Here we are again, then. At least, here I am again. Where you may be is quite another matter. I'm going to keep this bit short this month, largely because I'm feeling lazy. As if that wasn't my normal state of affairs, but oh well. For anyone who requires a refresher...

Here are the full rules.

Remember, there is no prize, as such, for this contest -- but if you win, you will be able to choose the prompt for the next contest. You'll also get a mention on the group's front page. You can also look forward to receiving a cheque for 20 billion bits. You won't actually get it, but you can still look forward to it. A quick run-down of this month's details:

Prompt: "Two Truths and a Lie" (selected by last month's winner, TCC56)
Rating: E or T
Word limit: 150
Closing date: Sunday 21st February 2021, 11:59 pm UK time (world clock)

Please reply to this post with your entry. This makes it easier for me to keep track. Please do not leave feedback until after the closing date.

Entries are now open! Have fun!

7426438
This is one prompt I'm completely stumped on. I don't think I've ever heard of the game before, but the premise seems clear enough. However, just how can one imply this prompt within a story of limited words?

It needs to be fast.
It needs to be clear.
And it needs to be relatable.

...I think I got a dish that'll satisfy this prompt's apatite.

Dash 10:35am
PTB PINKIE!
^▕╱

Pinkie 10:36am
What's wrong! 8O
^╲▏

Dash 10:36am
Coking class.
The ingreedients.
What wear they?
PLZ TELL!
^▕╱

Pinkie 10:37am
Oh that's easy. =3
^╲▏

Pinkie 10:37am
Cup of flower. X3
^╲▏

Pinkie 10:38am
Something sweet.
Just a pinch. =3
^╲▏

Pinkie 10:38am
And finally,
some oil. =D
^╲▏

Dash 10:39am
TU!!!!
^▕╱

Pinkie 10:39am
XD
^╲▏

Pinkie 2:12pm
How'd your
cooking do? =P
^╲▏

Dash 2:13pm
SMH
^▕╱

Pinkie 2:13pm
What happened? =C
^╲▏

Dash 2:14pm
IDK. Lookd ok,
smelld fin,
tasted awfull.
^▕╱

Pinkie 2:15pm
How'd you describe
the taste? 7=.
^╲▏

Dash 2:16pm
Bland
^▕╱

Pinkie 2:16pm
Didn't you use
the oil? =/
^╲▏

Dash 2:17pm
I usd oil.
^▕╱

Pinkie 2:18pm
...oops! It should've
been O-L-E-O. 8X
^╲▏

Dash 2:18pm
WTF!?
^▕╱

Pinkie 2:19pm
At least you didn't
blow up the oven
this time. I3
^╲▏

Dash 2:19pm
CRSE AUTOCORRECT!!!
^▕╱

7426438

“I struggled for years to get my hoof in Manehattan,” Rarity broke the silence while fixing Applejack’s hat. “But you had the opportunity to live there with Oranges since you were young. How did you manage to give all that up?”

“To tell you the truth, I think it was because of mah father. He wore this very hat when he told me to be truthful to myself and to others. It was both my first memory and the last time I saw him. I took it to heart. Ya' see, when I live by his words, I feel like he’s still with me.”

“That is very commendable, but what does it have to do with Manhattan?” Rarity inquired.

“I was new to the school. They wanted me to get to know the fellow foals there, so we played the game of two truths and a lie... I lost.”

“But darling, that’s not the kind of game one can lose.”

“Well, I did. But more importantly, they didn’t. They spoke lies as easily as the truths. It was from that point on that I knew I could never belong there.”

Edit: 11 - To Tell a Lie

7426438

Closing date: Sunday 21st January 2021, 11:59 pm UK time (world clock)

February?

7426548
Gah, yes, thank you. I'll fix that in a minute.
Edit: and done.

Are these prompts getting harder, or am I just losing my edge? I swear I used to come up with ideas as soon as I looked at a prompt, whereas now I keep coming up blank.

I'll try again later.

7427772
I'd say the last couple prompts have been harder than usual. But we can just interpret the prompts broadly, right?

7427772
7431132
I think part of the problem* is that the prompts have been getting more specific. With an older prompt like, say, "After the Storm," there were a lot of angles you could've looked at it from: it could've been a literal storm, a metaphorical storm, the Storm King, etcetera.

Now, compare that to some of our recent fare.
"Pranked" specifically implies somebody getting pranked. "Poetic Justice" has to be about somebody getting punished in an ironic manner (also of note: of the stories submitted for "Poetic Justice", 40% were about Zecora). "Two Truths and a Lie" is self-explanatory. You get the gist.

I dunno, I'm just spitballing here.

*not that there's anything quote-unquote "bad" about it, don't get me wrong...

7426438

Twilight stared in horror at the rapidly-growing inferno. Celestia's silhouette disappeared completely as the white-hot blaze grew brighter than the sun itself.

Luna screamed. "I'm sorry, sister! I didn't know that the Tantabus still lived!"

The creature tore at Celestia's mind, twisting her form. Twilight knew the name: Daybreaker

Twilight had the Elements with her, but not the other bearers. Elsewhere, Rainbow Dash was racing to gather them all.

"There's no time!" yelled Luna. "Let me do it!"

"Can you?"

Luna sobbed. "I...I'm not strong enough to defeat her. But...there is another way."

"Banishment?!?"

Time froze. There had to be some way to reach her. Some way to stall or apologize. But what could pierce through fire, except...flame!

"Spike!" screamed Twilight, "Take a letter!"

Dear Princess Celestia,

I know what to do.
You haven't been changed forever.
I'll see you again soon.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

Author's Note

The explanation of this fic is longer than the fic itself, lol. (But if I've done my job, you shouldn't need to read the explanation in order to enjoy the fic.)

My goal here was to write a story with three crucial statements, but the reader doesn't know which of them is the lie.

If the first statement is a lie, Twilight doesn't know what to do. Her indecision runs the risk that Celestia will emerge as Daybreaker and staring killing everypony. (On the other hand, Rainbow Dash might gather the other bearers quickly enough to reverse the transformation.) The "I'll see you again soon" statement is ambiguous in this case: Either she'll see ordinary-Celestia again soon (because the problem has been fixed), or else she'll see Celestia-as-Daybreaker soon, because the transformation will be complete before Twilight can think of a solution.

If the second statement is a lie, Twilight is convinced that Celestia has been changed forever. She might intend to defeat Daybreaker without redeeming her, using something other than the Elements of Harmony (since Daybreaker, unlike Nightmare Moon, would be smart enough to simply kill everyone who might plausibly bear an Element.) Or she might simply run away, or surrender to Daybreaker.

If the third statement is a lie, Twilght intends to have Luna banish Celestia to the sun in hopes that she'll eventually be restored to normal (as Nightmare Moon once was). But in that case she won't ever see Celestia again, because there's a thousand-year wait before the banishment ends. (I assume that Luna-banishing-Celestia runs under the same rules as Celestia-banishing-Luna, including the bit where apparently you can't just redeem the other pony at the start. I assume that the redemption-rainbow-tornado thing requires a team of 6 bearers.)

The other part of this is that all three statements are intended to comfort Celestia. Twilight hopes that this will help Celestia stall the transformation while Rainbow Dash gathers up all the other bearers.

The title is likewise ambiguous; "her" could refer to Twilight or Celestia (or even Luna).

7426438
Allow me to give you my sleep deprived story, Still Here.

Spike hung his head as he hung from a pair of heavy chains, suspending him against the wall of the cave.

It had only been a small task, Twilight had wanted him to see what was going on in the Everfree since she was busy with diplomatic meetings and couldn’t do it herself.

That was a thousand years ago.

Eyes heavy, he looked up again to the three other cages in the room. One after the other, they had been filled in the span of what he thought were weeks, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy, trapped in shackles, unable to escape their bindings.

And staring dully at them, all but one held a skeleton, and he grimaced as he heard Rarity scream again.

“Spike! Please, save me!”

It grated his ear fins, and it hurt, but he ignored it.

He knew that wasn’t Rarity. He knew what the Lie was.

7431233
We do have a Rules, Q&A, suggestions, etc thread, so if you'd like to suggest anything regarding prompts (or any other aspect of the contests or the group as a whole) you're very welcome to do so.

7426438
Elution

Sour Sweet badgered Adagio through the doors. "You know, an icebreaker! What are you, stupid?"

Adagio answered very flat, not turning around. "I've never heard of it before. It's stupid."

"Right," Sour lilted sardonically, "making friends is stupid, thanks for the remider."

"No. You would guess almost completely by random. And what should or shouldn't I lie about?" Adagio half-turned, arms folded and eyes near Sour's shoes. "Therefore, stupid. And you don't want to be my friend."

"That's my decision," Sour said. Suddenly saccharine, "Wanna hear my biggest regret?"

Adagio stopped. "Why?"

"I pushed someone who should have been my friend into nearly ending the world with magic." She raised placating hands. "Completely true! It happened! Now you."

"...I tried dominating two worlds. Failed. Tried ending myself." Adadio bared her wrists. "Completely true. Happy?"

Sour beamed. "Here's my number. Me, you, your sisters, my friends -- let's jam tomorrow!"

Regarding the more recent prompts, the problem is sufficiently subtle that regulating it is very challenging. As others observed: 'Pranked!' rather locked entries into being about pranks, 'Poetic Justice' about karmic comeuppance, and 'Two Truths and a Lie' centering on the game-or-whatever. More crucially, I think, is that these prompts, especially the former two, all but demand more space to develop the payoff that is expected from the prompt-given context; were they prompts not for microfiction but rather for short stories to the low thousands of words, they would be far more tenable.

Around 50 hours to go if you still want to enter, everyone!

7426438

Celestia gestured with a forehoof. "I am Princess Celestia. To my left sits Luna. To my right, Cadance." Celestia frowned. "But one of these things I say is not true."

Twilight blinked. "Not true?"

"Not true. My little student, can you tell me which one?"

Twilight trotted closer, to carefully examine the suspects. Twilight said, "Sunshine!" Cadance and Twilight danced, reciting a rhyme about ladybugs. Twilight launched a barrage of spells at each supposed alicorn one by one, and at all of the alicorns together.

After her final pyrotechnics, Twilight panted with effort. "I don't know. I don't know! Where's the falsehood?"

Celestia smiled. "One of these things I say is not true."

"That was the lie?"

Celestia nodded.

"But that's a paradox! It's neither true NOR false!" Twilight snorted scornfully. "The Celestia I know would never cheat at a game. Unforgivable!"

Twilight threw several fireballs. "Look, I found Chrysalis!"

[EDIT: After the contest, I wrote a slightly improved or changed version: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212112/flashfic/thread/460708/flashfic-150-february-2021-two-truths-and-a-lie#comment/7448994]

12 hours 27 minutes to go!

7426481 7426516 7431291 7432835 7434790 7441967

Right, time's up, folks! A slight increase on last month, as there were six entries this time. Thank you to everyone who had a go!

Mod note: I was undecided whether to allow Amereep's story, since the site rule is no fics "written in chat or script format". I decided to err on the side of leniency (I'd have said much earlier if I had decided otherwise) -- part of my reasoning was that the site rules aren't clear on what constitutes "chat format". As such, Amereep's story is eligible this month. This month.

Feedback is open!

Yeah, I completely bounced off this prompt.

7442703

I was undecided whether to allow Amereep's story, since the site rule is no fics "written in chat or script format". I decided to err on the side of leniency (I'd have said much earlier if I had decided otherwise) -- part of my reasoning was that the site rules aren't clear on what constitutes "chat format". As such, Amereep's story is eligible this month. This month.

It seems that I keep finding new and fresh ways to make your job a real hassle.

7426481
Nice use of the chat format. =)
(Admittedly I had to google "oleo" to find out what was going on here =P)

7426516
A good reflection of AJ's values. It's not just that she clashes with the aesthetic of Manehatten; it's a question of virtue as well.

7432835
This one is pretty spooky.

I'm left wondering about the context. If it's been a thousand years, does that mean that Spike is immortal? And the Rarity-changeling is also immortal? And has it been keeping up this act for the full thousand years? And who put everyone in chains, anyway? And where is actual Rarity/Twilight/etc.?

Granted, part of the fun of super-short fics is not knowing the context, so you can imagine what it would be like if the fic was longer. =)

7434790
I think these are characters from Rainbow Rocks, which I unfortunately missed seeing before it disappeared from Netflix.

Anyway, I like the idea that outrageous things are actually true. It's a weird world these people are living in. =P

7441967
Paradox for the win. Nice idea. =)

7442724
I thought for a moment "two tooths, and lye?", but couldn't really think of anything to make of that, either...

--Sweetie Belle

7442972 In the show, it was only implied that she was inconvenienced by a different environment and she was too unadaptable to fit in. I always thought something was lacking. With this flashfic, I tried to fix that lack from the show.

7441967 Let's look at it from Chrysalis's perspective:
I am Princess Celestia. - lie
To my left sits Luna. - truth
To my right, Cadance. - truth
But one of these things I say is not true. - truth

So, if she was Chrysalis, Twilight would be wrong to accuse her with:
"The Celestia I know would never cheat at a game. Unforgivable!"

If it was Chrysalis then she didn't cheat at all.

Oh, and I thought Twilight would test Luna the same way she tested Cadence. I thought she would make Luna tell them about the kinky, wet dream Twilight had the night before. And Luna would be forced to talk about how she was dressed in a fur-tight bodysuit, begging Twilight to fill her up with various items. Luna would have to divulge all the details to the Princesses under the threat of a fireball to the face.

7442976 Cutie Mark Crusaders, soap-makers, yay!

7442804
Well, subverting the setter's intentions has a long and honourable history, so I can hardly complain!

7442972

(Admittedly I had to google "oleo" to find out what was going on here =P)

I knew it, but only because I'd recently been reading an American book which mentioned it. We don't use the term in the UK -- "marge" is our standard abbreviation for "margarine".

7443010
7441967
If it's really Celestia, then Celestia is speaking a paradox. Twilight knows Celestia wouldn't do that, therefore it's not Celestia, therefore it must by Chrysalis in disguise. And yes, if it is Chrysalis in disguise, then Chrysalis didn't speak a paradox when she initially said "One of these things I say is not true", because the statement is simply true and not a paradox.

However, Chrysalis still cheated later in the game, when she identified "One of these things I say is not true" as a false statement. It wasn't a false statement; it was a true statement. So Mockingbirb was still correct to have Twilight denounce this as cheating.

7443253 You have a point.

So, unless Twilight is lying and Celestia would, in fact, cheat at a game, this really was the case of non-Celestia, after all. Then again, I might be lying.

KwirkyJ has not much to discuss.

7426481
In most baking, substituting oil for oleo/margerine/butter would have as much pronounced effect on the texture or density as on the flavor. Also, wild autocorekt.

7426516
On the other hoof, unfiltered honesty can be destructive to relationships as well... Not the crux of Applejack's negative experience, here, though.

7431291
I have nothing constructive to say in brief.

7432835
Tormenting imposter or hallucination is unclear. Unbalancing timeskips are a hard sell in such short format.

7434790
Nobody cares, already. Write a story for once.

7441967
Bad Dragon has it right: the one lie (among three truths) is "I am Princess Celestia." The testing via fireballs is flagrantly idiotic, and boring to read for several reasons.

7442972

I think these are characters from Rainbow Rocks, which I unfortunately missed seeing before it disappeared from Netflix.

Anyway, I like the idea that outrageous things are actually true. It's a weird world these people are living in. =P

I am featuring antagonists from two movies -- Adagio Dazzle appears in Rainbow Rocks; Sour Sweet is a supporting antagonist in Friendship Games. Adagio has a further non-cannot twist I am borrowing from Dave Bryant's Amphorae, in which setting I have meddled before in Flashfic150.

7442724
I had a good idea of a stallion knowing his third child wasn't actually his, but as usual, my memory failed me, and only today did I check back to see if the deadline had passed.

7431132
Yes, you can (and should) interpret them broadly.
7431233
Tbh, the larger problem is letting yourself interpret the prompts in a narrow way. Yes, all the stories for "Pranked!" involved a prank, but that would tend to suggest a comedy or a bullying story, as most entries were. But look at the two stories Logan liked the best. The prank wasn't really central to the message, it wasn't done in a mean-spirited fashion, and both stories had a wistful feel. "Poetic Justice" doesn't have to be about karmic comeuppance. It could be a poem about justice, it could be a judge delivering a verdict in verse... and there are several oddball ways it could be taken as well, like writing about an author who likes the fancy way the local bar does "on the rocks" but doesn't actually like booze (poetic, just ice). The way to stand out in these is to do something nobody else is doing, so when you immediately let yourself get locked in to the obvious interpretation, then you're already giving yourself a significant handicap. Which can be overcome, of course, but only with writing that commensurately stands out for its quality.

7426438
Ah, screw it. Ineligible, but here it is anyway.

My Heart, Given Wings

The twins splashed around in the pool, the earth pony using his bulk to do cannonballs and douse his sister while she wove up magical whirlwinds to launch jets of water right back at him. Their laughter rung in my ears like the sweetest songs.

“Refill?” my wife asked, levitating the pitcher of lemonade.

“Naw,” I replied. “Plants need tending to.” I rolled my eyes toward the garden. We didn’t really need to grow our own food, but sometimes an earth pony couldn’t help himself.

“Daddy!” our youngest cried from up near the rooftops. “Look how high I can go!” Fresh off her first week of flight school, and I loved her fiercely.

“She must take after your great-great grandmother,” my wife said, always with a tenuous grin. I forced a smile.

Yes, I’d told her that. I didn’t have a single pegasus in my family tree. Neither did she.

7443838
Um...you seem to have written a nasty review of your own work here. You wrote

Nobody cares, already. Write a story for once.

Why are you so hard on yourself? =(

(You were pretty hard on Mockingbirb, too...)

7444393
For my own work... it's a scene that doesn't hand the reader a satisfactory ending. The change in these characters is hidden off-page, asking the reader to fill it in. This kind of storytelling is rarely enjoyable (or, fulfilling?) to read, and is a somewhat hackneyed way of fitting more material into the compressed format. The word 'stupid' appears a lot, which makes sense in the discourse but is boring to the outside reader.

For Mockingbirb's entry, I stand by the core of my above. Less than a logic puzzle, it's an identity test. With Cadance, she does the ladybugs rhyme which makes a large degree of sense (Chyrsalis never knew it, and the very test was demonstrated in season 2); with the other princess, however... it's a cut away to arbitrary, no-stakes-given, vaguely-described testing of magical skill or something, which is A. difficult imagine as being useful for assessing identity and B. not exciting to read with no descriptions or investment and with no meaning to it. Personal knowledge test, as done with Cadance, would far better serve Twilight's aim in determining the lie, and be more interesting by showing what information, memories, &c. she thinks is personally, privately, even intimately -- not that kind, stop sniggering -- shared with the other princesses.

ETA: the twist of "I need to determine which pony is Chrysalis" I don't think works as a twist reveal at the end. I would experiment with making it the obvious goal of the story from the word go.

7444148
Now this is a very intriguing twist. On one hoof, Equestria's magic can be a bit wibbly-wobbly and permeating (like Middle Earth, perhaps)... on the other, the way they talk about it here suggests more standard genetics, which makes this whole thing as taught as a post-doctorate space elevator. I adore all the little details peppering this.

7444486
Left to my own devices, I would agree with you on Equestrian genetics, but in the episode where the Cake twins were born, Mr. Cake does cite a pegasus and unicorn relative to explain why they didn't have earth ponies.

7444148
I like it! Especially that little detail of how the grin is "tenuous". There's a lot of drama under the surface here. A great use of the 150 format =)

7444123

Which can be overcome, of course, but only with writing that commensurately stands out for its quality.

Well, and anything you know about the preferences and prejudices of the judge!

Talking of which: I hope to post my decision tomorrow (Thursday).

7426481 7426516 7431291 7432835 7434790 7441967 (and the ineligible 7444148)

Time's up, everyone!
Thank you very much as ever to all who gave this one a go. As is so often the case, I had a hard time deciding on a winner. But in the end...

The winner is Bad Dragon. I really liked this. Yes it's straightforward and direct, but that worked (for me, anyway) for an Applejack fic. I particularly liked the idea of AJ losing a "Two Truths and a Lie" game. That is absolutely something I can believe her doing, especially back in her younger days when she hadn't learned (as she did as FiM went on) to stretch the truth on occasion when she had to.

Congratulations! Please think up a prompt for next month and post it here when you've done so.

While I'm here, to avoid any confusion from March onwards... at least for the foreseeable future, this will remain a G4-specific contest. Allowing G5 would be too awkward when everyone has different ideas of what constitutes a spoiler. I'll tweak the rules to that effect in a minute.

Edit: Please continue to discuss if you like!

7446314

The winner is Bad Dragon. I really liked this. Yes it's straightforward and direct, but that worked (for me, anyway) for an Applejack fic. I particularly liked the idea of AJ losing a "Two Truths and a Lie" game. That is absolutely something I can believe her doing, especially back in her younger days when she hadn't learned (as she did as FiM went on) to stretch the truth on occasion when she had to.

I really liked this too. "Straightforward and direct" while being a complete story that works well is really an accomplishment in 150 words, imho. The disagreement over whether it's possible to lose that game works well with Rarity and Applejack, whether you know the characters all that well or not, I think.

Btw, is it ok to comment still?

7446314 I've tried to win so many times. I almost lost hope it would ever happen. But I kept on trying. I'm glad that I finally made the cut. I'm glad I was good enough. And that shall be the inspiration for the next prompt.

In the last few prompts, we've had complaints that it was hard to write a story for the prompt.

In light of that, I'm choosing a theme this time instead of a single phrase. The theme for the March contest is: Accelerated Evolution.

To make this easier for everypony, I'm also giving out a few phrases that fall within the above theme that may or may not inspire you. You can focus on one, many, or make up your own within the given theme. So here are some of the phrases you can look at if you don't know what to write in regards to Accelerated Evolution:
Artificial selection
Best adapted pony
Better offsprings
Breeding
Planned Husbandry
Hybridization
Only the best genes are good enough for a foal
Eugenics
Biological survivability
Adaptation
Fitting organism
Born for the environment
The next step in the evolution
Survival of the fittest
Biological assertion
Master race
The missing link
Improved descendants
Targeted multiplying
Reproduction for the chosen
Spawning something better
The first of the good-enoughs
Privileged procreation
Born to win
Responsive adjustment
Suitable mate
Made for the circumstance
Advanced muton
A higher state of being
Phylogenesis
A new taxonomy
Environmental conditions have nothing on me
The true survivor
Latent abilities
Healthy babies
Conceiving the future
The posterity of advanced progenitor
The children are our betters
Worthy to exist
Suited for life
A condition for birth
Genetical modification

Now, if you can't get inspired to write 150 words after all of that, you're simply a bad writer.

7446373

Btw, is it ok to comment still?

It is indeed!

7446502
You're very welcome! And prompt accepted! It's the middle of the night where I am, so I'll do the relevant editing in the morning. (Edit: done!)

7441967
7444469
After the contest, I found a way to change this story that I think improves it. (It addresses one of the ways that KwirkyJ found to interpret this story differently from how I'd intended.)

New version below:

Celestia gestured with a forehoof. "I am Princess Celestia. To my left sits Luna. To my right, Cadance." Celestia frowned. "But one of these things I say is not true."

Twilight blinked. "Not true?"

"Not true. My little student, can you tell me which one?"

Twilight trotted closer, to carefully examine the suspects. Twilight said, "Sunshine!" Cadance and Twilight danced, reciting a rhyme about ladybugs. Twilight cast a barrage of spells at each supposed alicorn one by one, and at all of the alicorns together.

After her final pyrotechnics, Twilight panted with effort. "I don't know. I don't know! Where's the falsehood?"

Celestia smiled. "One of these things I say is not true."

"That was the lie?"

Celestia nodded.

"But that's a paradox! It's neither true NOR false!" Twilight snorted scornfully. "The Celestia I know would never cheat at a game. Unforgivable!"

Twilight threw several fireballs. "Look, I found Chrysalis!"

7448994
...This text is identical to the original?

7448994
I thought Twilight would test Luna the same way she tested Cadence. I thought she would make Luna tell them about the kinky, wet dream Twilight had the night before. And Luna would be forced to talk about how she was dressed in a fur-tight bodysuit, begging Twilight to fill her up with various items. Luna would have to divulge all the details to the Princesses under the threat of a fireball to the face.

7449153
Yes, I read that comment you made about it before.
But my 150 word budget is tight.

7449158 I read your story before, as well.

7449198
Yes, I think you did.

7449203
I remain confused -- did you edit your original post to your revised edition reposted just above (don't do this!), did you fail to copy-paste the revised version in the repost (seems most plausible to me), or am I missing something here?

7449257

I remain confused -- did you edit your original post to your revised edition reposted just above (don't do this!), did you fail to copy-paste the revised version in the repost (seems most plausible to me), or am I missing something here?

(sigh)

I left the original version of the story as it was. In the revised version I posted separately, I changed one word. This was based on my analysis of one of your many complaints about my original story, and how you interpreted the story.

I changed almost one percent of the story! How could you miss that?

7449374
Ah, 'launched' to 'cast'? I grant that this gives a slightly less aggressive tone to her actions... It is a very subtle change and I'm not seeing how it has a substantive effect. Shrug.