Influence
Shining Armor tossed his helmet onto his armor rack with a heavy sigh. When he had first become a prince and the co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, he had been concerned that it would all be boring paperwork and he would never get to do any real soldiering again. That worry was long banished. Even though his position was more of a command position than on the front lines, defending the Crystal Empire ensured he was seeing plenty of action.
Scattered swarms of changelings had been keeping him busy. At least once a week, he would need to gallop, leading his crystal soldiers on a hunt. Luckily he knew he would always come home to the same thing.
“How was it sweetie?”
“Good.”
The nuzzle from his wife was all it took to banish his weariness. It was not long before the rest of his armor was shed and he was curled up on the couch with the most wonderful alicorn in the world.
“How were things while we were out hunting?”
“We had another cultural assimilation meeting. It’s hard getting the Crystal Ponies up to speed with everything that they missed while still trying to maintain the core of their culture.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
Of course, he thought with a grimace, part of the reason that he still had time to go out on patrols was because his wife handled most of the paperwork. Shining Armor wondered if she had gotten a love for checklists from Twilight or if it had been the other way around.
“For the most part I suppose it isn’t. I’ve been surprised by how quickly they’ve accepted pop music. But there are some sticking points. I think they actually have the most difficulty with the things that have stayed the same. Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna were around back before the Empire had been sealed away, but it seems the ponies can’t believe how peaceful and serene Aunt Celestia has become.”
“You mean the Princess wasn’t always like… well like Celestia?”
“Haven’t you heard the Crystal Ponies talk about the Sun’s Wrath? What do you think they are talking about?”
“Hmm. The only time I can imagine your Aunt angry was when Chrysalis revealed herself at our wedding.”
Cadence murmured in assent as she snuggled up against him and levitated a blanket over the two of them. Shining stifled a yawn as he struggled not to fall asleep then and there. He was sure tomorrow would be busy and wanted to savor this time with his wife.
“You know, Cadence, maybe we should do something special for breakfast. A picnic or something?”
Cadence gave him that smile she used whenever he said something stupid and stroked his face with a hoof. “Honey, we’re having breakfast with Steel Heart and Diamond Hoof tomorrow.”
Shining Armor shifted on the couch, leaning back and pulling pulling his wife into his hooves so that they were spooning. She giggled a little before craning her neck to look to look in his face. She gave him a slow lick, but stopped, gazing into his eyes.
“Shiny, what’s wrong?”
He shifted uncomfortably with Cadence in his embrace. He had not thought it had been so obvious that something was bothering him, but his wife always seemed to know him better than he did. The prospect of explaining nearly brought him an acute sense unease.
Father had always told him that real stallions didn’t talk about their feelings. It did not matter that Shining felt that his old man’s words were not worth their salt. The scoldings had left their impression. Still, Cadence was Cadence. She was his wife, and he could tell her how he felt.
“It’s Steel and Diamond. I’m... really worried about those two.”
“Oh, don’t be. I took care of it.”
He shot up on the couch almost dumping his wife onto the floor. He tried to ignore her indignant squawk or the glare she shot him.
“What do you mean you took care of it. Before I left with the knights, I had been talking with Steel Heart and it sounded like they're going to separate.”
“Hello. Alicorn of Love here. I took care of things.” Cadence gave him a hug as she climbed back onto the couch.
“But their relationship is in tatters.”
“Yea, and I blasted them with my love mojo and reminded them of why they loved one another.” Cadence pumped her hoof in the air as she spoke, and Shining could only look at his wife flabbergasted.
“But they had a lot of serious problems. Diamond doesn’t want to have a foal, and Steel Heart has his, well heart set on one.”
Cadence scooted away from him to the other side of the couch and gave him a funny look. “Why are you being so weird about this? You’ve seen me use my powers hundreds of times.”
Shining scratched the back of his head and could not help but feel guilty about the hurt look in his wife’s eyes.
“I suppose it’s just that you’ve never used it on a couple that I really knew well, so I never really thought about it. I mean, it seems like a really nice thing. Like something out of a fairy tale. But its just that…”
“There were serious issues that are still unresolved? My power doesn’t change that. Diamond Hoof still isn’t going to want a foal, and Steel Heart is still going to want one. All the other hundred little things wrong with their relationship are still there.”
“But-”
“No relationship is perfect Shining, not even ours. But that is the great thing about love. It doesn’t care about all the little details, and it doesn’t need to. Remember our wedding. Canterlot had fallen, and all hope was gone, but our love did not care. Our love was able to overcome.”
Shining nodded to tell his wife that he was listening as Cadence continued.
“Yes, it didn’t fix anything. There was a lot of repair work to be done. You needed to make up with your sister, and her friends had still hurt her feelings. Even now you are still cleaning up the mess on your patrols. But love made it possible to move beyond that.
“You’re absolutely right that their relationship has problems, and serious ones at that. But Diamond Hoof and Steel Heart legitimately love one another. Love, true love, is not something to be taken lightly. They are not the first couple that will have worked out differences, and they will not be the last. My power just opens their hearts to the possibility. Love just puts things in perspective.”
“I guess… I suppose I hadn’t thought about it that way before.”
Shining Armor smiled as his wife nuzzled his neck. There were a lot of things in the world that he did not understand. He supposed he could add love to that long list. However, one thing that he did understand was his wife. She was the most wonderful pony in the world, and if she said their friends were going to be OK, then he would not worry about them.
“Trust me. I’ve spent a long time thinking about this. When I first really started thinking about my special talent I had the same worry. Is it right? I actually freaked out and hid under my bed for a day. I was worried that I would use it on a couple that really shouldn’t be together or even if they should I asked myself if I had any right. But Aunt Celestia really helped me come to terms with what I can do and reach a better understanding of things.”
“What did she do?”
“We went and played matchmaker with some ponies, not using any magic. She told me that we could try to help ponies find love without touching their minds or hearts. I realized I was OK with that, and really wanted to help ponies. I was really good at it actually. I think for nearly half a year we would sneak about spying on ponies and setting them up on dates.”
Shinning Armor snickered at the mental image the words conjured before asking his question. “Come across any ponies that you couldn’t help.”
Cadence leaned into Shining with a sigh, and he did his best to project his support.
“Yea. Some ponies aren’t willing to love, or they are too afraid of opening themselves up. Then there are some ponies who were just too grumpy for me to find somepony for, or others too busy to spend the time. My greatest failure though… She still haunts me in my dreams… The great white one.”
Shining Armor looked at his wife in concern until he saw the smile on her face and heard her giggle.
“The great white one?”
“Aunt Celestia! This was after I had already developed a crush on a certain somepony,” Shining felt the warmth as their embrace deepened, “but I decided my conspirator in crime needed a special somepony. But I swear Aunt Celestia is impossible.”
“Nothing panned out?”
“Nothing even got started. Later on I even tried using my magic on her and nada. I really don’t understand. If she was anypony else, I would say it’s because she already has her heart set on somepony.”
“Princess Celestia has a secret crush?”
Cadence shook her head. “No… I think… She is so old, and sometimes I have trouble understanding her. She’s never shown any signs of being interested in anypony, so…”
“How did you go from sulking around the castle playing matchmaker to using your magic again.”
“Oh, yea… Well, one day the Princess asked me if I wanted to see her personal garden. I said 'yes,' of course, I never knew that she had her own garden that she tended. It was amazing and beautiful. I understood that once you have lived thousands of years you pick up some skills, but I didn’t understand how she had the time to upkeep it. So I asked her.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me that she cheated. She uses her magic to sustain the garden. It wasn’t the process of gardening that she cared about or enjoyed, it was the end results. A flower needs nutrients, water, and sunlight. As far as she was concerned, it did not really make a difference if she walked around with a watering can or magiced the water into the soil.”
“I’m… I’m not sure about that.”
“Oh certainly for some ponies it is the physical act of gardening that is important. However, by using her magic to make the more mundane work easier, it gave her time to give the flowers the one other thing they needed.”
“What’s that?”
Cadence bopped his nose. “Love silly. You might think she would be dispassionate about those flowers, using her magic to care for them, but she wasn’t. Aunt Celestia really cares for her garden. The magic was just… A shortcut of sorts.”
“I guess I can see that.”
“Standing there in the garden, I started thinking - which I am sure was Aunt Celestia’s plan all along. Over the months we had started using some simple spells in our schemes - though not my love magic mind you. Telepathy spells so we could conspire without being heard, and eavesdropping spells to gather intel. Aunt Celestia showed me this amazing spell to forge letters and another that lets you sneak around without making a peep.”
Shining continued to listen attentively as his wife grew more excited.
“We didn’t need those spells, but they made things easier. They gave us more time to focus on what was important, meddling in other ponies' love lives!” Shining could not help but laugh at that. “Then I realized that’s basically what my special talent does. Nothing it does could not be accomplished simply by talking things out and taking a moment to reflect. If two ponies are really set, and aren’t willing to compromise, then the magic just doesn’t work. It was just like Aunt Celestia’s special talent. But I realized I have the ability to help people and it would be wrong not to use that power to help couples truly in love.”
“What about the Princess’s special talent?”
He pulled his head back and looked at the blush on his wife’s face. Over the years he had learned to read the multitude of her different blushes, and this one told him that she had just let something slip that was supposed to be a secret. Of course, Cadence had always been horrible at keeping secrets. It was how he had won his first kiss from her in a game of poker.
“Well, you’re technically her nephew now and family. Besides you’re my husband, so I don’t think she would mind you knowing too much.”
“Knowing what?”
“So you know how Aunt Celestia powers the sun with her magic?”
“Uh huh.”
“So the sun is basically a n-dimensional transmitter for her magic. Well with the inversion-”
“Look Cadence, I know you used to help Twilight study and all, but I was never too hot on magical theory. Keep things simple.”
He tried to ignore the glare he got for cutting her off.
“The sun beams her magic all over Equestria. It lets her spread her influence to every pony exposed to its light. She tweaks it just so, and well. It helps ponies keep calm and get in touch with their inner harmony.”
The memory of green eyes flashed in his thoughts.
“Mind control!” As he yelled, he stumbled to the floor in surprise and cast a suspicious glance at the glass window and the sunlight beaming through.
“No not mind control.” Cadence humphed, “It’s just a gentle nudge.”
“It sounds like you are saying that the Princess engages in widespread pacification of her subjects.”
He was standing ramrod straight now, and with a rough tug of magic, nearly tore the curtains down while closing them. His breath was coming faster now even though he was not sure why.
“Then I’m saying it badly. Look. Canterlot is filled with gardens and fountains. Peaceful and serene sights and sounds. It’s no different than being soothed by calm music or the smell of lilacs.”
“Except that this is magic, and if you hear music you know it's there. No pony-” He jumped at the hoof on his haunches.
“Is this about Chrysalis?”
As he looked into his wife’s calm eyes his breathing began to slow somewhat.
“I… I don’t know maybe. She… She violated my mind. Twisted me to her whims. I was convinced she was you, even though she was acting nothing like you. I said awful things to my sister, and… The worst thing about it is I don’t know how much of that was her. I know she distorted and rearranged things up in here, but I can’t say how much. Just how hard did she have to work to make me like that, or was it just a ‘gentle nudge?’”
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea-”
“No don’t be sorry. You had no way to know. I guess I didn’t even realize that it was bothering me until just now. It’s just what you were describing about the Princess… It feels too much like what Chrysalis did to me.”
“Aunt Celestia loves her subjects, and uses her magic to help them. It really is just a nudge. What Chrysalis did? Nothing like that. She was using you to her own ends and was going to keep on using you until nothing was left. It wasn’t a nudge. She was trampling over anything that got in her way.”
“I guess…”
He felt himself pulled into a hug and heard words being mumbled into his mane while lips moved against his skin.
“I’m so sorry. We never really talked much about that day. We just both rushed into the wedding right after. For my part I just wanted to put it all behind me. I guess I have my own scars from the experience as well... Let’s go for a walk in the gardens and we can talk about it if you want. I understand if you don’t, but the thing about love is that it means we can share one another’s pain.”
“No… That sounds nice.”
+++
Shinning had felt bad lying to his wife. The fact that it seemed he had actually fooled her for once only made it worse. He wanted to buy into that “love means sharing burdens” philosophy of hers, but that was not how he was wired.
He carried the burdens of others.
That was how it had always been.
He had earned his cutie mark protecting his sister. From that moment on he knew that he wanted to protect others from pain and suffering, and unfortunately pain did not always mean pain of the body. Even though it had eventually grown to include many other ponies, he had always made it his mission to always shield Twilight first and foremost. As a result he had noone to talk to when his parents had gone through that rocky patch in their marriage.
Shining Armor had always been good at reading the mood in a room, so when it seemed like a fight was about to break out, he would sneak out the back with Twilight. They would go kite flying or he would suffer through a trip to the library. She still thought, as far as he knew, that they were just good times between a BBBFF and BLSFF. If he could, he would keep it that way.
Twilight had no idea that their father had nearly torn the family apart with his infidelity, how he had slept with that other mare. What had her name been again? Starlight Lulamoon, or something like that, he thought. Shining knew that their father was a weak stallion, but Twilight still saw him as “dad.” She had been spared that pain.
Then when Twilight went off to live in the palace, he had lied to her. He told her he was happy for her. He hid how much they had all missed her. He never mentioned the terrible hole she left in their family dynamic. But he had sucked it up for his sister.
Now though he had someone else to protect.
And now that someone was expecting him to dump his pain on her. Cadence had cried when they talked in the gardens. He never wanted her to cry; it was the worst thing in the world. So how could he tell her that he was uncomfortable about her special talent? How could he tell her that the pony in his nightmare the other night had NOT been Chrysalis, but rather an imperious Princess Celestia wreathed in golden flames?
He couldn’t. It was as simple as that.
So the answer had been to lie.
He had hoped to relieve some of his worries by talking to some of the Crystal Ponies, however their stories of a hard and wrathful Celestia did little to ease his mind. It seemed like the ages had mellowed her into the benevolent ruler that Equestria now knew. However, Shinning Armor could not help but wonder if the years had simply taught her better methods of pacification. Perhaps Celestia now practiced a more elegant form of maintaining her precious order. The Celestia of today could hold much more in common with the Celestia of a thousand years ago than it seemed at first glance.
A tyrant in disguise.
He knew that it was silly. Cadence was right. Princess Celestia cared dearly for every one of her subjects. Shining Armor tried to keep telling himself that. He tried to replace the imaginary picture of an angry Celestia in his mind with one of her nuzzling Twilight. Unfortunately, adding Twilight into the picture made it worse.
After wrestling with the doubt and occasional nightmares for nearly a month, he followed up with another lie.
“You know. I’m jealous that you got to spend that time with Twilight. I didn’t get much quality time with her at the wedding, and I really feel like I’ve been failing as a big brother. Would you mind if I visited her for a week?”
And so his excuse to go to Canterlot and look through their archives was secured.
When he had set off for Canterlot he had hoped to come to the conclusion that he was blowing things out of proportion. Part of him just wanted to forget the whole thing. However, if Celestia was some sort of Tyrant in disguise she could be a threat to all of Equestria. Worse still, he could see her subtle influence in Cadence. He did not want his wife being twisted into a monster like Chrysalis.
Then there was the big reason Shining Armor could not simply forget things and put them out of his mind. Even if they had grown apart over the years, he was still Twilight’s BBBFF. She spent so much time around the Princess, even more so now that she was an alicorn herself. If his little sister was in danger, he would never forgive himself for inaction.
The days in the library would certainly have been easier with Twilight’s help. He and books had never quite gotten along. Still he had hoped, and even expected, he was wrong. He certainly did not want to sour Twilight’s relationship with her longtime mentor if everything just turned out to be post traumatic nightmares. In all likelihood, it was all just in his head.
However, he did not need his sister’s research skills to see the pattern that emerged over the next few days. The history books read like propaganda when he looked at them with a critical eye, and older documents seemed to tell a different story if he read between the lines. He wondered what the dispute that resulted in Luna being banished to the moon had really been about.
Despite himself, Shining Armor could not argue with the results. Over the last thousand years of history there was more peace and prosperity in Equestria than in any other period of time, even taking into account creative editing of the books. But if all of Equestria was built on a lie, Shinning did not see how he could support it.
He laughed at his own hypocrisy. He had lied to Twilight most of her life so she could live under their roof in peace. Yet, this was somehow different. It was not just the lie, but also the control. He might have hid the truth from Twilight, but never did he use magic to make her happy.
“What’s happiness without struggle? You can’t just force a pony to be happy.”
And that was when he ran into Twilight.
“BBBFF!” He could only let out a grunt in reply as his sister tackled him in a hug.
“I thought I had seen you in here yesterday, but lost track of you in the stacks. Why didn’t you tell me you were in Canterlot?” She paused looking over his pile of books, “If you are doing research I could help.”
That smile, one of his greatest weaknesses.
“Look Twi, why… why don’t you sit down. We need to talk about something.”
She took a seat on the opposite side of his work table without protest, for which he was grateful. As she sat, she nearly knocked over a chair, and Shining Armor tried to smile. His sister had never gotten out of that phase where she was awkward in her own body, and her new wings did not seem to help.
As he looked at Twilight, he realized that his smile must not have been very convincing. It pained him that his words would do nothing to alleviate the now worried look on her face, but the time for lies was over. For all he knew, the Princess was twisting Twilight’s mind, forming her into the perfect “student.” He would keep his sister safe.
“Shining, what’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure how to say this, so I’m just going to come out with it. Princess Celestia is using her magic to manipulate ponies. She uses sunlight to twist their minds and force harmony into their hearts.”
“Well, I’m not sure if I would put it like that-”
“You know!”
“Shh. We’re in a library. Ponies are studying.” Twilight paused looking around worriedly. “Of course I know that Celestia uses her magic to exert a calming influence on ponies. The Princess tells me everything.”
Shining tried to return the glare that came with the words “calming influence,” as he shot back his rebuttal, “I would hardly say everything. Did she tell you about Nightmare Moon or the Elements of Harmony when she sent you off to Ponyville? What about the fact that Starswirl’s unfinished spell would turn you into an alicorn?”
Twilight rubbed her forehead with a sigh. “Yes. You’re right of course. There are things that she hasn’t told me. She has been alive for thousands of years. There is no way for her to catch me up on everything-”
“Those are pretty big things to leave out.”
“Everything." Twilight finished. "The important things she makes sure to tell me. There are things that she has admitted that she won’t tell me because its important that I learn them on my own, but it is for my own education. We’re honest with one another. We don’t keep secrets like you seem to be imagining. Especially not anymore. Now, when something comes up that she can’t tell me, she lets me know and apologizes in advance. She estimates in three hundred years or so we should be on equal footing for the most part.”
“Three hundred years?”
The fact that Twilight then hugged him made him very confused.
“Shining. You know that I love you right? However, one of the things I need to adjust to is that I am going to outlive almost everypony that I know. Three hundred years might seem like a lot, but in the grand scheme of my life, it’s nothing.”
“Listen, you can’t trust promises of the truth hundreds of years in the future. She’s manipulating you now in the present.”
“No you listen.” Twilight pulled away and her voice took a stern lecturing tone. “It’s not a case of ‘I’ll tell you on your three hundredth birthday.’ There is a lot of history to catch up on. Every night when we curl up in the study she tells me another story from her past, and you have no idea how hard that is for her to do, the things she has gone through.”
“You can’t… What do you mean when you curl up in the study.”
Shining wanted to pursue the blush on his sister’s face further, but her mumbled, “it’s not important,” was right. There was a bigger issue at the moment.
“Twilly. Do you really think that just because you are an alicorn now that Princess Celestia is going to trust you with all of her dirty little-”
“Yes, I do Shinning Armor. I have always been her “most faithful student.” That title is not without meaning. You think this is all just about me being a Princess now? She told me about the Harmony Effect of her Solar magic on my eighteenth birthday. She has always trusted me, and I have always trusted her. But now that I am an alicorn?”
Twilight paused, for what Shining assumed was dramatic effect.
“Now that I’m an alicorn, it means I’m not going to just up and die on her. It means I can be by her side supporting her for the rest of eternity. But she trusts me because of who I am. And the Harmony Effect? I support her on this.”
“How can you support mind control?”
“It’s not mind control.”
“It sure seems like mind control to me.”
“Then give me a chance to explain.”
There was a long pause that Shining eventually broke with a begrudging, “fine.”
“If you saw two ponies fighting in the street, what would you do?”
“I would break it up - But this is something completely different.”
“If your special talent was with music, you might calm them down with a song. Pinkie Pie might do it with a joke. We all want to help promote harmony in our own way.”
“But this is-”
“Let me finish. Ponies have a tendency to… hold on to things. Somepony slights you and it can ruin your entire day. It’s not really healthy and does not help interpony relations at all. Unfortunately, it’s the way we are all wired. All Tia’s- Celestia’s magic does is help ponies let things go. Harmony opens their hearts up to the possibility of peace. It’s a gentle influence, hardly there at all. If a pony really wants to hold onto anger and resentment, then they do. Anything more than that would be a violation.”
“Like how Cadence’s magic uses Love to open a pony’s heart to other possibilities?” His words were hesitant. It felt wrong to him, but he wanted to believe what his sister was saying.
“Exactly!” Twilight hopped up in excitement. “Or like Luna uses the night to inspire creativity.”
“Do you do it too? Influence ponies I mean?”
Twilight’s excited look evaporated and she suddenly looked downcast. “I haven’t really figured out my role in the grand order of things yet. Celestia says that the manifestation of an alicorn’s power is typically based on their personality and can change with time. She says I will find my way eventually.”
“So…”
“So, no. I don’t practice in any widespread influence if that is what you are worried about. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence all have a betting pool about what form my abilities will take. Celestia thinks it will have something to do with friendship. She’s probably right.”
“Twilight… How do you know that Princess Celestia hasn’t…”
“Hasn’t what?”
“How do you know that she hasn’t messed with your mind. Made you okay with all of this.”
“Shining... Shiny, of course the Princess has used mind magic on me.”
“What? How can you be OK with that?”
He could see the tears in his sister’s eyes, but could not understand why they are there.
“Celestia has always, ALWAYS asked before each and everyone of our sessions if I am okay with it. I tell her everytime that she doesn’t need to ask, but she does anyway. Trust me, this isn’t something that we treat lightly.”
“Then why-”
“Because I’m broken Shiny. I’ve been broken for a long time and the Princess has been fixing me. Is fixing me.”
“Twilight you aren’t broken…”
“Of course I am. You, mom, and dad just always loved me too much to see it. I was always your precious little Twilight, but Celestia’s love is tempered with wisdom and years. She is not blinded to the truth.”
“Twilight, whatever Celestia has told you-”
“Did mom and dad ever tell you what the magistrates of Magic Regulation wanted to do after my ‘incident’ during my entrance exam? They wanted my horn removed. My horn, Shiny!”
“Why?”
“Do you have any idea of just how powerful I am? Just how unstable my mind is? How every moment when I am upset is a constant struggle not to just vaporize everything around me? I’m dangerous Shiny. Ponies told Celestia she was being irresponsible taking me on as a student and not just having my magic removed, and really they were right.”
“Twilight.” Shining grabbed his sister by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. “You are not unstable. Do you understand me.”
“Less than half a year ago I nearly destroyed Ponyville because I freaked about being tardy for an assignment. I don’t deal with things well. Why do you think I had to go live at the Academy?”
“Well it’s a boarding school.”
“For ponies who don’t live in Canterlot. Plenty of my classmates continued to live with their parents. I was too dangerous to let go unsupervised. Startle poor little Twilight Sparkle and she might bring the ceiling down. Make Twilight Sparkle cry and the whole room might catch on fire. It actually happened more than once. Ponies in the know were terrified to hear that I became an alicorn. Do you realize how much stress being a princess brings?”
“Twilly.” he reached over and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry. I never knew any of this… but that is no reason for the Princess to be messing with your mind. There are other ways of dealing with things.”
Twilight pulled away, and for a moment Shining Armor fought to hold on. When he eventually relented, somewhere in his heart he worried that he should have held tighter.
“Neuromancy can be a very… Intimate thing. When Celestia helps me, she takes some of my demons into herself and defeats them in her mind. She pulls out the cracks scattering my thoughts and absorbs them into herself. Then she pours herself back into me. Not just the good things mind you. That would… Long term that would not be good. But she pours herself back in, good and bad. So I take her demons and shadows and help her fight them. In the end, we are both left stronger for it, and I am a little less broken.”
“Twilight this is all… This is all too much. It sounds wrong.”
“Then I didn’t do a good job of explaining it.”
“Maybe not. But that doesn’t change how it sounds.”
“I’m not sure what I can say.”
Shining Armor crossed his forehooves across his chest. “I don’t think there is anything you CAN say to make me think this is right.”
Twilight sighed and gave a feeble nod of her head.
“Shiny. There are a lot of different ways to work mental manipulation magic. Chrysalis wielded the magic like a dull knife, cutting away until all that was left was a hollow shell, and I am sorry you had to go through that. I am afraid that I don’t have Celestia’s tenderness with Neuromancy, but I do wield it with precision. In my hooves it is more akin to a surgical scalpel, only making the necessary cuts.”
“Twilly, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
Her horn lit up in a magenta glow, and Shining Armor only had a moment of realization before everything faded away.
“I’m saying that it is time for me to explain myself better.”
His head hit the floor with a dull thud, but he did not feel it.
+++
Shining Armor looked up from his tea as Princess Celestia entered the room. He stood up from his chair to bow, but felt a wave of dizziness hit him.
“Shining Armor, what are you doing here?”
What am I doing here? As hard as he tried to think, the answer did not come to him. Luckily the reply came from across the table.
“My brother came to visit me. It’s why I’ve been busy ALL week.”
Realization came to Shining Armor. It had been too long since he had seen his sister, and it had been good spending time with her. But why did she emphasizes her sentence like that?
“Twilight… What did you do?”
His sister let out a heavy sigh at Princess Celestia’s question.
“My brother had been having nightmares. I helped to make them go away.”
“I had been having nightmares?”
He didn’t have any memories of any particular nightmares. Just a week of spending time with his BLSFF. He did not understand why his sister was glaring at him.
“Shiny, give us a moment. I need to speak with the Princess.”
Her horn glowed and he felt like sitting in his chair, silently enjoying his tea.
“Twilight, he is your brother.”
“Don’t worry-”
“This is about me isn’t it? Cadence sent me a letter saying that Shining Armor had some concerns.”
Shining could see what looked like tears in the Princess’s eyes, but did not understand why.
“I told you not to worry about it.”
“But-”
“Look, he’s happy now. Better than ever in fact. He actually was having nightmares, and it turns out that he was repressing and holding all sorts of things bottled up inside. I did a little housekeeping when I was in his mind.”
His sister was suddenly frowning.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just remembered that I need to speak with my father at some point.”
Why is there so much venom in her voice? I nearly forgot 'bout Pop. He had spent nearly an entire week in Canterlot and had not checked in with his parents yet. It had been years since he had last played catch with his dad, though he couldn’t remember why. They would have to throw a ball around a bit before he left.
The Princess was now crying now. Twilight’s horn glowed again.
“I’m sorry Shiny, but its probably best for you to go back home to Cadence now. I’m sure she misses you. I’ll try to come by and visit you both in a week or two.”
Yes, his wife missed him. It would be best if he went back home to the Crystal Empire. Afterall, Twilight would come and visit them in a few weeks.
As he was getting up out of the chair and leaving the room, he heard some more of the conversation but did not process it.
“I never wanted you to need to do something like this.”
“I told you it’s not a problem. He is better off now. Besides, I told you I would always support you.”
“But… I know that he seems happier. In fact I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him look so… unburdened. But is it right?”
“Of course it's right.”
“But maybe he could have gotten here on his own.”
“And maybe my brother never would have shared his burdens. Worst case scenario I saved him years of hardship. Tia, please don’t cry.”
“I’m just so tired of it all. The uncertainty. I just want what is best for our ponies. I just don’t know if it is right anymore.”
“Shh. Don’t cry. Of course you want what is best. Please. You don’t need to worry about right and wrong. Let me worry about that. I told you I would support you. Shh..” Shining did not notice the magenta glow filling the room behind him. “Tia, why don’t you just forget all about this.”
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I- uh.
Yeah.
That was dark.
Have a thumb and fav'.
HOLY MINDFUCK, Twilight is a murderer!
This story indirectly touches on the ideas of individuality and interventionism. Bravo! A chilling tale! I would not mind seeing a sequel in long form focusing on rebellion touching on the very real themes of control freaks in governments/corporations and the other hidden manipulators of society.
Wow. That was pretty evil and messed up.
A-n-n-nd she ruined it. Look, morality isn't black and white, yes and no, it's shades of grey. There are no lines aside from the ones we make ourselves. Is mind magic wrong? No more wrong the manipulating the earth, or the weather, or the cosmos...
Magic can be horrifying, same thing with science, both of them allow you to change the way things work, and that's a big responsibility. It's up to the individual to go "no, that's wrong, I won't stand for that," and sometimes that means making a hard choice. And now for the big question, is Cadenza's magic "wrong?"
No, I don't believe it is. If it was she'd effectively have a cutie mark for mind rape, which she doesn't. Her ability seems to work more along the lines of empathy than mental domination. Same thing with Luna and Celestia, what with the latter having an effect somewhere in the ballpark of "everyone takes their medication on time," and the former acting as the muses of old; neither is really anything sinister unless you make it out to be that way, and since it seems to be a natural effect of having an alicorn around you can call it the price they pay in order to live in Equestria, if they're so uncomfortable with it they can leave. Part of the reason Shining Armor is so hostile is because he's been brutally traumatized.
Now, onto the second part. Is the way they used mind magic correct? No, I don't believe it is. Once you start taking away, once you start making people forget, you are damaging a person. To use an analogy you're lopping off a limb to fight cancer; sure, the cancer's gone, but so is everything else. Now, you can do other things that while morally questionable, aren't quite so bad, like: helping someone emotionally distance themselves from a source of trauma, convincing them that a traumatic incident was a dream and/or nightmare and helping them deal with it from there, help them ignore certain parts of their history all together, or even shift their focus to better parts. And that's just off the top of my head, sure, most of it is still pretty iffy, but it's miles better then taking away something that helps make a person who they are.
Mental modification is not, necessarily, a bad thing. There are people who would desperately want parts of themselves to be changed, and I believe they have that right. But it is, as it should be, their decision, not something you just... do because you see a problem and want a quick way to fix it. It's kind of like deleting infected files on your computer, only to find out afterwards that you can't replace the missing files. To some people that's a risk they're willing to take in order to help them sleep at night, but it's not something you do without a person's explicit permission.
There is no gentle way to say "Celestia has been magically lobotomizing entire generations of ponies for a thousand years".
That would explain why ponies are so childlike and immature: their mental development has been permanently crippled via neuromancy waves, making them forerver dependant of a "motherly" figure aka Celestia to guide them.
I don´t think I´m going to sleep this night
P.E: what is Twilight going to do about Trixie?
How legitimate would a friendship be if it was based on "I need to work with you to defeat an ancient evil. Every ponies lives depend on it. "?
5455899
of course you'd have to know why they what they were like before Celestia to know if they are childlike, and there is the question of why it doesn't seem to affect other species.
It's been a while since I originally read through Equestria's Twilight, but I recall her slide into coocoo banana town being gradual—earned, even. I haven't hit the rewrite just yet, so there is that to consider. Which isn't to say intrinsically crazy Twi is bad Twi, by any means. It makes sense. It just clashes with my memory. We'll see how it all sits after I re-read.
But, her ascension upsetting the ponies in-the-know, as it were, is a pleasant touch. The nuclear bomb with an unstable personality is now immortal and in charge.
Edit: I just properly contextualized everything with reference to Equestria's Twilight. I'm tired, so I didn't process that this isn't explicitly canonical. Obviously. Silly brain.
Might I recommend More Than You Know for more mental hijinks and moral ambiguity therein, and Cadence In A Minor for some exploration of the effects of the Changeling invasion on Cady and Shiny (it earns the "M" rating). You know, since you've been gone a while. For when you're finished, I mean. If you'd like.
Also:
Typo.
5456019
This story is unrelated to Equestria's Twilight. I edited the author's note in case I gave the wrong impression. Some similar themes and what not, but when I started EQT Cadence and Shinning Armor still did not exist in the show.
Just read More Than You Know as per your recommendation. Definitely a good recommendation.
5455888
Quite so. Just the sheer amount of control it gives to the party doing mind modification should make it illegal and harshly punished if it's done non-consensually. It's their thoughts and should they want help with it, they can ask for it. What if that past struggle you want to erase makes them what they are today? There's always room for human(pony?) error as well. Not to mention there's always a risk of slippery slope. First you help someone who really needs it, next you erase fights when you wrong someone just so you don't have to deal with it. Or you influence some diplomats if you believe it's for the greater good of Equestria. Or to silence dissension.
Probably the worst thing is that when you snip a memory, you can't remember it. How would you file a complaint if you don't even know why?
5456019
Those two are great recommendations. Cadence in A minor especially is my favorite fic about Canterlot Wedding aftermath. Really dwelves into the whole Chrysalis mind rape along with other insecurity/self-esteem issues.
So, wait, was this supposed to make us feel OK about mind-control and emotion-control magic?
Because if so, HAHAHA NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.
If, on the other hand, you wished to put forth the idea that all* the princesses of Equestria are deeply flawed, mentally unstable, and actively dangerous individuals clinging to some extremely hazardous philosophical ideas and only barely avoiding the utter ruination of all around them by some sort of centuries-long blind luck, then I guess you succeeded.
*Best pony is not mentioned, of course, but two words: Nightmare. Moon.
5456493
I've been reading so long I sort of forget what existed when what stories were started. Quite glad you enjoyed the recommendation. The ease with which Obsolescence unnerves me is, itself, unnerving.
I'm a bit curious how Cadance would have affected the course of EqT's run—that's how these things go, I suppose.
Kinda surprised by the ratio of likes to dislikes, considering it was a good story, even if it wasn't agreeable.
There were a few typos and other errors which were a bit distracting, but those can easily be fixed.
But wow. Yeah, a good story, in an ominous way. It's got a great ending. I suppose it most reminds me of George Orwell's 1984, which is worth the read. I don't typically read this sort of fic, though, as they tend to leave a sour taste in my mouth, regardless of quality. (Probably has to do with human nature of preferring happy endings.)
first paragraph, second sentence. 'soldering' should be 'soldiering'. Gave me a funny lil mental image of Shining Armour sitting at a rework station, though.
Edit after reading: Wow... That's... umm... wow. o.o;
5457079
Thanks for the catch.
I guess all the lead fumes are getting to me
5456932
I'm glad I wasn't the only one surprised by that.
For some reason looking through my in-progress document folder.,. there are very few happy endings. I wonder why that is. I like happy endings, you would think I would write them.
5456914
If I had waited a few months before starting EqT and knew of the existence of Shinning Armor and Cadence, it would have been a very different story. I think if Twilight had another alicorn to share the burden with, things would be much better for her... Or perhaps not. I've been working on a story (there is a link to an early draft somewhere on my blog) of an AU where Twilight and Cadence rule side by side after banishing Shinning Armor to the sun, and Celestia ends up becoming Twilight's student. Some of the thoughts I had while writing it were sort of, "how would things be different with Cadence?" and Twilight still manages to make it hard on herself.
5456746
I would not argue that mind magic, as used by Twilight is OK. I mostly agree with the ideas put forward by: 5455888 and 5456584
In regards to the Princess of Equestria. Twilight is obviously insane, and Celestia is haunted. Luna, while not mentioned, had that whole Night Mare Moon thing (yea I know the comics turned it into possession, but really?) Cadence, though, I feel is half way healthy if incompetent (I know there is nothing in the source material to make us think Cadence is anything but a good ruler / babysiter, but for some reason I just imagine her being really bad at her job).
Wow. This is really well written. But... It hurts to read. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not too pleasant. In the end I think I'm better off having read it, so thank you.
This explains things in the show in very disturbing ways.
5457450 My main problem with the story is that it is not merely reinterpreting canonically benevolent characters to be mentally unstable, dangerously misguided, or both at best, but that it is really implausible that such a nasty cocktail of wrongness could manage to maintain itself with the remarkably good results we see on the whole for so long.
If you'll pardon my going off on a tangent, I find a lot of cynical stories to be naive in this or similar ways. They are almost too one-dimensionally grimdark to be realistic.
5457450
In regards to NMM: Back during one of the dA Q&A by Lauren Faust, she originally intended for NMM to be Luna having been possessed by an entity known as The Nightmare. Long before the comics, I believe. Though it sounded like a somewhat willing possession.
5457565
Immoral results leading to effective, practical solutions and/or improvements is something that happens frequently throughout history, it's just really hard to bring oneself to acknowledge. It would be difficult, and inappropriate to list examples here since they would be offending, as they should be, but it does happen.
5458230 Practical? Yes. Pervasively good-spirited, happy, healthy citizens? Uhhhh.
You don't get Equestria with Roman* politics. Sorry.
*Stepping back a bit from the specific mind control stuff, although certainly I know of no case where actual brainwashing has resulted in any society which anyone would consider nearly as good as Equestria's, or even in the same league.
Soma.
This was really good.
I really enjoyed the twist at the end on the whole who is the tyrant sort of thing. It's rare to see the whole Celestia is a puppet of Twilight sort of angel on this sight. The implications of the whole mind control are really disturbing and it's chilling how callously Twilight disregards the right to individualism and freedom from oppression.
Only thing is, where is Luna in all of this? Is she a willing member of the way things are run or is she another puppet?
Surprised this story isn't getting the attention it deserves or the credit. Good job.
Throughout a most of the chapter, I couldn't really get a sense of the characters; as if it weren't really the characters talking and only the author talking through them—and that really broke the world you were trying to write into being. Other than that, this was a pretty interesting concept.
Dang it, that business of Twilight and Celestia helping eachother sounded so romantic at first. And why did Twilight put so much emphasis on the fact that Celestia asks first, but then doesn't ask first herself? The impression I got from the end is that she thinks she's doing the right thing., but talking up a moral point only to ignore it herself seems more like intentional maliciousness. Especially when she knows Shining is touchy about mind control. So I guess she's evil then. But that's not as much fun as leaving it in a gray area :-/
non-vote from me.
5461001
Another problem, every solution/method discussed has been about opening people to positive change or reminding them of something important to them. Twilight in this outright removed something integral to who Shining is against his will and implied at the end she was willing to do it even when the issues weren't representing a immediate problem.
Nice idea. Have a fav.
Qualitative difference between sun-based brain magic and secretly drugging the drinking water with sedatives? Yes or no?
I really liked this story. I'm admittedly not very surprised by the number of dislikes—it happens any time the main characters get reinterpreted as villains—but I enjoyed it. I especially liked the idea of Celestia being a "puppet" to Twilight, I've never seen that done before. It makes me want to read a story where that concept is more fleshed-out and justified.
Great work!
With a cover art like that, how was this not a comedy?
Nice, simple story.
Nooo..well, I always knew Celesta was evil...wait...I didn't...AAAAAARRHHHHH
Well, that was dark as fuck, and thoroughly enjoyable.
My only critique would be that towards the end you have a lot of dialog without attribution makes it a little hard to follow who is saying what, and you have to wait for another 'my brother' or 'my niece' to work out who is talking at the time. Said is your friend.
Also, I think technically, his nickname is Shiny, or Shiney, as Shinny would shorten the i sound to make it sound like shin-knee (which is only correct if the story is anthro, and your are describing his legs)
Other than that, it was a thoroughly enjoyable story. I can only guess that Twilight's 'scalpel' is what caused the rather large downvote ratio. It does bring up some pretty poignant thoughts about the nature of Cadance's magic (which I have also thought a little off in the past), so kudos on writing a thought provoking piece.
5455702
What he said.
The ending...*SQUEE*
For a minute there, I thought this was connected to a couple stories where Twilight and Trixie learn that they are sisters.
5471573
I have seen this in a number of other fanfics (some have done it better than others), and decided to throw it in. I like the idea of interconnection. There have been a few unrelated fics I have read on this site by different authors that, in my head, are all part of the same universe and are sequels of one another. This story is not that, not in any way. However, I like the idea of dropping things in to allow other readers to do the same.
5459250
I'm gonna go ahead and stir the hornets nest here and say, I personally agree more with Cadence's stance on Celestia's mind control. There is a saying that the two perfect forms of government are a benevolent tyrant and anarchy (yes, yes, I know the saying is bad). I don't see Celestia as a tyrant and don't consider what she does brainwashing (though it is manipulative). I could imagine such a system lasting for thousands of years with the type of continuity of leadership provided by an immortal ruler.
Twilight's behavior is something different however (and a new addition to this ancient government). I would agree that it is not likely that Equestria would be the Equestria in the show for long with Twilight's straight up brain modification (beyond even brain washing).
5473378
Since you're self-admittedly asking for it: That would make you really, really, really fucking stupid. Who cares even how long that system would last? Propagating it isn't the end, you propagate it because it constitutes the means to provide the population with security and freedom to lead their lives however they see fit. Psychically violating the population to amputate its capacity for being free makes as much sense as setting yourself on fire to warm your fireplace and then considering it a great success because you're good at burning.
Calling Twilight worse is like saying that drugging someone's drink is a superior form of rape to beating them over the head and just shoving it up their ass.
5473494
I don't see how trying to enter the conversation from a honest point is stupid. I wanted to put my cards on the table instead of being all coy about things, while still making it clear that the story is intended to allow the reader to reach their own conclusions. Doing anything less just ends up with people endlessly arguing when it comes down to a fundamental difference in core beliefs. If you prefer I can lie to you in the future.
To be clear, I do not see what Celestia is doing as removing free will (What Twilight is doing is again, different). It is certainly manipulation, but I would hope you can understand the difference. As Cadence explained with her magic, it doesn't work on ponies who don't want to love. Celestia's magic is similar, otherwise EVERYPONY would be happy all the time and we don't see that in the show at all.
Security and freedom are often opposing diametrics. You also make the inherent assumption in your argument that freedom is the end goal of governments. It can be, but a system does not need to make freedom its highest goal. Notice at no point do I pass value judgment on what Celestia is doing, only that she is not a tyrant and that her rule could be stable. You seem to leap from that to me saying lobotimization is the best thing ever.
... What I don't get is, the way Twilight used her magic at the end here was clearly wrong, but Celestia tries to call her out on it and doesn't succeed, somehow. Like, Twilight argues back and Celestia rolls over and lets her do it even before Twilight approaches her ominously at the end. The fact that Celestia doesn't immediately stop Twilight seems to indicate that Twilight's actions are okay with this like she's okay with her own brain-changing.
And, the conversation in the middle with Twilight talking about living forever and how she's going to be as powerful as Celestia, and then talking about how much of a mayfly life that Shining now has, was a little scary even before she brainwashes him, but given that last part is bloody terrifying.
I should put a disclaimer that I am not particularly in favor of Godpowered Immortal Alicorn Twilight.
5473618
Joining a conversation isn't stupid, blatantly self-destructive beliefs are usually the result of it, though. You could have just said that you're a fascist upfront, then I wouldn't have bothered trying to convey how a government doing this sort of thing goes against the intended purpose of it. That doesn't exactly matter much to anyone who doesn't believe you have a natural right to not have your body and mind messed with without your consent in the first place.
I'll just say that I disagree completely on what can be seen on the show: ponies are abridged, incomplete caricatures of real people, what with being characters in a cartoon for little girls. Which is also pretty much exactly what I'd expect the natural result of spending your life with part your natural emotional spectrum suppressed to be. You can't develop into a mature person, or have any idea what your real goals in life are, when deprived of getting to experience your real feelings all your life without even being aware of it. Everything you think you are is artificial, which is about half a step away from being dead, as far as I'm concerned. The real you never actually got to live or decide anything. Not passing a value judgment on that sort of crime against humanity is a statement all by itself.
allways -> always.
Very nice story. I'm very uncertain whether the alicorn effects are wrong, but Twilight's neuromancy clearly is. I think you may have been less than charitable regarding the effects of Twilight's intervention, but Twilight can be utterly coconut banana bonkers if you want her to be.
A lot of elements in this story actually remind me of my own, but that's a shameless plug and you shouldn't pay any attention to it.
Holy hell this is really chilling. The whole damn thing is just fucked.
Sapidus, why are you so good at writing things that are truly terrifying?
5474051
Maybe... maybe Twilight has been hitting Celestia with neuromancy before? What if her influence is strong enough that Celestia has been "trained" to concede to Twilight?
GOD this whole thing is just layers upon layers of horror.
5474364
Woah, just take it easy man.
It's a work of fanfiction on the Internet, you should probably tone it down a notch. Or twenty.
5477879 great , now thanks to your comment im both intrigued and afraid to read this fic , probably more afraid :c .....
HAH! Trixie's your half-sister!
That was great. An earnest conversation about the moral legitimacy of "neuromancy", followed by a thoughtful deconstruction of the "all mind control/manipulation is wrong" argument.
It goes deeper and deeper, layering on the excuses and rationalization, and then suddenly blows it all away due to the last pony you'd expect.
Beautiful and cruel.
The thing I found most weird, oddly, is that Shining Armor wasn't portrayed as much of a book lover or magic expert. He's pretty good with the magicks, and I figured he'd have to be pretty good at studying to manage it.
5478252
Don't let me turn you away from this fic! It's quite good!
Just, dark. One of those stories that makes you think.
5477879
I grew up in one of those old Eastern European socialist dictatorships and have pretty strong feelings on how valuable the freedom to choose is. They get the better of me sometimes, when I think someone (who never had to learn what not having it is like) doesn't appreciate that and how good they have it.
interesting and enjoyable.
ponies'
it's
delete comma after "that"
it's
I read this fic a few days ago and didn't realize it then, but no one seems to understand fully what happened between Twilight and Celestia. This is just a thought I had and figured I'd throw it out there.
Twilight said that she and Celestia would take turns, Tia would take in some of Twi's distress, combat it, and then pour some of herself, the good and the bad, back in to fill the space. Twi would likewise do the same for Tia. This back and fourth has caused both mare's stance on the issue to switch.
Twilight is still Twilight, but she acts more like Celestia in regards to using mind magic, likewise Celestia is still Celestia but she acts more like Twilight now. Unsettling thoughts huh?
Everything
_________
Then
__________
capitalize
_________
Wow that's a bucked up use of one's powers.
5478385
So in regards to Shining Armor. I got the comics in the Humble bundle that was a few weeks ago and have over the course of this week read through them. Had I read them first I probably would have written him differently. At the time I was thinking of his character as more of someone who is good at magic, but not the theory behind it. I suppose I imagined Cadence as more into all the nitty-gritty details and liked to imagine her helping Twilight with her homework. *Shoulder Shrug* At the time it felt right.
What is disturbing about this story - and it is a great story, in my view, is the inability of anyone whose been manipulated to know of their manipulation. Celestia and Cadence's 'influence' is not totally different from Twilights Scalpel, its a matter of degree, but the inescapable 'influence' leaves the influenced the ability to hold on to what they want 'if they really want to'. The Scalpel is much more like Chrysalis's power, even if Twilight has good intentions and a better longer perspective, its so powerful that even light use of it changes its target fundamentally into something different. And thats on top of her willingness to use it without asking, just as Celestia was willing to user her 'influence' without asking. She is being paid back with interest by her student. What I find scarry is the what goes around comes around nature of the use of these powers. Every application leads to a slippery slope until those who should have known better are sliding into destruction, dragging the innocent and short lived with them. I'm reminded of Thomas More's 'Utopia'.