My Dearest Twilight...
Twilight Sparkle jolted awake as the pattering echo of Spike's approach lanced through her slumber. She shook her head for a moment, trying to clear the last vestiges of cobwebs from her mind and turned with a smile as Spike hopped up on a stool and bowed with a flourish.
"You're mail, Princess!" He grinned, the joke almost having lost its shine after a year.
"Spike, you know I don't like that title. It's just silly." She smiled and pulled him in for a hug, "besides, it's just little old me. Nothing special."
After a few moments, the two parted, Spike promising to be back in a few minutes with sandwiches for lunch.... and a napkin to wipe up the soggy part of the book.
With an embarrassed chuckle, Twilight levitated the scroll up before her, popping the seal and looking within.
My Dearest Twilight,
I heard you were having a little get together this evening, and I find myself somewhat in need of company.
I have been troubled recently, in part from the growing number of events that have thrown Equestria into conflict. I fear I am becoming out of touch with my subjects and am in need of a bit of wisdom from you and your friends.
I know it is short notice, and you might have had plans but... I was hoping you might be willing to play host for an evening. I could come in disguise, a friend of a friend or a distant relative, whatever might set your friends at ease, but please, Twilight, please let me visit tonight. I feel I have misjudged entirely too many things and ponies of late. The wedding, Discord, Sombra... I have even worried myself over you.
Twilight... Princess, please. I see you all so often, smiling and laughing despite everything you've been through, what I've put you through. I see you and I can't help but remember Luna and myself so very long ago. If I had only paid more attention, if I had only heard what troubled her heart, so much pain and loss could have been avoided. I don't want to risk that kind of loss again, Twilight, and I fear I am growing separate.
I await your response.
Your loving mentor,
Princess Celestia
For a moment Twilight Sparkle simply stared at the scroll.
"How does she always know?" With an almost sad smile, she floated over a blank scroll and blinked back a few tears that threatened to fall as she wrote out simply:
Dear Princess Celestia,
I would like nothing more than to have you join us tonight. Please, come as you are, we're all friends here and I hope you never feel like an outsider with us.
You could never be one to me.
Twilight Sparkle
(because you know that whole Princess nonsense is just plain silly)
With a smile and a bit of hope in her heart, she sealed the scroll and set it to wait for Spike to return. She had a schedule to update and, somewhere, she'd have to come up with an extra large pillow for the pillow fight.
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BOOM! that was one of the best Accusation Fics I've ever read! hats off to you, man! you deserve a freaking medal.
Twilight didn't use dark magic on the potion, but alicorn magic. Dark magic makes your eyes glow green and have purple trails coming from them, which Twilight lacked when enchanting the potion.
Some fan theories state that quite a number of ponies starved to death during Discord's rule, due to widespread famine due to weather and day/night disruption.
5909695
<chuckles> Fair point, but I shall refer you to watch, VERY CLOSELY to season 4, episode 1, at approximately 19 minutes in.
Look at Twilight's magic...and tell me that wouldn't give Celestia more than a bit of concern. Purple, black, green, and black lightning zappy things when asked for "alicorn magic?"
Seems preeeeetty suspicious to me....er Celestia.... in this fic.... which is totally not cannon.... except the episode reference, which is.
5909743
She wouldn't get suspicious if that's how alicorn magic actually looks, and if it wasn't alicorn magic, it wouldn't have worked on the potion. As as alicorn, Celestia would know what it looks like, and would know that it is normal. The eye color is the primary signal for corruption (like Twilight in front of Sombra's door, or Sombra 100% of the time), not the weird bubbly horn effect.
Not to mention Twilight stated that Celestia actually taught her dark magic (and I'm not talking about when she demonstrated its effects on the crystal empire), so Celestia feels that there is value in Twilight knowing how to use dark magic, even if she's only to use it when she absolutely has to.
5909695
did you not see the aura on Twilight's horn when she used magic on that potion?
5909776
That aura was never stated to be bad or negative, and dark magic has both the aura AND the creepy eye glow and energy.
5909423
Yep. Celestia did say not to tell them, but she didn't say to ignore them, try to do everything on her own, leave them behind or anything else.
Remember, this is written from an upset and concerned Celestia who is piecing things together from letters and word of mouth.
5909784
5909769
Sure, the eyeglowydoomsmoke is the signature of something, but all we see of it comes from Sombra, Celestia (who we know is not corrupted), and Twilight Sparkle from her first use of it to reveal the stairwell and the brief moment of the 'alicorn magic' she uses on the potion. We saw Twilight with green eyes and red pupils while under the influence of Sombra's magic, but you'll notice the smoke was missing.
We've seen various uses of the whites of their eyes turning green while under the influence of magic, but the only times we see the smoke, independent of such influencing magic, is when casting magic which is fueled by 'hate' or 'fear', that's when we see the smoke.
Heck, we've even seen at least two other examples of 'dangerous' magic (alicorn amulet and the Inspiration manifestation spell) which impacted the eyes, but neither was called 'Dark Magic'... even though both were noted to corrupt the user/wielder. So, while eyeglowy effects show magic influence of some sort (arguably even the changelings might show this if there really is a hive mind), but the smoke seems dependent upon BOTH the magic and the 'fuel', as it were. Ergo, Dark Magic and the related, though not integral, corruption are two different effects.
So, if we're getting nit-picky, we can assume 'Dark Magic' exists independent of the 'hate' or 'fear', but that the corrupting influence may still be present. At the very least, we can understand Celestia's worry that in less than a year, Twilight has resorted to using something that looks remarkably like Dark Magic (with or without the smoke) multiple times... and that it was something that preceded her conflict with Tirek.
Smoke or not, We've seen all the big alicorn's magic... none of it is black or bubbly or green and purple. We see the same bright pastels, golds, and silvery/blues. Twilight's is still magenta... even when using the spell in the Crystal Empire, her horn only has a feeble black aura... but what we see with Zecora's potion is identical.... IDENTICAL to both Celestia's use of Dark Magic (fueled by hate and fear by verbal confirmation) and Twilight's at the Crystal Empire (by emulation after Celestia's VERY brief explanation).
Outside of nit-picky, it's rather a moot point since FAN fiction, FANNON, and the FANdom's ideas are of no more concern to CANNON events as what I ate for breakfast. It's there for fun, enjoyment, character development, or to explore other ideas.
Come on, NOTHING on fimfiction is cannon. It's all, by definition, non-cannon material since it is NOT PART OF THE ANIMATED SHOW.
5909953
Actually, Inspiration Manifestaion was called dark magic in the episode, and the Sirens' magic (which also results in green eyes) from Rainbow Rocks was also stated to be dark magic.
What Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance all use in their daily spells (including raising the sun and moon) is just buffed up unicorn magic, not the nebulous alicorn magic we know very little about. Unicorns with enough magic (or enough unicorns) can replicate stuff like that, as shown in Hearth's Warming Eve and the Journal of the Two Sisters.
5909742
I love that kind of stuff! It shows the impact of thought going into the explanations. Here, though, I'm inserting my own thoughts on the matter.
Discord, for all of his trouble and mischief, doesn't strike me as someone who would simply kill off others. Torment - yes. Taunt - you betcha. Make their lives a literal living hell - I'm nearly certain nothing would have made him happier.
On the other hand, even with all that power, even with all that jaded antisocial behavior, he fixates upon those who oppose him and challenges them. In every instance of the non-reformed Discord, even when actively 'angry' he sought out attention rather than any form of lasting harm or injury.
<shrugs> If we were to assume indirect loss, Rainbow Dash is guilty of more lasting damage than Discord in the modern age.
Heck... Twilight's guilty of more damage than Discord.
<blinks> I'm going to go hide from the Princess of Friendship now.
Well, that's because the Elements of Harmony don't automatically clean up for Twilight, like they did after turning Discord back to stone :p
I imagine very few, if any, ponies actually died indirectly during Discord's reign, both because ponies are ridiculously durable, and Discord's chaos was spawning food and drink everywhere (making apples larger, free chocolate milk rain, instant popcorn, etc).
5909979
Point, to you.
Twilight did ask "Do you have any idea how hard it was to reverse that much dark magic?"
Wait... Rarity's eyes didn't have smoke.
So... actually, point to me. Dark Magic doesn't require eyesmoke.
Thank you.
...
At this point, you can either enjoy the story for what it is or you can troll.
An interesting way to put this, and it has thusly earned the like.
One...minor typo has appeared in my Inbox however. Thus, it needs to be sent to the Outbox.
5910260
Ah... I can see where that might be misunderstood, but it is the correct wording for my intent.
Twilight wasn't saying Celestia would never be alone, she was saying Celestia would never be an outsider where Twilight was concerned.
I'll reword it to remove the ambiguity.
Good eyes though!
5910323
Okay, after rereading the chapter twice, I can now see your original intent. "You'll never be (an outsider) with me." But yeah, it'd still be kinda confusing as it was, with one sentence saying one thing and the other sentence kinda implying that she would remain an outsider. I got what the intent of that sentence was, but it still seemed weird on the first read through. Let's see how you reworded it.
Huzzah! The d'aww has been doubled!
... we really need a Luna emote.
Also, excellent word choice, the whole thing flows smoothly. Like Jazz.
5910358
Glad you approve. That's one of those <facepalm> moments where, as the author, you read it and it JUST COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE MORE CLEAR (because you're the one who wrote it)...
And it's those exact moments where comments make it better.
Thank you.
I'm with him on that. Saying that she's parcels and postage is a very novel witticism.
5910472
THANK YOU! I'm never sure if people actually know the difference and I do try to make subtle jokes for that reason.
5910479 I get that it's supposed to be a joke. But... I don't get why it's supposed to be funny.
5910760
Spike is making a play on words...
Twilight is being understanding and potentially oblivious...
The Author is making a point about people learning how to spell...
<shrugs> Sometimes you have to amuse yourself I suppose.
Celestia, "Twilight! Tirek got loose! Again! Seriously, we need to make better locks for Pony Hell... Anyway, get the Deux Ex Rainbow Lazar ready!"
Twilight strolls in, "Already took care o' business, toots."
Celestia blinks, perplexed at Twilight's sudden augmentation in personal vernacular, "Uhm... how?"
Twilight yawns and takes a shot of bourbon, "I shot him."
Celestia jawdrops, "You shot him?!"
Twilight nods, "In da face. With a 357 Mag. Though dat sucker could absorb any and all magic he wanted, turns out he didn't absorb lead so good."
Celestia blinks and states numbly, "Well, all-right then."
They never speak of it again.
5910813
Ah, my sweet, ain't it grand though?
The way I see it, Chapter 3 clears that up a bit. Twilight doesn't even like THINKING that way, but we also know she's prone to ... moments that are far and away different from her norm.
Let me know what you think of how it resolves in chapter 3.
For some reason, that line was incredibly sad to me. Probably because she told her herself and then wiped the memory. That still doesn't really explain why it was sad though.
I hate this story and every story like it. Even leaving aside the complaints about Celestia that only work if you assume the absolute worst in every scenario, leaving aside that no one uses the same complaints on the other princesses even though they had just as much part in it, even ignoring that to get Celestia and Twilight to argue about these things requires them being completely out of character and ignoring that it allows no counterargument or defence for Celestia it's still a bullshit story because nothing fucking happens. It's just a diatribe of problems the author has with a character. It offers no interesting plot or character introspective, nothing funny, nothing insightful, nothing entertaining, it's just a person bitching through Twilight's mouth Even the criticisms are dull because they've been made and argued about a thousand times before. The characters offer so little to this story that it shouldn't even be a fanfiction because it's just a list of things the author doesn't like. Even if I could agree with the points it would still be boring because it offers nothing new and goes nowhere.
Ugh, this type of story. The one where the author loads all their nitpicks of the story into a series of soapbox-speeches. It's always pointless, always far, far too OOC and always just boring if not incredibly annoying. But this is the holy grail of terrible. To make matters worst you don't even bother to let there be proper consequences of Celestia's OOC insulting bitch letter and Twilight's OOC tirade and perfect hindsight letter. Just zap, memory spell, oh look Celestia followed Twilight's demands and everything's all hunky-dory. Celestia does a U-turn in her attitudes and beliefs and Twilight doesn't need to change to accommodate this argument with Celestia or her teacher insulting her or discovering that she and Celestia are incredibly unalike. Nothing goes on in this story other than your tirade about certain aspects of the show. Nothing of substance at all. Just an overload of information and opinion and headcanon to attack decisions made by the show's writers.
You should really just write a blog.
5910967
Agreed whole-bloody-heartedly. How this got on the feature box I don't even know.
Listen to "Celestia's Ballad" again. Listen very carefully. If you do, you'll probably see Celestia as a stalker as much as I do. It really is strange how some of the songs can be ruined by just one of their lines and a very (mostly) unstable mind. Luckily it's stable enough that I'm not in an asylum! ...If you don't here from me in a week, then I jinxed myself.
5910967
Now see, These are comments I can respond to.
You're right, about there being no action, no adventure, no wow moments. It's not about that.
Heck, it's not even about Celestia not doing anything or Twilight blowing up.
Part of the reason so many stories come out with situations like this is that there are character flaws, but just as much, those same flaws can be addressed differently, from different angles and with different results.
I've read a number of them. Twilight goes nuts. Celestia throws a tantrum. Twilight refuses to save Equestria. Celestia picks up the slack and acts. Twilight chews Celestia's head off. Celestia puts Twilight in her place. Twilight usurps the sisters. Twilight is condemned....the list goes on and on (and on...)
But, as a few folks have discovered (as is their personal bent) sometimes it's interesting to see how else it could have turned out.
You say their portrayals are OOC? I believe they're quite a bit closer than most.
Celestia doesn't scream or shout, she doesn't fly off the handle, and she doesn't just smile and play kissy face. She tries, multiple times, to voice her concerns from the patchy information she has from letters.
Twilight responds with a bit of hostility from what seems like an insult, but what is likely also the leftover pain of losing her library. Even then, she makes it clear that she doesn't like feeling or thinking this way and extends the olive branch..... just like she has done in the show after every major conflict (with the crowning example being the royal wedding).
Granted, the memory spell is an easy out. Many things are. Heck, I would wager that it's one of the most abused story mechanics out there (amnesia, brain damage, memory alteration, etc), but for my purposes, it helps to explain a possible reason why Twilight might very well view Celestia as a god-like figure. If, to cope (perhaps from the very first day at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns) Twilight has been erasing 'imperfections' as she sees them, slowly building up the perception that her mentor is infallible or larger than life, it begs the question of if Twilight even realizes she may have done this before.
As to the author just throwing out their issues with the show... my friend, you are sorely mistaken. I find television, in general, to be comedic at best and a waste of time on average. I have found MLP to be refreshing and fun, often granting some of the most authentic enjoyment I'll have over the week. What you see here is a thought about how those two might respond to a few things I wondered about.
Am I preachy? Maybe.
Is there a lack of action and adventure? Absolutely.
Does that make it any less of a story? Nope... it makes it less of an action story.
You might be interested to read a few of Longfellow's works, or, perhaps a few children's stories which explore the world or a moment rather than racing off into the night with a whoop and a howl. Not all stories need be intro - conflict - escalation - climax - resolution. They simply need to tell of something.
Thanks for reading it though. It takes all types of folks to make this place work.
5911096
<heh> Thanks for taking the time to comment. Feel free to read some of my other, highly unoriginal, carbon copied fiction while you're here. It's about ponies. Pretty much all of it.
I hear it's been done before.
Can't please everyone, but thanks for giving it a shot at least.
I did not downvote this story, but I didn't like it either.
Nothing happens here. No character growth, no emotional development, nothing. It's not interesting.
I know that I often make a point in my comments that Celestia has no idea what she's doing, but I mean it facetiously. This story and others like it only work if she literally has no idea what she is actually doing; it forces us to assume that Equestria has only lasted as long as it has because of ponies like Hypercompetent Twilight or, because we are typically to assume that Twilight is the first hypercompetent pony to exist, through blind luck.
Celestia is presented as an empty-headed fool who doesn't deserve to be a Princess. Twilight is presented as a hard-nosed Mary Sue who can do no wrong. But ultimately, that doesn't matter, because there is no opportunity for any kind of character growth. We have learned nothing, done nothing, and accomplished nothing from reading a story that itself teaches nothing, does nothing, and accomplishes nothing.
I'm still not downvoting it, but I'm not going to recommend it, either.
It was very enjoyable reading Twilight's response, but the whole setup is a strawman argument. Celestia is written like a petulant complainer who wants to eat her cake and have it too, while Twilight is a weary realist shooting down each point. Events are altered and/or depicted in a more grim and stark light (with ponies and changelings dying, for instance) in order to support Twilight's arguments further. I don't dislike it, but I don't like it either.
when has Celestia ever suggested Twilight try to befriend an active threat?
5910769
Doesn't look like a joke, looks like a blatant typo.
5911352
It seemed out of character to me, as well. I think PsychoKrusk (5911527) articulated many of the reasons well.
I think what really bothered me was two things. Nothing in the first chapter - that's kind of on the edge of what I imagine Celestia might write, but it is at least on the edge. But Twilight's response in the second chapter was rather wildly off. This is a mare who had all of Ponyville fighting over a doll rather than be one day late in sending a report to the Princess, whose greatest fear is rejection by Celestia, who would do anything rather than face even mild disapproval of Celestia. I just don't see her turning that around and calling Celestia out for, well, any reason at all. Yes, she can disagree with Celestia - but I can't see her starting from there and somehow coming to the conclusion that Celestia is wrong.
The second thing that really bothered me is the speed at which Celestia turned her opinions around. Most people - when they hold an opinion as firmly as Celestia did in Chapter One - would take either some significant persuasion or some actual new data in order to change their minds. This would be even more the case with Celestia, who has for generations been looked up to by tens of thousands of ponies. So that swift turnaround seems... unrealistic, to say the least.
Having said that, though, ignoring from those two points (and they are fairly major points) the story has some good points as well. Good spelling and grammer, a good balance between description and plotline (that is, enough description to see what was going on, but not so much as to distract from the point). So, yes, there were some good points... but I still don't really like this story much.
5912638
<shrugs> I like when folks help me find typos. I fix them when I see them and will almost always thank folks to pointing out the ones I miss.
I also happen to be an insufferable trickster IRL, and enjoy sneaking little things in from time to time. In this case, it was intentionally done.
5913456
<nods> Thanks for the feedback.
I agree that Celestia's 'turnabout' was quick.
In my head, I see a rather upset Twilight who has just had a moment of frustration boil over, sending the letter before she loses her nerve to do so. I see her, moments later, realizing she's just sent off a letter before really thinking it though.
I see Celestia reading over that letter, realizing that much of what she's been worried about stems from being a bit apart or not being there to personally experience what Twilight and her friends are having to go through. I can see her shock and shame at reading that Twilight plans to erase the time it took to read and respond to her letter, rather than choose to feel upset or hurt... or even feel those things in relation to Celestia.... and realizing that with Twilight's almost prodigal skill, by the time she had finished reading the letter, the deed would already be done.
Following that thought, I could see Celestia coming to understand just how deeply Twilight values, not just their relationship, but her own faith in Celestia. I could see that as something akin to a parent discovering a child using drugs to cope with a divorce or a suicide with a letter pointing out something that they had not seen as important.... which meant the world to their child.
In my mind, having Celestia realize, perhaps for the first time, that Twilight is willing to sacrifice parts of herself to preserve just her faith in her teacher... just the image she holds so preciously... that shock would be enough to effect such a change.
Celestia, for all her age and wisdom, is not perfect... but in my head, that tiny moment of realization that she was completely helpless to correct her mistake... to prevent Twilight from doing this to herself because of her own lack of understanding (Celestia's concerns were based off of letters, not experience, recall) and then realizing that it may have happened untold times before.... that moment must have been a crushingly painful thing. Sobering, one might say.
But, she was given a second chance... after all, even while that upset, Twilight decided to offer an alternative. Not only had she effectively turned back the clock, but by making her first true demand of Celestia, she opened up the possibility for Celestia's concerns to be addressed in a different way, and her own hurts to be mended.
<Shrugs> BUT, that's the problem with being the author. You can have it all in your mind, thinking it's there. You can have it all there, thinking it's clear. You can have it all hinted and teased, but not as clear as you think. Heck, you can have it all blatant and spelled out, and get a reader who simply doesn't think in that manner. And, of course, you can have all of the above.
<smiles> And that's why I love comments that are constructive.
Thank you!
Upvoted after the first chapter, downvoted after the second.
Twilight is wildly out-of-character here.
Well, StormDancer, I'll say one thing: It was very different, and very unexpected. ... But, at the same time, I do kind of understand the thoughts behind this, both in Twilight's and Celestia's view, no matter how I may think they are out of character. As other comments have stated, I didn't and won't dislike this, but I didn't really like it either. Also, as you admitted, the whole 'memory wipe' or 'amnesia' card is VERY overplayed. But at the same time, it does kind of fit in, especially after reading all the comments, seeing how you defended it, and that made me respect, understand, and appreciate it better at some level. I also agree there wasn't much in the way of story or character progression, as others have said, but it brings up many intriguing thoughts and interesting points. And, it could even be argued there actually is SOME level of character progression in Celestia, as she does realize what Twilight and her friends went through, at least a little bit, and tries to get reacquainted with the world. However, as mentioned in the second chapter's comments, Celestia may often not act so that the ponies of Equestria won't rely on her for every single stupid little thing they can. And if she hadn't relied on Twilight as much as she did, Twilight may not have become an Alicorn, for what the fandom may think of it.
This message may seem like a mixed bag, and it kind of is a little... But what I'm trying to point out is that everyone here was right. Sure, some commenters said this was out of character, and while I agree at least to some degree, to you, it was NOT out of character. In a similar way, all these comments are true in their message, and so is this story. This fanfic is beautiful, creative, and artistic; it makes us think of something new, or something old in a new way. Worst come to worst, I think this makes a pretty good case of 'what if,' if nothing else, a phrase both achingly appalling and unbelievably amazing at the same time. It all lies in the eye of the beholder.
... But, now that that's over, time to retake the socially accepted role of judge... Twilight was too rude in chapter two... Maybe?
>>Keradon ... Oh, and I agree. Luna emotes.
5914441
Alright, fair enough, but my point is that to get this moment of frustration in the first place, Twilight has to think that she is right and, importantly, that Celestia is wrong. It's that step there - that Twilight of all ponies would go from getting the letter to "Celestia is wrong" in mere minutes - that seems wrong to me.
I mean, sure, she can read the letter and immediately think "this letter is wrong", but the way I see her character, the chain of reasoning from there onwards either goes "the letter has been faked" -> "DISCOOOOOOORD! Explain yourself!" or "Celestia can't be wrong. This letter looks wrong. Therefore I must be wrong. The Princess must be trying to teach me something."
She might well be able to end up concluding that Celestia is wrong - but only after trying Celestia's suggested approach on the next world-ending threat to hit Equestria and having it fail on her.
Now, Twilight's memory wipe, that makes a lot more sense in comparison. I mean, it's an utterly idiotic thing to do, but it's the sort of idiotic thing that I can imagine Twilight doing - though it's kind of near the edge of what I see as her potential characterisation, it is within the lines, so to speak.
5915524
Agreed!
And a worried/uncomfortable suspicion tends to blur the lines of sensible and real.
Celestia didn't exactly give Twilight a manual on any of that, but what teacher does? They tend to teach through example, and when someone stumbles, have an annoying tendency to say "You should have known better." Pretty sure we've all had that.
5915529
Typo and botch.... about to correct.
Many thanks!
5915646
Yep, the "army" was referring to the changeling invasion. Even though Twilight only suspected Cadence, she was turned away and shunned (perhaps rightly so given her method of alerting others) but that still meant that she was the only one even looking out for that particular problem. She, effectively was, even if she didn't know it at the time, the only one up against that army.
Shining Armor may have had a bubble, but he didn't know what he was defending against... and was also kind of playing for the wrong side unknowingly... not to mention actively separating himself from Twilight at the time.
5915758
Well said.
And as to a mixed bag of a comment, I don't think it really is.
Fan fiction is meant to be fiction of fiction. We're playing with ideas that are, by their very nature, non-cannon. We're looking at things and making derivatives based on cannon material which is, inherently, fictional. As such, I doubt that any fan fiction will be received in an entirely positive light.
Heck, the fans can't even agree to enjoy the ACTUAL show in its entirety, I cannot believe everything will be rainbows and unicor.... bad example. I can't expect every review to be positive, or even entirely positive for those that are.
Thanks for the feedback and the thoughtful response.
5916951
Fair points, all.
I shall respond only by offering this thought:
What if she often does feel Celestia is wrong, double guesses, feels guilty for the thought, and memory-wipes/convinces herself to ignore it... and this was just the first time she had something physical she couldn't dodge or deny away?
<shrugs>
Whatever the case, I'm glad folks are putting such thought into this. The more we interact with a story, the more we develop the ideas or understanding of characters, situations, and stories. <chuckles> Heck, we, as fans, patently ignore CANNON things from the show in the interest of the story.... all the time. For the New Artist Training Ground on Equestria Daily, I actually thought to draw all the cannon Alicorns as one of the prompts... family or something.... and got to planning it. Problem was, when I went to look up references, I realized I hadn't thought of Cadence at all... didn't even enter my mind. Then I happened to notice another alicorn in one of the episodes.... had to play it again to make sure. Then I was like "Oh wow... I wonder how many I've missed."....
...
Long story short, there are DOZENS of alicorns, just roaming around. Alicorn does not equal princess... or even royalty.
But that's something I would have missed if I hadn't looked into it more carefully. <chuckles> As fan, I love that kind of stuff. As a person, I love getting folks to think in different ways. As an author of random, nonsensical jibberish (for the fun of it), I love engaging those same thought processes that I used so much while RPing and LARPing.
<chuckles> Thanks for the feedback!
5917299
Alrighty.
Good to know.
I'll keep Sentience due to stylistic reasons, but Sapience could certainly apply as well.
5910877
Great point, and one I've made on occasion as well. I like to think that the reason why shows and stories follow those unusual and exceptional individuals, rather than the uberpowerful or mundane, is that of definition.
By definition, the only ones able to pull off the remarkable are remarkable themselves. And the ones overqualified? Well, they likely already did the hard work and are either ignoring it in favor of bigger, badder, problems, or are unaware/leaving it for others more suited to the task.
Either way, we don't see any series about the ones that failed... those are the examples used to prompt our heroes and main-characters to action.
5911490
Primarily by not including them. Celestia openly says not to tell them, but she's always pointed out that Twilight NEEDS her friends. Celestia rides a line between teacher and role-model... one that doesn't always play fair or give reasonable expectations. It's part of the iconic value a mentor/idol has.
In this case, While Twilight was told not to tell her friends, when they tried to help... to follow her to the Castle of the Two Sisters, she told them no... then told them to persuade the townsfolk to stay indoors (I'm paraphrasing). Ultimately, while Twilight knows that they'll always be there for her, that they'll always have her back, she does exactly what Celestia is known for: holding back information that others end up taking on faith, to their detriment.
Twilight didn't try to betray them. She had every intent of protecting them and doing the right thing. And at the same time, she effectively told them that they had to trust her, that she was not doing anything dangerous, and that she needed them to watch over something else which was absolutely trivial.
Kind of like an attorney who ignores their own faults and any sense of reasonable understanding to push a point, Celestia didn't need to be absolutely right to make the statement - she only had to feel there was enough evidence to merit saying it.
And sorry I didn't respond sooner, the comment got lost in the swarm.
5910748
Incidentally, I looked up (and read on lunch) Parting Words, and found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. THAT is the kind of story that mixes action with introspection.
I rather enjoy the resulting relationship as well. Often this is rather what happens when a mentor/understudy come to a point where they must part. It's that exact kind of love/hate moment where both grow and neither can go back to how things were.
5910716
<heh> I'm chalking it up to 'incomplete information' mixed with "I'm Celestia and I assume she would have known better."
Let me be plain here. I don't think Celestia is an idiot.
I think Celestia plays a very very idealized role and has settled a bit into a comfortable rut. I see her as a wise and benevolent leader who is liked by most, idolized by a few, and worshiped by some. I also see her as someone who is terribly lonely in how she thinks, likely as a result of so many placing her upon a pillar and thinking of her as above themselves. I don't doubt that she cares deeply for her subjects, that she has attachments and feelings for some or all of them, but I do not see her thinking about things from the viewpoint of EVERY pony she must interact with. She might have a general expectation, but I suspect that (as a character) she has a certain amount of trouble looking at something from a truly different point of view.
We're talking about an immortal who is treated like a god, revered as royalty, and kowtowed to just about whenever she disagrees with something. I don't see it as intentional, but more of a blindspot where she simply doesn't even register to explore when something is far enough removed from what she expects.
<chuckles> Heck, "A threat has been made" against Canterlot prompted a bubble shield, but even when facing the threat in her castle, face to face, AFTER being infiltrated, the guard foiled, and the plot revealed, she jumps in without even considering that she may have been beaten in the game. <shrugs> She might have held back (and I'm inclined to think she did), but the result doesn't seem like it was one she expected, and even while in the cocoon with a 'burnt horn', she was aware and awake, after being manhandled by underlings that the unempowered mane characters were shown to have been able to defeat with confetti and balloons.
<chuckles> I'll even entertain the idea that the whole thing might have been a ploy.... I don't think it likely, but I'll entertain the idea.
But the reason I've said all this is that I don't think Celestia is a fool so much as I think she might be facing, for the first time in a very long time, a situation where she isn't the one who knows everything, wins everything, understands everything, and can be immune to everything. I think it worries her, especially since she has such a close bond with Twilight (moreso if we take Sunset Shimmer into account).
5915529
Sorry, didn't address the examples directly, though rst64tlc did a decent job:
1: "the elements themselves,"
(a) Not informing/warning about the world's dangers. This can apply to everything from the Everfree forest to the barren wastes surrounding the Crystal Empire.
2: "our own fears since you didn't even think to warn us"
(a) This applies to both Discord's magic, which given Celestia's personal experience seems rather blatant, and
(b) also Sombra's fear effects (at the very least). If very little is known, but Celestia and Luna have been around for thousands of years (only the last 1000 having Luna absent), then an entire empire so close being unknown seems odd. Knowing that Sombra was a 'unicorn' (ignoring the comic which states he was a separate subspecies) who used fear to enslave an empire, a little more forewarning seems prudent.
3: "[then] a being that moves an infinite number of suns on a nightly basis as a [pastime],"
(a)Nightmare Moon/Luna -Princess of the Moon. Also, apparently, makes the night sky/places the stars... which are (presumably) other suns and not just little sequins with magic lights.
4: "and even our own friends and family."
(a) The wielders of the Elements of Harmony - as evidenced by Discord.
(b) Also, via Starswirl's spell, which Celestia and Luna both comment upon regarding if Twilight is ready. This is a presumption, of course, since we don't know if the spell has ever been used/attempted before.
5: "...an entire army...."
(a) The changelings. Even if Twilight was unaware of it at the time, the changelings were already a present threat. Twilight knew something was wrong, and even given her close, personal knowledge of Cadence and her behaviors, Celestia effectively brushed Twilight and her concerns aside without a second thought. Regardless of if it was merited (which I think Celestia had every right to, given the apparent circumstances), this left Twilight as the sole defender in the entire kingdom against the unknown threat. Shining Armor was (unintentionally) helping and Cadence was out of commission. Luna was.... I don't know.... probably napping. The other Element bearers... well, they were as much to blame (if not more so) than Celestia, but Twilight was currently focused on Celestia's part.
6: "...no, wait, that was JUST ME until you admitted you were wrong and let my friends feel safe to help."
(a) In reality, her friends could very well have ignored Twilight on their own, but having Celestia publicly condemn her actions would certainly have been the nail in the coffin for any of their own concerns that Twilight was possibly not just being a jealous attention seeking nut job... which they really should have known better than to think at that point.
Of course, that's all from a frustrated Twilight point of view. That same view that tends to make exhaustive checklists with every conceivable mishap (regardless of the realistic chances of it happening) and panic-attack induced decision making involving stuffed animals and a town-wide mind altering obsession spell.
Twilight, in this instant, was pretty much unloading as her mind connected dots for evidence. She's a bright mare, one who makes jumps in logic that can seem surreal; but that same trait can lead to some erroneous assumptions. Assumptions like Celestia having anything to do with some of the troubles they've had to face.
Celestia never forbade her friends from helping her or supporting her concerns, they walked off on their own (admittedly under bad circumstances), but Twilight didn't see any of them until she got herself out of the caves. Even then, they didn't come to her aide until after CADENCE made her appearance. That kind of situation can certainly feel like everyone's against you when you're the one singled out... and while Celestia did nothing to encourage them to act as they did, it wasn't until after the reveal that they moved to help her.