancient runes and hidden knowledge just waiting to be deciphered. Twilight stared at the book before her, but it might as well have been some alien language that she hadn’t been working on obsessively the past year or so.
“Ahem.” Celestia cleared her throat, drawing Twilight’s attention from the book. “I hope you’ll forgive me, Twilight. I know how you like to adhere to your schedules.”
“Well normally, I’d hold it against you for the evening.” Twilight let a faint smile curl her lips. “But I think I can let it slide just this once.” She nodded to the parchment Celestia was rolling, just as the princess slipped a silk ribbon around it to secure the whole thing. “What’s that for?”
“Oh, this? Nothing much…” Celestia waved the scroll side-to-side playfully. “Just Dusk Glimmer’s resignation.”
“What?!” Twilight’s jaw dropped. “The Chief Seneschal is retiring?!”
“Indeed he is.” Celestia chuckled, setting the scroll aside. Her horn glowed marginally brighter, bringing something else entirely to the fore. Twilight gasped as the sash and badge of the Chief Seneschal, the pony in charge of many major domestic issues in Canterlot, levitated out before her.
“You have been my student and personal aide for six years now, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia hovered the sash forward, just within hoof’s reach of Twilight. “I can think of no better pony to help run the affairs of Canterlot.”
The princess’ golden glow fled from the sash of office, dropping it right into Twilight’s awestruck hooves. She blinked at the fine golden filigree, the soft satin so smooth it felt like water across her coat. And in the middle of the sash sat a gleaming metallic badge, forged from the brightest, most pure gold and silver in Canterlot, polished to a mirror finish. The crest sported a spear and a sword crossed over a shield, wreathed with a sprig of baby’s breath and a shoot of nightshade, all of it overlaid on a sunburst and crescent moon.
The sigil of Canterlot, and of the Royal Pony Sisters.
“Celestia, I-“
“There’s a certain ceremony to be observed with this position,” Celestia cut Twilight off curtly, though her official tone was laced with a hint of playfulness. “Firstly, you must decide whether or not you’re going to accept.”
“I- yes! Of course! I accept!” Twilight bubbled, tears of joy and elation welling up behind her eyes. She could feel her chest tighten, the anxiety of the moment washing over her in a wave. She had been Celestia’s student for years, and had fully expected to remain her aide until a very, very old age. There were a hundred other ponies in Canterlot that had been serving Celestia in their own ways for much, much longer than she had been. To have this massive undertaking sprung upon her so suddenly was shocking to say the least.
Nevertheless, as Twilight pulled the sash over her head and stepped through it, the weight of the gleaming badge on her breast felt… right. It was a heavy burden to bear, but Twilight could feel the responsibility settle across her back like the weight of her saddlebags. It felt like pure, unbridled potential.
“Very good.” Celestia nodded her approval, dipping her head into a slight bow. Twilight dropped her head immediately, returning the gracious gesture with a full-body bow of her own. When she rose, Celestia’s eyes danced with what she could only assume was glee. She knew for a fact that Celestia was fiercely proud of her, and the prospect of working so closely together was making Twilight giddy with excitement. What Celestia was feeling had to mirror herself, even if only marginally.
“Now for the second part; of many, I’m afraid.” Celestia turned towards the nearby book case, her horn glowing once more. Twilight had spent years in this office with her mentor, and only very seldom had been privy to the books on that shelf. It was enchanted with powerful magic, so that only Celestia herself could read any one of the mysterious tomes stored there. As far as Twilight knew, they were books of a relatively personal nature to the princess; ones that she had had direct input in creating, be they ancient and powerful books of spells, historical events, or even elusive prophecies.
“I’ve shared this much with every Chief Seneschal, from Dusk Glimmer all the way back to the very first, Crimson Dawn.” Celestia pulled a thick book from the middle shelf, blowing a soft breath over it to rid it of some of the oppressive dust. Twilight watched with wide-eyed wonder as Celestia coaxed her over to the main office desk, opening the book to the very beginning.
“I think it’s about time,” Celestia said quietly. Twilight spared her mentor a glance, and despite the joyous occasion of her promotion, the princess seemed melancholy in that moment. Gone was the glee in her eyes, replaced instead by a morose cloud of grey. Twilight felt her heart throb in her chest, feeling immensely for the apparent hurt in the immortal ruler’s eyes.
“That you learned what really happened between Luna and I.”
The above is the work-in-progress prologue for my newest story, "Two Sisters' War." (Working title) Inspired heavily by the 'Lullaby for a Princess' animatic, I was struck with a brand-new idea, and will work my hardest to flesh this story out as best as I possibly can. For those of you who were along for the ride Moonstone gave us, you'll be proud to know that Grand Moff Pony is once again on-board for another epic tale.
This time around, I'm focused on building an AU Canterlot with much emphasis on the conflict between Celestia and Luna. Despite the myriad of works out there (not to mention the MASSIVE amount of New Lunar Republic stories) we really don't have an outlet in Canon that ACTUALLY tells us what happened. Well, okay we do, but it's shitty so... yeah Will this be a New Lunar Republic story? Well, I don't know what sort of fanon-established basis there is for NLR stories, so I'm going to go ahead and say no. Will there be a two-faction conflict? Yeah. Hell yeah. You bet your sweet candy ass there will be. I've never read any NLR stories, so I'm praying that there isn't some sort of precedent for writing Celestia/Luna conflict stories (Much like there's a whole established canon for, say, Fallout: Equestria.)
I'm losing track of myself.
*Ahem*
New story soon.
GMP's on board.
Eer, teen-rated, probably. Some dark tones and mild violence. Focusing on personal drama and political intrigue.
Oh, and we're looking at multiple parts, or 'books,' ranging in length from about 75k-150k per. We'll see.
Oh and I'll be updating other stories as well, chiefly Fallen Apples and Broken Chords, as well as Midwinter's Night Lucid Dream.
The Archmage sequels are kind of on the backburner; still trying to figure out what the ever-loving FUCK I even want to do with them.
GMP's going out-of-town here in a few days, and won't be back until the first full week in July. I'll be waiting on him to edit this prologue, and I'll likely have the first chapter or two in the pipe as well. I've got a break at work; a site that I can actually write at like I did back when I was updating Archmage and A Different Kind of Love. Furthermore, I've managed to pick up full-time work and I'll have 3 days off a week, so with luck I'll start writing regularly again.
So, yeah...
Get hype?
((I'm tagging Archmage for the similar tone and writing style this story will share with my most popular work. Much like Archmage, this story will focus on the inner workings of Canterlot, and building an Alternate Universe completely different from that of the show. Unlike Archmage, however, there will be no sexual themes or explicit descriptions. There may be a wayward reference or two, but sex and romance are not the focus.))
Anticipation Engine activated!
I am excite!
That's a few projects you have going there. Anyway, I promise I will read and wish you good luck.
hmm... interesting. i am excited, although i will return later. i just finished archmage yesterday, stayed up late to do so, and well... i think i need a break from your style for a bit. not in a bad way, but in a too much of a good thing way.
Hype train coming through!! :D
img07.deviantart.net/2662/i/2015/066/6/9/all_aboard_the_hype_train____sfm__by_theevafreak-d8kuewi.png
Sounds interesting, just don't use the NLR thing anywhere, please, a republic does not have a de facto leader unless it's of the Kim Jong-un/Hugo Chavez/Fidel Castro type, they are all monarchies pretending to be democracies, and even they don't call themselves the Republic of Dave.
NLR stories - the mane six are the bad guys ... luna is in charge ... thats basicly it ... i was very disappointed when i joined a group and thought "wonder what" ...
good that your story isn't going to be NLR
Ohhh good start! So in this did twilight never go to ponyville?? Or is this before she left for ponyville? i know it's AU but i'm trying to place it time waise in my head. It sounds like she's ben working as an aid for a while now...
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We're thinking a mild adjustment is in order. Twilight is a little older than in the show, and never went to Ponyville, meaning this prologue will be a year or so before the return of NMM, but Twilight will have had enough time to develop into a competent mage of considerable power.
Furthermore, this is the prologue, but is set close to one thousand years in the future; the actual story will take place before NMM's banishment to the moon, and will focus on the conflict between Celestia and Luna leading up to that decisive fight and the usage of the Elements of Harmony.
Not trying to be rude, seriously, but please don't. I completely understand wanting as many people to see it as possible, seeing as how Archmage has at least double the follower count than yourself, but it's relatively annoying to those of us (or at least me) that are simply following your story and nothing else. The followers of your individual stories follow the stories for updates on those stories, and the people following you, specifically, are following you for more stories or blog posts or whatever else they may follow you for. They can overlap, as I'm almost 100% certain that the majority of those following you are also following at least one of your stories, but it really isn't cool to assume that those following your story are 100% interested in reading more than what they already have in the list.
I personally haven't delved yet into the NLR stories, though I have had plans to do so in time, that being said this premise thats been presented is different, and that's one way to grab my attention
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Then move on. I tagged Archmage because I felt the readerbase for it would be interested in the premise of this story. Considering the two will share much in the way of tone and worldbuilding, an argument could be made that this new story very well WOULD be Archmage, with only a slight variance here and there.
If you sincerely, honestly, truly don't care for a tale that's as good as a carbon copy of the tagged material, then why have you even favorited the original story? I've posted numerous blogs in the past about topics unrelated to Archmage without a peep from you or any other offended party; so why the sudden malcontent?
Furthermore, it's my story and my blog. If I wanted to, I could tag Archmage in every blog in the past and future, and no one short of a moderator could say otherwise.
I'll re-affirm myself:
If you don't care for stories that are bound to be remarkably similar to Archmage, why even favorite Archmage in the first place?
At the very least, this blog should garnish nothing more than a passing glance from one such as yourself.
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Because Archmage had stuff that interested me. This does not mean that I like the story, because I have not gotten around to reading it yet (yours isn't the only story on the site, just an fyi), but only that I have it set to read at some point.
Because I don't check every blog post, nor do I wish to. I just got tired of seeing constant blog posts all over the place about stuff that have nothing to do with it and decided to let you know that it was annoying.
Then I'll just have to report any improperly tagged blog from now on. I was just trying to be nice and let you know that it was, and why it was, annoying.
It would have if it had been one oddity, but it wasn't.
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1. Then you're misuing the favorite system. If you hadn't read it yet, it seems that Archmage would be better served on your 'read later' list. Especially considering the story has been completed for well over a year (approaching two, if memory serves.)
2. I do hope you've been leaving similar comments on other authors' blogs, as I seldom tag any given story when posting a blog. Thus, these 'constant blog posts' must be perpetuated by others.
3. Report away, friend. I'm sure the moderators are highly concerned about the state of tagged blogs and their relation or relevance to their incumbent stories. Your issue is sure to garner a spot high on their to-do list.
4. I'll just take this to mean I was the straw that broke the camel's back, and other authors are continually tagging stories in blog posts that have little relevance to the stories themselves. I forgive you for your terse comment. (Though I would recommend the usage of the read later list if the issue truly bothers you so much.)
3186725 It's in my favorites, because I know I'm more likely to read those than anything else. Plus, I think I read a bit of it, like, ages ago before I actually had an account. My memory is shit, so I don't really remember.
I have left one other comment to somebody who does it far more often than not.
You'll be surprised, honestly.
Honestly, it probably was. Either that or I mistook other blogs for yours. With how I literally just skim over stuff the majority of the time it wouldn't surprise me that it was the second one. And I accept your forgiveness, because I'm cool like that. Seriously, though. I did not mean for the comment to be rude in any way, just informative. It is annoying, but not quite as annoying as a story that seems like it's going to be one thing then turns out to be another, so you've got that leg up on the other guy. I'm sorry for the terrible lack of tone that text conveys.
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I'll apologize for my snark, then. I honestly thought you were being condescending. But, as you said, tone is difficult to convey over text.
While I do love your romance stories and how you work them. I look forward to this new idea.