Aftermath of A Fallen Star
By Rated Ponystar
Edited by The Unnamed Pawn
I Mourn For The Colt I Once Knew (Cadence's POV)
***
There are no words to describe what it means to lose somepony you loved dearly. I lost my parents at a very young age when our carriage fell off a cliff. My mother and father were killed on impact, and the only reason I survived was because, at that moment, my alicorn blood activated. I survived, but only barely. It turns out I was the last descendant of the Crystal Empire’s royal family when it was believed that the usurper, King Sombra, killed them all. Many said I was lucky to have survived, but I didn’t think so. I wished, for a long time, that I was dead because I had nopony left. I was alone in the world with powers I had no control over.
Then, one day I learned that Princess Celestia and some of the Bluebloods were coming over for a trip to the countryside.
I remembered Princess Celestia was an alicorn just like me so I quickly went to see her. She was talking to this young colt, who was shy and looked confused the moment he saw me. Princess Celestia was curious about me and I told her everything. She quickly adopted me into her family and since then Aunt Celestia raised me. I’ve always seen her as my second mother.
It was all strange to me, and I was scared now that I was called a “Princess” of Equestria just because of a simple adoption. But there was somepony to help me. And his name was Prince Blueblood.
I know what you're thinking, how was I friends with a the most snooty, ignorant, racist, and hateful pony in the entire world? The idea that the Empress of the Crystal Empire, Alicorn of Love, and foalsitter of Princess Twilight Sparkle, was friends with the murderer of that very pony. The pony who I once treasured like my own little sister.
The truth is... Blueblood wasn’t always like that. The Blueblood I knew, the cousin who became my first friend in Canterlot, was once a kind and gentle soul. I remember how shy and nervous he was, always hiding from me and doing his best to avoid me. I thought at first he hated me, but it turned out he was just nervous.
I attended the same lessons as him when we lived in the castle; both of us learning about Canterlot society, politics, and other studies. When I messed up he would always quietly correct me since his family had raised him to master these studies since he could walk. I would always give him a polite smile and thank him for everything, and he would blush and turn away. Over time he slowly grew out of his shell and became my first true friend.
We would go out on adventures together as pirates or knights seeking to battle evil and get treasure. Canterlot was our world and we ruled it as children. The summer festivals and winter balls we attended together, laughing, dancing, and having fun like normal ponies. Sure, we had access to the greatest rooms, food, toys, and clothing as members of the royal family, but the most valuable thing we had was our friendship. I was known as “Candy” to him and he was “Bluey” to me.
He told me his dream was to be a great noble like his father, to rule over ponies and keep Equestria strong. I never liked his father to be honest. He was too cold, too rigid, and he seemed to have a dislike for me as well as most ponies in general. He treated the servants and guards especially like they were beneath him. Aunt Celestia was the only pony he showed any respect, but I always thought he eyed the throne greedly. I didn’t like him, but I didn’t tell Blueblood that because he was his father after all.
Sometimes I wonder if he’s the reason that Bluey became who he was years later.
We grew older, but our friendship still stayed strong. At least... until that day.
Blueblood had been called home by his family, saying he was old enough to learn proper noble lessons and such. Meanwhile, Aunt Celestia asked me to watch over and take care of a filly by the name of Twilight Sparkle, whose parents were friends of hers. I was nervous about taking care of another filly, since I had never done so before and I was still hurt that Blueblood had left for who knew how long. Little did I know those years spending time with Twilight would be the best I ever had.
The little filly was so adorable, cute, and kind that my heart was won over immediately. While I had lost one friend, I gained another in the form of Twilight Sparkle, who quickly became like a sister to me. We learned, laughed, played, and enjoyed our time together like two peas in a pod. Even after she became Aunt Celestia’s prized student, our friendship never stopped growing. Through Twilight, I found the love of my life, Shining Armor, and a surrogate family with Twilight Velvet and Night Light.
For over seven years, I thought my life couldn’t get any more perfect. Then I learned my best friend was coming back after so long.
Only what came back wasn’t my best friend. It was a total stranger. I don’t know what they did to him or how they did it, but the shy, sweet prince I knew as my best friend in the whole world came back as a rude, bigoted, snobbish, jerk.
He told me that his father and mother had taught him valuable lessons. Lessons he had to use in order to make sure the nobility of Equestria was protected from those who were seeking to undermine it. I was surprised by his attitude, but I still did my best to be friendly as possible. He often associated with other nobles who I didn’t like either because of their attitude or their politics. He treated the servants and guards like trash, always ordering them to do everything for him. I was stunned, hurt, and confused. What had happened to my best friend over the years and why was he acting like this?
Despite this, he still remained friendly towards me. Like nothing had changed between us, although he often disapproved of my relationships with the Sparkle Family, saying they were too low class to associate with, even if they were nobility of the lowest rung.
Then one day, I heard Twilight crying in the halls and I rushed over to see what was going on. To my horror, Twilight was in tears as Blueblood ripped on her, saying she was pathetic and didn’t deserve to be Celestia’s student or my friend since she was not noble enough and therefore insignificant.
I slapped him in the jaw.
I faced my best friend, tried to lecture him, to change his ways... it was probably the last time we ever spoke as friends.
He left with only a glare and that was the end of our friendship.
After I comforted Twilight, I had to be comforted by Celestia as I cried over what had happened. I slept in the same bed as her that night, tears streaming down my face as she held me close, singing lullabies to me. It was something that I hadn’t needed since my first few weeks in the palace when I was a filly. I cried because “Bluey” was gone. Replaced with a stranger.
Blueblood and I never spoke to each other again, at least on friendly terms. Anytime we passed through the halls we just glared at each other. My friendship and love with Twilight only increased as I saw her grow up, become a hero and later my sister-in-law, restore my ancestors kingdom, and become an alicorn just like me.
Everything was going great. I had a family, subjects who loved me, and a sister who had a grand vision for all of us. I was willing to do everything in my power to help see it come to fruition. We even planned how to integrate changelings into my kingdom to show how I was putting the past behind me to give them a better future.
But Blueblood would not stay quiet. He hated Twilight, hated her vision, hated how such a low born like her could be a greater and noble pony then he was. I knew he was jealous, anypony with clear eyes could see it. He often tried to talk down Twilight’s ideas, saying that she was ruining tradition. Despite the loud voices he stirred up siding with him, Twilight had a bigger support group and more power behind her words with me, my aunts, and her friends backing her. He remained persisent and while I wanted to deal with him myself, Twilight said she could handle it...
Then one day... my friend... my sister-in-law was dead. Assassinated by her own subjects.
Those days were the hardest for both me and Shining. We held each other, weeping for the sister who we both loved so much. The emptiness and pain that I had felt when losing my parents was nothing compared to what I felt when I saw the mare who I helped raise since she was a filly lying in a glass coffin before me. I remember kissing her farewell on her forehead as my tears dripped down her smiling face. She was so beautiful, so innocent. It was unfair for this to happen. To me, to her, to all of us.
And it was all because of one pony.
Blueblood.
Despite how much I loathed him, I always remembered how he was once a good colt. A kind colt. My best friend. Since our fight, I wanted to believe that somewhere, deep inside, my Bluey was still there. I remember him coming to my wedding, dancing with me just once, and wishing me happiness before he left without saying a word. It made me hope that there was a chance he could be saved. If we could turn Discord good, couldn’t we turn Blueblood as well?
But that hope shattered when I learned he was the leader of the group that assassinated Twilight. I couldn't believe it when I heard that he was the one behind the death of my sister. I refused to believe it. I didn’t want to believe it.
Then the trial came and when I heard those hurtful words from his mouth, about how he deserved to be an alicorn instead of Twilight, I realized that the sweet boy I once knew was no more. I lost somepony dear to me at the hooves somepony else who was dear to me. I knew then that I would never see Bluey again.
I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. Bluey was my first friend. The one who I’d had sleepovers with. The one who I’d played tag with. The one who told me that he never had a friend until he met me. How could my fillyhood friend become this?
I decided to ask him myself. I visited him on his final night alive. What I saw barely looked like a pony. His horn was gone, cuts and bruises from endless beatings by the guards had ruined his once smooth body. His tail had been cut off and his cutie marks torn from his flanks. His mane looked like it had been burned off and his teeth were all but shattered. For the first time, in a long time, I felt pity for him.
When I sat down, he used his one good eye to look at me. He said nothing, but I could see in his eye there was anger, fear... and guilt. I don’t know if it was for his actions or only towards me, but I was probably the one pony left in the world who was willing to show him kindness as I sat beside him and stroked his broken hoof. Tears spang down from his eyes and soon I joined him.
“Why, Bluey?” I asked. “Why?”
He gave no answer, just continued to cry. I didn’t ask a second time. All I wanted to do was comfort the one who was once my friend. That was who I was comforting. Not Blueblood, but Bluey. To me they were two separate ponies.
The last words I ever heard from him as I left the room I will always remember.
“I’m sorry... Candy...”
I didn’t go to the execution. I was in too much distress to do so. But I did order two of my own private guards to take the body after it was all over and done with. It turns out his family didn’t want it, nopony did. He was to get no burial or special honors. To all of Equestria, Blueblood could have been food for the flies or tossed into a ravine without a care in the world.
But I couldn’t let that happen. I owed Bluey that much. They took his body, sealed in a plain old coffin, and had brought it before me. Apparenty, nopony bothered to touch it after it was left to rot on the stake he died on.
I lead the guards in secret to a secluded area in the mountain, where they buried the coffin. I carved a small tombstone out of the rock and put a single name on it.
“Bluey”
After I ordered them to never speak of this day again, I stayed up on the mountain, at the grave that held one of my oldest friends and also the murderer of the sister I loved most in the world. That night I cried like I never did before. Because I had lost two ponies that I had once loved dearly.
***
The Princess of Hearts visited the Fallen Star every year
Every so often she would go up the mountain alone
Nopony ever knew why
Nopony knew of the grave that only ever had one visitor
At least one pony showed compassion.
~Skeeter The Lurker
In the end Blueblood demonstrates the danger of the "Like father, like son" mentality. If the father's views on life are harsh, judgemental, uncaring, cold, snobbish, or rude, they can be pased down to the son (or other genetic off springs) over time if nothing happens to soften his views. It doesn't matter how much the son might protest or try to resist, because unless the father values his son above all else he will not stop til his son shares his views. Whether they be good or bad. Blueblood is the case of a pony that, had he only been given to a nicer family, might not have turned out the way he did.
Even so, that does not excuse his actions. Deep down he knew that what he was saying and doing was wrong, and yet he chose to believe that they were right. Never once did he stop to think that he didn't have to be like his father, or how his actions would hurt everyone around him. He still deserved what he got in the end, because he was the one who decided in his hea,d that murdering someone who did not share his views of the world was wrong.
Long story short, Blueblood could've saved himself, but his actions pushed away everyone who wanted to help him see the light. He had many chances to turn back and make things right, and he never changed.
I kinda expected Shining Armor to have more of a role in this, but beggars can't be choosers. But, good story though.
Damn, I almost believe Cadence was the one who took this the worst.
Very nice
An OC? This is a strange idea, but could be a very interesting vision of somepony that was out the entire story
4193211
I find this chapter ironic
This was incredibly sad. I also wonder if Shining Armor had a hoof in inflicting some of the damage to Blueblood, since I'm sure the guards he used to command would be willing to let him 'slip past them' for a few minutes. I'd love to see a Shining Armor chapter, see how the Guard Captain and Big Brother Best Friend Forever feels about the assassination(and betrayal by guards he probably once called friends)
Was kind of expecting another one of the Main Six with Applejack being the last one but this was intersting. Though I wonder who would be next or next group.
I wonder how groups together would deal with stresses, like the Royal Guard, the CMC, or even the whole student body. I can see the whole school at Ponyville with their reaction when they go to school for another regular day and then hear the assination and their reactions. It be like the Twin Towers falling or President Kendy assination.
4101474
I think some people like me feels uncomfortable with the concept of "eternal punishment". Aren´t torture, mutilation, execution via burning alive plus the Damnatio Memoriae treatment enough?
... This is slightly ominous. "Feel free to add to the Assassination TV tropes page"
I should think that any chapter with Shining Armor would be rather short, to the point, horrifyingly profane and have as its theme "I was far too gentle with that sphincter Blueblood."
4193386
I think we have a bit of a hint in the way that they creatively expressed themselves......
4193440
No. Sometimes, there are crimes so great, so damaging, that no mortal torture could be enough. The things you mention can be healed in time. They can be recovered from or adapted to. Or they can die and be freed from their finite pains and tribulations.
Sometimes there are people born with the destiny to become something so monstrous that there is nothing in this life you could do to them that would amount to making up for half the evil they've perpetrated on even their worst day.
Sometimes they take something or someone from you so precious, that you could only know loss for all time. Why then, should they be allowed only a temporary discomfiture? Why should they not pay back what they owe, even if they couldn't do so in an eternity?
Why cry for the villain when they chose their actions and the consequences of them? No pity. No remorse. No mercy. These are things for good people who make mistakes. For the misguided who are led astray, blinded by deception and taken in by lies and coercion.
Monsters don't deserve love or forgiveness. There is no argument that removes or shares the fault of their crimes. There are no circumstances that exonerate them. Their pain and torment can only serve to better the rest of the world, knowing that such a filth-ridden creature will have the reply for what they've done carved into their very flesh for all time, an edifice for all to see and rest easy, that they are safe from such evil.
If anyone tells you different, shy away from them. This is a special sort of insanity, the same sort that allows murderers and rapists to roam freely on our streets. People who try to say that those who are the most evil deserve the most compassion and forgiveness, when said monster would carve out that person's heart given a moment's notice.
And so it is for Blueblood. He deserves an eternity of torture, bereft of the mitigating factors such as death and shock and unconsciousness and sleep and adaptation. Each day worse than the last, penance for each day he stole from the life of an immortal and each day of the lives she would have saved had she still been alive.
4193316 Unfortunately, I have a very good idea of who that OC is... (shakes fist angrily at said pony)
4193667
I doubt it
4193657
True Justice demands the punishment to be proportional to the crime. Eternal punishment is not only disproportionate, but meaningless, since there is no intent for the culpirt to learn from his/her mistake or atone in any possible way. Amoral monsters, those unable of remorse, cannot be truly blamed for their nature but simply put them down for good.
The religious concept of an eternity of suffering for finite sins commited in a limited life is truly repugnant. To delight oneself in images of a hated character subjected to neverending torments, is simply not healthy.
4193760
True Justice has nothing to do with teaching the criminal what they did. Nothing to do with atonement. A monster knows what they did. It wasn't a mistake, they CHOSE to do it. I differentiated between people who deserve mercy and people who don't. Keep that in mind.
And if the crime is the death of a benevolent immortal, then paying for each day the immortal lost is equivalent punishment. Eternal punishment. This has nothing to do with laws or 'culprits'. It has to do with right and wrong. If this is the way you think, you've never had the misfortune to deal with someone the like I'm talking about. I envy you.
Villain apologists never seem to recognize that, usually because they don't want to admit it's correct.
Hmm... in this cannon. I think Celestia should purposely Limit the Technology in Equestria along with industry and such. and force the Economy into a stand still. while channeling public aggression against the Noble houses until the entire government system can be changed. or just make sure Equestria will never be able to reach a golden age again. Something to punish the ponies for taking away Twilight.
Wow. You made me feel pity for Blueblood. And not just any Blueblood, but the most vile and despicable version of him I've ever read. Good job.
4193873 Alas, that will never work. The Nobles would not relinquish their power, and would simply accuse Celestia of being a tyrant. They're used to getitng their way, and they had Twilight killed specifically because she wanted to take away some of that power.
4193211 ......................YOU ARE EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!
Twilight was killed because of one ponies greed and selfishness...
A pony who demanded understanding from others but gave nothing in return.
He killed Twilight for getting something that he was not capable of earning on his own.
He murdered out of jealousy and hatred.
He did not earn forgiveness from Cadance but he did earn one thing ...
He earned his eternity in whatever afterlife hell evil ponies end up in.
4194289 the thing is if Celly really wants to be mean she can Take away their power. just by giving it to the peasantry around them.
You and your damned tragedy-writing...Damn, that was sad.
Holy cow, you're writing this and "The Death of Button Mash." Wow, you're good!
Sigh
Poor Cadance
Good work with the chapter Rated.
4194401
that is why he is called The Lurker. though sometimes i begin to wonder if it is merely one Lurker or if it is many using one single account. What if Skeeter is only an account used by agents amongst a Legion of Lurkers whose purpose is to read and judge works of fan made literary artwork?
4039226 pony racism has been canon since Hearth's Warming. The hate and distrust between the races was so intense, that it fueled the appetite of the Windigos!
4195826
So Skeeter is....
pionero.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/agent_smith.jpg
Well done!!
4196724
4195826 .............whelp....time fot the nightmares to come from that theory....whhoooooo!
For me this was the most emotional chapter yet
I feel so bad for poor Cadance...I even felt pity for Blueblood.
I also like the concept of this chapter. Blueblood has a tragic story, but it doesn't excuse the choices he's made. Now if only people would adapt that mindset toward Trixie.
4194948 Wouldn't be a bad idea, considering the "peasants" of Equestria, like the Apples, likely do way more for Equestria than the "nobles" do
4193657 Damn it, I believe in redemption, I want to believe that nearly anyone can pay for their crimes given enough time, but everything you've said here was so well stated I can't bring myself to disagree with you
4195826 My name is Skeeter The Lurker, for we are many.
(Sorry I couldn't resist the joke.)
4193813 Yeah but, in the end, he regretted his actions.
And he killed Twilight because he saw that as right, she was planning to let the changelings live with them, which may have caused quite the lot of trouble. He shouldn't have killed her, but he regretted it at the end of the day. Even when today's society tells people to not doubt them selves or who they are, sometimes doubt is what separates good from evil.
At least, that's what i think is right. Call me insane
4198338
Just because someone regrets their crime doesn't make up for it. He took away a daughter, a student, a friend, a sister, a mentor, a role model, a defender, a protector, a philanthropist, a leader, an idealist. Someone who represented the best qualities of their culture. Out of jealousy. Remember, it was not something noble such as 'the changelings might hurt us', keep in mind that it was rampant jealousy. Selfishness. Hatred. Classist bigotry. Just because he's sad AFTER he's been beaten doesn't win him any character points. Nor does it erase what he's done and the people whose lives he's savaged, leaving a gaping hole in those left behind for all their days to come. All because of his decisions and negativity, not some noble cause to protect others. That is a monster.
4197673
I believe in redemption. But I am a practical person, and I like to think experienced. I have seen people who are all but saints. Who give everything they have and everything they are for the betterment of all they can reach. I have seen the depths of scum that humanity can sink to first-hand, and I have fought against it as much as I have been able to. Redemption is wasted on those who choose to fall. Who choose to sully the world and destroy lives for personal gain and profit.
Redemption is fine, but it is the character and clarity of the person it is being applied to that decides worthiness or not.
Princess Cadence, like Twilight, is a Princess of the highest virtue and who deserves her title. This is a mare who not only is willing to make peace with the changelings and help create a better future for them and their children as immigrants to Equestria(?) after everything they'd been through together, but is willing to show compassion to the one pony in Equestria whom it is universally agreed is unworthy of it.
She's a greater person than I, I will admit. And while Twilight Sparkle may be gone, her legacy and everything she stood for will live on not just through Cadence, but her friends and loved ones as well.
As for Blueblood, he's certainly the predictable outcome of such an upbringing, but that hardly wins pity points from me. He was a petty, spoiled and jealous little colt in a grown stallion's body and made the choice to commit his atrocity. In a strange way, I do pity him, if just for the barbaric, if not justified way in which he was slowly obliterated from existence and for his family, whose lives and reputations he has surely destroyed beyond repair. No one will want to as much as touch a Blueblood with a sixty foot poll now. His name is mud and will forever be so in the history books and frankly, that's as much as such a piteous waste of life like him deserves.
4198887 You're a fellow of great eloquence and conviction and I agree with every word you say.
4197673 Even at her worst Trixie never outright hurt anyone, though she certainly tried. Most of her troubles in "Boast Busters" came from others unfairly demonizing her, and two colts being dumb enough to do something that should've obviously come across as a tall tale. In "Magic Duel" Trixie turned to the amulet out of despiration and revenge, but had a change of heart when she saw the lengths Twilight was willing to go to save her. Even after everything she had done.
None of that can be said for Blueblood. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he knew it would not solve anything, he knew that he would forever soil his name with such an act, he knew that was committing murder, and he never once admitted that he was wrong. Even in the very end he still felt that he should've been made an alicorn instead of Twilight. It was all about him, and he never once stopped to realize that pride (if unchecked and not controlled) goeth before a fall.
4204877 Ah, maybe I should have worded that a little more clearly. I'm actually referring to Blueblood the jerk, not Blueblood the murderer. People try to defend Trixie's jerkish actions by claiming she may have had a hard life (Which there is no proof of).
No one "demonized" Trixie in Boast Busters, they just said she was a mean-spirited showoff, which she is. She may not have caused physical harm, but she still took excessive pleasure in humiliating others, even those who had not actually wronged her.
I've already done a blog post about "Magic Duel", and how I thought it was a poor episode.
4205262 The problem is, as an entertainer it was Trixie's job to real the auidence in. And if Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity had a problem with the way she was acting they simply needed to walk away from the show. The fact that they stayed means that they were the ones who antagonized and provoked Trixie, as opposed to the other way around. Even later on, Trixie openly admitted to lying, and actually tried to repel what she thought was an Ursa Major. Her only mistake in "Boast Busters" was running away instead of explaining to the town's folk what had happened. And thus, this set up the partial justification for her actions in "Magic Duel".
4198887
There may have been a mention in there somewhere, but i don't recall it ever saying 'ehem' Right from the horses mouth that he did it out of those reasons. Thats just what everyone thought.
4193990 No. She (or he, I'm not sure)'didn't make you feel pity for Blueblood. Blueblood is a monster. She/he made you feel pity for Bluey. As Cadence states, Bluey and Blublood are two different ponies... kinda.
cadence would have married with blueblood...
it's kinda tragic what happen to her
4232549
Actually, Blueblood did have a crush on Cadence in this story if you look at the hints enough. Cadence however only saw him as a good friend.
I certainly hope you have plans for a Blueblood chapter down the line. It'd be great to see him trying to reason and argue to the reader and more importantly to himself why he believed he had to do what he did. His anger, pain, humiliation and most of all fear because he knows what's coming. Maybe even shreds of remorse. It could be a performance straight of out of Shakespeare.
I know Blueblood's not the deepest character to analyze, but still, it could give much needed layers of complexity to him and his rationality: like, he may not have supported inter-racial marriage, not necessarily out of some purely deep-seated hatred but because his ignorant upbringing taught him to think "why would anyone want to marry outside their race?" Maybe he too wanted a peace with the Changeling Kingdom, but the kind he wanted, along with many others, was a harsher peace of the Treaty of Versailles variety -- a Carthaginian peace -- let alone letting the enemy people immigrate to or 'flood' Equestria with open forelegs. And really, from his perspective, Twilight wasn't just trying to reform the political system, she was essentially attempting to break down everything he knew and was brought up to be -- his identity -- and probably thought, "what gives her the right to take my birthrights away from me? And how can Celestia expect me to just sit back and smile?"
Anyway, I look forward to future chapters and hopefully a Blueblood one. This is now the fanfic I am eagerly awaiting updates for the most.
4245058
There is plans for Blueblood. I would be a fool not to do one.
4245066 Well that's splendid to hear. Blueblood's essentially now the Richard III of pony history, though the historical facts about the former are more accurate.
4205371 Ugh, wanted to respond to this earlier. Stupid erratic work schedule.
There are ways of doing that without being self-aggrandizing. Look at David Copperfield, he reels his audience in with humor, rather than indulging in self-perceived greatness.
The episode was meant to convey an Aesop about bragging, so for that someone needed to actually object. Also, Rarity made one comment, than she and Applejack responded to Twilight's question, at which point Rainbow Dash caused a scene, there wasn't really time to walk away. Besides, they didn't directly oppose Trixie until she started picking fights with the audience.
Except that Rarity made one comment directly in response to Trixie's bragging, one reply to Twilight's question, and one more comment reacting to Trixie insulting her audience. All three comments made in a normal tone of voice, with no indication Trixie even heard her, with Rarity making no effort to catch Trixie's attention.
Applejack made ONE comment, explaining to Twilight why they were annoyed, again in a completely normal tone of voice, with Trixie giving no indication she even heard the remark.
Rainbow Dash did cause a scene yes, but she asks the sensible question: "What makes you so special?" She's not picking on a poor showmare desperate for bits, she was calling out a snooty show off, and once Trixie answers her question, with a suitably impressive claim that Rainbow cannot counter, and thus Rainbow returns to the audience, no longer causing a scene. Trixie now has the audience eating out of her hoof, effectively "saving face", so there was no need for her to continue on. Instead of just continuing the show, she issues an open challenge to the audience, and when no one, not even Aj, Rarity or RD, rather than leaving the matter alone, she challenges Twilight, who even Trixie's defenders admit hadn't done anything wrong. Not Rainbow Dash, the only one who caused a scene, Twilight, the only COMPLETE innocent in all this. This demonstrates that Trixie was more interested in showing off than dealing with those allegedly antagonizing her.
She only fought the Ursa because it was either than or admit she lied. She afterwards only admitted she lied because sensible self-preservation won out over continuing to antagonize something big enough to squish her with it's toe, and she ran away before fighting the Ursa anyway. Not that I blame her for running away from something about a hundred times her size, but she never demonstrated an interest in heroics.
She talked down to and insulted her paying customers, needlessly picked fights and took excessive pleasure in humiliating other ponies, demonstrating one of the more mean-spirited personalities in this show, as even most other villains seem to have motivation beyond apparently enjoying it.
I don't follow, having her lies come back to bite her is justification for her seeking to destroy and humiliate someone who essentially saved not only her life, but the entire town?
4279849 The Alicorn Amulet likely influenced her at least somewhat. Even without the Amulet she probably wanted to humilate Twilight and kick her out of town, as well as take revenge on those she blamed for ruining her life. But she probably wouldn't have wanted to take over the town, or esentially torture everyone.
4193760
What of the dominoe effect?
I understand as a short lived species we having difficulty gauging long term consequences.
Think of it this way the crime of stealing doesn't just impact the victim it impacts society. and the victims family setting off a butterfly effect for the remainder of time.
Upon further reading of the story apparently Twi was also trying to reconcile ponies and Changelings. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's a typical example of Equestrian ideals but it strikes me as hopelessly naive.
I mean, the more I think about Changelings the more irreconcilable their differences seem.
They need to feed off of sapient creatures and have probably lived their entire existence so far through kidnapping and brainwashing.