This story is a sequel to Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 1: Pegasus
The story is done, the battle lost. With Discord free to run rampant, will Twilight and the others be able to stop him? What cruel and twisted plots does he have in mind for them and, more importantly, what does he have in store for the elements themselves? The final book in the Avatar series starts now!
Special thanks to Angel_Bunny for editing the chapters for me
Please enjoy!
Full collection:
Avatar the Last Alicorn:
Book 1.
Book 2.
Book 3.
Book 4.
Legend of Diamond Tiara:
Book 1.
Book 2.
Book 3.
Book 4.
Disclaimer: "Avatar: the Last Airbender" and all associated characters, storylines, and materials belong to Nickelodeon and were created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.
Artwork is by me editing the error message from Fimfiction.
...What.
Discord is defeated? Well. I might say that was quick but I might have a feeling he will be back, but now Trixie must be stopped and it's not going to be easy.
Uh. So…did they win or…?
Top fucking lel
I read a comment from the last story that there might be a shipping of Flashlight in the series. Is there?
5661737 Eeyup.
5661773 Aye's, she'll totally lightly burn your toast in her current state.
5661950 From a certain point of view.
5662352 Thanks ^^
5665466 Very unlikely. I wasn't sure how the story would progress, but for now, no. But who knows? People can always write side fics to these. Maybe someone will write FlashLight in such a wonderful way I make it canon. But for now, this? Not likely.
I KNEW something was off!! Nice Aaang cameo by the way!
...Discord, you son of a Diamond Dog.
5676709 Thanks ^^ Been planning that thing since like, book 2.
5676897 He's a son of many, many things.
Sweetie vs nightmare this is going to be good
Why is the cover art for this story completely different from the previous stories?
5761369 Because Discord.
Does this last story going to have a Flashlight romance?
5757321 I hoped it was. :)
5761369 Cause Discord is a jerk.
5762420 Exactly.
5769188 Probably not. It never really fit into the previous books and I doubt it'll make sense in this one.
(Bam! I enter into the room, soaking wet, with a pair of broken swords in my hands) Guys. You would not believe what I've..(Pinkie: WE DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENED! GET TO THE REVIEW ALREADY!!
) Ok, Ok pinkie, fine. Mrs. Bossy.
Anyways, so, with the twisting of the tale, Discord arose once again in his glorious, disjointed glory. I mean seriously. I know he's the spirit of chaos and all, but he looks like something a child would draw if he wanted to create his own monster. (You take that back!)....wait,....Discord? (Oh yeah! Now take that back!) Not on your (snap) Cluck..cluck cluck...cluck....cluuuuuuuck (very good. Snap) Stupid discord. Always so childish to get his own way.
Anyhow, so having finally gotten out of imprisonment due to his year long gambit, Discord began doing what he does best: pressing people's emotional buttons. Though I do have to wonder. What did they do to rarity's element? Anyways, you can already tell that discord's the same maliciously mischevious spirit as before, what with him eating a serom's (backwards s'more) after being nonaffected by firebending. Though apparently earthbending does at least irritate him.
Although, I can't help but wonder if he was also meaning to set up his own power play with the elements the way he toyed with them and talked with them. For Rainbow it was whether one could be loyal in SPITE of the other not giving you the same.
And playing on her blindness as well. With AJ, it was a question of if there's any good lies we can tell.
Pinkie I still think he's going to play on her meta knowledge, but he also talks about how the world has so much to laugh at. Either preparing to overindulge her, or to sour her.
With Rarity, he's going to question what it means to give up something you don't want anymore. (the kingdom, the evil family, the beauty?) Though, I still don't quite know what discord was doing in the darkness of rarity's element.
And as for Shy, "What good is kindness without the courage to use it?” Perhaps he's going to get at the fact that kindness requires bravery and effort to enact it, since passive watching isn't a kindness to others.
And to continue his messing around, he brought in the whole classic guard even if 1 of them wasn't in the story at this point. Celestia and Luna. And referencing the whole gang, when technically C&L didn't seal him away in this universe. Also, the shenannigans with Luna almost trying to pin twilight down was a good laugh, showing that although she has years of bad habits to work off, her character is once again more pure to actually listen to her niece.
It also seems he played the part of the Jerk Genie. He fulfilled his bargain with trixie to the word, causing pain, turning her into the 2nd to last alicorn, but without teaching her the whole art of bending. Well, serves her right for trusting Vaatu...er, I mean the big meanie, er, I mean, giant goat serpent.
Like I said, despite this being the eqivilent of the release of an evil god, the phrasing of things like the words "oddly comedic movements" really gave me a chuckle as we went. On the other hand, the bigger bad argument he gave had me raise an eyebrow. "It wasn't I who killed and enslaved the Fire Tribes. In fact, I find murder to be so boring." Also, LOVED the Phoenix Wright reference.
Although really big D? You were "just" the guy who gave them the drive to do it? And you happened to make Luna cruel rather than just making her extra driven? You have strange way of giving your powers out.
Though Twilight's right. He's definitely not acting like how any standard evil spirit is. Heck, he's already making the avatar story more ponyish. Though the bit on the story becoming dark and moody is kinda spot on. Book 3 was the grimmest of them all. Although, befitting the new flow he's going with, he seems to have recreated twilight's friendship castle, only in candy. And it seems he mocks them with the council of friendship throne room, with spike now held in place there. There's also a clue hidden within Discord's talking that already hints at something more sinister than you might think. “What fun is winning without an audience?" And of course, preparing Twilight for her trial. "What good are you without your friends?"
And indeed, the line “Oh, as if it would be THAT easy,” I think that is the key moment in what otherwise feels like...a REALLY unsatisfying defeat of the supreme evil of this universe. I mean come on! At least give us....something that he did. Build a candy army, split them up inside the castle, SOMETHING! That just feels.....it doesn't make any sense. Not to mention the whole bridge dropping business. You can't just kill off the elements all willy nilly like that either! It just feels so unsatisfying.
AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GREAT WRITER!!! FOUL! CHEAT! Booooooo. I hope you have better chapters ahead, because this just feels like blah. Funny blah, but still blah. (Oh just you wait. I'm sure you'll find I'm quite a player down the line.) Sigh, whatever you say discord.
5825675 Yesss! You're back! :D You'll be happy to know the story is about... probably 80% done. Just, errr, not edited. I've been very slow on that front. v.v Fortunately, my actual editor is far faster once I finish the pre-edits. And you'll see... soooo much. Eeee hee hee hee.
Well, this stinks. (I know. Isn't it so much fun?) Shut up discord.
Anyways, so we begin with pure pain. Seeing the friends crushed to death. All of their necklaces damaged. And twilight remembering the best of each of them. Rainbow and her bravery and commitment. Fluttershy who gave and stood up, giving her time, her bending, even giving up her pretenses to fear. Pinkie, who always tried to bring joy to the avatar story. AJ, the solid, and surprisingly good cook for the team. Rarity, who would be a truly unique friend.
A princess, a former enemy, a political genius, a lady who gave up her crown, her easy life, and her family all just to fight for the truth and for peace. And of course spike. Who had so often seemed like an afterthought, but who had always found ways to leave his mark on smaller ways. The Phantom, the rescue of Twilight, the element of generosity, the confrontation with Rarity, Spike the advocate, Spike as scribe and lover of dragons, Spike as bait for the water nation attacking the dragons. They were all warriors, but only spike could be a nail. That small aspect that always changed what he came in contact with.
Although, it was in the cleanup that something....very strange came up. "Everything seemed muted and gray." Muted and grey? Wait, that sound a lot like....wait. Could, could it be?
Anyways, it seems the peace was just as cruel as the war in some ways for Twilight. For though things were getting better, the families all asked twilight the same question. "Why couldn't you save them!!???!!!" And in some ways she held this over her head even more, as this point of divergence really was how she felt shame that she was a bending master, and not an omnimaster.
Though there was something that had me raise an eyebrow. "She was a tool for war, but there was no more war." Now wait just a minute. The avatar is exists to bring balance. Not just between nations, but also between nations and hearts. She's not JUST a weapon. She's also functionally the last authority in the disputes between rulers. A friend, a lover, an inspiration. The avatar is there to help, and to love.
Actually though, this really does bear the clawmarks of discord in some ways, even if I'm unsure if it's really him. The cue? Remember 4 chapters where I talked about discord attacking both twilight's loneliness and her rage? Well, that confrontation with Fancy Pants is definitely the rage component. That frustration that the righteous die for the cyclical flow of war.
And so, she built the tower of solitude. Just....just like Clover. A place where she could watch and be available, but also be free of all these squabbles and hopefully healing herself. She actually was returning to her knowledge like Starswirl wanted, but for the wrong reason. He wanted her to grow in the joy of learning, not out of bitterness and rage. And the rage and pain wasn't going away. But then, she realized there were finally somepony else who she could talk to. Somepony to listen to her and understand at last. The other Avatars. Maybe they could finally save her.
HA! That's strike 1 big D. The road to reversal begins here. (Bah! The game's still going. Twilight just won round 1.)
And like I said before, the fact that Starswirl was GREY was a big tipoff that something is wrong. Because we all KNOW that she's not really grey. They were all grey for that matter. Though it was nice to know that even in the depths of her pain, seeing her first past life, her spirit mentor, did manage to bring a smile to her face.
Actually though, I think...that those were the real avatar spirits that twilight summoned into her mind, as the rules of spirit physics makes it impossible for discord to replicate their reactions. Or just that the summoning worked so well that it bypassed control. Also, the way Starswirl said the world "long" has me wondering if the other avatars KNEW this was all in her head.
However, unlike the last time, Twilight actually did listen to what the others were saying. Starswirl touched on some minor points, pointing out that when this war ends, you need to share the glory with your friends. Otherwise, the avatar who helped cultivate this mess will only see the same thing happen again. But more importantly, Starswirl told twilight that when you lose, You must stop shutting the world out. You must live up to the life you were borne to. Cadence knew what it was like to have one's true love pulled away, feel ruined by the lack of his presence. But to twilight, she told her that you cannot allow grief to control you. You must move on not for your sake, but for theirs. They would not want you to fall apart just because of them. Then there was the airbender in between. Avatar Aaang of all beings. The airbender who, when the fire tribes attacked, destroyed an entire sect of the air nomads. In essence, this is what would've happened if Aang had lived. He was taken to a major Air holdout, trained, grew, made friends, fell in love with a water bender, and had a boomerang wielding brother in law. How much he wanted vengeance on the pony who lead the attack. But in the end, his heart and his training won out, and he spared him. Aang's advise is probably the most complex. "The pain will never end, but being around others makes it better. You couldn't save the world alone. What makes you think you can bear this grief alone?"
And finally, there was her previous avatar from her part of the cycle. At last, twilight and clover talked. And, in fascination, it seems that despite the griefs that all the other avatars faced and lost or won after Clover, She actually felt she was the least successful of them all. That she kept the world safe for sure, but with only her outgoing sister and her pet to keep her company, she lived a vapid, empty life without joy or friendship, all because she was afraid of being heart. So with Clover, she asked questions of the avatar. Can books really replace ponies? Is this what anyone really wants? Does this honor you friends at all you imbicile? And of course, the knockout question. "Do you wish you had never met them? Does the grief of having lost them so eclipse the joy that they brought you?” And to this, twilight had only one answer. No, they were everything to her once she had them, and no, nothing could change what I felt and had when they were around. And so Clover left her with one final challenge. "Friendship can hurt. Just like everything else. But that is no reason to hide from it.”
And it was in this, this last statement that twilight finally knew what she had to do. She loved them to death, but she needed to move on. Make new friends, find others who would share the pain and joy just as they did. And to begin that, she went to go speak with princess luna for the first time without evil between them.
"They loved you, fought with you. They would never have blamed you for what happened.” Wow. That's so beautiful.
Also, besides the anger and rudeness, there was one other thing that tipped me off that something was wrong with Celestia. No matter how much she loved Rarity, the war gave her her other corrupted forces, her sister and her younger niece back. No matter how great the loss Rarity would leave for her surrogate daughter, she would've found a way to transfer her affections onto them instead. This kind of dwelling really does feel out of character for both Iroh and Celestia.
And in fact, it was for precisely that reason that twilight finally figured it out. “Who are you? I... know Celestia. I know the kind of mare she was. She was kind and caring...” And then the final clue: Dream logic. You never see the beginning of a dream. Rather, you just drop into it. And that should be clue enough that something is wrong. So with her element of magic in friendship finally returning to her, Twilight raised herself high, finally seeing the smokescreen that had been created around her mind. And she declared, “Discord, you haven't won! You don't win!..This is over, You don't win.”
And so, the spell was broken on her. And with her spell broken, the REAL book 4 begins. For the tragedy was not real. Now, the new adventure to rescue her friends begins.
So, discord's ironic hell had to come about because of his ironic punishment. Where he was once turned to stone, he instead turned that power back onto the elements of harmony, crushing the hopes of the avatar world.
And those hopes were crushed indeed. From what the famed hornclipper reports, Trixie is now the supreme power of the land, under discord's thumb of course. As a spirit of chaos, he has no interest in ruling anything, so he left the reigns to Trixie, who now rules over all the rebel factions with an iron fist, and discord keeps messing things up whenever they tried to gain ground. For that matter, since he gets the whole world, he had plenty of time to have fun, reversing gravity, turning the clouds into the ground, and making all the trees gingerbread.
Anyways, so our quest now is to find the other 5. While Twilight was kept in Canterlot, the other 5 were scattered to other locations to be guarded and hoarded over to prevent them from ever being reopened again. The most disturbing thing about this though is that nobody knows where princess rarity was sent. Sure, you got the fire tribe lands, fillydelphia, cloudsdale and ponyville, but where would rarity be? I would think she'd be back in Canterlot to keep her where she "belonged", but if not there, then where?
But, surprise, surprise, the avatar is the world's last hope...again. And this time, her circle of companions is a little different. With her friends locked up for the moment, her new companions include her old pal Spike. That one's a no brainer. He now gets a second chance to be there for the hardest part of the battle.
However, the more interesting aspect is that Twilight gets to be the big sister mentor to The Cutie mark crusaders in the avatar universe yet again. That in order to save the world, she has to bury the hatchet with the former tormenters and even killer of her being. Forgive the 3 out of necessity if only because she knows she can't do this alone.
Although, trixie was pretty smart, keeping the earthbender in a space where she couldn't escape. And hornclipper fell in love with scoots? A lot has happened in the last couple months.
Though, that bit on Discord's influence is of interest. that he doesn't purposefully corrupt everyone. Sometimes, the circumstances of the world around them is amusement enough. So, as part of getting her new team straight, Twilight demanded that they apologize to each other. So they did, although spike still doesn't exactly feel charitable towards sweetie. But, it's a step forward, and in order to save the world, they made their way back to where it all began: Ponyville. "We have our heading." So let's move.
You know, this is probably the line of questioning Twilight never got to ask back in chapter 41 of the last book. Asking more about Scoots and Bloom when she had a chance. So, now she does have a chance. A chance to talk with all 3 crusaders, find out more about how they ended up in the resistance. While dealing with an assortment of candy related issues. Oh, and the tongue road. Ew. At least Discord wasn't turning the world into a gave of hot lava monster. It's kinda sweet to see the avatar finally catching up with her cutie mark hunters. It's also cool the way the 2 crusaders had their own plan to go after sweetie, but twilight had already done their job for her.
On the villain side of things, it looks grim. Not so much that discord's holding back from instakill against twilight's crew, but more in the sense that it seems he can control the story to some degree now. Cut us away from whatever he's planning at the snap of his fingers. Keep us readers in the dark to the degree that we just don't know what to expect anymore. Though, it seems he does still hold all the power in the world, and is gifting Celestia and Luna to Trixie in order to get what she wants. Oh man.
Also, that bit on candy and kids was hilarious.
Especially with them all cringing at the thought of hundreds of children high on candy.
I can only imagine what kinda world that Pinkie is trapped in, though I suspected it might be of a different flavor than the girls (and Spike) is thinking. Speaking of poor Spike, I wish I could just go into the story and hug him. But, at least he is getting some comfort, and on a plus side, I am sure he will be happy to know that they may know the location of Rarity. Unfortunately, they now might some issues trying to get back together again.
Short C&C:
She's being held with the Shadowbolts in the south pole.
> I think in this case, 'south pole' should be capitalize.
Hmm, so Discord's made the ponies jumpy. Neat. It also seems that with her status as a hope bringer, this has forced Twilight to play the supporting player now as well. Waiting behind Sweetie and the crusaders to go places or get what she wants.
I also liked how Discord's curse on ponyville was to make nothing change besides their attitude. During the war, the attitude of ponyville was perserverence despite the gloom with hospitality. However, discord flipped the hospitality, and recreated the eternal night. You sick (Oh yeah?!) I mean, come on discord! You won't even let us see what you're working on? (I said no hints!) But that's not fair. We're the readers. We should get to see that information. (Well, suck it.) (he raises a hand up) OH NO YOU DON'T! (I fire a party barrage at him, sending him flying) YA, HO HO HOOOEEEYY!
Anyways, so it's good to see the cutie mark crusaders having fun messing with the villagers of ponyville. (actually, something I've been wondering. Do they all have their cutie marks. I know Flowerbloom does. But what about sweetie and Scoots? Sweetie's was a snake. Is it showing her special talent is being cunning, or was that just a mark of discord's corruption? Does she even have a cutie mark at this point? And what was scootaloo's again?
Anyhow, drawing them out, I could've sworn the lone pony guarding fluttershy's statue was Angel in pony form. Anyways, it seems Twilight's going fishing for a friend. Good luck with your memory spell.
So, this must be Fluttershy's prison. Although, one thing I don't get about this prison is that if Fluttershy is supposedly a savior, then how come the darkness is still around her? You'd think a savior would've overcome the darkness rather than be sheltered from it. I guess this is dream logic?
Hmm, this is a good retelling because it plays with the classic part of Fluttershy confronting her element but in a different way. In some ways, it's dealing with the issues she had after her "painted lady" arc in season 3. And the part of it which Discord tried to remove from her. You see, in order to be kind to someone, you have to step out to be with them first. What discord was clever about was that he didn't just try to turn fluttershy into a cruel being. No, what he did was play on her weaknesses, her timid side, so as to hold her in pace without any kind of real being to be kind to. However, it was only when twilight entered her mind that they were able to provide shy with someone else who needed help. And recognizing that cry was what finally gave Shy the courage to leap into the unknown and stand up to evil. She was like that before, but it was in this particular setup where she was challenged with an overwhelming amount of darkness that she had to find the courage to be kind within herself in order to overcome discord's spell. Well, 1 down. 4 to go.
Hmm, facsinating. And funny. That is, spike's commment on getting fair warning for the stone explosion. That was the really funny part. The apologizing ponies of ponyville were pretty fun too, but overall, this chapter had some serious connotations.
the capacity for animal cruelty. Yuck. Shy in particular was angry that her little bunny got so brutalized in the time she was out. I also liked how Twilight and shy talked about the crusaders being the only help they have at the moment. Desperate times and all that.
The pillar of light also is of interest, in part because it brings to mind what Starswirl talked about in discord's release in his time. That "It took years to clear the land of his corruption." What if this is history repeating itself. What if Discord put the elements out then as well, forcing them to use element power to heal the cities and towns? It did seem to purge his corruption after all freeing the bearers.
However, it seems that discord has the capacity to undo element magic if not checked. Luna is the perfect example of that. That she was healed at the end of book 3. Yet when Discord gifted her to trixie with Celestia, she got all evil again. As sweetie mentioned, "Twilight fixed you." However, the moment Nightmare Moon goaded sweetie with rarity's potential death, that's when the fire started up again. Sweetie loves rarity to death, way more than mom. So, she raised her water high, and with her bending team, they charged Nightmare moon. 3 vs 1, another chance to knock down the queen of evil (or corruption in this case). Go for it.
Hmm, it seems that the avatar memory spell can allow other ponies to enter as well. Interesting.
Also, it's...concerning that the former water nation ruler is stronger than all 3 of the others put together. You'd think that wouldn't be possible. Then again, flowerbloom and sweetie are prodigies, not masters. And twilight only got a year of training with elements aside from fire. I guess...they still have a ways to go to match the former big bad. But, they formed a plan and escaped.
It also seems that in this trip, we're going in the dark. Not in terms of a cheese sun, but that discord won't allow any hints whatsoever for us readers. (Nope. Not a one.) But, at least it seems that for all his power, he cannot or will not instantly end the story. He can't end it, but he can switch scenes. And this gives the story a bit of a blind for it. That since we're flying blind without any big knowledge of what the villains are up to, we're in team avatar's exact shoes with only cursory glances for some of the people outside of Twilight's work.
It seems that around Cloudsdale, Discord decided to recreate the story of hearths warming's eve, with supremacist pegasi. What's worse, they're also kinda hypocritical if they're sticking with trixie. In this particular case, twilight had to reveal herself early to save soarin from a burning. Yuck. It also seems that there's a strange....something about Soarin's story. After all, wasn't soarin meant to be part of the last attack on the water nation? I know twilight and company got there first, but then what's all this about soarin retreating to cloudsdale to help? Did they just...retreat to do their best once discord revealed that he'd defeated all of team avatar? Did he choose to lead an attack to retake cloudsdale at the same time as the attack on canterlot?
Anyways, for this statue retrieval, the sidekicks caused a distraction via sweetie's illusion spell, and so lead trixie and the corrupted forces away from rainbow's statue. It seems that for Discord, despite his chaotic nature, there was some logic to where he sent everyone. Fluttershy back to her home, Rainbow to where she became a legend and a master, AJ to the place she learned metalbending, Pinkie to a spot where she could have fun with the play and see their story changed for the better, and twilight as a trophy of war for trixie. So, where could rarity be?
So rainbow's statue fell on twilight as they dug it out, and they were off. Off to save rainbow from the prison of her mind. Go get em you two.
So, rainbow Dash's hell. It was weird at first, and in part because it seemed so similar to twilights in that she was a warrior who was living in a time of peace, but she actually has her friends now to be with her. However, as the drama unfolded, it's become clear that this is definitely a tough world for RD, because in this world, she's become a doll. A symbol of the element of harmony, but with none of the pride, the action and support. And with no support for her air sense, no healing for her eyes, no love from her friends, and eventually losing her wings as well. What a mess. And then being shunted off to fillydelpha. Ouch.
Ha! Halfway there discord. Beat that! (Don't make me. After all, the game's still going. One blind airbender isn't going to change that if the air nomads beat them now.) Oh hush up you.
Anyways, so in rainbow dash's hell, she was trapped in the earth king's care. Slowly building herself back up, but losing her friends slowly, feeling pushed to the side now that the war was over. Alone, and very angry. I'm guessing that keeping her stuck in fillydelphia was discord's default spell point. Where it could run on autopilot, all angry and confused about how she might've thought her friends are trying to be loyal, but also feeling patronized. A weird conflict of understanding that just made her more angry.
So, unfortunately, that meant her disowning her element from Twilight. And so when Twilight and Fluttershy actually managed to get into the dream world, the damage was done. And any kind of pleading they did together fell on what was thought to be deaf ears. Though, considering what they were saying, you'd think RD would've been at least a little suspicious on why the end of the war would be their excuse for bringing her back. That's way too out there to be a lie I'd think.
In fact, RD even pointed that out. Although, I think that scream was discord's power trying to eject Twilight and Fluttershy, hence the scream. But it was also here where she found it within herself to say that, "I know my real friends, and they would never cast me out, or give up on me, or hurt me by calling me just a pawn." But more than that, she finally figured out what loyalty means. It's not just doing good. It's about expecting good from others. Trusting that they'll do you right. And in finally knowing what true loyalty is, she's ready to return to reality, to show loyalty where it counts. Go get em rainbow.
So, Rainbow woke up, and thankfully, the spell reversed rather quickly. It also seems that while Spitfire might not be a super master of airbending, she did tell RD that if she could sonic rainboom, then she can air sense.
So team avatar harmony made their retreat, with sweetie, scoots and flower getting out safely. Though, how do we know that's them and not evil discord projections? Mmmm, he's not clever enough, or tricky enough for something like that.
They moved on, talking about RD's dark world, about candy worlds without burning and freezing, and of course, about the question of negotiation. Bringing up the possibility of Keep Calm and Flutter On. Buuuuttt, given how extensive, and how cruel discord was with his work, particularly with what he did to cloudsdale, it's...implausible at this stage to "purify" discord in this sense. Well, let's keep going. Next stop, AJ.
Well, onward to Fillydelphia.
Hmm, I know you did keep dropping worries about it even since book 3 when lightning dust joined up, but I don't exactly remember you mentioning a griffon going around in the lands before this. You'll need to point out the foreshadowing a bit down the line, for those of us who aren't as perceptive.
That being said, it's kinda nice to see gilda again. Even though she started as that female bounty hunter from book 1 that zuko hired, ever since she and rainbow got lost in everfree together, she's gotten way more interesting and complex. Definitely more than the canon bird. In this case, RD's friendship with her and great care about her, her punch clock villain rap, her being a sole survivor from one of sweetie's massacres (I'm surprised they didn't mention that when they met up), and her attitude is still sharp, but not overtly mean or hostile at this point. I guess survival has sobered her up some. Although, the concern she has for Rainbow was very sweet, especially with her looking at her eyes like that, and trying to point out the shy dilemma, not knowing of what's been happening for the last 2 books. So Twilight caught Gilda up on Discord, and wondered why she doesn't seem to have gone all reverse at all. Perhaps it's because her dominant personality trait doesn't really have a flipside? At least she's not acting like a coward as a reverse, or got her personality exaggerated into malice and hate. Huh. I don't know if discord got lazy or selective or what have you, but that is a bit odd. After all, if he can still change scenes with his powers, changing 1 griffin should be a breeze.
Now, on the other side of things, I guess that since discord's able to grant trixie alicorn powers, changing celestia into a firebender shouldn't be too difficult. So, she became Solar Flare (not daymare sun I see). And as solar flare, she's fierce, and barely holding back an angry side that's really dangerous.
It seems for celestia, they turned her mask from hiding sorrow to hiding rage. Yikes.
Hmm... So world based on real physics? Interesting thought
So, in Fillydelphia, Discord decided to create a political crisis of a different kind. Instead of going all 3 tribes on the ponies, he instead used the natural chaos of his powers to influence the removal of fancy pants, removing all curtesy in a political election scam that Photo was running in her mare do well garb. It was also affecting commerce, making all the merchants all corperatey and strict and mean. It also seems that scoots and fluttershy and spike are sitting this one out.
One small touch that I loved you put into this chapter was the way Rainbow talks about what it means to be loyal to a friend. About refusing to believe the worst about Gilda, despite what Discord's been doing to them before this. About trust in loyalty. And just like AJ's truth speech, it brought her element back out. Although, the whole blindness thing did make it a bit of a drag when it came to seeing that AJ wasn't in town, only....maud was? Hmm. Anyways, what's also interesting about the buildup is the unexpected turns. First, there was sweetie belle talking about how she was a military mastermind to take the city, and so shot down most of the more elaborate plans to get in. With the "new" sweetie after being purified, it's easy for me to forget that she was still a prodigy in war and bending as the "Azula".
The second fun part was how Twilight walked up to the gates, showed her wings.....and they let her in. That was a nice change too. What wasn't as nice was that they got to the statue, and then got into a fight, forcing a rush job for Twilight to get in, get out, and get AJ as fast as possible with the other warriors giving her time to work. Well, let's hope she works fast.
Hmm.
For creating AJ's hell, Discord decided to use the pool and rock technique to try and trap AJ in a lie. A lie she thought she'd make for a good reason, but a lie nonetheless. Thus fulfilling his question to her, "When has a little lie hurt anyone?"
What's interesting about this version of hell was that it was a lot less up front in making it work. Rather, it was simply a return to "nomalcy" though with flowerbloom in AJ's life now as well. As I said before, AJ was one of the only members who GAINED from the war. Where so many of the others lost things, AJ, for losing the farm, still gained her little sister back, and so lives in a new dream of having Flowerbloom around all the time now. Like she was her whole world.
Though, from the beginning, there was an...oddity that they never addressed in universe: Whatever did happen to the Cherry Jubilee family? Surely Flowerbloom would've loved to introduce her father and mother to her sister, brother and grandmother. Not to mention, the tough reconciliation she's need to have with them, given that she now has ties to 2 kingdoms, and her dad killed her other mom and dad. I guess, discord didn't want to drop an ugly truth at the time?
No, he was saving his guns for an uncomfortable truth: not everyone will accept that the water nation is living among us so soon after the war. And that did lead to an accident, involving a dead census pony. AJ saw the danger rather than the facts. And so, she tried to tuck Frost away (ha ha. Frost kills apples.
), beginning her time caught in a web of lies. Well, let's hope twilight can get in there soon.
Check discord. That's 2/3 finished. (ha! But I bet they still won't win against MY endgame) Dream on big d.
Anyways, so here, AJ was doing everything she could to hold up her lie. Even as circumstantial evidence piled up around her. The pen, the last point of entry, the body not too far away. But still, AJ was in denial.
However, she only felt worse and worse about all this, even denying her sister a chance to leave, because she wants to hold onto her too much. She kept knotting herself up, more and more. Of interest as well is the fact that Twilight's letter never got answered, making her feel like she was trapped in this situation alone. And that is part of what keeps a lie going: the idea you have nobody else to turn to.
It was into this gap then where Twilight, partnered with the embodiment of her element to try and probe out the truth from AJ. It was the only way to get her back. If she would let go of her lie, and confess. So she started small, and it appears that thanks to the power of 2 elements being in 1 spot, it made her come off as even more real than everything in the dream environment. In this case, it also makes for an interesting commentary about the reality of truth and magic together. Further, it was a slow probe, finally ending in truth and magic speaking together on how lies come out eventually, so you better get to it now. So, AJ cried, sobbing over how all this almost got out of hand, and that finally gave twilight the avenue to connect through to AJ, hugging her, giving her the element back, and breaking her free from the lotus eater machine of her mind. And Twilight also being the proof for AJ. My friends would never lie to me about something like this. So, I believe it's time for me to go.
So, Maud's still under stone, but otherwise, the slow rebuilding process continues.
In this case, it seems Fancy was forced to watch his kingdom go mad. And thanks to discord, it was a madness that won't be fixed for a while. Though the way he got Photo to forgive herself was hilariously great. Threatening her to become her alter ego the whole time. Also, it was pretty awesome the thinking Twilight threw in to give them time to breathe.
On the other hand, talking about the elements was pretty cool. Going into how all this works, her own limitations, and the problems she has to fight through in order to get through to a pony. And so, the merry band continued their trek. 4 elements, 3 crusaders, 1 mercenary. A grand team, trying to save the world again. What a crew.
So in this chapter, we find out what Bumi and Jeong-Jeong are up to in this world. It seems that in an effort to mess with the dragon keepers, discord not only clearly marked where their secret nest is, but also managed to drive them crazy by constantly switching around the dragon's different food types. It drove the leaders crazy. But, at the very least, befitting discord's world of chaos, world of fun moniker, all the lava was turned into soup, so at least the ponies wouldn't starve. Though it did leave them a wreck. So, in order to help with this dire situation, twilight sent gilda off looking for a mission of mercy on their behalf. It wasn't a smooth parting between them, due to gilda calling her winey, annoying and bossy, but since twilight speaks fluent rogue talking about rewards, and talking practicality without sight or stamina, so they sent her off for help.
On another note, Rainbow talked with fluttershy about what it means to lose a part of yourself, and how to deal with that. It seems her eyes are getting better, but there's still no guarantee they'll ever return. So they talked about finding new ways to do the same thing, support and love for one another, and generally trying to be supportive even in the bad times. Oh, while hiding from a lemon juice shower. Not so bad in concept, but it does sting after a while. Yuck.
Then there was the chocolate mountains. That they ate. Even though something was bugging spike about going to visit the baby dragons. Hmm, I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that he's the senior dragon now?
And of course, the bit on how for all discord and trixie's powers, there's one thing they don't have. A world of friends. thousands, if not millions of ponies who would believe in the avatar once this is all out, and even during the interim as well. Go get em team.
Well, onwards team avatar harmony. Onwards always.
I think I know what this chapter is. This is the innoculously important chapter. That the chapter seems like an odd filler chapter before manehatten, but it actually contains some very important elements in the mix. Let us count the ways.
Item Banana.
What? I can't use the normal numbers or discord will turn me into a newt, and I won't get better. Anyways, Item Banana is the wall. Even though it doesn't seem like something discord would do, perhaps that's his point. This must be where he's working on his secret project. If he has space to work quietly, he can work without prying eyes like Trixie or the reserve members of the story who might be able to find something out. Something important is in there. I can feel it.
Item Flower: Discordia. While that's mostly discord's place to turn the desert into dessert for the buffalos and chocolate mousse to roam, it's also his place to wait in ambush for team avatar harmony. Still missing the straight mares of Putting your Hoof Down, they can't blast discord right now, so he took some time to tease them about giving spike an element, that they're moving faster than he thought, and also a mysterious bit directed at the writer. "A shame for them you haven't saved Pinkie yet." That must mean Pinkie would know something about the original return of harmony that might've allowed them to see through some of discord's potential smokescreens. But she's not, and discord hit the fast forward button, forcing us to guess on filling in the gaps.
So, it seems that in the gap between the story, there was a brief conversation. It probably went something like this:
Discord: "Now avatar twilight, cutie mark crusaders and friends, Since you're all here, I could easily turn you all into frogs, freeze you with magic, send you overnight mail to trixie, or what have you.....Buuuuuuttt I won't."
Twilight & Everyone: "WHAT?"
Discord: "You see, if I did do something like that, it would ruin the whole game. I'm the game master, not the players, so in this campaign, I have no interest in just sending you back to start all willy nilly. Where's the fun in that? No, what I'm going to do is let you continue on to manehatten without incident.You see, I'm Discord. And after I messed up with Starswirl's team, I learned some pointers on how to handle an avatar the 2nd time around: Have a few minions to do your work and keep the avatar occupied. No, I'm going to let trixie continue her merry chase of you, and see which one of you wins. Since I did give her a little help with the sisters, I'm sure she'll pull out the win, but then again, the avatar is always full of surprises. (smiles innocently) And besides, I'd prefer a proper fight down the line with a more fair vessel if I'm going to square off against an avatar."
Twilight: "So, can we go now?"
Discord: "Ah! Not quite yet. Since you're doing so well with the current game, I think I'll give you a little bonus challenge to figure out where Princess Rarity is at. (Presents the riddle). Well, I'm off to make a mouse chase a cat for food. See you later team avatar harmony. Or not." (snaps his figures and disappears)
Rainbow: "Since I couldn't see all that, did what just happened happen?"
Well, they're back, with some idea of where to go. However, it seems Nightmare moon beat them here, so we face another dilemma. How are we going to get Sokka while avoiding Ozai?
Like I said, I think this is a small but important chapter for the long run, so I'm interested to see where you take it.
(Just you wait...My little reviewer.) Shut up discord!
I spy with my little eye, another derpy cameo. Say it with me..."MY MUFFIN STAND!!" It seems that she is still functioning fine thanks to the release spell in fillydelphia.
(On a brief tangent, I finally figured out the whole collum of light thing. It's the same collum that signaled the release of twilight way back in season 1. I guess it's a symptom of the release of powerful magic.)
So they entered Manehatten, which was suffering just about the same curse as the other big city, only with more aggression, less sales tricks. Come to think of it, where's derpy's husband at right now?
So, they were planning on rescuing the odd one of the group: Pinkie Pie. The bit on scripts and all that was a bit unnerving for them, but they were just ready to get in there and get her out.
Then, twilight had a mini panic attack, worried that she'd lost spike again. Really showing how scared she was that he's gone once more. But the crusaders trusted the little guy, so it was just made into a new side quest for them to keep track of as they searched. 1 earth bender per group for quick escapes, with the elements in 1 group, and the crusaders in another with twilight alone. As the avatar, she could cover all bases, and besides, she's the secret one after all. No need to draw attention as the most wanted pony in all 4 nations.
And on Twilight's travels, she happened upon an unexpected guest: “Ah... ah'm... Ah'm Caballeron!” Oh, it's you. Sweetie's finest subcommander. He wasn't a bender, but he was loyal, dedicated, and knew how to work his troops with efficiency. He endured countless attempts to be offed by the purist unicorns, but Sweetie was his advocate. Knew his skill. So when she was imprisoned and trixie took over, he was given the boot, now little more than a common drunkard trying to scrape by in the world of chaos. Kinda sad actually. He wasn't malicious by any stretch, just on the wrong side of the war.
She got time to practice airbending in her weaving, but it was then that she got yanked aside, and found another ally. The one, the only, that dratted fire hassle blueblood. At least, that's what twilight remembered about him. Being 2 books since she last saw him, a lot has changed. Experience has been the greatest builder of humility. And so blueblood was just there to help. And as Derpy confirmed it, it seems that discord's passive magic can't just seep back into ponies. Once an element flares up, the pony gets to keep control of their mind for a while at least. Since he was in Canterlot initially. I wonder if he was made to act high and mighty again as discord's way of teasing him with his crimes?
But more importantly, he's an informant. He knows the real place rarity is at: at the last place they'd think to look, but the best place to hide something without prying eyes the south pole's fortress. He also tried to talk twilight through trying to find a better disguise as well.
And it was only when he began talking about bad things, that twilight finally figured it out. “Blueblood!
How are you here? I would have sworn you were dead! I thought... your horn, what happened?” And when asking about their connection, she got a lot more information than she thought. First, about him being in love with Rarity. That was a giggle. Then the bit about him being the sellout. That was....
The near firestorm. I suppose if she wasn't needing to keep quiet, she might've incinerated him right there for his treachery, but thankfully, she did. So, she slowly brought her anger under control, saw his genuine regret, she was willing to use all her friendship powers to hug him, and while not hate him for it, still hold it over him, but with a promise that we can still work together to have you atone for this....grievous error you made.
There was also that small bit on time, with twilight realizing that timers are useless if the watch hasn't been invented yet, and the sun keeps doing weird things. But twilight saw that the biggest indignity she saw discord doing wasn't just throwing cities into chaos, turning pegasi into racists, making stinging rain or tempting mountains. It was desecrating the dragon she looked up to with all her being. Turning him into the....best playground in all the 4 nations. Kinda cool, but still totally wrong. Huh. I kinda miss having pinkie around. She'd say something funny or strong, but she's trapped right now, so I guess I'll just have to play along.
Twilight was so mad, she almost incinerated the whole thing to keep discord from desecrating him any longer. Buuuuuttt, then she got a small reality check, because there was spike, doing a yorrick routine to the dragon he inherited the keys of the dragon kingdom from. He knew the stories of their culture, but hadn't experienced it yet. He was the oldest dragon on the planet, but he wasn't awe inspiring yet. He, oddly enough, reminds me a lot of what twilight was like at the beginning of the fic. Insecure, scared, burdened by a responsibility that got a lot bigger in a very short amount of time.
So Twilight held her #1 guy close. In a strange way, this kind of closeness was rather like what Clover was like, only healthier. Also, was spike crying in this scene? It's not stated, but strongly implied by the wording. In some ways, this was the conversation Twilight and Spike should have had before she went off to fight nightmare moon. About what the red dragon's death meant for spike and not just her. He was her steadfast mountain, but he was his leader, mentor and inspiration. Now, spike is all that's left, but he and Twilight will walk this path together, and eventually, the dragons will return to their former glory, all under the guidance and wisdom of King Spike. Avatar and her dragon companion. Resting for a moment in between danger and their destinies.
Well, this is interesting. Not the diversions per se, but the fact that we're introducing even more genuine tension into the group. Sure, some of them might be somewhat uneasy of the cutie mark crusaders being their tag teamers, but with Blueblood's introduction, all those old wounds are being reopened, and it's going to be interesting to see how they all play out between Sweetie and Blue.
After all, you don't nearly kill a guy and have him just forgive it all willy nilly. Though, the incest joke?
But, as the warrior pointed out, “I'd just like to remind everypony while this is truly fascinating, we are still in the middle of hostile territory and don't really have time for Rarity's coltfriend and sister drama.”
No, the real drama is that all of discord's lieutenants are here. So how do we deal with them? Operation Cutie's finest hour. That the crusaders will draw out the generals so the harmony squad can move in and free pinkie. An extremely risky move, especially since they're technically fighting outside their league. No matter who they pick. And surprisingly, it was AJ, and not Twi who objected to this idea. Not wanting to put Flowers in danger again.
But, necessity, growing up, and bravery worked together, and the plan was set. With Sweetie giving perhaps her last royal speech as a commander of her friends. No ice, all sentiment. I love you all. Let's go get em.
I have to admit, these particular battles are perhaps among the best you've written for the fic in terms of straight up one on one fights. Sure, you had others, and great group fights, but I think these particular battles, for the different atmospheres they create are among your best one on one battles. Oh, don't get me wrong, there's been some other good 1v1 fights. Twilight v blueblood, Twlight v gilda, twilight v lightning dust, rarity v nightmare moon. But for these three, the tension and atmosphere makes me super invested in what's happening.
Let's start with the triumphant fight: Scootaloo vs trixie. What scoots has on her side is the antibending arts, and playing off trixie's arrogance as an additional weapon to use. But trixie is still an alicorn. Though as the least sympathetic of the 3 generals, fighting her is like waiting for a good punch in the face of a jerk. So scootaloo could go all out, even getting trixie's leg despite her 4 element use. And plus, she even managed to get pinkie away into team avatar harmony's hands. Her fight seemed to be going the best. And besides, it seems trixie's old grudges against the shadowbolts have passed down to scoots too, who trixie knew from being a prisoner rather than when she went there for manpower.
Flowerbloom and Blueblood are fighting a desperate battle against an Axe crazy solar flare. She makes things go boom, toys with her opponents, and even created a fire ring dueling area. Flower, with a lack of earth finess, knew she was going to have problems, but all she needed to do was hold on with blueblood for as long as possible.
Sweetie's fight is definitely the most personal. Mother vs daughter. Prodigy vs master. Water vs Ice. Redeemed vs corrupted. I have this weird vision of sweetie being all hesitant and scared going into it, but putting on a brave face nonetheless. I think part of why her control isn't as strong is due to her conflicted nature in dealing with mommy issues. Perhaps she could accuse her of never loving her, or saying celestia was always better to throw her off?
Well, it looks like twilight and rainbow are going in. Good luck team. A salute for dream number 5.
Oooooooohhh!!!!!
Now discord, that's just plain mean! 
(I know. In fact, I think this is my best work so far.) SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU STUPID SPIRIT! WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP! (Inside voice little reviewer) Grrrrrrrrrrr.....
Actually, even though this is the most diabolical of discord's mind games, it's also the most brilliant!
The thing is, Twilight, AJ, Shy and Bow all had their share of pluses and minuses in terms of what their worlds were like. AJ's simplicity allowed for it to seem like no big deal was happening despite it being about spinning a web of lies. RD's realism played on her self doubts, allowing her to get angry and feel betrayed. Shy's world in its alternate take played on shy's cowardice, allowing big D to hold her down with little need to improvise other pieces in her illusion. And twilight's was elegant in trying to isolate her via tragedy, make her repeat history. Yet all of them could have a way out, because the contexts they supported made the tricks to get out make sense. Whether it was the past avatars, a voice in the darkness, her true friends, or an investigator, all these things are part of their world frame, and would make perfect sense if they showed up, just not always in the way twilight would've wanted.
But pinkie? For pinkie discord did a positively diabolical thing. He played the All a Dream card on her. He had to play it smart, because unlike all the others, pinkie actually figured it out right away. Began resisting the spell right away. Immediately knowing something was off, and thinking Discord was responsible for it. So what discord had to do was to frame the story as a story, and weave a "tragic" story around pinkie to get her to close herself off from laughter, magic and her friends. Since pinkie's meta knowledge is only of the 2 stories of avatar and friendship is magic, how could she know the frameworks beyond it? Heck, the doctor proposed a question that stumped her right off the bat. "What do you remember before you rescued twilight?" I'm reminded of an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer which pulled the same trick on buffy one time. And had her choosing that life of adventure over the drab, unappealing other world spun for her. I remember some of the fans said that this means the real buffy is now permanently comitose, always having adventures avoiding her real life, but that's just mean, and stupid, and totally unheroic as a story choice!
Although, thinking of herself as just an earth pony, and inserted into the stories as herself, that's like a mixture of critiquing a self insert fic, and a more serious play on her being the "sokka" of the group. Ordinary in the simple ways, but extraordinary in others. And given the simple story perameters, she couldn't push beyond them because the author hadn't written in any backstory for that point yet. Isn't that right? (Hey. breaking the fourth wall is what discord and pinkie do. Don't you start getting into it.) Fine, fine.
And discord's other world was also so....boring. No pegasi, no unicorns, no sunshine most of the time, and very few colors. Ick. And he straight up turned pinkie into pinkamina mode while also discording her. Who nonetheless, was still fighting to stay herself. It seems that of those lost in the fog, pinkie really was the trickiest case, because she's idiot proof from most of the easy stuff. Discord really had to get creative to lock her soul up. Although, what was that about a white earth pony toy? Such a small detail...why would it be included? Is...is that the spirit of surprise, the original element of laughter?
Well, let's hope the party helps pinkie out. After all, a tragic backstory, lack of color, lack of grounding in the true reality? This is a tough deck to play against.
Alright, I think I'm finally caught up. Now let's rock operation pink again!
What's great about pinkie is that she was resisting the spell from the beginning. Her inner joy prevented her from falling under the full sway of the grey town. Trying to be herself and bring color, and bring a personal touch to her parties, just like she always does. Just like Fluff? Like fluttershy? Like fluffy the guardian of tartarus? Just like Cheese her mentor? Discord's memory blocker was really making it hard to resist. It also seemed the spell was trying to defuse pinkie's personal touch by trying to buy stock stuff rather than anything else. But she resisted, so the spell tried another angle.
And what a cruel angle it was. It was a No Party Ponies Allowed angle. Playing against her expectations for joy and acceptance and love. Then when she did get someone, the spell played the teenage bullies card. Something about insanity killings, and the idea of reality TV being "obvious?" Reality TV doesn't actually represent reality you foals!
(I shake my fist at them) Though the bit on pinkie's ambiguous age was rather...interesting. Indeed, it plays on the idea that all the cast can live alone, but also do childish things as well. The party mare pinkie was just a more obvious manifestation. Yes, the party was a great fun, but the pony who threw it? Scorned or feared. It crushed her heart. Wanting nothing more than friends, but never finding them.
Yet, her logic kept pressing against ideas like school and special Ed. stuff. And even gradually beginning to fill in her backstory through her imagining things like Maud and moving into ponyville from the earth kingdom.
However, the most...horrible weapon Discord used on Pinkie was the idea that she could be the cause of unhappiness. That just crushed her heart every time she heard her "parents" arguing about life, and about "losing her". That's what held her under so well. She couldn't stand for anyone to fight over her.
And it was into this fray that twilight and rainbow finally entered. And...
oh, boy. 
They really had a tough battle convincing pinkie of their claims. Because they were zapped in as out of context talking toys. The very thing Pinkie was trying to wake up from, they now come back as. She really did think she was going insane again. 
Though, this also lead to some awesome humor as well. “Pinkie! You... holy buck you're huge! What in... what? Am... am I made of plastic?”
Oh man, that's a good laugh. 
Still, all things considered, this was actually a pretty "normal" situation twilight and rainbow were thrust into. They were the odd thing, rather than the world around them. That's brilliant discord. And evil. And considering how hard pinkie was fighting before twilight got in, it's a shame she didn't get to pinkie first. Otherwise, it might've been an easy break, since she immediately suspected foul play at the beginning. And stop fangirling at the wonderbolt poster Rainbow! “Also, why am I a toy?”
“Hey, I can see! This is awesome! The buck is all this? Hah! You look ridiculous.”
“Honestly, I'm not surprised she has little toy versions of us,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “I think it works.”
So yes, in a "week" of head time, twilight and rainbow continued to try and contact pinkie. And debated what the value of laughter is in friendship.
Also, I just loved this line: Both ponies stared at her as if she was mad.
And...it's oddly fitting that rainbow was twlight's partner in this world. Twilight knows the philosophy behind why laughter is important. But Rainbow knows true history. And...you know how RD represented Katara's warrior side? Well, I think RD also has katara's inspirational speeches side as well. Because just like when she was dealing with angry, scared twilight, the speech here is Beautiful on why Pinkie is so valuable. In fact, I'm going to leave it all in because it's just that awesome. “BECAUSE YOU'RE PINKIE! Because you never give up on us! Sure, sometimes you take things a bit too far, but you're part of our back bone! We've never needed you to fight, but we've needed you to keep us sane. Who was it who helped cheer the town up when most of the actual air benders left town? Took care of me when I got the winged flu? Helped me feel better after I botched my triple jump spin dive that one time? Not to mention when we actually started on all this. You helped us stay happy when things were dark. Given us the encouragement when... when we feel we can't go on. We need you now more than ever. We all need you.”
Pinkie of course, still wasn't sure what to make of things, and then asked about whether laughter was important to her parents. And all she got was another argument. Though, as she kept pressing, she began creating even more backstory for her character, and that pushed it deeper into knowing what was real. She knew so much about that other world, but so little about here. And then, here, all she had was fighting parents. There was no laughter. NO joy here. And it was in that moment, she finally got the joke. She was ready to go home, but first, she had to do so in a way that would settle things with her "parents" properly.
Also, it seems twilight and rainbow got stuck in a looney tunes cartoon. Typical. Pinkie's videos would of course include the cartoon logic she uses herself. She gave another giggle before turning to the television. “Which means my friends still need me. I'm sorry, I realized this earlier but I wanted to say good bye to you. I mean, just because you're not real doesn't mean we can't still be friends.” Awww. Even though twilight's a mare with a big heart, pinkie really is the all loving hero. So much so, that she even tried to make up her her imaginary family before she woke up. Though, she admitted that even when Discord turned good in season 3 (well, technically, he did turn good in season 3, but we only got to see him doing things in season 4.
) Oh thanks for....PINKIE! YOU'RE BACK! (We hug) (Yep! I'm back Pony Wu.) Wait, how did (Oh come on, I'm me. A small detail like that would be easy to know.) Ok, fair enough. It's just so good to have you back in the comments. (Yes, isn't it?) (Hey Discord. Does this mean we get to have flame wars?
) (Eh, I never did like the idea of the world burning, so for now, snap) [how about we distinguish with this?] (Okie Dokie Loki!)
Anyways, pinkie mentioned that even as season 4 discord, discord was still a jerk and a pushy meanie and the like. So, even if she stayed, she'd eventually get tired of the meanness. It's also with that realization that she was able to use her meta knowledge again, so she got straight to work, and ran for her element. "Why would they allow ponies they thought insane to keep it?” Ah, logic triumphs over circumstance to bring laughter back.
Actually though, before I go any farther, I have to say that this has to be possibly one of your deepest reflections on the nature and the importance of the elements of harmony. Friends hurt, but their joy in the moment is worth more than any pain afterwards. This is twilight's truth. Kindness takes courage to use. This is fluttershy's truth. Loyalty means trusting them to do what's right. This is rainbow's truth. Honesty allows the worst out before it gets out of hand. This was AJ's truth.
However, one small detail you included here demonstrated why pinkie's element is so important. Without twilight's element it's not friendship, but rather courtesy. without fluttershy's element, it's camraderie, though without compassion. Without rainbow's element, there's no sense of permanence and less depth to the relationship. Without AJ's how can you challenge growth, or even have a solid base to grow from if you're always lying to each other?
But pinkie briefly mentioned there was no laughter or JOY in this world. This is why pinkie's element is so important. Without pinkie's element, all friendship is boils down to enlightened stoicism. It is Joy which makes all relationships beautiful. It brings light in darkness through a little happiness. It connects the downtrodden by giving them a hope to strive for. It makes life glow, and gives purpose that's beyond mere duty. The other elements makes the world work, but it is Joy that will make building a better world worth every cut, heartbreak and lost soul along the way. Magic binds them all together in a mysterious way, but it's joy which gives each of the other elements greater value than each one individually.
Well discord, pinkie, that's 5 down, and 1 princess to go. I just hope operation cutie's finest hour hasn't gone south in the time it took for pinkie to get out. You all better get in there. The crusaders need help!
Ah horseapples!
(you said it.)
Pinkie did indeed get out smoothly. And happily held her friends close. And even was told about their success in figuring out where rarity was. However, it seems that for all their hoping and their planning and their straining, operation cutie's finest hour was successful in one count, but in this case, success came with a price. A very avataresque trade in this case. That while pinkie did escape, they all had to stand and watch trixie corrupt their entire guest party like it was nothing. Turning their steadfast allies into enemies once again.
Yuck. But, to be fair, the 4 knew what they were getting into. Knew this was their goodbye and I love you moment, At least trixie didn't kill them. That's good, because this still gives them space to be saved again. But, now they can't risk any encounters with the villain train anymore. There's simply too many, and they need the last element to have them taste the rainbow. I guess they're running from now on. Oh, but discord has something covered up. And it seems he's prepared to bring whatever his secret plan was into action. "Very soon". Which roughly translates to "within 8 chapters" If I speak book fluently.
Discord, as twilight pointed out, is exceedingly clever. [[thank you]] Well, it is the truth. As I pointed out back in book 3, his yearlong plan to get himself released was subtle, methodical, and even included a couple unwinnable situations for team avatar harmony. For being a spirit of chaos, he makes a great planner. I guess he's kinda like the joker in that regard. He says he's all of disorder and chaos, but that doesn't change the fact how crazily intelligent he can be with his planning sometimes. And besides, since he permits a government to run, he's not an anarchist in that regard. Probably because as he pointed out, he's not interested in killing anyone.
With twilight in the worry zone, she was freaked out by how good Discord was doing, how far reaching his influence could be, and even how she had a shred of doubt in her mind that discord could be controlling her right now and she'd never know. However, thankfully Ziggy set them straight. (Ziggy? Am I a pony ranger now?) Well, not exactly, but you do share many of his traits. Outgoing and personable, innovative and with unique bits of logic, great at making friends, optimistic, loving how great your job is, and of course, the self awareness. I'd say you and Ziggy share quite a few traits. Particularly with you talking about being the good guys and have overcome and pressed on no matter how bad it all got. That's what you do. You're a hope bringer, even in the worst of times.
However, it seems for the next ally, discord used a visual pun: turning cheese sandwich into literally his namesake. BTW, is the sandwich hovering ever, or just shuffling some to go place? So, he had a plan to get the team to an airship to save rarity. Pinkie though was unnerved that they met discord, but didn't mention it to her. This must be what discord meant when he told the author "You should have gotten pinkie by now." She'd be able to sift through his fastforwarding the story. And figure out which of his 3 potential options makes the most sense. waiting for them all to come back together to spring another trap? Creating an alcatrez for Rarity's prison? Or just overconfidence? Well, we'll soon find out. It seems that while twilight was working, she also managed to breathe new life into fighting back. Just like before, the mere mention of the Avatar will rally the nations to hope and war.
And oh yes, I do suspect there's going to be at least 1 more trap before the end. Perhaps we can use the avatar state again during this time? Get them out of danger? All that jazz. Well, let's see where the cheese leads us onto.
5889366 Eeeeee. Okay, yes, cheese is kind of shuffling about. It is adorable. Also... Thank you for all these! I can't deny, I read through all of them and was super duper giddy. It feels so good knowing someone takes the time to examine all my stories so closely and catch all the nuances and such. ^^ Though, Discord has so many things planned. On... the interesting side. Story is almost done. 6 chapters to go, I'm writing the last one now. Soon everything will be clear. Eeeee.
5877446 Thanks ^^ I wanted to make something super good for Pinkies.
You know, I'd think someone like Discord or Trixie would be self aware enough to check the barrels for hiding heroes. I guess...this is just different for this shipment? Or he's luring them in?
Well, the long journey continues. If only there were yellow daisies in the shadowbolts. That would make so much else easier.
5891827 6 to go? My goodness. You're really come so far.
Anyways, I just realized another subtle nuance you included in the placement of the statues. It all clicked into place when the shadowbolt was talking. Discord, despite being a being of chaos, used each element as a kind of theme for his work in the different cities. I mean, think about it. In canterlot, we have the crusaders as our sample of corruption. They'd forgotten how important their friendship was to each other. Ponyville became unkind and mean. Cloudsdale became not only insular, but began turning treacherous on its citizens for loyalties beyond its borders. Fillydelphia began to be built on lies whether with the sham campaign or the swindling merchants. Manehatten made people rude and grumpy.
And then here at the prison, it made each of the members greedy and unwilling to help each other. Each holding spot caused a negative reverse of the element's power. It just took a line from a shadowbolt for me to see the pattern.
I guess this is why they destroyed the ship? They didn't want to share with anyone? Anyways, the prison was cold, magical, and pretty eerie. And for a moment, we even got to use the omashu slide concept for some fun. Also, I missed this last chapter, but it's great that Rainbow's actually starting to get a bit of vision. Some shapes, even though she can't make out exact details at the moment. Though, since she can see through the air, that does make her "vision" even more powerful than AJ's in some ways. Then of course, there's the bit with accidental species and sexism with Spike there as neither a girl or a pony.
Well, last one. What was discord's challenge for rarity again? Oh right. It's easy to let go of things if they aren't the way you want them. Hmm, I wonder what that means about her pit of despair? I suspect that it's going to involve her past, her present, and the future she has ahead as the new head of the water nation. I still suspect she's going to create a triarchy to keep one water ruler from mucking things up without 2 others to keep her in check, and in part because she wants her aunt for advising, and for her mother to have a chance to redeem herself. To handle the...less than savory aspects of the job.
But that's in the future. I suspect that Rarity's final trial is ultimately asking the greatest question for an element of generosity: "Would you give your life someone?" It is the ultimate gift. And with her suffering, growing, fighting, striving and the like, could Rarity give up her life if it came down to it. At least, that's what I suspect.
I wonder what Rarity’s little world would be like. I have to admit, you was a bit clever with Pinkie’s, so I will have to wonder how you’re going to make this one even harder than her.
Short C&C:
Then the captain went and locked himself down below in storage with all our supplies, says they're all his, won't let us have any.
A very, very unconscious mare was laying under them, her eyes swirling from when they had slammed into her. “Definitely the captain,” Pinkie said with a giggle.
> I think we got ourselves a gender issue here. Is the captain a male or female?
Also, watch out for compound words, it seems to be a weakness of your.
Well, this is different. We don't see this from the view of the searchers. Rather, we see it from the POV of the rescuers. Definitely a change of pace. [oh just you wait. The author took so long to get here, how will you get her out now?] Well, let's find out Discord. (Yeah! Let's find out discord.
)
The scene starts out slow. With them just appearing in a canterlot before summer sun. With all twilight experienced in dealing with the other nightmares, she expected something horrible to happen. That like the last 5, there was another big problem for them to deal with, that rarity's world was twisted around and wrong and torturous to the mare inside.
However, in a beautiful, and surprisingly sensible twist, Discord instead turned rarity's hell into a false paradise. A world where discord never worked his magic on her family, so they were all happy, all alive, and none of them would bear the scars of experience or hatred that would haunt her family in the real world. I'm reminded of the story For the Man who has Everything. That everything was wonderful, but in order to fulfill a destiny, the hero had to give it all up for a reality that needs their help.
It's the undamaged horn that gave it away. That horn defined rarity. Made her strong, but also reminded her of her lost honor and family. But she still believed in finding good and kindness.
The trouble with this world is that, well, “You... you already know, don't you?” This is what generosity is about: giving up something you have because others need it more. And since Rarity already knows, it's not a matter of breaking the spell, but having her choose to reject the life she always wanted for the life she ended up building with her own hooves. I guess she was in a kind of despair, finding out they'd lost, thinking this was the best solution. And yes, it would be lovely to have a do over, but, well, the avatar, the elements, the royalty, they deal with real things. Not imaginary things. They are there to help real ponies have safety and protection. And a lotus eater machine is such a selfish way to go. Also, there's something that's been bugging me about all this. Sure she has her immediate family near her, but WHERE IS CELESTIA!!!!????
Also, is the really what you wanted rarity? You say you wanted your family, your kingdom, your honor. But what about true peace? Your aunt? Blueblood? Your friends? Wasn't all the suffering you went through balanced out by the joys and friendships and wonders and lessons and ponies you met during your travels? Isn't the fact that you changed into your own mare enough to bring you home?