Question with potential story idea: What if Cinch did it herself. · 9:31pm Jan 30th, 2019
Something I thought about recently and have been wondering about. Also is a potential story idea that someone might want to explore, assuming no one has already.
During the climax of The Friendship Games, Principal Cinch and the other Shadowbolts "strongly encourage," Sci-Twi to release the stored up magic from her device. Twilight does so, ends up consumed by the magic, and transforming into a dark angel like creature, willing to destroy two worlds in order to understand the magic coming from one and how it works. Not entirely out of the realm of possibility since this version of Twilight had very few social connections, was very fascinated with studying and understanding things, and -- as pointed out by Sunset Shimmer during an act of anger -- does not entirely think about the potential consequences of her actions (or stopping when it becomes clear that she doesn't understand what's happening or can't control it as she continued to use said device after seeing it drain multiple people).
Here's a question though. What if it hadn't been Twilight who had unleashed the magic? More specifically, what if instead of pressuring Twilight to do it, Principal Cinch had taken the device herself and opened, thus causing her to be drawn into and transformed by the magic? If we use Sunset as a point, then the magic wouldn't change Cinch the same way as it did Twilight. If the corruption works of the person's own personality, then she would not be obsessed with magic or destroying the world.
So that would be the premise of the idea or story. How the magic changes Cinch. What she would look like, what she would do.
For example, imagine her with a long crystalline horn, wings also made out of crystals. However, said wings are only attached at the shoulders, and the "feathers" are free floating below them. One possibility is that her obsessive controlling behavior allows her to take control of her students' minds, forcing them to do as she commands. Although, this would be somewhat redundant, since it was what Sunset and The Dazzlings did in the previous movies. The other possibility is that instead, she separates students into pairs, one from each school, and they are forced to compete in some event or other, or even in another dimension and trying to get back. The idea is that her students would clearly win, but the pairs end up teaming up and working together to get through it.
This is just an idea though.
Actually, a writer called ImNoPony HAS written a story where Cinch ended up getting exposed to the magic contained in the device herself. It was called "Friendship Games: Friendship Makes Magic".
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/351019/friendship-games-friendship-makes-magic
Admittedly, it didn't go EXACTLY like you described. In fact, the ONLY real similarity to that idea was Cinch getting exposed to the magic herself. Still, it actually WAS a good story and I certainly recommend it for reading.