Year 1000, Celestial Era - 357 years ago.
It was around two in the morning the day of Twilight’s ascension, when the small group of ponies gathered outside the library began to disperse with soft '”Goodnight's” and covered yawns. Though the past day had been extraordinary, even life changing, it had been collectively decided that any further pondering of its events (and the consequences thereof) could be postponed until tomorrow. Miracles of nature, no matter how spectacular, could only take precedence over sleep for so long. Only, Twilight, the one pony with probably the strongest excuse to collapse into sleep, lingered. Many times she moved slowly over to the library door, only to pause, step away from it again, indecision flitting across her face.
“Twilight.” Celestia said gently, touching a hoof to her student’s shoulder. She raised her brows ever so slightly. It was always easy to tell when her student had something on her mind.
The mare froze, almost guiltily, under her gaze. She half-smiled, nervously, shifting her new wings awkwardly at her sides. She didn’t even quite know how to fold them properly, yet.
“I’m sorry, I just..I had some questions.” Twilight took a small step closer, ducking her head.
Celestia smiled warmly at her, delighting in the way that Twilight’s hesitant smile followed suit, growing easier, and more comfortable. Today, Celestia decided, was going to be a great day. .She felt as if she were made of light, as if she could fly without even flapping her wings. In the sky, the stars were out in full force. Twilight’s friends were slowly picking their way back to their beds while, all around the town was asleep, unaware of the world, unaware of how beautiful, how wonderful this day was - Iit took some force for Celestia to restrain her racing thoughts, and maintain a soft, composed smile.
“No need to apologise, Twilight.” Celestia chuckled quietly, a fraction of the joyful laugh bubbling inside her. “Ask away.”
“Oh! Um...Well…” Twilight’s ears flicked as she shifted her weight restlessly between her hooves. “I’m not even sure where to start really. I don’t even know...Hhas this ever happened before? What was that star place? Why are there pictures of my entire life up there? Why did this happen?”
Twilight stopped, eyes wide. “Oh my gosh., Iis this some sort of circle of life thing? Are you dying?! Am I going to have to replace you? Because I don’t feel comfortable with-”
“Twilight.” Celestia stepped forward, shushing her gently.
Twilight’s eyes focused on the golden clad hoof pressed softly against her muzzle, and her cheeks flushed pink underneath her fur as she gave an embarrassed little chuckle. “...Sorry”
“That’s quite alright.” Celestia had no trouble relating. She could remember being in her young student’s position, many, many centuries ago. So confused, so excited. It had been incredible... and then terrible, more terrible than she could imagine. She should have guessed, she should have known what was going to happen, it was all her fault, and she just kept making it worse, over and over again, hundreds of years, and- With effort, Celestia dragged herself away from the memories.
Carefully, Celestia lay an iridescent white wing over Twilight, feeling her snuggle up close to her side. She closed her eyes, brushing away all the negativityin her mind to embrace the simple joy in this moment, for however long it lasted. Twilight was safe, and in this small moment that was all that mattered.
“I just can’t believe this is happening.” Twilight murmured softly. “That I’m…I mean,, I’m not even sure that I’m qualified.”
Celestia couldn’t believe it was real either. She hardly knew what to do. She wanted to laugh, to cry, to gratefully kiss every single feather on those beautiful, beautiful wings. Instead, she wrapped her feathers closer around Twilight, tilted her head to gaze at her, and said, with complete conviction, “Twilight, there is no one I know more deserving to be a princess than you. Not me, not anypony that I have met over the entire course of my life. Don’t ever doubt that.”
For the past ten years, Twilight had been the brightest thing in Celestia’s life. She had been the little light that had kept her going through endless court sessions, and guilt ridden Summer Sun Celebrations, the eager filly that never failed to make her smile.
Twilight had saved her sister.
Twilight had saved her.
There was nothing Celestia could ever do to repay that.
Twilight blinked up at her, eyes filled with tears, her mouth a little ‘o’ of surprise, and Celestia thought of everything leading up to this moment:
Twilight, in the old castle, almost glowing with happiness, with Luna lying safely next to her.
Luna, storming into the hall after her first Nightmare Night in Ponyville, and shaking her head, teary eyed, as she said “Her? It had to be her? Of all ponies?”
Her own anger at Cadance and Shining Armour’s wedding, clinging desperately at any excuse to be disappointed in Twilight, at any chance to lessen the blow she knew was coming.
Her guilt...the very next day, when she found out just how very wrong she had been.
The terrible certainty she had felt when Twilight had returned from the Crystal Empire, that, should the little unicorn die, some part inside herself would shatter, and not even her immortality would be able to save her then.
That was the day she had decided. Her entire life she had watched herself destroy the things she loved most. But not this time. Not Twilight. Tears prickled at Celestia’s eyes as she continued.
“I know you, Twilight, and I know that you’re going to do great things... Not just because you’ve been my student all these years, but because you’ve been my closest friend, too”
With a quiet sob, but a large smile, Twilight threw her hooves around Celestia’s neck, wet tears dappling her fur. Apparently, Celestia realized, she had not been the only one struggling to keep her composure. With a shaky laugh, Celestia began cry too, letting all the relief pour out of her. She had been so close to losing her.
The day she had brought Discord to Ponyville, she felt Twilight’s magic, already withering, dying. Twilight had probably thought that she was just getting out of practice, or maybe hadn’t slept as good as she normally did. She would have realized something was wrong by the time her magic sputtered out entirely, in about a month or so, but by then her muscles would have already started atrophying, her bones eating themselves from the inside, as her severely depleted life force ran dry.
Most unicorns believed that magic was replenishable, constantly being reabsorbed from the world around them,. This was only mostly true. Most unicorns could never manage to use all of their magic supply in one go, so the inaccuracy would never affect them. All of the ponies that were powerful enough knew very well that some magic wasn’t replaceable. Twilight herself had been taught and repeatedly warned about how using over ambitious spells would burn straight through her standing magic, and tap deeper into her own, non-renewable life force, stripping literal years from her.
Twilight had just never thought of using the elements of harmony as casting a spell. Or just how overly ambitious using the elements really was.
Celestia did though. She had learned the hard way, many years ago, and she knew how close Twilight had come to death. Twilight shifted in her hug, nuzzling further into her embrace and causing another rush of tears to come from both of them. Pressing her cheek against Twilight’s, she could feel Twilight’s renewed magic, pulsing stronger than ever before. If she concentrated, Celestia could even feel the unicorn’s life force, hot, brighter than any mortal pony’s, and nearly blinding relative to the shrunken husk it had been just days before. It was wonderful.
It took a long time for the two mares to stop crying, but even when the last tears had finally dried, they both stayed where they were, Twilight with forelegs wrapped around Celestia, the princess’s great white wings shrouding her like a blanket. For a few minutes, they just sat there, soaking in the quiet.
As Twilight lay her head, eyes closed, against Celestia’s shoulder, Celestia could feel her trembling softly. Maybe from emotion, but more likely, with exhaustion. Growing a new pair of limbs, not to mentions several inches in height, wasn’t exactly easy on a body. Though part of her wished to stay with Twilight forever, Celestia closed her eyes. With a light of her horn, and a brief flash of light, they were in Twilight’s room, with the brand new alicorn set snug in the covers of her bed. Twilight let out a small mewl of surprise, before quickly realizing exactly how tired she felt, and wriggling further under the covers. A little smile crossed over Celestia’s face as she leaned over the bed, and smoothed down Twilight’s mane with a hoof.
“Thank you.” Twilight murmured softly, a far-off little smile on her face. “Thank you for everything.”
As if it shouldn’t be the other way around. As if she wasn’t the one that Celestia should be thanking.
Celestia’s eyes softened. “Sleep well...Twilight.”
She doubted her student even heard her.
The library door shut with hardly a sound as Celestia stepped outside and spread her wings. The flight to Canterlot wasn’t exactly short, and she could have just as easily teleported to her chambers, but sometimes the simple pleasure of flying trumped convenience. In the cool, early morning air, with the wind rushing through her feathers and hair, it was easy, at least for a little while, to let her mind rest. On this occasion, however, she was barely two wingbeats into the trip, when trouble arrived, floating lazily on it’s back beside her, and grinning like a snake.
“Well, wasn’t that just adorable.” Discord cooed, twisting around so he was no longer upside down, and paddling his legs to propel himself through the air. His small, mismatched wings were folded neatly at his sides.
Celestia lifted her gaze away from him, to the horizon, and sped up significantly.
It was no use. In the blink of an eye, Discord was in front of her, this time inside a gigantic soap bubble.
“Celly, dear-” he began, voice wavy, and distorted through the shimmering film. Reaching out a claw, he drew a little circle on the inside of the bubble, and neatly tapped it out, where it tumbled to the earth below, and shattered like a pane of glass. “That’s much better.”
You could have cut yourself on his smile.
“I just wanted to congratulate you. Really. Well done! Good job! ” he stretched lazily, “Stellar scheming, on your part., I couldn’t have done it better myself.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes, and hissed. “It wasn’t a scheme.”
Discord widened his eyes, the bubble around him popping loudly. “Not a scheme?! Oh ho! Silly me…” He shook his head, a large yellow dunce cap materializing between his horns. “Here I thought all this cloak and dagger stuff implied it was some sort of... secret plan. You know...getting me to switch around some cutie marks, stir up some of my usual chaos, create a fake crisis that could realistically warrant an ascension, that sort of thing.”
Celestia clenched her teeth together. It had been a necessary falsehood, for everypony’s well being. If she thought there wasn’t enough time, if she thought Twilight might not last until the preparations were finished, she would have scrapped the smoke and mirrors to ascend her in a heartbeat. Things were just smoother with them, easier. Twilight would suffer less in the end.
“Now that I know that it wasn’t a scheme though. Well! I had you all wrong, Celestia!” Discord put a paw to his face dramatically. “Just imagine, me, thinking that you were some sort of lying, manipulating-”
Discord was swiftly cut off as he was muzzled by several bands of glowing energy. Celestia yanked his face very close to hers.
“Think very carefully about finishing that next sentence.” She hissed, teeth clenched.
“Fine. Fine! Alright!” Discord rubbed his snout sorely as her magic released him.
They flew in silence for a little while, the only noises the faint whistle of wind through Celestia’s wings, and whatever mode of locomotion happened to strike Discord’s fancy that minute, including, but not limited to: Jogging in midair, lounging on a floating rug, turning himself into a kite, and pedaling through the clouds on a little broomstick while humming to himself. Celestia took a deep breath. Any second now...
“A real shame though...” Discord said slowly. “About Twilight’s friends.”
“I told you,” Celestia snipped coolly, “I have a plan for that.”
“Hrr--Scheme-cff!” Discord coughed loudly into his paw, before smiling unpleasantly at her. “Celestia, friend. You and I both know that returning the elements to the tree isn’t going to work. The damage has already been done.” He folded his arms, and grumbled. “Not that I won’t help you out with that act too. I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?”
Celestia glared at him “It will work.”she said firmly, desperately. “Besides, what do you care? Didn’t you say the reincarnations would be soulless simulacrums? What was the phrase you used, “Empty flesh sacks with the faces of friends”? I remember that pretty distinctly.”
Discord paused, his face tightening into a frown. The face on the duck shaped life preserver that he was bobbing through the air in glowered as well.“I was wrong...it’s like...it’s just like she’s alive again.”
Celestia’s expression softened. “Fluttershy is a lovely girl, isn’t she? Really, a dead ringer for Pansy. They all are. A little different here and there, but with the same…” She waved a hoof vaguely, searching for the right word, “soul. I guess.”
“Yeah.” Discord said quietly.
“It would really be terrible,” Celestia continued, slowly, “Iif you didn’t stay reformed, if you went around making trouble. It would probably break her heart to have to see you in stone again, given how much she trusts you. Such a sweet mare….You write each other letters, don’t you?”
Discord nodded.
“That’s nice.” Celestia's warm smile did nothing to thaw her eyes.
The only noise from Discord came from his spontaneously deflating life preserver. He didn’t even try to reinflate it the entire way back to Canterlot.
She closed her eyes, and sighed. Everything was okay. Twilight was okay. Everything was going to be fine.
The URL thingy is broke. FIXITFIXITFIXITFIXITFIXIT!
May I just say, "Holy sh*t" Celestia is a schemer.
so this was not the first time they were ressurrected.....
6046521
fixed
6046582 That seems to be the implication here.
6046536 Aye, and she has been scheming so long, so much, she has no idea how to handle such complete failure.
6046612
6046582
Celestia did ask "How many times do they have to die?" in the prologue...
Sigh. Of course. Celestia's evil, the elements of harmony are actually soul-sucking parasitic magic devices. , the Magic of Good is all a sick sick lie, let's all go to Hot Topic and smoke clove cigarettes while listening to Linkin Park lyrics.
6046666 or if this is to be believed, seeking the aid of old friends i guess.
6046666
For the Greater Good Monster, like I said.
This chapter feels wrong, to me.
Usually when there's an "evil" Celestia it's like, prefaced, or done in some other clever way., but I feel like this was out of nowhere. As far as I remember this whole story so far was about Celestia **maybe** being evil, or, if not that, Twilight overreacting.
But this chapter just kinda.... it had the same effect as Celestia being Pony Hitler, sitting in an office signing a bill to destroy orphanages while drinking a snifter of classy wine.
Like, it's just ridiculous how much evil you crammed into her almost out of nowhere.
(also is Celestia's reason for keeping Twilight alive her having the hots for her???)Well it's good to see you back in the writing scene, I have been enjoying this story quite a bit.
Well looks like this has been going on for much longer than we have previously thought. I'm sorry, Celestia, but you are a manipulative schemer, no matter how noble your goals are. It seems that this isn't the first time that she had knowingly sent ponies to their deaths by using the elements. I'm sensing that there is even more to this than what we've seen so far and I'm curious to what we'll learn next. I'd love to see more Anxiety Attack Twilight, seems like she needs to reacquaint herself with society once more and I want to see more of that.
Hope to see the next chapter soon!
this is why I'm still an opponet of the Elements doing this. I can see a side affect of whatever they faced that final time doing it But I can't justify the Elements alone killing them. Especially with what the castle represents and the fact the Elements are in them.
This... explains a lot.
6046648 Hey. Did you know that you DON'T have to read the story if you don't like it? Amazing, I know!
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Lotsa elements there.
Wow. So they all just... passed by using the Elements so often? That's quite harsh.
Poor Twilight.
Great chapter though, it's good to have at least some light shed on what happened in the past.
6046697 I hear the New Lunar Republic is nice this time of year.
6046648
You know, I think this was done rather well, for a "the elements are killing the bearers" situation. It's not an inherent property of the elements that caused their early death, but of any magic of that scale. I'm extrapolating a little from what's explicitly stated in the story, but I'd say that the elements are pretty freaking wonderful, if you consider the fact that if you were to use magic on this scale on your own (as in, maybe with a single magical artifact that only one pony uses, instead of a group of six in harmony), you'd probably kill yourself outright.
I also don't get the impression of "Celestia's evil" that you're claiming. There's nothing inherently evil about scheming. She did what she had to in order to stop the world from dying, admittedly in what seems to be a sub-optimal way, and then set about trying to fix her mistakes, admittedly in what seems to be a sub-optimal way. Twilight got hurt, and now she hates and mistrusts Celestia, but neither of them are evil.
“Hrr--Bitch-cff!”--->
Excuse me I need to go scream into a pillow.
Wow, though. I had a feeling Celestia had done something pretty bad and selfless but . . . I think this broke my feels
Discord's a double agent
Either that or he feels sorry for Twilight
6047059 Hey! Did you know even harsh critics are entitled to an opinion? SHOCKER!
6047403 Considering all he does is bitch and moan when something isn't to his tastes, he's more entitled to a rusty lead pipe to the face.
6047554 You also don't have to read his comments or his blogs either.
This is getting deep!
Can't wait to read more.
I would think that Celestia with all of her years of dealing with half baked schemes to over rule her laws, she'd have developed a sense of when to stop scheming and making planes around those close to her. Discord did not deserve the cold shoulder and Twilight definitely deserved to know Celestia's plan before she enacted it.
I guess Celestia no longer believes she has any Allies or close friends that deserve her full trust any more, after dealing with the corrupt noble cast for over a thousand years, she probably broke. Not evil per say, but certainly not in the fullest of health mentally.
Yeah no. Sorry I'm really not buying into this one. I mean the premise alone of birthing her friends is ridiculous and questionable regardless of how much Celestia could arguably be hated so much for scheming, but it's also kinda really messed up that she's so desperate that she'd go that far. And then is she going to be their mother or their friend?
I mean good luck and all but... damn.
6047640 I'd sooner drink a cup of acid after chewing on a rusty razor blade before I followed that Communist turdpirate.
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Interesting i'd forgotten i was reading this one. Though this explains quite a bit i suppose.
6047217
That's the problem like I said with fanfics like this.
Ugh. Celestia in this is mind numbing. Over blowing her subtle side. And basically making her a selfish nag.
6047273
Yes, listen to this man everyone he's got the right idea.
No, I'm not being sarcastic, that is very much what I think is happening here.
Which makes this situation all the worse, because it's not really evil per se...
but it's still wrong, still feels like a punch to the gut and a nail gun through the heart.
It's... I get her (Celestia's) motives, and the actions she takes are very wrong, but I would not call her evil. I don't think she has crossed that line. But... ngyeh...
Honestly, I'm just going to take the mire of "moral ambiguity" surrounding Celestia's actions (and in turn the actions that Twilight has taken as a result) as a sign of good writing and move on. Good luck author, you shall need it.
6048053 she may not be 'evil' but that last part was definitely a cheep shot below the belt. but i wonder how many times have the elements been need.
but there was at least a hint of evil with how Cadence ascended, even if it was an accident. good intentions and all that.
6046758
First of all, just for clarification's sake, Celestia loves Twilight a whole lot, but not in any sort of explicitly romantic way Mostly because I don't want romance to be the focus of this story, and also slightly strange asexual, super-close, friend-mances (?) are basically the closest to romance I get when it comes to writing. I see it as platonic... I suppose someone could construe it as romantic if that floated their boat, but that's really up to them.
Secondly, I know this was a criticism in several comments, but so I figured I'd just address the whole thing in one place. I think you made a very valid point on Celestia's character, especially considering this latest chapter is probably one of her lowest points, morally speaking, and she comes off as pretty despicable in it. However I am not planning to write off Celestia as just being a monster (or a brandy-swigging pony Hitler ) In fact, fingers crossed that everything goes as planned, I think she'll probably be a pretty compelling character though the course of the story.
So...Spoilers, I guess?
Now I know this is pretty easy for me to say, since I have the basic outline of the story in my head, and I know where everything is going. Considering what you've seen of Celestia so far, "Are you planning on leaving her as some sort of irredeemably evil, soulless horse-demon?" is a valid question and concern. So I just wanted to let you guys know that, no, I am not. Making Celestia a cop out, one dimensional-ly evil character would be the easy way out, and a lame thing to do.
Hopefully what I've got
schemedplanned will turn out much better.Thank you all for the feedback, it's really great to know that people are actually interested in this story enough to let me know where I'm mucking it up
...and, hopefully things should get a little clearer in the next couple of chapters
6047725 I agree that the premise isn't the most sturdy (or even the most original in places), but it still seems like a fun little experiment. It'd probably be a whole lot better if the author wasn't so keen on the melodrama.
This actually seems like a perfectly reasonable reaction to me. For thousands of years, ponies have pretty much worshipped her as a goddess. For thousands of years mortals have bowed before her and told her how much better than them she was. She's watched time and again the fragility of a mortal life is. And through all that, shes probably realized just how easy it would be for her to kill them all. Just leave the sun up in the sky for a couple extra weeks, and suddenly they're all filly fillet. Its not hard to understand how she can do this. Its really a testamate to her strength of character that she hasn't given into this before.
6047725
...That moment when a moderator reads your story and is like: NOPE. NOPENOPE. NOPE.
reactiongifs.com/r/whid.gif
I guess you can't please everyone, but ouch
6049177 eh. A random mod doesn't invalidate 1500+ likes. It might not be for me but you're doing something right.
6047725
I'd have to disagree on your opinion of her attempt to revive her friends. To reference a similar event, I'll be using Into Thin Air, by John Krakauer (which is a true reaccounting of the Everest disaster of 1996). At the end of the novel, the main character develops a condition known as survivor's guilt, where you feel responsible for another person's death. John Krakauer spent months feeling terrible at the fact that people he had known for less than a month had died while he was alive. Twilight's pregnancy spell would have probably been from an extreme case of survivor's guilt, blaming herself for her friend's deaths. I'd also imagine that the idea of reincarnation for the ponies came from a concept that she has to 'atone' for the sins she committed.
As for the second question, I'd feel like Twilight's condition will cause her to develop an unhealthily possessive nature over her children (already we can see her naming them all the same names). Her guilt of their deaths will manifest in an obsession to see them never hurt again. This obsession would start out small, but slowly develop into an almost 'don't leave the house without me' behavior. This would (if the story continues that far) lead to a rebellion from the Mane 5, in which they leave Twilight or an intervention by Spike with the Princesses. At this point, the story would be at its (probable) climax/finale. So to answer your question... Most likely as a mother.
And finally... I'm sorry I kinda ranted a bit. Don't hate me...
Finally! Moar!
Now that I have that outta the way, why didn't you Discord flying a broom whilst humming the tune? It was the way I would always remember the WWotW.
Edit: Looking back, don't know why I put that behind a spoiler screen. Or abbreviated it, for that matter.
6049274 Look, I really don't want to argue the point too much, given that as I stated this story is not for me, and really having a long discussion about it might be counter productive. But, Twilight waited 300 years. Not a month or a couple of years. But, okay sure, I mean, it's a story. But, really, the concept of giving birth to her friends because she can't get over it, and by the same token stopping the natural reincarnation cycle that is alluded in the text itself is... well... disturbing.
I mean, just imagine what they would say to her.
6047059 I really really love those who respond to criticism, 9 chapters in, by saying "you don't have to read it", or even worse, "it's not for you!" Guess what? If someone likes a story idea enough to get past the story description and first, oh, chapter or so, they get just as much an opinion on the outcome of it as anyone else. An author whose story promises awesome stuff that then disappoints some of the readers drawn in by that promise… has disappointed some of their readers. The fact that they may have intended to write the story in a way which would inevitably disappoint that segment of readers is in no possible sense an excuse!
That's not to say that such an author is deserving condemnation, exactly, but they, and their loyal fans that like the end result, do have to accept that those who liked the idea but did not like the end result deserve the same say in how to consider that result. It was "for" them. They didn't like it. Them's the breaks. No story is perfect, but some deserve more downvotes than others.
6050547 No, you don't get it - Reality Check's sole purpose in life seems to be bitch and moan about everything that he doesn't like, and heaven help you if lordofmyth decides to show up. To be fair, I'm not entirely sold on some of the things in this story, but do you see me going out of my way to whine about it?
6051210 It's one thing if someone seems to be going out of their way to find all the stories they object to just to object to them noisily and pointlessly. But my original counter still stands: if the only way someone can tell they object to a story is by trying it and getting pretty far in, it's entirely unfair to consider them to be going out of their way to find stories to object to! And this unfairness is specifically an attempt to stifle opinions for no other reason than that you dislike and disagree with them. (You may not have thought of it that way, and I do hope not, but that is in fact exactly what it boils down to. "Stop criticizing the films I like, Roger Ebert! How dare you have lots of opinions on lots of movies you watched all the way through?")
(One could also note that a great deal of RC's time is actually taken up writing popular stories, many of them on this very site. But hey, those don't count, right? Nor do the stories RC specifically comments on to say that he likes, or the stories he's integrated into his own story canon….)
Sop twilight's friends have been around for a long time? Wow
. . . I feel that everything that's gone wrong could have been solved, or at least have softened the blow, with some honesty.
Would Twilight have been fine with Celestia essentially executing her a few years in the future? Maybe at first. Maybe not as the sword of Damocles begins to fall. Maybe she'd smile all the way through, happy that she'd made the world a better place and had such good friends.
But at least she would have gone into it knowing what was happening and why.
She uses her Pony's to make things happen and keep Equestria alive. This time though it seems that she got involved. She didn't want to lose Twilight. So she sacrificed her friends to keep Twilight around. The problem is Twilight figured this out.
Its these line I don't understand. Was Twilights Friends all reincarnations of the Pansy, Platinim, etc? Were they made? Or were they natural Pony's that Celestia believes are fakes.
Pansy
6052519 Think of it less like magic and more like electricity. Electrons flow through circuits, creating current. Fuses act as ways to stop a circuit from overloading by being more fragile than the rest of the circuit, and thus being the first point of failure.
Using the elements is therefore akin to plugging a 120 volt appliance into a 200 volt outlet. Mortals simply aren't built to that kind of standard.