In today’s story, dive into the depths of history to find a familiar legend distorted by time.

The Tale of the Three Alicorn Sisters
[Slice of Life] • 1,064 words

A classical Equestrian fable, passed from mouth to mouth; from quill to page. The children of yore are the parents of today, and as they grow and change, so does the classic tale. Let us explore this tale as it may one day be known.

In the magical land of Equestria, three regal alicorn sisters rule for the good of their subjects, all the types of ponies, until one day, the shadow of jealousy comes upon one of them. How will the three sisters deal with this? Will harmony be lost forever?

Open the storybook, reader, and let us find out.

FROM THE CURATORS: “So, the premise of this story is basically ‘now that Twilight’s a princess, how will the legend of the two sisters change and mutate over the next few centuries?'” Chris said as he nominated this story.  “Right off the bat, I love the premise.”  He wasn’t alone.  “Not only do I like the premise, I like how the views of the princesses seemed to have changed over time,” JohnPerry said, and Horizon added: “The big thing right here is the recontextualization of the legend, in a way that feels authentic to both the show’s events and the show’s internal framing of its core myth.”

While a good idea is enough to draw eyeballs into the story, it was the solid execution of that idea which won us over.  “Celestia seems less divine and just as petty and flawed as Luna, and even Twilight has an arc,” JohnPerry said. “Reworking the classic legend into a completely different moral is a stroke of genius.”  Horizon felt it was stronger for taking a broad view: “It would have been easy to write a ‘Twilight saved Luna’ surface retelling, but this captures all of the trio’s failings and lessons.”  And Chris was impressed with the way the story reflected on the world which told it: “Fairy tales are inevitably products of their times and need to be understood as such,” he said. “The way this story shows us how Twilight and the girls have changed (and will change) Equestria for the better is empowering, deliciously subtle, and open to interpretation.”

Ultimately, the tale was quite moving despite its minimal size.  “I love that, despite essentially compressing the first two episodes of the show and glossing over all the details, the tale of redemption still drew a sincere emotional reaction from me,” Present Perfect said, while Horizon noted: “It packs some big ideas into its thousand words.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Autumn Wind discusses orphaned plotlines, rainbow factories, and humble goddesses.
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