In the world of ponydom, Equestria is but a young and vulnerable nation. It needs heroes to defend it. It needs authority. It needs pillars.
Yet Star Swirl and his legendary Pillars have mysteriously vanished. After guiding ponydom for so long, their absence is sorely felt, their stability lost, their legacy in peril.
Young Celestia knows this. But what can she do? She's just a disobedient student.
Young Cinch knows this too. And in her mind, it's not a question of what she can do. It's a question of what she will do. For she is always working – she prides herself on it – and now she is working on a solution to everything...
An entry in Imposing Sovereigns III, using the prompt "Cinch/Integrity".
Chapters (7)
Something tells me that’s not the Fire heart of friendship on the cover
you've intrigued me with the protagonist alone
Brilliant stuff, especially in how it extrapolates what we know about the human Cinch. She is Celestia's contemporary, in the same profession, but far stricter and capable of producing what she views as far superior people through her guidance. But that guidance exacts a terrible price on those who cannot meet her harsh standards. And while she is fiercely competitive, she is in her own way very fair. She simply uses that which is permitted to her, which is to say everything not expressly forbidden for what she sees as a good reason.
And thus we get the princess. It all fits together perfectly. I can only imagine how Sombra took the throne, but I can't imagine it was quick or easy. Thank you for this, and best of luck in the judging.
mom holy fuck
(wish I had more articulate things to say but I'm just so genuinely impressed I'm at a loss for words)
“Your Duchess has been poisoned! In the name of a fair fight, I shall now level the playing field!”
Did not see that coming! Certainly playing the part of the arrogant antagonist! It seems she didn't really want to win... I guess she had quite an inferiority complex as a result of the socioeconomic factors mentioned in the previous chapters? I get that she wanted to prove that she was definitely the best, but she certainly went too far. Even a chess grandmaster might lose a fluke game to an unpredictable ranked player now and again.
Interesting. It seems that this includes an origin story for a discovered Crystal Empire and its populace... but an interesting question for the future (unless I missed it herein) is who built the city in the first place...
Wow! This story went a long way to get me to care about a character that I usually hate. There was so much lore and worldbuilding here too, it's good stuff!
There were some really unexpected curves in this story, most of which came from how original and how well fit together it is.
Good stuff!.
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Darn, I've been lax in replying to comments, haven't I? This late, I don't quite feel able to respond to every single one as uniquely as each comment deserves. So as a minimum, please accept a gleeful "thank you!" for the feedback. I enjoyed reading every single one. 😌