• Published 24th Sep 2011
  • 3,055 Views, 48 Comments

Scratching a Diamond - Draco Dei



Celestia returns to the castle and talks with a guardsmare after spending some time with Luna.

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 3,055

Scratching a Diamond

The guardsmare upon the highest tower of Canterlot Palace dropped into a fighting stance as a large creature shimmered into view... then dropped into an entirely different posture when she saw the nature of the "creature".

"My Princess!" she exclaimed abashedly from where she knelt, not raising her eyes from the floor.

"Is something the matter?" asked Celestia, her tone light.

"I have failed you! I am sure the Captain can find someone else to stand watch since I obviously can't pay sufficient attention to fulfill this duty... unless perhaps the fault lies in my ability to ensure the proper functioning of my equipment."

"Oh really? Just what might you be basing that conclusion on?"

"The... the fact that My Lady was so close before I detected her!"

"Say rather that your Princess is still in good enough health that you need not send for a physician to aid her."

"My Princess?" she said, daring to make eye-contact.

Celestia laughed, a heartening sound, full of joy. "Get up you silly pony. You didn't do anything wrong. If I couldn't fall silent as a sunbeam,", she cut a caper in place, her hooves making not a sound on the flagstones, "if light did not listen when I asked it not to give me away,", she faded briefly from view, passing through complete invisibility at the word 'asked' and returning to full visibility by the word 'away', "then I would need to have a concern for my health lest I be slow in raising the sun one day.

"If the air carried my scent when I did not give it tacit leave to do so," she continued then, spawning a pair of dust-devils with a single flap of her wings, "then, as a paragon among pegasi I would need medical treatment."

The guardsmare rose.

"I was not informed of this."

"Well, it hasn't come up in over five-hundred years, so I can understand the current training regimen de-emphasizing it. Speaking of which, however... I need medical treatment."

"My Princess?"

Celestia turned slightly, revealing a bleeding pock-mark, about two inches in diameter on her right shoulder.

"Oh Celestia!"... the words were a prayer said in shock, not an expression of sympathy.

"You called?" said the alicorn bringing her nose within inches of the guardsmare's, her grin only getting larger.

"Oh goodness!" said the guardsmare, turning for the stairs.

"Wait."

She paused, one lime-green hoof raised in the air.

"And just where do you think you are going?"

"To get a doctor?"

"For something like this? Does not your armor contain bandages?" asked Celestia, gesturing with her horn.

"Well, yes, but..."

"I could heal myself, you know that don't you? Wouldn't take me but a few minutes. I want to enjoy this memento a few days. I just don't want to get blood on my dress."

The guardsmare materialized the bandages from her peytral. Celestia took them with a gracious inclination of her glowing horn and placed them onto the wound, their magic adhering them in place.

"Oh! Should I alert the castle or is the villain defeated?"

"I will thank you not to refer to my dear sister as a villain."

"Wait! She REVERTED?!", despite the bright and clear day, the guardsmare glanced fearfully up at the sky, reassuring herself that the sun was still there.

"Nothing of the sort! We were having a sparring match up beyond the atmosphere, and I managed to convince Lulu to stop pulling her kicks with the micrometeorites. I am quite proud of her. She has been so timid in our matches since her return. Too bad it vaporized on impact.", said Celestia wistfully, " I would have liked to have challenged a sculptor to see if they could turn something the size of a grain of sand into the center-piece of a decent trophy to give to her... perhaps have the trophy-maker collaborate on the design with the more intricate sort of jeweler. Something a quarter inch tall might have been the way to go... ah well, can't be helped.

"Well, I am off to consult with the master of my wardrobe for a dress to hide this under so I don't start too many rumors among the nobles. Keep up the good work, don't let word get out about this, and don't forget to replace those bandages from the stores."

Celestia's horn started to glow when the guard interrupted.

"My Princess... if I might make so bold...?"

"Yes my little pony?"

"Don't forget to shave that spot if you intend to allow it to persist for more than a few days. I can have the medical staff send over a razor."

Celestia gave another laugh. "On my pelt? That would be a wasteful thing to do to a razor. If I ever need to shave I will freeze the hairs to brittleness and then break them off. Thank you for the suggestion though!" she said with a wink of her eye.

The Princess of the Sun winked her whole self out in a large burst of mist. The guardsmare sniffed the mist, enjoying the scent of chamomile and sugar-cane even as her eyes returned to scanning the dome of the sky above her.


Elsewhere in the Palace, the Princess of the Moon settled in for a day's sleep (only a few hours), an angelic smile on her lips.
"I'm back." she murmured as she drifted off to another realm that she ruled, secure in the love of her sister.

Author's Note:

Started August 20th 2011.
First Draft finished 7:25 AM Eastern time.
Second Draft finished 12:10 PM Eastern time.
Minor edit and added more line-breaks September 15th
Changed some capitalization to italics, March 16th 2015
This is the first MLP fanfic I have completed. Critique welcome.

Comments ( 48 )
#1 · Aug 20th, 2011 · · ·

:ajbemused::applejackconfused::applejackunsure::pinkiesad2:

#2 · Aug 21st, 2011 · · ·

cute

2261
Well, it APPEARS you didn't like it... got any suggestions for improvements?

Well That, was interesting...
(Very funny, well done.)

77213
Thank you... didn't MEAN it to be humorous, but if you enjoyed it as humor I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
(So, what DID you find humorous about it?)

#6 · Jan 23rd, 2012 · · ·

I read this story before, and I have to honestly say that it's a really well-written piece of work. It's got a good mix of humor, emotion, and a good overall fullness to what the author's writing. I saw this story on furaffinity and loved it. That's all I gotta say.

Now, my ponicon rating on a scale of 1-5 pinkie pies is: :pinkiehappy: :pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy:

It's THAT GOOD! And I'll aso add a :rainbowdetermined2: just to make it twenty percent cooler!

I think it's good. I would actually quite like to see more writing like this. I'm not actually sure what I mean by that, but I know I want more.

152376
181103
Thank you.
I have several more stories in the works, but I find it hard to progress with them. Your comments help keep me going. I hope that they manage to hit whatever it was that caused you two to like this one.

Very clever. I am surprised to see you don't have any other stories on the site. Granted your detailed reviews are wonderful, but you clearly have more than a little talent for writing.

505608
Oh, I have stories(note the plural) in the works. I just can't seem to finish any of them yet.

--The story idea that is most alike to this one I haven't written a word of, and I don't want to repeat myself with another slice of life "Alicorns are Awesome" story immediately.

--The story idea I have the most words written on I need at least one proofreader for, who, for complicated reasons has to be a conservative Christian (not as hard as some would think, but not easy to find) to feel comfortable with displaying here.

--Another got partially jossed by "Read It and Weep" while I was about 25% of the way through writing it, and I haven't felt like re-writing it to take into account the change in what we know about Ponyville's medical facilities (It doesn't help that was much more plausible when the medical personnel were ones who could be assumed to not be fully trained for the situation they are presented with). Plus the requirements of balancing the comedic and dramatic elements without impairing either.

--One of them centers around a mentally and physically handicapped OC that I am afraid of writing in a cliche way. Plus it requires Sweetie Belle to social-fu Silver Spoon and while I know HOW that will happen, I don't know of I can find the actual WORDS to use to make it work.

--One I have no idea of what goes in the middle, I just have the beginning and the end. If you know anyone who can plan a party under HEAVY logistical constraints have them contact me. I don't want to completely off-screen Pinkie Pie's throwing the party equivalent of taking on two burly guys with bowie knives, with one hand tied behind your back, while you are over the legal limit for blood alcohol content.

Wow, that was really good.

And I know how useless reviews like that are, so I'll try and explain why I liked it.

First off, I didn't see any problems whatsoever with spelling or grammar, and the story had a very... refreshing feel to it, over all. I think that's because Celestia, as a whole, is depicted either quite negatively in this fandom, or just shoved of to the side and ignored. Where as you go full bore with the whole "Hey, remember this Pony? Yeah, the one who controls the Sun? Maybe there's a reason she's the leader of a country." theme, and manage to wrap up quite the little Wham Episode in just under a thousand words.

Secondly, the title is really clever. I like it when a title works as a metaphor for the story's central theme, and you definitely hit that on the head with "Scratching a Diamond". In fact the only problem I have with this story, at all, is that the description doesn't do it justice. You have this really awesome oneshot, with a really cool title and its just so... understated in the description.

Thirdly and lastly, (this is just a personal observation, by the way) I found the tone of the story very... familiar. The whole reason I started writing is because I found Spike's depiction in fanfiction, and in later episodes of the show, to be so... weak compared to what we know about him from earlier episodes. I realized that if I wanted to see stories that depicted him as I wanted, I'd have to write them... so I did. To get to the point, your story feels very similar to the stuff I wrote back then, in the stories that would eventually lead up to Perspective. Except with Celestia/Alicorns as the character(s) of interest, and with actual skill at writing involved.

To sum it up, it was a very detailed short story that expanded wonderfully on Celestia's character and abilities. I almost feel bad about writing a critique that doesn't mention something to work on (other than that summary), but I couldn't find anything bad to say.:twilightsheepish:

968218
"Hey, remember these Ponies? Yeah, the ones who control the Sun and the Moon? Maybe there's a reason they're the leaders of a country."
-Edited this to be the way that most of my readers have seen this... actually the response I got on DeviantArt was about how trusting a relationship I showed between the Sisters with this bit of "blackbelt-level archangel rough-housing". Either way works, since I never explicitly stated who won this time around, and by how great a margin. Another point is that they aren't the leaders of Equestria nearly so much because Celestia's ability to focus sunlight earned her the title "The Hammer of the Dawn" (yes, that is a "Gears of War" reference), and Luna has "Comet" and "Meteo" on her spell-list, as they are because they have multiple millenia of job-experience each.

In fact the only problem I have with this story, at all, is that the description doesn't do it justice.
-Would you suggest I give away the "wham" ahead of time at least a little? Do you have any more specific recommendations for the description.

I almost feel bad about writing a critique that doesn't mention something to work on (other than that summary), but I couldn't find anything bad to say.
-Well, it is short enough that it is possible that any remaining flaws are remarkably subtle.


EDIT: Tried a tweak of the description.

The biggest critique I have to offer is that this is a little too short. I wouldn't recommend describing the actual battle much further, because the ambiguity of it is one of your story's strengths, but it feels like there should be something more. I know sometimes stories just have to be short, but this one didn't stay long enough for its point to have much impact.

Not to say I didn't enjoy it though. Still thumbed up for sure. Just something for you to consider.

I've written a similar scene between Luna and Celestia. While they weren't quite throwing comets at each other or anything like that, I love the idea of the sisters sparring in ways that would cause some serious damage to normal ponies. It works so well both from a narrative standpoint and an in-character standpoint.

Oh yeah, and grammatically, when one paragraph ends with a character speaking, and the next character immediately begins with the same character speaking, you don't close the first one with quotation marks.

I'm thinking like here:

"then I would need to have a concern for my health lest I be slow in raising the sun one day."

"If the air carried my scent when I did not give it tacit leave to do so," she continued then, spawning a pair of dust-devils with a single flap of her wings, "then, as a paragon of among pegasi I would need medical treatment."

There shouldn't be quotation marks after the word day.

Anyway, totally neat. You've convinced me to read your other work! :moustache:

1352185
Suggest something to add and I will shall certainly consider it.

Actually, one thing I COULD add (if I can figure out how), is some sort of micro-flashback with Celestia remembering the weapon (toned down to sparring levels) that she used in the match. She doesn't use meteorites(AKA cousins to shooting STARS), she redirects sunlight into killsat-style beams (I literally have one of her titles being "The Hammer of the Dawn"). I don't know how literal you were being when you said "throwing comets at eachother".

Noted on the quotation marks, although that always looked wrong to me when I saw it in other people's work.

As for my other work, so far I only have one other that you could read (It is in-progress, but the first three chapters are up). I have to warn you, give it until AT LEAST the end of the first chapter because "Not everything is as it seems.".

1353404
It was kind of a dick move to say that and not offer any suggestions. Sorry. Here's something. Perhaps you could linger with Luna a bit longer at the end? Give us a little more of her perspective, maybe with the microflashback you mentioned.

(I was being very general with the phrase "throwing comets at each other." I meant epically powerful things on that level, and I meant it as a good thing, not a criticism.)

And I came here via rpg.net (I'm Morne the Bearkiller over there), so I could look at the password-protected ones too, if you wouldn't mind that is. Also don't worry, I will definitely finish at least the first chapter of the Two Deaths of Fluttershy. I only quit midway through something if it's an obvious trollfic.

1353694
Please do look at the password protected ones!

I will attempt that edit some time, perhaps even as a second chapter (probably less than 200 words), so that people will get an alert for the change. I suspect my muse will actually cooperate with it. Should actually give me a chance to show an idea I have about what Luna's bedroom is like.

Cute indeed. I liked the way that Celestia's power is displayed as something so normal to her. nd how she's proud of her sister and the fact that she's finally got some decent exercise. And then Lna feeling satisfied that she's back to her old self.

1644003
Thank you, and yes, it is as natural to her as the muscles of her body.

But "exercise" was never the problem. Luna has plenty of ways of getting exercise, and was probably doing some of them. The problem was Luna wasn't being as aggressive as she should have been. She is still a fighting her fear of herself because she almost caused the death of nearly every living thing, she was afraid to be violent, even the controlled violence of a sparring match. Imagine two blackbelt karate masters training in the ring with eachother. I imagine that there is some slight bruising involved in that sometimes, or at least before good padding was invented. When they fought the War of the Moon Luna was using rocks the size of shooter marbles at the least, and maybe as high as soft-ball sized as her SMALLEST shots (as opposed to uniformly using stuff the size of a large grain of sand), and Celestia was throwing around beams of redirected sunlight (rather than a beam of pure magic like she used against Chrysalis) that would have not only killed the average pony, but, if I have my understanding of physics correct, sent fragments of their bones flying hundreds of feet as they DETONATED from the energy input.

Can you suggest any methods of clarifying this point in-story? I might or might not actually make the changes but it would help me hone my craft.

1644043 Hmmm... Tough question. Maybe if Celestia, while indicating relief, also indicated that Luna still used to use such bigger sized meteors in their old sparring sessions.

1645178
Err... "War of the Moon" = "Nightmare Moon VS Celestia" those are the lethal "calibers" of meteorite and sun-beam respectively. The size of the meteorites probably doesn't vary between sparring matches. I guess I could mention Luna stepping up to slightly larger rocks for this sparring match.

Alright, it took me a couple days to leave a comment (never enough time to do everything I want to do). I did listen to this and Try-Out on the same night after I replied that I would take a peak (also, if your curious I almost never read stories, I use a text to speech program and I listen to almost everything, even my own stuff).

Overall it was an interesting take on Celestia and her sister. It does start very abruptly. Perhaps a little more of a lead in to our audience character (the guard) or some additional scene setting might better ease us in. There is also a lot of dialogue with limited description, granted they are up on the tower and their isn't much to describe but character reactions help us see the story instead of read it.

The section with Celestia showing off did feel a little out of place but all-in-all I did enjoy the piece. It also gave me inspiration for a short story of my own (which I've already written but who knows if I'll ever put it up, like most of my stuff) based around Celestia and her (spoilers).

On to comment on Try-Out.

1812793
You listen to computerized text to speech? You are a better man than I am Gunga Starwin.

I could put a sentence or two about standing a boring but necessary look-out watch I think. Would have to think about it.

Celestia showing off was her way of letting the guard REALLY know that she had not failed her... everypony is a bit nervous around Celestia and she was showing her what she was up against, such that she really hadn't screwed up. Plus getting it back into the guard's heads what their Diarch's are capable of could be seen as increasing their ability to comprehend high-level tactics (basically, when Celestia confronts a foe directly, your default option is "run", because you aren't going to be able to do anything that will matter at that power level, unless you are an alicorn, Shining Armor, or a Element of Harmony).

Finally I gave my Read Later list a look, and found this. So, my thoughts:

-in terms of execution, it's the sort of stuff I used to write before some of my readers suggest I check out elements of style. Speech attributions stick out for that, mostly. Personally I don't mind that much, I just started noticing it lately.

-The fic itself is very reliant on the concept and the concept is good. You referred me to this before, and I remember thinking I should check it out because a sparring match between Luna and Celestia sounds like a great concept. But here it's a look at how the outside world, or even a normal pony, would regard such a match. That's even more clever than just writing the match, which would be a simple matter of consulting a few action-based manga and working from there.

-I'd say the dialogue is a bit heavy-handed and overly formal, but... in hindsight, it's perfectly justified. Celestia usually speaks slightly formally, but not overly so, at least when she's around her little ponies. But after sparring with Luna? Yeah, I can see her slipping back into an old persona of a former ruler. I can only imagine the way she acts changes depending on the historical era, and her sister is still in the social role of an older one, so hanging around her would have it rub off.

-The implied scale of the fight and how casually Celestia treats it works great. It really adds to the notion that Celestia's not necessarily weak, but has to husband her strength for the sake of those around her. And the razor remark was the icing on the cake.

-And lastly, really liked the guard. The overreacting seemed out of place at first, but when it's kept up consistently and justified it makes for a neat character trait. Especially considering it's someone guarding one of the most important ponies in Equestria. My only real gripe is that she doesn't have a name. The conversation could have been improved with a simple. "Calm down, my little pony. What is your name?" *says name* "Well, then, [name], would you kindly..."

That kind of thing. Everything else, including the tiny snippet of Luna, was great.

3233459
-in terms of execution, it's the sort of stuff I used to write before some of my readers suggest I check out elements of style. Speech attributions stick out for that, mostly. Personally I don't mind that much, I just started noticing it lately.
--I MAY have learned how to do "speech attributions" better during someone's pre-read of one of the chapters of "The Two Death's of Fluttershy", but maybe not.

-The fic itself is very reliant on the concept and the concept is good. You referred me to this before, and I remember thinking I should check it out because a sparring match between Luna and Celestia sounds like a great concept. But here it's a look at how the outside world, or even a normal pony, would regard such a match. That's even more clever than just writing the match, which would be a simple matter of consulting a few action-based manga and working from there.
--Oddly enough I am much less sure of my ability to directly write such a scene in a way I would find satisfying. I like a lot of technical detail and accuracy I think, and I'm not even sure that it is possible for less than an uber-writer to do a fight scene in that style.

-I'd say the dialogue is a bit heavy-handed and overly formal, but... in hindsight, it's perfectly justified. Celestia usually speaks slightly formally, but not overly so, at least when she's around her little ponies. But after sparring with Luna? Yeah, I can see her slipping back into an old persona of a former ruler. I can only imagine the way she acts changes depending on the historical era, and her sister is still in the social role of an older one, so hanging around her would have it rub off.
--I was probably more thinking of her treating the guard like a very personable and playful commanding officer trying to use formality to set a MUCH lower ranking soldier at ease, but your interpretation works too. Both could even be true at the same time.

-The implied scale of the fight and how casually Celestia treats it works great. It really adds to the notion that Celestia's not necessarily weak, but has to husband her strength for the sake of those around her. And the razor remark was the icing on the cake.
--I would say "pull her punches", not "husband her strength". By my logic, she could have taken out Chrysalis with the "killsat" methods used in this story, but it would have taken more than one shot (because she didn't know about the power up), and it would have killed everypony else in the room, and maybe several adjacent rooms. Note for later readers: This story was completed long before "A Canterlot Wedding".

-And lastly, really liked the guard. The overreacting seemed out of place at first, but when it's kept up consistently and justified it makes for a neat character trait. Especially considering it's someone guarding one of the most important ponies in Equestria.
--Well, looking at how most ponies treat Celestia, and how badly the guard THINKS she screwed up, she is really off-balance and trying to play catch-up as Celestia refreshes the collective memory of her lower ranking guards. The Generals of course, have to know this stuff for strategic planning reasons.

My only real gripe is that she doesn't have a name. The conversation could have been improved with a simple. "Calm down, my little pony. What is your name?" *says name* "Well, then, [name], would you kindly..." That kind of thing.
--Yeah, but it really wasn't supposed to be about the guard to me. I guess I could add that.

Everything else, including the tiny snippet of Luna, was great.
--Glad to hear it!

Just starting this comment with one critique, will add more as I sift through the story again and again, but this came up first in my mind:

Why do you not use italics, instead of using capitals? Is there some specific reason for this in this story, or have you just not remembered to use them? Italicized words fit in a bit better with the rest of the words around, but it's important not to use an excess of them, or of capitalized words. Things like that can be jarring, and can prevent a sense of subtlety not otherwise conveyed in the writing.

Other than that, this is a very nice little read, and I'm having trouble coming up with anything else to say about it.

3301058
Thank you for pointing that out!

While I have often written fiction for my own entertainment throughout my life, and read voraciously, this was my first foray into this particular format. I simply did not know that rule yet.

I may go back and fix that aspect of this story at some later point.

Very interesting ideas and very well written. Celestia being a bit of a closet masochist actually fits to her immortality.

3560203
Hmmm... not what I meant if I understand the definition of "masochist" correctly. Masochism, to me, implies enjoyment of pain for its own sake, Celestia, OTOH is more indifferent to small injuries on a purely personal level.

When you have survived having limbs ripped off and regrown them over the course of decades, you don't sweat the small stuff (and yes, her immortal toughness does play a part in making this 'small stuff'). She enjoys the pain only as a reminder of a milestone in the recovery of her beloved sister, plus having a REAL sparing partner again.

If she had been injured by a spell of Twilight's gone wrong, she would heal that ASAP, because that isn't a positive memory (although what happened afterward with Twilight resolving to try again might be), and she wouldn't want Twilight to worry.

Of course, she ALSO wants to present a steady and dependable image to her Little Ponies, so she avoids tiresome explanations and rumor-starting by wearing a dress (not that Ponies won't speculate about THAT too, but she can handle it).

Thanks for writing this.

6585594
And thank you for reading it. It is not anything as good as your own of course!
But since I will cop to "pretty good", might I ask what you found particularly praiseworthy about it?

6585620


Showing Lulu and Celly as tough as they should be.

Hey I reviewed this tonight!
Here

6984822
Thank you greatly for that review!

Personally I would say where in the timeline this happens could depend on how soon after her return the individual reader thinks Luna got over her guilt for having attacked Celestia during her rebellion.

*Goes to cross-post this on the review*

2324159 I found this through this very enjoyable youtube reading:

7662313
Yeah, I kept meaning to mention that. I felt very honored by it, but perversely that just meant I got locked up one getting the wording exactly right.

Lovely piece of work. It's refreshing to see Celestia actually doing something impressive and powerful, rather than explaining to Twilight why she can't help.

as a paragon of among pegasi

Extra word?

7724598
Thank you for your compliment, but don't forget Luna!

*Goes to fix the typo that has manage to hide this long..*

7724692 It's also nice to see Luna being relevant to a story that doesn't involve everypony running away from her.

Hmm, not a bad tale, and it does lead into questions on how things would work going forward in the world this one takes place in. Sadly, of course, canon went in a different direction. I actually think that's one of the big reasons G5 forewent real Alicorns, so we pedantic fans wouldn't keep asking where they were during certain events. That said, short, sweet, and to the point, everything a good read should be.

11387299
1.) I am honored!
2.) It is dā(-ˌē) (or maybe Dey-Eye to write it in more common characters?). My full user name translates as "Dragon of God". I am a Christian and my dad read "The Hobbit" onto tape for me when I was too young to read it for myself, and I listened to it almost every night to fall asleep, so I ended up with a thing for dragons.

11387441
NP, although I'm not the narrator, so be sure to comment on the video as well

11387763
I had, in fact, already done so!:scootangel:

Since you were so kind as to check out my work, I decided to have a look at, what seems to be, your earliest work. As a cute little one-shot that talks about Celestia's nature as an Alicorn, It's a fun little exchange between her and one of her guards. I'm just a little sad it's so short, but I suppose that's the nature of a flight of fancy idea.

Never the less, it was a nice treat. Very well done.

11408348
Don't forget that Luna's abilities are also showcased.

A sequel is... not impossible. Not likely, but I do know what it would be about. It is just that I would need to either make it rather lengthy or risk making Celestia come off as slightly abusive/tyrannical.

11408391
A friendly sparring match does not equate to a visual metaphor for tyranny... unless there is shown signs of malice or desire for control, I suppose. Never the less, I'd be interested in a sequel or extension, for sure.

11408445
Beyond saying that it isn't such an IMMEDIATE sequel as you seem to be thinking, I am not sure how to say more without risking spoilers.
But that is what spoiler tags are for!
Celestia has Twilight meet Luna at The Castle of the Two Sister for what turns out to be a VERY intense sparring match. It turns out that ONE of Luna's goals is to make Twilight sore over as much of her body as possible. This isn't 'friendly', it is intense combat training for a recently ascended alicorn. It also serves as a chance for Luna to explain one of the unique alicorn powers, as well as how it can fail.

She also wipes Aloe and Lotus's memories of the meeting at the spa that follows this. Granted Celestia got their permissions ahead of time, and paid them extra, but it might still be a bit disconcerting to some readers.

Of course, it has Celestia acting as a masseuse for The Mane Six, which should be fairly heartwarming (although she also has a duel purpose for that and the second aspect is purely for her own benefit. I feel it an unfortunate commentary on human nature that I now find it necessary to add that NOTHING sexual happens.

P.S. I also touch on some potentially disturbing themes in "Try-Out" and "Permission", and manage to do it without causing too much problem... although one person (who I actually value the opinions of highly in general, even if he is a grump.) did have something to say about "Try-Out". The point being I think I could probably handle it.

P.P.S. It appears I misremembered... Try-Out required a lot of explanations to people in the comments to get my intentions regarding Celestia across.

11408489
Sounds rather interesting.

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