Snowflake can fly. Scootaloo can't. She's decided her best solution is for him to train her, get her in the air his way. And he'll do anything to make sure that doesn't happen. Because she wants to be strong like him... and that's something he never wants to see another pony go through. And besides, the Crusaders quit on things all the time, which means getting her to drop out should be easy.

But they don't give up on the Crusade...

(Original story concept plus title from Seether00, freely offered up on The Idea Exchange. Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members (in both groups) and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Cadance isn't Sombra. But Sombra's leadership is all the crystal ponies remember, a ruler they had to love at all costs, with the final payment being their own lives. And as they gradually come to see their new Princess as leader instead of savior, too much of that residual fear is being transferred to her. They praise her, adore her, refuse to correct her no matter what she does -- because they live in terror of the consequences for doing anything else. They have yet to find their own voices, and may go on repeating hers until Celestia and Luna switch shifts. So how can she make them tell her when she's wrong, see that there's nothing to be afraid of, and take the next step in coming back to themselves once and for all?

Forbidding them to do anything other than criticize her should do the trick, right?

...right?

(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group -- but can be read as a stand-alone, and no knowledge of the other stories is required. New members and trope edits are welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.