It’s amazing to think that we’re sending our daughter to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.  Especially with how, well, powerless she seemed during her youth.  Though, of course, we probably should have seen this coming; she has been showing signs.  Well… I say signs, but I mean…
Oh, I don’t know how to explain it- or even what half of them are.  Perhaps you can read this story and explain it to me, her pegasus mother, so I know for next time.  You know, for the inevitability that there will be a next time. I am expecting, after all.
An experiment. This story is the first of its kind, that I've seen. It's told in first-person point of view, but never from the main character's point of view.
This story also represents a significant increase in plot depth over my other stories. Far less action, but more story. More life. In theory.
More ponies. With more persistence, less irrelevance.
If you have a name, a color pattern, or a character idea you'd like to see, mention it. I will probably use it- and when I do, I will credit you.
And as always, tags will be updated as the story progresses.
Cancelled for lack of plot.
Well that was, different. I'll be watching this.
That was intense, every parent's greatest fear, followed by a wonderful miracle.
9376421
1. Correct, and incorrect- his name IS mentioned, just not in the same section.
2. Yes, that's correct.
And yes. I enjoyed writing it. Especially when nopony could wrap their heads around what was happening.
9376812
Huh, so it is. Puts a new twist on lyra's eventual choice in friends.
All of it? Wow! I was sure I would be wrong on the long-shot.
9376829
On the long shot? *rereads* Oh, yes. Given she self-identified, though...
9376836
Ah, so she did. (I could swear that wasn't there before...) I honestly missed that, I took a complete shot in the dark going off of nothing but "presumed to be a nurse", and probably a mare from the speech patterns.
9376841
Wouldn't be the first one to miss clues that both I and my brother thought were blatant. LostArchivist does that a lot...
Honestly, I'm not surprised. There are plenty of times I have to backtrack a few paragraphs, when reading, because my mind went on a tangent and my eyes kept tracking down the page.
Hrm. This also explains her odd conspiracy theories later on, if she's transmigrated or whatever that counts as. Somehow I get the feeling that SLS is supposed to be a reincarnated personality trying to emerge...
Is that second viewpoint Twilight, by chance? I can't remember the names of her friends before she got kicked out to Ponyville, but I know Lyra was one, and the irony would be hilarious if it truly was her.
You're making this easy so far,
That said, what a lovely way to start a friendship! And that Alt-universe tag gives hope for a sweeter outcome than in the "prime" universe. I can't wait to see what the future holds for these young ones.
9379197
Yes, yes I am. But we're hardly started- and I'm kinda skittering through the beginning stages a little bit. Before long, the timejumps will shorten and we'll start seeing things from more background ponies' perspectives. That's when the guessing will get tricky.
9379140
Yes, it is. Lyra is the only one of the party that is one of Twilight's canon friends; I added Vinyl to the list, then both Glamour and Blue are OCs. The other two canon 'friends', as I recall, are Minuette and Moondancer. Too bad she wasn't close enough to care about them when she went to Ponyville...
... which may or may not be why my Canterlot CMC consists entirely of canon-Ponyville-residents and OCs.
Hmm, lets see.
Well that was fun! All hail the power of responsible science!
9381357
Oh absolutely!
1. Wrong, that's who they're talking to.
2. Yep
3. Yep
4. Nope, she's not even present.
I guess I did okay with the challenge. Need a hint?
9381802
Oh, I think we can leave it a mystery for someone else to solve. While I may be first, I'd hate to totally monopolize the lists.
9382669
A venerable decision.
These fillies are scarily competent. Good thing they haven't tried to split the Thaum yet...
I am laughing crazily over here. That was quite a good one.
Various nobles are now going to be freaking out about 50% of the known alicorns being unassociated with the Crown.
Also, Lyra being entirely blase about that is even funnier.
Poor Celestia, though. That sure didn't end like in canon...!
I wonder who ends up getting the EoH, though. It could be the Crusaders + one other (Dash? She was involved for Twilight's ascension, apparently), or does Twilight (or one of the others, perhaps Lyra?) get sent out to Ponyville for the usual setup?
Well the second is obviously Celestia, but I honestly haven't the slightest idea as to the second.
9383282
Yes, yes they are. Probably helps there's Twi... and Lyra to keep her under control. She's smart herself, so she's more effective at keeping Twi from going everywhere. As for the others... their contributions are probably smaller, but they chose to call them equal.
Feel like guessing section #s 1 or 4?
9383308
I actually have a plan to that end. Not letting it on, sorry.
But I daresay you know why this is my favorite chapter, very possibly of all time, right?
9383498
Correct. For the first... Celestia names them. Only once, and it's hidden, but she does.
It is refreshing to know that my challenges are actually coming up to par
9383818
Ah, found her. But you gave me a hint, I'm not sure it counts.
9384578
Well, technically, I gave everyone a hint...
That automatically suggests (to me, at least) one of them is a previously-unnamed character
Good heavens, you do like your alicorns, don't you? Do we know their domains yet? Or are they still "undetermined"? Oh, I forgot to ask earlier, but is Twilight's mark different in this go around? Celestia didn't seem to recognize it as the Ultimate Mark of Ultimate Destiny that's carved in that eyesore of a tree...
9388215
1. Correct.
2. Correct.
3. Yep- that was the "tricky" one. Next chap. will have a "tricky" one that requires the use of context... Maybe two of 'em
4. Correct.
Yes, I kinda like my alicorns. And they're all still undetermined.
I'm not personally one to alter cutie marks, save for the (canon) CMC, who I like leaving blank. If I were to change the method by which they got their Mark, I might... but Twi got her mark with the exact same action sequence as it took in canon, with only one change: She had more knowledge, and more experience. And more friends. Which resulted in a greater power output when she surged, a self-reset on the surge (instead of waiting for Celestia)... which resulted in the additional effect of ascension. But she still got the same mark, so
As for why Celestia didn't recognize it, I believe I covered that early in this chapter:
Considering they're sitting on the Tree of Clawed Hands... (That's what it looks like to me in s1e2, before it later turns to crystal for their next visit. Not quite an eyesore, but definitely a bit of a strange shape.)
I don't even... what? This is insanely hilarious. Good job, sir!
Poor Celestia is going to need a therapist, especially once she realizes that they now outvote the entire government too.
9392129
*rereads chapter* Yes, I can agree. I wasn't even thinking about that when I was writing it, but upon rereading, it's rather clear Celestia is on the verge of a major nervous breakdown.
... and has been for a long time.
and now we shall have spooks!
9393208
Yep, Yep, and... Huh, I didn't think the last one would be a tricky one but whatever- that's a yep as well.
This concept intrigues me
Luna, yes, very obviously.
The Element of Change, wielded by Discord, lord of Chaos undivided/harmonious.
To create, one must first be able to conceive of something new/different. This is what Discord is, creativity unchained. He is madness, inspiration, uncertainty, unpredictability, hope, and above all else, possibility. But at the center of it all, he is change. One thing becoming another. Yesterday is not tomorrow, and what was is not what will be.
I greatly look forward to Celestia's reaction to all of this. Though I worry that you've made Lyra a fix-everything character, in the vein of old Zeus. A protagonist needs challenge in their story, yes?
9399043
That is correct.
... and while that's not my original intended name for the Element, you got the bearer correct- and I like your name better, so that's what it'll be.
It is true, I do tend to have difficulty coming up with a suitable conflict. At this point, though, she's still just getting the team together- so I think I can get away with it. Any ideas? (I do tend to enjoy writing internal conflicts more, I've noticed...)
Was there a time-skip? If there was, it's not communicated at all. It honestly feels like several chapters dropped out of the story between the spooky ponies and Luna. You must construct additional character development.
But, in any case, assuming you're looking for the princesses names,
9401433
Those are all correct, yes- those are the perspectives I used, despite some of the sections being third person.
And... No, there wasn't a timeskip. There was for last chapter; from when the dragons were just hatched to when they're learning to speak. This is actually a flashback from the last chapter, but it's a matter of hours.
... and, this chapter is intended to serve character development. I wasn't satisfied with the amount of development there was last chapter- and group development (as in, development of several characters at once) never seems to work for me (that's actually how Zeus became all-knowing/fixing in Iron Mountain).
Yes, Twilight does take after old Starsquirrel. She has a difficult time trusting other's work, especially when it contradicts her preconceptions.
9416496
Starsquirrel, love it!
And, those are both accurate.
... in the sense that even I'm not sure what perspective, exactly, the first is from. It might even be full-on third person limited- no perspective associated. Pretty sure that's what it was intended to be, when I wrote it a week ago.
Well alright then. let's make things a bit more interesting.
derpicdn.net/img/2013/6/21/353549/large.jpeg
If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?
9419078
That is a very good question. Blue and Glamour are both fillies, so their voices would be filly timbres right now...
Glamour might sound something similar to Rarity; she's really into her appearances, as Element Bearer of Aesthetics.
Blue is shy, as Element Bearer of Safety- and might sound similar to Fluttershy. She isn't as shy as Flutters, but...
Beyond that, no clue. I'm no good at voice acting... or artistic design of really any kind.
9418797
That's a yeppers... Great picture, by the way.
Right then.
You know Lyra, if you want to save Twilight some headaches, you could start calling this "Extra-relativistic Awareness" instead of The Fourth Wall. A properly scientific sounding term would go a long way to settling her (literally!) ruffled feathers. But then again, that might make her a little too comfortable with the idea...
When it comes to the dangers of the Blind Eternities, I'm fine because I know better. And Discord and Pinkie are fine because the danger knows better. But Twilight... She's a little too credulous, and far too obsessed with learning. She's all too likely to attract the wrong attention, not all of Discord's far-flung kin are as trustworthy as he.
look out for her, yes?
9428244
Yep, yep, aaand, yep.
And yes, that's about what she's doing.
... I think.
I too was going to guess Discord, but apparently I got Strangered. (Been reading too many Worm fanfics on SV again...)
Politicians. It takes a special kind of genius to get things so backward. Twilight definitely counts as one. Here's hoping that the next chapter features Twi's predicament...
Well, at least the Honesty incident was mentioned. Kinda sad we didn't get to see it, but the conversation with Discord was quite nice, in both meanings. I wonder how long it will be before someone notices that one of the statues is grinning? I don't think it's in Discord to behave quite that well when anticipating something like this...
9428244
Ehhh, giving Purplesmart headaches is THE reason for existence itself!
I must say this one was hilarious. The confusion begins... Muahahahah...
But yes, you did just about the perfect implementation of poking at and/or breaking the 4th wall. I'm just mad I was too busy reading Mauling Snarks and missed the chance to get my name immortalized.
9439673
Except the idea is to cause chaos by making absolutely no sign he's awake... and using his powers anyways. So, the statue looks exactly the same. Might feel like something different, I donno- who knows, it might even scratch its nose or chase off pigeons when nopony's looking.
9439688
Oh, don't worry- you'll have your chance.
... someday. Maybe. Probably.
9440569
I had read that before the chapter where he was freed. I figured if there was a long enough wait, there'd be no way he'd be able to resist his own version of the Pony Lisa's smile:
A snaggletoothed smirk that literally follows you around the room...
9440618
Oh, later on, sure. When they're ready to get people to notice he's no longer trapped. But now? Nah- too much risk in damaging future chaos opportunities.
Aww, this one is canceled?!