Chapter 14
Aside from garden parties, the other type of celebration that was generally approved of by the nobility of Canterlot was the formal ball, all of which followed the same general rules - everypony was expected to dress to some sort of theme determined by the host, there would be dignified (meaning dull) music played throughout, and there would be a dance at some point, so ponies were expected to either bring a date or else attach themselves to one of the eligible singletons who had come looking for their own partner.
One might be forgiven for thinking that this meant that a ball was a romantic occasion. In truth, the pairings that were established rarely lasted past the end of the ball, and some dissolved even faster once one of the two involved revealed on the dance floor that they had four left hooves and no right steps at all.
The Autumnal Equinox Ball was one of the most formal balls of the year. While the Grand Galloping Gala was the place to be seen by up-and-coming ponies, the Equinox Ball saw far more foreign dignitaries and the noble and diplomatic elite. This time, it was also a way for Celestia to introduce her new students to what she generously called the most powerful ponies in Equestria.
It would be more accurate to say they were the ponies with nothing better to do than try to look and act important, which meant Celestia wasn't entirely wrong. One wrong rumor could destroy a pony's reputation, and they were exactly the sort to spread a rumor they'd heard only in the vacant echoing inside their skulls.
Sunset shifted her shoulders as she walked, trying to get comfortable in the dress she had been stuffed into. Like every year, the theme revolved around the changing of seasons, and the entire ballroom was a mass of orange, red, and brown. It was probably the only place where her fiery mane and orange coat would actually blend in.
"Thanks for coming, Mom," Midnight whispered, at her hooves.
"I wasn't going to make you come alone," Sunset said. "I know how it can be when you're stuck in a place like this alone and without somepony to help you get through it."
"Yeah, but... I know you don't really want to see Princess Celestia." Midnight looked across the room to where Celestia was greeting guests. Sunset had taken them around to a different entrance and gotten in without passing by. It was less showy than a teleport, and less likely to end with their dresses on fire.
"I can put up with being in the same room as her for your sake," Sunset smiled. "Besides, this is one of those responsibility things. I've had to attend dozens of these things, so I'm basically an expert at this point." She winked at Midnight.
"When do they start getting fun?" Midnight asked. "All the other ponies look like they're having fun. Except Twilight."
Midnight's double was standing near the buffet table with her parents, mostly hiding behind her mother and avoiding the crowd. She kept looking under the table as if she was considering crawling under it and hiding.
"That's a very good question," Sunset muttered. "I'll let you know once I figure that out myself."
"Ah, Duchess Shimmer," a voice called out behind them. Sunset's eye twitched at the title, but she put on a smile and turned.
"You must be... Jet Set, I believe?" She asked. "I think we were introduced once at the Gala."
"You do have a good memory," Jet Set said, smiling calmly. "I wanted to congratulate your foal. Celestia's School is one of the most exclusive institutions in the world."
Sunset smiled a little more genuinely. "Thank you. Midnight, this is Jet Set."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jet Set said, bowing slightly to her. "I'm sure you'll excel under the Princess' tutoring."
"It's nice to meet you too," Midnight said.
"If you'll excuse me," Jet Set nodded. "I'm going to go congratulate the other lucky parents. Do you want anything from the buffet table?"
"No, we'll be making our way over there ourselves soon enough," Sunset said. "Thank you, though."
Jet Set nodded and left. Sunset watched him go and breathed a sigh of relief.
"He was nice," Midnight noted.
"He also called me Duchess Shimmer," Sunset replied, quietly. "So I'll see how long it takes before he asks me for a favor. I'm betting it'll take him a few glasses of wine, but maybe he'll try sending a letter."
"Maybe he was just being polite," Midnight suggested.
"Maybe," Sunset said, smiling slightly. "I guess I'm just not as nice as you are, squirt."
"Can we go get a drink?" Midnight asked.
"Of course we can..." Sunset started, then saw that Princess Celestia had started on her way over to the buffet table. "After we check on Cadance." Cadance was safely on the opposite side of the ballroom, the dance floor in the center of the hall effectively forcing polite ponies to circle around.
"Okay," Midnight sighed. Sunset gave her an apologetic smile and slipped further away from Celestia, trusting that Twilight and her parents would delay her.
"Princess Cadance," Sunset said, as she walked up to her. Even Cadance hadn't managed to get away from the ball's theme, wearing a dress of pale peach colors with a crown of bronze and gold leaves.
"Sunset!" Cadance smiled. "I didn't see you come in."
"We sort of used the back door," Sunset said. "So who's this?" She looked at the griffon that Cadance had been speaking to.
"General Koloth," the griffon said, offering a talon. Sunset shook it. "I've heard you're the resident monster hunter. I'm curious about what kind of monsters ponies hunt. Perhaps large soft ones that hide under foal's beds?"
"You ever heard of a bulette?" Sunset asked. "Big as a house, scales made of iron, burrows underground and likes to eat anything screaming."
"Sounds like a fine hunt. Of course, not as difficult as a roc-"
"A roc?" Sunset snorted. "Please. They're just big birds. I don't worry about fried chicken like that. Now a Dullahan, they're interesting. Undead creature, like a headless zombie but much tougher and smarter. Almost unstoppable unless you know what you're doing."
The griffon smiled. "When this is over, I'd like to have a few drinks with you. The atmosphere here isn't right for tales of battle, and the wine is far too weak."
"Only if I'm invited too," Cadance said, smiling and looking at Sunset.
"I didn't know that kind of story interested you," the general said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm very interested in all of Sunset's stories," Cadance said, stepping a little closer to the unicorn. The griffon looked between them for a moment, then guffawed, shaking his head.
"I should have known," Koloth said. "Don't get your feathers ruffled, girl. I'm too old for that kind of thing, and too married. My wives would gut me if they thought I was unfaithful, and I could hardly blame them."
"What does he mean, Mom?" Midnight asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Koloth said. "A fine young foal. If she's half as strong as her mother, I'm sure she'll be a mighty warrior."
Midnight smiled at that. "Thank you, sir."
Cadance laughed and nudged Sunset. "Come on. Midnight keeps looking at the buffet table like she's going to pounce on it. You should get her something to eat."
Sunset looked across the room. Celestia was still there, talking to Twilight and her parents.
"Why don't you take her?" Sunset suggested. Cadance followed her gaze and sighed, but nodded.
"Come on," Cadance said, giving Midnight a small smile. "Why don't we get you some punch and a little snack?"
Sunset nodded when Midnight looked at her for permission, and the filly followed Cadance around the dance floor to the long table. It was stocked with the kind of largely harmless treats that one would expect at a diplomatic function - miniature apple tarts, trays of vegetables both raw and cooked, unidentifiable spreads on various crackers, and so forth.
"Hello, Princess," Midnight said, as she approached the huge mare. Celestia would have loomed over even a fully-grown pony, so to a filly like Midnight, she was more or less as big as the castle (give or take a few orders of magnitude).
"Ah, Midnight," Celestia smiled down at her. "I was hoping we'd run into each other."
"Are you having fun?" Midnight asked. "I asked Mom when these balls start being fun, and she didn't know."
"Ah, well..." Celestia looked around, then ducked her head, weaving a quick spell to give them some privacy and keep her words from traveling. "The truth is, while I might hold these balls, they aren't for me. They're for the other ponies. The form and events are all traditional, as is the menu. I don't think anypony would want to eat maple leaves otherwise, even if they are fried and dusted with sugar."
"So it really isn't fun for anypony?" Midnight frowned at that. "But then why do they do it?"
"Tradition. It's the strongest force in the universe. Sometimes I'm convinced gravity only works because it's traditional for things to fall down instead of up."
"But you're a Princess," Midnight pointed out. "You can just do anything you want. You could make this fun if you wanted, and then you'd have a new tradition that wasn't as boring."
Celestia smiled. "Maybe you're right." She stood back up, ending the privacy spell as Cadance brought over punch and a small plate.
"Here you are, Midnight," Cadance said. "Auntie, are you sure you shouldn't stand at the door all night waiting for late arrivals?" She smiled slightly.
Celestia returned a sweet smile. "You could take over for me."
Cadance laughed. "Maybe next time. Midnight, why don't you say hello to Twilight?"
Midnight nodded and trotted over to Twilight, starting an awkward conversation about how she'd been asked to start a conversation.
"I hope they learn to get along," Celestia sighed. "A talent for magic and a shared magical pool... they could have an incredibly bright future, if they work together."
"And if they don't, they'll end up like me and Sunset," Cadance agreed. "Well, how we used to be."
"Hopefully not how you are now," Celestia said, whispering slyly. "Though many stallions do dream about twins in that way..."
"Auntie!" Cadance gasped, blushing.
"Hm?" Celestia tilted her head innocently. "I meant best friends, of course. Or is there something I should know about your relationship with Sunset Shimmer? I hope you're not doing anything unbecoming of a princess."
"Of course not," Cadance said, looking away. It was a good thing her cheeks were already pink or else ponies might know she was fighting back a blush.
"Princess?" Twilight asked. "I was talking to Midnight. You're in charge of everything, right?"
Celestia nodded.
"Can you make the musicians play better music? They've been playing the same song over and over again and it's really boring," Twilight said.
"Better music? Do you have any requests?" Celestia asked.
"Maybe something fun so we can dance to it?" Midnight suggested. "I don't really like slow dances."
"Ah, yes. I think I can manage that," Celestia smiled.
Sunset watched as Celestia passed a message along to the band playing. There was a moment of silence as the bassist read the note, then a moment of discussion among the musicians while they passed the note around, and they broke out into jazz. At least, Sunset assumed it was jazz, since it didn't sound like they were all playing from the same musical score.
Celestia took to the dance floor with Midnight and Twilight, and they started dancing. Well, it could generously be called dancing in the same way the notes that the musicians were playing could generously be called music (it was, regardless of any musical pedigree, still jazz, since playing jazz did not in fact require you to play music or even know how your instrument is even supposed to be played).
"How awful," a voice to Sunset's right said, just loudly enough to carry to everypony around him. "That's so undignified. I always knew my aunt should have never taken in any of those foals."
Sunset turned slowly to look. A young stallion was looking at the dance floor. She recognized him instantly. The young Blueblood, recent inheritor of his father's title as Prince, and less worthy than even that pompous mule had been.
"She could be teaching me, or children from noble families. The true leaders of Equestria." Blueblood scoffed, shaking his head. "Foals like that shouldn't be allowed at the ball."
One of the ponies between Sunset and Blueblood felt her coat starting to stand on end and turned slowly to look, the same careful movements as a prey animal knowing that a predator was right behind them.
She spotted Sunset and backed up, getting out of the way, as if (wisely) afraid that Sunset might just blast anything getting between her and Blueblood.
"I mean, she's not even a real pony, from everything I've heard," Blueblood confided in the pony next to him. Sunset was too focused on Blueblood to even recognize the pony he was speaking to, her tunnel vision locked on the white coat and blond mane in front of her.
"My sources tell me she just keeps causing disasters at the castle. The statue thing, that event with the dragon, and even more than that," Blueblood concluded. "She's just a construct, a fake. Really, she should be studied in a lab or locked up, not taught."
Every wine glass within ten paces cracked. Blueblood paused to look down at the cracked glass on his hand, slowly dribbling wine onto his hoof.
Sunset stalked towards him and it was only because the castle used marble floors instead of cheap linoleum that her hoofprints weren't burned into the tiles as she crossed the distance. Ponies started getting out of the way. If nothing else, ponies had a great survival instinct. Most ponies. Blueblood apparently hadn't inherited that.
"What awful luck," Blueblood sighed, dropping the wine glass on the tray of a passing maid, the wine spilling and ruining the food she'd been carrying to the buffet table.
"Ah, Prince Blueblood," a pony next to him hissed.
"What is it?" Blueblood asked. "Speak up! I can't understand a word you're saying over that awful noise."
"I just think you might want to apologize for saying such things about a foal. She's a cute, innocent little filly."
"Cute? Innocent?" Blueblood scoffed. "For all we know, she's some demon from Tartarus pretending to be a pony. It would fit with her so-called mother."
A pony near Sunset squeaked and jumped back as a spark of errant mana grounded itself on her hoof. The temperature of the air in the room started to increase.
"I'll just let you handle this, old boy," the pony next to Blueblood said, patting him on the shoulder and, wisely, leaving quickly.
"Handle what?" Blueblood asked, finally turning around. When he saw Sunset, his expression changed from haughty indignation to something approaching concern. He opened his mouth to say something.
A magical grip slammed his mouth shut. Luckily, he didn't bite his tongue. He looked across the dance floor to Princess Celestia.
She shook her head helplessly and shrugged, turning away. His gaze turned back to Sunset and he looked into her eyes.
It's said that the nature of mortality is one of the greatest mysteries left in the world. At the moment Blueblood looked into Sunset's eyes, he saw, for just an instant, the very edge of life and death.
Blueblood, already white, couldn't exactly go pale, but his cheeks did manage to tinge a slight shade of unhealthy green, perhaps from seeing his life flash before his eyes and the sheer amount of drinking he'd managed to fit into his few adult years.
"I think," Sunset growled. "That you should apologize. My daughter is just a filly and doesn't understand that you were just making a joke, and I wouldn't want her to get upset."
"Y-yes," Blueblood agreed, once his heart had started working again. "We wouldn't want anypony to get upset."
"Well?" Sunset asked.
"I apologize," Blueblood said, starting to sweat. He took a step back. Sunset took a step forwards. The musicians started to slow down, the ones not playing instruments large enough to hide behind looking for the nearest appropriate cover.
"You look tired," Sunset said. "Maybe you should leave."
"Maybe I should leave," Blueblood repeated, quietly. He backed up a few more steps before turning and walking more quickly towards the exit. He was muttering to himself as he left, swearing revenge under his breath now that he was far away enough that he might be able to escape.
Sunset watched him go, and the dangerous aura around her slowly faded. She looked at the ponies around her.
"So, how about that fall weather?" She suggested. The nobility quickly jumped on that new topic, talking amongst themselves about the change of seasons and letting her slip away.
The ball continued for a few more hours before it seemed polite enough for ponies to start leaving. Twilight and her parents had been among the first to leave, wanting to get their filly back home in time for bed.
"Mom, I'm tired," Midnight yawned.
"You two don't have to stay here for me," Cadance smiled. "I'm stuck here until the last guests leave."
"I guess I should get her to bed," Sunset agreed.
"I was hoping we'd be able to talk before you left," Princess Celestia said. Sunset winced. She'd managed to avoid her all night, and she'd been snuck up on at the last minute. She'd been on the other side of the room just a few moments ago. Either Sunset was more tired than she thought or else Celestia had cheated and teleported when nopony was looking.
"Princess," Sunset said, formally, without turning to face her.
"Sunset, please?" Celestia asked, quietly. "I just want to talk, and to apologize."
Sunset finally turned, sighing. "Fine. I guess I can't avoid it since I'm still living here."
"If you don't want to talk, I can leave," Celestia said. "I don't want to force you to do anything. I just wanted to... be able to talk. You're dear to me."
"Yeah, just like all of your little ponies," Sunset rolled her eyes.
"Considerably more than that, and you know it," Celestia corrected her. "You were always my most passionate student, and you've been able to rise to any challenge before you. I care about you."
"And that's why you kicked me out?" Sunset asked. She managed to avoid spitting, if only because there were still a few guests around.
"I'm not kicking you out," Celestia said. "You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want. I'd prefer keeping you close, in fact. I wanted to make you a job offer, but you... weren't in the right mood to hear it."
"I've already got a job. I track down monsters and turn them into taxidermy."
"That's a hobby," Celestia smiled. "I was thinking of something more challenging. I want you to take over running day court."
"You- what?" Sunset sputtered.
"Not every day, but it would give you more exposure. And as a Duchess, I'd like to point out that they're your little ponies too, not just mine." Celestia looked to the windows. "I know you've been isolated. There aren't a lot of ponies close to you, especially not outside of the castle. Running the court would give you a way to meet them, and to get them used to the idea of following your orders."
"Following my orders?" Sunset repeated. Then she snorted and looked away. "Maybe you should have Cadance running Day Court, then. She could use more responsibility."
"She'll have all the responsibility she can manage, eventually," Celestia said. She smiled at Cadance. "And she's been doing a wonderful job as ambassador."
"It is kind of nice going to new places and meeting new people," Cadance admitted. "Not Griffonstone, though. Griffons are very nice people, but the city isn't the best for tourism."
"I want them to follow your orders because they'll have to get used to it, at some point," Celestia said. "Either you'll be a Duchess and you'll outrank most of them, or..." She trailed off. "I won't make promises I can't be sure I can keep, but there has always been a destiny I've wanted for you."
Sunset swallowed. "You mean-"
"You know exactly what I mean," Celestia said. "I was afraid you were turning down the wrong path for a time, but now?" She shrugged. "You've grown a lot in the last year, Sunset. You're not quite the angry filly you used to be."
"Tell that to Blueblood," Sunset said, weakly.
"I would have been more concerned if you hadn't reacted the way you did," Celestia said, leaning in so she could speak more candidly. "And you caused less property damage than I expected."
"What a glowing compliment that I didn't break as much as physically possible," Sunset muttered.
"If you hadn't done something, I would have." Celestia gave her a very serious look. "Attacking an innocent foal like that was inexcusable. You know Midnight is like a granddaughter to me."
"He's going to complain a lot, you know," Sunset said. "And he's going to try and cause trouble later."
"True," Celestia agreed. "But he'll try to cause trouble for you, and I'm sure you can take care of yourself. If I might make a suggestion, though?"
"Hm?" Sunset tilted her head.
"Consider this good practice at defending yourself politically. Take it as a challenge to deal with Blueblood without resorting to physical force or magical intimidation. Not that what you did tonight was wrong - a show of force is sometimes required to put a pony like that in his place."
"I wouldn't even know where to start," Sunset frowned.
"The best way is simply to talk to ponies," Celestia smiled. "There may be some bad apples among the nobility, but there are good ones, too. Make friends in both groups, and you can lend aid to those who are opposing him."
"That's a lot of work," Sunset frowned.
"It's also slow, and requires you to rely on other ponies," Celestia agreed. "It's not nearly as fast or as viscerally satisfying as, say, setting his tail on fire. But with the right application of force, it's also crippling beyond measure. A noble is nothing if ponies won't follow them."
"Isn't the same true for me, though?" Sunset said. "There aren't a lot of ponies who care about what I think."
"You'd be surprised. They know you have my ear, and you don't currently have any real political friends or foes. As word gets around, they'll be trying to insinuate themselves with you in hopes that you'll become their ally."
"But-"
"Don't think that just because they'd be trying to get to me through you that it means you're less important," Celestia said. "Especially if you take up my offer to run the Court. You'd become the most important pony in Equestria in a heartbeat."
"I... guess I could try." Sunset frowned.
"I wouldn't just drop it in your lap," Celestia said, quickly. "You could spend a few weeks or months or however long you feel comfortable with it learning from me. You could sit in at court and watch, then when you were ready you could start making decisions on your own, and eventually I wouldn't need to be there at all unless you were unavailable." She gave Sunset a hopeful smile.
"Are you just suggesting this because you hate running the court yourself?" Sunset asked, suddenly sensing the real reason behind it.
"Sunset, that is a very harsh accusation. I would never be so underhooved." Celestia scoffed. "I mean, yes, I'd have more free time, since I currently have none at all, but that's hardly an ulterior motive."
"I knew it," Sunset smiled a little. "Next you'll have me raise the sun so you can sleep in."
"Only on Mondays," Celestia said, very seriously. After a moment her composure broke and she started laughing. Sunset joined her. "I'd also like to spend some of that free time with you. Assuming my niece isn't taking it up."
"I'm not sure what you mean," Cadance said, looking to the side.
"You know, I should have spoken to you both as soon as I became aware of this." Celestia coughed and raised her nose. "Sunset Shimmer, what are your intentions in dating my niece?"
"Oh no," Cadance whispered.
"Dating?" Sunset blinked.
"Don't play innocent with me," Celestia said. "I know you've been spending time with her and doing things in private."
"Well-" Sunset wasn't sure how to respond to that. "We're just friends!"
"We've only been dating for like two weeks!" Cadance said. Then she immediately put her hooves over her mouth.
"Am I going to have to call Cadance 'Mom' too?" Midnight asked. "I mean, not like... Mom-2. Like will I also have to call her Mom? Or maybe just Pink Mom?"
"Don't you start!" Sunset groaned.
"I just don't want my niece to end up with a filly before she's ready... hm." Celestia frowned. "Maybe it's too late for that."
"Celestia, I am a hundred percent sure that whatever we did, which we will not repeat in front of a filly, could not have gotten me pregnant," Cadance said. "Besides, I'm still trying to get Sunset used to the idea of initiating it herself."
"I should have seen the signs!" Celestia sighed. "Such a cute filly, and Cadance even helped raise her!" She picked Midnight up and nuzzled her. "Just don't let your Pink Mom avoid paying foal support."
"Oh Harmony," Sunset groaned. "Are you trying to kill me? Because you're killing me."
"I suppose I can stop teasing you," Celestia said, after considering it for a moment. "But only because I still want to be able to take a day off once in a while."
"I'm sure that's the only reason," Cadance rolled her eyes.
"Let's get this little one to bed," Celestia said. "Sunset, why don't you sleep on the idea, and... we could discuss it over breakfast?" She sounded hopeful.
Sunset nodded.
"I'll see you then," Celestia said, smiling. "Thank you."
Stats
Page generated in 0.03 seconds
Total duration
644 users online
709,008 hits today, 2,004,447 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.®
I'm glad to see Celestia and Sunset take steps to mend their relationship. Celestia giving Sunset some real political power by letting her run Day Court could work out pretty well. At least if Sunset doesn't set annoying petitioners on fire.
So either they're not kinky enough or, well... She didn't say anything about getting Sunset pregnant
Everything went better than expected!
I do especially like that, “Well, good luck with this, chum!” moment with Blueblood.
Sunset running the day court.... God help those ponies who wanna complain for no reason
hoof
Very intriguing developments going on. Now that Celestia has taken the first step in mending things with Sunset, they can both start to repair it together. And now that Sunset is a duchess, the beginnings of friends and enemies are starting up. Koloth seemed nice and respects Sunset well for her monster hunts. Blueblood is as pompous as ever and I hope he rues this day.
I am even curious what would happen if Celestia send both Twilights to Ponyville when the time comes? Will there be the seventh Element of Harmony this time? or would the Element of Magic split into two parts?
Who can usually be found with their counterpart,
Up Her FaceUpper CrustSuspiciously so.
it depends on the game you're playing/the mythology of the world, but hey.
who wants to bet that blueblood left a yellow trail
You know, the whole thing with pregnancy is hilarious, but I bet ponies as magical and resourceful as Cadance and Shimmer could arrange a way to get one of them to become pregnant by the other, or otherwise acquire a foal that could be reasonably described as being by both of them, through magic, ancient artifacts, tomes of forbidden evil and maybe some poison joke. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened (in fimfiction).
Celestia, you wonderful schemer. Also, Celtic mythology. Nice.
Sounds like a Regenerator.
8978318
Still one of my favorite movies.
Why does everybody hate on Blueblood?
The only thing he ever really did wrong in the show was be a dick to Rarity(Being a gold diger), trashing on Applejack's food(Douchey enough, but also one time incident), and just that.
In the comics, he's actually a really good diplomat whose patient enough to deal with Shining Armor's inexperience.
Maybe he's an asshole. But there's also a thing called character development.
At least Cadance's intentions are finally out in the open. Though it's kind of shitty that she didn't willingly tell Sunset and it was only exposed via an accident. And I maintain that Sunset needs a friend, not romance, and she seems to be more going along with it because she doesn't want to lose a genuine friend more than she is actually interested in Cadance. Yes, she thought Cadance was hot once upon a time. But there is a difference between thinking someone's attractive and actually being attracted to them.
Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but this is one of my hot buttons. I don't like shady-looking relationships, and right now it feels like gender double standards are a thing, because if Cadance was a stallion pulling this... hoo boy, the comments section would be a wildfire.
I would like to reiterate that I don't mind the Sundance ship on its own, just the events leading up to it in this fimfic are kind of skeevy. Although MagnetBolt is a pretty good writer, so they could be setting up a twist where Sunset blows up at Cadance, because she already doesn't approve of Cadance's attitude towards relationships and love magic, and if she catches Cadance using love magic on her... well, I think Sunset's flipouts in canon will be mild in comparison. Hey, here's hoping.
Well, that resolved itself fairly neatly. She didn't drop you, Sunset. She just moved you to the next step in your curriculum. Good luck.
Other disambiguations for Cadence include Heart Mom, Mom B, Feathermom, and Steve. No one's quite sure how Midnight came up with Steve, but she did seriously consider it.
And remember, do not taunt Happy Sun Horse.
8978710
The thing about character growth is that if you play it backwards, you get character shrinkage. This is a Blueblood who still has a lot to learn about diplomacy and the finer points of gossip.
8978710
That's fair enough but not everyone reads the comics. And people love exaggerating bluebloods assholerly. Besides no one likes a stuck up prick >.>
Celestia...didn't fail? Wow. I'm impressed.
8979083
Fair enough.
8979862
True, but for something as important as 'portal to a different, maglc-less dimension', I kinda expected Celestia to have at least one or two reminders attached to the mirror's frame - which Sunset would've found, if that were the case.
Heck, Celestia never forgot about the Crystal Empire or the Elements of Harmony, two important things, despite the thousand-year passing of time
8980303
The thing is that in canon she forgets a crap ton of things that are really important. Crystal Empire is a place that is full of ponies that have disappeared. The Elements are connected directly to a traumatic event related to her family going missing. She wouldn't let information about a mirror being a portal directly to a dimension that serves as a prison on the mirror. That is an idiot ball move so intense that would only fit on a show where the characters are next to brain dead, like Teen Titans Go!. The ones who probably interacted the most with that function would have probably been Starswirl and Luna, so it is possible she either forgot or didn't want to mention this to Sunset so acted like she had no idea about the portal. Acting oblivious to important info is something this story and canon Celestia would do.
8977208
Perhaps these pretentious petitioning ponies might promptly reprioritize their presentation or petition pending potential pyromancy.
Possibly...
8979535
Everypony has their off days. I'm sure Celestia will grab the idiot ball again soon enough, and resume her flailing and misunderstandings.
Also, I look forward to Blueblood raising a petition with some likeminded parties to bring to Day Court some 'clever plan' to have Sunset's title revoked, only to find Sunset running the Court...
Blueblood paused to look down at the cracked glass on his hand, slowly dribbling wine onto his hoof
1. Still here, Hoof.
8977208
Add Duchess Sunset Sunset Shimmer as an advisor? (150 Political Power)
"Personal Student Graduate"
Political Power +10%
Research +5%
"Monster Hunter Extraordinaire"
Stability +5%
War Support +2%
Recruitable pop 0.1%
Get event: Sleep in on Mondays?
*gives a soft laugh*
Finally , a not asshole/incompetent Celestia
Well, freaking finally!