'I am made from the dust of the stars, and the oceans flow in my veins: here I hide in the heart of the city, like a stranger coming out of the rain.'
One warm summer evening, Twilight finds herself pondering something of a philosophical dilemma. Joined by Applejack and Spike, she tries to give it proper voice, and finds herself debating a question as old as ponykind.
Written in pursuit of that question, not an answer.
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Interesting. Do Earth Ponies and Pegasi feel something like that, too? Or is it unicorn-only?
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
Applejack's a good pony to talk about this kind of stuff to. She's practical and pragmatic, and she'll tell you what she thinks, not what she thinks you want to hear.
6991037
Dunno. Similar, perhaps. Probably not in the same raw way that a magic-user would, but maybe more subtly?
'By the pricking of my wings/Celestia's up to some strange things'?
Definitely why I wanted her opposite Twilight. Down-to-earth, but (in the way I pointed out, but am hoping wasn't too telly) not just some dumb hick.
Applejack Invents Human Religion, the story
These are all my thoughts at this time!
What? No answer?! But... but... but... That just leaves me hollow and lost. I don't like hollow and lost; I like definitiveness and certainty!
Twilight should have all the answers...
"Applejack, what is 'hell'?"
"Gosh, dernit! Went and said too much."
All joking aside, I thought it was a really nice story. The philosophy is interesting, and the character interaction feels pretty natural.
What you did. It's there. And I see it.
Seriously?
Another word to add to my list of words that have really stupid spellings. I mean, isn't it? Shouldn't it be pronounced co-mingle? Not comm-ingle? Cuz that's how it reads. Who invented this language?! I'm lookin' at you Cyg!
That's an interesting piece of headcanon.
A good philosophical read. I can see what you're going for, and you did it well, but isn't Twilight's end of the argument kindof invalidated by the fact that the royal sisters are not eternal beings? I suppose you could argue that not all gods are, but still, it's a known fact that they very well post-date civilization, and historical record. They're not even pre-historic. And like... they're not really even close to god-like powers. Apparently in their world, all the magic they're capable of, is actually scientifically explainable, measurable, and tangible, it's (ironically) not just hocus pocus. In fact, Discord is far more like a god than the sisters. For all we know, he might just be at least pre-historic, and he posesses powers that (though might be in the realm of explainability) seem godlike even by comparison to the sisters. Actually, he's a bit of an eldritch creature isn't he?
But I suppose that's not really the point, is it? It's about ponies and other creatures putting faith in the sisters, whether or not they're actual goddesses. But... couldn't a planet have that, even without a goddess? Really it's just a matter of having some leader to look up to. I guess Twilight sees it as more than that. I really did like it when Twilight mentioned other stars orbiting around planets. lol. So, from our vantage point, their perspective is a bit skewed anyway, isn't it?
Oh, come on Applejack! History is the best thing ever! Okay,it's interesting for someone like me..
Not sure what u did here. . But I really liked the interactions between Twi and AJ here
6991448 Heh. If Twilight had all the answers, that would mean I would have to have all the answers. And, well . . .
I'm no Celestia.
6991478 6991676
Both fix'd. Thank you, gents! Proper responses on the philosophical side coming in the next comment.
6991719 Thanks! Glad you enjoyed.
6991478
Thanks!
That was exactly what I was going for, so I'm glad it hit the mark for ya.
6991676
I would definitely argue against that. To some extent, as you've pointed out, gods are exactly what we make them to be, which is definitely a part of what I was going for here. That said, I would also argue that all that we canonically know about Celestia and Luna's appearance in Equestria (disregarding whatever's happened in the comics, as I don't read them and have been led to believe their relationship with canon is tenuous at best) is that they showed up sometime after the Hearthswarming union. Their physical presences, then, might not be post-historical, but, then, neither were Jesus' or Buddha's, if you set any stock in those mythologies. Spiritually, who's to say how long they've been around? Forever? Only as long as physically? No way for us to know.
So, does that make godliness more or less likely?
Or more justifiable? Twilight does draw a parallel between magical strength and the way ponies are seen in Equestrian society . . .
Well, that was what the latter half of the story was intended to be about. S'what the Diamond Dogs interlude was meant to be about.
That and in a couple of other ways.
Seriously though, glad ya enjoyed it.
This was a really good philosophical story. Their debate really grabbed my attention, and I was happy to get some good intellectual arguments from Applejack while still maintaining the down-to-earth "earth pony wisdom" we've come to expect of her.
7015807 Thank you! It was an interesting piece to write, and something of a balancing act on the AJ front. I'm glad it seems to have worked out as well as I'd hoped!
Goshdarnit, none of your stories are the kind of thing you would read. D: You're making this hard on purpose!
So was this meant more to discuss your own headcanon, or frame a real-world debate in Equestria?
7226585 Deeefinitely headcanon. And headquestions of my own, and I suspect a whole lot of other peoples'. I'm not sure the extent to which the show really supports the notion of Princesses-as-gods, per se, so I'm not sure that this would really come up much in the show-universe, but . . . honestly, somehow I suspect Twilight would worry about things like these, if she ever got around to thinking about them.
7230012
Having just released a story about the princesses-as-gods, I feel like there's no support for that in canon anymore. Once upon a time, we could say what we wanted to about them, and find evidence pro and con. But nowadays, the cons seem to outweigh.
7230347 Then dammit, I will take my inaccurate headcanons.
7230776
Me too, bruh. Me too. :C
I reviewed this story as part of Read It Later Reviews #77.
My review can be found here.