Sunset Shimmer and the human Twilight Sparkle decided to come to Equestria to visit Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestrian Spike, and Starlight Glimmer. While there, the human Twilight asked about something her pony form doesn't have, but Princess Twilight does: alicorn wings.
The two Twilights then went on to solve the mystery of the strangely absent wings. It didn't go well, especially for one of them.
My entry to the "Most Delightful Ponidox" contest. I'd place my bets on it placing in the bottom three if I were you. Easy money people.
Chapters (1)
Well this was quite the adventure! I really do wonder why p-twilight turned h-twilight into flash sentry...... Also, twience. A fimfiction user.
The answer to the title question is pretty obvious. P-Twilight earned those wings, thank you very much. (Granted, by the time of Friendship games I'm not sure they still had any writers who remember that she was ever a unicorn...)
Of course the real reason Sci Twi didn't have wings in Equestria, is because Hasbro is too stupid to stay consistent with anything.
This was delightfully stupid, in all the right ways, by the way.
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She'll never tell
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That was my first answer too when I thought about it. But that doesn't explain why she has them when she ponies up in the human world. This is pretty much how it would go if someone tried to ask me why Sci-Twi is a unicorn in Equestria.
Seriously. I can't think of a single good in-universe reason that can answer one of the questions, but doesn't require me to handwave the other one and hope no one notices. I haven't yet seen a single person be able to answer (with in-universe reasons) both why Sci-Twi is a unicorn in Equestria, but can grow wings in the EQG world without handwaves. If you can pull it off, you'll be the first I've seen do it.
From a writing standpoint, I can think of a few reasons.
1: The writers disagree on if Sci-Twi should be an alicorn.
2: They saw the grumbing of her having wings when she ponies up, and tried to backpedal in Spring Breakdown.
3: It's easier to sell pony Sci-Twi dolls if she's a unicorn and that's why.
4: Check morion's comment.
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And delightfully stupid was what I was going for, especially since I can't think of a single good in-universe reason for Sci-Twi's lack of wings in Equestria. I figured I might have well have some fun with it.
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I always thought it was because the magic she absorbed from the others during Friendship Games still had a little of pony Twilight's from the previous times they joined their magic together, and that's why Sci-Twi has wings when she ponies up.
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Maybe the expression of her morphic resonance is affected by her relationship with the local spirit of Harmony, such that the Harmony of Equestria does not recognize her as worthy of the status of Alicorn?
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The magic that the girls take on when they Pony-Up is drawn from the same reserves that their pony counterparts do. Because Princess Twilight is an alicorn, the magic that Sci-Twi draws from her grants her with wings.
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Hmm. If the magic Sci-Twi absorbed did still have some of Princess Twilight's magic, if it went into Sci-Twi and became permanently hers, that should still make her an alicorn in Equestria. Though, she didn't have her geode in Equestria. If the power of the geode that triggers the transformation, that would be the reason for her being a unicorn in Equestria.
Or for a slightly different reason that's coming later in this comment that's much closer to your idea.
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It might, but if I remember right, Twilight's alicorn transformation is separate from the magic from the elements. In which case, that shouldn't a reason. Then again, what exactly triggered Twilight's alicorn transformation is a tad unclear, other than "she earned them".
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Interesting! If whatever alicorn magic that Sci-Twi taps into when she ponies up is only active when she transforms, and isn't "alicorn" magic when she uses it in her normal state (I.E. unicorn magic) that would explain it. It would make her become an alicorn if she could tap into that power in Equestria, even if only temporarily.
While not the case here I assumed it was because Human Twilight hasn't "made new magic" like Princess Twilight did yet. So she'd have to be doing magic research and discover something new to acsend.
I always thought it was strange that Sci-Twi had wings in the human world but given that she does not having wings in Equestria is a bit odd. I did like the explanation about interdimensional monsters.
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I can actually think of a couple possible reasons.
The easiest one is this: Remember that magic works differently in both universes - and that the magic being used is different too.
The portal, presumably, "translates" whomever goes through it into what is "normal" for each side - and an alicorn is very much not normal in Equestria. Note that Sunset doesn't get wings either when she goes through.
By contrast, when they pony up, they do it by "tapping into their true selves." Which, as with Sunset and P-Twi, their universe recognizes as supposed to have a horn and wings. So, because it doesn't care what it does to someone making them fit in, boom, horn and wings.
Sentient magic helps things like this a lot.
Reading through this, particularly when it got to the mention of Twilight's wings being sealed, actually gave me some ideas about her alicorn status potentially being tied to Midnight. I might do something with that at some point.
Oh hey, that's my system! Not going to get you any bonus points, but it's still neat to see.
The longer the Icon of Sin is in Equestria, the stronger it will become.
Entertaining, but unfocused and unpolished. Your comedic asides veer away from the plot for a little too long, and your dialogue is sometimes stilted and unnatural. Still, a fun concept and some delightful magical slapstick. Thank you for entering, and best of luck in the judging.
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That's something I could have tried instead, if I thought about it. That could have been fun.
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How both Princess Twilight and Sci-Twi had wings in the EQG was what triggered the idea for this story.
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Some of the comments before gave some ideas on how it was possible, but I thought Sci-Twi not having wings in Equestria was weird too.
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The 'ol "it's because of magic" fits. If I remember right, the show never did explain what that actually means, just "works differently", so we could blame it for just about anything that doesn't make sense or just odd. Same with magic in general really.
I don't know. Alicorns aren't normal in Equestria, but they're just rare. They don't even exist in the EQG human world, so they are even less normal there.
That could be a reason for Sci-Twi, but that would also imply that she'is princess-worthy, since alicorns = princesses. She's a good girl and helps protect the EQG, but calling her princess-worthy is, at best, pushing it.
There's also the issue that Sunset's pony-forms usually don't have wings, or at least not alicorn wings. She has different-looking wings as Daydreamer and her demon form, but her ponied-up forms in Legend of Everfree and beyond didn't have them.
EDIT: The characters themselves wondered if the reason was that magic "works differently" in the EQG world. But, Princess Twilight concluded that, if that was the case, there should have been similar effects on the rest of the human mane seven, not just on Sci-Twi.
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A little unfocused and unpolished, huh? It seems fine to me, but that could just be a part of the finer points of writing that I just haven't learned yet to be able to pick up. Frustrating, but I'd get there eventually.
In any case, glad you liked it and thanks!
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Forgot to reply to you in my last comment. The idea of it having something to do with Midnight could be interesting.
Hey, en dashes used properly instead of hyphens. Yay! But also a mix of en dashes and double-hyphens for cutoffs and interruptions?
This isn't some highfalutin' piece of comedic mastery. But you know that. The story also knows that, so it all works out in the end.
After reading that, I can't help but remark that you've missed an opportunity, roughly here:
I can only wonder how Starswirl ever figured that out? The answer to that question may also open the door to the use of a wonderful comedic word: "again".
Best of luck in—
For what it's worth, FoME's contest ranking system as previously implemented would mean that if there are 24 or more entries, it would no longer just be unlikely, but impossible for us to know what the bottom three are.
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That mix of double-hyphens & en dashes was due to the fact that this is actually the first story of mine to not use double-hyphens. I finally learned how to input en dashes a day ago, so when I decided to replace the double-hyphens with en dashes, I missed a few. I think I got all of them now.
That's something I could potentially have fun with if I were to write a prequel showing how Starswirl figured that out. Hmm.
Ok, I'm sorry but I don't get it. Can someone explain please?
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It meant that she had cast it before when she wanted to hang out with "Flash" even if she couldn't have the real Flash. I'll leave it to you to figure out what that meant.
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OH! Lmao
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Hence why I call it lazy writing by Hasbro. Now, if Sci Twi never had wings when she ponies up, then it's not really an issue, since it's easily written as she hasn't earned them yet, while Princess Twilight has in the few times she ponied up.