I suppose. What if it were simply a skill gained through being alive for thousands of years? People do get cleverer as they get older, so assuming she isn't senile she'd just keep getting more and more clever, and eventually hit a moment of... well, chessmaster level base intellect. Other gods might not reach it because there was no need. Discord, for example, for all his power never struck me as a particularly advanced chessmaster. He's always got his powers on back-up, so he doesn't need his plans to work. If Celestia tried to brain-fuck Fluttershy, she'd have done it with no problems at all.

Oh, a page-topper. I hadn't prepared for this... have some self-plugging?

edited 7th Jan '12 4:00:12 PM by kegisak

Maybe there's a God(dess) of other abstract concepts like Time, Death etc.

The pony reaper...guards the souls while they wait for reincarnation...and Celestia help you if they catch you doing necromancy...

Necromancy is fun.

Would the reaper of ponies still wield a sicle? Or would they have a different cultural connotation for him, like he wields a quill to write the last moments of their life in their book of life, or something.

In a way I almost find that more frightening that a scythe. Just some ambivalent, cloaked figure, writing patiently in a book... and then he SNAP's it shut, and you die!

"My father was always very orderly, you see. I had to play with my alphabet blocks in alphabetical order, and my legos were arranged by colour! they weren't allowed to mix! How can you make a Mario of of legos with only one colour! So I became THE EMBODIMENT OF CHAOS!"

"Curse you, Agent T!"

edited 7th Jan '12 4:05:02 PM by kegisak

I've seen a crossover ship of Discord and Doofenshmirtz.

What

What was the name of that apparently leaked Pinkie song? Never heard it.

"Smile, Smile, Smile."

edited 7th Jan '12 4:04:13 PM by RichReeders

@kegi I think she's reached the plateau of High-Chessmaster by this point (I personally think she was always smarter than Luna anyway though)

However, I do NOT think that she's perfect. I think that now that she's reached this level of Chessmasterdom she just can't stop. She's locked in her own game and is physically incapable of relaxing completely. I think that this causes her a lot of mental strain

edited 7th Jan '12 4:04:31 PM by gingerninja666

i agree she's pretty much an expert chessmaster, but not that she can't turn it off, or that she's suffering from it. Pretty much all her games end up being for the betterment of her little ponies, and there really is nothing that makes her happier then seeing her subjects happy. the few times she's around the Mane 6 while not in a crisis she seems fairly relaxed, and we've seen her sense of humor.

Though again that brings up the HILARIOUS image of Luna forcing her to take a vacation and her having no idea what to do.

@ kegisak

Wow, that's kinda scary!

Though I stress that they are a good guy, steward of the dead, arch enemy of necromancers etc.

And they look like an alicirn skeleton with ravens wings...and that quill and parchment...

I like to imagine she occasionally just leaves, so she has some time to be alone and recharge her batteries. Goes off to some place where she can unwind and not have to worry about what she says. Heh. Now I'm imagining a sort of spa for gods and goddesses.

I also like to imagine that her chessmaster isn't absolute. She isn't completely infallible, and can make a wrong guess when there's another factor she didn't know about, or when one of the people she's trying to track is unpredictable in some way. in Colour You Bleed I give her a moment where she turns out to have been wrong about one of her plans because a subject of them went insane, and she can't predict insanity.

Of course! I've always loved the interpretations of Death as just being someone doing his job. Never malicious, simply the keeper of balance. I think I have Terry Pratchett to blame for that.

edited 7th Jan '12 4:15:33 PM by kegisak

I think that just makes her too perfect (which I don't want) I want her to have FLAWS!

I see it as basically: Everything in Equestria exists because of her subtle machinations. She said the right thing, at the right time, and something happened. Now she knows that saying the wrong thing (even if it's only subtly wrong) could end up ruining everything. She can see the seems in the world she's laid the foundations for, and now she's afraid of accidentally undoing it.

I think seeing the ponies happy is one of the only things that gives her life any meaning. (oh, and I think her sense of humour is carefully calculated as well)

no one ever likes my ideas Dammit, Kegi!

edited 7th Jan '12 4:18:10 PM by gingerninja666

You are on his list, he checked it twice, he does not care whether you've been naughty or nice.

Death will eventually be coming, for all.

edited 7th Jan '12 4:15:44 PM by Kayeka

Thanks to denial, I'm immortal.

Aaaah, what, what did I say this time Ginger?

Nothing! It's that whole "You're a better writer than me" thing. I can never know if my idas are good or not because you will INVARIABLY come up with one that's better. Everyone focuses on yours and I end up shit out of luck.

and the worst part? Complaining about it makes me look like a jealous asshole! (because I am)

I just want Celestia to be a suffering Chessmaster. IS THAT SO WRONG?!!

edited 7th Jan '12 4:23:10 PM by gingerninja666

@ kegisak

Yeah exactly!

I also had the image of him catching a Necromancer red hoofed...and they order their guards to take him to jail...the guards were the shadows...and the jail is a cell in the afterlife...

I think she's beyond the 'suffering' part and is now mostly bored.

I heard a rumor that Pinkie's song is in episode 18. Then again, the source of the rumor was the Youtube comment and the person never gave a source, so I'm not giving it any credence.

Well I imagine the pressure of it still stresses her out, I just imagine that she buggers off once and a while to deal with the stress.

tha flying fuck?

Just saw the new episode.

Silly Scootaloo, she's a thesaurus, not a dictionary!

@kegi I don't think she'd be able to bring herself to leave. She may let her subjects solve their own problems, but I still think that she wants to oversee them from a proverbial distance. Leaving Equestria sounds too much like leaving things to fate for Celestia

btw, this ep made me love Scootaloo even more for some reason XD

edited 7th Jan '12 4:31:29 PM by gingerninja666

I really liked today's episode I have to say.

Btw, Granny can be a spry old mare when she wants to!

Also, timber wolves...awesome.

Edit: Pegasi must have something to do with zap apples right?

edited 7th Jan '12 4:33:57 PM by ApplelightLimited

Oh Cheerilee. Why u so gullible?

are you basing that entirely on the fact that they were Rainbow Coloured?

edited 7th Jan '12 4:35:26 PM by gingerninja666