Interview Excerpt: Prime Minister Twilight Sparkle, former Field Marshall of Equestria
So, you really want to do this, then? Want to hear how “Love and Guts” feels about the War? What could you ask that isn’t in the news reports; the hundreds of interviews; the wartime correspondence that’s mostly public record at this point and, no, we’re not talking about the ones that aren’t because “Classified” exists for a reason! I’ve written a memoir for Celestia’s sake! Why not just read that?
Whaddaya you mean “It’s too long?!” It’s only nine volumes! Okay, smart aleck, you try condensing a first-hoof account of a frontline soldier rising from First Lieutenant to Field Marshall over the course of a horrific nine-year war in less than nine volumes! And don’t tell me Spark Note did it in one! That guy’s a hack!
No, we’re not related! How is that even releva—
Look, can we just do the interview?
Sigh.
I’m sorry for snapping. That’s not very friendly of me at all. I know you’re just doing your job. It’s just…
I’ve been asked about this so many stinking times since the War and, to be blunt, a lot of interviewers have some sort of political axe to grind. I’m sick of being used as a bludgeon by half the parties and an effigy for burning by the other half. Even the Crown Loyalists and Centrists whom I represent don’t often give me a moment’s peace. I’m not a weapon! I’m just…
… me… Twilight Sparkle… friend, student, mage, sister, aunt…
I never asked to be a war hero.
Contrary to what my detractors say, I’ve never sought the spotlight at all. When I was Celestia’s student, after I’d become the Bearer of Magic, I only ever wanted to be just another townspony in Ponyville. For the longest time, I legitimately did not understand why ponies were always seeking my advice like I was some sort of sage.
And when the War came I didn’t join up because I wanted glory or fame or power. I joined because my home, my friends, my family, my teacher needed me. I joined because the Elements of Harmony can’t target an enemy army, and because I had the brains and the drive to be a soldier. Equestria needed officers, so I became one. Equestria needed innovative tacticians, so I became one.
…
Equestria needed proficient killers… so I became the most lethal mare this side of the millennium.
…
Let me tell you something; there’s a power that I’ve wielded that most ponies could never even dream of. But the price you pay for it is high. And, if it’s a price that you want to pay in exchange for that power, if the lives that are the currency are something you’ll willingly spend, then you have no bucking business anywhere near that power. This is a burden that should only ever be born unwillingly.
…
Yeah, I have power. Unspeakable power. I admit that. My friends taught me long ago not to hide from what I am. But I have only ever been given it. I have never taken it. And what I’ve been given I’ve only accepted because it was needed of me. When Equestria needed an Element Bearer, that’s what I was. When it needed “Love and Guts,” the infamous Field Marshall, that’s what I was. Now, when Equestria needs a Prime Minister to serve as Celestia’s mouthpiece to the Government… well… here I am.
But do you know where I want to be?
Retired. In Ponyville. Not a Prime Minister, not a Field Marshall, in some ways not even a Bearer. Just a friend. An aunt. A sister. A student. A good pony trying to live out the Way of Harmony in her own modest fashion, trying to make this flawed world just a little more like Heaven. Those are the only distinctions that really matter to me.
Sigh.
And, much as it’s humbling to admit after all my ranting about how much I don’t want all these responsibilities heaped on me… it’s probably thanks to them that I’ve been able to be my best self.
The War brought me closer to my friends than I ever imagined possible. None of the other dangers we faced, not Chrysalis, not Sombra, not Nightmare Moon, not even Discord brought us so close.
I’ve become a truer student of Celestia, and Luna for that matter, now that I’ve led ponies in a state of Total War. Now that I’ve born the burden that once only the ancient ones remembered.
I’ve experienced harmony and friendship in ways I never could have predicted; brought old enemies to peace; formed bonds of family with ponies whose names I barely knew, and deepened the bonds I had with my old friends and family.
I’ve become a better version of myself. I’ve done good, spread Harmony, become somepony worth being. And I don’t regret that. Any of that. I just…
I just get tired sometimes. That’s all.
Hehe. But, I suppose, when I really stop to consider it, it’s worth being tired for.