The relationship between Celestia and Hydia, the Queen of the Lamias, goes back quite a ways: Hydia was the first of Equestria's enemies that Celestia consigned to Tartarus instead of killing, after all.
But as the centuries roll on, their relationship changes somewhat.
This was going to be my entry in the 193rd Writeoff competition, "How the Mighty Have Fallen," but I didn't get it finished before the deadline. Then along came the My Little Pony Renaissance Contest with its theme of "Change," and, well, here we are!
Chapters (1)
This was really good! Kudos.
It would have been nice to see a bit more of Celestia interracting with Hydia, or I guess the characters bouncing off each-other? Enjoyed the story anyway - I think it's a bit too somber to count as fun but it's a good little character exploration and story.
I thought Hydia was a witch, not a lamina.
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Thanks, folks!
As for Hydia, I figured that, if FiM could make Tirek and Scorpan brothers, than I could change her around a little.
Mike
This was some good stuff here!
... well, that's, uh, that's one way to bring about a widespread linguistic shift.
Very well-written.
I kinda wish this could go on for a little bit but this one shot works well. Also glad you did the lamias instead of humans. Much better!
Nice story but I dont think forgiveness for killing her children would come so easy, people are selfish less forgiven when it comes to their families,
Personally I liked it if celestia had hunted her down discovered she started a new family, that would have made it more believable
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I mean, it *has* been thousands of years. I honestly think by that point Hydia has already gone through the stages of grief - at the end, the only thing that bothered her - that angered her, was the hypocrisy: of killing her daughters, but not her.
Apologising was exactly what was needed - and the irrationality of accepting such an apology.. Well, like they said, they're old, old fools.
Fairly violent for an E rating, considering Hydia's descriptions of violence towards Celestia.
Regardless, thoroughly enjoyable!
Hydia?! Well, add I live and breathe!
Or... as I... don't? Goodness, it's been so long, I don't remember which of those I'm supposed to do anymore.
No matter! Splendid job here, friend.
On a second reread now, and I gotta say -- I'm finding Hydia being a lamia to be a lot less surreal that Hydia "don't call me 'mama', you turds!" genuinely loving her daughters.
I mean, it wasn't a bad thing -- but the species change definitely wasn't the biggest thing on my mind here.
I kind of find it hard to believe that there's still fics this good coming out so long after the show ended. And so very very long after the show started crapping on its previously established character development.
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Eh, people are still writing fanfic for Star Trek's first series or the actual Silmarillion. This is nothing.
I adore seeing G1 into G4 elements and this was just so many levels of cute :)
I personally, find it hard to believe Hydia would not seek vengeance. Sounds a lot like, "Oh hey, you killed my children. You've locked me away for a thousand years with no mental stimuli except being forced into self-reflection, but that's all fine, I've had time to think. You made a mistake and killed my children and did who knows what to my mental state."
From that objective standpoint, I just can't relate to or understand Hydia. Mayhaps I'm missing something, or perhaps it's the sentiment that's meant to be focused on instead of being looked at from an objective point. Hydia is angry, but not as righteously anger as I'd expect, and to me, it feels like it's being justified simply by the fact Celestia made a mistake. (Also possible is that the story was just confined by the E rating).
By the end, any meaning of Hydia's insults or angry has basically lost all meaning.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good, short story not really meant to be picked apart as I have, but it's just not my type of story
This is just beautiful. It is reminiscent of two old soldiers of opposing sides meeting up and having a beer and talk about old times.
Hmmmm
Interesting read. I really liked seeing Celestia's progression over time: she had two core personality traits (unquestioning black/white confidence, vs self reflection and doubt) that traded places in intensity overall, but neither went to zero or 100 percent. She still carried both with her, which I liked. I also enjoyed seeing Luna as a voice of forgiveness and reason over reaction—that was an interesting and pleasant take.
One thing: I know that Hydia had her own revelations and possibly changes of heart over time (maybe), but they were presented very quickly. She disappeared entirely, and then suddenly she's there (as we knew she'd be), and effectively buddying up with Celestia after a few tense moments. This just seemed very abrupt and wrapped up the story too quickly (for me, of course), and gave me more of a sense of foreboding than anything else.
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It's sadly nowhere near as common as it used to be, but then again some fics I loved back in 2012 are terrible when I reread them.
An interesting take, I am only passingly familiar with G1 material (saw the movie with Tirec and the Smooze) and I've read a few fanfics that bridge G1 and G4.
All in all, an interesting take on how time changes people, even apparently immortal goddesses.
I prefer them as Pony witches: Hydia, Reeka and Draggle modernized by JAMNetwork on DeviantArt
But Lamias are fine too. Very good to see you still writing very fine fanfics.
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You never know when the suck fairy is going to hit something you enjoyed a long time ago. Memory, after all, is unreliable, and the story as it is in your head may be rather better than the actual original.
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To be fair, some of the fics I read back then were garbage for the time too.
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As SF writer Theodore Sturgeon pointed out back in 1957, 90% of everything is crud.
(Of course, there can be local peaks and valleys).
That was really good. Good to see both Celestia and Hydia change over time.
I really enjoyed this. Thank you.
This one did it well for me. Hydia's change over the years was subtle, but I found the evolution natural and fine. Two old enemies slowly learning to forgive each other... this hit me in the right places.
Thank you for writing.
I love it! Congratulations. Are you able to create stories about a casino, for example? In the sense that the character frequents the casino and an adventure happens to him. I'm a fan of online games and I play at a casino I recently discovered https://leonbetindia.in/. I'd be delighted if there were a section dedicated to stories of this kind, or if you have the opportunity to write one.