“You heard me,” I repeated with no hesitation, “I want to make use of that magic so that we can take care of Grogar. It’s obvious that the extra magic was pumped into Mane-iac so that she’d be unstoppable. But the exact type of magic is the main concern.”
Twilight shut the magical screen off, and glanced away from me--off towards the stained glass image of herself in the throne room. “...You could tell what it was, huh?”
“Absolutely,” I went on, “I know you could probably make use of it, but please. I can do this. This is something I have--no. Something I want to do for the sake of my friends and myself.”
“I want to trust you,” Twilight replied as she looked up at me, “I really do. But how do I know you’ll use that power responsibly? How do I know it won’t bring you back down into your old habits?”
A very fair point that I couldn’t reasonably counter. All I had to go off of was my word and my word alone. “You don’t. And I respect your concern. But you know how hard I’ve worked for this position, for Cozy, and for all of my friends. I wouldn’t waste this chance. No matter how hard it gets.”
I could feel Twilight mentally debate with herself if it was a good idea. Of course, there was no way for me to get inside of her head and comprehend what decision she was about to make. But the aggravated rubs she applied to her forehead indicated a lot of thoughts that conflicted within her mind.
Before she could give a proper response, Corkscrew came in once more. “Twilight. I’ll have his back no matter what. Pale would never step out of line with me at his side. If a war is about to happen, we need all of the strength that we can get--even if it is risky. You can’t do this on your own. You know you can’t.”
“Whether or not you allow me to make use of it changes nothing,” I commented with a cold sense of contempt, “I will be taking the fight to him regardless. We’ve all made mistakes--including you. And you haven’t let it stop you before, have you? Even after you became an alicorn, you never abandoned your ideals.”
“...You make a fair point,” she replied with a more understanding tone, “Even I had bad days and messed up a spell or two--caused some mayhem. And...you said you were turned into foals and were able to experience the horrors of Tartarus with your mental stability reverted as well?”
I nodded. “Yes. While it scared us for a while, we were able to recover from it. That being said, I don’t think Cozy Glow was able to do so when you consider just how disturbed her mental state was when she allied with Tirek and Chrysalis. Sending a child to Tartarus should never be a first resort. But even after making that decision, and admitting it wasn’t the best choice when I made my case--did that stop you from your role as princess?”
“No,” she replied, “It didn’t.”
“Exactly. Yet despite your missteps, all throughout your life you were not only granted the privilege of training with Celestia, but she made you an alicorn princess, and then, you became princess of the entire land!” I pointed up to that stained glass image of her. “So forgive me for being rather pessimistic about this. But we’ve all been there. I just want you to allow me to break this cycle.”
The princess looked at me as if I had spoken some of some strange artifact that she had never heard of. “...Cycle? What do you mean by that?”
“The cycle of the common pony not being able to stand up for themselves. The cycle of everyone relying on almighty beings to get anything done. We all have the capacity to make use of magic to suit any situation whether we bear an Element of Harmony, have wings, horns, or neither.” I put a hoof on my chest, which caused the spot where I had jammed the crystal to ache. “Grh...this is the opportunity to prove that the world doesn’t need to be reliant on outdated ways of keeping it safe. Everyone should desire to be able to stand up for themselves. And now is the chance to set that example. Don’t you understand?”
She sighed, and went on. “I...do. In a way, I can relate. I was just a regular old pony at one point. And so were all of my friends. We were honestly very lucky to have such power bestowed upon us. So I do comprehend what you’re getting at. However, are you aware that this also runs the risk of inciting others to do as they please and could potentially create more adversaries for us to overcome? What if somepony else out there wanted to take over the world, so they followed the example you set and gained power for themselves to misuse? How would you feel about that?”
That was inevitable. No matter the individual that comes up with an idea or concept, someone else will always take that very same thing that you created and change it to suit their own desires. Whether it be for better or for worse. A perfect example is the Elements of Harmony themselves. Originally used by the alicorn sisters to banish Discord, then used by Celestia to banish her own sister--a decision she would later come to regret, followed by the current bearers being Twilight and her friends. Despite that, they were all imperfect beings and occasionally defied their own elements. No one was absolute. I was aware of that.
Which is exactly why I chose to stand on my point. “I would feel disappointed knowing that someone would stoop so low. However, I also would be confident with the knowledge that everypony/griffon/dragon/other assorted creatures could rise up and fight back against such injustice. And that is exactly what I intend to do right now. So Twilight, will you grant me this chance?”
More hesitation from her. She leaned her head back with some deep thought clearly on her brain. “He’s a loose cannon...but I can’t deny that he’s done quite a few things right. Still, I’m not exactly sure if he’s prepared for this. Then again, Starswirl did say that if you want to test somepony’s character, give them power.”
An eerie silence filled the room. It looked like Twilight was finally about to say something when the doors to the throne room opened.
“HOL’ UP, YA’LL!” Babs called out. But she wasn’t alone. She was accompanied by Lightning Dust, Tempest Shadow, and Moondancer?! What?! What were they all doing here?!
The guards immediately apologized. “Sorry, princess. We couldn’t hold them back any longer.”
Twilight pretty much said what I had thought also. “Uh...what are you all doing here? And why did you interrupt an important discussion I was having with Pale Vestige?”
“Alrighty, look,” Babs decided to explain herself for the group, “I may have spilt the beans to Lightnin’ about what Pale was up to. And she kinda...insisted that--uh, what was it again?”
The bluegreen pegasus rolled her eyes. “We’re here to express the fact that we’re in support of Pale. Right, everyone?”
Tempest spoke up next. “If he wants to take the fight to Grogar, then I say we should. No more standing idle for the sake of standing idle. Everypony should be able to follow their own path. I made that choice when I decided to defect from the Storm King. So we should show that anyone can rise up for what they believe in.”
Everyone glanced at Moondancer. There was a brief, almost comedic pause as she adjusted her glasses. Almost as if she was confused as to why everyone focused on her. “...Oh,” she coughed, and made her case, “I’m just here to document, and study whatever happens. I’m not exactly confident in Pale’s idea, but I agree that we can’t just allow Gorgar to take over if he’s really returned.”
After all of that, all Twilight could respond with was a shout. “YOU WERE EAVESDROPPING?!”
Agreed. You know, I have to say, I'm impressed. Pale makes a compiling case as well as the others in regards to the battle with Grogar. Also...
...Really, Twilight? That's your concern right now?
Pale is true on that part of the cycle. I mean when all residents of Equestria gathered to fight against Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow; they all just pour their magic to Twilight to beat them. No matter what anyone said that the Magic of Friendship beat them; its mostly Twilight who just used the their magic to make it her own magic.
10638533
Very good point. It wasn't truly the power of everyone combined. It was what Twilight allowed them to use.
The problem with cycles is that are you really breaking it or just diverting it into a secondary (or tertiary) mode before it cycles back into the primary one ...
10638492
I'm glad you see it that way.
And eavesdropping is super rude!
10639019
That is a very good question, friend. We'll see how Pale Vestige shakes things up in the coming chapters.
😟 Holy crap, that mysterious stranger said the exact same thing while Pale, Quick, and Cork were in Tartarus. Could this be a coincidence?
10639118
Probably. I wouldn't look too hard into it...for now.
10638972
Maybe it was meant to symbolize Twilight being a conduit for all the friendship in Equestria, like how her Element was just a conduit and the magic of friendship was inside her all along
Maybe it was meant to be something like a Friendship Spirit Bomb channeled through Twilight.
Or the artists just thought it looked cool. Whichever comes first.
10639242
That's also very true. I won't knock the writers for sticking to a theme.
But as far as in-universe goes, everypony is still largely unable to do anything for themselves unless an alicorn either does it for them or prompts them to. This is where Pale comes in with his idea that if everyone could fight for themselves, then we wouldn't have these problems.
You remember what happened when the Parasprites attacked? Yeah, everyone ran around like crazy and couldn't do a thing. Against giant monsters, they're screwed unless someone provides an example.
10639245
That's one of the downsides of fiction like Friendship is Magic. The Mane Six are the protagonists so they have to save the day all the time.
Now while there is the truth ponies relied on the princesses and other higher powers to solve their problems; my personal theory (i don't like using phrases like headcanon) is it's because the ponies got too used to the harmony that took place after Nightmare Moon was banished. They got lax, comfortable, and therefore had no idea what to do when drastic threats came to ruin their harmony. Even too much peace can be a bad thing.
Meanwhile Twilight and her friends didn't ask to be the Elements of Harmony but still accepted it because they sincerely wanted to protect Equestria. I think some authors have explored the notion of the Mane Six feeling overwhelmed by having to save Equestria all the time and I wouldn't blame them if they did feel stressed.
I want to see both sides meet part way. One side who doesn't want to rely on others to save them but also understands those higher powers are sincerely protecting them. While at the same time the higher powers want to help but acknowledge those they wish to protect see it as their battle too.
Does that make sense?
10639265
Absolutely. That's the whole point of this story. It's not to bash the alicorns, but rather call out and correct certain habits so that everyone can get along and stand up for each other regardless of how much power they think they lack.
That's where Pale's intentions lie. And you're going to see more of it as we get into the "war" arc. 😁
10639245
Hmmm, what about heart-songs then, though those start from the Mane Six (with Sparkle now an alicorn, is she more in tune with those?) ...
As for the parasprites, that's on Fluttershy taking 'care' and an unknown animal (like rabbits in Australia?) with more spread after, though Pinkie did know but didn't say it in a way to get the others to help ...
10639428
It's basically the "Shonen" problem. Only the main characters are allowed to do anything cool.