'Tis The Season To Write New Stories · 7:26pm Dec 24th, 2016
Merry Christmas Eve, those of my readers with Christian backgrounds & Gregorian and Neo-Julian calendars. To the rest a merry Saturday and the wise words of Dorfl: Either all days are holy, or none are.
So. Celebrate Saturdays. What's the harm. I'm doing so right now with a cool refreshing glass of the Supreme Soviet, a mixed drink of my own invention[1]. Cheers!
Well, it's been really close but as you've likely seen, I've locked the voting on the story I'll do and the winner at 25 points total is "The Civil Service Reacts to Some Sort of Disaster." I've not yet decided what sort of disaster but I would not be too shocked if it turned out to be something from Chessie's Equestrian Opposition Party story.
Incidentally, if you have not read it, now would be an excellent time to do so.
[1] Grenadine and vodka mixed in a shaker using cranberries instead of ice, and rounded out with a dash or two of Angostura bitters. Sort of sour-sweet and, of course, very red.
Why not use a canon disaster? The events of 'To Where and Back Again' (with the kidnap of the entire Royal Family followed by the transmogrification of most of a sentient race into a radical new form) might seriously challenge the smooth flow of government.
Of course, the story would start with Dotted Line interrogating the fake Celestia and Luna. Not even the most powerful and subtle impersonator could fool him for long!
Otherwise, maybe something more subtle like Starlight Glimmer and Trixie getting into an illusion-casting competition that gets a little out of hand. If you define triggering mass hysteria (of the level triggered by Orson Wells' production of The War of the Worlds) in Fillydelphia city state as 'getting a little out of hand'. In their defence, their spectral projections of what looked like various Godzilla-style Kaiju were really good.
Merry Saturday Ghost ^.^
You're lying! Someone cheated! The whole system is rigged! Nothing is real! It's not faaaaiiiiiir
Before I die, Ghost. Before I die.
4353786
Now I am imagining Dotted Line getting replaced by a changeling, who then retrieves Dotted from the cocoon as soon as he runs into the paperwork.
When all is said and done, there are suddenly two Dotteds running around, and no one really notices because he is always so busy he seems to be in at least 6 places at once anyway.
Also there is a scene where Real!Dotted is teaching a changeling about tea somehow.
How about an ambiguous disaster? Nopony knows what the disaster is, only that it's happening and it's utterly terrifying and terrible. (It's actually only just a disastrously large amount of ambiguity.)
Happy Choose-Your-Own Midwinter Holiday!
I made two liters of eggnog and zero inhibitions.
Fill a glass, and then I'll race you to the bottom.
It's always a race t the bottom, yeah?
I support 4353786 's idea! We've had enough disasters in canon that would be fascinating to see the results of!
And hey, maybe you can even cross it with the Equestrian Opposition Party... perhaps Celestia thought our local anarchists made a good point, and Discord really can turn out for the good after all? Maybe Celestia wanted a vacation so much that she called in a friendly changeling to give - well, okay, probably not, given that she ended up in a cocoon, but...
With Luna's return, suddenly there's a new center of power in Canterlot. Suddenly every malcontent in town has a new Royal Princess to suck up to. Suddenly the city is full of newly-converted and loudly pious Moon-worshippers, demanding that the Winter Solstice be made a national holiday and the Lunar Calendar a recognized alternative to the Solar Calendar.
Suddenly pones are rioting in the streets over which holiday greeting to use. Luna never wanted this, Celestia never saw it coming, and the Equestrian Civil Service has to put a stop to it.
Suggested title: "The War on Hearthswarming."
Anything with Dotted Line in it is a perfect way to start the New Year for me!