Twilight's appreciation for the beauty of the night sky has only increased with Luna's return, especially after they meet to discuss her latest addition. One meeting becomes two, becomes a regular outing, it's no wonder they would grow
Why, Twilight Sparkle, I figured after all these years you'd recognise a giddy Rarity when it happens in front of your nose.
Another wonderful chapter. The letter from Celestia was a really nice touch and really served to bring the conflict from Luna's first visit to a close in a way that would truly put Twilight at ease. There's nopony whose word she respects more than Celestia's, after all, and Celestia really was the right pony here to calm Twilight down.
Her remark about Luna's personality caught my attention. As you may recall, I've been studying Luna's behaviour in this story quite closely and at times was left feeling puzzled by it. It was so in the first visit to Twilight, but it also happened last chapter when they were visiting the painter. I finally realised perhaps why it is that I'm so often left confused after reading about Luna. It's not that Luna's behaviour is in any shape or form bad, in the sense that it's pulling me from the story. Quite the opposite. I'm confused in the sense that I'm trying to figure out how this character works, thinks and functions, and had a hard time figuring it out.
Now, I think it's become clear to me. I had my suspicions after last chapter, but now I'm quite certain. I think you managed to do something that very, and I do mean very, few authors have managed to accurately portray. You have managed to make the fact that Luna is from a different time tangeable and noticable, which is quite an achievement and I do mean it as a compliment. I don't mean Luna being from a different time as in her being unused to new technology and discoveries or a few social customs. I'm talking about a different time as in a different mindset, which is an entirely different beast to tackle in writing all together.
A thousand years ago society was very different, that's a given, but to us living in the now it's hard to truly grasp this. Oh, sure, we can see the obvious things, such as in Luna eclipsed, when Luna used old customs like the Royal Canterlot Voice, or when she would come muzzle to muzzle with new technology. But in the end, such things are rather superficial and showing a time-displaced character in this manner is not that hard. However, on top of different technology and social etiquette, it goes without saying that the mindset of ponies and society as a whole was different as well. The Royal Canterlot Voice as shown in the show offers a glimpse into it, but it doesn't delve into the "thinking" that goes into such things.
And that's the great thing about this story and your portrayal of Luna. You don't show us only how she's at times confused by new technology or new discoveries or how she lapses into old speech or old customs, but you show us why she does this and how she thinks. Luna is still operating by a mindset of a thousand years ago. Back then, for example, it was alright to be as blunt, brusque and harsh as she was to the painter. It was the way of things, how royalty and subjects were supposed to interact, and how society expected it to be. Clearly this has changed, as is shown by the contrast of Celestia's behaviour to the painter.
Luna still acts and does things based on what was okay and socially acceptable a thousand years ago, which is only natural. She's been a way for a thousand years and now she has to catch up. But she doesn't just have to catch up on laws or protocol or scientific discoveries and technological advancements, she has to catch up on a mindset. And that is much harder to accomplish than any of the previously mentioned things, as changing a mindset, changing how you think, cannot be learned from books (at least not directly).
Luna's behaviour at times in the story bugged me because I couldn't quite understand it, but now I think I do. She didn't mock Twilight or was so brusque and condescending to the painter because she was in any way mean or cruel, but because that was what was socially acceptable for her a thousand years ago. A thousand years ago, nopony would have looked up from her behaviour at all, it was the norm, it was what she knew and what ponies knew and expected from their Princess. It was never a case of her being mean or rude, it was just how things were. But those things, that mindset, has changed, and she's still trying to find her footing with it and adjust to it. I'm sure Celestia is doing her best to steer her sister into this new millenium without too many bumps in the road, but as shown already twice in this story, it's still not going to be a smooth ride all the way.
It is, however, a good ride and I must once again congratulate you on what you've done here. Capturing the essence of a mind estranged from the socially accepted mindset through time-displacement is a very tough thing to do, but just like the love between Celestia and Luna, you managed to do so with flying colours. You write the characters of the princesses excellently, in a way few authors here can match, better than anything I could ever hope to do, for sure.
Now, I could of course be entirely wrong about my analysis of Luna's character here, but that's how it interpreted it. Looking very much forward to the next chapter!
4959296 Thanks... it's been a pain, let me tell you.
4958871 I'll be honest, I didn't really want to put the letter in. It's very 'on the nose' about things that I was trying hard to demonstrate through Luna's actions. Had it not been for the unresolved nature of Twilight and Luna's first encounter, I would not have put it in.
As it was, Celestia either intervened, or risked Luna being even more alone than before. In order for the intervention to be successful, both Twilight and Luna would need to understand where the other is coming from, thus the explanation of Luna's behavior.
I think I've said it before, but one of the things I run into is how poorly people extrapolate one character's actions when viewing them through the eyes of a different character.
Knowing what you do now, I would love to have you re-read the argument in chapter two and imagine it from Luna's perspective. What must she have been thinking as she related Celestia's short coming, when Twilight told her she couldn't speak about Celestia like that, when Twilight spoke those final words? I would love to know if Twilight comes across as anything more than a spoiled brat.
I wonder what inspired this update. Couldn't have been the lunestia collab, could it? With as many prompts as you were putting out, I was wondering if you'd ever get back to this!
Glad to see you've not gone my way and ignored your actual stories completely. (As i have. Been working on lining it them out, though.)
I enjoyed the picture frame joke. I'm sure that it's as old as the ages, given its subject matter, but I've never heard it before. The rest of the chapter was good, as well, and I'm looking forward to Twilight's epiphany.
4961143 Stars exist on a three dimensional plain that rotates in an elliptical path not centered on the planet. Basically it's the difference between solving with algebra and calculus.
What happened is that you told Rarity that you're in love with Luna. That, or you said that the universe exploded. ...My eyes aren't working today, so either works. That should answer your question, Baldy McNosehair.
Had the wood not been petrified, she would have expected it to catch fire from the sheer excess of aether absorbed.
Doen't make sense, cause Aether is simply what the greek's thought the material that made up space was. However they didn't think it had any special properties or uses and was basically seen as a material version of nothing. Thus that quote makes no sense what so every, cause you're basically saying the book takes in Nothingness and that nothingness dose things to objects that absorb it. In the future I would suggest using mana or energy as your driving magical element, even make up something.
4995736 It's always good to know that, even over half a year ago, the art of finding really dumb things to complain about was alive and well. What's more, you've even managed to fixate on something that you think everyone else doesn't already know with the single minded determination of those who don't get many opportunities to demonstrate just how impressively clever they are. I would compliment how well you maintained your suspension of disbelief while simultaneously ignoring the fact that the work is a piece of fantasy, but I'm worried that if I continue along this line you might start to think I'm being sincere.
But hey, keep being an ineffectual pedant if you really want.
I would request most sincerely that you refrain from addressing my loyal subjects with such vitriolic distain. Respect is to be maintained at all times in all communications while visiting my domain. You see, I take my duties as Landgrave very seriously and any breech of the Princesses' Peace is unacceptable. Failure to meet these standards will be met with a response both swift and harsh.
Please keep this in mind during the duration of your stay and in any subsequent visits.
The Landgrave
p.s. My most recent Master Crier seems to have misplaced his head, and I find myself in need of a replacement.
Though Luna’s tone and approach were far from sensitive, she was not lying when she told you that I held little love for math in my younger years. I have learned to appreciate it more in the centuries since, but I do still find many of its higher concepts difficult to grasp. Luna, on the other hoof, has always found even the most abstract theories to be ‘pleasant challenges to fill an eve’. I always envied her, and indeed you, that ability.
Poor, poor Princesses. Rarity has the scent and that spells drama. Lively and lovely chapter
...Rarity is going to ruin lives.
Not entirely sure why Luna's age factors into the equation, but I'm sure it's not just an errant thing, it probably matters somewhere later.
Why, Twilight Sparkle, I figured after all these years you'd recognise a giddy Rarity when it happens in front of your nose.
Another wonderful chapter. The letter from Celestia was a really nice touch and really served to bring the conflict from Luna's first visit to a close in a way that would truly put Twilight at ease. There's nopony whose word she respects more than Celestia's, after all, and Celestia really was the right pony here to calm Twilight down.
Her remark about Luna's personality caught my attention. As you may recall, I've been studying Luna's behaviour in this story quite closely and at times was left feeling puzzled by it. It was so in the first visit to Twilight, but it also happened last chapter when they were visiting the painter. I finally realised perhaps why it is that I'm so often left confused after reading about Luna. It's not that Luna's behaviour is in any shape or form bad, in the sense that it's pulling me from the story. Quite the opposite. I'm confused in the sense that I'm trying to figure out how this character works, thinks and functions, and had a hard time figuring it out.
Now, I think it's become clear to me. I had my suspicions after last chapter, but now I'm quite certain. I think you managed to do something that very, and I do mean very, few authors have managed to accurately portray. You have managed to make the fact that Luna is from a different time tangeable and noticable, which is quite an achievement and I do mean it as a compliment. I don't mean Luna being from a different time as in her being unused to new technology and discoveries or a few social customs. I'm talking about a different time as in a different mindset, which is an entirely different beast to tackle in writing all together.
A thousand years ago society was very different, that's a given, but to us living in the now it's hard to truly grasp this. Oh, sure, we can see the obvious things, such as in Luna eclipsed, when Luna used old customs like the Royal Canterlot Voice, or when she would come muzzle to muzzle with new technology. But in the end, such things are rather superficial and showing a time-displaced character in this manner is not that hard. However, on top of different technology and social etiquette, it goes without saying that the mindset of ponies and society as a whole was different as well. The Royal Canterlot Voice as shown in the show offers a glimpse into it, but it doesn't delve into the "thinking" that goes into such things.
And that's the great thing about this story and your portrayal of Luna. You don't show us only how she's at times confused by new technology or new discoveries or how she lapses into old speech or old customs, but you show us why she does this and how she thinks. Luna is still operating by a mindset of a thousand years ago. Back then, for example, it was alright to be as blunt, brusque and harsh as she was to the painter. It was the way of things, how royalty and subjects were supposed to interact, and how society expected it to be. Clearly this has changed, as is shown by the contrast of Celestia's behaviour to the painter.
Luna still acts and does things based on what was okay and socially acceptable a thousand years ago, which is only natural. She's been a way for a thousand years and now she has to catch up. But she doesn't just have to catch up on laws or protocol or scientific discoveries and technological advancements, she has to catch up on a mindset. And that is much harder to accomplish than any of the previously mentioned things, as changing a mindset, changing how you think, cannot be learned from books (at least not directly).
Luna's behaviour at times in the story bugged me because I couldn't quite understand it, but now I think I do. She didn't mock Twilight or was so brusque and condescending to the painter because she was in any way mean or cruel, but because that was what was socially acceptable for her a thousand years ago. A thousand years ago, nopony would have looked up from her behaviour at all, it was the norm, it was what she knew and what ponies knew and expected from their Princess. It was never a case of her being mean or rude, it was just how things were. But those things, that mindset, has changed, and she's still trying to find her footing with it and adjust to it. I'm sure Celestia is doing her best to steer her sister into this new millenium without too many bumps in the road, but as shown already twice in this story, it's still not going to be a smooth ride all the way.
It is, however, a good ride and I must once again congratulate you on what you've done here. Capturing the essence of a mind estranged from the socially accepted mindset through time-displacement is a very tough thing to do, but just like the love between Celestia and Luna, you managed to do so with flying colours. You write the characters of the princesses excellently, in a way few authors here can match, better than anything I could ever hope to do, for sure.
Now, I could of course be entirely wrong about my analysis of Luna's character here, but that's how it interpreted it. Looking very much forward to the next chapter!
That buildup! It's moving along swimmingly!
4958677 4958740
A real lady never gossips about her friends...
4958822
Egotism isn't enough of an excuse?
4959296
Thanks... it's been a pain, let me tell you.
4958871
I'll be honest, I didn't really want to put the letter in. It's very 'on the nose' about things that I was trying hard to demonstrate through Luna's actions. Had it not been for the unresolved nature of Twilight and Luna's first encounter, I would not have put it in.
As it was, Celestia either intervened, or risked Luna being even more alone than before. In order for the intervention to be successful, both Twilight and Luna would need to understand where the other is coming from, thus the explanation of Luna's behavior.
I think I've said it before, but one of the things I run into is how poorly people extrapolate one character's actions when viewing them through the eyes of a different character.
Knowing what you do now, I would love to have you re-read the argument in chapter two and imagine it from Luna's perspective. What must she have been thinking as she related Celestia's short coming, when Twilight told her she couldn't speak about Celestia like that, when Twilight spoke those final words? I would love to know if Twilight comes across as anything more than a spoiled brat.
I wonder what inspired this update. Couldn't have been the lunestia collab, could it? With as many prompts as you were putting out, I was wondering if you'd ever get back to this!
Glad to see you've not gone my way and ignored your actual stories completely. (As i have. Been working on lining
itthem out, though.)4959638
What can I say, incestuous lesbian pony princesses inspire me.
I enjoyed the picture frame joke. I'm sure that it's as old as the ages, given its subject matter, but I've never heard it before. The rest of the chapter was good, as well, and I'm looking forward to Twilight's epiphany.
4959696
I can say much the same. Though, intersperse that with some Twilight. Can't argue when I want to write my OT3.
Threesome! Threesome! Threesome!
I'm about 98% sure you can't do that with math.
4961143
Stars exist on a three dimensional plain that rotates in an elliptical path not centered on the planet. Basically it's the difference between solving with algebra and calculus.
4960475
Oreo! Oreo! Oreo!
Excellent chapter
4958871 i am pretty sure you nailed that one man. Great observations.
4971211
Nay, good sir! The dearth of proper knowledge... tis astounding! Thy proper understanding is most heartening.
What happened is that you told Rarity that you're in love with Luna. That, or you said that the universe exploded. ...My eyes aren't working today, so either works. That should answer your question, Baldy McNosehair.
Umm small nitpick here, but the line
Doen't make sense, cause Aether is simply what the greek's thought the material that made up space was. However they didn't think it had any special properties or uses and was basically seen as a material version of nothing. Thus that quote makes no sense what so every, cause you're basically saying the book takes in Nothingness and that nothingness dose things to objects that absorb it. In the future I would suggest using mana or energy as your driving magical element, even make up something.
WOAH THERE!
...
I'M 5 CHAPTERS BEHIND!
4995736
It's always good to know that, even over half a year ago, the art of finding really dumb things to complain about was alive and well.
What's more, you've even managed to fixate on something that you think everyone else doesn't already know with the single minded determination of those who don't get many opportunities to demonstrate just how impressively clever they are.
I would compliment how well you maintained your suspension of disbelief while simultaneously ignoring the fact that the work is a piece of fantasy, but I'm worried that if I continue along this line you might start to think I'm being sincere.
But hey, keep being an ineffectual pedant if you really want.
4961143 You are 2% correct.
5981187
Dear noncitizen,
I would request most sincerely that you refrain from addressing my loyal subjects with such vitriolic distain. Respect is to be maintained at all times in all communications while visiting my domain. You see, I take my duties as Landgrave very seriously and any breech of the Princesses' Peace is unacceptable. Failure to meet these standards will be met with a response both swift and harsh.
Please keep this in mind during the duration of your stay and in any subsequent visits.
The Landgrave
p.s.
My most recent Master Crier seems to have misplaced his head, and I find myself in need of a replacement.
For that