Twilight groaned when she finally came to. Her eyes lazily opened, and she found her head was resting on her desk. Early morning sunlight shone through the eastern window of the library, landing directly on her face. Groaning with the weariness that comes with waking up, Twilight blinked a little. She moved to lift her face off the wooden table, and found that there was a sheet of paper stuck to her face with what could only be dried drool.
The realization violently jolted Twilight awake, and with a spasmodic burst of magic she flung the paper from her face, chanting “eww, eww, ewww!” while doing so.
When that episode was behind her, Twilight calmed down by taking a deep breath. Curious to see what time it was, she turned her head to the clock, only to find that it was unbearably stiff. She cringed slightly, and brought her good hoof up to rub the sore spot to alleviate the discomfort. Her efforts turned out to be in vain, and her neck remained stiff as a board.
“Geeze, how long did I sleep at my desk?” Twilight wondered aloud. It must’ve been a long time. In order to glean the time, she turned her whole body. The analog clock resting on the wall read that it was just past noon. Twilight was about to turn away when the full realization came to her. “Wait, noon? How can it be noon? When… what… how…?”
“Twilight?”
Swiftly turning around, Twilight found herself staring at Spike. He was poking his head up from the stairs, a slightly concerned look in his eye.
“Yeah?”
“Did you pass out at your desk?”
Twilight sighed. “Yeah.”
Spike trotted up the last few steps, and cautiously approached her. The look he bore on his face matched the amount of concern. “You really shouldn’t stay up all night like that.”
“Well I had to since apparently somepony was too good to help me count every speck of dust in the room!”
“That idea was ridiculous and you know it!”
Twilight sighed, which turned into a yawn halfway through. “Well it doesn’t matter, the information I received will prove invaluable when I use it to fix the Elements.”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because dust has so much to do with ancient super weapons of mass harmony.”
“Well, when you put it like that…”
“...it sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it?” Spike raised his eyebrow expectantly.
Twilight was about to retort, but was cut off by her stomach rumbling. “Guess I should probably eat breakfast… er, lunch.”
Spike nodded. “You’ll have to go into town to eat something though, I haven’t had time to stock up on any food for the library’s kitchen.”
“Really? We’ve been here for a couple of days. What have you been doing?”
“Sleeping.” Spike grinned. “It’s been great. You haven’t needed my help in days, so I’ve kinda been having a vacation."
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, don’t get used to it, I guess.”
“No worries, Twilight. I’ll go shopping while you’re out getting lunch."
She stood up and limped over to the stairs. “I’ll see you later then.” Before she went down the stairs Twilight froze upon remembering something. “Spike, if you get anything from Princess Celestia, can you leave it on my desk?”
“Uh… yeah, sure. Why–”
“I’m expecting her to send me everything she knows about the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight elaborated. She climbed down the steps. “So if you get anything, anything at all, then just leave it for me, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Twilight finished hobbling down the stairs. While her sprained hoof was certainly feeling better than it had been just a few nights ago, she still wasn’t comfortable placing any kind of weight on it. The splint was at least helping with that, but it was making life awkward in many other ways. Just walking down the steps of her staircase was a hassle; the splint seemed to threaten her with the possibility of slipping with each step. When she finally did make it to the bottom, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Once she made it outside, Twilight looked around. Her stomach grumbled again, redundantly reminding her of her mission to find food. Unfortunately for her, she had no idea where to find a restaurant around town. All the buildings looked the same to her, and the few times she’d ever gone to any of them she’d been led around by her acquaintances in the dark.
Twilight sighed and prepared herself for a lot of limping around aimlessly. That’s when a familiar voice
“Grr, stupid bag!”
She attempted to turn her head to the source of the noise, forgetting her stiffness for a moment, and failed. Rotating her whole body instead, she became face to face with Derpy.
“Hey, Twilight,” she panted, wiping sweat from her brow. She bent down and grabbed onto a brown, overstuffed satchel and gave it a ferocious tug.
“Hi, Derpy.” Out of confusion, Twilight tilted her head – and subsequently cringed, realizing what a mistake that was. “What are you doing?”
“My job. I’m a mailmare, remember?”
Vaguely, Twilight could recall something about mail when they’d first met. “I guess?”
Derpy sighed and let the straps of the mailbag fall to the ground. “I guess I can’t blame you for forgetting. There was that whole eternal night debacle at the time we met.”
Twilight nodded, grateful for the understanding. “So… you’re doing mail stuff now?”
“Trying too. I’ve kinda got myself into a pickle.”
The mention of pickles caused Twilight’s stomach to rumble, reminding her of her mission. “You… uh… you don’t say?” She inched away, anxious to end the conversation and find a restaurant.
“Yeah,” Derpy continues, oblivious to Twilight’s intentions. “I forgot to look at the address before I left to deliver all these scrolls.”
“Wouldn’t the address be on the letters normally?”
“You’d think so, but these scrolls are all addressed to the same pony, and the one that said who they’re for kinda… got left at the post office.” Derpy gave a sheepish grin. “By accident, of course.”
“So? Just go back and get it.”
“I can’t! If my boss finds out I Derped this up, he’ll make me take a leave of absence. He already thinks I can’t do anything because of my wing.”
Twilight tilted her head. “Derped? What’s that about?”
Bright pink flushed onto Derpy’s cheeks. “I-it’s nothing.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she was about to press for further information when her stomach rumbled again. “Well, uh, best of luck with that, then. I better find a place to eat.”
Derpy blinked, happy that the subject had been changed. “You could always stop by Bon Bon’s shop.”
Memories of falling into puke danced across Twilight’s vision. “Uh…”
“Relax, I won’t be there to make you throw up.” Derpy smiled at her playful teasing while reaching down for her mailbag.
“All right then,” Twilight tentatively agreed. She waved goodbye to Derpy and set off for Bon Bon’s confectionary shop.
Bon Bon’s Confections was at a lull, which was odd considering the time of day. Twilight assumed this would be rush hour, given that it was lunchtime. Then she realized that most ponies would prefer to eat in an actual restaurant rather than a sweet shop. Nevertheless, she still went inside, knowing no other places to get food.
The first thing she noticed upon entering was somepony was playing beautiful music. She opened the glass door to find a soft melody whispering through the air. For a moment, her brain was in analytic mode as she deduced the instrument to by a lyre from the sound of tightly wound strings being plucked in conjunction and the way the sound carried through the room. That soon melted away, allowing her to enjoy the way the tune sounded. It was happy and upbeat, but not very fast, almost like the musician was hesitating to play at her fullest. Even so, she couldn’t help but enjoy it
Suddenly realizing that she had more senses than just hearing, Twilight blinked and looked around, hoping to find the source of the music. Sitting at a stool near the counter, a mint green unicorn held a golden lyre, her magic plucking at the strings to elicit the melody. Twilight recognized her immediately.
“Lyra?” Twilight regretted speaking the second the word left her mouth.
The music was cut off abruptly, as Lyra let out an “eep” of surprise. Her lyre was launched into the air as she flinched. She reached out and grappled with it, her forelegs flailing desperately. After a short struggle, Lyra managed to cling to her instrument, and hug it close to her body. She whirled around in her stool, and her eye lit up in recognition.
“Uh… hi Twilight.” Lyra brushed part of her mane from her face. “H-how much of that did you hear?”
“Not a lot,” Twilight admitted. “But I’m sorry that I interrupted! It was just… wow.”
Lyra perked up. “Oh, thanks.” She gestured to an empty stool next to her. “Wanna have a seat?”
“Sure.” Twilight walked forward.
Suddenly, Lyra’s eyes widened. “Oh wait, be careful!”
She froze. “What?”
“We just finished mopping up your puke, so it’s probably a little slippery.”
Twilight looked down at the floor and saw a thin layer of water coating the floorboards. She turned her focus back to Lyra, and mindfully walked towards the stool. “You should really put up a wet floor sign or something.”
“Bon Bon just went to grab one. I figured I’d practice while I had a free moment.” Lyra set her instrument on the counter before her as Twilight sat down. “So what brings you here?”
Twilight’s stomach chose that particular moment to rumble loudly. “That would be the reason for my visit.”
“Well, you know Bon Bon doesn’t really serve anything besides sweets, right?”
Twilight moved her splinted hoof behind her head. “Yeah, but I really don’t know of any other places to eat around town.”
“Well you can’t live off of junk food for the rest of your life. I should know, I tried once.”
Twilight’s eyebrow arched. “Really?”
Lyra giggled. “Yeah, when I was eight. Can you just picture me as a filly, but pudgier than a pig from eating too much pie?”
Twilight found herself able to vividly picture what that would have been like, and broke out laughing. “That’s -- haha -- yeah, that’s pretty funny.”
“Well, you should be fine as long as you don’t end up like me. Though if you want, I can show you a few good places to grab a quick bite around town a little later.” Lyra gave a hopeful smile.
Considering the offer, Twilight remembered her research. “Maybe. If I can set aside some time from my work, at least.”
Lyra rolled her eyes a little. “Geeze, you and your work.” She fiddled with her lyre.
“What’s the matter with my work?” Twilight asked defensively.
“You’re letting it control you. It’s not healthy, Twilight, even less so than only eating sweets.”
“Everypony’s getting so worried about my research!” Twilight fumed, crossing her forelegs. “I’m trying to fix the Elements of Harmony, for pony’s sake. What, do you expect me to just ignore it or something?”
“No, but I do think that--” She was cut off by the sudden kicking in of the door. Both mares whipped their heads over to the front of the shop. Standing in the doorway, was none other than Vinyl Scratch.
“Hey Lyra. Hey Smart Mare.” Vinyl trotted forward. “You guys know if Bon Bon is here? I’m hoping she’s got a cake on hoof or something because I am starv-- oh holy crap!” Vinyl’s hooves slipped out from under her as she touched down on the wet floor. She landed on her side with a thud. “Ow.”
“You all right?” Lyra asked, hopping from her stool and bending over to help Vinyl up.
“I’ve suffered worse,” Vinyl said as she struggled to regain her composure. The fall had knocked off her sunglasses, so with her magic she stuck them back on her face. “You guys should really put up a wet floor sign or something.”
“Working on it.”
“Fantastic. You got any food?”
Lyra rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Bon Bon might have something lying around. We’ll have to ask her when she gets back.”
“Cool.” Vinyl took the stool right beside Twilight. “So what dragged your snout out of the books?”
“Six glowing super weapons in my living room,” Twilight replied.
Vinyl paused, thinking for a moment. “Oh yeah, that did happen.”
“Did you ever figure out why they did that?” Lyra asked, taking the seat on her other side.
“No, and I must’ve run a hundred calculations, too.” Twilight sighed. “I’m still no closer to figuring out how to fix the Elements than I was yesterday.”
“Well, it did happen right after our group hug, do you think that had anything to do with it?”
Twilight paused for a second, considering Lyra’s idea. “No, I highly doubt that.”
Lyra pressed her lips together in disappointment. “Oh, okay.” She returned to fiddling with her lyre.
“So, you still haven’t given up on those Elements of Hernia, yet?”
Twilight groaned, and tried to face Vinyl. Her neck still didn’t want to turn, so she moved her whole body. “Harmony, Vinyl. And no, I haven’t. How could I?”
“Right, right. Magical destiny, ruined your life, blah blah blah. I’ve heard it before, Smart Mare.” Vinyl propped her head onto her hoof. “You want to know what I think?”
“You think?” Twilight asked.
Vinyl snorted. “Cheeky. But seriously, I think I’ve found out what your problem is.”
“The fact that I single-hoofedly ruined the most powerful artifacts in Equestria?”
“Worse!” Vinyl exclaimed, a tad over dramatically. “Smart Mare, you hate fun.”
Twilight paused for a second, considering Vinyl’s idea. “No, I highly doubt that.”
“No, no, I’m serious here. It’s not just that you didn’t like the club last night; I have literally never seen you in a cheery, fun-loving mood.”
“The only times we’ve hung out were during Nightmare Moon’s return, or during an unwanted interruption to my vital research,” Twilight pointed out.
“And now?” Vinyl gave a smug look at Twilight’s not so cheery, fun-loving mood.
“Uh, I’m hungry.”
“A likely excuse,” Vinyl mused. Twilight stomach rumbled noisily. “A very likely excuse.”
Sighing, Twilight looked to Lyra. “Do you know how much longer Bon Bon will be?”
Lyra shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Great.”
Three pairs of ears suddenly perked up at the sound of the door opening. Each turning, they saw Octavia standing in the doorway.
“Hey, Tavi. Care to join us?”
“Not really,” Octavia replied. “I’ve just been looking for you. Derpy stopped by our apartment with a huge bag of scrolls wondering if they’re for you.”
Vinyl slammed both her hooves on the table and whooped with joy. “Yes! I’m finally getting fan mail!”
“Actually, no you’re not.” Octavia walked in allowing the door to shut behind her. “They weren’t even addressed to you.”
“What? Then why did you even bother to tell me? My hopes were up, Tavi!” Vinyl raised her hoof above her head to display the up-ness of her hopes. “Up!”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Sorry Vinyl, but I told you because-- Wah!” Her hoof slipped on the wet floorboards below, sending her flailing onto her back. Twilight and Lyra both flinched at the sound of the impact.
“Are you all right?” Twilight asked, trotting over to help Octavia up.
“I’m fine, but somepony should really put up a....”
“...wet floor sign. Yeah, working on it.” Twilight stood Octavia upright.
“Thanks. You know, I didn’t expect to see you out of the library today.”
“I got a little hungry,” Twilight admitted. They carefully stepped over the damp floor towards the stools. “But I’m going right back to it once Bon Bon can get me something to eat.”
“You’re not going to throw up again, are you?”
“As long as Lyra and Vinyl don’t double dip again. Or if Derpy eats another mixture of my hair, saliva, and brownies.”
Vinyl snorted. “You’re almost as prissy as, Tavi.”
Octavia’s eyelids narrowed, and she slapped the back of Vinyl’s head. “So do you honestly plan to spend all your time frivolously researching the Elements of Harmony?”
“Only if Celestia actually sends me the information I need. Perhaps I should have Spike write up another request note in case.... wait, frivolously?”
Octavia cringed, and sucked air through her teeth. “Well… you…”
“We all think you’re wasting your time,” Vinyl interjected, earning another slap to the back of her head.
Twilight glanced from the two mares in front of her to Lyra at her side. All three gave the same look of hesitant agreement. “Great. Just great. You know what girls, I’m not wasting my time, all right? Fixing the Elements is the most important task in all of Equestria right now, and I’m not about to give it up just because of a few naysayers.”
Vinyl smirked. “Ha, neighsayers.” She received a third slap, and Twilight distantly wondered if all this trauma was giving her brain damage.
“You know what? I think I’ll forgo lunch today; I have to get back to my research.”
“Twilight…” Octavia said. “Don’t do this.”
She turned and walked towards the door.
“Twilight, wait!” Lyra suddenly called out.
“No, I-- Ah!” Twilight felt her hooves slip out from under her when her splint caught the slick ground. Her entire body was flung upside down as she crashed on the floor. “Owww.”
Just then, Bon Bon walked in. She drank in the scene before her in a mere second. “Oh,” she said, holding up a plastic, yellow caution sign. “I guess this is a little late.”
Twilight huffily walked away from the confectionary. After the other mares helped her up, she returned to storming off, and she hoped her annoyed tone would mean none of them would follow her.
“Stupid acquaintances,” she grumbled to herself. Why can’t they see I have to fix this? Those stupid Elements have ruined my good standing with Princess Celestia, and uprooted me from my life at Canterlot! How am I supposed to leave this town with any sort of dignity if I never find a way to make everything right again? Twilight considered this for a moment. Well, I guess when I do leave it would mean that I’d never see them again… but what do they care? We’re just acquaintances, and after all, I… I have my research. Her thoughts were interrupted by a series of grunts.
She attempted to whirl her head around, but found that her neck was still too stiff to move. Instead, she moved her whole body, and saw, for the second time today, Derpy dragging along a satchel full of mail.
“Hey Twilight,” Derpy said when she saw her. Dropping the bag, the gray mare wiped the sweat from her brow and took a seat on the ground.
“Hello again, Derpy.” Twilight gave it some thought, and eventually decided to take a seat next to her. “Still having mail troubles?”
“Yep.” Derpy gave her bag a soft kick. “Still having neck troubles?”
Instinctively, Twilight put a hoof next to her sore neck. “How could you tell?”
“It’s kinda obvious, the way you cringe every time you try to turn your head.”
“Oh.”
Neither spoke for a moment. Then, “You want me to fix it for you?”
“Huh?” Twilight gave Derpy a look.
Shrugging, she said, “I was a masseuse's assistant before I was a mailmare. I know a few things that might loosen up your neck.”
“I don’t know…” I probably should just go back to my research now. Though my neck will be a nuisance...
“You don’t trust me, huh?”
“What?” Twilight blinked. “No, I trust you. I just--”
“Cool, then turn around.” Derpy twirled her hoof to encourage Twilight.
“Huh?”
“If you trust me, then turn around and let me fix your neck.”
Twilight realized there was little hope to talk Derpy out of this, and submitted, exposing the back of her neck to her. It took only a second for Derpy’s hooves to begin rubbing.
“So you look a little upset,” Derpy noted. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No I… oh, that’s the spot.” Derpy pressed down harder, alleviating tension. “But anyway, it’s nothing. I just got a little mad at some of my other acquaintances.”
“Oh, you mean the girls?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah… they said my research was frivolous, and that I’m wasting my time.”
Derpy rubbed the top of Twilight’s spine. “Seems a little rude; what did you do?”
“I got mad and stormed off.”
“That sounds like a silly thing to do.”
“Silly?” Twilight snapped, not in the mood to be put down anymore.
“Well yeah… I mean… your research is important to you, and they should've respected that, but it just seems like such a minor thing to get so uppity about.”
“I guess…” Twilight exhaled with delight as the stiffness in her neck melted away. “Oh wow… that’s it.” Derpy’s hooves left her neck. Twilight turned around. “Thanks.”
“No problem. So about the girls…”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Maybe you should talk it out with them a little. I’m sure they’ll understand if you just explain everything to them.”
“I’ve tried explaining, but for the most part it seems to go in one ear and out the other.”
“...You could try not yelling.”
She was about to roll her eyes, but thought better of it. “I guess I can give it a chance the next time I see them.”
Derpy smiled brightly. “Hooray! Glad I could help.”
“Yeah, I guess I owe you now.”
“Well, you could help me by finding out where these letters go.” Derpy kicked her mailbag again. “Seriously, who would put the royal seal on nearly two hundred scrolls, but not one single address?”
Twilight’s eyes bulged. “Royal seal?” Derpy nodded. “They must be from Princess Celestia!”
“The tribalist princess?”
Sparking her horn to life, Twilight levitated the first scroll she could out of the bag. Ripping the seal off, her eyes tore through the lines of cursive. She gave a giddy laugh. “They are! Derpy, these are from the Princess! She’s finally sent me some information on the Elements of Harmony.”
“Oh… congratulations.” Derpy shoved the mailbag in front of her. “So all of these are yours?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Take them.” Derpy smiled. “Just uh… be careful. They’re kind of heavy.”
Her horn ignited once again and Twilight levitated each letter out of the bag. “Thanks, Derpy. I’ve got to get back to the library. This new research might just help fix the Elements!” She started to walk away.
“Wait,” Derpy called out, causing her to stop in her tracks. “What about talking to the girls?”
“Oh yeah… I’ll do that later. Bye!” She dashed off.
Derpy shook her head, watching Twilight leave. “Well, at least the mail's taken care of." She retrieved her bag from the ground and trotted off.
OH, my. It's like what would happen if they Archerized MLP.
A bit filler-ish.
But me glad an' update came!!! Happy Hearts and Hooves Day!!!
5626304 Happy H&H Day to you to.
And yes, this chapter was slightly fillerish, but who knows, all the information Celestia just sent Twilight might become important later on.
Wet Floor: 3
Ponies: 0
Glad to see more funny interactions with Twilight and the gang. I wonder what new information Twilight received from Celestia? This should be interesting....
Me: I wonder when this story will update?
*sees an update*
*Hallelujah*
Good
"you’re research is important to you, and they should of respected that"
"your" and "should have", I think, though admittedly the latter could be in-character.
What, Celestia's too good to use SpikeMail(tm) now?
5627775
Eh, it's still a dick move to
force chokerant at your pawns when your gamble fails to pay off.Twilight did her best with what she had. Shit happens. It's a lesson I had to learn during my time as a manager(terrible job). And during my time at anger management, which coincided with my time as a manager.
Okay, Celestia did give a rather grudging apology and let Twilight stay and work on the Elements. Thats a good thing. I just expected better from someone with a thousand+ years of experience.
5628045
I wouldn't really consider it a dick move, it's only ranting. Friends rant at each other to vent over failures, family members - most people typically just don't care or if it's in their nature, attempt to console said person afterwards. If she were a real bitch she could have done worse to the ponies who messed up a thousand year old plan to save her only family member and to create a force dedicated to protecting Equestria from threats she can't handle, and as Equestria is the strongest nation on the planet most likely, meaning they'd be the only ones able to protect the world. Given that she couldn't directly interfere without causing what happened anyway due to Twilight's neurosis, I really can't see where she could have done better/more, and the end result is that the world is undefended, a thousand years of planning is out the window, and her sister is still possessed by an evil demon-spirit.
Now she's not only still effectively all alone in the world, but the failed result of remedying that is staying right in her castle dungeons, constantly reminding her that the sister she sacrificed to save the world and the loneliness she endured since then have all come to naught, and the demon is essentially just staring her in the face now, shackled but still extant, while her sister is trapped within her own body.
I can't think of anyone I've ever met or spoken to who wouldn't have exploded in physical violence over such an outcome or offed themselves in a similar (respectively) situation, and I wouldn't be able to blame them. They did what they could and then... nada.
When I see Luna written like this, no one blames her for anything. The rare one or two who do are downvoted into silence or attacked mercilessly. But not only is it all-too-common for Celestia to be written in such a manner, everyone is too quick to lay blame on her and make her out to be bitchy or insane or monstrous without looking at things from her angle. At this point I'm more willing to believe that people just dislike her because she's the authority figure and not because they truly believe the actions she takes or the responses she makes in most fiction are actually wrong, simply that her position and what she represents means they're more willing and likely to say things are her fault.
That's my theory after studying such stories and the fandom in general for the last several years. I don't even think it's done on purpose for most of the intelligent sort, such as yourself. The brainless Luna-waifu cultists who believe she is perfect in every way and Celestia is a tyrannical monster who needs to die? That's definitely on purpose. End of the day, I think my point still stands. She did everything she could that would not immediately result in negating the functionality and usefulness of the Elements, no overt moves could be made - she had to work behind the scenes, and she did so. She set everything up for Twilight, and even trained Twilight quite well, even left the 'breadcrumbs' in exactly the right flavor for Twilight (book on the very subject, for the student who thinks books > ponies). But, that was all simulation and theorem. There was no way to know how good Twilight would be in the field until she actually got on task, and in the end she botched up what should have been relatively seamless - thus the whole premise of this story, that Twilight is good at messing up something simple and easy.
Even after finishing the little incredulous rant that wasn't even nearly vehement, she did seem to calm down and return to feeling affectionate for Twilight, even if somewhat bemused at the others as she left to deal with the failure of ten centuries' dearest wish.
Or the author just hates his Celestia and she was actually a huge bluh bluh bitch in front of the 'camera' and incredibly shallow and flighty off of it for no real reason that would invalidate her ability to have kept Equestria running the last thousand years as well as her previous candidacy and station as the Bearer of Magic/Friendship, Kindness, and Generosity. That's also a possibility, though entirely nonsensical and I have no situational construction for that scenario.
Still, you feel me right? Who's the real victim there? (One way to look at it, Celestia was sure that the Elements were completely borked at this point, and they were the only way to free Luna. If we look at it like that ((quite likely)) then it's also like losing her only family member again, right at the cusp of being able to save her sister, her sister is out of her reach once again - potentially permanently. Like Luna had just died and only Nightmare was left. In the face of all of this, I say she handled it better than anyone could. Can we really look down on someone for doing better than anyone else would have in this situation, like the rest of the comments seem to be doing?)
5628176
You raise good points, though I will go on a slight tangent: I actually like Celestia being villainous. Maybe I just have problems with authoritah, but she seems to fit the 'hidden evil' template so well. It's fun for me.
I like her as a character, I just really like her as an antagonist.
5628237
That can also be fun! It's just a rare story where it's done right.
5627965
She didn't send the letters via Spike because it would have been too much for him. Remember Return of Harmony? We're talking roughly the same amount of mail, so it would have been pretty unpleasant.
Chiropractors do the joints/spine twisting and pulling to alleviate pain, not massaging. So Derpy should do something, that from the outside looks like neck snapping.
5629933
This just proves how ignorant I am to the world of chiropractism. I'll be changing that to something more appropriate.
5629961 Cool.
You could make that into the scene where someone on the street panics that Derpy tries to kill someone or something.
Twilight really needs to get into the spirit of friendship. Then the "Tribalist Princess" can eat her words as the Element of Magic is a Pegasus. It'll be interesting to see Celestia trying to appologise after the fact. Also it wouldn't be the first universe where the Element of Magic is a Pegi.
5630000
I had an ex whose uncle had his neck "accidentally" broken by a chiropractor. Who was doing that one deal where they grab the chin and lift it past the shoulders. So yeah with Derpy's reputation and bad vission pony's would definitely freak with her doing any type of Chirporactic work. Although I think Chripractors are funny, saying that their stuff can cure Dementia, Alzheimers, and ALS, among other things that are currently incurrable / neurological / genetic.
5628176 Speaking of the immense fun of taking cheap, undeserved shots at Celestia, I love the fact that now some of the Element bearers think she's a tribalist, since she (along with Luna) was made princess as a child alicorn by the leaders of the three tribes to serve as a living symbol against tribalism. It's like Jesus Christ being called a Satanist or something.
Twilight....don't pull a sunset shimmer. don't go thinking its all about you, that all that matters is your pride, dignity and fame. Slefishness like that cna lead you down a dark path, and enxt thin you know you're possessed by an ancient spirit who feeds on fear, despair and hate and having and then getting blasted by the pwoer of friendship.
Please, Twilight of this universe, learn. Listen. THINK. Don't fall like others have.
5638188 well she did say to derpy's face that there's no way she cna be the element of magic because she's a pegasus and clearly twilight, being a powerful unicorn, is suppsoed to be magic instead.
As someone who did somethign similiar in her own alternate universe series, I can tell you how clsoe minded that is.
And ESPECIALLY since Celestia never actually apologised for that outburst she jsut kinda...ignored it. SO yeah, Derpy's a little justified in her thinking here.
Also, anyone think Nightmare Moon's gonna go on an even worse rampage soon?
5644943 I think it's a matter of headcanon whether the element of magic actually needs to be a unicorn or not, I personally would say not, but if in this story it doesn't work without a unicorn, then I would say Celestia's statement isn't actually tribalist, she's just stating a fact.
You're right though, those 5 ponies did risk their lives trekking through the deadly Everfree forest in an attempt to save Equestria from Nightmare Moon, and it turns out Celestia was risking their lives without their knowledge or consent to try and reform her sister. If one of them had actually been eaten by a manticore and it turns out Celestia basically let that happen? Yeah, she definitely owes them an apology, even though they didn't succeed.
I don't know about NMM breaking out though, if Celestia is already stronger, and she's had 1000 years to prepare for the contingency that she can't cure her sister and needs to contain her instead, I suspect NMM is definitely locked down. The real question is: The elements were reset, even though they weren't activated, so is Discord going to break out in a year now? Twilight is right to rush her research, she's on a clock, even if she doesn't know it.
5644965 well discord only broke out when the CMC were arguing in front of him (I guess an act of discord allowed him a small boost in his powers and allowed him to free himself)
And yeah, it may be headcanon, but remember that the Element of Magic doesn't ACTUALLY represent magic: it represents the magic of friendship and the harmony it invokes. So what, only a unicorn can best represent the magic of friendship?
5646833 I think the CMC were the straw that broke the camel's back after his imprisonment had been weakening for a year, if they hadn't been there he would have broken out in another day or two. Honestly the chaos at the Gala, especially Fluttershy causing all that chaos in the garden around him, probably did more to free him than anything else.
As for the Element of Magic, just like magic eventually has to react to and be effected by physics, I think the Elements of Harmony have to use conventional magic at least a little bit to activate, I suspect the horn of a unicorn primes the pump so to speak, when they are activated as a combat spell. That's why we see them Twilight's horn spark to put the whole rainbow laser in motion. Maybe if you wanted to use the Elements to turn the Badlands into a flowering paradise you would require an Earth pony bearer of magic, for example, but if you want to use them for quick combat against enemies, you probably need a unicorn. Now the Rainbow Powers really are just an instant desu ex machina, so I doubt they have any limitations.
5648540 Glad you like it so far. Allow me to attempt to clear a few things up.
Yes, Celestia being called tribalist was indeed the result of her intentions taken out of context.
As for your argument on there being no set ponies for the Elements... well, technically canon has never stated otherwise (to my knowledge at least) but that is why I included an Alternate Universe tag. Whether it is canon or not in MLP proper, it is canon in this universe.
It is, isn't it?
More like a six part superweapon.
HAH!
That would require her to have a brain in the first place.
You don't say?
Nice.
Oh Twilight... you have much to learn.
Awesome job!
YES VINYL!
Twilight...I am so fucking disappointed...Celestia herself mentioned that a friendship bond is required to makes it work and you dare say hugs doesn't do shit? You are a bad scientist for ignoring that posibility. Argh! Frustration mounting...Also, where is the comedy? My emotion is all out of wack.
7007376 Is she? Let's put it in perspective, are scientist idiots for ignoring the existence of magick in our world?
7184231
Twilight lives in a world that uses magic everyday, Scientists on earth don't.
7184231
Magic in our world currently is not reliably reproducible with consistent results, even if there's any. The reason Twilight ignored it is because the sample size is too small for a scientist to consider (a.k.a one group hug).
If the effect is reproducible at least once more, now that's a grounded scientific data.