Familia Supra Omnia
Silence – sweet serenity. The darkness is all enveloping. The solemn lull of thoughts, singular and clairvoyant. An endless passing of existence. Asleep, yet not quite; aware, but only passingly so. Thoughts float from one realm to another in endless succession– like a boat being cast in a storm, being blown here and there without limitation of reason or purpose.
Yet, there is a deeper sense of understanding – a meditation of sort. Reality becomes like water – fluid and malleable. Memories, faces, places, events, joys, and sorrows pass before your eyes like flashing reflections in a pool, glimpses of things that were intermingled with hopes and aspirations – fantasies of every nature and kind.
Like a winding road, dreams too can be treacherous – but for now, the road is wide and even, the rolling pastures passing by, green and beautiful. The sun above is shining bright on the meadows below. There is warmth and goodness here. Warmth.
A sight of content, and then, a burning wind whisks itself upon the nape of the neck. The body contorts and writhes, and then the eyes open.
There is silence still, but it is joined by the soft humming of the cricket's chirp. The drowsy inertia of sleep's gentle grasp slowly gives way to awareness as he feels the presence of fur rubbing against him.
He looks up sees a familiar face resting itself on his shoulder – the eyes closed, breathing contentedly as her hoof lay idly around his waist.
“Twilight?” Spike asked groggily, wiping his eye. “What are you doing here? Is it time to get ready for the funeral?”
“Not quite,” Twilight replied gently, not opening her eyes
“Then what are you doing here?” Spike asked, burying his head back into his pillow.
“I couldn't sleep,” Twilight said.
“So you come and wake me up?” Spike whispered irately.
A moment of silence passed between them.
“Do you want me to leave?” Twilight asked, easing her hoof from around his waist.
Spike shook his head, wrestling with the urge to fall back to sleep.
“Not really, just...What time is it?” he asked.
“An hour or so until sunrise, I believe,” Twilight said.
“And you didn't sleep at all?”
“I was...until the Princess came to visit.”
“Celestia visited you in the middle of the night?”
Twilight nodded.
“Seems strange...” Spike said. “Any reason why?”
“That's what I wanted to know,” Twilight replied. “I asked her. She said that my brother had told her that I was plotting against her.”
“Were you?” Spike asked, still not quite awake.
“And if I was?” she asked.
“Well, then that would be treason,” Spike said. “Punishable by...”
“Death.”
The young dragon blinked.
“Yeah...” Spike said, a hint of concern in his voice. “You aren't really plotting against Celestia, are you?”
“Of course not, Spike,” Twilight replied.
“Oh good,” Spike said relieved. “You had me worried there for a second.”
Twilight chuckled.
“You're such a worry-wart sometimes.”
“Well, I never know when you're joking or not,” Spike said.
“That's part of the joke,” Twilight replied smugly.
“Sometimes I think you just like to make people suffer.”
“Never unjustly,” Twilight smirked, holding him closer.
Spike writhed slightly.
“When are you ever going to stop babying me?” he pouted.
“When I feel like it,” Twilight said, running her hoof down his smooth scales. “Besides, I thought you liked me babying you.”
Spike looked away.
“Well...only with you.”
“And Rarity?”
“Oh, yeah...and her.”
“You really do love her, don't you?”
“With all my heart,” Spike said, his cheeks turned a glowing hue of red.
Twilight giggled.
“You try so hard to impress her,” she replied, petting his head. “But I feel like you do so in vain.”
“Oh? Why's that?” Spike asked.
“You and her are just different, Spike,” Twilight said. “She's a full-grown mare and you're...still just a kid. It's sweet and all that you go out of your way to please her, but she's never had any interest in you.”
Spike looked down.
“You...you think so?”
“Think about all the times you've helped her, opened the door for her, gave her flowers, was nice to her – and does she ever even give you so much as the courtesy of acknowledging it?”
“No, but...”
“Spike, I know Rarity – she and I have talked many times – and she likes you and all, but she's told me that she only thinks of you as, well...a brother.”
Spike blinked.
“Did...did she really say that?”
“To the word.”
Spike frowned as he turned his head towards his pillow.
“Now don't take it like that,” Twilight said. “There are plenty of other mares out there.”
“But only one of Rarity,” Spike replied forlornly.
“I know it's hard,” Twilight said, sympathetically. “But really, if you ask me, you're too good for her anyways. Do you really think she deserves someone as caring and devoted as you are?”
“Well, I, uh...”
“You slave away for her and what is the recognition you receive? Not even so much as a wayward glance. You deserve better, Spike – you really do.”
“I guess you're right...” Spike said.
“You need somepony who knows what a kind-hearted and loving dragon you really are; who recognizes your talents.”
The young dragon sighed.
“Why are you telling me all this?” Spike asked.
“Because I care about you, Spike,” Twilight said, covering him with her wing. “And I don't want you to waste your time chasing after somepony who has no intention of returning your affection.”
“I...I don't believe you.”
“Oh, Spike...”
Tears began to well up in his eyes.
“But …why?” he asked, his voice cracking.
“It's just Rarity, Spike,” Twilight said. “I haven't said anything before because I thought that eventually you'd come to see that, but with everything that's happened recently, I really think it's time to face reality: Rarity doesn't love you – she never has, she never will. You're helpful to her, though, which is why she keeps you around. Sure, she might act nice to you, even send a nice gesture your way every now and again too – but don't believe she is sincere when she does so – she has no intention of ever letting you have what you want. She'll continue playing this game, entertaining your romantic notions, until she has no more use for you, then she'll find another, and discard you like one of her old dresses.”
Spike said nothing, and as the moments passed, the silence became heavier.
After some time, though, Twilight spoke to him a quiet voice.
“What are you feeling, Spike?” she asked.
“I...I don't know,” Spike replied. “I just...can't believe it, but at the same time...”
“Let the truth sink in...”
The dragon let out a whimper.
“Why would she do that to me?”
“Shhh,” Twilight said, holding him closer. “It's alright...”
Spike nestled into her shoulder, silently sorrowing.
“I don't understand,” Spike said, sniffling. “All I ever did was treat her nicely. How could she do something so heartless?”
“It's hard sometimes to see a pony's true intentions,” Twilight said. “Some ponies are just deceitful and only use others for their own ends – but I would never do that, especially to you, Spike. Please believe me when I say that I'm only telling you this because I love and would rather you hear it from me, than somepony who will only break your heart.”
“You've always been so kind to me...” Spike said, quietly.
“We'll we're family, Spike. Other ponies will go around your back and betray you – like someone I could name – but families...families stays loyal to one another. They're supposed to stay loyal to one another. In a world where you can't depend on anyone, family is all you've got. If you can't rely on them, than whom can you rely on? That's why we need to stick together, you and I – to look after one another.”
Twilight petted his head as she wiped away his tear with a hoof-kerchief.
“There, better?”
Spike nodded, his cheeks still flustered.
Twilight gazed affectionately over the little dragon she had hatched those many years ago.
“Oh Spike,” she said, kissing him on the forehead. “My noble cavalier, how I have neglected you lately...”
“It's alright,” Spike said softly. “I know you've been busy...”
“But I want you to know that you can trust me though, Spike. Even if you can't trust anypony else. Do you trust me?”
“Yes...” Spike said. “I trust you.”
Twilight nodded and leaned in close to his ear.
“Then stick with me Spike,” she whispered. “And I'll make sure you're reward with what you really want – that I promise you. I just need to you to do a few things for me...”
“What I really want, huh?” Spike asked, his voice piqued with curiosity.
“Anything you wish.”
Spike mulled it over in his mind.
“Even...Rarity?”
Twilight paused.
“Is that you truly want?” she asked.
The young dragon looked down regretfully – an agonized expression in his glistening eyes.
“I mean, even if she did all that, if she had used me, I still feel – I cannot think of the word – something still tugging on my heart...Maybe, it can still work out, somehow...”
Twilight looked at him solemnly.
“I admire your sincerity, Spike,” Twilight said looking away. “So...I will help you win your lady-love's heart – even if it grieves me to do so.”
“You will?” Spike asked, a look of elation and hope washing over his face.
“I promise that before this week is out, Rarity will be yours. But first, I need to know if I can I depend on you to do what I ask?”
Spike nodded.
“Yes, you can depend on me.”
“Good,” Twilight said, getting from the bed and looking out the window. “Then you won't be going to the funeral today. I need you to do something else, instead. “
“What?”
“When we leave today on the procession, I need you to deliver this letter to Rainbow Dash's room,” she said, producing a folded and sealed envelope, laying it on the bed. “Slide it underneath her doorway. Then, I need you to go into the Princess' room and retrieve a piece of her parchment for me – make sure it is the one with her personal seal on it.”
“Why do you need the Princess' parchment?”
“All will be revealed in time, my dear Spike,” Twilight said. “But for now, just do as you're told.”
“And what do I do if the guards stop me?”
“They won't – they'll all be at the funeral. But if there is one, just say that you're retrieving something for the Princess.”
“Yes, but...”
“It's an easy errand,” Twilight said. “I'm sure you'll have no problem with it. Once you've got the parchment, take it straight it back to my room. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good, now repeat back to me: what did I ask you to do?”
“Deliver the letter to Rainbow's room and fetch a piece of Celestia's parchment.”
“When?”
“Right after everypony leaves for the funeral.”
“And take the parchment where?”
“Straight to your room.”
“Good. I know you'll do fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready. The sun is coming up now and I'm sure that Celestia will be in need of me shortly – still many things to do. I will see you again in a few hours.”
Twilight made her way to the door but stopped and wheeled back around before crossing the threshold.
“Oh, and Spike...”
“Yes?”
“Don't tell any pony about this, okay? I prefer to keep this confidential. Just between you and me, okay?”
Spike nodded.
“Okay.”
“Excellent,” Twilight said, smiling. “I bid you farewell then, Spike. Will see you in a bit.”
Twilight waved her hoof and departed, leaving Spike in the darkness.
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3345310 ..........she murdered luna iwth a pillow........... luna can blsats holes through csatles, teleport, has earth pony strength, has wings to help her with leveraging herself out of that..........
this entire story starts on an ENORMPUSLY contrived death, not even taking into account that pretty sure they would ahve developed magic for these kind if situations, gather clues. hell twiligh's fur is in that bed now. all you need is spell for that and, poof, twilight executed.
of course this isn't actually twilight. twilight is hogtied in her basement next to the actual luna, who somehow got replaced by that weakling disguised as her in that bed too.............
i have major issues with this story. even the characterization is off as well. it is an interesting idea, i will not lie, but its execution is bad. it is not taking into account WHAT luna and celestia ARE. nor that the elements would never have chosen twilight if she had this capacity. pretty sure you don't give wings to complete sociopaths, especially hard to make a mistake when you are a magical artifact of balance and badguy blasting.
were it so easy is the phrase here. were it so easy to kill a regal sister, celestia would have died centuries ago. especially if she is so foolish as to not be able to see a total sociopath has replaced her actual student, though it will probably turn out the est of the cast are stuck in that same basement and replaced, and have to clean up the mess these guys make.
were it so easy.
3579165 ............ she has been waitign a millenium to get her sister back, now she is dead. and any amount of investigation that WOULD happen would have pointed towards twilight. cause she is all over luna here. problem with being a killer and a pony; fur, lots and lots of fur.
.........this entire story is broken by its very start. you cannot kill a regal sister with anything close to ease. because celestia would ahve died long ago if that was possible. they just have far too many attributes to reply on both physical and mystically.
maybe i would almost buy it if it was twilight sabotaging her during an attack, but the likelyhood of killing her with a pilllow is probably quite close to garroting an elephant with a shoestring...........
also there would be no luna, only nightmare moon, and twilight would not be an alicorn. Elements of harmony would never have chosen her, thus nightmare moon would not have been beaten by the element bears, also going towards the point that without the capacity for loyalty of any kind, as this tiwlight clearly lacks, she would never have figured out the secrets of said spell and become an alicorn.
you can't just change one aspect and expect everything to work out. it just does not work that way.
4234079 Are you quite finished yet?
4234090 be honest no. i cannot understand why no one else has pointed out these major flaws. you killed a being that powreful with a pillow............ even if she was half dead that would not work. not to mention i know you originally had it seem like natural causes, which is nothing short of ignorance, especially becuase she is an immortal. even not using it literally, pretty sure sudden death is not common, especially when she is technically much younger than celestia. also that i am pretty sure that there is not way twilight could hide a sociopath tendency since childhood.............. and as i said, no elements, no twilicorn, no luna. cause and effect is ignored. it is clear that not nearly enough thought and planning went into your story. you brush aside things that hsould be happening. investigations, spells csat, evidence gathered. then agian if that happened then twilight would be immediately exposed as all the fur she left in luna's bed. and of course socipath twilight = tiwlight never becoming an element bearer. you cannot be a being willing to murder your mother figure and friend enough to trigger the power of a evil killing weapon. as well as how could tiwlight fool someone who not only kne wher since she was a child, thus incapable of planning a grand scheme or anything, but a thousand yars old and likely faced dozens of similar circumstances? it is xperience and wisdom twilight could not have achieved. likely being blinded by caring would nto work because she would have probably suffered once already for doing just that.
and no i do not think the regal sisters are invincible, but consdiering their attributes and itnelligence, they are probably nearly impossible to kill via assassination or underhanded means. you have to kill them in the field. there is no other plasubile method.
ultimately there is not nearly neough thought going into your project. mlp is a thing that is unique in its aiblity to be adapted ihnto various stories, but a story like this is not one of them. they have far too many attributes here. this kind of stuff only works in series like game of thrones where everyone is ultimately vulnerable without any abnormal attributes or powers. in a world where a pretty midnight blue princess pony can puncture a castle wall with a beam of magic, certain things just don't work.
4233965
4233998
You are forgetting the show has stated many times (and often through Celestia at that) that Twilight is very powerful. There was a reason she became Celestia's student. Even though I personally am anything but a fan of the way "Princess Twilight Sparkle" was introduced in canon, I have to mention that Faust did say that her goal originally was to make Twilight Celestia's successor.
If Celestia thought Twilight capable of becoming her student for this potential reason then it is not at all a jump to suggest that Twilight has the potential to be far more powerful than Celestia. Now under this assumption, consider:
Celestia is the greater (read: more powerful) of the two royal sisters. Luna is presumably the "lesser".
Assume Twilight Sparkle is greater than Celestia.
Therefore, Twilight Sparkle must be greater than Luna.
And this does not even take into account the fact that Luna was sick and weakened on her bed. As well as that she had no reason to suspect that a trusted friend of however many years (and, it should also be noted, her first friend in at least one thousand years; she lacks much of a modern Equestrian social experience and likely does not have a very firm grasp on her current society, which would make her very relatively easy to take advantage of) and likely has never endured betrayal in such a manner before she did in her death.
And speaking of trusted friends, well, if you were Celestia, would you believe that a student as trusted as Twilight Sparkle, whom you have known almost all of her life and have personally put so much faith in that you believed she should join you in royalty and likely become your successor, intended to kill you?
As for the elements, well, maybe they did choose her to become Magic's bearer.
But Celestia chose to make her a ruler.
Maybe one of those two made an error in judgment?
Though I will admit, as I have before, that I really do want to know why Twilight Sparkle has suddenly begun to behave in this way myself, and I hope it is explained at some point in the story. Otherwise, AU tag aside, such unexplained behavior certainly would be OoC without excuse.
4234212 the elements thing is bullshit dude. they are not things that think, or at least have a common state of conciousness. they look deep into the very soul of its wielders. if they detected thsi sociopathic tendency in her, they would have rejected her immediately.
as i said, even if half dead, we are talking about somehow of enormous power. surprise would not stop her from turning the pillow into nothingness, along with part of tiwlight's face. likely if in normal health she can blsat through stone, then even at half her strength she can destroy things easily, a pillow especially.
also how ridiculous is it to think that maybe, just maybe, twilight original strength was about equal to the strength the regal sisters had before they became alicorns? and that there is a fucking thousand year difference between her and celestia, and even with luna it could be centuries difference so still she is not stronger than them? if anything she might be stronger than cadance, though with cadance her powers has a specialty to it.
if we are crafting a world where this can happen, then i will have to say Celestia would have seen straight through her. if this is a world where assassination is more common, then Celestia would have had a full millenium of experience with attempts on her life and murders of her allies. not to mention she would probably know how fucked up twilight is because she has known her since she was a foal. she saw the dangerous qualities in sunset shimmer after all. and likely seeihng such a dark side to her, she would take into consideration that she might try to betray her at some point if that dark side took over...........
whidch if it was the elements, as said, would never have chosen her......... and they were part ofwhat turned her into an alicorn as well, not Celestia. she may have provided the potential but she had no more control over if twilight became and alicorn than a teache rhas over a student passing any test.
also i am pretty sure that luna would be probably worry about assassinations because her mindset is likely of a much more dangerous and darkly age.
tiwlight might be celestia's successor, but she is not currently more powerful than celestia. she is nowhere near as powerufl as luna as a matter of fact.
4234212 i do nto expect a explanation why to this at all if the writer cannot think of a reason to assassinate a regal sister sthat did not involved something a regal sister could destroy even inches from death, which luna was not even then. not to mention making celestia not only stupid enough to, at least till a edit, think luna died naturally; pretty sure hypoxia is not natural in sudden death.
i saw a story like this involved Sobmra somehow butchering everyone in equestria. they also killed off luna shamefully, albeit a collapsing tower is far more plasubile than a pillow.
problem there is that Sombra while powerful, was defeat by the regal sistes when they were younger and likely not as powerful as they are now....... in other words the entire thing was bullshit. sombra would have either been driven off or killed by Celestia more than likely.
questions of why she did not take on sombra herself has two veyr plasuble answers. number one, sombra is sitll powerful enoguh to hold his own and likely cause a lot of damage. number two, he would likely have simply csat the empire back into whatever place he vanished it to to begin with if he felt the regal ones' approach. less likely to do that with the mane six and cadance and shining.
Well now Spike has been roped into this plot. And now Shining Armor is gonna die soon. And is Twilight planning on framing Rainbow Dash for something? Oh that piece of-
also, major point deduction for Celestia not immediately suspecting her sister was being poisoned. if you created a world where something like this can happen, she will have HAD to have encountered poisoning and such. hell Luna would have suspected such herself considering she is all but straight from a time period where the threat of that was greater.
i seriously hope this does not continue. i really do. i cannot stop you, but you have already made a horrific mistake. outside of not connecting the dots of if twilight was this evil means she would never have been an element bearer.
you are treating EVERYONE ELSE like IDIOTS. everyone else are complete idiots compared to your variant of tiwlight............. a story should never go along by the idiocy of characters. never. even something like a fanfic should be following certain rules.
not only because its insulting and lazy writing, but it makes us unable to feel twilight as actually clever. a protagonist is only as imposing as his antagonist. you cannot rely on the fact these character are some cardboard cutouts of the characters from the show. they need to be as close as possible, including their competence.
...........this is not going to end well or in a satisfying way. that is all i can say.....................
and it all started with the stupidity of killing a regal sister with a pillow. just completely ridiculous, lazy............ Celestia would know this was an assassination, she would have everything investigated, every angle that can possibly exist.
i would want to cover my problems with this story, but there is someone outright ranting about them in the comment section already.
i do not agree with sentiments but i have to say that this is not a very well thought out story. put simply you had to downgrade the intelligence of......... well everyone. mainly the regal sisters, who are centuries twilight superior in experience and power. nothing works with what you set up. Celestia would have detected sociopathic tendencies as she watched her grow, the elements would not respond to her, etc. you cannot just make a character evulz and it not impact the story and fill it with plot holes.
also suffocating someone with a pillow only works when the victim lacks the ability to blast things with something on their face, or teleport. even if she was ill as depicted, she could have blasted a pillow apart to save her life. an attempt on her life has had to have happened at some point in her life. it is ignorant to create a world where this is happening and the regal sisters somehow never experiencing it. they are too old to have not tried to.
also twilight would be torn apart if she succeeded anyway. she is not nearly sa powerful as the regal sisters for starters. which means the threats that are held at bay by celestia would just swoop in, murder twilight, and take over. especially since you make the alicorns vulnerable enough to die by a pillow of all things. i cannot help but think no thought at all went into any of this outside of what you wanted to do.
storytelling just does not work that way. you need to have a reason it happens, and take into consideration all of the little bits of pieces. if you don't you get guys like me questioning some of the crative decisions, and others ranting about them.
everything, from the elements, to tiwlight being an alicorn, to luna somehow not being able to fight off what is likely not the first attempt on her life, is a plot hole. and be honest i can't understand how anyone can tolerate a story where there are gaping plot holes in it. put siml if these characters acted as themselves, tiwlight would have already failed. to say it is your fanfic cannot change that fact.
not sure what else i can say. it might entertain some, but ultimately most will be unsatisfied and might even find it just an unpleasant, nonsensical story where everyone but a ooc twilight is an idiot. you simply cannot have the concept of treachery and assassination without taking into account that celestia is far too old not to have experienced it time and again.
4234212 just because you like a story does not mean that story is not flawed. and this story is heavily flawed in so many ways. it has far too many plot holes created simply from tiwlight being that evil. you do not just become that evil. it is something that has to brew for years, and likely the elements would have probably detected if she was evil. that creates three massive plot holes in of itself. there would be no luna to assassinate then for starters. twilight would not be an alicorn either. and there would be no element bearers to begin with.
i do not agree with just calling this story garbage but it is not a good story at all. let us use logic. if this is an equestria where assassination is a problem, then wouldn't celestia, who lived a thousand years, have not only probably been the target of assassination, but witnessed it time and again? thus she would have the experience to know that her sister was assassinated, know how to find the assassin, and thus ends within two chapters. not to mention the writer, i know for a fact, actually thought that he could get away with the idea that that luna dying of suffocation could be counted as natural causes............ that is not the sign of someone who is making an effort in my book. that is far too large an oversight. not to mention that i think celestia would have suffered the sting of betrayal of twilight's level before, and know to beware.
she has lived far too long to not have experienced that darkness time and again.
if you like the story, fine. but don't go ignoring its flaws. this being a fanfiction does not change the fact that it is not well written, nor is it very compelling. it ignores far too much to ensure that these actions happen, including plot hole inducing decisions as a whole. and to ignore something rather than address it is commonly thought of as lazy.
he should have thought a way around all of that. instead we have inexplicable feats of pillows suffocating beings capable of blasting far more durable objects with their face, or at the very least create an explosion loud and large enough to attract attention.
there are flawed stories i like i will admit, though at the very least i prefer mine to not have paradoxes like twilight being evil enough to murder luna yet the elements somehow choosing her at some point............. also the characters but he protagonist being idiots. seriously, luna was around during a time of likely very nasty situations. she should have read this situation like a book. she lacks social skills but she is still a monarch. what i saw was more than a little insulting towards luna, and lazy writing to boot.
4235645
I've had enough of you pedantic commenting. I can understand your criticisms, but you're beating a dead horse (or pony) at this point. Just stop. I love how you think saying the same thing, over and over again, is somehow going to make the story change. I'm not changing it. This is is my story, and if you don't like it, don't read it - simple as that.
I'm not against criticisms, in fact, I welcome it. I see what points you have made and acknowledge them. But you have far exceeded the limits of my patience and my tolerance, and seeing as you have shown you have nothing more to contribute, I'm blocking you and your mirror accounts from this point forward.
4233965 Woah, slow down buddy. no need for that. Cool off a little.
remember: this is only not AU because the writer feels Twi could become this power-hungry megalomaniac. Luna was weakened substantially by the poisoning, and Celestia would have absolutely no reason to doubt someone so loyal to her for years.
also, what would you assume happened, if you were a guard? that She'd succumbed to illness in her sleep and was feigning strength so as not to worry those close to her, or one of the princesses most loyal guards/friends assassinated her?
It all makes perfect sense.
DEFENSE.
4234263
Pardon, but you are making quite a few assumptions here. Not to mention that you and I are both approaching this story from different opinionated viewpoints. You are assuming that Luna is the more powerful being, while I assume Twilight is. If you are so certain that the Elements would be able to detect this sociopathic behavior in her soul, then please explain to me why the Element of Magic did not reject the clearly sociopathic Sunset Shimmer when she placed it on her own head in that god-awful movie?
We also know nothing about the nature of the sickness which Luna had outside of the fact that she felt as though it were a stomach flu or some such. Nor do we know much, if anything, about the effects that malnutrition might have on the magical abilities of ponies. It is not far off to assume that her sickness may have affected the strength of her magic.
No, surprise likely would not stop Luna from blowing a pillow to pieces. But the reluctance to hurt a friend would. Luna trusted Twilight Sparkle. While I do not recall if the author has clarified just how many years after "Luna Eclipsed" this takes place, we can assume it has been enough for a solid relationship to form between them. Twilight was the first friend that Luna made after she returned from the moon. She had faith in Luna when no one else would, and made it her duty to ensure that she enjoyed her time in Ponyville and that the other villagers might learn to enjoy her presence there themselves. We can assume that Luna should feel very grateful and indebted to Twilight for this, and that she values their friendship significantly.
Therefore, it is not so much the element of surprise that is catching Luna off guard; it is the nature of the situation. In the moment of her strangulation, Luna's mind is coming to terms with the realization that one of her closest friends, whom she has always trusted and put her faith in, who always seemed to see the best in her and went above and beyond to make her happy when no one else would, has betrayed and poisoned her and is now actively making an effort to snuff the life out of her. It is Luna's mind struggling to come to grips with the seemingly impossible reality of her situation which has her so mentally paralyzed and "unable" to fire her horn. It is no simple surprise.
You are also assuming that Celestia and Luna were ever not alicorns, which we the audience can not presently know at this point in canon. Now in regards to "strength", I would say that potential is not necessarily built. It is found, and developed. And its limits vary within each individual. I assume that Twilight's "original" potential strength as a unicorn may very possibly have equalled the strength the regal sisters had even while they were already alicorns. I believe I can use Twilight Sparkle's experience at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns as evidence for this. From it I can assume that Twilight Sparkle possesses wildly powerful skills far beyond what Celestia or Luna could ever maintain. Her problem however, was that she had not yet learned how to tap into or control them. I do not know how you came to the conclusion regarding any "specialty" regarding Cadance's powers, nor do I know where you got the idea of it from.
You then assume that Twilight Sparkle, in the context of this story, should not be able to hide such corruptive tendencies. Sunset Shimmer, besides being simply a cheap, boring "high school bitch" character, is an idiot, and in her idiocy she allowed her "dark side" to show through. Twilight, on the other hand, is a character whom we know from canon to be extremely calculating, and it is not a stretch to see her finding ways to utilize her intelligence to manipulate others if she had the desire to do so. We also do not know how long she really has wanted to overthrow the princesses, nor how she obtained such a desire. She may have developed a desire for power relatively recently within this fic's timeline; perhaps she has perverted the social lessons she has learned from her friendship studies and is able to exploit her knowledge of friendships to play on the emotions and trust of her friends, family, and fellow rulers.
We also don't know if assassinations are a thing in this world just yet. If they are not, that would certainly be to Twilight's benefit. And though you do make a good point about Luna being from a presumaby darker age and thus likely having a more wary mindset, that is also an assumption and it may also be kept in mind that, again, Twilight was one of Luna's first and most trusted friends in 1000 years.
Again, this is another assumption (and a particularly large one at that) of which you cannot provide any canon evidence for.
I was going to write out a complete point-by-point rant about how Princess Celestia did in fact control and manipulate every single aspect leading up to Twilight's transcendence into an alicorn, and how based off of every single event leading up to her ascension -- from the Crystal Empire to the reformation of Discord to the eventual delivery of Starswirl's spell -- I can prove that every single thing we know about Celestia and every significant action she has ever made suggests it is far reasonable to assume that she is in truth a condescending, deceptive, manipulative tyrant, and then I was going to go off about how much the writers suck at their jobs and how poorly they have handled virtually everything that once made this show so good...
...but then I realized that would be going a little too far off topic. And I have already gone on long enough about everything else here as it is. So I won't talk about that.
Anyway, I think the main thing here that is really hindering your ability to appreciate this story more is that you are allowing much of your own fanon presuppositions to get in the way of the fanon perspective provided in this story. We are both reading this story under our own assumptions, but I think the difference between us is that I am attempting to build my assumptions off of show canon evidence, while you (no offense) are basing many, though not all of yours, off of unfounded fanon theories.
Try to remind yourself just how little there still is that we actually know about Equestria and its citizens, and remove any fanon assumptions you might already have about certain aspects of this show which may or may not actually be present in its canon. Once you've done that it becomes much easier to tolerate the perspective that this story takes and to trust that in time your objections to it may still be answered.
I apologize if that sounds a bit condescending...
reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/annoyed-you-with-my-friendship.gif
...but seriously, go for it. It'll be more fun than you might think.
Why is this chapter getting so much grief?
Sure the story has flaws, every story does, but if people are so bothered by them why would they have bothered to read this far at all
4238061 Cause there's no pleasing some people. :/
4240114
I personally enjoyed it a lot
4241438 I'm happy then, sir. ^^
Well I thought it was good. Some people just can't accept characters acting differently or what they think goes against the lore. There's a reason why the AU tag exists. Jesus.
damb this is like an mlp game of thrones
I LOVE IT!
I was really afraid that Twilight was about to start more incest.
Looks like Twilight is trying to manipulate Spike away from Celestia and Rarity as well, now. Looks like there's no lows she won't sink to at about this point now
4235858 Funnily enough, I find myself agreeing with every argument you've made, but with one minor point of contention: according a tweet by one of the producers of Equestria Girls, it's not canon to Friendship is Magic... It was Meaghan McCarthy, I think. If we're to use a comparison, EqG is as canon to FiM as the IDW Comics are.
Poor Spike.
Let me just say this:
Never is a story perfect,
And that's okay.