• Published 2nd May 2012
  • 7,043 Views, 266 Comments

Never Judge A Book By Its Cover - LightStriker



A filly Earth Pony has a cutie mark related to magic. Is pony society ready for her?

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Apologies

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I wish you to read this whole letter before passing judgment, which I hope, could salvage our friendship. I know it is ironic that I'm asking you to do what I failed to do multiple times myself; with you at Cadance's wedding and with Azure, when you asked me to become her teacher.

There are no words strong enough to express how sorry I am. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize for my behavior.

When Luna came back with Azure a month ago and claimed she was taking her as student, I thought it was a foolish idea but I didn't argue with her decision. My sister needed the company of other ponies even if this experiment would prove fruitless. On this point, I was right. I haven't seen my sister that happy in well over a millennium. She now has a new purpose beside raising the Moon at dusk. I would have been the worst monster to keep her from this happiness. Her smile was enough to keep me from voicing my opinion.

But how wrong was I about this young filly. When I read the spell diagrams she drew, genius is the only word that comes to my mind. She reminds me of you at her age. It makes my heart ache when I’m thinking that without Luna, I would have prevented such talent to bloom.

However, I've started to fully understand my errors only a few days ago when I went to my school's archives and pulled the records of the entrance exam of the last five hundred years. I was devastated when I found out that ten pegasi and eight earth ponies attempted the exam and were turned back without even being tested.

Were they as talented as Azure? Did I destroy eighteen lives, passions and ponies' futures? How much knowledge and discovery did I prevent from occurring by not knowing better? How many more never managed to reach the entrance exam of my school? Ignorance in this case has no place, I simply have no excuse.

This week I gave the order to rename my school to "Celestia's School for Ponies Gifted in Magic". I haven't really been surprised when I received complaint letters and the resignation from three of the school's teachers. But every time I receive one letter against my decision, I only need to look outside, in the castle garden, at Luna and Azure as they train and design new incredible spells and I know I've made the right decision. Not because my brain tells me it is the natural way things should be, but because my heart shouts it is right.

This time, you were the teacher and I was the student. Am I too old, too inflexible to be able to learn without damaging the few friendships I have left? Or was it a reminder that I should never take anything for granted and that I should question everything around me that I thought was right? Am I unable to keep up with how fast our world is changing?

When I first meet you, if you had not been a unicorn, I wouldn't have taken you as a student. That would have been, without any doubt, the worst mistake of my life, I understand that now. Even if you were not a unicorn, there is no doubt in my mind you would still be the Element of Magic and you would still be a shining star. I hope you will find a way to forgive my foolishness.

Your friend, Celestia.

Celestia was sitting on her carpet as she watched the letter burning in her fireplace, knowing very well Spike would receive it in a few seconds. She looked at her school's records still on her floor. How much did she cry when she found out about them. How can she weight the future of a young pony, prevented from happening because of her own stupidity.

She asked her assistants to find if any of the ponies on those lists were still alive. Hopefully some would still be and she wanted to apologize in person. It was the least she could do. And with luck, some might have retained the passion for their talents.

She had never been good at apologizing and in the past terrible things happened because she was unable to admit her errors. Those last events actually made her wonder if she really had learned the lessons. Friendship is simply too important to put in jeopardy with some misplaced pride. She should have run after Twilight a month ago.

"Princess?"

The voice made Celestia jump in surprised. She looked over her room finding it still empty until Twilight appeared out of thin air as if she simply stepped in the room. "Twilight!"

Twilight blushed. "I'm sorry Princess, I didn't mean to intrude. I tried to arrive outside your room, but I guess I still don't control Azure's teleporting spell that well."

A small smile formed on Celestia's face. "I'm impressed you managed to do it, there's a wall missing in the atrium from my last attempt."

Twilight coughed and brought forth a serious facade. "I'm here to talk about your letter."

"Yes?"

"I accept your apologies... But only with three conditions." Twilight explained.

Celestia tilted her head in surprise. It wasn't going as she thought it would, she was expecting refusal or acceptation. She thought about it and there wasn't a condition that Twilight could ask that she would refuse. "I'm listening."

It's when you lose something that you truly understand how important it was for you. Twilight's friendship? I would give up my crown if it meant not losing her respect.

"First, I want you to apologize to Azure." Twilight said, obviously following a mental checklist.

Celestia nodded. "I already did, but if you want, I can make it more official."

Twilight smiled. "No need. Second, in the future, I want you to listen to me when I'm telling you something. I know I'm still young and naive, but I'm not bringing something to you if I don't think it's important."

Celestia nodded once more. "You're right. More than once I should have listened to you. I promise you I will put all my efforts into being more patient and attentive."

"And finally..." Twilight started. "I want you to never stop questioning how things are. There's always way to improve how we live, but if our leaders stop looking forward, we will stagnate and perish."

Celestia raised her head, surprised at the last 'condition'. "Do you... Do you think I'm too old to lead Equestria?"

Twilight sat down and stared at the fireplace. "I don't know. How do you feel?"

She took a few moments to think about it. "I do feel old, as if the world has changed but I didn't notice it."

"And how do you feel when you watch Azure?" Twilight asked.

Images of the young filly with her sister came to her mind, bringing a bright smile on her face. "As if the future was full of promises."

"As long as you work for tomorrow to be brighter than yesterday, as long as your heart beats for those promises, you're can never be too old."

Celestia tilted her head in surprised. "Twilight, when did you become so spiritual?"

Twilight laughed. "I had a lot of time to think about in that last month, waiting for your letter to arrive."

A sincere smile slowly came to Celestia's face. She grew so much since the moment I took her as my student. she thought with pride. "Today, you were the teacher and I was the student. You're a good teacher, you know? I guess I still have much to learn. Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"Please never change, your heart is in the right place."

Comments ( 134 )

"raising the Moon at dawn"

shouldn't it be "raising the Moon at dusk"?

564302 Owwww... FIXED! :facehoof:

Thanks.

Loved it

Well this story is certainly evolving, glad I was able to offer what little help I could, overall I am very impressed with the originality of the story and I think that Azure's character is very well thought out.
GJ Brony, GJ

Good story bro you could add so much more to it though never stop writing

Short and simple. I like. Azure also seems like a good character to make a reappearance some time.

'Listen to me' lololol. Nicely put!

Short and sweet. Very nice! : )

An excellent series. The idea of magic being special to someone without the ability to use magic is an interesting perspective, one I never would have come up with. I also like stories that create a "science" for magic.

564302 Wait... Moon coming up at dawn? ...Shit, Azure's concepts of magic broke the natural order of things. XD Whoops!

Awesome Story, I really like it. :twilightsmile:
How about making a sequel about Azure and her development, with her Magic and the lots of Canterlot?

621907 That's an idea. And potentially a good one. I will think about it.

1158408 You assume right. :derpytongue2:

I hope it's not THAT bad! :twilightoops:

Your story have a great plot but I find twilight way too emotionally weak :unsuresweetie:

1227092 Maybe. Didn't she lose it only when Celestia showed it in her face?
Now, I'm always open to other opinion... How would you see her react?

Lesson Zero made me believe she isn't always very emotionally stable. :twilightangry2:

1227109
I'd say Pinkie Pie is was the emotionally unstable pony, I see twilight as a extremely perfectionist pony and I even dare to mention a little bit of CDO. (OCD in alphabetical order. [Yeah, not very original, I'll admit.])

So, starting by analyzing this piece of dialog:

"Would you have taken me as a student if I wasn't born as a unicorn?"
"Of course not Twilight, I..."
"I... I can't... I can't believe..." *cries*

Well, Twilight recently discovered about this "Pegasus flies, Unicorn enchant/conjures (?) and Earth ponies plants" stereotype (?), Twilight, a few chapters ago, had never though about how Earth or Pegasus ponies could like magic as much as she does, yet, without explaining anything, she still couldn't believe Celestia wasn't aware of that at the point where she cries and runs away.

(?) - Possibly mistaken because I was trying to use fancy words which I'm not used to :/

Celestia's "Of course not" is too rough too, Twilight just passed from the "angry" expression to "angrier" and Celestia still manages to aimlessly answer the question like that? Okay, nevermind, this part isn't necessary...

So, How would I see her react? Well, I'm no expert so i'll have to keep it simple:
Roll her eyes then explain the situation. Now, that may eat up a entire chapter if you don't add a lot of details, but would be more plausible!

It's not a big issue, it's just something I though could be helpful for you and/or your story.
Let me know if I misunderstood anything, that is.. uhm... if want to...

1227575 You do remember the episode Lesson Zero, right? OCD in this case is an understatement. When Twilight loses her mind for something as simple as a tardy letter to the princess? To me, she is as stable as Pinkie Pie, but Pinkie Pie is more binary... Happy, or not.

Now... From my point of view, Twilight sees Celestia has a mentor that is always right. Nothing short from a goddess.
It happened the exact same way, maybe in a longer version, when Twilight claimed Cadance was mind controlling her brother. Celestia shut down her claims without a second thought.

How would you react if your hero suddenly tells you she got involved with you only because you were born a specific way? That all the efforts you did to learn from her and try to impress her was null and void in a split second. That without that horn, she wouldn't even look at you. That your friendship was based on a lie, that she was friend with you because of what you are, but not who you are.

To me, that's a lot to take all at once. Of course, it's not really true... But Twilight is known to overreact, no? Yes, she could have stayed and argued with the princess... But isn't the princess always right? But that would have been quite boring, and Azure was running away. Also, I wanted Celestia to feel something. It's not easy you know, to make a rock stable ageless ruler of Equestria to admit an error. I doubt arguing would have cut it.

And... I wanted Luna to slap Celestia. :trollestia:

1227662
Alright, It could be Twilight's emotions the reason for her to go crazy on the Lesson Zero.

You say Celestia shut down Twilight's claims without a second thought;
No one believed Twilight at that event, turns out she was right, end of the world? No, she and her friends kicks a ton of changelings and heroically save everyponys flanks. Even the ruler of Equestria would have to trust this pony more in a future occasion.

Now, the thing about Celestia telling Twilight she only is involved with twi because she was born a specific way could get on twi's nerves, I just think she was a bit dramatic. (even if it was coming from a princess.)

I just wanted to tell you what I thought about this story manipulation, I liked the end and now I can understand why you choose this (dramatic) path for the story, thanks for explaining.

1228398 I understand your point. Normally, I would have done a less dramatic story... It was my first try at doing something "emotionnal", so I probably overdid it. :twilightblush:

L4

I already faved on chapter 6 X3.... such an amazing story...

I think Celestia just feel impartial because she'll outlive every pony, with the exceptions of alicorns.

1230566 I feel she is just... sometime... disconnected from what's going on around her. It's not really surprising... Take any leader around the world, and sometime you wonder what the hell are they thinking?

If something is in place for centuries... Why rethink it? Way too many thing we take for granted.

1238022 More like Hawking with quantum void or something like that. Wait... Did Einstein theorized on that too?

This is a very interesting story but it really needs a proofreader. I'm horrible with English myself but there were too many errors even for me. :twistnerd:

1467754 It's not me who would disagree. I'm happy I got a pre-reader for the second part of the story, but it would be pushing to ask him to "fix" my older stories. :twilightblush:

Very good ending... I especially liked how Twilight and Celestia made up (though you could have added more description). the story is a bit rushed in total and I would prefer a greater development of Azure as an OC character. However, still a cohesive story worthy of it's rating and a fine read, with the excellent lesson at the end being a massive cherry on top of the cake.

1490656 1490611 Thanks for the comments. Always welcomed.
I tried to imagine what Twilight was at the age she got her cutie mark. We understand she was already deep in books and was reading a lot about magic.
Allowing for a kind of projection of herself on the filly, just enough so that would tick her ego. Wouldn't Twilight have high standard when it comes to asking questions about magic theory? It wasn't to make the filly better in any way... But to make her good enough for Twilight.

Well... The idea was to do a very short story (<10k) while exploring something that always bugged me in MLP : racist. Somehow, ponies are assumed to fit the role dictated by their races. Earth ponies : Agriculture, Pegasis : Weather, Unicorns : Brain and Art. The name of Celestia's school is something that ticked me. Alright, unicorns are the only one who can perform magic, no problem with that... But a school is only about practical application? Would ponies react if a unicorn was to do some agriculture? Maybe not. (Flim/Flam) But would they react if an earth pony was to become a magic specialist?

If you liked it, you could give the sequel a try. (Purity) It's not finished yet.

(Also, one of the goal was to reduce my word count while increasing the quality... That's... still a work in progress. I re-read it and want to pull my eyes out at some of the mistakes.)

1491073 I did read the sequel in fact. Don't beat yourself over the head too much. I also made a lot of mistakes writing my current story. Its part of being a writer. Your character is much more developed than other ocs I've seen. So keep it up! Commentary on racism is very interesting.

This story is good. It questions how things are, and if they could be made better. Such things led to the end of the Dark Ages in Europe. I know I will enjoy reading the sequel.

Nice ending,

Now I think Celestia next target will be:

Take tittles and cash form all useless nobility ( seriously, in what movie, anime or fanfic nobility even did somethink good ? there are exceptions, but those who thinks are above everyone else usually not care about antyhink than thamself ), give open position for Earth Ponies and Pegasus in Canterlot goverment or whoever is in power so they can have some vote too.

Than try to make peace with Changelings and Diamon Dogs, it will be hard, but on the long run it will take out risk of invasion or ponynapings, and it will prevent changelings from dying from hunter ( who know how many changelings died from hunger or crashing on the ground after they were repeled by shield, and no one from Equestria even care to check do defeated army is injuried or somethink ), hard stuff to do, but worth it.

I will now go to read the sequiel.

1497932 That's the whole point, isn't it? Something unusual that doesn't conform to the society expectation. :twilightsmile:

This is an interesting concept, which I really enjoyed reading, thanks for putting it out there! ;)

The story was a great read, a little short, but I felt it didn't have to be either longer nor shorther,
I like stories that add science to the magic, and, somehow, this is only the second one (or third) that Ive read that does that, and its great :twilightsmile:

Hm, I feel as Im at a lack of words here, but, at least:
Thanks for putting this up here, it was a interesting and good read! Ive also went onto the sequel, which seems to continue the .. "epicness" :facehoof:

Well, anyhow, faved, liked and Im watchin you, hoping that you will continue with the sequel, as I enjoy the way you tell this story ;)
M

1597628 Thanks a lot. No doubt I will continue. Hopefully, I will find other good ideas for sequels. :twilightblush:

Not a bad story chap... Though I did spot more than a few grammar errors when reading this, but other than that, it all seems to be in the clear. Though I sincerely doubt that Celestia would disregard Azure just like that, since everypony has certain magical abilities. I am certain that Celestia would have probably seen more baffling stuff during the time that her sister was gone. And a nice way of Azure's perspective on magic, kinda similar to how I would have done it.... That is, if I got to the idea first. :twilightblush:

1731728 About grammar errors... That's an understatement. :facehoof:
The whole story was based on her school's name specifically stating it was for unicorn. Just a little thing that bugged me in the MLP universe. I don't think she disregarded her "just like that" since she didn't really the chance to argue about it. But it's also a call to our society, things are often accepted because that's the way they used to be, and it obviously make them right. One thing I fear as I get older is to become conservative, just too comfortable in my socks and lose the ability to learn and evolve. :twilightoops:

1731765 By that definition... Well, I fit the description perfectly.
This is a rather troubled case for me in the fandom. What is it?
:ajsleepy: *Sigh* It has to do with both Luna's first official appearance and that of Vinyl's eyes.

Let me ask you this: Do you remember what Luna's personality was like before her official canon was established? The time where Luna was once a timid but both cute and adorable flair to her? The fandom represented her as an introvert, one who would rather barricade herself with tombs and paper, rather than interact with the outside world. And to boot, she was socially... Well, incompetent to say the least. (Progress will identify as much, what with all the awkward interactions that she has with other ponies.)
She means well, but Luna remained a shy but likeable personality.
media.pinkiedb.com/photos/Luna/45084%20-%20artist%20bigponymac%20big_macintosh%20bucket%20bucket_of_syrup%20luna%20progress%20syrup.jpg
She was a character that I could identify with, what with her portrayal nearly fitting my own person. So naturally, when the Halloween episode made it's debut.... To say I was mildly annoyed would be an understatement. It wasn't that I didn't like her canon persona, far from it. What I did mind however was the complete disregard of whatever her persona that was established before that. Today, there is no representation of her S1 form. The Luna that I sorta fell in love with was completely crushed underfoot by the canon that followed afterwards. I suppose you could say that it is the nostalgia talking, but I do miss the fanon representation of the past.... I tried my hand myself to write something with that persona in mind, but.... I am no talented writer. Actually, most of what I produce in trite at best. My fanfics speak that much, sadly enough.

As for Vinyl? Now we are being told to either accept Magenta eyes or GTFO of here. I simply cannot do that when I am used to her portrayal in the usage of her red eyes in terms of symbolism. Now you are telling me you want to throw that completely out the window? Logically, this should be only something trivial. Who cares what her eye color is? Sometimes I feel that I am like one of those Sonic fanboys, stubborn to change. Then I have to ask myself, what's the point? Why bother trying to write a revival of Luna's former splendor when clearly the fandom cares not for that incarnation anymore? Beside from art, her S1 representation is effectively dead. Gone from the world, never to be seen again.
th00.deviantart.net/fs71/200H/i/2011/250/8/d/my_litte_pony_wallpaper_by_shadow_of_destiny-d3lhjm6.png

Then we have this more distant form of Luna.... I honestly cannot identify with this out going personality... Too loud... :fluttershyouch: Perhaps it is vain of me to say this, but I feel that this Luna feels more cold, distant. A barrier between something in common. I like this persona, but I still feel to reminisce of times where her S1 form took the reins.

fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/295/f/d/the_two_lunas_by_furboz-d4dlfm5.jpg

1732110 Well, the fact that those topics made such a controversy is proof that the fandom care a great deal for that kind of thing. Of course, at some point you got to move forward and all... But I still think Luna is an introvert who is socially awkward. To me, the halloween episode didn't break that at all, seeing how hard she had to interact with other ponies. To me, it's almost as if Celestia kicked her out of the castle, forcing her to meet other ponies. Being royal and all, she had to be used to "official interaction" (aka Canterlot voice), but being shy can take many form. Not every shy person is Fluttershy shy.

That's also why I like fan fiction as it allows us to explore part of their personality that would simply never make it in the show. A shy Luna hidden in her room wouldn't make such a great episode for a kid show.

1732159 Perhaps. But whatever form she had prior to that has completely vanished from the eyes of the writers. It feels that they HAVE to make it S2 Luna, otherwise their content will automatically be discarded as inaccurate trash. So why should we bother reading S1 Luna fiction when it is all inaccurate BS?
I'm of the minority that emphasis with the Luna of the old. Only I and nobody else seems to notice, nor care about it. So does this mean I should stop any attempt to get her back to what I see, simply because it will be made irrelevant in due time?

Pfft... s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/photos/images/newsfeed/000/188/892/73930%20-%20comparision%20luna%20luna_eclipsed%20screencap%20season_2%20spoiler.png?1319142971

To the left, we have an obsolete character. To the right, the "correct" character. Use the one to the right or face devastation.... Ugh...

:rainbowderp: sounds very promissing.

I went to read "Purity" and this was labeled as the prequel. I must say I am very happy to have read this, now I am amped to read the other. Well done sir! (or miss, don't really pay attention).


Also just checked to see if genders were on profile, noticed you worked on AC3, love the story (dem apples caught me by surprise) combat is a little annoying but meh, can't wait to read "Purity".

Awesome story, quite a few grammar errors, but oh well, I saw elsewhere in the comments that English isn't you're primary language, so what you have is, despite any errors, startlingly impressive (at least in my opinion).

I really like Azure, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel... (Good thing you made one or this would have passed me by...)

Also... "Technical Director in Design for Ubisoft Entertainment" THIS... THIS IS LEGIT.

1739348 You would be surprised how legit it is and how many bronies exist in the video game industry. :twilightsmile:

Loved this story.
NOW ON TO THE NEXT ONE!! AWAY!!

1732274
I can think of one major exception to that rule. OldNew Luna managed to revert her from the S2 to the S1 incarnation successfully and become a very great story, with the sequel still going. Besides, I think some writers will still find a way to get more stories of the S1 Luna if they want to do so, even though it isn't as likely at this point.

1742215 Then what about personality wise?
And what are people going to do if I leave that episode out from my fanon?
(Keep in mind that I have multiple fanons, depending upon the given universe that is being created.)
... Perhaps this obsession is making me a bit too fanatical about an imaginary character....
Then again, perhaps that might be a good things in some respects.... Though not to the extremes, no...
Have another Luna pic.

fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/336/b/3/luna_luna_by_123hamster-d4hwzds.jpg

1772483 Happy you liked it even with the mass of grammar monstrosity still plaguing it. (It's under correction)

errors happen to the best of us, the important thing is the story itself. If that core element is solid, people can forgive/overlook things....anyway like I said nice job, already working on the sequel :twilightsmile:

1777228 Yeah... A mistake I made, which I somewhat tried to fix in the sequel. :facehoof:
I had to put it in Twilight's face as clearly as possible so she would have no doubt about her talents. But I ended up overdoing it, making it sounds as if she was doing more than what Twilight could do, which in retrospectic wasn't my intention. Learning process of a new writer. :rainbowwild:

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