Just your average reader and occasional writer. I like exploring 'want of a nail' type scenarios and fallen heroes. For some reason people seem to like my stories. Strange.
Alicornhood is a dream that most ponies never consider past their tenth birthday, when they finally understand reality. For Twilight Sparkle, that reality was just turned on its head. The day after her ascension, after the excitement and happiness has worn off slightly, the facts of the situation finally set in. During a breakfast conversation about the responsibility she will soon bear, Spike asks a simple question: "Do you really want to be a princess, Twilight?"
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All I can say is, wow. That was a pretty deep AU one-shot story. The exchanges, characterizations and general wrap-up are pretty well done in all the right places. Yeah, I could see the points Spike AND the rest of the Mane Six made concerning Twilight's ascension and having that sort of responsibility heaped on her without her consent. Yeah, Twi DIDN'T actively seek that authority and, as far as they all knew at the time, the stress of the job would have been more than she could handle. One can hardly fault Twilight for choosing the less stressful path, though maybe still stepping up for the REALLY big stuff ONLY when absolutely needed.
All in all, great mix of thoughtful material and entertaining in-character points.
It's one thing to get rid of the title. But you're stuck as an alicorn Twilight. That can't be undone, and most ponies won't stop calling her princess.
Unless Celestia makes an announcement to all of Equestria to the effect of what just happened.
I thought anti Princess Twilight stories like this were extinct! JUST KIDDING! This was very well written, and very fair, and everyone was in character! I loved it a lot, really. It made logical sense.
Good riddance.
Damn it, now I’m curious what Celestia said.
You know, this story brought up quite a few points of Celestia's manipulation of Twilight up to that point, I totally approve!!!
I'd read a whole fic about this.
And this is probably why canon Celestia held off on the royal responsibilities until Twilight was begging for them.
Ya gotta do your own thing in life man, you'll never be happy stuck in a situation someone picked out for you.
Good story mate, I'd read more if you wrote it.
10234229
It's amazing what they can do with illusion spells these days.
"Wings? What wings? Oh, that mess yesterday? Turns out that was Discord playing a really weird prank."
And then Celestia pulls rank, tells Twilight she has no choice in the matter, so mare up and deal with it.
lol Rainbow dissing Celestia reminded me of this
Heh
10234917
Well, time for plan B - fail the next test, making Celestia reconsider.
Honestly, this (the story) is what I would have done in Twilight's place, though I would probably have figured it out myself without the question from Spike.
By the way, the last plan would be to go along with the MLP canon story (without the school though) and then just resign and make Equestria a democracy or give the position to Blueblood (or Starlight). Though I'm pretty sure Celestia would have gotten the hint by then.
As it is, in canon Twilight sadly just got railroaded to her "destiny" - I wonder how much time she has for reading and studying anymore.
10234254
What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Equestrian Selkies, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Changelings, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire Equestrian spell forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this planet, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the fire-net? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across Equestria and your dragon is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You're fucking dead, foal. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my bare hooves. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the Equestrian Royal Gaurds and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "reflective" letter was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, filly.
10235484
Better not get on that Celestia’s bad side.
10235484
..Wait
if you have all of that what do you need me to be a princess for?
I'm sorry. I'm sorry
You seemed have things under-control. See you when you get here to kill bye!
10234254
Same. I'm not sure a sequel is in the plans, but one that explores the consequences of Twilight's decision over the rest of the canon timeline would be interesting (especially regarding the Tree of Harmony and the School of Friendship).
I honestly didn't know what to expect with this type of fic, Twilight yelling at Celestia maybe? But no, it was honestly fair to all parties. It is a bit of a shame we don't see Celestia's take on this, or even why she did this. She could have just been very tired, and never got the chance to explain properly. I think that's this story's greatest failing, we don't know why Celestia put Twilight as a Princess. We're just left to assume.
I liked it! Of course, now I'm want to know the "rest of the story", but that's not the point here, is it? I'll just go imagine what happens next, but for this story, I think it's finished, and right where it should be. Good job.
10234229
Why would she do that? Literally only Ponyville knows at that point, and even after she is a princess, she can’t even get a cab in Manehattan without being yelled at by passers-by.
10234867
10234917
Secret alternate Hacksaw Ending.
Until it isn't - like, say, plundervines. Or changelings, before they became colourful and randomly-shaped. Or an invasion by Lord Bad Weather, who had his troops use crystal bomb things.
"Whelp"? That's rude. What's he done to offend you?
10236196
"Whelp" is the technical term for an adolescent dragon. 'tis quite correct.
A cool look at the situation given, I’d like to think that Celestia would have talked to Twilight afterwards about the whole thing but I digress.
This was very nicely handled, though I was a bit out off by Fluttershy’s bit, it felt a bit too extreme for Flutters. I’m half and half about the letter at the end. It works to draw your own conclusions but it almost leaves a hole in the conclusion. Either way still a good fic, nice work
10236480
Yeah, could use a second chapter covering the aftermath - Celestia's reaction to the letter, the two of them talking it over, and so on.
10236504
See that’s the thing, I kinda want a solid conclusion but I think it’s a situation where leaving it opens works as well, since this is Twilight’s decision and it’s about her introspections.
It’s a tuff one. I think I prefer it like this though
This, this is what I love.
10235127
Well of course she was railroaded to merchandise... sorry, destiny.
10234229
Functionally, Twilight does jack with earth pony stuff.
Call her a pegacorn instead of a princess. Problem solved.
Well, that was refreshing and cathartic without feeling vicious. The character voices were occasionally a little off - Rainbow Dash was a little too eloquent at times, for example - but the ideas and heart of it rang very true.
It always astonished me that the showrunners had this long-term plan to make Twilight a princess and, eventually, the princess, and yet forgot probably the most important and definitely the easiest step of all: showing or even implying that she wanted to be one before the fact. It could have been an active ambition, a dream she didn't expect to be possible, a "wouldn't it be cool if...", or anything! Just something that suggests this is something she'd actually want to happen.
But the most we get is the implication that she's accepted it and learned to appreciate, or at least tolerate, it once she's got it. Which is something, but since one can get used to pretty much any situation one's thrust into, it's really not the same thing. I mean, that's not to say the show didn't make it work to an extent, just that I think that was a notable and totally avoidable flaw in the execution of things.
And I felt this fic addressed the issue very well and did what a "fix fic", using the term loosely, should - provide an alternative to canon events without resorting to mockery, demonization of one or more parties or throwing around blame and insults, instead simply saying "this is what could have happened instead" and leaving it at that.
First off, well done on the story. The only issue I had was with her not reading the letter. Twilight is far too curious a pony to just leave it for later.
10237626
As for rainbow, I always thought of her as a smart pony. Unfortunately some of the writers like to pass her the idiot ball when it serves to make her cliche. It annoyed me a lot when they revealed a disinterest in pegasus history. Up until then she seemed passionate about hurricane and I figured she was also knowledgeable about those times. It actually forced me to rewrite part of a chapter in a story I was writing at the time.
10237626
These are my thoughts as well. Other ponies of the main 6 expressed their wishes and actually got what they wanted. Twilight never said that she wanted to be a politician. Worse, from the show it looks like she went along with it oy to avoid disappointing Celestia. In the Winter Wrap-up episode she was said to be good at organizing, but that does not mean she would like to become the head of state. Also, being good at something does not mean you like it.
But then again, "everyone wants to be the king", right? Wrong.
At the very least Twilight could have said something along the lines of "I always dreamed I could become a Mayor, but now I'll be able to to so much good for ponies as the main Princess". That may make me think she was OOC, but at least it would be stated in the show that she wanted it.
As it was, during season 9 I was very sad for Twilight.
Twilight did create the school of her own volition, so, I guess I can just ignore season 9 and say that Twilight stays in the school until she decides to do something else.
Also, hopefully nobody forces EG Twilight to become a politician.
The entire show becomes a warped "normalization" story with the moral of "you should be yourself, unless you are a nerd, in which case it will pass and you will be able to achieve a management position and interact with lots of people". So, a girl should not aim to become an engineer or similar, even if she is interested in that.
10237727
Oh, I have no issue with her showing her intelligence, which I quite agree she does have. Just that the language use seemed a little too refined for her. Even if she is fairly smart, she doesn't tend towards formally constructed speech and things like:
just feels off for her voice.
10235750
look at how fast Celestia and Luna pushed everything onto Twilight and abdicated in canon.
Forget destiny, Celestia was using Twilight as her retirement plan.
If all three were going to be ruiling, i had an idea of keeping it a diarchy, but rotate out each year.
(so twilight+luna the first year, then T+C, then L+C, and repeat) two years on, one year off/on-call.
The crystal empire was something of a problem for me, for pretty much the same reasons mentioned here. how many lives on the line, and instead of a proper response, Celestia sent out six unpaid civillian contractors to handle it, and told them it was a test.
One of RHJunior's stories (parting words) had twilight sort of snap at that point when she realizes that saving lives should not be a test.
An interesting idea that makes sense. I wonder what is in Celestia reply.
It really doesn't help that Celestia was planning Twilight's life for her since she and Luna first beat Discord.
I must disagree with the conclusion of this fiction. However it is well written and enjoyable to read.
Often, responsibility is thrust upon us. If we don't pick it up then who will? Often we think we are unsuited when this is not the case.
This is something I should meditate on.
10239566
It does not matter. If someone tries to put unsolicited responsibility on me I would refuse. Especially if that is long term.
If the responsibility is part of something I wanted (say, part of my job), sure, but not just out-of-the-blue.
Whoever decided to try to put that responsibility on me, for all I care.
In the specific case of MLP, Celestia could have made Equestria into a democracy.
Whether I am suited or not does not matter. I may be suited for a lot of things, but if I don't like them I won't be doing them.
10239845
If you run from thrusted tesponcibility you will find yourself with more responsibility that you can handle.
Life is a series of tragedies. You will suffer.
To bare suffering you must have meaning.
To have meaning you must have true responsibility to something beyond yourself. Such things are only thrust upon you.
10240693
Meh it's not like she's running from all her responsibility she just doesn't want to be a princess. If equestria being threatened she's going to help. But I get what your saying.
10240693
And while that's what Jordan Peterson would say (I am definitely not saying that you copied him, just that he says something similar), my opinion is a bit different.
1. I can just stop doing anything. Imagine this - there is some kind of impending disaster and I alone can stop it, but in doing so I would die (but if I do not do it, I would live, but lots of other people would die for example). I do not think it would be possible for you to make me do it - you can threaten to kill me right now and my answer would be "at least I'll die knowing that nobody profited from my death".
You could make me do something less dangerous at gunpoint though. Almost-certain-death is better than really-certain-death.
2. I also do not care about meaning, really. I do not subscribe to the "life's checklist" as well.
If I was in Twilight's place, I probably would not have let things to go so badly as to become the personal student of Celestia in the first place. However, since that was, essentially, an accident, that could have happened to me as well. However, during the show I would have figured out that I am getting negative results* from my efforts and would have reduced my effort accordingly. If Celestia did not take my refusal, I would have made her do it by, say, writing a new letter (after meeting Starlight) saying that Starlight's village is the model for the future of Equestria and I would take her as my vice-Princess or Prime Minister if I was in power. THAT should cause Celestia to reconsider.
I would most likely fight the villains though because they threatened to kill everyone, including me.
*negative results from effort are when you do better, but the result of that is even more work. Just imagine a situation in school:
1.if your grades are awful you have to re-do assignments, tests etc
2.If your grades are good, you do not have to re-do assignments, tests etc, so having better grades results in having to do less work.
3. If your grades are exceptionally good, they may decide that you should skip a grade and you would have way more assignments etc.
If I think I am getting close to option 1 - I'll put in more effort, if I think I am getting close to option 3 - I'll put in less effort.
10240952
You assume that the negative reaction would be from people. This is a misunderstanding.
People would not care.
Even in this story I have no doubt that Celestia will accept Twilights request. That no punishment will come.
However, the world and life will extract its price. One greater than what was given up.
It's like sin. Sin creates results that raise life's suffering. That's why they are sins. They only destroy you and others.
10241373
That may be, but then it would be a consequence of my own decision, not because someone else's.
Also, I do not believe in "supernatural" karma as such, but believe in human karma. Let me explain - if I am an asshole, then I would probably surrounded by other assholes (since good people would want nothing to do with me) and may suffer the results of being surrounded by assholes. But I am not more likely to be hit by lightning.
At the same time, shouldn't Celestia also suffer for basically using Twilight as a retirement plan? By taking a pony who was interested in studying and forcing her into a mold while exploiting her fear or rejection and fear of causing disappointment? Unlike Twilight, I have no fear of causing disappointment, if the consequences of said disappointment are not overly negative (and in this particular case they would be positive - I would not need to do a job I would hate). I'm pretty sure I would find a job that I enjoyed (or at least hated less) unless Celestia was really pissed off and decided to kill me or make it illegal to employ me anywhere. Even then, I could probably just go to Sunset's world hoping that Celestia would not interfere with that world just to get me.
It is one thing if it's a random event, but if someone deliberately set me up (like it happened with Twilight) - no way I am going along with it,
However, I would like to add that I do not deliberately exploit others for personal gain or enjoy hurting people. I just ask that others would not try to exploit me and basically would just leave me alone most of the time. I have absolutely no desire to become a country leader, even if I could become absolute ruler like Hitler or Stalin. The job sucks too much and the advantages (being able to order anyone killed) are not something I enjoy.
10237287
Celestia was planning on selling Princess Twilight merch to fund her retirement.
Wish this was the official canon. It's far better than what we got in the show.
10242519
Yeah, because the canon kind-of resulted in a message that "being a nerd is bad, it will pass and you will achieve normal non-nerd goals". I think there are girls who are nerds or are interested in becoming engineers etc, Twilight was kind-of a role model for them, until she wasn't.
I’d like to imagine after giving her advice and seeing Twi off, Rarity closes the shop, goes down to the basement, casts a soundproofing spell, and then wails in anguish that she will never get a chance to design princess coronation dresses.
For almost as long as I've been a fan of MLP, I've felt Twilight's personality was the natural gender-flipped mirror of my own. Thing is, I've had my psyche evaluated multiple times to aid with my autism, and there was one factor that's extremely relevant:
I'm apparently not suited for leadership positions.
Not that I'm unintelligent (kind of the opposite), but the stresses involved simply are not ones I can handle. While I could meaningfully contribute opinions, actually being the decision maker would be a horrible choice all around.
So if Twilight is that close to my opposite gender self... well, either she's had a lot of lessons on the subject during her formative years, or something very odd is happening.
I liked this story when one sits down to think about it, Twilight lived her life, less as a student and more of a drone or a priestess of Celestia. In canon, she would have panic attacks at the very concept of disappointing Celestia, and suggesting that she was anything less than a perfect benevolent leader would run the risk of causing her to either pass out from shock
or lash out from unholy rage 
I would certainly like to see what Celestia had to say. I definitely enjoyed the show of support, good friends will help you stay out of jail, Best friends will be there by your side at sentencing damned the consequences. (or something along those lines)