Circe nods. "It's inevitable. As you-." She hesitates. "Has Sunset shown you her equations?"
"Yes, though We do not yet fully grasp their meaning."
No shame in that. Many thaumaturgic scientists would struggle with her maths.
"Essentially, becoming an alicorn changes the proportion of 'you' that is made of arcane energy rather than flesh. An alicorn as old as Celestia has almost certainly reached her full size, barring any further transformations." Circe frowns. "Do you know exactly how old she is? Sunset said that Celestia is over a thousand, but she wasn't able to find a precise figure."
"I would think so. Celestia is Our sister. She is one thousand and forty nine."
Heh. Such precise knowledge. Of course, there's no telling how far she is along her natural lifespan, if Mr Zoat isn't playing the full immortal angle.
"One thousand-." I frown. "Really? I assumed-. But then you're only-."
"Forty six, if one discounts the time during which Nightmare Moon was in possession of Our body." She rolls her eyes. "Did you assume that We were some ancient demi-goddess? There are ponies in Our guard who are Our senior."
And honestly, Grayven, asking a lady her age, no matter how obliquely. I thought you were a gentleman... er, Gentle-stallion.
"So more of a middle-aged demi-goddess?" She gives me a mildly reproachful glare. "What? I'm not exactly in the first flush of youth myself, and-" I lower my head and voice slightly "-you're the one sort of Christmas Cake I'd-."
She looks away, smiling, her ears twitching and her tail flicking my haunches.
Evidently not a gentle-stallion at all. You
cad.
Perhaps a diamond dog of some sort might have been a better form? Perhaps with
horns?
"Hie away, you incorrigible scoundrel."
"Oh you love it."
Save the flirting for your own time, you two.
Cadance smiles at our exchange, then looks thoughtfully at Circe. "Does that mean that I'm going to grow as well?"
"Almost certainly. I'm afraid that accelerating the process with an existing alicorn is rather more difficult than-."
"Oh, no no no. I'm not jealous. I'm glad that Sunset was able to get what she wants."
I can just see her working out how to ask about that little upgrade I mentioned earlier, for her dear husband...
I smirk. "Because now you don't have to worry about her turning up in your room at night with a dissection kit."
She looks away. "Well… Ah, how do you think her talk with Princess Celestia is going?"
Don't think we didn't notice that
unsubtle swerve in the conversation...
"Nothing's exploded yet and-" I glance out of a nearby window. "-the sun's still on course, so I suppose that it's going about as well as it could."
"I know you don't like Celestia very much, but when Sunset was her student they really cared about each other-." My expression appears to give me away. "And maybe Celestia didn't communicate very well, and maybe Sunset was a lot angrier than was healthy, but that love doesn't just go away." She looks thoughtful. "Maybe I could remind them of that feeling-."
Oh, no. No, no, no! No poking around in other people's friendships! For all you know, they'll start doing something
embarrassing!
Interesting icon. Paragon and Loyalty? A fascinating mixture...
'Use unnatural mental influence spells on any member of my retinue and I will treat it as an act of war.'
I glance at Luna, who looks curious as to where I was going with that.
No. No.
Yes, might be bad form to be
that aggressive about it.
Cadance stops to see what I wanted to say, and… I do want to make clear clear my opposition, but less vehermently.
"I feel that it's important to let them work out their differences themselves, and I would very much appreciate it if you didn't ever interfere with their thoughts with magic."
Not quite as aggressive, but still pretty forceful, Grayven...
Cadance gapes for a moment.
"… O-oh."
Hmm. Embarrassed shock or indignation, I wonder.
Oh… Great. Managed to be rude anyway. Ugh. I look away. I suppose that I should check on them. It's not as if Sunset doesn't know how to nullify sound or kill someone quietly.
"Excuse me."
Not leaving a great impression
there, Grayven...
I turn and trot away. To be absolutely fair, I don't know precisely how severe her mental compulsions are, but… That's not really a question a person should have to consider. After what Chrysalis did to Shining Armour she should know better than that.
Ugh.
Speaking of the stallion, he's over there talking to Shadow Tempest. I'm not sure exactly how much the state of the Royal Guard is his fault, how much is Celestia and how much is the combined failure of the institution over the course of a thousand years, but-.
That's not really something you'll have time to unravel... Not at any reasonable rate.
"Hey." Rainbow Dash appears in the air directly in front of me. "What were you planning on using on me?"
I stop walking, raising my eyebrows. "I beg your pardon?"
Oh, where to start? Rainbow Dash has quite a few failings, but she
usually addresses them as soon as she's aware of them...
"The thing. Like the clones and spike and Rarity and the Diamond Dogs. What were you planning on springing on me?"
"Didn't really have anything, to be honest. Maybe something about the ennui involved in wanting to join the Wonderbolts when you're already a better flier and fighter than they are, but at this point you're more aware of your faults than I am."
Yeah, like I said...
She flaps twice, then frowns.
"Why would I need an emu to join the Wonderbolts? Emus can't fly."
...Obfuscating stupidity, I hope? Because the alternative is - while amusing - so much worse...
…
I.. don't trust myself to keep a straight face, so I walk past her in the direction of-. No, they're gone. Ah, Twilight Sparkle. I should ask her about mental influence spells and see how warranted my concerns are. I mean, I'm confident that Sunset can defend herself-.
Pulling a lot of "I should Go." exits, Renegade. Feeling a bit Shepard-ish today?
"Hey, Gravy!" / "Hey, Gravy!"
I stop again, turning to see… Pinkie Pie and Party Popper.
Wait, 'gravy'? Blood sauce? I mean, I know that she's a baker, but… I wouldn't have thought that ponies… No, she might mean that white sauce stuff that Americans think is gravy.
Well, MLP
is an American show... And Equestrian culture does a lot of common American cultural tropes.
"Pinkie Pie. Party Popper. What can I do for you?"
"Okay, but which is which?" / "Okay, but which is which?"
Creepy party twins alert.
Now imagine two dozen of them, all doing it at once. <shudder>
I point to Party Popper. "Popper." And then to Pinkie Pie. "Pie."
No… Wait. I look closer.
"No. You're not."
Ah, the clones are going to have to make some visual adjustments or something to avoid confusion down the line, I think...
The Pinkie clone grins even wider. "You actually can tell!"
"Yes..? May I ask what you're doing in Canterlot?"
I shudder to think...
"I'm gunna be the Canterlot Pinkie! Because it would be super-confusing if we all went to the same place, and I got sent here. Party Popper got Manehattan because of course she did-"
"Uh-huh."
"-and Original Pinkie got Ponyville and everypinkie else got somewhere else!"
Oh, boy. Equestrian parties are about to get a whole lot crazier...
"It will be a party extravaganza, I'm-."
"Sunset, that isn't what I meant."
Ooh, that can't be good. Ready the shields!
Hurried hoofsteps cause me and.. most of the room to turn in the direction of the door to Celestia's garden. Sunset comes through first, water leaking from her eyes. An alarmed-looking Celestia follows swiftly at her heels. Sunset stops for a moment, her eyes alighting on me for a moment before turning back to Celestia.
Dammit, Sunbutt, what the hell did you say?
"What else could you mean? What more could I learn when I've already achieved what your 'lessons' were supposed to teach me to do?"
"I'm sorry you feel that way, but-."
Oof.
thebishop8 is right, that's no kind of apology...
Sunset's face falls. "Yes. You are, aren't you?" She shakes her head. "I don't know what I-." She turns away from Celestia and trots over to me. "Grayven, can we.. go? Just… Call a boom tube?"
I look from her to Celestia, who gives her head a small pleading shake. And then back to Sunset.
You can't control
everything, Celestia. Looks like that's one lesson you need reinforced...
"Certainly. Luna, I'll be back tomorrow. Mother Box."
Boom!
Hmm, how's that Boom Tube going to interact with the time differential? I presume Sunset will adjust things to 1:1 once she thinks of it...
