Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Pathetic Aesthetic

"I think it looks way too cluttered," said Twilight. "It feels like they worked on it until it was finished, and then just kept going. There's a design somewhere in there, and it's probably a good design, but it's buried under all the unnecessary details they kept adding because no one told them to stop."

Celestia nodded. "That does seem accurate. Artists of that period did have a tendency to overcomplicate their works, and it could get quite excessive, as seen here. It's as you said, they had a finished piece but they just kept going. It's no wonder a minimalist current took over in the next century."

There was a click, as Twilight tapped the projector, and the picture on the wall changed to a different one. "And what about this one?" Twilight asked.

Celestia studied it for a moment, tilting her head. "I think I remember this one."

"I'd expect you to. It's you."

"I see that, Princess, but you cannot expect me to remember a millennium's worth of artistic depictions of myself and recognise them all at first glance. Especially not when not all of them were directly presented to me. But I do remember this one. It came only a few decades after Luna's banishment. The style and proportions are still not quite as well defined as they would become a few centuries later. It's meant to symbolise strength, it was made in celebration of a successful battle if I recall correctly."

"It looks ugly," Twilight said. "It's fine if you just glance at it, but once you take it in it becomes worse and worse. The nose is too wide, the facial structure is off, your bones look misshapen. Your underside looks malnourished and overfed at the same time, like a sick and bloated animal. Your eyes aren't aligned properly. Your flanks and thighs look deformed. You look like a sketch that someone treated as a finished piece. Like a decent drawing somepony with a very unsteady hoof tried to trace."

Celestia nodded again. "That is true, Princess. I do look ugly and misshapen."

"Moving on." Twilight clicked the projector again. She stifled a chuckle as she saw the new image. "When was this lion sculpted?" she asked, clearly holding back giggles.

Celestia was also forcing back her laugh. "A couple of centuries ago, judging by the technique employed on the pattern at the base. Quite an admirable piece, the base." She had to stop talking.

"The base, yes." Twilight laughed. Not holding back anymore, she pointed at the lion's head. "He just looks so goofy!"

Celestia was too busy fighting against her laughing fits to speak.

"It looks like a foal's drawing that someone decided to replicate in a statue." Twilight kept chuckling as she talked. "Its eyes aren't even the same size! It looks like a lion if you inflated parts its face with air like a balloon."

"It really does." Celestia had finally calmed down enough to speak. "Do you think it was on purpose?"

"I'm honestly not sure," Twilight replied. "Oh well. Moving on."

Comments

[Sigmacipher]

"The base, yes." Twilight laughed. Not holding back anymore, she pointed at the lion's head. "He just looks so goofy!"

Celestia was too busy fighting against her laughing fits to speak.

"It looks like a foal's drawing that someone decided to replicate in a statue." Twilight kept chuckling as she talked. "Its eyes aren't even the same size! It looks like a lion if you inflated parts its face with air like a balloon."

"It really does." Celestia had finally calmed down enough to speak. "Do you think it was on purpose?"

"I'm honestly not sure," Twilight replied. "Oh well. Moving on."

Or maybe it was trying give the artist Kitty eyes. OwO

[FanOfMostEverything]

(Insert Rata video here.)

This is 95% wholesome Twilestia interaction and I am all for it. But that "I do look ugly and misshapen" line still leaves me a little uncomfortable.