In the pitch-black abyss, Twilight galloped as fast as her legs could take her. Reaching out to her from every shadow were hands lusting for violence, ready to tear her asunder. Ragged and sharp nails would have tore her to shreds by now were she just a tiny bit slower. There was no hope, the accursed limbs stretched out far in impossible ways, and she was growing tired.
No more could she go on; she reached her limit. Hundreds of arms came for her. Certain doom approached, she would have preferred it come in any other way than death by human. This way just seemed too cruel, to have one's death satisfy such a sick creature's perverse fantasies. Before she could die, an azure flame ignited and surrounded her, yet this alone could not stop the human hidden in the abyss. The human could not be denied his prize so easily.
The flames chard whatever flesh dared to strike out at the responsive fire. Neither side gave into fatigue and neither side was overpowering the other; they were equally matched. The battle continued for some time.
Against reason, the fight seemed less relevant to Twilight as she became more and more aware of a rocking sensation. The familiar feeling of being on a train slowly seemed more real than the surrounding battle of fire and horrors.
Opening her eyes, she began to make out the real world. The empty red seats in her train compartment revealed themselves to her groggy eyes in the dim morning sunlight. She was leaning onto the pony next to her. His familiar touch quieted her earlier fears.
The still Captain of the Guard wasn't in uniform or armored, just the sibling she adored and loved her entire life looking straight at her. “Twily!” Shining cried out happily. “Don't worry about anything. Everypony is alright.” He pulled his sister into a reassuring hug.
'Is this a dream?' she questioned herself. 'Where was I last night?' Having alone time with her brother would be what she would dream about and it seemed too good to be true.
“Shining? What happened?”
A sympathetic smile accompanied his sad eyes. “You were attacked, a human at the marketplace broke free of his cage, but you're safe now.” The rhythmic sound of railway wheels running on the railroad continued during the entire trip. “The human... badly injured several ponies, and killed a guard, and the owner of the First Tier company.” He pulled his sister closer in with his foreleg.
Twilight could sense that this was real. That posh stallion from earlier was dead, ripped to pieces by his own merchandise. Twilight struggled in her mind to recall his overly proud face, now dead and cold, and in pieces. “When we realized what happened to you, Celestia and I arrived to make sure you were alright, and after some talking with Octavo, Celestia ordered me to go with you. The feral human is being taken care of and has likely already been caught, that or it died of its injuries.”
An image of the bleeding stallion passed through her mind. She looked around. “I-Is he here?” Twilight asked appearing nervous.
Shining's lips drew down to a slight frown. “Ovtavo? No. He said you fired him. He didn't tell us any more than that, even though we asked him to. He seemed strangely upbeat about it.” Her brother kept up a curious stare at her. “Did something happen between you two?”
'Wait, he was upbeat about getting rid of me?! That little...' Her mind was put back on track as she caught her brother eyeing her, attempting to discern why she looked so irritated. 'He beat up one of your guards and erased his memory,” she tried to tell him telepathically. “And... I sort of encouraged his behavior, but only the erasing memory part, but it was still all his fault.”
She rubbed her eyes. “I-I don't know what to say...” Twilight couldn't tell on him. Not after what he did for her, even though she was the type to always side with those in charge. That and he didn't do it out of cruelty, he believed he was doing something noble, standing up for a divine law. Sighing seemed all she could force herself to do. Her brother wasn't somepony she enjoyed lying to, but it seemed like the best option given the circumstances.
“You don't have to tell me,” he replied, much to Twilight's shock. “I've had to make many difficult decisions in my life Twily. I won't make you justify yourself. I've fired many a pony in my time, and I've given many promotions when others felt they deserved the title more than the one I was giving it to --it's a difficult thing to justify.” There was a pause as his lips prepared to speak again, she loved these moments beyond all reason with her brother, but they were far too seldom for her to enjoy properly. “Whatever mess up Octavo could have done... seems uhh... let's say negligible...” He looked over to Twilight almost expecting some chastisement for his word choice, for reasons beyond her understanding. She never overlooked any advice Shining had given her since she became a princess, Twilight let the thought go. “...considering the good that he has done, so perhaps he deserves another chance, hmm?” Before Twilight could respond, he continued. “But I believe he already left for Broncovy. But it's not like that’s some sort of alien far out land. It's one train ride away after all.”
“Yeah,” she murmured as she drew closer to her brother and rested on him, “I think I may have made a mistake.”
“Your brother makes a lot of mistakes Twily, you're doing better than me. Give him time though. He'll need to heal up before he leaves his homeland, being a scientist is hard work I assume, lifting quills and test tubes all day.”
“Ha, funny,” Twilight mumbled lost in the bliss of family reunion.
“In all truth,” Shining began, “I'm surprised that the human was even able to wound Octavo.”
Memories of Octavo's swordplay and magical power strolled through Twilight’s mind causing her curious self to straighten up. “What makes you say that? He's just some graduate from Celestia's college, right?” she asked, the question being directed more to herself than to her brother.
“That's what I thought until recently.” Shining cast a studying gaze on her for a moment. “I suppose since you're a princess now you have clearance for these sorts of things.” He inhaled deeply before speaking. “Broncovy is a deeply religious nation run by several high-ranking priest known as cardinals. Together they are know as the 'College of Cardinals.' ” Already knowing this, Twilight nodded. “They like Equestria, but they don't want to become a part of the Equestrian Empire because they prefer to be led by the gods.” He shrugged. “Or at least I think that's how they would describe it. Meh.” He took a moment to get his thoughts together, apparently rolling his eyes at his own uncharacteristic political correctness, he was a military pony, not some diplomat after all. “Anyway,” he continued, “I knew when I meet with Octavo outside Celestia's throne room that I heard his name somewhere, and as soon as you two left I began my research. It didn't take me long to find his file.” He gestured behind himself in what she assumed was pointing at Canterlot. “Broncovy as our ally gives us extensive records of their activities, which are stored in the Grand Archives in Canterlot.” As he had been speaking the last sentence, he began digging through his saddle-bag until he found a file and gave it to his sister.
When Twilight opened it, she was greeted by a black-and-white photo of Octavo several years younger than the one she knew. She read it to herself: Name: (Octavo Atlas), it had printed in large letters at the top next to his picture. She skimmed down.
Address: (Sacred Divinity; 1253 Blessed Ave.), Height: (fifty-two inches), Parent Information: (Father: Deceased -Cause: K.I.A; Mother: Deceased -Cause: Typhoid Fever). She continued on with a hint of guilt for seeing something so private. The file read: Criminal Record: (None) Twilight reeled her head in surprise inadvertently. She continued: Religious Duties: (Ex-Crusader of the Griffin Dethrone War; Awarded the Medal of Sanctification; Champion of Travafe). Twilight recalled what Octavo had told her, Travafe was the God of travel and... something... she couldn't remember exactly. One last part at the bottom: Education: (Lesser Education: School of Reverence; Higher Education: Celestial College)
If she understood it correctly, then that meant that Octavo was highly regarded and seen as an idol of virtue in his country, just being a champion of a god alone would get a pony recognized, even in Equestria. Twilight rested her head on her hoof as she spoke. “I don't even know where to begin. He didn't tell me any of this.”
Shining nodded. “It's interesting, I talked with Luna about the stallion. Apparently she didn't even know about his past, not counting his education history.” He double tapped the 'education' part of the file Twilight was carrying, as though she hadn't even read it yet.
“Luna just gave him a room because she found him 'well mannered and interesting company',” Shining continued. “Octavo arrived late last night and they met in the Royal Library, according to Luna they talked for an hour or two about history and became quick friends. When he was about to go to an inn, Luna offered him the suit, and the rest is history.” He turned to his sister blank faced. “Forgive the bad pun.”
'What pun?' she asked herself. 'Oh no... they were talking about history and you... no...'
“I'll let that go this time.” He gave her a silly grin in response. “But” - She turned back to Octavo's file. - “can you tell me what an ex-crusader or crusader even is?” she said putting a breathy emphasis on 'crusader', not even sure how to pronounce the word.
He arched an eyebrow. “It's what Broncovy calls their veterans. Because they call holy wars as opposed to our regular wars,” he said with a bit too much sarcasm. “When Equestria sided with the current griffin war-lord to overthrow the previous one, we called our ally Broncovy to help us. They responded immediately to our call for aid. Their clergy declared it was a righteous war, a holy war, one that all young stallions should join. Their monarchy-”
“Theocracy,” Twilight corrected. She was listening intently now.
“Uhh...” He froze up. “What's a theocracy?”
“Rule by a religious order, or from a god directly.” Twilight was getting the impression that a crusader was just a holy veteran who fought in a holy war, if she followed the pattern correctly.
“Oh right... anyway they had an excellent turn out. Their stallions were lining up to join their army, while we had to force a draft to get our stallions to form our Equestrian army.” Shining shrugged again, looking up at the ceiling. He had spoken of his nation's army with distaste in his mouth that Twilight easily recognized.
She figured that the frustration he felt for his less than patriotic comrades was still festering inside him. “It was the right thing to do though,” he continued, “the rulers knew if we wanted to fight back against the griffin we had to do it while they were having another civil war, when they were weak and divided. And the war-lord we backed up was in our dept after we helped him gain power. Though considering what happened yesterday I don't think he feels much the same way.”
Twilight re-examined the file. “And what's a Medal of Sanctification?”
“It's like our Medal of Valor,” he responded. “It's one of the highest recognitions you can get. It implies war-hero. And frankly, I don't understand how he got hurt by a human, a scrawny human at that. Octavo could probably beat me in a fight, yet I feel pretty confident that I could have taken on that human without getting more than a scratch from it,” The Captain of the Guard repeated the topic he wanted to discuss again, desiring a few more pieces of the puzzle he had been putting together. Twilight knew all this; she knew Shining smelled a secret, not the law breaking secret, but the one that Octavo had hidden by modesty. “Especially so since Octavo’s ‘ceremonial’ sword looked a lot like a battle sword.” Her brother’s eyebrow lifted up in a disbelieving fashion as he spoke in his mocking tone.
‘So that’s the lie he used to get out of trouble?’ considered Twilight. ‘Well, perhaps it really was a ceremonial sword, it doesn’t matter in the end.’
“He...” She choked up. Gulped. “...he saved my life... and that led to him getting hurt. He tried to grab a spear that was thrown at me, if he hadn't intervened I would be dead. But the human threw it too hard and he was only able to slow it down a bit with his spell. Which is why... when he pushed me out-of-the-way, it didn't kill him. That human... was much... much... much stronger than he looked. That human haunts my dreams.” Twilight wanted to say the last sentence but chose not to, she instead settled with rubbing her still tired eyes and tried thinking of more positive thoughts. Like Octavo still being alive.
Twilight heard her brother's exhale. “I know it's hard now Twilight, but things will get better I promise you. That human will never get the opportunity to hurt you again, I give you my word.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Her answer surprised herself, she couldn't recall the last time she called her big brother Captain. 'I need a long nap,' she told herself. 'And after that nap I'm getting right back into my studies like never before. Maybe I'll find peace in learning more about humans. Once I read how they're just like any other living creature it'll calm me down.'
Twilight's eyebrows curled in, giving her a sad look, but she smiled at her brother. “Thank you for answering all my questions, you sure know a lot about Broncovy's army structure.”
He was smiling broadly. “No problem Twily,” he said as he rubbed the back of her neck, giving her some relief. “The ponies from Broncovy are a strange lot. Nice, but strange. They take time to get used to. They're oddly zealous, but I have little to complain about. I've led some of them into battle even, they're fierce fighters. Which may be one of the reasons why I got such recognition for my efforts during the war.” Twilight watched him understandingly, he had only served in one war; it was the only war Equestria engaged in since he turned eighteen. (The required age to join the Equestrian army)
He realigned fully in his seat, letting his legs dangle a bit as he recollected his memories. “I went from a Royal Guard from before the war, to a general during the war, to the Captain of the Guard after the war. Getting the Medal of Valor sure as heck didn't hurt my chances of rising in rank. Even got a recommendation from the last old-and-withered Captain of the Guard.” He was readjusting himself in his seat to straighten up and appear bigger. “I know it didn't hurt my chances with the mares either.” He pursed his lips together in a childish expression.
“Shining!” cried Twilight in shock at the quick change in seriousness, she smacked her brother's side with a quick backhoof, with a dim twinkle in her eye telling him she found humor in the jest.
He threw his hooves up in a mock gesture. “I'm kidding! I'm kidding!”
They shared a laugh and much to Twilight's joy the conversation turned to a less serious one. She enjoyed the wonderful few hours of just simple talking with her brother.
During the train ride Shining revealed Octavo's saddlebag which was filled with the books and supplies he was carrying for the human project. Her brother had taken it upon himself to make sure Twilight would have everything she needed to continue on near solo until she could hire an assistant –not counting Spike.
The Crystal Empire was in view now. Twilight, the pony closest to the window spoke up, “We're almost there.” Twilight turned to her brother. “Is Cadence expecting you back?”
He shook his head. “No. I was scheduled to come back in five days, when I could finally pass the torch down and step down from my position as the Captain of the Guard.”
Twilight cast another glance at her destination. “And then when you come back, Cadence will give you the title of Master and Commander?” she asked, not entirely sure of where her brother's career was going, but knowing it was not going anywhere bad.
Shining sucked his lips. “That's the plan Twily. It's not really appropriate for me to guard the co-rulers when I am the prince of a completely different sovereign nation. I have to look over The Crystal Empire now.”
With that now clarified Twilight leaned onto her brother's side for the rest of the journey, in silence. All the while, Twilight’s human sat in his dark cell, plotting of a more free future. The sound and feeling of the train’s movements brought a smile to his face. He didn’t truly know what strange land he was in, or how he got there. Things were fuzzy ever since those horned ponies had played God with his mind, but despite all uncertainties, change, he realized, was coming.
Poor, poor Nero. That's the name I want to give him, it's a Roman name, and if that one theory from the last chapter about these humans being from Rome or something is true, then it would make all the more sense. Of course, the last time the name Nero was used in conjunction with the Roman Empire, it was an emperor who played his lyre (That is what it's really called) While Rome Burned (he's the freaking trope origin!) But, in my opinion, that makes the name all the more fitting, what with the whole 'Human Torch' thing.
And so the OC continues to get praise, and Twilight continues to be useless..
Is she going to remain this helpless continually?
3886480
No, she will grow.
Character development is a wonderful thing.
not sure what to say except i like it and i hope twilight goes bad ass because thats the best kind of twilight
3886493
Except she's been lower then the character she was in the show, she wasn't THIS much of a defenseless damsel..
NOW
I hope we get some human PoV soon, because I am getting very annoyed at the lack of it.
3886691 He who reads the author's note will understand this sad, sad, terrible pun.
3886676 To be fair, she's also never faced an enemy hell-bent on disemboweling her.
A frustrated baby bear and a determined killer are two very different things.
3886676
She froze up one time, from a mutated human.
She's fine
And she'll adapt to the new situation she is being pushed towards, just not immediately.
Holy motherfucking titties! This story is GOOD!
Also, I so bet that you took the human Twilight bought, from a certain movie, if not completely then at least a bit from it.
Big, black, cries a lot. Don't tell me he soon has some kind of holy powers to remove diseases/evil spirits.
Perfection, perfection I say!
I hope we have some kicking of the ass soon (pun intended).
3887376
DAW!
Thanks for the complement.
But are u talkin bout this nigga?
i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w562/WolfWaffle1/Pics/gm_8_zps8574294a.jpg
3887635
Hell yeah
troll.me/images/mah-nigga/my-nigga.jpg
3885826
So any long book series is automatically crap because they "should have told it's story by then"?
Yeah, I call bullshit.
He'll, you also just dismissed serialized television.
Great going dude. Think before you make sweeping declarative statements like this.
3888298
Oh no I meant fimfiction style stories.
To me 200k words is a good introduction.
I'm getting into The Gunslinger by Stephen King a seven book, book series I believe.
And after that I would like to read King of Thrones.
Yeah 200k words is nothing for an epic like that.
If that's what you guys meant then yeah I totally agree with you.
Doh! Sorry for the confusion. Didn't mean to imply something like that.
I misspoke.
I have enough books to last me several years and I plan to get more when I'm not strapped for cash.
this is so good I await the next chapter with great anticipation!
One thing I don't understand is why the Broncovians are referred to as zealous. They don't push their religion on anybody; as far as we've seen they don't have a religious doctrine that causes undue harm to ponies. The idea that because Equestria is without the gods and Broncovy is not doesn't make them zealots. It couldn't be because they're a theocracy either because some of Earth's greatest early civilizations were theocracies and any historian worth their studies would hesitate to call them zealous. Rome, Egypt, China, Greece, Mayans, and many others were all theocracies without being zealous. Unless our favorite ursine author is going to throw us a huge world-building curveball, it doesn't sound like they're zealots or overly zealous in any way. Bourgeoisie, I'm expecting an answer.
3888793
I must ask, what do you think of Octavo?
So no explanation for why Octavo was so against going to the hospital?
3888793
I think that just means they're very enthusiastic about their religion, like how Octavo is perfectly willing to beat up guards when they try to enforce "secular law" (breaking and entering) before his "religious law" (have temple, must pray).
3888940
Not yet.
3888670
I must apologize myself. I don't even know what the conversation was about. I just saw that one line and went MAXIMUM OVERRUSTLE.
That said, Pony fics are allowed to be Epics as well.
3886996
Manticore.
Hydra.
Several villains, but those seem less 'hell bent' on it.
Though I will wait and see then.
3889981 There's no indication that the manticore is attempting to kill them. It's simply pissed, for all we know it just wants them to leave.
She also freezes up when facing the Hydra (all of the mane six do), doesn't really reinforce your argument. The Hydra's also simply chasing them just because they're there, not hunting them, it doesn't even seem particularly interested (even if it is pissed).
No villains have made direct and obvious attempts on Twilight's life. Nightmare Moon's advances were diversionary or involved splitting up the group and were always non-fatal with the one exception of the cliff, but none of the mane six were even aware Nightmare Moon was actively impeding their progress, they were just hazards in the forest. Discord doesn't really take any violent action at all, he's all about ending their friendship and splitting them up. Chrysalis never makes any actual attempts on anyone's life. Sombra could be construed as hunting her, but he also never actually hurts anyone physically, all of his attacks are psychological. Sombra also is not menacing Twilight personally, he's menacing the Crystal Empire and Twilight happens to be the face of his opposition. Believe me, when someone is actively targeting you because it's you, it's a very different feeling that being targeted for what you're associated with.
What the human has done is actively threatened her once, broken out, killed two ponies, and then recognized her and attacked with blatant intent to kill. No because she was there, but because it was her. That's very different than an animal reacting to it's territory being encroached upon and also in a different category than the mental duels that often play out between MLP heroes and villains.
3888906 I think he is what you would expect from a theocratic religion. He puts his gods and religion first, prays for help when he needs it, and believes that a lot of their good luck has been intervention of the gods. If they are so obvious in this world though, that they can appoint champions through some sort of ceremony, he has no reason not to. People complain about him being a Gary Stu but, I would say he's more of a mentor figure to Twilight in a way. That's like complaining about The Karate Kid because Mr. Miyagi is too good at karate. His purpose is to teach Daniel-san, not to fight the Cobra Kai. Ocatavo is supposed to help Twilight on the frontier learning about humans; not to perform the research on the humans.
3888940 Okay wait; When Bourgeoisie Bear says zealous and zealot, upon further research they are two completely different things. Zeal and zealous are to feel excitement, interest, or enthusiasm about something. Zealot and zealotry are the political or more often religious fanaticism. Which of these is Octavo? Also, the divine versus secular law, specifically the temple break ins; who owns the temples? Obviously the priests of the respective gods don't or the temple would be open even when they're away. Does the Equestrian government own it? If so they should be keeping it open. In Equestria's most famous and probably most visited city, knowing that they have allies who still pay homage to these gods, why would they close it and then when a worshipper gos in to pray, like they believe they should, the guard yells at and gets into fisticuffs with the pony in question? I think there is more behind Equestria's apparent neglect of the temples. I suppose I empathize with Octavo though. I am a religious person and I would do my best to enter my place of worship if my government shut it down. I would feel that if a foreign government was preventing you to worship as you please I think breaking and entering would be worth being able to feel your connection with your deity of choice.
3887635 YES! Exactly!
The movie is astonishingly good, even if I'm an atheist (though that doesn't really matter, a good movie is a good movie).
3890473
As of this moment I gotta disagree with your assessment of Octavo being a mentor figure. While that would be an excellent direction to take the character; the way he is now, he is merely a Gary Stu. Octavo hasn't done much in this story other then be an over powered OC that knows things that the audience does not and can not. While I do get that he is supposed to be the expert on humans and such we have seen very little of that knowledge being used or shared in a meaningful way. In the past few chapters, despite Octavo being a hardened veteran and a scholar, has come across as confrontational, manipulative, and somewhat childish. This chapter has helped explain his character a tiny bit; but there is a problem. It's just a massive info-dump on Octavo. I know I shouldn't complain as I did comment on the last chapter that Octavo needed a bunch of exposition. But he still comes across as a overpowered OC. Because of that I am finding him far to difficult to identify with on any level and that is not something you want on a protagonist.
3890523
As for the temples being closed it likely comes down to cost. I could see them being owned by the government but it really doesn't matter who owns them. If there is not enough people/money coming in regardless of their reasons then it just doesn't make sense for it to stay open. Costs far less to just put things in storage and lock the place up then it does to keep it up and running for the few that will use it. Especially if Equestria is having some economic problems.
3890603 I see what you are saying with Octavo not seeming like a mentor figure, but there are two things; one, our bear buddy is literally getting the story started. It's easy to say now but I think a mentor is what Octavo is meant to be and we just haven't been explicitly told yet. Two, I think that his status as Gary Stu is debatable because we're mostly looking in comparison to Twilight. Twilight has never dealt with something like this before and this is Octavo's place of expertise. He went to a school of higher learning to study it, spent some years in the military to be awarded Broncovy's highest military honor, draws strength from being a champion of one of the gods, that as far as we've been shown, do hold influence in the ponys' world, and spent some years on the frontier trying to learn about and communicate with humans. When an author lays out some of a character's backstory and previous accomplishments that shows why the character is able to do certain things, you can't call Gary Stu after that. There are logical reasons as to why he is able to do this and we already know this.
I think you may have misunderstood. When I say "keep the temples open" I don't mean Equestria should fund the temples. What I mean is Equestria should allow ponies inside as they please, assuming they are going in to respect the gods. Anything after that, Equestria has no other responsibilities to the temples.
3889400
You had an over rustle moment, don't worry about it, in fact I had an over rustle moment on some guy on youtube today.
That or he actually had it coming.
3890581
The Green Mile is a pretty sweet movie.
Everyone should be able to enjoy that.
Religious affiliation be damned.
3894014
Oh... shit
Can't believe that slipped past me
STUPID STUPID STUPID BEAR ARGGH!f
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3892397 I'm reserving judgment on Octavo's character until we see more of him, so far the situations we've seen him in have been relatively limited.
Dem ponies had better not have used a mind control or mind altering spell on that there human, otherwise a Kronos-class Dreadnought might be making a visit to the Equestrian universe. And trust me, it's fucking massive.
3887157
The same unicorn who, when faced with an insane goddess while before then the biggest danger she'd ever faced was a paper cut, put down her horn and charged. This same pony now, being years older and far more experienced, just freezes up. Right.
3895883
Of course they did. How else do you think they 'pacify' their slaves?
3911606
Back then, she was forced into it, here there was Octavo who was willing to step in.
She was forced to fight for her life with Nightmare Moon, or face eternal darkness... yada yada yada.
"But the hydra..."
That was very brave... but again there was no one else willing to take that role but her.
She's a reluctant hero.
3911606 Whelp, time for a spaceship so massive the mere act of turning it would take current science the better part of thirteen billion years to do, and can splatter stars like bugs on a windscreen, I'm talking an eighty lightyear long warship with enough firepower to validate because fuck you, that's why as a legitimate reason to kill someone.
3912623
By the Emperor that's excessive.
3850188 that never fails to make me smile.
3913514 Well they become so large that can cannot be safely held within a universe that. The next size up of spaceship is thirty seven googolplex metres long and can errantly destroy a universe by turning if it's not careful.
3912120
Even reluctant heroes are not prone to completely freezing up with fear. That tends to result in something called dead heroes. And I refuse to believe she would just stand there and let someone else bleed for her. She could have held that human down with telekinesis alone, for Murphy's sake. She was never this useless.
3912623 3913514
Maxim 34: If you're leaving scorch marks, you need a bigger gun.
3914403 Does a ship big enough to destroy a universe by turning too fast classify as a bigger gun?
3914405
Will it leave scorch marks? The stripped atoms of a vaporized planet don't count.
3914454 Well the universe will be destroyed, so I'm guessing nothing will be left.
Well I can try to say a prayer to Travafe.
"Aham, oh holy decree of Travafe, the god of travel and something, mey you help my travel to school (5 min's walk) on monday.
because... you know, monday is the worst day of them all."
3914403 She froze up facing the Hydra and the changeling swarm.
She also didn't react immediately when directly confronted by Nightmare Moon. She sits and stares for a good two seconds before actually doing anything, and NMM isn't even posturing offensively, she's just standing there, laughing.
The only instance I can find where Twilight reacts immediately to direct confrontation from an alien threat is the manticore in episode 2, but the manticore isn't threatening them, it's blocking them, which is very different.
Does Twilight have hero experience? Yes. It's not possible to argue against that point.
Does she have the experience necessary to survive in a combat situation against experienced opponents? Absolutely not. The only reason the mane six got away with fighting the changelings is because the entire horde just sat there and waited for them to get ready before demonstrating how absolutely inept the changeling forces are at direct confrontation. Twilight has no practical combat experience, and certainly has no experience dealing with lethal ambushers like the human.
I don't understand why people are so riled up over Twilight's 'deer in the headlights' response to a unique, life threatening situation. This kind of thing happens all the time to normal people, and Twilight is pretty normal once you get past her affinity for magic. It's not really an OOC reaction coming from her.
I like this story.
But I'm also scared as fuck by it.
Gotta say I'm rooting for the humans on this one.
3924768
And how long did she stand around here while Octavo was playing tag-or-die with a berserker? A hell of a lot longer than a few seconds.
No one has a problem with her getting blindsided by an ambush. That's fine. She doesn't have the finely honed someone-is-trying-to-kill-me sense and quick reflexes that serving in a war gives you (those that survive, anyway). But while she may not have a lot of actual combat experience, she does have experience with being in a combat situation, which is what matters.
People that freeze up do it because the situation they suddenly find themselves in is so completely out of their experience, they don't know what to do, and in their panic, they can't think logically either. So they end up paralyzing themselves. Twilight isn't like that. She has been there before, it's not new to her, and she's not suddenly going to act like it is.
Because it is OOC. A lot. Getting blindsided by an ambush, or freezing up for a few seconds, sure. Standing there the whole time? While someone is already badly injured and at immediate risk of being killed? No way. Some people will react that way, but Twilight has faced dangers before, and never has she been completely locked up like this for what must have been close to a minute. Especially when one telekinesis spell would end the fight instanteneously.
Also, the headlights, as you put it, were not pointed at her during the fight, which would reduce the deer-in-the-headlights response even if she were prone to it.
It doesn't help that the whole scene is blatantly a plot device to make Octavo (whom a lot of readers have come to heartily dislike) look good. The whole thing basically comes right the fuck out of nowhere with no explanation.
Why did that human have the posh stallion's coat? He was being sold on the market, the stallion was in his place of business. Why would he go after Twilight in particular? There must have been hundreds of ponies who walked by his cage that day alone. How did he know where to find her? It's a big city after all, he's not exactly inconspicuous, no one knew she was going to the train station, and he doesn't understand Equestrian anyway. And most importantly, why did Octavo just so happen to insist on accompanying her just when the most unlikely ambush of the fucking century is about to go down. What an incredible coinkydink!
I like Twilight. She deserves better than to be made into some OOC damsel in distress.
I wonder if the humans were mutated by the sudden arrival of magic? like alicorns or other things appearing out of thin air or it came from a comet or freak natural magic disaster.
I really doubt we would do this to are kind on purpose and that war nuclear/ war idea done to death to much hate on are species guys give me a break from that I pray this story will be different please?!
Update plz