Chapter Thirty Six
It was way, way, way too early to be up this morning. It was as simple as that, just way too bucking early to be up and awake. All Rainbow Dash wanted to do right now was just get another hour or so of sleep to compensate for what she'd lost last night.
But sadly she wasn't getting that right now. She had to perform her early morning weather duties, check in with Twilight and the others, carry out her assigned weather duties for the day, keep an eye out for anything weird around Ponyville and the surrounding territory, and then see what her friends were up to for today.
Having all that to do in her state meant getting awake in a hurry. And unfortunately there was only one sure way to go about doing so, that made sense in her sleep deprived mind.
She needed to take a cold shower. Meaning she had to go outside to locate a stray cloud and give it a good, solid kick to bring down a deluge of rainwater that was just short of freezing from setting outside overnight.
"Stupid early morning weather duties," she mumbled and yawned, scratching at her side with her hoof as she flew along, eyes barely open enough to keep her from crashing into anything. "Stupid mysteries, stupid reports, stupid, stupid, stupid..." she yawned more as she made her way over to a cloud that looked like it had enough rain for her needs.
The haphazard buck given had the desired effect of triggering a downpour of cold rainwater, the chill causing a shrill scream of surprise as it easily beat through her fur and against her skin. She hated that! But at least she felt more wide awake and alert now.
Once the initial shock was over, it really wasn't all that bad. And once the rain actually got moving, it wasn't really that cold. Since she was here she might as well finish with getting cleaned up, it really wasn't that big of a deal. Humming an offbeat tune to herself, she proceeded to wash up and get herself ready for the day, letting the rain pelt away at her wings, mane, and face.
Most of the one sided conversation with herself was held in unintelligible mumbles, serving as a vocal outlet as she figured out what today was going to involve beyond her assigned duties and responsibilities. Today was Wednesday, so she had her race with Applejack later this afternoon, but she didn't know what else there was. Shrugging, she threw her head back to catch a mouthful of rainwater to gargle with.
"What exactly are you doing?"
Rainbow Dash coughed at suddenly hearing the unexpected voice, nearly choking in surprise from swallowing wrong. After a particularly hard cough, she finally turned around to glare at whoever it was that decided to sneak up on her.
To her surprise it was none other than Ulquiorra, standing there in the middle of the sky as easily as she stood on clouds, his hands tucked away in his pockets, looking at her in the way only he could.
"Dude that's not funny!" she yelled. She was cold, she was dripping wet, and her awesome mane was matted against her head in a very uncool manner, and this jerk had managed to sneak up behind her with ease and take her completely off guard. She had plenty of good reason to be furious with him right now.
"I apologize then," Ulquiorra replied simply, his expression completely unchanged.
Rainbow Dash frowned again. "Yeah? For some reason I don't think you mean that," she stated in response as she eyed him incredulously.
"A correct suspicion, as I did not," Ulquiorra replied, "where can Twilight Sparkle be found at this time of day?" he asked.
There were a lot of things Rainbow Dash wanted to say right now. A lot of things she could say to try and put the Espada in his place for interrupting her shower, nearly drowning her mid-gargle, and then trying to pump her for information about her friends. Yes indeed, there were a lot of things she wanted to say.
But she wasn't going to say any of them. She knew from the beginning that the Espada was a jerk and that it was in his nature, yelling at him wasn't going to change that, and it'd just get her all the more riled and bristled, and it wouldn't even make her feel good. She was just going to have to let the issue drop. At least he was asking and not demanding, that was something.
"Knowing Egghead she's probably at the library, but I don't know what she's doing right now. She could be reading or sleeping, or knowing her she found a way to read in her sleep," she replied and shrugged, "what brings you by Ponyville at this time of day?"
"Questions for which no answers appear to exist in Canterlot's library. Continued scouring of the many hundreds of books available in an unguided manner would serve little to no purpose," Ulquiorra explained.
He'd spent days reading. Hundreds of books being read through in search of answers, some small sliver of information that could help put everything into perspective. Some passage of history to explain Princess Celestia, to explain Discord, to possibly reveal if there was another player in the world. And despite all his efforts he'd only been able to cover a small portion of the total number of books gathered.
It was too early to write off the entire library as useless. But as it was currently, he was doing little more than metaphorically beating his head against a wall. He didn't doubt his own ability to gather answers, but what he did doubt was the effectiveness of doing such. Time was likely not on his side, and he doubted he had months to go about it on his own. There was little choice but to ask for help from others; a fact he'd more or less been forced to recognize and admit to when he'd made these ponies his fracción. And now here he was, forced to call upon them for assistance once again, because he didn't have enough time to do it all himself.
"Yeah? Well good luck then. I'd talk more but I've gotta get ready for work, we've got rain scheduled for after midnight tonight. I'll try and swing by later though," Rainbow Dash stated.
Ulquiorra said nothing in response. The primary reason he'd sought out Rainbow Dash was to gather Twilight Sparkle's location. The fact that he'd identified her reiatsu signature first had been nothing more than a coincidence. He was just about to sonido away, when a startled yell from the cyan pegasus gave him reason to pause momentarily.
"Before you leave, did you say anything to Twilight or anypony else about what we talked about? Y'know... about Mare Do Well?" she asked.
"I did not," he replied simply.
"No?" she asked, not entirely sure whether she should believe him or not. He was always so... even when he spoke, his voice never carrying any hint of what he might be feeling or thinking. It was grating on her nerves! "Okay that's strange, and not Pinkie Pie strange either. More like weird strange. The same day as the changeling invasion, Twilight came by my house and practically broke the door down to apologize for it. She even made all the others apologize too. I didn't tell anypony about that, so how'd she know?"
"I am uncertain, just as I am uninterested. Perhaps Princess Celestia's ruse showed Twilight Sparkle what it's like to be betrayed by the one she trusts most, and from there she pieced the rest together herself," Ulquiorra suggested. With that exchange finished, he left to tend to matters of a greater importance, leaving the cyan pegasus behind in a burst of sonido.
Rainbow Dash just scratched her head in confusion. There were way too many things going on around here to keep track of. She confides in the Espada about her problems, then her problems resolve themselves, and he didn't play any part in it? What exactly was he, a plot device or something?
"Forget it, I'll ask later," she muttered to herself as the improvised shower stopped, allowing her to proceed with shaking herself dry.
Spike hummed to himself as he went about getting ready for the day and whatever it might bring. He was the first to wake up this morning, Twilight still slumbering away from her usual late night studying session. It was the usual, normal routine to be encountered. The only thing different was that Twilight wasn't studying some ancient tome to garner a better understanding of old magic, or some unexplained mystery of Equestria's history. Instead this time around it was due to Twilight trying to spot a pattern in all the random, day-to-day events that went on around Ponyville.
If there was a pattern to be established, he sure wasn't seeing it; none of them were really. Try as they might, none of them could really discern what events were the ones that needed to looked out for. Not even Pinkie, the master mare of randomness, could make out anything of relevancy. And that fact was slowly, but surely, starting to drive Twilight nuts! He could see the warning signs early on, he knew full well what was coming down the lane. He was doing everything in his power to head off the coming panicked meltdown and inevitable relapse, but unless there was some type of break soon... things were going to get very, very ugly. He wasn't even sure Princess Celestia could help this time.
His melancholy thoughts and even his early morning routine actions were interrupted by a knocking at the front door, bringing his mind back to the present. Who could it possibly be at this time of day? The library wasn't even supposed to open for another hour for crying out loud!
"We're not open yet!" Spike called back, not even bothering to walk out of the kitchen. For a moment it was silent again, other than the normal noises that were associated with morning business. Thinking nothing of it, he went back to getting breakfast ready.
Another knock occurred. Whoever it was at the door, they didn't seem to listen to his words.
"I said we're not open yet!" Spike called back, louder this time.
Once again silence. Spike poked his head out of the kitchen doorway and looked at the front door, expecting another knock to occur. He watched, and watched, and watched some more. Finally when he was convinced the knocker had moved on, he went back to the kitchen to finish cooking.
And then a frightened scream from outside the library caused him to jump in surprise. Where'd that come from? Curiosity got the better of him and he went to investigate, unlocking the front door and opening it to see where the scream had come from.
"Greetings."
Spike looked up at the voice. Standing before him was Ulquiorra, his hands tucked into his pockets as he just stood there, his face expressionless as he looked down at him.
"Ulquiorra? What're you doing here at this time of day? Did you see who was knocking? And what was that scream I heard just a minute ago?" Spike asked, finding the whole thing very confusing right now.
"Trying to locate Twilight Sparkle. I was indeed the one knocking. As to who was screaming, I believe it was the earth pony Bonbon. I can only assume my presence is still a matter of concern, for those who were present for the changeling extermination," Ulquiorra responded.
"Yeah I could see that," Spike replied. He'd been left behind in Ponyville to oversee the operation as Twilight and the others headed to Canterlot at Princess Celestia's request. And while he only learned of the gory details of that event from what the others told him, his experience here back at home hadn't exactly been much better.
He hadn't witnessed the supposed death of Princess Celestia, but what he'd been present for was far more chaotic. He'd been put in charge of more or less the entire town; left to try and keep everypony calm, and reassure them everything was going to be fine. Even after they'd all learned the truth of the matter, about the changeling invasion that had beset Ponyville, many of them had still been worried that Ulquiorra would be returning to kill the rest of them, that he'd just been saving them for later, all to strike at a more convenient time.
Even with the Cutie Mark Crusaders doing their best to help out, along with Big Macintosh, and a few others who possessed a more commanding presence than himself, it was certainly no slice of cake. Did anypony really have any idea how hard it was to keep over a hundred ponies from panicking, after witnessing a massacre up close?
And then had come what the town had collectively referred to as "The Event." What he'd later learned was Ulquiorra transforming, had been seen as far away as Ponyville. And it'd absolutely terrified everypony, and sent them running back to their homes to hide. They didn't have a single clue what they'd been experiencing, only that its appearance on top of everything else that'd happened, was something they didn't want to face.
He wouldn't admit it to anypony who asked, but not knowing what was going on at the time, even he'd gotten scared and hid behind Big Macintosh, feeling some sense of safety with the big, strong, stoic stallion.
What he couldn't figure out was how word of Ulquiorra's actions wasn't sweeping the country like a wildfire in the middle of a dry summer. He knew how gossip worked and how fast word could travel. By now everypony in Equestria should be talking about the event. The only thing that he could figure, was that maybe the changeling invasion had taken center stage. Maybe there were mitigating circumstances that led to the overshadowing of Ulquiorra's involvement; like ponies being held in cocoons, or mass hypnotism or something.
Oh well, standing here and just thinking to himself wasn't going to get anything done.
"Might as well come in, no use standing outside," he finally said as he opened the door wider, "care for a cup of coffee?" he asked.
Ulquiorra stepped inside, silently agreeing that there was no use in standing outside, as his unattended presence would merely cause more terror to the town's inhabitants. "I've heard the term used by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna on several occasions, but I have little understanding of just what it is," he replied as the door was closed behind him.
"Really? That's a shame. Come on, let's get you a cup so you can see what you've been missing out on," Spike stated as he jogged back to the kitchen.
Ulquiorra followed at his own pace, observing as Spike made use of a step stool to get a third mug down from the cupboards and set it on the table next to two others, before grabbing a potholder and pulling some strange looking kettle off the stove and pour a steaming liquid into each of them.
"You're in for a treat, this is a special blend. We get the beans fresh and I roast them myself," Spike explained as he set the percolator down on the counter. "The secret to a great blend of coffee is all in the grind. Can't be too coarse, can't be too fine. This, Ulquiorra, is a science that anybody can appreciate," he stated as he pushed the cup forward.
From Spike's description, this "coffee" sounded like a dedicated endeavor. It looked a great deal like tea, however it smelt nothing like tea. With his curiosity mildly piqued, he picked up the offered cup to sample the strange brew.
He was quite thankful he'd only sipped the strange beverage.
Despite the strong smell, he'd still expected to encounter something that was at least similar to the tea served by Applejack on their first meeting. Instead his taste buds had been greeted by what had to be the liquid equivalent of a punch in the face from the rainbow-maned pegasus. It was stout. It was strong. It was mildly bitter. He found himself briefly wondering if the brew was capable of serving as both a paint stripper and rust remover. This was supposed to be a beverage that was enjoyed?
"Coffee..."
It was a tired mutter coming from behind him. Turning his head he saw Twilight Sparkle approaching slowly, her mane in an unkempt mess, her eyes mostly closed with circles beneath them. Her entire appearance suggested she was still asleep. It was an observation reinforced by the fact she walked past him, saying nothing except mutterings for coffee as she approached the table. Her movements contained a sense that suggested this was nothing unusual for her, and something she'd gone through numerous times, to the point she had no difficulty navigating in an impaired state.
"Coffee," she muttered again as she stood up, resting her forelegs on the table and pulling the steaming mug over to her, tiredly but eagerly picking it up with her magic and sipping at its contents. "Ahh that's the ticket," she sighed with contentment, a look of relaxation crossing her face.
Ulquiorra silently regarded the entire display, and then the partially full cup held in his hand. Twilight Sparkle had no problem tolerating the volatile brew, and even seemed to take great pleasure in its consumption. She was displaying no signs that suggested it was a caustic concoction. Curiously, he took another sip.
Perhaps it was simply an acquired taste. It would make the most sense.
Twilight sat silently as she nursed her cup of coffee, several more sips through closed eyes and contented smiles. Nothing like a good cup of coffee to start off the day. "Spike, I'd be lost without you," she said as she finally opened her eyes, feeling the caffeine jump starting her system and getting her primed and ready for the day and whatever it might bring.
And then she saw Ulquiorra standing there and looking at her. She nearly dropped her coffee cup on the ground in surprise.
"Ulquiorra? What're you doing here?" she asked curiously. Suddenly her curiosity was replaced by a sensation of mild panic. "Wait, is there another dragon on the loose? Is an Ursa Minor wandering around and destroying the surrounding territory?!"
"Not to my knowledge," Ulquiorra responded calmly, completely unfazed by her sudden anxiousness. Had any such incident occurred he would've dealt with it personally, rather than bothering to involve the ponies and put them at risk of harm; a process that would result in handicapping him and forcing him to take precautions to protect them, while at the same time trying to stop the threat. And all while trying to remember that he wasn't supposed to kill as a first resort. "My purpose here is of a different nature. I've come to the conclusion that there are questions for which there are no answers in Canterlot's library. And I fail to see the logic in continuing pointless studying for something that either doesn't exist, or is buried in some obscure tome behind thousands of others," he explained.
"Oh?" Twilight asked curiously before taking another sip of her coffee. "Is this about the mystery at hand? About why you're here and what the next big event against Equestria might be?" she asked.
"Partially. But based on your report, I don't foresee my presence positively contributing to any sort of discovery. Rather I come about something far more confusing, an area you appear to be an expert in," Ulquiorra explained, finishing the cup of coffee and setting the cup down before continuing. "What you and the others call "friendship" continues to elude my understanding. There are no similarities I can draw between it and what I know. The business partnerships of the earth pony Filthy Rich make sense, they are mutually beneficial in nature, and the parties involved profit from being united, rather than being apart. Your friendship with the others doesn't appear to offer anything that is mutually beneficial in nature. Try as I might, I can see nothing that would explain your continued association with one another. Even holding the Elements of Harmony does nothing to provide a logical explanation. The relationship you have with the others appears very high maintenance in nature, and more trouble than it's worth, when you receive no compensation for the investment of your time. What conceivably brings you together? And in logical terms, what binds you together, and serves as sufficient motivation for your continued association and interaction?"
The room was strangely silent. Ulquiorra observed Twilight Sparkle and the strange appearance on her face. This was confusing, in that he'd expected the unicorn to launch into an in depth explanation about the topic, and what she'd learned about it in her time in Ponyville. Instead he was greeted by silence, broken only by her gulping down the rest of her coffee in one gulp. He nearly asked her how her stomach lining didn't corrode away when exposed to high concentrations of such a caustic substance, when she interrupted that train of thought by finally speaking.
"That's a... very good question actually," she said slowly as she set the cup down on the table and looked at him, carefully weighing her options and how to proceed. Leave it to Ulquiorra to ask the difficult questions. Right now he was making her feel uneasy, like a teacher asking her a question she hadn't prepared for. "I think I can see why you're having trouble understanding this."
"You can?" Spike asked curiously.
"I think so. But don't hold me to that just yet, I might be wrong," Twilight said to Spike, before turning her attention back to Ulquiorra again. "You're looking at this from the point of view of a scientist: detached, clinical, trying to observe a cause and effect correlation in order to explain how Action A leads to Reaction B, and understand all the various steps involved with arriving at these results. Trying to pick apart a concept, and not only separate its various factors and standards for organized study, but also boil them all down to their individual, primary components, and determine the science behind their function," she explained before pausing. A rather long pause really. "Am I right?"
Ulquiorra considered her words and how she'd structured her explanation of the situation. He had to admit that she was indeed right about the thought process that was going on. It was mildly surprising how she was able to easily understand his analytical nature.
"So far," he stated simply. He was finding himself curious as to where this went.
"Right. That's where the problem is coming from," Twilight stated as she got down from the table and walked around, back into the main portion of the library. Ulquiorra turned to observe her, as she brought over chalk and a rolling blackboard.
"Before I begin there's something I want to say. If there's a quintessential definition of friendship that exists, then it's something I don't possess. The best I can do is share with you what I've learned about it, based on my own experiences and discoveries. Some might make sense, some might not," she explained as she stepped in front of the blackboard.
"Wait a minute! You're going to give a lecture now!?" Spike asked as he came jogging out of the kitchen and past Ulquiorra. "Twilight, you haven't even had breakfast yet, is this really a good idea?"
"I'll be fine, Spike, go ahead and eat without me. This is a little more important than breakfast... unless you'd like to join us first," she said as she directed the proposition at Ulquiorra.
"Perhaps another time," he replied, not particularly interested in anything that made use of actual flowers as an active ingredient. The reishi in the area was more than sufficiently sustaining for the time being.
"Alright," Twilight replied and nodded, barely noticing as Spike slowly walked back into the kitchen. Now it was a matter of finding how to word this properly. "You remember how I came to be living in Ponyville, right?" she asked.
"I do," Ulquiorra replied. He remembered the tale of how she'd been set to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun festival, and in doing so, meeting the others who would come to hold the Elements of Harmony. It had been that fact, that exercise in careful orchestration on the part of Princess Celestia, that had allowed for the defeat of Nightmare Moon. It had also served as the catalyst to Twilight Sparkle studying the same concept that he was currently attempting to figure out. "Is it relevant to this?"
"More than you'd ever guess. Before I came to Ponyville, I actually had a similar way of thinking. Everything that was worth knowing about was something that made sense. Don't get me wrong, things that don't make sense are still worth devoting time to; I'm a scientist, and I'd be lax in my duties to turn my back on something just because I couldn't understand it. But on the topic of friendship, and friends in general... well... at best I saw it as a waste of time. Time that could be better utilized for more important matters like reading, studying and learning new things. At worst... I considered friends to be nothing more than ponies who got in the way and complicate a situation beyond reasonable degrees, and all because they were too stupid to realize what they were getting into was way over their heads, and best left alone by them," Twilight explained, regretting the fact that she was ever so blind with regard to others. It was a shame of hers that she'd love to erase if possible.
"What changed your mind?" Ulquiorra asked. Twilight Sparkle's tale of herself was proving to be interesting, much to his own surprise. This pony did have a similar outlook to his own, something he'd never expected to encounter in this colorful world. What exactly had occurred to change her?
"In simple terms, Nightmare Moon happened. My studies had pointed out how the thousand year banishment would be ending on the night of the Summer Sun celebration, and it did. Princess Celestia was nowhere to the found, and the terror of legends of old was free to enact eternal night, unopposed by mortal ponies. My research on the matter pointed out the location of where the Elements of Harmony were held at the time, deep in the old castle ruins of the Everfree forest, and I knew they'd be our best chance of stopping her. I set out to try and retrieve them on my own, as I was the only one who knew full well what had to be done. But I didn't remain on my own for very long, as the others had decided to tag along, regardless of my protests, or my hostility toward them. I thought they'd just get in the way, but they wound up being the key to victory. Each one of them helped me get past a specific obstacle Nightmare Moon threw at us. Dangerous animals, treachery, terrifying illusions, a collapsing ledge, a broken bridge... they helped me past each of them, putting themselves in harms way in the process, and even remained at my side when facing down Nightmare Moon herself. That... was something else..."
He remained silent as Twilight Sparkle explained the details of the event in question, pausing momentarily to catch her breath. He still possessed doubts about what she was saying, but not anything pertaining to the facts of the events that transpired, he'd accepted them as the truth. What came into question dealt more with how the actions of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, had caused the unicorn to change her outlook on life, and be what she is right now. If it were him in the situation, he would assume the five ponies had become involved, for no purpose other than attempting to save their own lives, seeing as eternal night would affect them all equally. Had they not contributed they would have nobody to blame for their fates but themselves. He would even speculate that their motives may have been due to cowardice; that they had tagged along in hopes of a quick death rather than a slow one.
"Don't get me wrong. I didn't automatically reach the conclusions about friendship that I have today. At first I didn't know what to make of it. I thought maybe they were simply tagging along in an effort to save their own lives, seeing as eternal night would affect them all equally. I... don't really want to acknowledge it, but a darker part of my mind wondered if... maybe they tagged along because they thought it was a suicide mission, and they were looking for an easy way out of a dire situation. I'm... ashamed of the fact that I had those thoughts at all..." Twilight explained once she began talking again, hanging her head at the last part.
Her words and observations being remarkably similar to his own thoughts. It was remarkably disturbing. Perhaps more disturbing was the fact that it felt incredibly familiar to him. Why was that?
He didn't even have the chance to inquire about the mystery, as Twilight Sparkle was already talking again, and dominating the conversation.
"Before you ask what the relevance of this story is, I'm getting to that. After everything was said and done, and a lot of confusion was finally over, I found myself living in Ponyville with five new friends, but very little actual understanding of friendship itself. That's why I submit friendship reports to Princess Celestia whenever I do learn something about it. For all my scientific knowledge, my ability to recite complex mathematical formulae from memory, I might as well have been the village idiot at the time. Even now, after all these years, there's still a lot of it that I don't fully understand. I understand basic bits and pieces, enough to have a rudimentary grasp on it... but it's something I haven't mastered yet. It's like trying to figure out calculus without knowing basic mathematics, or studying quantum physics without an understanding of even basic physics," she explained.
"What you're trying to say, is that you won't be able to assist me on the matter," Ulquiorra elaborated, cutting her off before she could go any further in this one sided discussion. Spike had been quite correct when he'd predicted a lecture would be occurring.
"What? No! No, no, no, no!" she objected quickly at hearing his words, her reiatsu flaring about in the process. "I'm not saying that, anything but! What I'm saying is, or at least what I was trying to say is..." she paused a moment in hesitation as she pondered, "this isn't something for which a definite answer exists. That's something that gave me the hardest time before I finally started to understand it myself. Friendship means different things to different ponies. It's not something that can be categorized and boiled down into simple facts and figures. Friendship isn't something that can be deduced by the mind, it's... it's something that has to be understood with the heart."
"The heart," he repeated slowly.
It was a matter that seemed impossible to escape, even in this world. It was a matter of cruel irony really. Back in Hueco Mundo, the heart was a concept introduced to him by the human woman. He'd discounted it as nonsense, regarded the heart as a source of pain, as a cause of pointless suffering and death. And yet despite it all, bit by bit, her words had chipped away at his mind, tantalizing his curiosity, and driving him to question her further. Part of it had been an effort to destroy her beliefs in such nonsense and show her the futility of her own hope; which would in essence assuage his own curiosity on the matter. But another part of it had been his own desire to make sense of what she was saying.
How ironic that it was a concept he'd just started to understand in the last few seconds of his life.
And now here he was, being told that one concept he had no true understanding of, was connected to another concept he was equally confused by.
"Then it would appear hopeless for me, as I possess no heart with which to understand the concept of friendship," he commented. Did she possess a response to such a fact? Perhaps some effort of trying to convince him that it was indeed something he could learn if he attempted? Or would she recognize the futility of her own attempts and simply resign herself to letting the matter go?
He observed her as she remained silent, a pensive look on her face, evidently giving serious consideration to what her next words would be in this difficult situation.
"You know what? I'm calling bullshit on this one," Twilight stated as she finally spoke up again, "I've never been to Hueco Mundo, and I don't know how things go there, beyond what you've told me about it, but I really doubt that you're incapable of learning about friendship, or any other subject that you seriously wanted to. I managed to learn about the importance of friendship, hell, even Discord learned about the importance of friendship. I just can't accept that it'd be impossible for you," she explained, "I think we just need to figure out a way to help you make sense of everything. It's... it's like adapting a lesson plan to specific students to better make sense of the material. Yeah, that's it... Pri-- Celestia tasked me with being an educator to you, I'd be lax in my duties if I didn't do everything I could to help you on this one."
Ulquiorra felt the urge to raise an eyebrow at her words. She seemed dedicated to this cause, nonsensical as it was. He wasn't certain whether he should try and dissuade her or not. She was willing to invest a significant amount of time and effort in this endeavor. She also seemed quite convinced that this was a worthy cause to become involved in; worthy enough to distract herself from attempting to determine the pattern of events he'd tasked her with. He doubted that anything nonviolent he could attempt, would be sufficient to convince her otherwise.
Nor was he fully convinced that he should. He'd come here to try and solve the various mysteries he was faced with, not disregard them simply because he found them difficult to accept. He was going to need to exercise some degree of openness, and restrain some degree of skepticism.
"You're welcome to try," he said simply, "perhaps we should begin with the basics. What do you get out of your friendship with the other holders of the Elements of Harmony? What form of compensation do you receive from associating with them? What form of compensation do they receive from association with you? How is it mutually beneficial to everyone involved?" he asked.
Twilight... she wasn't sure what she wanted to do in response to his questions. Maybe facehoof? Despite all of Ulquiorra's intelligence, it was almost like talking with a foal who simply didn't understand what he was being told. He was still trying to compare friendship with a business partnership, despite everything she'd just told him. If she was going to do this right, she was going to have to take things slow, and carefully think over what she'd learned in her three years here in Ponyville, surrounded by those she considered friends. Maybe they could both learn something from this, and unravel mysteries together.
"In terms that would qualify as physical or monetary compensation, not a darn thing. We occasionally treat each other at our own expense, but whatever we get out of the act wouldn't be enough to either justify or sustain our association over the long term," she elaborated. That was probably the wrong way to start things off, but she didn't care, it had to be addressed.
The look Ulquiorra was currently giving her told her he was having trouble accepting her explanation. Undeterred, she continued.
"I can't speak for the others, only for myself. What I get out of my friendship, and my continued association with them, is a great deal more important to me than any form of physical reimbursement for my investment. I've got five very great, and very diverse companions, who are there for me when I really need them. Five ponies who are willing to drop what they're doing and help me out of a jam when they recognize that I'm in trouble, and that things have escalated to the point where I can't deal with it on my own. They're there for me when I'm sad, or scared, or hurt, or alone, or even when I just need somepony to bounce ideas off of, and engage in intelligent conversation about whatever. They're willing to put up with my idiosyncrasies and look beyond them, even when I wind up driving them nuts without even realizing it. They've helped me realize that there's a wide, wide world out there that's worth experiencing for myself, rather than just reading about from the comforts of the library. They've helped me grow as an individual, and expand my mind to consider things I otherwise would've discounted, and they never asked for a single thing in return. I trust those girls with my life; I've actually done that several times so far. Without them I don't even think I'd still be alive right now," she explained.
Ulquiorra remained silent and unmoving at her words, his lack of reaction causing her to frown in response. She'd put a lot into that speech and was hoping for something in return other than disbelief and simple skepticism. Perhaps she was expecting too much, too early on. Maybe she needed to try again.
"That amounts to friendship to you?"
And then again maybe she didn't. Maybe he really had been paying attention, and had simply waited for her to finish talking.
"Well sort of, but it goes a lot further than that. We care about each other, we're there in case we need each other, and when one of us is in trouble, we worry about them and do whatever we can to help out. It's like the time Rarity got sick with the stomach flu, we all did what we could to help her get better, or at least try and make her feel a little less miserable during her recovery. We didn't stop and worry that she might be contagious, or that we might be putting our own health at risk, we just did what we thought was right," Twilight explained. She was getting the feeling that things were starting to spin out of control, and that she was at risk of losing him due to disbelief. She had to think of something to help him understand! "Being a friend also involves doing nice things for each other, even when you have zero moral or legal obligation to do so; it's something you do because you care about the pony, and don't want something bad to happen to them. We've all done it countless times with one another, or somepony else that was in need at the time, and we never bothered to ask what was in it for us."
"You act because of the concern that lies with others rather than yourself, because it is the right thing to do," he elaborated. In more accurate terms it was a guess on his part to see if he was understanding what she was trying to say.
"Exactly!" Twilight exclaimed in excitement and optimism. He really was starting to understand! This was so great!
"Then it was out of concern for Rainbow Dash, that you and the others created the persona of Mare Do Well, and used it against her in a way that wound up traumatizing her," Ulquiorra replied.
And there went her excitement as easily as it'd come. Being reminded of Mare Do Well was bad enough, but being reminded by him out of anyone else had made it hurt much worse. Her ears flattened and her posture dropped at his words.
"... Rainbow Dash told you about that?" she asked. It was the only way she could think of that Ulquiorra would know anything about it. And if she'd told the story as upset as they'd found out she'd been...
"She did. However I can only speculate as to why she chose to trust me with a matter of such sensitivity," he responded. It was a matter he'd been questioning periodically since that night. Perhaps it was simply due to the fact he had no reason to judge her as being anything more than trash, and wouldn't make an issue out of it. Or maybe it was due to some pressing need to talk to anybody and he was merely a matter of convenience. For whatever reason, it wasn't important to him. "What aspect of friendship is it that dictates backstabbing, trickery, deceit, and traumatizing others?" he asked pointedly. Her reiatsu had been dipping ever since he'd brought up the past incident, and now that dipping was coming even faster.
"That... that was a horrible, horrible mistake on all of our parts. I never should've come up with the idea, and none of us should've ever carried it out. We should've realized from the start just how bad of an idea it was. We could've talked to Rainbow Dash, told her we were concerned about how she was acting. We could've addressed that situation in any number of different ways than we did," she said as she hung her head and closed her eyes. "And Rainbow Dash, oh poor Rainbow Dash, I didn't know we'd hurt her so bad. I don't even want to think about what she went through for so many months, feeling like she couldn't trust us when she needed us most," she paused. A long pause. "Rainbow Dash is one of those ponies who measures her sense of importance by her ability to be exceptional at what she does. And we just come in, and destroy all that because we found her boastful in nature, because we thought we knew better than her. We could've caused severe, long term psychological trauma to her with our actions, and we were too blind to see it..."
Ulquiorra remained silent throughout the explanation, uncertain if there was anything worthwhile to contribute. At present time he could think of nothing.
"We all apologized to her once we discovered just how wrong we were. And she said she forgave us when she realized how sincere we were... but I think it's going to take a long, long time for the hurting to finally stop..."
Silence. Nothing but long, monotonous silence, broken up only by the sound of cooking coming from the kitchen.
"If there's one thing the Mare Do Well incident taught me more than anything, it's a very important lesson about the magic of friendship. This is one lesson that I was never able to submit to Celestia because I couldn't make it sound right. But with you, Ulquiorra, I don't think the bluntness would bother you," she said as she opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him in a more direct manner. "Sometimes friendship is about being assholes to one another, yet still being there for each other regardless of the fact.* Friendship isn't perfect, there are going to be bumps in the road, and difficulties ahead that will test the bonds that unite you. And you're going to be both surprised, and grateful, when those bonds withstand whatever trials and tribulations you go through together. When you're willing to let go of your own pettiness because somepony needs you, that's friendship right there."
"Obtuse, eloquent, and reasonably logical all at the same time," Ulquiorra thought in response to the explanation. Twilight Sparkle had a way with words, even if she tended to use far more than were truly necessary. Was she simply padding her statements to add to the effect?
"What you're trying to eloquently say, is that friendship amounts to knowing who precisely has your back, when all has gone to hell. Correct?" he asked, hoping to cut through her wordy explanation and get to the heart of the matter.
"Er..." Twilight paused in thought at his words, "that's... actually not that far off. It's a little basic in nature, but that sounds a lot like what the core of friendship really is. Maybe we actually got somewhere," she said with a sense of pride and smiled.
Now that she thought on his words a little more, that sounded a lot like her early experience regarding friendship. The girls had her back when everything had gone to hell, or more accurately, Tartarus. They'd been there to help her despite all the danger they faced just by being there, by daring to defy Nightmare Moon and attempting to find the Elements of Harmony. They had her back, just like she had theirs.
"Then progress has at least been made in one area," Ulquiorra replied, his voice lacking the pony's enthusiasm.
"I can't wait to share this news with the girls," Twilight stated, shortly before her stomach began growling, causing her to blush and chuckle in an embarrassed manner. "But maybe I actually should wait and have breakfast first..."
"Sound logic indeed," Ulquiorra commented.
Once again Twilight Sparkle's reiatsu was flaring, wildly at the prospect of sharing some discovery with the other ponies. Exactly what series of events had he unknowingly set into motion on this morning?
"Gonna be a few more minutes, Twilight," Spike called from the kitchen as he flipped the pancakes he was currently cooking.
"Oh..." Twilight replied. At the news her stomach started growling again, causing her to frown down at it, like she could make it behave through the power of her own annoyance. What to do until it was time to eat? She thought on that. And hunger or not, she was starting to realize something of importance. For all this talk about progress and such, there was something they were missing; something that was pretty big.
"Ulquiorra, there's something I'd like to ask you. Something that's pretty important, and related to the matter at hand... hoof... whatever, it's important, and it's relevant," she explained.
"And what is it?" he asked, mildly curious now. Instead of answering him right away, she approached him and extended her right foreleg towards him, much as she had during their initial encounter back in the Canterlot library.
"Will you be my friend, Ulquiorra?" she asked him simply.
He remained silent at her words, a mix of confusion and curiosity at her question, and uncertainty of the proper way to respond. Should he go with the standard approach and point out how there was no relevancy to the request? Perhaps question if she was quite serious even after everything had happened? He was quite sure that if she were reminded of the part he made her play with the changelings, she wouldn't be so inclined to ask such a question so freely.
However if he did attempt such an approach, she might cite lesson number five again, as justification for making the request. Forgiveness was... interesting, to say the least.
And then he started considering the nature of the request. If friendship was truly about knowing who had your back, then it could be argued that their friendship status was already confirmed between them, strange as it might sound. Perhaps the request was born from some sort of formality or ritual to confirm said status.
And then it was back to his earlier thoughts, about his own motivation on the matter, and the reasoning for why he came here in the first place. With that in mind, only one course of action truly seemed logical to him at this moment.
"If you'll have me as a friend," he finally replied, sliding his hand out of his pocket, and wrapping it around her hoof to return the gesture. With that his commitment to this strange, new endeavor had been sealed. There was no telling how things would go from here on out, without waiting to see how things progressed.
This is my opinion, but I like the previous cover art better...
Dat cover picture! Well another week and one of my favorite stories is finally here now I'll just dig in.
I have been laughing because of that cover pic! XD
Best of luck for the next chapter!
-cellum95-
I do want him to discover the meaning of friendship.
I want him to right out a meticulous letter going into great detail defining it.
And as the final line, a statement that, yes, while he did discover the meaning, he really hasn't any use for it after his escapade in Equestria.
I just like him too much as he is to see him undergo a drastic change.
And then all of Tartarus is let loose...
Well it's nice to actually see Twilight sounding mature throughout her lecture.
This was a hilarious input. Rainbow Dash has a lot to learn
As for the rest of this chapter, it really hit home with Twilight's explanation on friendship as well as the contributed nutshell description. I was equally impressed with Ulquiorra slowly falling into the groove as well.
But we all know that good things don't last forever, sad as it is
"Will you be my friend, Ulquiorra?" she asked him simply.
I had a big ass grin as soon as she asked that question, like so.
images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/20500000/-You-like-Krabby-Patties-don-t-you-Squidward-spongebob-squarepants-20518839-500-333.jpg
And yes truer words are rarely spoken and that displays friendship beautifully.
And now Ulq has a first friend so to speak, I don't expect him to change his mannerisms but giving a little more thought to friendship is definitely a good road to go down.
Though if he strictly judged friendship as having some ones back and they in turn have yours even when the world is tearing itself apart, he won't be friends with just anyone it would only be a select few.
Ones he knows wouldn't cower in the face of fear and that kinda stuff. Dash or AJ will be his next friend, how that will happen is up to the writer to figure out if he hasn't already.
i loved this chapter i just cant wait till pinkie tries to make him smile and throw a party for him
I still have a huge issue with you blowing the MDW thing waaaaay out of proportion. I would've gotten over it but you just keep bringing it back as if it's some monumental event in their friendship! I simply can not buy the idea that that could've had any sort of lasting effect on RD, not even mentioning the notion that what the others did to her was wrong, which I will never agree with. This is the only thing that prevents me from fully enjoying the story, which is fantastic apart from this one bit of absurdity.
I think the Mare Do Well incident occurred because, while they could have confronted Rainbow Dash, to how much effect would it have? She has the stubbornness of a bull, a lot of pride, and no small amount of ego. If they had tried confronting her directly she would've more than likely blown them off, saying there wasn't any problems.
You also the first Changeling incident where everybody, minus Cadence, betrayed Twilight so they could be a part of a wedding. Then there was also the time when she went to the human world and found that none of her friends were actually friends with each other giving some credence to the point that if it weren't for the Elements of Harmony Twilight and the others would have never become friends in the first place. Surviving life and death situations have a pretty good way of making friends out of anyone.
(Begins clapping paws together)
A very interesting piece with the friendship bit at the end. I'm very curious to see how you will pull it off from here on out.
so would he ever talk about the human women orihime?
I do enjoy how he continues to overanalyze the concept of friendship to such an extent. And Twilight's attempt at answering him continues to be amusing.
Lets see if this acceptance of friendship will become something that he will regret later. Awesome chapter, great work.
Nice cover picture, however I think that I like the old one better.
3847669 The problem people have with that whole situation isn't that the idea itself is inherently bad, it's certainly an asshole-ish thing to do, but not inherently bad.
The problem is that the rest of the main six did the exact same thing as Rainbow Dash. To her face. Just not in public. And in the end acted as if they were completely right to do so, simply because they wanted to take one of their best friends down a peg.
3847904
Well, in a sense it was better to do it as Mare Do Well than as themselves in public. To the public they made it look like an Alicorn was saving the day with Earth Pony strength, Unicorn magic, and Pegasus flight. To get one upped by an Alicorn is nothing to be ashamed of. If they had gone public with their appearance, not using the costume, it would've detracted from Rainbow Dash's credibility because in the future why would they go for Rainbow Dash when they could go for one of her friends? Anything she could do they could do better. In the end it all comes down to the question: Do you want to be outshined by your friends, or by a superhero?
lol that new cover!
quizilla.teennick.com/user_images/A/AM/AMA/AMAYASAKI14/1279892606_7677_full.jpeg
Oh the feels! I love it!!
Good chapter, but seriously, that large-text is just off-putting. Italics work just fine.
Oh shit, that was an off-handed, cynical comment! My body wasn't ready for this.
3847944
I think a problem with the episode was they were bragging about themselves. Like Applejack was bragging about how strong Mare Do Well was. Twilight was was impressed by her magic. Rarity liked her fashion sense. In other words, they were boasting about how awesome they were exactly like Rainbow Dash. Maybe if they complimented each other, like Twilight complimenting on Mare Do Well's strength, then the lesson would have worked a lot better.
So in essence it makes sense why Rainbow Dash was angry; her friends were no better than her and yet she was the one who needed the lesson.
Being assholes to each other is the best part of friendship! If I can insult, and be insulted, horribly, and still laugh and be cool, that is a sound friendship right there.
I mentioned how many fics I'm following total (1,756) across two sites, and he noted that my breakup with my girlfriend "must have hit you hard." Very much an asshole thing to say, but I laughed my ass off.
This was interesting… Now I want to see Ulquiorra meet Trixie. A Cero or two may solve a potential problem… heh, heh… OH, and what about season 4? We have GOT to do something about that! Three's a Crowd? DISCORD'S SONG? And maybe when we count in the possibility of other Arrancar coming onto the scene… HAH! I can imagine it now, Loly freaking out while having to get Discord a cup of water… and Barragan having to juggle his Arrogante on a unicycle...
3848394 The one time they compliment themselves makes them no better than Rainbow Dash who brags about herself whenever the opportunity presents itself? That makes Rainbow Dash even pettier. Besides, Twilight gets a freebie considering the first time Trixie appeared and she didn't want to do anything because she didn't want to show off. Fluttershy is fine as well considering she's, well you know, shy. She is withdrawn that the fact she is bragging about herself is a good sign, to show that she does hold some self-esteem. Applejack and Rarity are the ones who really don't have a good excuse for themselves. And Pinkie . . . that's one can of worms that you don't want to open.
3848495
It's not the fact that they brag about their accomplishments. The lesson was to teach Rainbow Dash that heroes do not brag about themselves, and yet they ended up doing just themselves.
They're basically being hypocrites and that's why Dash is angry with them. Why is it ok if they do it but not her? I get they wanted to teach her humility but there were probably better ways to go about it.
3848748 But what could they say about Mare Do Well without drawing suspicion to themselves or defeating the purpose of having Mare Do Well around? Tell Rainbow better luck next time? With an ego like hers that would just make her mad. Compliment the attributes that Mare Do Well had that they didn't?
Twilight and Rarity can make accurate judgments on magic because they are magic users themselves. They can't accurately judge Earth Pony strength because they aren't Earth Ponies. Having them judge the strength of an Earth Pony is like having an athlete and a artist judge a painting. The athlete can say it looks nice but only the artist can make an accurate description because art is his/her forte.
There could've been another way to deal with Rainbow Dash's ego, maybe with ways that didn't affect her the way Mare Do Well did. Would they have had the same effect? Maybe, maybe not. It's anyone's guess on how any other method would've worked. All that can be said is that the Mare Do Well incident worked and none of the canon shows display any negative affects from it.
3848774
Or they could not have done Mare Do Well at all and just told her to knock it off. Whether it would have worked or not is up for debate, but as her friends they probably should have just told her straight up that she was getting aggravating. In her mind, not being honest with her can feel like betrayal.
As for the show, well we don't know if she wasn't affected by it or not. That's the beauty of fanfiction, we can imagine what the characters are going through in more depth than we can in the show. Stuff that might seem insignificant to one person might mean a whole lot more to another.
3848419 Except there was no betrayal, stabbing in the back or being used in MMDW. Rainbow completely deserved the eye-opening experience and nothing truly bad was even done to her. It's the same as calling a prank "betrayal and deception" - overblowing it to hell and back.
3848748 Their little "bragging" is really not the same as what RD was doing AT ALL. Seriously, whatsoever. Their intention was basically to irritate RD enough so that she'd actually care. Honestly it's pretty goddamn ridiculous to say that they were even bragging - do you really think for a second that any of them really cared for any sort of compliments or validation, like RD did? And they each complimented their own parts, of course, how else could it have gone? Would anyone except for Rarity really compliment the outfit? Anyone except Twilight the magic? Etc. They each complimented the aspect of their shared creation that they usually respect and understand the most. To see that little scene as negative is really just wanting to find a reason to make RD a victim and the others in the wrong, where RD was clearly the one completely in the wrong during the episode and the others did nothing bad. Some people apparently just can't handle RD not being perfect or something?
3849124
First of all, I'm not a huge fan of Rainbow Dash. In fact, she's probably my least favorite of the Mane 6 because of her attitude.
With that said, the key words are "in her mind". Rainbow Dash feels like this is a betrayal and she feels like her friends were not respecting her feelings.
Do you remember Lesson Zero? How Twilight's friends completely dismissed her worries as not that important? Remember how dejected Twilight felt when she couldn't could on her friends? Rainbow is feeling that right now.
3849235 Yeah, and Twilight quickly got over that. And Rainbow Dash is much more thick-skulled than Twilight. She would not feel betrayed past that episode, there is no way in hell. Maybe for a second before they explained to her that SHE was guilty. She looked like she understood everything perfectly by the end.
If one makes it so she secretly hated them all for that afterwards, he just makes RD a fucking idiot here, by changing it so that she didn't actually understand her lesson and the way she was wrong, when she pretty clearly did in the episode.
3849255
Again we can't get into the characters heads. Maybe Rainbow Dash really is still angry and we just never hear about it. Maybe Twilight still feels like the others don't take her freak outs seriously, like with Lesson Zero or when she suspected something was wrong with Cadence.
Same thing with the fandom. You believe that Dash felt fine after MMDW. The author felt differently and in his mind he believes Dash was secretly feeling betrayed (or he just wanted to add it for the sake of the story). Who knows? Everyone has a unique way they look at the characters.
3849255 3849303
Or there's a third option to give consideration to. Rainbow Dash is deliberately jerking them all around around, and making them believe that she's really upset and that they jeopardized their friendship with their actions.
3849351
Hmmm... So either she's in disguise or Ulquiorra was right and she really is the closest to a Hollow.
With that ending between Twilight and Ulquiorra the first image to play through my head was that of Orihime extending her hand to Ulquiorra (in a bid for friendship I like to think) in his last moments before turning to ashes.
3849303 To say that there's room for interpretation does not automatically mean that all interpretations are equally plausible. I honestly consider the idea that Twi would hold a grudge for LZ or RD for MMDW to be completely ridiculous, unfounded, and kept afloat only by one's desire to bring drama into the show where there pretty clearly isn't and shouldn't be any. Kinda like believing that Scootaloo's an orphan. But oh well, who am I to keep people from their deluded headcanons.
3849462 Whatever you just described there has nothing to do with what happened in the episode. You're making it sound like RD wasn't doing anything wrong, just going about her life fulfilling her dreams and the evil, jealous (or something) mane6 created this conspiracy with the sole purpose of bringing her misery.
That is absolutely atrociously wrong.
RD was drunk on adoration. She was endangering lives and forgetting what was important (doing the right thing) and what wasn't (making sure to get the right amount of praise for it). She was being an all-around bigheaded douchebag. So the others did this little spectacle, presented her with a hero that's an example of how that sort of thing should be done, so she can see that she's doing it wrong because people will recognize the better hero instantly. They pretty much opened her eyes to reality after she was completely blinded by her need to feed her already overinflated ego. They didn't crush her dreams, make her think she's worthless, betray her or anything of the sort, and making Dash a victim in all this just shows that one didn't understand anything about the moral of the episode.
3849574 3849303
As much as this back and forth discussion is interesting, there is more going on rather than a simple discussion about Mare Do Well. We've got a couple of references and shout outs to find, we've got Twilight explaining how there are still aspects of friendship that she doesn't understand, and we've got Ulquiorra attempting to gather an understanding of friendship when it's very nature is subject to interpretation on an individual level.
3849735
Yeah, sorry about that.
Anyway its nice to see Ulquiorra seeking out answers to the questions he had for Orihime. It's all coming together.
I'm curious to see how he takes his new friendship status, especially whether he takes pointers from Ichigo's actions. I.E. Stomping anything that tries to harm his friends into the ground. And yes, I too am looking forward to when he explains to them his fascination with the concept of a heart was born through interaction with Orohime. Lastly, the little snippet at the beginning when he walked/flew in on Rainbow when she was showering was glorious. There were just so many awkward connotations floating around I couldn't help but smile.
Below are the edits for this chapter:
*go about doing that, that made - go about doing so, that made (not wrong per-se, but having the same word next to each other is a bit awkward)
*could figure, was that maybe - could figure, was that maybe (extra space between ‘was’ and ‘that’)
*circumstances that lead to the - circumstances that led to the
*potholder and pull some - potholder and pulling some
*sat silently as the nursed her - sat silently as she nursed her
*the parties involve profit - the parties involved profit
*how I came to living in - how I came to be living in
*didn't even have the change to inquire - didn't even have the chance to inquire
*in Ponyville with six new friends, - in Ponyville with five new friends,
*complex mathematical formulas from - complex mathematical formulae from
*"You're welcomed to try," - "You're welcome to try,"
*help me out a jam when they - help me out of a jam when they
*worth experience for myself, - worth experiencing for myself,
3849735 That's stuff I don't feel I can say anything on so unless you're really against it I'll keep with my MMDW white-knighting Of course if you think it is detrimental to the other possible comments just say so and I'll shut up.
3849781 Of course I'm not looking at the situation as if it was something different, what would the point of that be? Sure if the characters were different, the world was different, the events were slightly different, someone might have had a good reason to be offended, but that's absolutely pointless because I'm talking strictly about the actual ponies, and the actual episode.
Also it's wrong to say that she wasn't endangering lives before MDW appeared. In fact, at best (for Dash) the two events coincided. Because MDW interfered first in a situation where lives or limbs could've been otherwise lost, and that has been the case for all further interferences too, so the first instance of criminal negligence by Dash was actually before she knew anything of MDW. MDW didn't barge in at any point when Dash had it all under control, after all.
Finally, with all respect to Charlie_K, I don't think it takes much skill to add barely realistic drama to a previously established storyline. I say barely realistic of course in the full context of the characters and the episode as it happened in canon. In fact, I would go as far as to say that he actually misinterprets the characters, or intentionally makes them OOC if he chooses to promote the idea of Dash being very affected by the events of MMDW and holding a grudge. And IMO it's preachy and wrong to continuously make the others out as guilty of any sort of mistreatment towards Dash. It only takes basic writing abilities if you're being that liberal with your base material since you're not satying true to the characters or anything. Of course, other than this little bit I have no doubts about Charlie_K's skill since I otherwise enjoy the story a lot. But I completely disapprove of such meddling with espablished characters and events to the point where you actually contradict them, by writing something that could not have occurred within the universe you're borrowing for your story (because the characters you're using could not have acted/felt/reacted the way you're saying they did).
3849957 3850049
In a previous response I gave, I mentioned how one of the complaints about the story of Cuatro was how none of the characters seemed to advance beyond what was established in the show. There was no character development with them, nothing to supposedly make them interesting. And so far we've had anything but that going on.
Is Rainbow Dash right for her belief of betrayal? Perhaps, perhaps not. There's the matter of her possessing the Element of Loyalty, so perhaps her perception of what is and isn't betrayal isn't the same as a normal person would experience.
And that, along with this back and forth discussion, helps illustrate an important point that's only been touched upon so far in the story; friendship is a matter of perception rather than hard facts. Even if the facts are on our side and support our position, it's ultimately how things are perceived that makes the most difference. Perceiving something as right doesn't make it right.
Everything since the first mention of Mare Do Well on top of Canterlot palace could be read as the others deciding that it would be easier to simply let Rainbow Dash have her moment and win a pointless argument, rather than going into a detailed explanation to justify their actions. Friendship is delicate in nature, and needs to be handled with caution at times.
It's like that old Chris Rock joke about marriage; you can either be right, or you can be happy. How many of us haven't let a friend win their argument in order to save the friendship?
3850323
I have never done that in my entire life Perhaps I am too stubborn but I can not imagine myself pretending to agree with a person who I think is wrong just so that person doesn't throw a fit because he/she can't handle being mistaken about something, or can't be bothered to listen, or whatever. I think my friends might have been doing that though.
3847944 Yeah, maybe they went into it with the best of intentions. That's not the problem here.
The problem is that they started reveling in their hero worship just like Rainbow Dash did, right to her face, the only real difference being that they didn't let anyone else know it was them, and then acting like Rainbow Dash was wrong, while they were right.
3850412
I haven't done that much either, if at all. But I've lost arguments and enjoyed it because I learned something, and have given up some arguments because they went nowhere. I think there were also occasional switching of opinions during arguments and not admitting to it, and that frustrated me as much as someone not being able to explain their opinion.
But I could look past those annoyances if my friendship was more important than my opinion on the topic at hand. There has only been one time when the topic at hand was more important than my friendship, and that time traumatized me.
This may be a personal question, but now I feel I have to ask: How important are your friends to you?
3851928 No they didn't. They weren't "reveling in their hero worship" at all. Where do people get that?? They only said those things to get through to Dash, which was pretty obvious by how forced it all was. And yes, Rainbow Dash was indeed wrong and they were indeed right, in the end.
3852888 Pretty important, but I haven't ever been in a situation where an argument could destroy a friendship, and frankly that idea seems a bit absurd to me. If your "friend" is going to hate you forever for not agreeing with his (wrong) opinion, that's a pretty crappy friend. I've had arguments with my friends and we did a fair share of giving up (mutually, recognizing that there was no point to further arguing), changing opinions and so on. I think maybe a couple times one of us ended up very annoyed at another. And that never ruined any sort of relationship, we just got over it each time as if nothing happened.
3852903
I don't think we're thinking about the same opinions here. I'm talking about arguing opinions when you need to take action soon, and if you take the wrong action then people will get hurt. Like Einstein allowing the government to use his theories for nukes and regretting it afterwards types of interactions. Those are arguments capable of ruining friendships if not handled right.
Granted, I haven't been involved in any conversation of that scale, but there are important decisions in life sometimes.
Also, how many arguments have you lost? Not because you realized it wasn't going anywhere, but because you realized that the other person had a point?
Edit: the "hero worship" referred to is when the mane six are bragging about mare do well in the cafe where rainbow dash is. They obviously know how much the town loves mare do well now, and are enjoying it.
3852961 Oh, well I have never been in such crucial arguments either, but I guess if I felt that something very important was being decided, I'd stick by what's right still. At least what I thought was right. That's more important to me.
I can't recall how many arguments I've lost, honestly. I don't count them. But there were definitely a couple throughout the years. I don't actually even argue IRL that much anyways. From what I remember, the most frequent outcome is actually that both I and my friend are wrong in some way and we end up mellowing out, trying to explain where each one is coming from and coming to a reasonable, correct conclusion.
Concerning the hero worship, I know what scene it means but I still can't agree that they were hypocritical for it or anything like that. The bragging was meant to annoy RD so that she'd realize that it's serious (even her friends think MDW is great -> it's something she got to consider. Otherwise she'd shrug it off I think, or at least not treat it as seriously). I do not believe for a second that they were actually feeding their own egos like RD had been doing. Perhaps they were satisfied with their jobs but it's not a crime and they certainly weren't just boasting/bragging the same way RD was about her "heroism".
Awesome chapter! I really hope someone will ask about his 'death, I really want to see their faces when they will face Hollow-Ichigo.
3853062
okay, neat.
For Rainbow dash though: what's wrong with her boating/bragging? She was still trying to save lives, and while bragging could have made her less efficient, those lives were already in danger. They weren't put in more danger because dash bragged.
The other five were right when they helped where dash couldn't, but they could have berated dash in person after saving someone, or they could have talked about how saving was more important than feeling like a hero, instead of saying that bragging was wrong. Some people live for the kind of recognition dash received.
I agree that she might not really have been betrayed, but the event could eat away at her. Being told that feeling satisfied about your work is wrong is like being told masturbating is wrong. It deprives you of a source of relief/motivation, and it makes you feel shame when you shouldn't. It generally does nothing good for you, so you should feel betrayed if your friends team up on you and force you to follow that belief or risk hurting their respect for you, and thus their friendship.
3854054 Noone told her being satisfied with a job well done is wrong, what she was doing wrong is that at some point she switched the reason for her heroics from because it's the right thing to do to because ponies loved her for it. I guess a bit of bragging is okay but not to the extent where it compromises anything important. And sure ponies were put into more danger, she was finishing her catchphrases instead of speeding off to save them. She probably would not have needed MDW's help at any point if she concentrated on getting shit done instead of posing for photos and stuff.
3854075
Perhaps, but what about the other points in pony ville who did nothing? They could be said to be endangering lives through inaction. It wasn't her job in the first place to save lives, and if she did accept that job, gratitude was the only form of pay. Without that I don't think there's any incentive to save strangers' lives. (I don't feel any different knowing random strangers died without my help.)
And the lesson wasn't that she was boasting so much she was endangering lives, it was that she was boasting so much that she was being annoying. The other five decided to act before her boasting hurt anyone.