Pop quiz: You've just spilled your guts on how you feel about the latest Alicorn, and none of it was very nice. Said alicorn is also a student in the magic of friendship slash harmony, and every last word out of your mouth has been about how she's failed at doing anything remotely friendly with you. Oh, and she heard the whole damn thing.
What do you do next?
If your answer was 'Get lynched by the now-slightly-rabid townfolk,' then you get partial credit, because that was about to happen to me. Fortunately, I knew what to do.
No, surprisingly, running was the wrong thing to do in this circumstance. The right thing to do was call out one name. One very specific name. And hope that the one who owns said name would answer.
"Pinkie!"
...It took her a moment, but she bounced over. Aaaaand her grin is gone, great. "Yes?"
Ideas bounced around in my head. "We need Twilight's favorite flowers! And her favorite chocolate! And we need to dip her favorite flowers in chocolate!"
Pinkie let out a gasp at the last bit. "Oh my goodness, that's a wonderful idea! I don't know why I didn't try it before!"
Just as suddenly as it came, Pinkie's good mood vanished. "But that won't be enough, mister!"
I nodded to her. "I'm well aware! But part one of rectifying this is for me to go bearing gifts! Can I trust this matter to you, Private Pie?"
...No, I don't know where the military fatigues or helmet came from. All I know is she was wearing it and gave a salute with one foreleg. "Sir, yes sir! Where should I rendezvous once the supplies have been acquired, sir?"
I blinked but plowed on despite the suddenly appearing attire. "It is likely that Twilight teleported into the library and barricaded herself in her room so that she could be alone and ruminate on all the garbage that I spewed! So I will make my way there, as will you once your mission has been accomplished!"
"Sir, how would you know that, sir?"
I looked to the distant treebary and sighed. "Because when you're hurt, you seek comfort. When you're in pain from the unfamiliar, you seek the familiar." I turned back to Pinkie. "Prepare to gather the rest of her friends, as well. Should I fail, they might at least draw her out."
"Sir yes sir!"
And with that, Pinkie was off. So was I, but I left in a more...normal manner. I raced to the library and skidded inside just as a lavender translucent dome encased the whole thing, separating Measured and myself. Measured poked it from the outside with a hoof, making a soft ting sound, but achieving nothing. I sighed at the sight. "Exclusion barrier. Twilight wants to be alone, and she has the power to make it so."
I turned around and took in the reading room to notice a small pile of flowers, chocolates, and flowers dipped in chocolate sitting on one of the tables. A note nearby read -
I managed to get these done quick! I'm off to find the rest of our friends!
-Pinkie
Just then, there was another tink from the shield, and I turned to see five more mares, Twilight's friends, standing next to Measured. I waved at them and smiled as if to say I got this.
I stepped fully inside the library and closed the door, then let my facade drop. At the time, my thoughts were roughly Oh sweet mercy what the hell can I do to help?!
And that was when I heard the sobbing come from upstairs. Loud, pitiful sobbing. The sort of sobbing kids do when their pets have died and they realize the world is not made out of gumdrops and ice cream.
I sighed at the sound and made my way upstairs slowly, trying to put together the right words to say. It wouldn't be easy, because not only had what I said back in the square been my honest opinion, but it apparently cut Twilight real deep. Still, any good argument has multiple sides to it. I would just have to get Twilight to listen to me.
Easier said than done.
I walked upstairs and noticed which room was Twi's right off the bat. It was the only one with the open door, after all. She had collapsed in a heap on top of her bed, crying into her forelegs. Nearby lay a scroll.
Dear Princess Celestia,
It has been brought to my attention that I have been less than friendly with the one known as Auric Fulcrum. He said several things in anger at the town square today, but I can refute none of them. And that's what scares me.
I have treated him more like an animal than a pony. I have done more testing than talking with him. He has every right to call me the Lavender Terror, because that's all I've done to him: scare him.
And in so doing, I have let both you and Equestria down, because I have clearly failed my lessons in the magic of friendship and potentially alienated Auric from us forever. I submit myself to your mercy. Whatever punishment you devise, it will not be enough.
Your student,
Twilight Sparkle
I slowly walked up next to her, and her ears twitched slightly at the sound of my arrival. One of her eyes focused on me before she blinked and turned to face away from me. "Come to yell at me more? Tell me what a buck-up I am? About how I've done nothing but hound you rather than befriend you?"
I shook my head at that. "Surprisingly, no. I'm here to apologize."
At this, she turned to face me. "But...but everything you said! It was all true!"
I shook my head again. "That doesn't make it right to say. I'm pretty sure there are parts of your friends that you don't like either. And you would never tell them that to their face, because friends forgive each other for things like that."
Twilight nodded slowly, my point dawning on her. "So those illusions I dispelled..."
I waved a hoof around. "Were meant to keep my presence in Ponyville disguised from you. I would normally never say those things! And half...most...buck it, all of it was fueled by my anger."
Twilight looked a bit downcast at that. "Anger which I deserve."
I shook my head fiercely. "No, nobody deserves to have somebody else angry at them. Not even you."
She blinked at that and began to protest, but I would not be stopped, again. "True, you've done a lot of things to me lately. But you wouldn't be Twilight Sparkle if you didn't seek to understand the world around you to the fullest extent of your capabilities. The fact that I'm such an anomaly doesn't help matters either. If anything, I'm at fault."
At that, she gasped, but I shook my head at her shock. "I let my anger get to the point where I would rant and rage about how you treat me. I let it get away from me. I may think those things, but its the other sides of the argument, the other positions, that matter. Not the sole one that you heard, but the ones that balance it out."
She blinked in confusion, and I smiled and placed a hoof on her withers. "Twilight Sparkle, you are an amazing mare. The student of royalty, she who studies friendship and magic and both combined. Savior five times over of this land, recently crowned a princess in your own right. True, you're a little awkward in social situations, but hey, you're better than Fluttershy."
At that, we both let out a soft, slightly strangled, laugh, before Twilight nodded slowly at the praise. I still wasn't done, though. "As such, I must ask your forgiveness in saying all that I did to you. It was...there are no words to describe how beyond rude it was. Any punishment you devise will not be enough."
At this, she sighed a bit and looked back to the letter. "I...I need time to think. Time to myself. Can you tell my friends I would like to be alone for a little bit?"
I sagged, but nodded and turned to leave. Before I fully left her room, I remembered two important things. "Oh, yeah. There's a gift downstairs for you, and you're gonna need to take the barrier down so I can leave."
Her horn flared once, and I left the library to see six mares looking at me. Five were displeased, whereas the sixth was merely concerned. "Look, things were said today that should not have been said. I've apologized for my harsh words to Twilight, but she's still rather shaken and wants to be alone for right now. I think we should honor her wishes for today, but only for today. If she wants to be alone longer than that, you'll have to cheer her up."
I made to leave, and Rainbow Dash got in my face. "And where do you think you're going?"
I walked around her. "The only place where I, too, can be alone."
Pinkie bounced up next to me. "Silly, if Twi shouldn't be alone longer than a day, why should we leave you be?"
I glared at her and then at the rest of them. "Because I caused this. Because you should hate me for breaking your friend so badly. Because I bucking deserve to be alone."
And before any of them could offer a counter-argument, I left them behind.
-----
It was days later. I had only left my tower once, and that was to Luna's room in Canterlot Castle for a project.
It had become clear to me that the loss of my Tokens had hit me hard. The thought of not being able to Call, even it was just for a friendly chat with someone who would truly understand me...
There had been numerous pleads to see me again. Apparently the townsfolk were kinder than I'd given them credit for, but none of the pleas were from the one I'd hurt most.
Until Twilight wanted to see me again, I'd stay here and rot, if that's what it took. The look on her face, the amount of hurt I'd caused...
I'm not heartless. It hurt me too. I'd caused that, and now I'd live with it.
Measured walked up behind me and looked at what I was looking at. Which, for reference, was a huge, silvery mirror.
I'd transmuted the thing out of base materials, altered the very structure of it with some leftover Void-energy in Luna's room, and given it both a taste of my power and blood, along with leftover particles from the Tokens.
Bottom line: It could focus on those that had given me Tokens, my Tokens, or just those that were human. Currently I was watching a certain Knight of the Sun and...a rule 63 version of himself. I waved my hoof, and it went to the next, which was my old pal Gilgy.
"Auric, this isn't healthy."
I just murmured at her while Gilgamesh tore through several walls and vaults following the compass I'd made for him.
"You need to get out there, meet the ponies."
"And do what," I said to the image of Nocturne meeting Jack, "Blow up at them too? Or maybe I should just deconstruct their lives around them? Perhaps this time I could do it in song!"
Measured sighed and placed a hoof on my withers. "You know that's not fair. You had every right to blow up at her. Tartarus, if you hadn't, I would have one day."
I shook my head. "That excuses nothing. Part of being better is knowing better. Had I only held my tongue..."
Measured shook her head as well as an image of Alice and her 'house' flickered past. "You do not blame the mountain for the avalanche when you kick a stone into the precarious rock pile. You do not blame the forest for the fire if you leave yours unattended. She provoked you constantly, and a reaction was inevitable."
I went to correct her, before the mirror focused on...
A gaunt, skeletal figure and slightly more anthropomorphic version of Twilight, stuck in the Void Eternal. The figure flipped a golden coin, and then I heard the words.
"I am Xante, Baron of the Frozen Wastelands, First among Liches, Lord of the Undead, and Fabulous Rainbow Magician. Me and my friend are stranded here in The Void, and need your help!"
I turned to Measured. "The guest room is made up, right?"
She nodded, then her brow furrowed. "You can't just bring other creatures from Beyond into this world, the consequences could be-"
I merely replied with the words "Watch me" and went up to the mirror, placing my front hooves on it and focusing...
-applauds at Author's Note-
Thanks for the update and looking forward to the crossover!
You instantly threw a solution for the problem at the story, granted it has a delayed reaction, but that is no excuse. Prepare to feel my wrath.
The Story goooot.... Featured!!!
4346514 Careful Thadius, I think he means it. The power of a saitan elite is nothing to sneeze at.
Unless your name is Mr. Popo.
Then you can do whatever you want.
4346587 I warned him.
Wow, this is really becoming intertwined, isn't it? I personally loved how you referenced my most recent chapter.
Oh, and to everyone else out there, I'm thinking of writing a side-chapter. Would the creator(s) of the late N.A.T.E. four please PM me? Or better yet, could you send me their addresses Thadius?
My two favourite stories..in a collab?
*Manly fangasm*!
HELL YEAH! Two of my favourite HAV fics having a crossover!! /)(\
Oh dear, did you have to do that? He's only slightly in the wrong, and she hasn't apologised yet. I said she needed a solid psychological spanking, and in the long run it'll be good for her, burn all that "infallibility because Me" nonsense out of her head. Besides which, he got a solid dose of anger from her, and she kept him up all night firing curses at his home. Getting angry is never the solution, but it was provoked. Getting weepy because you've been less than hospitable is a bit weak-willed coming from someone willing to attempt home-invasion in the name of science.
Goddamnit man -_-
He's completely, 100% in the right last chapter, and he blasted her UNINTENTIONALLY with a massive rant that was 1. Completely TRUE and 2. Entirely deserved. Not only that, but she wouldn't have even HEARD it if she hadn't point blank *REFUSED* to respect his privacy.
"Ok," we said to you. "Ok, this is good. There's some actual conflict here. It's well deserved, and he's straight up not the bad guy. But whatever you do, don't resolve it immediately, have everyone turning against him over something this well deserved or anything like th-"
*next chapter*
"God DAMNIT man!"
Seriously, dude? Seriously?
Princess 'I can do no wrong' is finally given any sort of reality check, and the very next chapter, the guy who gave her a well deserved dressing down is forced to go crawling to her on his knees begging for forgiveness because the entire town now hates him? Pinkie and Twilight immediately and willfully ignore his wishes, and he reacts appropriately, but noooo, HE'S the bad guy over it. He has to go groveling to princess psychopath begging for her forgiveness for daring to be frustrated over being treated like an animal and experimented on.
She has treated him like *SHIT* these past few... However long it's been. This is the bitch been sitting on his doorstep trying to kick in the door, break into his house and kidnap him because he had the gall to refuse to be treated as a subhuman (subequine, whatever) test subject. But oh no! W-what do you MEAN he called her out on literally assaulting him and trying to break into his house so she could use him as a lab rat?! OMG so meeeean! He should've said 'fuck this', gone home, had a beer and railed Measured. This is NOT shit that should be happening.
And again! What else were we opposed to cropping up in the very next chapter? oh, there it is! INSTANT solution! Oh, no! We can't actually have CONFLICT in this story, are you crazy? That would be far too interesting!
this chapter
Honestly, our beloved human-turned-pony was completely in the right. Now to see him crawl back to Miss Psychopath when she was the one being a problem is saddening, especially when she has not apologize for treating him like crap.
interesting enough chapter even with the groveling he pulled and SO looking to next chapter
"No, nobody deserves to have somebody else angry at them."
...
Adolf Hitler.
There are many people who deserve anger. In this story, he already dealt with at least one of them. Even in the canon MLP universe, there are those that deserve anger, such as Nightmare and Sombra. A better question is whether they deserve retribution.
4347327 Indeed. If we put his reaction into a different context, it might even be horrifying, such as a child being forced to apologize to a bully. If you can't handle the truth, you probably don't have the moral high ground.
Woot! Xante!
Following both of the stories, this is so cool to see a crossover!
At least he realized and trys to correct his mistake. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
This chapter...
Seriously? Really didn't want him to go begging for forgiveness. This is something he shouldn't be apologizing for. Say she wasn't able to hear him rant, then what? Everyone else will know how much he dislikes her, but she will remain oblivious and would still continue to hound him. Just. Just. Argh.
AHHHHHH! XANTE THE FABULOUS RAINBOW MAGICIAN, FIRST AMONG LICHES, SOMETHING AND ANOTHER, IS MAKING AN APPEARANCE!
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Okay, wow. I'm not going to claim to have the author's opinion on this, and you guys bring up some good points, but I am going to bring up counter-points. Yes, she was being, quite frankly, a douchebiscuit. That doesn't mean you hit her with a psychological whammy which she will obviously interpret as "I have failed at every last thing I stand for" and leave her sobbing isolationist in her room. On top of that, the problem isn't "solved". If the problem /is/ "solved" by your definition, then World War 2 was solved when Hitler killed himself, wasn't it?
Auric's locked himself in his castle, now, moping, Twilight is (almost assuredly) still isolating herself from everything else, and though it doesn't sound like a day has passed I wouldn't be entirely surprised if her friends were legitimately unable to comfort her enough to fix anything the next day, and even after that there's going to be some tension between them. Yes, she did some pretty horrible things. All the same, though, Auric Fulcrum (back as Dullahan) burned a whole freakin' library to the ground, which to her is about as blasphemous as making vulgar gestures repeatedly at the princesses. Yes, that's been a while, and yes, he said he's sorry, but he's pretty much ran away and been not trying to make amends and not trying to explain his position other than a quick apology. He's also not really said anything about how he doesn't want to be tested and might, in fact, want to be friends. Yes, he has ran away repeatedly, and other various hints, but can you honestly say those are hints that Twilight would pick up on in the event of a research fervor?
I will admit Psychotic Sparkle is psychotic, but don't act like she'd fully intended to vivisect him or anything. Maybe poke him with needles and take some small hair/crystal samples, and not be particularly nice about it, but it's not like she wants to completely break him apart and figure him out that way. Knowledge is sacred to her, of course she's going to pursue it. Again, she's not being nice, but she's not being mean enough to deserve a psychological whipping so hard she completely breaks down and shuts herself off from everything.
4348089
The only additions I have to make to this are as follows:
It has been a few (Let's go with at least two) days since that blowout and it was only half the Archive. I think, quite simply, it can be summed up with one line that I used.
He's not heartless.
He knows what he did was wrong and hates himself for it. Until Twilight forgives him, he'll probably be stuck in his tower moping about what he did.
4348089 It was a pure and simple angry rant that was directed at SOMEONE ELSE, which she magically eavesdropped on by refusing to respect his wishes.
And oh, of course. She's not going to kill him. She's just going to repeatedly and painfully experiment on him against his will.
Saying 'No, I'm not her friend, she treats me like shit' is no cause for the 'woe is me' routine.
If you're gonna go the Godwin's Law route, I will too. Knowledge was sacred to Goebbels, of course he was going to pursue it. 'I wanted to know' doesn't justify shit.
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Also another thing to add. I don't think she'd be trying to break into his house if she didn't know that it was physically impossible for her to. I think she knows that it would be inappropriate to actually bust into his house, but since it's impossible to bust into his house anyway she'd probably be fine blasting against it and using it as a "punching bag" of sorts. Yeah, it's a little off, but I think if she didn't think the house could take it she'd probably be trying to trick him instead, or give him a royal order. Blasting the house was just the easiest, "most consequenceless" option for her, and it got rid of some stress.
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No, "I wanted to know" doesn't justify anything, but motivation is always useful to know when you're accusing someone. Also, she did not "magically eavesdrop", she broke an illusion he had put up (which probably would have been PASSIVELY broken if it was anyone but Auric's illusion by Pinkie pointing it out) because her friend had pointed him out to her so they could make up. Nobody's faulting Pinkie, but she "caused" this whole mess by completely disrespecting Auric's privacy because of who she is.
Auric did not even give a chance for making up like Pinkie wanted. Also, I think you're overstating the "pain" inherent in this. Omega's experimentation was agonizing. Twilight's might have, at best case for your argument, been as painful as having a knot worked out of a muscle (which is legitimately painful, but nothing you can't work through, even if you are a wuss). Yes, she treats him pretty badly. Does she treat him badly enough to be fully psychologically broken? Again, I can see where you guys are coming from and I can see your points.
She never tied him down for her experiments, she never legitimately forced him. Yes, she had a deal with him for some experimentation after saving him from Celestia, but he sat through it and bared it, because that was the deal. Maybe a shitty deal, but still.
She did some bad things, but did she really deserve a psychological shattering for it? Yes, she deserved SOME telling off, but did it really need to be THAT harsh?
4348194 Let's face it, Pinkie's an idiot in this canon. All she's got is confetti between her ears. Sure, she was a cunt, but getting mad at her for this is like getting mad at a toddler for shitting itself.
But he wasn't talking to her, is the thing. He's TRYING to avoid her, going to this extent, and she knows it, but won't respect that.
EDIT: continued!
Twilight's big thing in this is that she quite simply holds no respect for him. Look at his rant. The big thing there? They're NOT friends. If she was his friend, she'd hold maybe the slightest amount of respect for him and even TRY to acknowledge his wishes.
She's gone after him in the hospital, for fuck's sake. That's WORSE than tying him down. He's in the hospital after sacrificing a severe amount to save someone, and she corners him in his hospital bed and experiments on him.
One thing you keep doing is saying 'But it's not as bad as X'. So? It's still pretty fucking bad. And speaking of Omega's shit, you don't think he'd have ANY lingering issues or uncomfortableness about being dragged into a lab and experimented on?
Back to Pinkie a quick moment. Either she's an idiot, or she's a jerk. There's no middle ground here. Either she's on the intellectual level of clapping like a retarded seal and going FREEEEEEEND and entirely unable to read either social cues or understand spoken words, or she's as much of a jerk as Twi is and just completely ignores him when he says something to her.
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Mmm, yeah, you're right, they aren't friends. I think I recall her just talking about it in the hospital, rather than actually doing it though, but I can double check that.
I suppose I hadn't quite thought about Omega's shit that way, actually, but to be honest he's probably pretty curious himself, though the methods he'd likely use are much more gentle and mild. And I'm not saying it wasn't bad, as you pointed out. I personally think, though, that the punishment wasn't really proportionate. That's really all I want to get across, and I feel most of what you want to get across is that she DID deserve it, and I don't think either of us will really back down on that so it may be best to leave this for other commenters.
Back up to the top, Twilight wants to find him, going to a heavy extent, and he knows that, but he's not giving in. I'm not saying here that he should, I'm just saying that really things don't always bend that far to one person's way. Yeah, she should probably give him some space, but he should probably sit her down and go "Hey, look, just slow down, you don't have to do this quite as fast as you are. The universe won't end if some questions aren't answered immediately." He's probably curious about how this works on his end, too.
As for Pinkie, I don't think she's retarded or mean, I think she's just really, really naive. I was just bringing that up for parallels between "she did X that was mean, but that's who she is" kind of things.
Yeah, I don't think I'm convincing you and you're definitely not convincing me, so I think it's about time we wrapped this up. I think we both agree Twilight was indeed in the wrong here, we just disagree on how much in the wrong.
4348242 edited.
4348142 But he DIDN'T do anything wrong. Standing up to someone who's refusing to respect your wishes and keeps trying to force you into things is NOT 'him being wrong'. The fact that Twilight used magic to break his spell and eavesdrop on his conversation has ZERO bearing on anything. He has every right to be mad at her, and every right to say what he did. She's NOT his friend, she doesn't even respect him.
4348089 The rant was justified in every therm of the word, yet he shifted all blame to himself and went to make up to her for the "mean words". Taking blame and apologizing is a solution to the problem, one that was used instantly in the next chapter. As I said, it has a delayed reaction, but it is a solution non the less.
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Edited as well.
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If you look at my argument, I'm not saying the rant wasn't justified. It was, and she probably did need to hear it. That doesn't mean it wasn't really harsh and damaging. It also doesn't really cultivate the image he wants to cultivate, even if your opinion is that she did, in fact, deserve it and no apology. What I was getting at though wasn't that it was wholly not a solution, but that it was only the first step to a solution. Twilight's friends will get mad because of COURSE they'll get mad, and if he hadn't apologized he, in all likelyhood, would have just locked himself inside his castle and refused to listen to them. What would you have rather happened?
On the whole, I do think she needed to hear something similar, and this did happen awfully fast, but Auric is smart and knows that letting it sit would be a horrible, horrible idea. How long would it have been, given the letter, before Auric had an angry Celestia on his doorstep, and probably Luna too, not to mention Shining getting involved. It would have been, on the whole, stupid to let it brew and get to that point. Not to mention, even if it would have been "smarter" to go home and drink, would it have been in character for Auric?
Honestly, I just think the rant was a little too harsh. Even if it's deserved, it's a matter of will it help anything. Different people need to be scolded different ways. In an ideal world, everyone could be treated the same and that would be fine, but even Equestria is not an ideal world. Would Fluttershy hold up to military-style scoldings? Most definitely not, it would be a horrible idea and would fix nothing. That doesn't mean that it might not be deserved, or that it might not feel good, or what have you, but it's not going to do anything helpful.
Do you give a child in a wheelchair the same P.E. workout as an Olympian? No? Then why, if people have different mental and emotional maturities too, is that not true for mental and emotional challenges?
4348242 She was going to in the hospital, but he escaped. She was pissed as hell that he did, too. Also, I think she may have done it when he got back there, too.
And look at her. She's in no way willing, until she's given a reality check, to slow down in any way, shape or form. She treats him like shit. And our debate wasn't really on how guilty she was, but how guilty he was.
And agreed, let's.
Aha, just finished reading that maniac of a story.
Let's see how this turns out. Hopefully it involves rainbow bananas.
Xante and Auric together... I don't know if that's a scarier combination than the CMC being Adepts...
Was that what I thought it was, or is my reference detector on the fritz?
4361197 Also:
Measured-You can't do that.
Auric-
(Sorry for the swear.)
GGRRrr
[Well, it looks like this story is about to get...FABULOUS!!!]
I still say Twilight needed the wakeup call.