I've been seeing a few accusation fics concerning the movie and most of them seem to center on Twilight's action of trying to steal the pearl from Queen Nova. And the hurtful remark she made once they washed up on the beach.

Yet....I haven't seen any for the rest of the Mane Six not taking the severity of their situation seriously and often impeding their own progress as a result. I'm not even sure how many bring attention to it. They had succeeded in almost getting them caught a couple of times, but I don't know that by heart, so correct me if I'm wrong there. As easy as it is to shirk all of the blame onto Twilight's back, I think it's only fair that we recognize that those two actions are a result of an enormous amount of stress and pressure being placed on her.

At that moment in time, Twilight was the only princess of Equestria left; her entire country was invaded, her subjects were being round up and enslaved and her only means of saving it all was in danger of being ripped from her grasp. We've all seen how Twilight acts when she feels a ton of pressure on her; Lesson Zero showed us just how unhinged she could become and I'm honestly happy we didn't see that side of her. Especially with how much was at stake. I know it wasn't right, and in no way am I saying it was, but I can understand why she tried to steal the pearl. Just like how I can understand her not completely trusting her friends after they've been fucking around for so long on their journey.

I would just like to see more fics bringing to light that Twilight isn't the only guilty party to be found.....

Very much agreed

The closest fic I ever saw was called "Bluffing" or involved that word.

What really gets me is that they were the first allies Celestia thought to go to. While the movie was written during seasons 4 and 5, which would explain why the Changelings and Dragons weren’t considered and why there was no involvement from Starlight (though I am annoyed that they didn’t have her take the bullet for Twilight instead of Derpy, and still doesn’t explain the lack of Discord), there are still other potential allies, like the Yaks and the Saddle Arabians.

So, after the grueling journey, in which Pinkie nearly got them captured and sold and Rainbow Dash completely screwed the pirates, almost getting them captured again, they finally make it to the Hippogriffs. The first allies Celestia wanted Luna to go to, who had a powerful magic artifact, didn’t answer the call for help. So of course Twilight would steal the thing. Heck, that’s something Rainbow Dash would normally do, something Pinkie would normally do, and something Rarity and Spike would normally consider. And then comes the really aggravating part, the Queen throws them out. The ones that the Storm King is after. Near their hide away with a magic artifact that the Storm King (or even Tempest) would love to have and would probably not have much trouble taking it with the staff. The artifact that Twilight and friends know about. The Queen had no way of knowing Twilight wouldn’t trade the information for something or out of spite. Heck, we know she would if her friends got captured. Seriously, why didn’t she try to inprison them? That was a massive tactical blunder on top of essentially leaving your trusting allies to rot.

I would’ve loved a scene towards at the end where Twilight apologizes for trying to save her country after being denied aid by someone Celestia trusted, in front of Celestia and the other Princesses, maybe add something about how they managed with a rag tag group of pirates, a con cat, and a sheltered princess, plus Tempest in the end to save Equestria and how they aren’t needed as allies anymore.

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I agree. As stupid as what Twilight did was, I couldn't help but feel vindication when she called her friends out on their shit afterwards.

It'd be nice to see maybe a story where Twilight goes off alone and kicks flank, saving the day herself.

Let's not forget that Rainbow Dash certainly wasn't helping the situation when she did a sonic rainboom when they were suppose to be hiding.

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Well equestria has plenty allies in other countries so I don't see why they would deny the need for sequestria as allies anymore

Plus maybe the hippogriffs were actually the closest allies or she thought the pearl woudl have been eye it best bet to take back equestria

Something I would like to see is any of the princesses doing a major dressing down of their guards for being totally absent during the whole thing and asking their various allies why they didn't help, especially the Hippogriffs I wouldn't be surprised if she severed their trade agreements if they have any.
Also is it just me of are most Ponies really bad at any sort of planning that isn't some sort of checklist? I mean between Rainbow Dash basically sending up flares while they are on the run, Applejack sending away the only one who knew what to do away when they were stopping the plunder vines, Twilight's uses of her stop eating food spell on the bats and the parasprites, and so on. I honestly can't remember many plans that were more than just one or two steps usually amounting to 1. go to the place 2. stop the problem, or was made up on the fly.
It seems that they are so used to quick solutions they don't have any real experience dealing with problems that require more work.

6265994
That's presuming there are any trade deals in the first place. And while the Princesses can certainly give a stern talking to the Royal Guard (what the hay was Shining Armor doing while his shnookums got stoned, anyway?), the griffons, the dragons or... the yaks? Do the yaks count as allies?
Anyway, while they might have some right to complain about those, the fact of the matter is that the hippogriffs were invaded (and supposedly eradicated) first.

Because that's the real accusation, if you want to go international: ponies don't bother to so much as glance past the borders of their little world until said world is going up in flames (or ice, or smooze). They didn't know about the Storm King's empire, they didn't know what happened to the hippogriffs, they apparently didn't know that the griffon capital had literally been falling to ruins for decades (and what are the odds that they actually did anything to help with that except kickstarting the local pastry branch of the economy). Hay, they probably wouldn't even have known about hippogriffs, period, if Celestia hadn't been college roommates with their queen or wherever else they met.

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It is a tough situation but I can see why both Princess Twilight and Queen Nova acted the way they did. Two different actions for the same reason.

Queen Nova was afraid of the storm king hurting her subject more because he already attacked them.

Twilight was desperate to free her subject and came a long way dealing with the common messed up behavior of Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.

So both actions are wrong but it is even more wrong for the friendship to hurt Twilight.

I think there is enough time between the capture of twilight and arrival where Twilight and tempest and instead of saving Equestria they take control. Because the song Open Up Your Eyes come when Twilight was at her lowest point even lower than the canterlot wedding episode. I'm I little surprised that it took twilight this long to snap and flare at Pinkie.

6265943 And the fact that the first ally they made, Capper, was going to sell them into slavery. Plus, for all intents and purposes, Tempest would've found them on the airship if Twilight hadn't thrown them out of the cargo bay hatch, and all of them would've probably been captured.

Do you think that Twilight and/or the rest of the Mane Six should be punished for what they did in the movie? If so, what consequences should they suffer?

6266047
That actually brings to mind a question does equestria have any sort of military besides the royal guard and the wonder bolts, who on record haven't won a single confrontation? I know there are cops and security guards but besides them I can't really think of any groups that fight back except for maybe that S.M.I.L.E. group Bon Bon was a part of, if they are considered cannon.

6266047
Shining was most likely at the Crystal Empire looking after Flurry Heart.

6266144
Show canon are the Royal Guard, the Wonderbolts and S.M.I.L.E., though the only competent guard lives in the Crystal Empire now, the Wonderbolts are little more than glorified stunt flyers, and S.M.I.L.E. has been officially disbanded.

6266101

Punishment might be a little harsh in this situation, but that's my own personal opinion. I remember seeing a fic that had Celestia forcing Twilight to take cultural sensitivity classes and undergo diplomatic training after hearing what happened in Seaquestria. I think that's what needs to happen to them more than anything; the Mane Six's actions throughout the invasion being scrutinized and measures being taken to fix the behavior behind said actions.

6266492
That's why there isn't much of a choice. We either have Twilight "take things too seriously" Sparkle or we have the Mane "not take things serious enough" Five.

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https://www.fimfiction.net/story/397036/mlp-movie-renegotations

I just wrote a story like that, please tell me what you think in the comments

6265926
The only one that actually brought trouble on the group was Rainbow Dash, though. Pinkie could have, screaming in the middle of the town, but Tempest wasn't anywhere nearby and was unlikely to hear her, even if she had been nearby in her ship. Applejack and Fluttershy were backseat in this one, so they didn't do anything wrong. However, Rainbow Dash making her Sonic Rainboom actually tipped Tempest off to, not only their location, but also caused them to leave behind the map clearly displaying their destination. Twilight is at fault with the seapony hippogriff things, but Rainbow is the only one of the Element Bearers that deserves an actual call out.

As for the Elements not taking things seriously, well, they're from Equestria. They only know one way of doing things. This actually helped them by gaining them useful allies, allies that Twilight should have taken note of, but instead completely disregarded in favor of a single set plan with no backup options. While Rainbow Dash does deserve someone calling her out (which I might write), most of the blame actually does fall on Twilight.

6268712
Yeah she would take note to accept they got the Pirates on their side but in the case of capper, they had no way of knowing he tried to steer tempest in the wrong direction

6268752
But Two had no way of knowing Capper was with Tempest at all. For all she knew, Tempest could have done to him what she'd done to Virgo, before simply setting after them again. It's understandable she wouldn't trust Capper after he tried to sell them into what was most likely slavery, but the belief that their usual method wouldn't work outside of Equestria was her main failing through the whole movie.

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I never said she thought he was with tempest, all I pointed out was she didn't know that capper tried to help them by sending tempest on a wild goose chase

6266047

Because that's the real accusation, if you want to go international: ponies don't bother to so much as glance past the borders of their little world until said world is going up in flames (or ice, or smooze). They didn't know about the Storm King's empire, they didn't know what happened to the hippogriffs, they apparently didn't know that the griffon capital hadliterallybeen falling to ruins for decades (and what are the odds that they actually did anything to help with that except kickstarting the local pastry branch of the economy). Hay, they probably wouldn't even have known about hippogriffs, period, if Celestia hadn't been college roommates with their queen or wherever else they met.

Sadly quite true. So long as it doesn't affect them, the ponies just don't give a shit about what goes on beyond their borders. Yet when they are the ones that are in trouble, it's almost expected for the other species to provide aid because of the "Magic of Friendship". And that seriously bugs me. Friednship is a two-way street; if the ponies refuse to take notice of the world around them and help without the need of some mystical magical artifact to tell them to do so, why should the other nations care about them?

This could honestly be a good basis for an accusation: Have the Mane Six and the princesses face the reality that Equestria doesn't give out as much aid as they request.

6267886 It's good!!

6266492
Do you remember the name of that fic?