Shouldn't it?
“I'm sorry?” Fluttershy stared across the living room. Her lips were shut thinly, and her wings were folded against her back. Twilight stared back without answering, and Fluttershy’s eyebrow rose. “I'm not sure I understand...”
“Would it matter?” Twilight repeated, setting aside one of the larger bags of feed. Her voice was calm, but not stable, and she held Fluttershy’s stare across the short gap between them. She’d been helping Fluttershy organize her animal friend's lunches, and had several dishes in her magical grip. “If I wasn't...”
“Would it matter if you weren't traumatized by the wedding?” Fluttershy repeated, cautiously. Her puzzled expression turned contemplative, and her tail flicked. “That’s what you're asking me?” Twilight nodded. “Okay, well then... I think so. The changelings just tried to invade Canterlot and mind controlled your brother, so I’d have to say it would matter.”
“Changelings just tried to invade Canterlot, but only one mind controlled my brother,” Twilight stated. Her voice was firm but polite, as if correcting a misunderstanding. "And tricked my friends into abandoning me, almost causing me to kill my favorite foal-sitter." She turned back to the shelf in front of her, and resumed filling up dishes.
“I am sorry about that....” Fluttershy continued to stare at Twilight, now at her back. Twilight filled up a dish, and considered its label. There was plenty of work to be done, keeping all of Fluttershy's animal friends fed. They still hadn’t left the cottage. Twilight was filling dishes, and Fluttershy was checking on her injured animal friends, with Angel Bunny almost helping out.
“It's not you being sorry that's bugging me!” Twilight slammed the dishes down, spinning around to face the pegasus. “I mean, that sort of thing should have me in weeks of therapy, right? But if I just shrug it off, like it didn't even bother me... would that be weird, in any way?” One eyelid twitched very briefly.
“I don't know if you realized this,” Fluttershy gently said, "but... you are weird."
“Well, not clinically. I don't think so anyway...” Twilight glanced at the food bowl in her grip, pulling out the appropriate bag of feed. “And don’t change the subject. What I am is not what I'm talking about, I'm asking if it matters!”
"It's all rather contextual, really." Fluttershy gently put one of her mouse friends down, giving Twilight a look. "I mean, as a friend I don't think it would matter. It would be strange, yes, but I'd still see you as my friend. From a clinical standpoint, though, such behaviors are considered to be unhealthy, and I would worry about you if you were operating outside the norm in this regard. It's not like being pro, ah, mental oddity means I'm automatically against mental treatment. Twilight, what's this about?"
"About? This isn't about anything!" Twilight laughed brightly, her right ear flopping back for a brief moment. "This is just me, having a bit of a philosophical conversation with my good friend, the bearer of the element of Kindness, who might be able to tell me whether or not I should be in a certain mindset or if it would matter to society as a whole and/or my own social circle in particular. Who says that everything I say has to have some sort of point behind it?" She giggled, her eyes twitching.
After a moment, she stopped, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Okay. Okay, but seriously. What you're saying is, our friendship would remain unchanged, but you'd want me to get treatment. That seems like it makes sense. I can understand the whole point you make. But what if, for the sake of the argument, I legitimately didn't need treatment?"
Fluttershy opened her mouth, paused, and examined Twilight carefully. The unicorn's mane, usually well groomed, had a few loose strands curling up here and there, and the bags under her eyes were dark and heavy. “You’re serious,” she finally said, completely astonished.
"Of course I'm serious!" Twilight all but shouted. "Why would I bring this up if I wasn't serious about it?! I mean, this is a serious sort of question--" She caught herself, taking another deep breath.
"O...kay... Well, like I said, it would be somewhat strange, but you know you'd still be my good friend, Twilight."
"It's just that such detachment is symptomatic of a deeper issue," Twilight continued as she set aside yet another filled food bowl, "which could make me dangerous to be around."
"Well, I do have quite a few carnivorous animal friends, so I think I can tell when--"
“And when I think about it, I actually am pretty dangerous to be around!"
"Twilight, are you even listening to what I say?"
"I mean, when I first came to town Nightmare Moon appeared. And ever since then, let's be honest! The dragon, the Ursa Major, the parasprites..." With each example, Twilight set aside another food dish.
Fluttershy sighed, absently running her feathers through her mane. "You've been reading through the library's psychological textbooks again, haven't you? You know what Nurse Redheart told you about self diagnosis, Twilight--"
"A whole litany of minor catastrophes have hit Ponyville since I arrived," the unicorn continued obliviously. "And that's not even counting the times that the world hung in the balance! I mean, when Nightmare Moon appeared, I was genuinely terrified, you know? But with Discord, well, I was still somewhat scared but it wasn't nearly as frightening--I actually thought he was kind of ridiculous. And now with the changelings I'm getting this 'ho-hum, oh was that another threat to ponykind as we know it? I wish I could have been more useful.'"
At this point, Fluttershy decided not to say anything. It was quite apparent that while Twilight needed to speak to somepony, she wasn't speaking with anypony. Yet.
"But that's just it, Fluttershy. For ordinary ponies, that should be something that frightens them completely. An invading army, right in the capital, that managed to neutralize the guard captain and one-on-oned Celestia herself? And since I was so personally involved with the situation, I should be a complete mess! But here I am, casually filling food bowls for animals, not even worried if Shining Armor was traumatized by the situation--or Cadance either!"
"Why does this bother you?" Fluttershy inquired, so Twilight could keep sorting out her thoughts.
Twilight took a breath, and then turned her head to look Fluttershy in the eyes. “Maybe, with all the adventures we've been on, I've become desensitized to danger. Maybe, on a subconscious level, I seek out and cause these situations."
“What!?” Fluttershy took a sharp step back. “How could you say such a thing, Twilight Sparkle?! You're a hero of Equestria!”
Twilight took a step forward. "Think about it Fluttershy. I sought out Nightmare Moon. I caused the Smarty Pants incident. The time travel thing, that was all my fault!" She began pacing around the room. "Great heroes require great dangers. Most of them have the patience to wait until danger comes!"
"But not little old Twilight, oh ho ho no." Twilight grinned broadly. "I was so ready to declare Cadance evil--not just a jerk, but out and out evil. What does that say about me, that I see villains everywhere? I mean, sure, I was right, but not at all for the reasons I thought I was. So while everyone else was completely torn apart by the changelings, I was just thinking 'how do I solve this problem?' I didn't care that I almost alienated my friends earlier, not until the situation was over."
The unicorn turned to Fluttershy with a broad grin, her eyes twitching every so often. "Don't you see Fluttershy? On an emotional level, none of that mattered to me because I was solving a problem. I just didn't care at all!"
Fluttershy kept herself from rolling her eyes. "...Twilight, being focused on one aspect of a situation does not mean you don't care. You just... expressed your care differently."
"Yes! Exactly! I'm applying my formerly minor OCD tendencies to situations that require a fare different treatment!" Twilight clapped her hooves together as another few strands of her mane sprung from their carefully organized positions. "Ergo, my psychological stance on the events of the wedding is sufficiently abnormal to the point where I do not require the careful treatment that such events would require in the case of normal ponies. While friends are definitely supposed to accept the relative differences of each other, there does seem to be a level beyond which acceptance is not feasible, usually as a result of insanity." She flicked her tail as she started placing food dishes in front of Fluttershy's animals. "That border seems to be defined so vaguely,I cannot tell if I have crossed it!"
“Why should I care?” Fluttershy inquired.
“Oh, gee. Why would you care that I might be one decision away from killing you all?” She giggled, running her hooves through her mane. “You’re right. That is absolutely a crazy thing for you to care about!”
"Twilight, did you convince yourself you're a sociopath again? You know that the ponies at the hospital said you're not. You're a mostly healthy individual with some--"
"I could have faked that test!" Twilight cried, falling to the ground. "I could fake all the tests!"
Fluttershy took several long breaths. She looked at Twilight, who was busily stroking her own tail. She sighed. “Alright. Let's think about this logically. First, you're a very logic-driven mare, right?”
Twilight took a breath, thought about it, and nodded. "Yes, that's right..."
"Now, logically, the only reason you would have to associate with us is as fellow bearers of the Elements of Harmony," Fluttershy continued. "Granted, since they do seem to run on friendship, you would at the least have to appear friendly."
“It could all be faked,” Twilight agreed, shying away and shutting her eyes.
"What about... Scootaloo? What do you think of her?"
"What about Scootaloo? I don't--!"
"You have no logical obligation toward Scootaloo," Fluttershy explained gently. "So how you treat her could easily be considered an example of how you treat ponies in general. Just tell me, Twilight; what do you think of her?"
"She's... well, a filly, sometimes annoying, but she has a good heart."
"From that statement I can derive that you first of all consider 'a filly' to be a category of pony, and by implication that category is not something you dislike. Furthermore, while you consider her 'sometimes annoying,' you also admit Scootaloo has a good heart, which is a phrase that indicates a serious approval of personality and morality, which outweighs your annoyance."
Fluttershy lifted Twilight's chin and smiled gently.
"But more importantly, I've seen how you act around the crusaders, and other ponies. Your emotions toward them show you care about them like a normal pony would. And your actions are consistent with how you treat us as your friends. You never deliberately set out to hurt ponies, and you certainly don't think of them as things. Okay, Twilight?"
After a moment, Twilight let out a shuddering sigh. "I guess.... I guess you're right. Just because I don't... treat danger the same way as others, just because I don't worry about ponies when I'm focused on saving the world, it doesn't mean that I have a fundamental lack of emotional concern and connection to my fellow pony kind." She let out a slow breath, standing up and awkwardly brushing a hoof through her mane. "...Fluttershy--"
"It's all fine," the pegasus reassured her. "Sometimes we need to get through this sort of thing by just talking it out, and this was clearly bothering you. So it's all alright, okay?"
"Still... thanks. For helping me."
"Anytime."
"Well... I kind of feel silly now." Twilight stood up, shaking her head.
"Don't be. Self identity is kind of important, especially for ponies. Speaking of which, I, uh..."
"You've secretly always been a changeling?" Twilight asked calmly. "Because that's kind of obvious, everypony knows. We're fine with it."
"Wait, what?! Are you serious?!" Fluttershy jumped back, frightened.
"You surround yourself with loving animals, you have your 'Stare', and we kinda spotted you sneaking away from the anonymous tip box for the royal guard right before the note about how changeling feeding works appeared. So yeah." Twilight shrugged. "Two plus two is four."
"I was giving them a tip about lost kittens!" Fluttershy insisted, glancing around the room. "And I don't know how the stare works! And I just love caring for animals! Twilight, I am not a changeling!"
"Oh, of course not." Twilight gave her an exaggerated wink. "Relax, Fluttershy, your secret is safe with me."
“I…” Fluttershy stammered. “I mean…”
"Well, this was actually very good for me. Thank you again Fluttershy." Twilight patted the pegasus on the shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some books to read." She trotted out.
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You know, the bandwagon can actually be a pretty decent form of transport... once you get used to all the practicing tunes.
Best version yet
Now the only question is whether or not Fluttershy is a changeling.
*Sees what Masterweaver has wrote... then remembers the kerfuffle another author had when his story based on what this story is based on was turned down and how that author accused MW of stifling his work*
*Wonders if the 'bear' will come to growl and complain since it is being poked*
But in all seriousness, yet another funny take on this particular story.
Being able to see a crisis as a problem to solve doesn't make Twilight a sociopath. It makes her a hero. Granted, the two are far from mutually exclusive, but Fluttershy makes it clear which part of the Venn diagram Twilight occupies.
Both amusing and thoughtful. Thank you for it.
6521065 Don't be silly.
She clearly is.
6521185 No, she's a giant breezie.
6510197 And here you show the proper way to jump on it.
Well done, man.
I love you, you beautiful disaster you.
Hey look, one of these stories with decent dialogue. nice.
I don't even know what folder of the group to put this in. GG, Masterweaver.
6521434 Nahnahnah…
She's a Ditto that became a changeling who created the alias of "Fluttershy" based off of a breezie named "Shutterfly".
6521876 I put it in Expansions and Reinterpretations, as well as Parodies for this group
Feel free to say something if you disagree with where it is.
well....ok
6521084 He'll probably make a blog post, crying about how unfair it is that this story passed moderation when his didn't, because he still can't figure out the simple fact that the world doesn't revolve around him.
6523018
Not sure if fat joke or implying he’s legitimately that uninformed about heliocentrism.
6523521 cdn.meme.am/instances/400x/32658960.jpg
This is an interesting take on the bandwagon - Twilight questioning her own reactions to the Royal Wedding debacle and being a bit autophobic about it.
You've got to be fucking kidding me. Why is this still a thing?! Jaxie's story wasn't even that good, and he somehow started a fad almost as horrible as the "Twilight Eats Peaches" one. I think it's actually gone on even longer.
6524296
It's less about the story itself and more about the sociological impact of the story on storytelling.
6524332
My issue with this is that there was any sociological impact in the first place. The original story had dull prose and set up a scene where Fluttershy was not just out of character, but her supposed motivation for engaging Twilight in that sort of philosophical/ethical debate was tenuous at best. If a less popular, or even a less talented author than GaPJaxie had posted the exact same fanfic word for word, I honestly believe it would have been panned as a social commentary piece masquerading as a story.
6521084 Is the bear named Reality Check?
6523018 So why and how did this story get through, and get published, yet Reality Check's didn't? It makes no logical sense to me!
6524528 Because RCs story was a near carbon copy, only really changing the ending, where this is only similarly structured. It has nothing to do with anyone being a changeling. RCs story was just a hate fic, lashing out because the original didn't follow his head canon.
*snerk*
Okay, that was funny.
Great role reversal of the original story, just two small errors I noticed:
It was an Ursa Minor, not Major. You'd think a stickler for details like Twilight would've remembered that.
Get rid of that "e", will ya?
WHY AM I READING ANOTHER ONE OF THEEEEEwell at least it was decently funny, though it still needs some proofreading and Fluttershy didn't quite sound like herself. :B I do not regret this decision!
6524942 Oh, I see. Thank you so much for clarifying!
6524942
How the hell was it a hate fic? It didn't attack GapJaxie in any way, merely rebutted the arguments.
Oh, and it wasn't just the ending that changed. There was also everything leading up to it. You know, the arguments, who was making them...
The story was taken down because, supposedly, it only rewrote dialogue, something that can be said for a hell of a lot of the other fics.
As for saying it was a hate fic, an actual hate fic called "Reality is Stranger than Fiction", featuring a man called "Checkered Reality" kidnapping Nyx, then being murdered and having Twilight and Nyx have all kinds of sex was on the Feature Box for a few days before it was taken down.
Guess who the target was.
Oh, and a copy paste of "Rise of Darth Vulcan" was also approved. It was taken down only after being pointed out.
6527069 First, are you just another of his fanboys? If you are, then I'm not going to even try, otherwise, I welcome a good debate.
His version was a near C&P'd hate fic. The entire purpose was to say to GapJaxie that he was wrong about everything, when he completely missed the entire point of the story. The story wasn't asking "would it matter to Equestria", but "would it matter to our friendship". The only parts dealing with their friendship is Twilight crying about how her friends didn't apologize to her (which is headcanon, as they could very well have apologized) when she was throwing around accusations without evidence, and that Fluttershy didn't tell them something so personal, despite them having only known each other for less than a year.
At least "Reality is Stranger than Fiction" was an original story. It was a stupid story, and the author is a childish ass for making it, but it was original. As for the plagiarized version of Rise, it was taken down when the fact was brought to the mods attention, so that's an argument against you.
6527128
I can't say I agree with everything he says, (I'm apathetic towards Global Warming issue, but I don't agree with his opinions on being a creationist and most of all his opinions on LGBTIAQ). But I certainly don't hate any of his stories, even if they sometimes get a bit too preachy (IE The Audience, Pinkamena)
The original mixed both. Sure, the theme of friendship was there, but the entire reason Fluttershy went there in the first place was because she was afraid Twilight, Celestia and Luna would get hasty with their decisions, which was why Fluttershy kept backing Twilight into a corner. YiM addressed both the friendship question and the national level problems, and the entire ending was devoted to the friendship part.
The question is why they had to be pointed out in the first place. Pen Stroke specifically requested that no porn/foalcon fics be made of Nyx in his rules of using Nyx, AND it's also a hate fic, but "RiSTF" was still publsihed. "Destiny is a Fickle Thing" was an even bigger example of "Rewritten Dialogue" than YiM, yet it was still approved. Why were these fics approved immediately, but not RC's?
Oh wait, RC's was approved. By accident, for a few hours. And then taken down again. That can't be said for the others since "RiSTF" was on the Feature Box for a few days, and the other one went on for 16 chapters before being taken down.
GapJaxie himself said that RC's fic was a legitimate parody when he was approached by the mods, even though he hates it. Note that this was even after RC suspected him to be the one instigating the block (Yes, he apologized for it), so even the original author, despite having every reason to not give a shit, thought it was OK.
So YiM was not aiming to attack anyone, has the consent of the original creator, and was even less derivative than other fics (Titanium Dragon noted that the one discussing Trans issues was more derivative, having the same conversation flow, but just replacing Twi and Flutters with Big Mac and Applebloom and changelings with trans issues, and having read it, yes, I agree). But no, it's not published.
I'm not aiming to get fics taken down. I actually like a lot of the parodies (IE KitsuneRisu's and Alex Prior's, the former having nearly the same "rewritten dialogue" problems posed by the mods), but why the heck is RC's the only one not passed? Why can't everything just be allowed in?
6527176 The big problem with several of these examples is that the mods can't be expected to remember every fic. Often times, stories like that get through, and it's the responsibility of the readers to report these. When they are, the mods can take action.
While I haven't read the one about Big Mac being trans (I saw it, but can't help but feel it's likely just someone jumping on the trans crusade bandwagon, like so many people are doing right now), I can assume it's different enough, not only different characters, but a different issue. It just uses a similar template. RCs version is the same characters, same discussion, very similar dialogue (except for Twilight verbally assaulting Fluttershy), and a slightly different ending. The only real differences is the setting and Fluttershy revealing she is a changeling as opposed to leaving it vague.
While GapJaxie may have said it was a parody, it still wasn't. A parody is defines as an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect (Google definition). YiM is not nor was meant to be funny. It's just Twilight lashing out at Fluttershy. "Do it Mattered if I is?" is a parody. YiM was just a rewrite, and FiM fiction doesn't allow rewrites without taking down the original. That's the reason why it wasn't approved.
6527406
I have read RC's fic.
It is decent.
Please stop using the comments of my fic to attack another user. I know he is unpopular, but I also know this is neither the place, nor the method that I would use to discuss this user.
6527514 Sorry. I only meant to discuss the fic, not the author.
In all seriousness... that was actually a really intelligent conversation with Fluttershy and Twilight.
Upvote!
Ooooh. A DoesItMatterverse story where it isn't about being a changeling or not, but still thematically appropriate. Fantastic!
wat
Oh, that's brilliant. At this stage, Scootaloo is nothing more than the friend of her friends' sisters, and a somewhat annoying, somewhat endearing fangirl. She hasn't had her upgrade to honorary sister status--Twilight really doesn't have a reason to be good to her beyond a general niceness needed to keep people from bothering her, which wouldn't justify putting put up with her like she does. Very well done, author and Fluttershy.
Although Twilight's logic is completely flawed in the since that she couldn't possibly power friendship with fake, one-sided affection.
If I had a ring, I would propose to you right now.
Ooooh. A DoesItMatterverse story where it isn't about being a changeling or not, but still thematically appropriate. Fantastic!
...
wat
Oh, that's brilliant. At this stage, Scootaloo is nothing more than the friend of her friends' sisters, and a somewhat annoying, somewhat endearing fangirl. She hasn't had her upgrade to honorary sister status--Twilight really doesn't have a reason to be good to her beyond a general niceness needed to keep people from bothering her, which wouldn't justify putting put up with her like she does. Very well done, author and Fluttershy.
Although Twilight's logic is completely flawed in the since that she couldn't possibly power friendship with fake, one-sided affection.
If I had a ring, I would propose to you right now.
Twilight, even if you were Our Little Sociopath, that doesn't mean you're bad. It isn't what you are that defines you, but what you do. There are plenty of people out there filled with all kinds of utterly monstrous urges, and refuse to act on them because it's wrong.
Twilight: "I'm not saying I won't keep your secret, but.... if you turn into Celestia and make out with me, I'll be too exhausted to go spreading rumors."
Fluttershy: "Ok... I'm, I'm gonna take back some of the things I said about your mental stability."
This is getting ridiculous
Hey, this story has been added to The Devious Writer's Picks in Would it Matter if I Made This Group?, congratulations on a job well done!
I see myself as a pretty friendly guy, but even I would struggle to befriend someone who is hell-bent, utterly insistent that something is seriously WRONG with her.
Then again, maybe something is! Twilight is obviously not all there, so to speak, if she claims she faked their entire friendship just to, what, prove Fluttershy wrong? How does that work?
And that last line, basically "Welp, good conversation, I'm done here, byeee!"
6530248
When Twilight enters her madness place, she doesn't follow logic, or at least any logic we're familiar with.
I read this almost expecting a reversal of the original. I'm glad I was wrong.
6539465 And if this didn't happen to be an excellent story, I would be pissed off.
Neat.
Apparently everypony's a changeling! In my book at least
...y'know, I can't decide whether this is funnier if Fluttershy is a changeling, or if she is not.
I like this one. It's fun! Nice reversal of the subject, and it STICKS to things.
Woah, this was cool! Glad I stopped by.