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Alivaril's Perfectly Ordinary Snippet Corner

Which Alivaril quest(s) do you like the most?

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The funniest part is that this is still arguably a better outcome in terms of "Sunset and Celestia eventually reconcile and become a functional family" than canonical events. As far as I'm aware, canon Sunset just straight-up never returns to Equestria, nor does Celestia ever travel to the human world. That's actually really sad now that I think about it, wow. Like, my relationship with my mother is horrific, but "never see her again until the day I die" bad? Even if I actively despised her, I don't think I could do that.
 
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Alivaril said:
"'Private conversations,' for example, are something I would definitely expect to be allowed to observe; if you are entering the quarters of another, I no longer consider that to be a sufficiently private place to deny me unless you are also banned from those quarters once more."

Cadence suddenly started coughing for whatever reason. She didn't even notice when I shot her a glare, keeping her own eyes firmly fixed on her notes.

What, did a fly crawl down your throat?
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Kai Merah said:
Ah, Sunset. You're really young and sheltered, huh? Remember how disdainful you are over Cadence's romance novels? Those are why she understands the implication behind the requirement, and you don't.
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To be fair, the only thing Sunset needs to do in order to ascend at this point, is to make ONE friend.

Even the literally alien being from outside of existence acknowledges how difficult that will be for Sunset to accomplish, thinking that it should be doable in about 10 years or so. I don't think anyone except for Cadence has seriously considered the possibility of Sunset having that kind of relationship with another pony.
 
AdventurinHobbit said:
To be fair, the only thing Sunset needs to do in order to ascend at this point, is to make ONE friend.

Even the literally alien being from outside of existence acknowledges how difficult that will be for Sunset to accomplish, thinking that it should be doable in about 10 years or so. I don't think anyone except for Cadence has seriously considered the possibility of Sunset having that kind of relationship with another pony.
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First, Sunset doesn't need just one friend. She needs one best friend. Requirements are considerably higher. Even Twilight, eventual Princess of Friendship, took a year or two before she ascended, even after getting 5 friends.

Second, knowing about bedroom activities do not necessarily require advanced friendship. Ironically, I guess that even though she may have studied the biology of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns, she never really paid attention to the reproductive bits.
 
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Pretty sure Sunset needs to understand friendship.
Twilight acquired 5 new friends in first season, and had Spike, so merely having a friend is not enough.
 
BarnabusBarnabus said:
The funniest part is that this is still arguably a better outcome in terms of "Sunset and Celestia eventually reconcile and become a functional family" than canonical events. As far as I'm aware, canon Sunset just straight-up never returns to Equestria, nor does Celestia ever travel to the human world. That's actually really sad now that I think about it, wow. Like, my relationship with my mother is horrific, but "never see her again until the day I die" bad? Even if I actively despised her, I don't think I could do that.
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Sunset does return to Equestria.

The first time to steal Princess Twilight's Element of Magic in an attempt to basically try ascending, but that only lasts long enough to get in, get the crown, and get out.

Later on she actually does reunite with Celestia in "Forgotten Friendship". Though notably that's after being blasted by the Elements of Harmony as a result of the prior ascension attempt and then turning into a rage demon (or at least, the Element of Magic plus the local equivalents to the bearers of the other elements) which may or may not kinda sorta mind control you to be Harmonious when hit.

Also, while it was over a decade later (enough time for Celestia to fully train Twilight from a tiny child to a near-adult), there's some sort of timey wimey stuff going on since Sunset definitely hasn't experienced a decade pass considering she entered, joined the high school, and is still in high school as of the prior events.
 
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Honestly the back and forth and establishment of Expectations and chance to have engaging in conversation would probably genuinely do her a world of good especialy since it seems she really needs someone who would be frank with her in a way that she understands and willing and able to Clarify rather than relying on mutual unstated cultural understanding

Mainy because the way she approaches things doesn't intersect particularly well with Celestia's and Cadence's approach to things as far as I can tell
 
AurielReaver said:
Honestly the back and forth and establishment of Expectations and chance to have engaging in conversation would probably genuinely do her a world of good especialy since it seems she really needs someone who would be frank with her in a way that she understands and willing and able to Clarify rather than relying on mutual unstated cultural understanding

Mainy because the way she approaches things doesn't intersect particularly well with Celestia's and Cadence's approach to things as far as I can tell
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Honestly it seems like the biggest issue is that she has her very strongly established preconceived notions where she projects some of her own traits onto every pony around her and then insists on viewing their actions through that light. You'll notice how Celestia commented that she doesn't actually know how Sunset rewrote the mirror in her head from something that shows desires to something that shows destiny, but ever since then Every action Celestia has taken has been perceived through the lens of Celestia doing some kind of backhanded training even when Celestia insists that she has no idea what Sunset is talking about and pleads for Sunset to explain.

Voice seems to be the only current exemption to this, and I think it's because she's so very fundamentally not a pony that Sunset is forced to work off of a completely different axiom that leaves her ironically free to actually understand Voice.
 
Alivaril said:
"Oh, good thought! Novel creatures would keep me entertained for at least a little while, it's true — except maybe worms. There's only so many ways to arrange organisms made mostly from simple axons before they get boring, and I doubt your world's take on them is going to be much different."
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I wonder if Voice would still think this after meeting a Tatzelworm?
 
Alivaril said:
"That being said, if you change your mind and want to turn into an unstoppable demon goddess, I'm your mare."

Celestia twitched and promptly leveled an unimpressed gaze on Voice. Judging by the lack of true anger, I was guessing she thought it was a tasteless joke rather than a completely sincere offer. I wasn't going to be the one to enlighten her.

"You stand here, knowing what you do about Equestria, and truly claim she would be 'unstoppable'? I was under the impression you were inclined toward Honesty."
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Celestia clearly took the offer more seriously than Sunset thought she did.
 
Sunset reminds me of something I've heard about: If a child isn't properly socialized, then as they grow they eventually internalize the lesson that all the faces they see are either hostile, or lying.

I've noticed that Sunset's internal narration describes all the positive emotional expressions directed at her as fake, unless they're negative, which she thinks of as genuine.

I'm pretty sure that she's a particularly unreliable narrator there. It's going to be a rather difficult hurdle for her to clear if so, because that's some significant damage.

10 years to screw her head on right might not be enough.
 
Enthusiast#117 said:
Sunset reminds me of something I've heard about: If a child isn't properly socialized, then as they grow they eventually internalize the lesson that all the faces they see are either hostile, or lying.

I've noticed that Sunset's internal narration describes all the positive emotional expressions directed at her as fake, unless they're negative, which she thinks of as genuine.

I'm pretty sure that she's a particularly unreliable narrator there. It's going to be a rather difficult hurdle for her to clear if so, because that's some significant damage.

10 years to screw her head on right might not be enough.
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Fortunately for her, ten years is an estimate not a deadline
 
I love this sunset so much. It's so much fun seeing the dichotomy of an eldritch abomination who understands what's going on better than the angry teenager. I love that you're using your normal style of writing a protagonist who misunderstands things constantly to write such a human protagonist. I just absolutely love sunset shimmer here. I definitely think this is your best story yet.
 
Next chapter of Illuminating Invitation is done (albeit pre-beta), and will be posted tomorrow. I'm torn between accepting the inevitable and making a thread for it, or waiting until II hits 5 chapters, but it'll probably get its own thread at some point. (EDIT: Okay, yeah, it's definitely getting its own thread.)
 
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I've been really enjoying this story; It's probably my favorite thing posted to SV recently. Alivaril continues to show her strength in starting engaging plots with Sunset's unreliable narrator combining with friendly eldritch abominations and Celestia's questionable parenting skills. I'm hopeful that this pivots well as the plot leaves the introduction phase. Excited for more!
 
Alivaril said:
After all, Celestia saw Luna returned to her in the mirror, and practically everypony else Celestia had shown it to had mentioned seeing family members who might not even be family yet.
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Alivaril said:
That the mirror instead apparently showed Sunset as an alicorn princess was a jarring revelation
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Alivaril said:
The now stably alicorn-shaped monster
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Alivaril said:
said the creature with Sunset's form
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Heh. I see what you did there. The mirror was showing the Trespasser.
 
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Illuminating Invitation now has its own thread!
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    • Illuminating Invitation now has its own thread, and the next chapter has been posted there. Enjoy!
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    Illuminating Invitation (MLP: FiM AU) Users' Choice!

    In which the ambitious, angry, and undersocialized personal student of Princess Celestia, Sunset Shimmer, completely misunderstands how one ascends to divinity. One frustratingly difficult to decipher tome and related ritual later, and she's left with no wings, a (usually) pony-shaped primordial...
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