Writing about magic, romance and the bonds of friendship!
Following the Royal Wedding in Canterlot, Princess Celestia escorts Twilight and friends to the train station. Along the way, Pinkie Pie gets her chance to speak with the princess about something she observed during the wedding ceremony - what she believes to be an 'inside joke' between the Royal Sisters.
[Moderately serious themes]
~Written for a short story writing challenge between myself and Roarin.
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I agree with Pinkie Pie. Celestia's not thinking. If something takes her out, Luna's almost certainly buggered if and when she gets back. Better to put all your resources on the table and gang-bang the threat down with overwhelming force.
There is no such thing as Overkill. There is only Open Fire and Reload.
2529507
I think that may be true sometimes, but not always. Celestia might be lost through a lucky hit, or maybe one powerful spell that's a one-time-only-deal for an aggressor. Or an enemy might have an exploitable weakness that would only be found after Celestia was sent to that great pasture in the sky. With so much unknown about the threat, if it were my decision, I think I'd reach the same conclusion as Celestia. Even in military engagements in the real world, you keep reserves.
2529507
Well you are thinking of it as a direct fight but this strategy is actually for more of an assassination attempt. Yes in a direct fight it is good to have all of your forces but this was not that kind of situation. Celestia did not know who, what, or where the attack was going to happen. In an assassination attempt keeping your important people apart makes sure you cannot take both out at once in a surprise attack. One bomb (or similar) can take out both with no need for power at all.
This is precisely the reason why the President and the Vice President of the USA are rarely in the same place at the same time.
I'd love another chapter, it is an interesting idea. Pinkie yelling at Princess Celestia saying that she is wrong is pretty powerful, and then they sweep it under the rug because everyone reins Pinkie in after that point. I don't know kind of leaves me wanting more.
An interesting view into the 'Celestia is, in fact, as vulnerable as any other pony' mind-frame... I can appreciate that for what it is, and I do think that Pinkie did behave true to character, actually, even if I personally would have added a bit of mane deflation for good measure.
My personal view regarding Celestia falling was actually her 'taking the hit' for the good of her ponies. I think she could have taken things a great deal further, but not without somepony being seriously hurt, maybe even killed, during the conflict. After all which is easier to believe: Celestia, Her Majesty of the Dawn, the pony that raised the sun and moon and brought forth the stars as well for one thousand years by herself losing to something who had been chewing on love for awhile in a battle of raw power (horn lazer pewpew) because she couldn't overpower Chrysalis.... or because she recognized that she could but shouldn't use the kind of power it'd take in the middle of a city precariously perched on a mountain side?
In any case that's just my view, the story is a very interesting look for me into the alternative and I would love to see more.
How will you take it in s shipping/friendshipping direction, I must ask?
I wonder if we have learnt the real reason behind the Pinkie Pie arm in "Too Many Pinkie Pies". The only way she can be sure none of her friends are lost forever is if she stays with them all the time... and everypony is Pinkie Pie's friend!
2529507 When you don't know what, who, or if you're fighting, that doesn't work. Remember, they received a threat, they didn't have any idea on what was happening. It's like a game of chess, putting strong pieces around your king (Which would be Celesta or Luna) to protect it. This might work, but it leaves too much room for error. When a king is put into check another piece must move to block it, or the king itself must move out of its favored position. That's when the structure falls apart, your plans change. Now imagine a chess game where you couldn't even see the pieces, you don't even know if there are pieces! Also Changelings are obviously more powerful than ponies, since they have wings and a horn, they captured all of Canterlot easily. So the enemy doesn't even have pawns, they only have bishops, knights, rooks, and a king/queen. So to keep one piece hidden yourself is smart. Going with your strategy is both reckless and simple.
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2532340 Fine, I'll grant that keeping Luna away at first is a good idea. Not keeping in constant contact with her, however, is idiotic. Ultimately when facing a simple military force, if something can take out Celestia it can take out Luna too.
We know there are ways to send messages instantly. The moment the threat was realized, Luna should have been contacted. We know she was in Canterlot as little as the night before the attack, so she couldn't have gotten far. Once Luna was contacted she comes in with the battalion they left her with (don't you DARE tell me they ONLY kept her in reserve, you send your Princess with hundreds of guards if you really fear active military action) to flak the enemy and screw their day up.
When talking about Luna and Celestia, we're not talking about simple military resources. We're talking about weapons of mass destruction. They're immortal and super powerful -- maybe not as much as the fandom likes to pretend, but certainly more than average ponies... and let's not forget that the six elements took out literally dozens of Changelings apiece. Six regular ponies. Well, four regular ponies, one special forces level magic user and Pinkie Pie.
2532367 Chrysalis struck down Celestia, if Luna came to attack her Chrysalis would probably use Celestia's love for Luna against her.
At least that's what I would do, and considering how she is a being of god like proportions and a cunning strategist, I would assume she would do the same.
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I'm still not sure.
If it were me, I'd have Luna in an undisclosed location with several guards, but near a major garrison. So say she's messaged, heads to the garrison and picks up a batallion of troops. Assume the garrison is already set up to deploy troops, provisioned for a few days' battle, armored, etc. I think just getting them all briefed on what's going on, selecting a plan of battle, and getting unicorns onto pegasus-towed chariots would take the better part of an hour. That and flight time could easily make it over an hour, and by the time that was done, the Force Field of Love had already expelled the invaders.
So Luna gets another message while in transit to Canterlot saying "Ya know, that invasion? Never mind." She goes back, drops off her armor, has a drink at the bar, complains to the bartender that no doubt Celestia's going to get more love and Luna more hate from this whole thing, and flies off to the party, where she ironically asks if she missed anything. All the while working on her true plot, a kingdom without... cake!
None of that was shown here, of course, but conservation of detail and all. And not having cake might scare younger viewers. And me.
It's true that a pure pegasus force could move faster, but if I were Luna I'd want at least unicorns along, and earth ponies too if I could manage it. When going to battle you don't just take tanks because they're faster than infantry.
It's possible that Luna could've handled the invasion herself if she came straight away, but given Celestia's rather quick defeat, I wouldn't've wagered the kingdom on it.
And not that it would have had to work that way, but it reasonably coulda, I think.
We do the same thing with the president and vice president. If anything it is kind of dumb that Luna and Celestia are in such close proximity so very often due to them being the only ones able to move the celestial bodies.
But I do see Pinkie Pie being disturbed by the gravity of the situation and this is one thing she would NOT let drop.
I do think a good fic could spring from this with a very serious Pinkie Pie that we do not very often see but exists. Often times in canon she is the only sane pony (like with the parasprites).
I'm actually not clear on why Celestia laughed. I understand the reasoning behind keeping Luna at a separate location, it makes sense. Pinkie's reaction also makes perfect sense, completely in character. This was an interesting little snip of a story in spite of its utter lack of a resolution. Was there any reason you wrote this in present tense? The story doesn't seem to benefit from it in any way besides making it slightly awkward to read at first, and breaking from the norm for no reason other than to break from the norm is almost always a bad idea.
Still, what's the inside joke? Is Celestia laughing because she didn't die? Or because sending Luna away proved unnecessary? Or because Luna did miss something and she'd done it on purpose?
I put my vote in for you to continue this. It is a marvelous idea and well written!
2534008
They are laughing because luna did not actually want to leave. So when she came back and acted like she was being rude or ignorant it was a lie. Luna pretending not to care was a ridiculous thought to them so they laughed.
When a joke is explained it takes all the humor out of it
A rather interesting take on Luna's absence from the attack. Like having that one person physically absent from every State of the Dis-union address.
I quite liked this story. Celestia's reasoning makes perfect sense, and I like how you built a little joke from the episode into this nice vignette. I don't think there is any need to expand this into a bigger story. It definitely could work as the first chapter of an interesting Pinkie/Celestia story, but it also stands perfectly well on its own IMHO. I don't think we really need to know what Pinkie will do, just that she wants to cheer the Princess up and that she isn't okay with pessimism.
You handled Pinkie really well, and she's so often misused. Thumb'd and Fav'd.
2529507
Now there's a saying I can get on board with!
2530214 It leaves me wanting to write more too, if I'm honest
Rest assured that I'm going to be putting lots of thought into it when I can.
2530728 I remember once reading a story (or part of one at least) where Celestia lost by choice. I'm quite fond of the concept myself - that she would take the hit, rather than fight back and risk somepony getting hurt in the crossfire. It makes a lot of sense.
As you say, this is an alternative, which I really just came up with off the top of my head. That you found it interesting is great to hear! Thanks!
2531093 I was thinking along the lines of playing off of Celestia's 'pessimism/realism'. Pinkie, believing that optimism is the way to go, is obviously not okay with this, so she makes it her quest to get the princess 'back on track'. She'd probably pay some visits to the castle - maybe write letters - or try to get Celestia away from her duties and teach her to 'think positive'.
Whether she succeeds or not, it's important that she cares enough to want to help Celestia. I can see it working, and I'm eager to explore it.
2532046 That's true, and an interesting way to look at it. This is why Pinkie is my favourite pony - she's friends with everypony, and wants nothing more than to keep them all smiling
It must be exhausting for her though, even with so much energy!
2532873 Indeed, it makes sense not to put all your eggs in one basket, as it were. If Celestia and Luna were both captured/disabled/lost without teaching anypony their spells, it could be disastrous. Thankfully, they don't have to think too much about that in Equestria. Or I like to think so, at least.
Anyway, thanks! I certainly hope that I can build a story from this at some point, but as I say it'll be a while because of everything else I'm also hoping to do
2534008 The point of the fic was simply to explore that line from A Canterlot Wedding in a new light to that which I'm used to. I didn't really intend on anything going into it, other than that. I think I have yet to grasp the concept of 'one-shot'
Anyways, in regards to the joke - all of the above, coupled with what ~grimmred said. Part of the laugh is for the irony, but most of it is for the relief of seeing each other again without anything going seriously wrong (or 'according to plan', depending on how you look at it). As Celestia says, it's not really a 'joke' so much as it is a gesture of wibbly-wobbly, emotiony-thoughtful stuff (<- paraphrasing)
As for the present tense, I don't know. I wrote it that way because it seemed like the right thing to do. I did start writing it in past tense, but about two paragraphs in I thought 'this would look better in present tense'. And so it did. I like it better like this.
2535416 Well thank you! Your vote and kind words are more incentive to get it done, and that's always welcome
2536850 Thanks! And yes, that's a perfect analogy. You've got to make sure that someone stays around to take over if something goes wrong.
2537386 Thank you! It's reassuring to hear that it can stand on its own. I'm still considering a continuation, but not feeling that I have to rush is always nice. And I'm glad you liked my Pinkie Pie
It's my goal to get to a point where I can write her POV convincingly, including her whole trail of seemingly-random (but actually logical) thought. I think that would be cool. After Twice as Bright, I know that it's a load of fun to read, and I bet it'd be just as much fun to write.
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Lol and I picked it because it has my favorite pony casting everybody's favorite 1st level D&D spell!
Also opens another explanation for why Celestia sent Twilight to Ponyville when NmM was coming back. Nice.
2539399 Virtual high-five? l)
2539688 I didn't actually consider that, but it's a very good point. I'll be keeping it in mind. Thanks!
Hmmm. That is a very interesting thought, and it's a pretty good reason as to why Luna was absent. It's also nice to hear a different theory than Luna is still nightmare moon pretending to be "healed" by the elements of harmony and transformed into Chrysalis to test if she can beat Celestia and the elements of harmony without anyone knowing nightmare moon still exist... Gah ever since I heard that theory it's been stuck in my head... Probably because of the catchy quote they used
Also I'd love to see you continue this. It sounds interesting.
This does indeed feels like a first chapter of a longer fic so I do hope you decide to continue the story in the future
and I'll follow it just in case 
I thought it was going to be that Luna was actually in disguise as Chrysalis.
Oh that's exactly what I was thinking Celestia did when I watched the show! Lol. The sametging happened in Canada... Kind of. During most world crysises that never really affected us the prim minister would send the Vice-Prime Minister to a nuclear bomb shelter in the arctic circle. However the chaos of the crysise's never seem to affect us as I said. I guess being nice to people really pays off.
2631612 That's quite an interesting theory too. Can't say it occurred to me that Luna could still be 'a bad guy' but now that I think about it, it could probably make for some good stories.
Thanks! I'm getting more and more interested in continuing this actually. It'll definitely get done, right now it's just a matter of when to do it (since I've got a longfic to finish and a short sequel that I've promised to write afterwards).
2637027 Thank you, I certainly will do. I think I'll change the tag to 'On Hiatus' so everyone knows I've decided to continue it eventually.
2637626 Like the whole thing was just a Royal Sisters' practical joke or something? Hehe, that would be a cool twist
Or maybe something more like a training drill for everyone? So many possibilities! Good thought 
2658616 Great minds think alike!
Yes, it's apparently quite a common thing - leaving one leader in charge whilst getting another to safety, in case something goes wrong. Being nice to people certainly does pay off!
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Yeah I saw it in a video I watched and it blew my mind... But I also have trouble seeing Luna as evil, so that's why I'm kind of annoyed that that theory got stuck in my head.
I know I am late to this party and I don't know if anyone is going to read this comment, but I still wanted to express my thoughts on this story.
I can understand Celestia's point of view; it does make perfect sense when you are thinking about trying to preserve a whole kingdom. However, one thing that Celestia isn't thinking of (and what I have yet to read in the past comments) is how constantly thinking about worst case scenarios can effect someone. In the story, Celestia is pretty much saying that it is realistic to prepare for the worst, and she is not wrong. But it seems that her train of thought has gone from preparing for the worst to expecting the worst. When you expect the worst, that changes your mindset and effects the decisions and actions you make. It can get so bad that the person who is expecting the worst may start making choices that help the worst case scenario come true. In other words, a self-fulfilling prophecy has being created.
Despite what some people thing, being realistic is different from being pessimistic; there is a fine line between the two, but it does exist. Yes, realistically there is a chance that both Princesses could have been overpowered if Luna stayed. However, it also realistic to think that they could have won if Luna stayed; after all she is pretty powerful herself and Chrysalis may not have been able to overpower two Princesses at the same time. By making Luna (and possibly her contingent of guards) leave before the attack it is possible that she made it far easier for Chrysalis to and her army to cause as much havoc as they did.
Again, there is nothing wrong preparing for the worst; having an exit strategy and putting away some of your resources is a smart just in case things don't go the way you wanted them to go. However, Pinkie is not angry about that. She is angry because Celestia is expecting the worst case scenario to come true. Like I said expecting the worst can and will effect the decisions people make, and not always in a good way.
I do hope you still plan to continue with this story. I would love to see where this can go.
I like this little one-shot. It was interesting to see Celestia and Pinkie having a serious conversation - one on one. And of course Celestia handled the undue attention with utter grace. This was quite engaging. Thank you kindly for the read. Also...
Haha!
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I agree. Luna might have made a big difference in the battle. After all she probably not as close to Cadence as Twilight or Celestia because that whole nightmare moon thing plus most of her work is the night shift which she works alone.