Chapter 11
Original Title: Opening Doors
This chapter is part of the older version of "Ein Sof Zealotry" and is to be considered non-canon in lieu of the pending rewrite. This along with the rest of the old story remain for the purpose of comparison.
Canvas woke up with Scintillant standing above her and deduced that she was in Elysium from the unfamiliar stars and structures all around. The young mare rubbed her eyes as she stood up, still weak from sleep. A distinct aroma filled her nose, a sweet smell of vanilla from what Canvas gathered.
“Good evening, Acrylic Canvas, I hope your time has been pleasant,” Scintillant said to the wide-eyed mare who a blissful smile on her face. She was looking all around, sniffing from time to time.
“Scintillant? Do you smell it? Where does that vanilla aroma come from?” Her voice spoke of inner peace spreading through her, her expression turning to a dreamy one as she took the aroma in with deep breaths.
“Elysium pleases those allowed to enter, dear. At first it serves to the senses, bringing forth what the soul enjoyed the most in the world. Only later when the worldly pleasures lose their luster does Elysium bring the purest bliss and happiness to the mind. All in due time.” She drapped one of her wings across Canvas’ back and led her across the marble paved space. “I understand that vanilla scent holds special significance to you?”
Canvas eagerly nodded. “My nanny used to bake a lot when I was small. She always allowed me to help and sample first. Nothing could beat her vanilla puffs! Wish I could taste them again,” she said with a sigh.
“Little joys of life,” Scintillant chucked. Her halo spinned a little and a tray of desired confectionary treats appeared before Canvas. “Eat up, dear child. Elysium pleases its faithful ones. You will need a lot of energy anyway.”
Canvas snatched the tray quickly, a habit she earned while living on the street, and stuffed her mouth with the puff. After a moment she looked up and still with full mouth asked, “What for?”
“Your talent could prove to be a valuable asset, Acrylic Canvas. Let us see if you are up for a challenging task. Look around, young one.”
The magenta earth mare took a better look at her surroundings and was awed by the sights she saw. Even though it was night in Elysium, there was a light that illuminated a large plaza with marble structures and the largest fountain she had ever seen in the center of it all. Even though the area was well lit, she didn’t see a single torch or lantern from which said light originated. As she looked around, a large circular structure against one of the walls caught her eye. It was a huge gate with a mix of red and gold spreading out from the center, which was a platinum pegasus with 3 golden orbs formulated in a triangular pattern and anchored by a purple orb at the center. On the on the left side of the marble frame was a slim, yet tall unicorn made of ivory drawing back a recurve bow, and to the right side was another unicorn made of ebony planting a sword into its base. Perched at the top of the circular frame was a marble pegasus with red and gold clawed gauntlet and its wings spread out, with a wingspan roughly equivalent to Celestia’s at scale. At the bottom of the frame was an Earth pony, also marble, holding a spear in its mouth. The whole gate itself was easily large enough for the entire plaza to fit inside it.
“This is our Grand Plaza, so named because our Grand Creator looks over it, providing the light that illuminates all of Elysium.”
“Grand… Creator?” Trying to comprehend all she saw, with little to base her understanding on, Canvas was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the greatness.
How little they know about the true origins, Scintillant thought and used her wings to point opposite to the gate. Canvas looked up and saw an enormous statue at the top of the dome of an even more enormous cathedral. While the size of the building was impressive by itself, the statue that stood atop it trumped the Crystal Empire’s palace in height. It depicted an alicorn clad in red and gold armor standing on its hindlegs holding up a mesh metal sphere with what looked like a miniature white sun inside it. The statue’s wings were the same design as Scintillant’s, but instead of three "ribbons" on one side, this one had a total of twelve, six per side, which were wrapped around its body and the sphere it was holding up. The alicorn’s horn was protruding into the sphere, which had stone angelic foals circled around the horizontal circumference, as if they were helping the statue hold it up.
“Few living souls have the honor of gazing upon this, our realm’s most cherished structure. She crafted us and our world. Alas, this statue does not do the real thing justice.”
“Are we going to meet with Grand Creator? If this doesn’t compare to her, she must be truly majestic. Even more than Twilight was during her coronation!” Canvas exclaimed with excitement comparable to the foal before Hearth’s Warming Eve.
Scintillant sighed and Canvas was certain she saw a glistening in her eyes. Just as she was about to ask Scintillant what was wrong and offer consolation, the angel snapped out of her reverie and focused back on her. “There is no such thing as true immortality, Acrylic Canvas. Even the divine fall eventually,” she said, her tone betraying deep sorrow. “But I digress. There is a reason I have brought you here tonight to gaze upon this gate. We have found the sixth bearer and because of this, you are all to travel here to condition yourself to wield our Elements. But it is not so simple as to come here within your dream. The physical work you will have to endure does not transfer as well through this method. We need to bring your physical bodies here.”
Scintillant spread her wings to bring Canvas’ attention to the gate.
“This is the Porta del Paradiso, our primary gate between the living realm, and ours. I need you to create a scaled replica with your talent.”
Canvas gazed upon the structure, marvelling on its intricate design as well as fretting about such huge task. With uncertainty in her voice she asked the most basic question. “Why do you need another?”
“Dear child, it is not us who needs the second gate. It is your friends and you. That’s how you are going to enter Elysium, first living souls to do so with glory in many generations. Your artistic eye can accurately replicate the proper engravings and the distance between them. These glyphs must be precise; the wrong placement would disrupt the portal and it would not work properly as a result. I trust you will do this.”
“I can try, but I will need to sketch the glyphs before I start the project, so that I can draw them. I may also need details on how far apart they should be.” Canvas’ resolve was steeled by this point. She wouldn’t fail. Not Scintillant and certainly not her friends.
“I can provide whatever you need. Just take your time.”
Canvas spent several hours sketching and calculating how much she would need to compensate between the glyphs and how small they should be compared to the original. There was really no telling how much sketching paper she went through but she jotted down every single detail, right down the texture and material the gate was made of.
She couldn’t help but doze off as the night drew closer to morning however and once she awoke, she found herself back in her dormroom. The last time she went to Elysium, she woke up with a splitting migraine, but this time she only had a minor one. She rubbed her temples a bit before getting up the energy to rise out of bed and get breakfast. While eating her food, she came to a realization. Where am I going to work to make such a device? My dorm is nowhere near large enough to paint a project of that size. Then she had an idea. I seem to remember a warehouse in that unused part of the areal. I wonder if I can ask to use it.
The warehouse would do nicely for her new project, but she would have to talk to the school’s principal. So after finishing her breakfast and cleaning up, she made a trip to his office to discuss the matter and knocked on his door.
“Come in.”
She opened the door and greeted the principal, who smiled back happy to see one of his favorite students.
“Ah, miss Canvas. What do I owe the honor?”
“Hello sir. I wanted to ask you something. You see, I wanted to make something for the new princess to repay her for helping me get into this school. She’s a good friend of mine and I want to make her a nice gift to honor her coronation.” She trotted to the table as she talked and sat down just in front of it, sheepish smile playing on her lips.
“Okay?” The principal folded the papers he was perusing and laid his eyes on Canvas. Students creating works to praise the princesses were nothing new, he didn’t see any reason why Canvas would notify him about it.
“I have a project in mind, but I need a large enough workspace to make it. So I was wondering if, for the next couple of weeks or so, I could use that unused warehouse towards the back of the campus?”
The principal pondered for a moment before giving his response. “I suppose I don’t have a problem with it. But it was a bit cluttered the last time I checked so you might want to clean it up a bit before bringing your work there. It’s not very warm either.”
“That’s okay with me. Also, could I be the only one with access for the time being? I want it to be a surprise.”
“Very well then. Feel free to use it, but only during post school hours.”
“I understand sir. Thank you very much.” She left the office with glee noticeable in her step, her plan working without a hitch so far.
She went through her normal class routines and learned her other classmates were painting and sculpting for the new princess as well. It’s good to know they’re putting the time and effort into creating for Twilight, Canvas smiled as she performed her classwork. After her classes were done, she went back to her dorm to gather some supplies she would take with her during her trip to the warehouse.
Once inside her dorm, she noticed a pile of papers on her desk, the sketches she made in Elysium. She knew for a fact those weren’t there earlier.
“Must have been Scintillant. I’ll have to thank her later.”
“...taking all that data in consideration, you see that seven storey structure with penthouse and two separate swimming pools provides the best balance of space required, comfort and manageability,” the peach orange unicorn stallion with light gray mane and tail said, throwing Twilight a winning toothy smile. For the last half an hour he was lost in his lecture, pointing out various details in his multipaged presentation.
Twilight exited her daydreaming, mostly depicting throwing the stallion out of her office, preferably with the presentation board around his neck, and straightened in her chair. She took few seconds to get her voice under control, then few more to relax the clenched muscles in her face and only then did she address the stallion.
“While your reasoning concerning the choice of this particular solution for the project proves to be flawless, you seem to not understand the question of the moment. Why exactly should the crown be interested in funding building of five stars hotel?”
The stallion threw her a dirty look as if she asked why the sun had to rise every morning. “To accommodate the foreign dignitaries on diplomatic missions in Equestria, of course!” he exclaimed in disbelief.
“Why in Fillydelphia though? Wouldn’t Canterlot be a better choice for such establishment?” Twilight pried further.
“Does everything have to be in Canterlot if it wants to gain attention of the crown?! Fillydelphia provides much better sites and entertainment for the delegates than Canterlot. This clearly shows how protectionist the crown in fact is!” At this point he was openly glaring at Twilight. His volume also rose above the acceptable level for dealing with princesses.
Big mistake. Twilight’s temper balanced on the edge of the knife the whole time this particular petitioner spent in her office, maybe even longer, since the previous ones didn’t differ from him that much. His current act of hostility pushed Twilight past the line though.
“And Canterlot has all the governmental agencies and the seat of the crown itself!” she shouted. “If you have a problem with that, address the organisation department, not me. But with your behavior I would think twice about that. Princess Luna usually handles such demands and if you tried shouting at her, you would end up in the Moon. Now get out before I check who owns the companies supposed to build this nonsense and find all the corruption behind it!”
The utterly flustered stallion snatched the presentation board as well as the documentation he provided to Twilight in his magic grasp and departed from the office, galloping down the hall, not even stopping to close the door behind him. Twilight took care of that with her magic and leaned back into her chair.
Not quite the Canterlot voice level yet, but we will get there eventually. With this training sooner rather than later.
Her rest didn’t last long as there was an unexpected knock on her door. There weren’t supposed to be any other petitioners that day though. Twilight remained without a move, but nevertheless she called, “Come in.”
The door opened, the doorknob glowing in golden aura, and Celestia walked in, smiling as always, a stack of papers floating behind her. “I heard some shouting from here few minutes ago, so I figured the audiences reached the end,” she said with a chuckle and placed the papers on Twilight’s table. “It was the one from Fillydelphia demanding funds to build a hotel, right?”
Twilight groaned in annoyance. She almost managed to push the experience out of her head, now having to deal with the memory of it once more. “Yes. Insufferable, full of himself, nonsense-blabbering fool who thinks he knows best what this land needs. That actually applies to most of them.”
Since she became princess, Twilight had to deal with enormous amount of ponies bringing drafts of various laws and projects, most of them extremely drastic, stupid, discriminating, costly or all of the above. The nobility sensed young inexperienced mind and decided to press on the seemingly weakest spot of the government. They soon learnt how foolish their assumption was, but the word travelled slowly, so there were still those from far away cities who tried their luck.
“How did you know about him, by the way? I thought my schedule wasn’t prepared for today, the petitioners coming as they wanted,” Twilight inquired, one eyebrow rising a bit. “Do you want some tea, by the way?”
“No, thank you, Twilight. I will be going shortly. But to answer your question, that pony originally wasn’t one of your petitioners. He wanted to bring it to me, but I had no power left to deal with such nuisance. Thanks for handling him.” A mischievous smile appeared on Celestia’s lips. Twilight’s frown deepened though.
“You are welcome. Feel free to send me all the work you don’t want to deal with,” she muttered, glancing at the papers. “Oh, you did. Well done indeed.”
“Don’t be like that, Twilight. We all have duties we don’t like, but have to perform. Next time it may be you who will delegate something to me. As for these, could you look at these drafts? They require signature of only one princess to come in force, so they are completely up to you.”
That doesn’t mean much. She surely removed anything she didn’t agree with before she brought them. Typical.
“I will look at them in a minute, as soon as I calm down from that damn stallion.”
“Very well then. I will leave you to it. Can I expect you at the dinner?” Gaining a nod from Twilight, Celestia left the office, shutting the door quietly. Twilight reached for the papers and started reading them, wishing to be done with it and retreat to her chambers for the rest of the day. Most of them fit into the usual categories of outrageous laws no responsible ruler would allow to pass; Twilight suspected Celestia included those to test her, but that might have been her growing paranoia. Golden armors for town guards, required stem length of grass on public places, special tax for pegasi designated as ‘feather cleaning charge’, she was throwing them into the bin one after another. One of the drafts caught her attention though.
“Ten percent pay raise for royal post employees? That doesn’t sound that bad. They even included a plan where to spare the money for that. I should speak with the sponsor, they look like a decent mind, something rare around here.” She was about to add her signature, but then reread the part about gaining the funds. “That allows more than ten percent though. Well, the last word on laws belongs to the princess.” She changed the number to fifteen and added her signature to the document. “We all have duties. We might not like some of them, but we still need to perform them. Thank you, Ditzy. Hopefully this will help you like you helped me.”
Calm down, Lightning. It is like any other part of the training. Meaning you will give it your all. Breathing? In check. Windspeed? Western, ten miles per hour, need to compensate...
“Atteeeeention!” Spitfire marched in front of the cadets and strolled from one side of the line to the other. “Welcome to the ranking race. It will determine your training plan for the second year in the Academy.”
...Sun? Fifty degrees up the horizon, south by southeast, possibly blinding. So it’s a very important race; still giving it all. Humidity? Irelevant. It will probably vary in different sections…
“The race consists of five parts: warm-up, strength, dexterity, precision and endurance. Nothing new for you, we trained all of them, just on a different track. New stage, same tricks, just like Wonderbolts shows”
I need to pace myself. This is no regular fly-through. They cancelled the training for the afternoon even. Stay concentrated and it will be ok. Just don’t fall out of rhythm or…
“But be warned. There is one difference from the training. If you miss an obstacle, choose incorrect speed or crash into something, you have to start the section from the beginning and you gain a strike. Pony with three strikes is disqualified… and will join the newbies group for two weeks. Same goes for everypony who doesn’t finish and for the last three.”
...or that will happen. But it won’t happen to me! No more failures. Now just to…
“You have ten minutes to do your stretches and hydrate yourself. Then the start countdown begins. Dismissed!”
...yes, that. Well let’s get started. Forelegs, hindlegs, back and tail. Squats and crouches, unfold wings to full extend, flap and level, fold again. Are the feathers in right position? This one goes and this one needs correction. Good, now again from the sta-
“Hey, Lightning!
Lightning jumped into the air. “Gah! Rainbow! Why did you sneak on me like that?”
“You should see your face now!” Rainbow managed to say between fits of laughter. When she regained her composure again, she continued, “but me sneaking on you? Hardly. You were just so caught up in your little break dance that you ignored your surroundings!”
“So I stretch a bit more lively than others. Big deal. And you can tell me something about ignoring things after how you hit that cloud yesterday,” Lightning countered. “Geez it was big like Celestia’s plot, where were you looking? At Soarin’s work out?” By how red Rainbow’s cheeks turned and how indignant she looked Lightning realized she guessed it. “Hey, just teasing. Are you looking forward to the race?”
“Definitely!” Rainbow beamed at the mention of the competition and completely forgot about her embarrassment. “It will be a blast! Here, I brought you some water. With how diligently you like to warm up you wouldn’t make it in time. You have to teach me that set soon though.”
“Sure will, and thanks, Rainbow.” Lightning took the bottle of water from Rainbow and downed it at once. “Best of luck today, though you won’t even need it.”
“As if you will.” Rainbow jabbed Lightning playfully in the ribs as they walked to the startline, taking position in opposite halves, though not at the ends of the line.
Spitfire soon returned and gave each competitor a number. “Alright everypony. Who’s absent is disqualified. On your marks!” The ponies stepped to the line. “Get set!” They crouched down to get a better start. “Go!”
No rush. Perfect start. No need to strain myself now. That group at the front began too fast, they will hardly make it to the finish. Heh they even got in front of the assigned tempo giver. I should talk to them later… Is Whirlwind forming V-formation? Great!
Lightning fell into place in the formation as if she was born there, not losing a single beat. Glancing to the left she spotted Rainbow at the same position in the opposite wing. Sheltered by her fellow fliers diverting the wind from her, Lightning made the best of it by warming herself to her favourite flight temperature.
One more lap to go, then the strength part. Goodness, are those cloud canons? This will be fun! But the others are just as much threat here. I have to get free.
The V-formation broke as soon as the tenth lap was finished and their speeds differentiated according to their chosen tactic. Lightning and Rainbow both sped forward, entering the second section about fifteen seconds after the overeager group. They could manage to get ahead of them already, but why pass up on an offer of free test subjects?
Seems the cloud canons were just the beginning. Wow! I wouldn't spot that side wind! Poor colt. I will give him some cider for that info… After I pull him out of that cloud… After the race. Gah! Hailstones in headwind?! Oh come on!
When they cleared the strength section, Rainbow was about two lengths in front of Lightning. She made her approval of that known with a loud catcall and increasing her speed further. Lightning just shrugged, knowing her friend too well to be surprised. The day Rainbow wouldn’t celebrate this would be the day Rainbow would die.
I wonder how the others are doing. No, no time to glance back, the dexterity part is too close. They sure know how to cramp tons of cloud rings in limited space. Did they put mirrors over there? Tricky! The sun is bad enough without them! Where is Rainbow anyway?
“Hey, Lightning! Do a barrel roll!” The call was followed by a blast of wind as Rainbow circled Lightning, her belly always facing the other pegasus. She flew a bit ahead and continued flying backwards facing Lightning. “I love this!”
Lighting, keeping a close eye on the obstacle course prepared for them, suddenly gasped. “Ten degrees to your right, twenty degrees up!” Without thinking, Rainbow followed the shouted command and passed through the next ring. She adopted a slightly shocked expression, but shook it off quickly and turned to fly facing the right way again.
“Thanks, Lightning!”
“You’re welcome, you goof!” Lightning shouted in response. She won’t stop that nonsense. Well, who am I to tell her how much energy she has? I just hope she won’t regret this. Though her tricks look awesome! Last ring… that means precision test is here. And if I remember correctly, that one is based on… TURBULENCES!
Lightning dropped about hundred feet before the pressure evened up and then she shot up again using the rotor placed on the ground to gain an extra push. Once up, she noticed several red and blue flags in various altitudes sticking from clouds in all possible angles.
Three-dimensional slalom! My favourite! Rainbow was right, this is a blast. Though I should take it easy. The endurance part won’t fly itself and Spitfire probably made it really long.
Emerging from the labyrinth of clouds, Lightning saw two lines of clouds marking the intended race track. Rainbow kept her lead, but wasn’t too far away, apparently waiting for her friend. Flying long distances got easier the more ponies partook. More fun as well. Without a single word needed they aligned and regularly switched positions to allow the other one some rest. After a while they arrived to a sign sticking from a cloud.
Twenty-five miles to go? I knew Spitfire was bonkers, but this is ridiculous! Better speed up a bit, I don’t want to miss lunch!
When the signs placed along the track showed that they had ten miles to go, Lightning realized Rainbow began to falter when she was supposed to lead. Concerned, Lightning fell in place next to her friend. “What’s up, Rainbow? Are you ok?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine. Just… I guess I overestimated my reserves back in the dexterity section. Now it came to bite me in the flank.” Rainbow looked genuinely ashamed of her current situation, averting her eyes as she could. “Look, just fly ahead, I will get this alright. You won this fair and square.”
Lightning’s lips curled in half smirk and half smile. “Oh I sure did win this, but I want you to see me cross the finish line. So it looks like I will have to lead you to the finish. Just keep behind me and shout if you want me to slow down.”
“I would rather fall from the sky than slow down!” Rainbow shouted, but followed the instructions and kept close behind Lightning.
“That can easily happen if you don’t shout.”
They flew with slightly lessened speed as all the hard work lay on Lightning now, but despite that they soon saw the checkered flags of the finish. Lightning then turned to Rainbow and raised an eyebrow.
“Do you want to race me to the finish? It would be fun.” Rainbow only smirked and with mock-bow gestured to the finish line. “Alright. See you there. We should grab some lunch then.” Lightning shot forward to make her arrival at least spectacular.
Once each cadet crossed the finish line and no longer had to push themselves, several breathed heavily and drank as much water as they could trying to cool their burning bodies. Out of all of them, Lightning Dust seemed to be the least tired as she held back enough during the events to lead both herself and Rainbow to the finish. After a congratulations from her fellow cadets and some of the Wonderbolts, she showered up and waited for Rainbow to do the same before they headed to the cafeteria as planned. Once they returned to the room though, well fed and content, they made a silent agreement on the following program: napping.
The next day, Lightning Dust was invited into the Officer’s club of the academy, a lounging area where cadets and staff could relax in their spare time. Spitfire wanted to see her in the private room which was normally reserved for Wonderbolts. She knocked on the door which prompted a response from the captain inside.
“Come in.”
Lightning obeyed and opened the door to see Spitfire at the bar, more relaxed than what was typical for her.
“Come, have a seat.”
“So what is this all about, captain?” Lighting said helping herself to a drink.
“First off, we’re off duty. You can just call me Spitfire. Now, I wanted to meet with you to discuss something.”
Lightning’s ears perked up, curious to know what Spitfire wanted to talk about.
“Well, I’ve been talking with the other Wonderbolts and we’ve been evaluating your results on the exam. You displayed some very nice skill during the course run.”
“Thank you.”
“And you’ve come quite a long way from when you first started. I’ve noticed you are more restrained in your flying. Do you know why you placed first? Because you paced yourself. You didn’t just give it your all, you used it when it was most important.”
“Um, what exactly do you mean?”
“Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? First, I noticed you didn’t go straight for the lead in the first event. You and Rainbow Dash both kind of kicked back and let everypony else fight it out. Then in the strength event, you kept calm instead of flying ahead. I could go on about the exam forever, but the point of the matter is, you showed discipline and it allowed you to come out on top.”
“Maybe if I’d done that when I arrived at the academy, I would be able to celebrate with my family.”
Spitfire stopped in the middle of her drink before slowly putting her glass down. “Look Lightning Dust, I’m just as much at fault as you. You pushing your limits might have caused… you know what, but it was I who didn’t do anything about it. Maybe if I had exerted more of that authority I have, we could have prevented that. I’m… sorry about your father.”
Lightning Dust exhaled a pseudo cough to prevent any awkward silence before moving on. “So um, did you need anything else?”
“Oh yes. Well, my point is that the other Wonderbolts and I were talking with each other and well, we have come to a decision.” Spitfire cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Lightning Dust, I am offering you a position in the Wonderbolts.”
Lightning’s eyes widened. “Me? A place in the Wonderbolts? But… why?”
“We normally don’t do this, but I can clearly see you have what it takes to be a Wonderbolt. You’re not just fast and skilled, but as I said earlier, you are disciplined and I think you’ve earned a place with us. So what do you say?”
“What do I say? Well… that's actually a very good question.”
As much as Lightning Dust wanted to take the offer, there was a nagging doubt in the back of her mind. She’d strived for a long time to get up to this point. All the sweat and blood went into the hard work and now it was paying off. Yet as she was pondering, she had realized she was less… excited than she expected.
This may be my big chance to get back with my family. And not only that, I’ll be a Wonderbolt! I’ll get to live my dream AND celebrate with dad. But then what about my new friends? Canvas seemed really friendly and Twilight said she would help me if I helped her. And now that she’s a princess, she doesn’t seem to be enjoying it. So, would I enjoy being a Wonderbolt? So far, all that happened since I enrolled into the academy was I got disowned by my family. I mean sure, I have a friend in Rainbow Dash, but it’s always been her dream to be a Wonderbolt. What will she think of me when I graduate a year early from everypony else? Then there is the possibility that I still wouldn’t secure my family, and I would definitely lose my new friends for sure.
Lighting Dust pondered on for a long time, almost forgetting about her captain who was sitting with her. Why was that one simple question making her feel so conflicted? Spitfire was getting a little nervous when Lighting Dust took longer to respond than she had expected, especially when the mare in question took quick shots of her drink while looking down. Her body language clearly stated this mare wasn’t as happy as she should have been. Spitfire was wondering if she’d only added to the fire.
“Look Lighting Dust, if you don’t feel like you’re up to it-”
“No, no!” Lighting interrupted. “It’s just a lot to take in. Something like this so suddenly, I will have to think about it.”
“Of course. Take as long as you need.”
Lighting Dust spent the rest of the day pondering about the choice she was offered. She wanted so desperately to talk to her best friend Rainbow Dash, but Spitfire told her it had to be quiet from the other cadets; she figured because they didn’t want to seem like they were playing favorites. During the night, she tried to rest, but she just couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t because of her roommate snoring; she’d gotten used to it during the training season. Everything that she worked for was paying off and she knew Rainbow Dash would be happy for her.
I don’t get it. this is the chance of a lifetime… So why can’t I feel happy for myself?
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
791 users online
968,257 hits today, 1,822,946 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.®
Hm, I think you actually caught the right angle in displaying Celestia here. She want to make Twilight her +1 vote and making sure that Twili won't make any actual decisions, Celestia basically is a puppet-master, but doesn't know that her main puppet cut the strings already.
I applause you for the great chapter and I hope you'll show us how Celestia actually work on the inside while basically using Twilight as a pawn, it would be really great to see how twisted on the inside she is.
4222579 Funny you should say that, because coming in a sooner chapter will be a point where Celestia is called out on that.
The calling of Elysium has changed the dreams of so many. Lighting Dust having second thoughts on her dream? Twilight becoming more disillusioned with every day spent as a princess? A secret portal?
Still interesting. I'll be sticking around.
Of Celestia... ever heard of the old saying: Give a man enough rope and he'll hang himself? You just keep digging your hole deeper and deeper. Great chapter, it's nice to see the effect Elysium is having on Lightning Dust, especially since she initially seemed like she would jump at the chance to go back to how things were. I think she's starting to get into the mind set the big picture. Great chapter, keep goin and stay golden^^
P.S. Please tell me that you aren't just building this frustration with Celestia up. Everyone DREAMS of watching an antagonist (this isn't simply about hero or villain, but about the opposition to the main character) fall, especially when they are at their peak. Watching someone revered as a god fall is what I'm looking forward to...
4225198 LD's is Temperance, which embodies patience, abstention, and self-restraint. Basically forgoing pleasures in favor of the long run, so seeing the big picture of things is natural for her in this project.
As for the build up, I assure you it has a payoff. In an upcoming chapter, everything boils over and everyone feels the consequences, specifically Twilight and those associated with her (that is Spike, her family, the mane5, Celestia, and her new friends to a small extent). We have chapters coming up that also shows how the fallout affects the nation, and Equestria suffers for it.