This story is a sequel to In the Company of Night
Gold and his ponies go forth at the end of every summer, looking for those foals whose destinies are in motion, are uncertain, are an embodiment of all possibilities, all things, suspended in the great magical excess which is the end of the growing season. Miracles bloom in the over-fertilized last few weeks of the summer season, and nothing is so full of potential as foals who have not yet found their own futures. Suspended, between past and future. Suspended, before the moment of realization.
Chapters (1)
And a few years later the Librarian Princess replaces the whole thing with a small box of index cards and a clever spell algorithm. Then makes 100,000 copies.
This was a little difficult to understand at first. It could have been that I wasn't able to read it all at once, but all the talk of cults confused me a lot.
I still rather enjoyed it. It's an interesting premise, one I wouldn't mind being explored more if you ever took the notion.
This is pretty good i like it... I like Flow Flash it brings me back to character development days.
I wonder how many magic-releasing rituals they skipped in Hollow Shades...
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Funny how he sees such an elaborate artificial system as the only way to eke out destiny.
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Layer after layer of successful improvisation builds upon itself until small mountains loom where ancient cities once stood, and it seems as if fate herself placed this tel or that upon the plain, as natural as the seasons or the rains.
The Lama searches aren't quite as fanciful and secretive as what I've described here, but the bare bones are there - divination, a presentation of objects before the child, one of which is the sign that demonstrates the child is, indeed, the one, and so forth.
This... was really dark. Searching for trouble before it has a chance to happen... I get that in some town, a young foal wouldn't have the chance to try its hoof at many things and in turn, would have trouble finding his mark. That a bit like employement fair where masters of trades goes to the town squares to hopefully find an apprentice. I would critique that you ship them far away from their famillies too young but its a small detail.
But at the same time, it leave absolutly no chance for any ramdom development or 'heroes' to creep out of the wood work. It feels like Celestia is forcing the 'hands' of her subject to only be certain pre-aprooved things and no more. Any nails that stand higher than other get the hammer. Society devellop through conflict of ideas and sometime, war. Essencially, Celestia is stiffening her population into molds that as time will go on, wont fit anymore.
Somethings are bound to break at some point (Looking at you Sunset Shimer and Starlight Glimmer)
That part. That's the most worrying thing of the story. Well... Royality is a kind of Dictature, its just that Celestia is running a very hidden in plain sight one I guess.