"... And after several months living here, I can say for certain something about this town," Luster Dawn said with conviction, sipping on her coffee as she and Princess Twilight shared time together in the Friendship Castle's Dining Room.
Princess Twilight sipped her tea calmly. She enjoyed these monthly visits to her old home and catching up with her Faithful Student. With no way to send letters except through the Pegasus Post, this was the only easy way for them to talk normally. "What would that be, Luster?"
Luster thumped her head on the table with a groan. "Everyone in this town is crazy!"
Twilight held her poise for a moment, before breaking into un-very princess-like giggles. "A wise lesson to learn, My Faithful Student. One that I myself had to relearn all of the time. Just ask my friends. They can tell you plenty of stories about it."
Luster nodded. "I just wish someponies would understand things already. Ponies still think that I'm Headmare Starlight's daughter. Even after I've shown them pictures of my family. I admit that I do look like I could be. Or how they greeted me when I moved here. But that's a dumb way of thinking. My friends at least don't."
Twilight nodded as well. She had heard of this from Starlight and Sunburst, but there was nothing any of them could do about it. "I truly am sorry, Luster. But there is little we can do about it or how ponies think. Some still think Applejack and Rainbow Dash are a couple. Even when those of us who know them well will know they would never be mature enough. At least with each other, for this."
Luster smiled. She'd been taken aside by the two and explained, in detail, why it would never work after she had asked them about it. Neither mare had been angry, thankfully, but it had cleared things up for the unicorn.
The same could be said for Fluttershy and Discord. While there was a deep bond between them, doing something like love didn't feel like something the Lord of Chaos would do. It also didn't help that Fluttershy was seeing Tree Hugger anyway.
Twilight, though, saw there was something else in her student's eyes, and it worried her. "Luster. You know you can tell me anything. Please. Tell me what is on your mind? This cannot be all of it."
Luster nodded sadly, her ears falling at the thought that came to mind. "Am I your successor?"
Twilight blinked. "What do you mean?"
Luster shook her head. "Someponies think the only reason you chose me as your student is that you're grooming me to take the throne one day. Or, gods forbid, make me an alicorn and pass all of it to me. Some are rather vocal about it as well."
Twilight's eyes twitched. Oh, how she hated that line of thinking. Ever since she had taken the throne from Celestia and Luna, some ponies seemed to think that she could never live without her friends and that the only reason she ever took a student was to groom them to take her spot.
The best had taken their concerns to her during court, and while Twilight wasn't thrilled at their way of thinking, she respected them for being civil about it. The most delusional complained every chance they got as if it would change anything. She tended to boot them out of the castle personally.
Twilight shook her head and smiled gently as she lay a hoof on her student's. "No, Luster. I admit that the thought has crossed my mind several times. But I never picked you just in the hope you could succeed me. I picked you because I saw in you much of who I used to be, and I wanted to nurture that."
Luster tried to smile, but it came out strained. "So you're not planning to unleash some ancient evil for me and my friends to defeat to prove my worth?"
Twilight scoffed, offended at the very idea. "Luster Dawn. I thought you knew me better than that. I would never do that to you, or any of my students." She winked. "Besides. Even if I wanted to, there's none left. Either they're reformed, in stone for all eternity, or locked away in Tartarus."
Luster breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Now I don't owe Discord any bits. He was so sure you would do all of that. Out of boredom if for no other reason. I bet him you wouldn't. Looks like I win."
Twilight's eyes twitched again. She would be having words with the Lord of Chaos about this later, but for now, she just wanted to relax, as she took another sip from her tea.
Luster, though, still had another question, as she looked into the Main Library, and at an odd mirror connected to all kinds of things that she couldn't name that sat in one corner. "I do have one more question, Princess Twilight. What is that mirror over there? I've been meaning to ask for some time now. I feel some kind of magic coming from it. A kind that I've never felt before."
Twilight smiled as she looked at the World Mirror. "Ah yes. I was wondering when you might ask about that, Luster. It is no ordinary mirror."
Luster wasn't convinced though. "How? It looks like one to me. Just connected to a bunch of things I don't understand."
Twilight nodded. "Indeed. But that is to keep it safe. That mirror is a gateway to another world. One that I have been to several times myself."
Luster linked. She had not expected that answer. She of course knew about the Multiverse Theory, that there were an infinite number of universes out there, all different in some way or form to another. "What is that world like, princess?"
Twilight giggled. "It is hard to explain, My Faithful Student. It is one that must be experienced in person to understand. My friends can help you with that, for I see it in your eyes that you are curious about the other world."
Luster blushed. Her teacher knew her all too well. She was right of course. She was curious to see this other world, and what it might be like. "Could I go to this other world?"
Twilight nodded happily. "Of course! This castle is still mine, and therefore I have the final say in what happens to the mirror and who uses it. I keep its key with me in Canterlot for just that reason. No matter what Starlight might say." She smiled. "So, Luster. Ask the question I know you now have."
Luster Dawn took a moment to think about it, before she finally did. "So when do I get to visit this other world?"
Question: where does that cover art come from? I love it! Sunset’s deep magneta suit, with the skirt and her geode pinned to the side as a brooch was such a nice touch. And Luster’s human form looks great, too.
This looks like the start of a wonderful story. I’ll be tracking this. Hope to see more of you soon!
I liked the start of this story and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next.
I was wondering why this had collected a handful of downvotes. Unless someone has a personal vendetta against you, I would guess it's that you're denying the AppleDash pairing, and the Fluttershy-Discord pairing (don't know the name of that one, sorry) in this timeline. I'm not very attached to any shipping, so I don't really care, but I understand why some would be annoyed.
11147774
It’s on Deviantart. Artist is Orin331, though you have to click the story card’s pop-up “Source” button and zoom way in to see the name.
11147807
Let the shippers get butthurt. The downvotes don't mean anything to me anyway. Now, if these came from honest story mistakes by me and they pointed them out in a comment, then I wouldn't mind since those can be fixed.
11147810
FWIW, I didn’t spot any glaring errors that need correcting, hence my confusion about the downvotes. As long as the story makes you happy, I think that’s what matters!
I love how many headcanons this shoots down: Luster Dawn being Starlight's (and Sunburst's) daughter, AppleDash, and Fluttercord.
I'm intrigued!
11147808
Thank you!
Well, all those downvotes suddenly make a lot of sense. You basically roundhouse kicked almost every series finale headcanon in the throat.
11147774
I'm just happy they didn't give Adult Sunset lipstick like they did Celestia, Luna and Cadence. I mean seriously why, it looks wrong.
11148044
That was the point. If these were beyond a doubt 100% confirmed canon, it's a different story. But they're not. I don't give a fk what the haters think anyway.
11148070
The idea of Luster Dawn being Starlight Glimmer's daughter never made any sense to me. If she had been raised by Starlight, she would have grown up knowing about friendship without needing special lessons from Twilight. As for the relationships in question, those at least seemed to be strongly hinted at (even if they weren't explicitly canonized in dialogue) -- but since I don't give a rip about shipping, I'm cool with you doing what you want.
Seems like a decent start to a story, in my opinion.
11148222
I've seen people say that Luster's views on friendship are her rebelling against her parents (when they're Starlight and Sunburst anyway). But that is a flimsy excuse at best and falls apart when you think about it.
11147896
Glad I'm not the only one.
This was great! I can't wait for the next chapters!
Good start, now to see where the story goes. Yes, every story not written by the official writers is automatically an "alternate universe", so it doesn't matter if your story follows so called "cannon" or not. All that does is give you more room to play with the characters, lol.
11148260
Another argument I've seen is the logic that nopony needs to learn friendship as everybody is friends anyway. This is another version of the old 'everybody else is vaccinated' fallacy.
11148049
The lipstick I can live with (at least it matches their skin at a darker shade), but that's not nearly as jarring as Cadance's bright blue eye shadow....
11148260
I mean, I'm not against those headcanons, I just found it funny.
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11148260
Do you also think Firelight told Starlight Glimmer it is ok to start a cult and destroy spacetime?
11148712
Of course he did. Even if it was Starlight rebelling against him, he would totally be behind it.
11148049
The lipstick doesn’t look that off on those three, though. But yes, it wouldd’ve looked odd on Sunset.
11148070
Nineveh, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You are, too. So you don’t like head cannons; that’s okay, you’re allowed to. Some people like theories and are a little peeved that you shot them down; that’s okay, too.
Calm down, alright? There’s no need to be angry.
11147807
I suspect the issue isn't just that the fic's rejected them, it's how it went about doing it. Instead of bringing up these all going differently from popular fanons in passing as each subject comes up naturally, it outright spends its opening paragraphs going out of its way to explicitly call out and criticize these fanons and those that support them as silly, in a set-up where there was no specific story-related reason it needed to do so, as if just doing so out of spite. I can see how that might make some feel...targeted...writing it like that.
But otherwise, just so there's no misunderstandings, I don't have a problem with this--I find AppleDash both cliche and stereotype promoting, I'm overall indifferent about FlutterCord, and we need more fics that dare to portray Luster as something other than the spawn of StarBurst anyway. And above all else, I'm always supportive of a fic that breaks the trends of fanon to instead tread it's own, original, path.
Besides, some fans need to remember that fanon is not, and never will be, the same as canon, and shouldn't be treated like it is anyway--to do so is just stifling creativity. And I'd rather see the uniquely creative than a glut of trend-followers.
11148996
Thanks for putting that into words, I was having a hard time of it! My only guess is that there’s a thematic connection, that not everything will be as it seems beyond the mirror, but that’s only speculation.
11148996
It's just how I write. I'm not trying to make everyone happy. And as I said in another comment, if all of what I called out was 100% confirmed canon, and nothing left to interpretation, its a different story.
Plus as you said. Nothing in this is true show canon anyway. I'm not crazy enough to think fanon is true canon, nor will it ever be. Let the creativity juices flow.
Loving the premise and am very interested to see where you go with this.
11148996
Yeah, while I do think it's silly to downvote a story over someone's ship not being together in the story, it is their story after all and fanfic has no real rules, I do think that the lines in question add nothing of value to the story. None of these characters appear to be important to the plot being set up, and it feels like they exist only to act as a way to voice the author's opinions on unrelated topics. I would argue this is the wrong place to voice those opinions, as it does negatively impact the flow of the first chapter by distracting from the actual story being told.
11149280
I mean they kind of do, in that some readers might ask questions regarding that stuff. Maybe Rainbow and AJ are introduced and people ask why they aren't a couple or Luster leaves for the human world and people ask whether her parents are okay with it or Sunset asks about Starlight.
Plus it's self aware humor which can be a lot of fun.
11149298
Perhaps these things should come up when those situations occur then? The problem right now is the lack of context. This information sort of comes out of nowhere and doesn't seem important at this point in time. If it came up when the characters in question were around and was relevant to the events happening, or could come up naturally in conversation, it wouldn't feel quite so forced. As for the humor, it just doesn't seem to be landing with most people. The first few sentences of a story probably aren't the best place to be adding in a lot of meta humor unless the entire story is going to be extremely meta, like a Super Trampoline fic or Deadpool.
Personally, I like how Twilight's attitude towards Luster asking if she can go through the mirror is, "Well, obviously!"
11149310
I'm inclined to agree with you. The lines as they occur have no real relevance to the plot and seem to be there solely for the purpose of bashing those people who follow them. If incorporated organically into the story it would work better.
11148753
I hope you are being sarcastic.
11149359
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11149280
People can think all they want about those lines. It won't change anything. So...
11149321
No reason at all Twilight wouldn't be open to letting Luster do this 😁
11149700
It’s... constructive criticism. There’s no need to be defensive and angry about it.
11149785
Oh no, this isn't me angry or defensive. This is me just being me 😑.
11149795
Well, then. I don’t know what to say. Just know that accepting constructive constructive criticism, like Scyphi and Scribblesrick are giving you, makes an author grow and be better.
At risk of causing ire: I think it was the brusque manner you just shot down the ships (and also aspersions on the character and "maturity" of some) for those of us who like to give depth and nuance to, say, Rainbow Dash; it is kind of irksome to have that kind of quick insult and then move on.
By all means don't go for the ship, but either don't cover it. Or expand on the idea of why it is not there. Sure, this story isn't there for that, so why put it in at all unless you want to cock a snook at the shippers.
gasp
11421833
To be fair, Opaline wasn't a thing when I wrote that. Not changing it now either.