There Is No Time To Frown
Princess Celestia cracks a smile. It's a radiant thing, full of warmth and earnestness, yet a reservation which belies her truly ancient age. The solar alicorn diarch is 3030 years old, not that she looks a day over 243, winning the genetic and magical lotteries as she has.
It is almost dawn.
As the warm water of her private grotto, a short waterfall cascading warm water down her back, gives her her own private running river to bathe in, she smiles. It is not for her, but rather, for all those who are not her.
Celestia's first thoughts turn towards her sister.
Dear sweet Luna, oh how far she has come. Far indeed. She treats her with less reverence than anyone else. Of course, how can you really display true reverence to one who knew her as a young foal? The one who saw her get ice cream all over your face, the one who saw her cry over her first crush, a unicorn so ancient that Starswirl lived closer to the present time than he to him. Her sister had been there when she couldn't yet fly well. Her sister remembered back when the current Equestrian language was still in its archaic stage. Her sister remembered when, at long last, she had first joined with a male and came back blushing, unsteady, and giggly, and how they'd laughed about it, Luna recounting similar awkwardness. How they'd mourned together over the loss of their first dearest ones. They, who at the not immodest age of more than half a century, had ascended into alicorns, forging a pact with the True Divinity to guide the ponies and be wardens of the world. Their strife with King Vortex during the migration to Equestria, and their battles with him and Discord, leading to the former's exile and the latter's petrification.
There had been a darkness there. For a time, they had grown apart for who knew how many. Then Nightmare Moon happened. A battle. Then a thousand years of loneliness. Then a return of her sister. Oh joy! But then, Luna was different, alien, somber. Years of tension again, until Starlight Glimmer had brought them back together, albeit at a nearly apocalyptic cost, as seemed to often happen with her around. Time lost. Time lost. But it was okay, right? It wasn't like either of them was dying.
That wasn't how it was with everypony else, however.
What else is history but a pile of names and bones on a river of blood?
Everypony the two of them had ever known had died. Indeed, the lives of mortals were often nasty, brutish, and short -- nothing like the vast millennia of theirs. And everyone they knew at the moment was going to die as well.
Celestia threw the bucket of water over her shoulder perhaps a little bit harder than she strictly speaking had actually needed to.
Perhaps the greatest blessing God had ever given the mortal was that the mortal did not know the time and place of their fate? That way, they could live in ignorance and pretend they would live forever. She, however, being in allegiance to the True Divinity, was keyed into what Fate was thinking. that was seldom pleasant.
She had to know the fates of her friends. That always was unpleasant.
She had a meeting later with the Yak ambassador. That too was always unpleasant. And here the was, in the last days of peace, her government holding its breath. A invasion was coming, but when would it start? Who would be the first to fall, who would be the last to stand? Could anyone stop this madness with unfathomable consequences? Yes, she could. Millions would live now, albeit many would not survive the next twenty years, but billions would never be born. The hell coming on now was going to secure something that otherwise could never be: a future. Without this war coming on, ponykind would forever stay in Equestria, like they had for the past three thousand years. They had found paradise. It had made them happy. It had made them wise. But it had made them complacent and it had made them weak. For them to spread across all of Equus and then across the stars, they needed to be made unhappy, they needed to be strong, they needed an incentive, the kind that living in Eden wasn't going to give.
And to start out a millenium of transformative but necessary, hateful misery, nine of her dearest ponies had to suffer, and most of those would have to die long before their time. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Starlight Glimmer, Mi Amore Cadenza, and Shining Armor.
The one that hurt the most was Twilight Sparkle. The poor mare, she had known her since foalhood -- the most powerful unicorn since Starswirl. At least her little Twilight wouldn't suffer long. The neurotic intellectual had lived well, achieved more than her dreams, and left a huge, positive imprint. In the wars to come, she was as likely to bend the knee and become a good yet subversive vassal, as she was to just be taken out back and shot before rebellion rallied around her.
Pinkie Pie could handle anything, except for sugar. If the war didn't get her, diabetes would.
Rainbow Dash was the opposite of how it was going to go for Twilight. Hotheaded and brash. She was right now fighting for her life on a special operations mission in Yakyakistan to sabotage the Yakyaki military preparations to invade Equestria. Too bad she was going to either be killed or captured any day now. She was not going to survive the month. Just as planned, sadly.
Fluttershy was docile and mostly harmless. As far as things were concerned, she had no doubt the shy mare would live long and without too much trouble. After all, she was the least likely to do anything to get herself shot.
Rarity, being a high society lady of Canterlot, and aging well, would also likely be spared. Granted, her position within the nobility would necessitate her exile to some boondock province where she couldn't cause trouble. Naturally, her children, her lovers, and her entourage would come with her. Soon, there would be a merry little outpost, a microcosm of ponydom and Equestria. And thus the Scattering would begin, with ponies spread all throughout the world and out of paradise, where they would have to toughen and innovate to not only live but thrive.
Applejack didn't have much time left. A true patriot and a warrior, she wouldn't care if it was a losing battle, she'd go anyway. Only too late would she realize that death was meant to be her fate.
Starlight Glimmer wouldn't last long, either. Powerful, dangerous, impulsive, and more than a little sociopathic. She herself wouldn't've let her live, given her penchant for playing fast and loose with truly powerful magic. The Yaks wouldn't disagree there.
Mi Amore Cadenza, being royalty, naturally would find herself facing the gun. Perhaps she'd go down defending the Crystal Palace with her husband?
Shining Armor, the last of them, as a soldier, would naturally die fighting.
And as for her and Luna? They could look after themselves. All they had to do was making a good show of somehow escaping to a hidden valley somewhere, promised lands and messianic figures for the scattered clades of ponykind to rally around again when the time came for their ascendancy. And, in the dark times, a state of mind to take comfort in.
She brushed herself down from her head to her flanks. That felt good. Perhaps it was the last thing that would feel good today? The thought occurred to her to visit the royal harem -- she was going to need it since Luna and Blueblood had recently depleted the royal liquor cavern. Who said being Princess of the Night ruled out having fun on the job?
So much pain and death to come soon, but to make sure that her little ponies would thrive and live on forever instead of stagnating and dying in paradise. It was a mercy they did not know what was to come. And in that moment, she had to agree with something she had once read long ago: "but today, the living is easy."
Celestia stepped out of the bath. She magicked herself dry. This day was not going to be pleasant. She forced a smile back onto her face. it was a perfect, practiced thing. In a world so full of death, there was no time to frown when around mortals. After all, in comparison, they were as mayflies. And in time, everything would pass, even death and pain.
She took a sigh and walked back inside, the smile firmly now entrenched onto her face. She found the clock. It was now just a few minutes after five on this warm springtime morning. Indeed, time didn't wait, even for her.
She lights up her horn.
Now it is dawn.
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Good, a few spelling issues and humongous paragraphs.
IDK if the title matches the content, but that's just me.
Still, good!
Now that would be a traumatic version of Celestia's foresight/dream ability.
Sequel!
This was a decent short read, keep it up.
Dat pony butt.
ahhhhh that's one of Aurelleah's works lol
Beautiful.
That was oddly gripping. I've read quite a few of your works, yet nothing thus far has taken me by the collar and held me to my screen as this one has. Your writing and tone was an incredible mix of narration and internal thought that I've been working to master for the past year of my life, and let me tell you, you did a fine damn job. I enjoy the lack of conclusion, or even context. You set up what you wanted, and this story accomplished what it set out to do: grip the reader and tell a little story. In my book, that makes it successful. I hear many people these days criticize stories of this caliber, claiming they're of poor quality because they tell, and do not show, but honestly, I think its refreshing. You captured three thousand years of past and fifty years of future within a thousand words of writing. Like watching a slide show, I was able to picture, in detail, every little point you struck, be it Shining Armor dying while fighting for his country, or memories of Luna coming home giddy and excited from a first date.
What you managed to capture is what thought truly is like. Quick ramblings. Smatterings of memories and predictions. Highs and lows. The tone shifts rapidly, going from a high and light feeling when going over the past, to a brooding and dark tone when she speculates about the future. That rapid shift in tone, to some, might be jarring, but to me, it fits perfectly with the idea of this whole thing; thought. One's mind, when left to wander, goes over the good and the bad quite fast. The brain hasn't time to faff about with transitioning or pausing, it goes from one thing to another.
There may be some capitalization errors, there may be some long paragraphs, but I don't think technicalities are what we should judge stories by (as long as they're not horribly distracting, of course). I judge whether I like a story or not by how it made me feel, and this story made me feel. To that, I say it was a success.
Just to be that guy, I found this:
I do believe that needs a capital T.
Also, continuing the nit-pick, I wish to formally request you remove the 'tragedy' tag from this story. Tragic events are mentioned, yes, but dammit all I will stand by my classical definition of Tragedy until I draw my last breath. This story isn't a true tragedy, or anywhere close, really.
(This is what reading Shakespeare on your own and enjoying it does, folks.)
Anywho, goodnight, and thanks for this little piece.
Naw, all that is needed for space travel from the ponies is to inflame the wanderlust of pegasi and the curiosity of unicorns. Once the preliminaries are done and planets are found the earth ponies would follow to settle the new world.
Sabaton - Rise of Evil
so sad
話はすごかった！私はキャラクターの発展とあなたがシーンの間でやりとりしたやり方を好きでした！あなたの説明は私を幸せにしてくれました。あなたは洗濯物にソースを入れてはいけないことを確認してください！
8433305
rice?
8433305
Nani desu ka? Onegai, ore wa gaijin.
8433546
どうして？
Whow... that was... somehow awe inspiring and dark at the same time.
But a good short fic.
8398165
Thanks, Mocha. :)
8398215
Indeed.
8398290
What would you intend?
8398375
Is there any butt than can contend with ponebutt? I. Think. NOT!
8398404
Indeed.
8398417
Thank you.
8398612
I have only the best for inspiration, when I'm not writing trolls or clops, old bean. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/2308/the-living-is-easy
8399285
Sounds, Silvadel like you have an idea. I'd like to read that, actually.
8399421
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfi1UQ_PKQI
8438152
I'm glad to see you like it. Yay! I just wanted to do a quick philosophical exercise. I didn't think people would like it his much. <Squees>
8446843
Quarians?
8446843
The events directly following the end of the story.
8446843
"Is there any butt than can contend with ponebutt? I. Think. NOT!"
Not? And this, fellow brony, is where you are most mistaken.
Nothing compares to human butt.
All hail the human butt.
Butt.
Looking... I mean... Horsing Around across stories based on mortality / immortality topics. I'm crying... All they have to do is fight boredom. Other little things are miscellaneous. It's basically doesn't matter anyhow.
This needs an 'AU' tag.
Celestia's personality aside, some major things don't add up.
I mean, Twi apparently didn't ascend even years after Luna's return (that alone makes it an AU, S1-3 cover less than a year after all), but somehow reformed Glimmer is there anyway and repaired the sisters' relationship?
How does any of that work without Twilicorn, a castle and a cutie-map?
Dash, a member of a reserve/demonstration squadron, is going full spec ops behind enemy lines?
Okay, if OoC Tia really needed her dead to get enough martyrs out of this clusterfuck, she could somehow make that happen, I guess.
Rares has multiple lovers, foals and is part of canterlot's nobility? Good for her but ... wut?
Tia's masterplan involves a lot of pones literally facing the wrong end of a gun, so ... Yaks with firearms.
Interesting concept, but too many random ideas thrown into this without the necessary editing passes.
Could've been great, but didn't build a coherent enough world to evoke any emotions. And the absolute silliness of her plan just killed what was left of the immersion.
Also, not sure if the title fits the content. Makes the first couple paragraphs feel even more like filler.
That's quite the take. Do you review much?
11298875
That's quite the take. Do you review much?
11300888
I never "review".
I'm not a professional writer or anything like that, so I can't comment on technical aspects from a point of authority.
Everything else is subjective in nature, and calling my subjective thoughts on someone else's works a review would simply mean I'm declaring my opinions superior to others.
I occasionally leave my thoughts in a comment section and voice critique when I believe it justified - and I am aware that my wording is a bit harsh sometimes - which is more often than not driven by other comments rather than the story itself.
Happens mostly with sad/ emotional pieces, where half of the comments are hollow flattery like: "flawless, 11/10", "Soo sad, amazing." or my favorite "I'm not crying, you are!" . A useless mix of 50% sarcasm and 51% virtue signaling/ pretending to feel emotion x because it seems appropriate. Reading too much sh!te like that sometimes gets me into 'harsh critic mode'.
Wasn't really sure how to interpret your question, so I hope this covers it.
If you want me to elaborate on something I wrote, or want me to shut up entirely, just tell me.