• Member Since 18th May, 2012
  • offline last seen Nov 14th, 2020

GhostOfHeraclitus


Lecturer by day, pony word peddler by night.

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Source

Early one morning, Twilight Sparkle gets up to make some tea.

Sometimes, a cup of tea is just a cup of tea. This is not one of those times.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 258 )

So. Here it is. My first stab at a sad story. I didn't mean to write it when I did, but it just sort of forced its way out one day. I've shown this to quite a few of my friends and so, as short as it is, this story has been pre-read by a number of fine pony folk:

Bad Horse
Dagger Tongue
Kobalstromo
Varanus

I'd like to thank all of them for being so helpful and for putting up with me when I was being difficult. I'm a bit stubborn, me.

Nice and simple. Much better than the usual "Pony Does X" garbage in other one-shots.
and first

And thus, the ritual -- and the memory -- is honored.

Beautifully done. You have a way with words that I truly envy.

Wow. Portrayal of the Princess was excellent, and the ending made the story for me.

Nicely done on this one. Verging just on the edge of too long; even as short as it already is, I think you've got enough content here to fill about nine-tenths of what was eventually actually written. But the scenes are well-drawn and the imagery good.

Ahhh... very nice. That language was like a breath of fresh air. The ending was particularly nice, the way it was open-ended, leaving you to wonder what exactly she's sad about, but the realization comes quick -- that it doesn't really matter.

Plus, I'm quite fond of the idea of the princess telling stories over tea.

Well done!

*Inspects tags*
*considers story again*
Interesting.

I think the line about hope not having the heart to disagree was the real kicker.

And thus Twilight grieves that she is in longer in Celestia's presence, and that she was no longer something to fill the void of Luna's absence.

Wonderful story.

That was a very good read. I found it captures the feeling between them better than anything else I've read so far.

Very well done, my friend.

~SkeeterTL

Hmm, I'm thinking they've grown apart somehow, or that Twilight, now living in ponyville, rarely sees much of her mentor, and being twilight, wonders if the princess has forgotten her. It could also be a 'Celestia is dead' deal, but given that one line about 'Celestia not noticing if Twilight is there' seems to me to suggest it's not that situation.

Anyway, I like it! Always enjoy a good Twilight and Celestia centered fic. You used an interesting mix of tense/perspective too. Keep it up. :twilightsmile:

The sadness of growing up and growing apart. Your parents felt it, and your grandparents, and all the way back to some skin-clad biped looking forlornly out the mouth of the cave, wondering just what valley their children have gone to, and missing their presence around the smoky fire.

The Immortal Princess of the Sun has always struck me as the kind of being to appreciate what is, remember what was, and anticipate what is to come more than any mortal being. May she rule Equestria forever.

This is... wow. I like it. Keep up the good work, and have a mustache and a yay. :moustache: :yay:

I.... I... It's the strangest thing... I'm crying and I don't know why....
I read the last words and about a minute later I am crying..... Why?

Really quite a beautiful little story, and a wonderful exploration of the quiet and personal importance that Celestia has in Twilight's life. An easy favorite, and a joy to find!

If the last story read like a Pratchett tale, the melancholic mood of this story give it a kind of Device Heretic feel to it. I can almost see this leading into Eternal actually. (Sorry I keep comparing you to other authors, it's kind of a thing I do. Can't seem to help it. :ajsleepy:) You continue to show a grasp of language that makes your stories in particular so enjoyable to read though. :twilightsmile:
Kinda makes me feel bad to point this out. :fluttershyouch:

Twilight keeps her tea in a copper tins lined with glass.

That a has gotta go.

Loved it, the story was as delicate as the tea.

Not to presume but:

and talk instead about a peculiar game she saw foals play in a field that’s now a desert two thousand years ago

I think its clearer this way:
and talk instead about a peculiar game she saw foals play two thousand years ago in a field that’s now a desert

Again, love your work

Will read later.

Absolutely sublime.

In the time it took me to read through this story and go give it an up-vote, it got 6 others.

Good job. Pacing is always the thing that kills anything I try to write, and the main reason I haven't posted anything yet. But you've got a decent pace to this, going just slow enough to capture the feel of the ritual, without dragging the story on too far.

Also, loved the last bit. Twilight puts so much effort into learning how to make it just right, even though she hates Jasmine tea.

It was okay and well written, but I didn't get any of those Feels. :unsuresweetie:

She even schedules her moments of sentimentality. Oh, Twilight. :ajsmug:
(Closest emoticon I could find to "amusement mixed with sorrow at the degree of control the protagonist demands of herself.")

A fantastically written character piece for Twilight and Celestia alike. Well done, and thank you.

A memento mori for Twilight?
"No matter how powerful you will get, how much light or darkness you will cast, becoming one of my memories is the best approximation to eternal life you can hope for."
Yeah, I wouldn't drink that tea either.

Huh. One down-vote. I guess this isn't...
*sunglasses*
Everyone's cup of tea.

YYYYEEEAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

1498460
I think I know the exact moment when I broke my mother's heart with this sadness. I was playing a video game downstairs, and had forgotten she was upstairs. A monster jumped out at me, and I blurted an expletive. The silence, both hers and mine, was deafening.

1498349
You have no idea how much I tried to cut it down, but I'm terrible at brevity. This is in many ways me deliberately going so far out my comfort zone you can't see it with a telescope. If I wrote it in my natural style there would be a two-thousand-word digression on every single type of tea Celestia fancies, how they are made, where, what of and what unique cultural, social and economic factors lead up to them.

1498531
Hey! Steel Resolve! :yay: I'm glad you will. I really like your stuff.

1498553
No, it's okay. It is in many ways experimental. Quite natural for it not to be your, ahem, cup of tea. (Dammit, Martian, beaten to the punch!)

1498490
You keep comparing me to other, better, authors. Clearly I must be doing something right.

1498591
That is an interesting take on it. It's not why the princess does it (in my head-canon, obviously) but it is very interesting.

Wow. That was surprisingly deep, GhostOfHeraclitus. Thank you for writing this. As odd as this sounds, it cheered me up.

Et sic recordati sumus.....

Beautiful...:pinkiesad2:

This was nice. Simple. Just like this review. Have a thumbs up.

...well then. That was a wonderful short story. :twilightsmile:
Just a little something, but it's a wonderful little something... ummm... I think I might go make myself a cup of tea now. :unsuresweetie:

1498600
well, it seems some one has beaten me to the punch.
ah well, good on you :rainbowlaugh:

Hmm...
That was...
It...
I guess....

...

You know what? I'm not quite sure what to say. There's no story, no conflict, no anything. Just purely writ emotion. And I love it. Never before has 2000 words of nothing given me such feels. Bravo author, bravo.



~Signed, InfiniteBrony

Oh look, this is a featured story, must be good.

*reads*

I feel like a cup of tea.

1498630
Still, all joking about you secretly being Terry Pratchett aside, you DO have your own style of writing. Other influences show, but I am not going to actually mistake your stories for someone else's, and I don't want to cheapen your stories by implying otherwise. Does that make sense, I am godawful at this.

Sometimes, a cup of tea is just a cup of tea just like sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Or am I reading too much into this?

1498792
Relax. It's fine. How else are you going to describe someone's style that by comparing it to others. What else do you say? "The writing style is, yes, quite blue with a hint of purple 'round the edges. I especially appreciate the rotundness of it and the hint of lemon." :twilightsmile:

Actually...I think that's how I'm going to pre-read stories from now on.
GOH: "The story was, yes, quite yellow."
UnfortunatePreReadee: "Good yellow? Bad yellow?"
GOH: "Pale yellow."
UnfortunatePreReadee: *sounds of rage*
:pinkiehappy:

1498836

"The writing style is, yes, quite blue with a hint of purple 'round the edges. I especially appreciate the rotundness of it and the hint of lemon."

This is why you are best poni. :twilightsmile:

Simplicity turned to a masterpiece.

Fantastic.

now the thing is, do i even care?

Ahhh. Nostalgia. You make us remember the better days. You make us remember all the smiles, the joy and the happiness we once shared with loved ones. You make our heart ache when you tell us it's all a thing of the past. You hurt us when you make us realise that indulging you is unhealthy.

And that is called humanity.

PS: Your noticeable love for tea puts you high up in my mental list of people I respect.

I don't always trust the feature box to give me stories I like, but I did trust Bad Horse's recommendation. I'm glad I did. This is quietly poignant, dense in a way that's a joy to unfold.

My only regret is that, after reading the last paragraph, my brain will not stop insisting that this is a prequel of some sort to Princess Celestia Hates Tea.

Ah. Introspective Twilight is best Twilight. This makes me feel that tiny hint of melancholy That I generally reserve for quiet, reflective times when I remember special times passed and special people moved on. Not sad, per se, but properly still in the face of a universe that all to often insists on turning the page whether we are ready or not.

In any case, as you may have deduced, I liked this. Your command of the English language and seeming talent for mood and pacing have made both of your stories quite enjoyable for me and so long as you are willing to continue writing them, I shall be more than happy to read them.

Oh god... The feels. Well done, nonetheless.

Melancholy and poignant. A very good read, GoH! :twilightsmile:

A single nit-pick: it should be "leached" instead of "leeched" in the first italicized interlude.

Very well written, and had/has alot of potential. I just find the end falling off. I thought it was building up to something, and felt it was, only to have it end with Twilight going to read. :ajsleepy: Still, worth the time to read, and TY for it.

Ah, that was a nice change of pace from all the action and clop crap in the featured window. I have to say, you seem to put your own voice into the story quite nicely, and I will give you a very high rating for this. 9.2/10. Keep your writing fresh, and I might just have to learn something from you.:twilightsmile:

Very well written.

I just don't know what's going on. :twilightblush:

A pleasant little story:raritywink: I liked the ending quite a bit.

Lies, tea is great cold as well Twilight. Unsweet Iced tea, yum.

loved it!
i usually hate sad stories, there are a few exceptions of course, but not many; they always leave a bad aftertaste, and while the same is true for this one; it wasn't as bad as most of them and the way there was very good.

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