Author: Sir Politic Am-Be
Description: Running a country is not easy, even with practice. To make matters worse, a bizarre diplomat from the land of dragons has come to petition Celestia to join a war the ponies know nothing about. Hence, Celestia embarks on an adventure of diplomatic tango, trying to avert a crisis before it overwhelmes her lands by seeking information and allies. Furthermore, Luna's return to the palace presents new problems, as the dragons will do anything to get the leverage they need for aid.Administration is Magic (All Links) (New Chapter 13!)
Additional Tags: political, suspenseful, grounded, exploratory, written
36 kommentaari:
I -just- got done reading this when I saw your post. This really is an excellent story so far and I hope the author keeps up his pace. It makes me want to write a Luna fic myself.
VastaKustutaAlso, as a rarity(ha, pun!) for me, the original characters in this story don't make me want to rip out my hair. They're tastefully done and not a major part of the story (so far) so it's easy to just roll with it. 5 stars.
The descriptions a little off-putting, sounds like political discussion-fest to me.
VastaKustutaWondering if I should read it at all...
I couldn't remember all the crazy names.
VastaKustutaWhile it is on the verge of "dragging on", it seems you are jumping into the action at just the right time.
VastaKustutaAlso, you keep confusing me about loyalties and plots. As soon as I think someone is evil and manipulative, you pull a "LOL JUST JOKING" on me. Not that that's bad or anything.... just... don't do it TOO often.
Ohhhh my goodness I loved this. Quite fantasy and yet so geopolitical, it's like being right there!
VastaKustuta@Cottonmouth
VastaKustutaMaybe the author isn't being obvious with the Byzantine politics? This really is a political fiction about the interplay of the princesses and the court, so I expect a lot of face-heel-turns and the like just to screw with the reader. I love fics like this, but they aren't everyone's cup of tea.
Hrm...I'm tempted to read this just to see if Celestia has an awesome spymaster but, at the same time, I don't want to get wrapped up in yet another fanfic when I could be doing something else.
VastaKustuta@Fon Shaolin
VastaKustutaUh... I didn't say I didn't like it. In fact I thought it was rather clever. I'm just throwing out little warnings which the author probably already had knowledge of.
I'd say it's just the fact that I'm reading something that's actually good unlike 90% of the stuff on this site, and I'm (foolishly) trying to coach the author even though they obviously know what they are doing.
Confusing, I know.
How is written a tag?
VastaKustutaRegardlesss, something like this is awesome. Now to wait for a similar fiction, but instead of government, move it to the commercial areas.
Ah, I'd been reading this one on FF.net for a while, now. I liked the opening chapters, felt almost Pratchett-esque at many points, especially if Celestia proves herself to be the perfect combination of troll and benevolent tyrant that Vetinari is.
VastaKustutaA couple observations...
VastaKustuta1) After hearing the tale of the Con Artist that Celestia "hired", who here thinks that the Court Clown I-whatshisname who the General dislikes is actually that Pony? Or at least, just LIKE that Pony?
2) Twilight's letter about not judging a person because of offputting mannerisms is actually highly relevant to Celestia's situation, if not exactly helpful in untangling what's going on.
3) Considering that Luna's supposed to be co-Ruler of Equestria, shouldn't the Day Court (ie, Celestia) keep her up-to-date on what's going on just so things like the Dragon ambassador doesn't come at her cold? I suspect Celestia's dropped the ball here.
4) Luna? Schizophrenic with a side order of some mental programming (or something) that keeps her from thinking about certain subjects? Oh my.
5) Also, I think Luna inadvertently demonstrated to the Dragon ambassador Why You Do Not F*** With Equestrian Princesses. They can move the Moon and Sun around at their whim; obliterating your entire NATION is not outside their power, so don't start giving them ideas.
I was a long read, but it was interesting, I could say.
VastaKustutaBut I must say... I'm quite surprised that NO mentions whatsoever of the Elements of Harmony was made ?
They are considered to be MORE than quite a powerful artefact... both in the series and in all written fictions so far...
Such power will surely be ''thought'' to be used, at the very least, no ?
It would be slightly disappointing, if they were just put in a hole and forgotten.
@Cottonmouth
VastaKustutaI didn't say you didn't like it? I just said it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, mostly directed at the other people above you.
All these huge stories.. I'm going to have to learn speed-reading to keep up.
VastaKustutaI would like to see an episode in season two like this. Obviously watered down for the target audience, but as much as I enjoy the slice of life crap in Ponyville, there is much to know about how Celestia's day to day goes as well. I like the way your story handled this. Yes I agree it alost/ sort of dragged on, BUT isn't that what politics is really like? 5 stars, and good on ya' dude!
VastaKustutaLooking pretty nice so far! Enjoying these stories focused on different aspects of Equestria. As other's said, the OC's are pretty alright by OC standards--and I love the Alexander the Great and Cthulhu Mythos references through them, too. XD
VastaKustutaOnly got a chance to read the first few chapters tonight--might see if I can bring up a more substantial review tomorrow.
Very early in the story still. The premise was intriguing to me so I started reading (I'm on ch2 now) Thus far I'm liking the OCs (the minister is particularly amusing). There is, thus far, a rather nice variety with distinct character.
VastaKustutaHowever I'm finding all the lovecraftian references and name-lifts a tad distracting. By the description I was expecting a political intrigue rather than Lovecraftian horror plus Intrigue. (though the idea of ponies plus cosmic horror has it's own appeal) I do feel if you're gonna make the refs, hang a lampshade on it in the description. It kinda comes off as being cute at best otherwise.
Also, the author hasn't yet reconciled the dragons we've seen on the show (spike and big red from Dragonshy) with the dragons as portrayed here. Maybe I'm not far enough along in the story yet.
Will definitely keep reading!
I think Celestia doesn't understand how much an asset Luna can be for the dragons. Even without any help from Equestria, Luna magic could be considerate like the equivalent of nuclear bombs. Lun is the second more powerful magic user of this whole world. A deal with the night court mean that the dragon could simply get Luna's magic as support and do a lot of damage. Celestia thinking about letting this ambassador doing magic that could remove her shyness. What warranty Celestia that he won,t go farther in term of emotion's manipulations?
VastaKustuta@Fon Shaolin
VastaKustutaMy reading comprehension lead me to believe you implied it.
Obviously a mistake. My apologies.
Is Hastor(sp?) Luna's friend or is he secretly plotting to create another Nightmare Moon incident and thus create a disastrous war within Equestria which will let it be easily conquered by the dragons who will have overpowered the regiment of ponies sent to take part in a false war easily due to betrayal?
VastaKustutaThis story is awesome! I love Hastor, unfortunately I have a feeling things won't end well for him. Also I call the "magic" being science!
VastaKustuta@Yuri
VastaKustutaWell, I'm part of the camp that feels that if magic is a property of your universe, then it's probably as mundane as physics or chemistry when you really focus on it. The only difference is that magic is innate for ponies, so I figure they tend to take it more for granted. It's a little like your muscles - there's a lot going on there every day, and you can train to make them stronger or you can change your diet, but the average person doesn't think much about the deep inner workings or the chemical reactions involved.
Following the analogy, Twilight sparkle is a pony that spends a lot of time reading up on why certain diets will do certain things to her body, what are the most cutting edge workouts, and how her muscles work both mechanically and chemically. Well, vaguely, anyway. As far as I know there is no way to translate lifting weights into better mustache growth, but hey, that is why it is magic.
Is it me, or am I seeing influences of Frank Herbert in this story? We've got the political tones, but it almost looks like Luna is playing the role of Alia Atreides during the third novel (Becoming gradually more possessed by the memories of an ancestor.).
VastaKustutaFortunately, I love political stories. I wish more people covered this sort of depth in their stuff.
Ok, so you're FiMFlamFilosophy?! You made the Mentally Advanced Series?!
VastaKustutahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBR1U37lvHE
@Anonymous
VastaKustuta>You're FiMFlamFilosophy?!
Yeah, I'm the same guy. This fic and the parody series are a character apart, aren't they? But if there was any question why this fic quit updating suddenly, you'll notice it stopped about the same time the Mentally Advanced Series started. I just haven't been able to do them both at once, is all, but I'm still writing the next chapter at an agonzingly slow snail's pace.
I like writing, and I'd like to have this story finished at some point.
@Sir Politic-Am-Be
VastaKustuta>Story isn't quite dead after all
Fluttershyyay.wav
Last Update: May 21.
VastaKustutaWell, looks like something got pulled out of the vaults. Let's get to reading.
Just finished.
VastaKustuta...
Why is this so awesome?
@Sir Politic-Am-Be
VastaKustutaI never, ever trust dragons. Their original father was, after all, the great red dragon, the old wicked serpent, the Prince of Lies. ;]
L always keep a sword of cold iron handy! Cold iron, by the way, is actually meteoric iron, as I've discovered through my own studies of magic. It's called 'cold iron' because it exists in metallic form without ever having been smelted from oxide ore. Due to its origins as the primordial metal formed in the core of supergiant stars having undergone supernova in their death throes, it possesses an unusual property: it can completely block certain forms of magic, primarily those involving matter-energy conversions. I suspect this has to do with such magics utilizing something akin to nuclear fusion and fission. It then makes sense that the meteor alloy can block it, being that those elements are the ones which absorb so much energy that the star's core can no longer gain energy from fusing them and it collapses at last from its own gravity. The explosion and the subsequent release of phenomenal amounts of energy enrich these natural alloys with an expanded application of that natural property as it applies to magic of similar nature.
;]
Holy crap, new chapters! How did I not see this the second it was posted?
VastaKustutaI'm so glad this story isn't dead. Even if it takes another 5 months for us to see more, I'll be (im)patiently waiting!
It has been a WHOLE year, since I saw this story... I ‘’think’’ I was at the last update, CH11 or something. Forgot almost everything, except the general idea of the story and some major points... mostly.
VastaKustuta-----
CH.11 :
>Luna had asked him if he wouldn't mind covering a bit more of his body for decency's sake. She hadn't wanted to draw nude paintings
-Sorry, but that’s kinda dumb at many levels there ..? The whole thing is backward... The standard for ponies *IS* to not wear ‘’articles of clothing’’, with the occasional saddle/hat/dress for *SPECIAL* occasions...
And, even if she has been gone for 1000years... ponies didn’t start ‘not wearing things’ just yesterday. -_-
Chances are that they wore EVEN less than today’s ponies, due to lesser industrial capacity (for large productions of clothing OR material necessary to make them), and a probable lesser focus on fashion in those days.
But, what do I know ?
>"Now Lady Hastur," Alfred admonished
-That dragon is a ‘’female’’ ? ...’’she’’ has wives ?
Huhhh... From what I recall, I always thought ‘’she’’ was supposed to be a ‘’he’’, no ?
>he replied, quietly, ignoring the fallen object
-I’m confused ? It’s a ‘guy’, ‘girl’ ‘guy/girl looking like a girl/guy’ ? ...biologically speaking.
>and she knew she was going to pee herself any second now.
-I’m starting to smell something bad here...
I mean, it was ‘ok’ overall, in the story (from what I recall), but now it’s bordering the ridiculously exaggerated. -_-
>"I could blow up the entire forest by myself," Luna glowered.
-She has a point.
>It didn't matter why Luna had used her power – she felt that next to anything out of the ordinary would be deemed a sign of relapse.
-Using powers that you already have, for ANY purpose imaginable, even the littlest and most insignificant ones... would be a sign she’s becoming evil ? The heck ?
Is Celestia and ponykind in general ‘THAT’ paranoiac ? Not ‘that’ much, I think not.
Luna is still a damn Alicorn, for Pete’s sake...
>If we are evil, then all evil has its price, and in allowing ourselves to be persuaded, by placing ourselves so that others always shy from the outcomes we find least desirable, perhaps we may do some good.
-He(she? both?) may be an obvious sneaky manipulator, but at least he has very interesting views on things.
>Left behind were several dozen rubies and one Vinyl Scratch, her knees shaking.
-Well, that was one confusing event ? I mean... what’s up with the threat(s) to her and Pinky Pie, just for a private ‘’concert’’ ?
>"Oh, but that must mean that you're related to Applejack! And ohmygosh, you're a pegasus! Isn't that such a scandal to the Apple family?"
-I doubt having ‘apple’ in you name is a mandatory sign that you are a member of the *Apple Clan* ? It’s a BIG nation, after all.
Also... pretty sure it’s stupid to suppose that ALL ponies in the *Apple Clan* are pure 100% and strictly ‘Earth Ponies’... seriously... -_-
(Not sure what’s the big idea to make Pinky Pie suppose those things ?)
... and then Luna was drunk, which would not have been a bad thing IF that section had made ANY goddamn sense ?! I mean, seriously ? That specific section wasn’t very well handled ...
-----
What to say ? It was pretty interesting, overall... but, there were quite a few very negative elements put through this chapter.
Pushing (and/or supposing) the ‘shyness’, ‘fearful nature’, and ‘’cowardice’’ of Luna beyond a reasonable point... even for the Luna the author seem to be trying to ‘’create’’.
And, there’s also that weird thing about supposing that only ‘earth ponies’ can be in the *Apple Clan* ?
CH.12 :
VastaKustuta>Forget Discord, Celestia was the real god of chaos!
-Ordered chaos. Let chaos have its way, but let this way be in the general direction you are aiming, for maximum damage.
>This event is to occur at midnight, at the old Lunar Ruins in the Everfree Forest
-Wait ? I thought she had been told to make it at Sugar Cube Corner, and that Harry Von-thingy wouldn't be at the party he ordered, since he couldn't leave ''the castle'' ?
At the very least, he never explicitly asked Pinky Pie to MOVE the party at ''the castle''... this was slightly confusingly written.
>"I'm going to be the favorite of two princesses!" Twilight squealed.
-I don't think Twilight Sparkle would really react that way ? She's all about Celestia... and, she never was an ''attention
-----
Still interesting to read, still has some possibly confusing things here and there.
This needs to be on fimfiction. Many more people will read it.
VastaKustuta@Ben
VastaKustutaI don't think the author likes Poultron.
It always warms my heart a little bit when a story I assumed was long dead updates. I suppose I'd better get to reading!
VastaKustutaCH.13 :
VastaKustuta>"Hastur?" Luna asked. "What's it like having children?"
-*suddenly spit tea !* ... *cough* *take another sip* ... *spit some more tea !*
>"Celestia thinks a goddess shouldn't have foals," Luna confided.
-Personally, I say this is a stupid/ridiculous thing to say from Celestia.
>rather than pawning rubies. Scratch didn't have all that great of an idea what the things were worth.
-The majority of theories all seems to agree that 'gems' aren't worth that much in Equestria, or even on this world... considering how abundant and of easy access they are.
On the other ''hand'', metals and alloys would be a bit rarer and harder to find.
>"Trevor," Luna went along.
-Huhhh..? The masks change JUST the appearance, right ? Not the voice, yes ?
...Trevor is really NOT a 'female' name, let's just say.
>The latte one scrunched her face into a stifled giggle.
>"My parents wanted a boy," Luna excused.
-Yeah..? That's one way to try to ''explain'' it ?
>"They were necromancers," Luna lied, dejectedly.
-Well... that would explain why she's digging herself a hole ?
(Heh. Just found this funny thing to go with it : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yl3UMO-TkE )
>Luna mooned in her bed
-Pretty sure you meant ''moaned'', right ? Unless she's being ''vulgar'' to her bed... that would be a mix of weird and funny.
>Luna paused. There was definitely something wrong with society today.
-''People'' are more free-minded, and less shy and restrictive about what male/female/youngs/adults ''people'' can do and not do... and what Luna says is ''there something wrong with society'' ?
No... just no. That NOT a good way to portrait Luna. -_-
... Honestly, I'm finding myself being more and more annoyed/irritated by how the author chose to 'portray' Luna ...
>he was holding in his hoof in the way that ponies sometimes did – it was difficult to describe, but the exact physics behind it involved some quantum mechanics and, of course, magic.
-That too, maybe ?.. but, usually the much simpler and convenient ''they have semi-malleable hooves'' theory is preferred. There's also a second one about ''phantom limbs'', but the first one is MUCH more used.
>Luna was now seriously wondering whether or not Ponyville had an inbreeding problem
-The author is really getting into 'bad humor' or something ?
>for reasons the pegusus
-''pegasus'' (small error)
>But he'd only approached Luna because he'd thought she was pretty, and she'd treated him like he was developmentally challenged.
-I'm not an expert in medieval customs (considering 'now' is modern time, and '1000years ago' was probably the medieval equivalent), but... I'm somewhat pretty sure even THEM wouldn't be acting/behaving the way the author is ''making'' Luna do.
-----
It was... somewhat ''interesting'', I guess ? I'm less and less interested and enjoying what the author is doing 'with' Luna and 'to' Luna, in this story... even though I'm usually a fan of the 'socially awkward Luna'. But, here, I don't find myself being especially interested in how she's handled.