Dust’s head was still buried in the cloud when she felt the air stir around her, and heard the beat of wings. Lifting her head, she saw Twilight Sparkle hovering nearby. She was in her full royal regalia, which was very unusual for the friendly and approachable princess. Dust didn’t know what to think, and so only watched as Twilight touched down on the little cloud.
“Princess,” Dust said, her voice cracking as she tried to speak. “I’m sorry I missed our meeting.”
“Pinkie Pie found me,” Twilight explained calmly. “She told me what happened with you and Rainbow Dash. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Dust insisted. Her voice again wavered, and she reached up to rub the tears of her eyes. “I’m sorry I’m not presentable.”
“It’s alright. You’ve given up a lot to be here—sacrificed so much,” Twilight’s voice was touched with sympathy, and she reached a hoof out to rest it over Dust’s. “I can’t imagine how stressful it must be to worry it was all for nothing. But don’t worry. I promise that won’t happen.”
“It... won’t?” Dust sniffled again, but she lifted her head.
“No. I think I have a compromise solution that will work for everypony,” Twilight said, adding a bright little kick to her tone. “Publishing your work would be controversial, but I’ve spoken with Celestia, and she said the Crown would be happy to buy your research. All of it. And I don’t mean like she’s going to cover it up—of course we’re going to acknowledge your great accomplishment. You’d get your own shelf in the restricted section of the Canterlot library, the chance to write a few books, and it would be more than enough money to bail you out of debt. You’d get your family fortune back! Isn’t that great?”
Dust said nothing, and as the silence grew overlong, Twilight’s smile flickered. “I thought you’d be happy.”
“Are you...” Dust swallowed. Her mouth suddenly felt dry and dust, and when she licked her lips, little moisture came. “Are you telling me that I will not be permitted to publish my work? Publically, that is. For general consumption.”
“No,” Twilight replied, but her voice was hesitant now. “I thought we could skip all that. Find a better way.”
“I spoke with your friends,” Dust said quickly, forcing her eyes to stay locked on Twilight’s face. “They said you asked their advice on the matter, and all of them came out quite strongly against me. Have you decided that if I refuse your offer, you will deny me the right to publish?”
“No,” Twilight repeated. “Granted, five of my five advisors are all strongly against you. But we aren’t a democracy. Their advice is just advice.”
Twilight considered Dust, and carefully folded her legs. “But I would need a compelling reason to ignore their wishes. Applejack is concerned you’ll destroy Equestria’s culture and traditions. She was very upset when Apple Bloom considered if her destiny might be to become a unicorn. Rarity raises significant safety concerns. Fluttershy points out you might start a class war. Pinkie Pie questions if there’s any compelling reason to bother with the trouble. And Rainbow Dash points out, unkindly but not inaccurately, that you have a proven history of irrational decisions and recklessness.”
Dust said nothing, and so after a moment, Twilight prompted her: “Do you think they’re wrong?”
“No, Princess,” Dust said. “I do not think that they are wrong. I just don’t think they matter.”
Twilight lifted her head and neck, and her eyes narrowed slightly. “I hope there’s something coming after that.”
Dust took in a slow breath, forcing herself to swallow what felt like a lump of sand in her throat. “Applejack’s culture will die. You know that. That’s what cultures do—they die. If I don’t kill it, somepony else will. Maybe somepony who makes a better apple picker. Or maybe changing tastes that shift demand for produce. Or maybe something awful like a war. But her traditions will die, and that’s not a bad thing. Once it was tradition that you couldn't marry a pony of another race. We don’t feel sad that went away!”
Dust took another sharp breath, her hooves shaking. “And—and if Apple Bloom’s destiny is to become a unicorn? Or a pegasus? If her destiny is to become the next great wizard or a brilliant weather pony? Applejack should be proud of her! Which matters more, her stupid traditions or her sister’s happiness? She should be ashamed for even thinking that!”
“Calm down,” Twilight cooed, gently pressing her hoof over Dust’s shaking forelegs. “I know you’ve had a rough day, but shouting won’t help.”
Her trembling gradually stopped, and she took long, deep breaths. “I know,” Dust said quickly. After a moment, she flicked her tail and repeated the words slower, “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...”
“It’s okay. Go on,” Twilight urged. “When you’re ready.”
Dust nodded, and after a few more deep breaths, went on. “Rarity and Fluttershy aren’t wrong. But they are wrong. Mistaken. Yes, of course new things are dangerous. But what’s the alternative, never try new things? I’m not proposing we throw a how-to guide for my work to every first-year enchanter and tell him to have at it.” She shook her head. “Obviously it’s going to be more complicated than that. Precautions taken. But the risk of magical discovery never stopped you, and it shouldn’t stop the rest of us either.”
“That’s Rarity. What about Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.
“That only the rich can afford it?” Dust shook her head. “What else are you going to ban? Fine art? The opera? Commissioning a painting isn’t cheap. Are you going to quarry Canterlot Palace? Open up your home to boarders? Or, no. Because those are luxuries. Education is a better example.”
Her pace picked up, and she made a sharp, wild gesture of her hooves. “Sure, the poor get an education, but would you be the Princess of Friendship if you’d been born to two earth pony coal miners? I don’t think so. And yes, that’s unfair and the government should do something about it, but the solution isn’t to ban ponies from learning. And the solution isn’t to ban my work!”
Dust took a few deep breaths, forcing her pace to slow. “And you think my work is so important that the poor absolutely cannot be without it, isn’t that even more proof that it’s worth publishing? You’re a monarch. You can... find some way to fix the money problem.”
“It’s not quite that easy. And that’s not quite how the monarchy works,” Twilight replied, but she nodded for Dust to go on.
“I’m sure you could work something out with Celestia. And...” She spread her wings, gesturing down to Sugarcube Corner. “And Dash and Pinkie Pie are wrong too. If you removed the works of every researcher who was a little personally abrasive from Canterlot Library, you know what you’d have?”
“An empty building?” Twilight asked, with a small dry smile.
“Exactly,” Dust gave a half laugh. “Research demands sacrifice, and... and your hero. Starswirl the Bearded? People still use his magic, even though he was responsible for everything from the birth of the Changeling race to King Sombra. His, let’s be frank, screw ups have killed thousands if not tens of thousands over the course of history. I’m not saying that’s okay. What he did was wrong, and we can acknowledge he did bad things. But we don’t throw out his work because of it.”
“I’m not sure that logic quite holds,” Twilight said, looking down at Sugarcube Corner. “But even if it did, all you’ve done is argue that it’s less dangerous than some ponies think. It’s still dangerous, and honestly? I agree with Pinkie Pie. I don’t see what good it does. With hard work and determination, anypony of any race can fulfill their destiny. The fact that an earth pony made this incredible discovery proves that as much as anything.”
Dust sniffled as she lifted her head, nodding to Twilight. She took a breath, sniffled again, and finally forced herself to go on. “I’m sorry, Princess. I suppose I shouldn't say this to my betters. But that’s a load of horse apples.”
Dust’s jaw worked without sound for a moment, but abruptly she began to speak again, cutting off Twilight’s reply. “Do you seriously expect me to believe that Apple Bloom could be a weather pony if she really put her heart into it? Because being able to fly is kind of a big part of that. Or is she born not wanting it? That earth ponies naturally just have no interest in weather?” Her tail lashed back and forth. “Because for a pony who is literally the physical incarnation of unity between all tribes, that’s pretty racist. But I don’t think you meant it that way.”
Dust pointed sharply down towards Sweet Apple Acres in the distance, jabbing an accusative hoof towards it. “I think you meant that she’ll get over it. That she’ll learn to accept her limitations and forget she ever had those dreams and be happy without them. And you know, she will. Just like Scootaloo and Nova Star will get over being crippled! I’m sure they will be happy one day but it’s still wrong!”
Dust started to tear up again, her wings fluffing out from her side. “That’s not how ponies are. We don’t sit there and force ourselves to become happy with what we have. We strive for more and we make it happen and we refuse to accept our limitations. Earth ponies did it when they founded this town right by the Everfree. Unicorns did it when they let Starswirl revolutionize magic. And pegasi... I don’t know! They did something.”
Dust lifted her head to Twilight, spread her wings out by her side, and forced her wavering voice to stay level. “I’m better than I was. More than I was. Just like you became more than you were.” She paused, and then added quickly. “No. No.” She gestured out at the town. “Just like everypony becomes more than they were when they learn a new trick. A new ability. That’s what ponies do. It is good and it is right and I don’t have to justify that.”
“That may be so,” Twilight agreed. “But then why not accept my first offer? You’d get to stay as you are. You worked hard and earned your wings and horn.”
“Because when a little colt who doesn’t get to go to the restricted wing of the library runs up to me and asks how they can learn that trick, I want a better answer than, ‘You can’t because I really wanted to have a nice house.’” Dust snapped the words out bitterly, and then turned to look away.
“You feel very strongly about this,” Twilight said slowly, though her tone remained calm.
“As strongly as you do about friendship and magic, Princess,” Dust nodded, reaching up to rub her eyes. “It’s what I’ve dedicated my life to. It’s what makes me special. And it’s what I share with other ponies to make the world a better place.”
“I see that.” Twilight looked down at the cloud. “Can I ask you a question then?” Dust nodded. “Which race do you prefer? I know you don’t think one is better. I’m not making an accusation. I’m asking which body you prefer to wear.”
“Unicorn magic is better for manipulating small objects,” Dust answered, “and I’m really enjoying learning to cast spells. Pegasi wings are great for getting around, and dealing with physical things. Running, stamina, long moves. Cold resistant too. But I always go to sleep as an earth pony.” She swallowed, and a moment later clarified. “When I’m a unicorn, I always sleep right through my alarm. Earth ponies have an easier time of it.”
“You enjoy getting up at sunrise?” Twilight asked.
“No. I enjoy sleeping in,” Dust answered. “But I have work to do in the morning. Sleeping in feels good physically, but... there’s so much in the world worth doing. What if today was the day I was going to learn something important, or finally have that last breakthrough, but I miss it because I’m sleeping? I couldn't.” She pulled her hooves together, rubbing one over the other. “There’s not enough time as it is. I don’t see how you could waste it sleeping.”
“Hmph.” Twilight paused, and then slowly rose to her hooves. “If I can’t persuade you to take the third option then?”
“You can’t,” Dust confirmed.
“Then, I’ll need a couple of days to think this over. I want to talk to Princess Celestia again.” She turned to go, but then paused. “And, Dust? Could you look at me for a moment?”
Slowly, Dust turned her face back to Twilight. The princess fluffed her wings, pausing a moment to find the right words. “I don’t know what decision I’m going to make. This could change the fate of Equestria and... and it’s not to be made lightly. I have to do what’s best for my subjects. But no matter what decision I make, I want you to know that... well. I think you’re brilliant. A genius. And now that your work is done, maybe... maybe we can see you in Ponyville more. Make some friends.”
“I’d... like that,” Dust said. After a moment, she added, “Thank you, Princess.”
Twilight nodded, spread her wings, and lept from the edge of the cloud. Dust watched her fly away, twisting through the sky back towards her crystal palace, until she slipped within its doors, and was lost to sight.
Lovely~
i.imgur.com/yMRj5Au.jpg?1
"Make some friends."
In a town full of xenophobic earth pony traditionalists, after she's been defamed by the top six mares in Ponyville, neigh, all of Equestria. Right. Thanks, Twi. You're the Hero of Friendship.
But she'll find some anyway. Because there is always someone you'll connect with, even if you're not one of Rainbow Dash's "cool kids."
And I don’t mean like she’s going to cover it up—of course we’re going to acknowledge your great accomplishment. You’d get your own shelf in the restricted section of the Canterlot library,
DAMMIT AUTHOR. THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF "COVERING IT UP." Putting it up out of the lowly commoner's reach...
Downvote. Too much emphasis on soapboxing different viewpoints with almost no story. The author's bias is very strong as well; Dust's arguments are demonstrably wrong, logical fallacies, or irrelevant anecdotes while the objections are actually valid. The censorship subplot completely ignores the point of a peer-review process, which begins before publication of a scholarly work. The characters spend too much time talking past eachother and Dust in particular is willfully ignorant of the society she wants to change.
Don't earth ponies got special abilities that are one of a kind?
5949307 yeah. Apparently they are more efficient than alarm clocks.
5948768
Actually, it's the main six that are using logical fallacies.
Applejack: a variant of Appeal to Nature (conversely, it could be called "Appeal to Tradition"), as she believes that it's not the way they've been doing things, and therefore they shouldn't do it.
Rarity: the Genetic Fallacy, as she believes that because Dust has had dangerous experiments, this one must be dangerous too.
Fluttershy: Appeal to Emotion, as she believes that because only the rich will be able to afford it initially, it will leave those poorer folks even more poor.
Rainbow Dash: Ad Hominem, as she believes they shouldn't do it because Dust has been obsessive.
Pinkie Pie: Personal Incredulity, as she just doesn't see the point of it, and therefore it must be pointless.
I would hope that if Twilight says no, then Dust moves to Griffon country or whatever and publishes there. What bugs me is that so many conflate publishing the spell with agreeing everyone should cast it. Where is the point of view that changing your race is wrong, but ponies should have the individual right to choose?
5948314 You mean 'Dammit Twilight'. Character's opinions are not necessarily author's opinions.
I thought Twilight's friends had some pretty good points, but then Dust's counterpoints were just pure gold & I agree with her 100%. Yes, her discovery could change the world, but that just means that you learn how to do so in a safe way that benefits the most. You don't just sweep it under the rug.
And that's not even getting into the part about Destiny & Special Talents. Is it simply the case that nopony before Dust's time has ever been destined for a Talent & Cutie Mark that requires a horn or wings but wasn't born with them? Because if it isn't, that means that there were ponies who got their Mark & Talent in something that wasn't their Destiny, which not only throws the whole Destiny/Talent/Cutie Mark equation into Chaos but is also extremely depressing. If it is however, then surely Ponies will now start popping up that have Talents that take Dust's creation into account. Maybe a Earth Pony will have Talent for weather maintenance, or a Unicorn for farming (assuming that the connection to the land, increased strength & stamina aspects of Earth Pony-ness applies) or perhaps even talents that relate to the ability to switch itself, such as an Explorers Mark that clearly takes into account all 3 Pony Aspects.
5949891
Actually, I think Fluttershy's argument is the only one that's not quite a fallacy.
Having a device that only the rich could afford to safely use, and that is made out of platinum and would increase the opportunity of the rich about threefold? Very little of the profit ganed from allowing use of such a device would go to low income earners, and the increased opportunity could remove need for certain jobs: If all the rich ponies in Canterlot or Manehattan could turn into pegasi, then they wouldn't need elevators or even stairs. It probably wouldn't cause a depression, but it could very well hurt ponies in general more than it helped them. And that's on top of the fact that the general public could get the book and fail at reproducing the spell, which would remove low income earners by killing them or worse. (Though, Fluttershy not going in to any of that might make her argument an appeal to emotion.)
Of course, the knowledge gained from being able to transform between races could make up for that in the long term, but unless it's possible to determine how much that spell could hurt the economy, it's kind of a gamble.
If this could be done safely, then I'd be all for it being released to the public, even if it did hurt the economy a bit. However, with how dangerous the spell can be, ponies who practice it should have some sort of liscense for practicing dangerous magic. I feel that requireing a liscence would be somewhere in between putting it in the restricted library and releasing it to the general public.
Of course, I think a lot of the mane six's arguments are based on personal things, and not logic. And Dust seems a little too attached to her work to see any possible flaws in it. Honestly, I don't think any of the characters in this story so far are mature enough to handle this topic of discussion.
Didn't your history of irrational decisions and recklessness get you; friends, wings, pegasus magic, earth pony magic, a crown, political power, and then finally a shiny crystal castle? Yes, yes it did.
5951084 Not to mention commit genocide (Changelings) and regicide (King Sombra)
Although, yes, the fate of the Changelings is up for debate; I like to think they're slowly dying out, but that's just me...and yeah, Sombra was a bit of a dick, but hey, no one's perfect
What a delightful role model...let's give her more power
My Little Pony: Hypocrisy is Magic
Although there's the scary thought of becoming an earth pony while you're on a cloud; if you can't control the transformation, you're screwed
5951798
Nope. That's 100% pure fanon. The changelings were thrown out of Canterlot, not killed wholesale.
Also, seriously? Sombra? He was an evil tyrant and not even the rightful king considering he took the Crystal Empire over, implying he either cast out the original ruler/s or just plain murdered them. Destroying him was doing the rest of the world a favor, not a sin.
Also, why are you even using those events as examples when talking about Twilight? She didn't deliver either of the final blows, Cadence did, with help from Shining Armor and then Spike and Shining Armor, respectively.
5952222 Indeed. It would be far better to mention the smarty pants, time traveling, or any of the other direct things she did that would have brought a smile to Discord's faces if he had been there to see them.
Man, the reaction you get when suggesting to nerds that no, scientific (or magical) progress is not always purely a good thing.
5950765
Well... we don't actually know if the materials are used up in the casting or not. If they are reusable, then the long-term profits would allow a businesspony to charge lower prices for the spell. Charge them about as much as we would for a car, and you've got some very well-off ponies. Alternatively, it could be a cheaper, government-run program. But even if they are consumed in the spell, with the magic out there where other scientists can look at it there should be a fair chance of somepony figuring out a more efficient method of casting.
Dusk has the better argument.
5954443 Yeah, I've been wondering if they get used up too. If they don't the government could set up one in every major residential area, and have it be free, paid for by taxes.
I feel the need to comment again on just how amazing this is. You haven't a clue how pleasurable it is to read! The language and story are impeccable. Really, this is beautiful.
Heh. Nice save. That and the cripple comment before had me thinking that's how you see anypony who doesn't change your way—crippled.
Wow, way to shut down all those arguments Dust!
Maybe Dust got a little bit of human in her as well when she ascended.
You know, this actually sounds like a perfect solution. I'd be happy if the story went in this direction.
If it costs an obscene amount to do the transformations... Why can Dust transform whenever, easily, with no cost? I think I missed something, if somebody could point it out for me please?
5962677
The ritual that gives you the ability is expensive. After the ritual/procedure is done, using the ability just costs a tiny bit of effort.
It's not racist, at all.
Not having interest in something, naturally or otherwise does not even come close to making anyone/any group inferior which is the definition of racism.
5959006 Certainly seems that way, or human ideas anyway.
5952222 Sides which, not like that would be in anyway a bad thing if they had died.
Very true on Sombra.
"but would you be the Princess of Friendship if you’d been born to two earth pony coal miners?"
Funny. Cadance was a little pegasus when she was found in a forest by two earth ponies. She was raised by them in a small village and now she is a Princess of Love.
If i get it right she is no longer a pony. So there is the possibility she lost the ability to have children. Did she threw away her DNA and now she is some form of energy? Because otherwise those transformation would cost lots of energy and unless she is powerful like Twilight she wouldn't be able to transform very often. Maybe few times a day and she would tire very fast.
Where did she get the information that Starswirl was cause why the changelings were born? He evidently wasn't. He was only traveling by the pool before they were born. He wasn't the cause.
5957497
She didn't exactly shut down the arguments, she just proposed counter arguments:
AJ: Yes, Traditions do die, and AJ's will eventually, but do you want that tradition to die now and in this way? Pony races ceasing to exist via spellcraft could lead to some very messy future problems and it would likely cause huge social rifts and destroy lives. Not every advancement is for the better, and even if it is better in the long term, the short term problems ponies would face would still be very real and very painful..
Rarity: Rarity has cautioned that there could be unforseen issues with the process and Dust really has no way to refute that (and in fact she has already caused pain and potential injury via her research). She can say "Well there's always risk in everything, we would never advance without it" but that's easy for her to say when it's just her she needs to consider. Twilight (and Celestia) don't get that luxury. They have to protect their people. Sometimes advancement needs to take a back seat to safety, at least for a time.
Fluttershy: Dust didn't actually counter this. She said "Well then the crown should do something about the costs." That's easy for her to say, not so much for others. If one presumes the ritual costs are indeed the costs for each transformation (perhaps the items used becomes damaged or used up in the process) then there will always be a barrier in place. And if not then it could still be bought out/sold and monopolized. Even if one million bits is just a one time investment, not every town or city could or would buy one and those that have it could charge outrageous prices for its use (and what do you want the crown to do at that point? Control the use and distribution by taking control of the process? That's exactly what Twilight/Celestia are trying to do by buying the research from her). Dust can point out how such barriers already exist but two wrongs don't make a right and this particular barrier would be a pretty ugly one to deal with.
RD: Dash honestly had the least applicable argument against the research itself. At best her argument might point out that if Dust allowed her research to ruin much of her own life, then perhaps her judgment in the matter isn't clear in other areas as well (heading back to safety and the worth of the work). Still it's easily the weakest argument against.
Pinkie: Pinkie questions whether it's worth it. That leads to all kinds of philosophical debates. I mean is it worth it? Was every advancement humans made really in their best interest? Do people long for older times or wish a certain thing didn't exist? And then the issues of identity, how huge a change this is in scope, and so on and so on... Do the benefits outweigh the potential risks? It's a valid question and not an easy one to answer by any means.
Nice reference to Nova Star. That's the first I've seen in a fic.
Horseapples. Flying is not necessary for weather service. Rarity as a unicorn could have been an excellent weather unicorn, and only sucked at it because it wasn't what she wanted to do. If Sweetie Belle wanted to be a weather unicorn, she could do it. Applebloom might have a harder time, since the show doesn't support Earth ponies controlling weather the way it supports unicorns doing it, but still.
Dust is just plain wrong here, and Twilight is right. Any pony can become anything they want, without Dust's spell.
Actually, no, she's a tetrarch (one of four princesses). But she's right that it's not how a monarchy works; you only need one for that.
5967612
Who's Nova Star? Another pony in another fic, possibly one of GaPJaxie's?
5948314 no, the definition of covering it up would be not publishing it and declaring the magic flawed an unworkable
5950687
5948314
Sooooo.... am I the only one sitting here boggling at the fact that a quartet of royal alicorn princesses feel authorized to censor or ban this work? Fluttershy's argument against comes closest to having a damn point, but we can go further on Dust's counterargument: why is there a goddamn CROWN!? What kind of society vests all of its authority in two, then one, then two again, then three, then four people who possess all the racial magics and wield total, centralized authority to tell someone that no, you can't let anyone else be like us!?
Like, has anyone tried asking the average pony on the street what they think or what they want? Because I would sure as hell want wings if I wasn't born with them! OH WAIT, I WASN'T. AND I DO.
Two flaws in this, (both to Starswirl) A) he never had a hand in sombra, Somba was born by a eldritch being belonging to a race called the umbra ponies and B) while he kinda had a hand in the changeling it was more like a uknowing since according to chrysalis there creation was rather randomish at best. (Chrysalis explained that they "born" out of a carnivorous plant that grew from a rotten nut that fell into a magic pond, which fed off insects and the bones of ponies that had fallen into the pond before, apparently after being buried in the graveyard above. When Star Swirl the Bearded sensed that the pond was infected with something, he nailed a warning sign to a tree, unaware this allowed Chysalis and the beginning of her changeling hordes to be "born".)
6134955 its been stated multiple times by hasbro that the comics are not canon they're just meant to tie over the fandom for the next season
This part was definitely better than the previous one, but...
Really, it feels like 'Part 1' was *made* to have everypony look horrible (again... mostly AJ), just so Dust could have ''the high ground'' in 'Part 2'.
I will say that, I'm sure it could have been achived without having to make AJ look like she was borderline racist, or RD being generally an ass about DUST's life.
Something feels unnecessarily ooc for Twi.
Why would she, a scholar and fellow researcher, not be willing to differentiate between someones personality or motivation and the quality of their work and achievements.
Not only is she herself guilty of everything Dash accused Dust of, she should at this point at least be somewhat aware of her own eccentric nature and the fact that not everyone likes her. Considering how pedantic she usually is when it comes to 'facts' and 'objective observations', would Twilight just accept someone discrediting her scientific work because of her alleged character flaws? Certainly not. She'd be huffing and puffing for a solid minute before she'd point out the absurdity of the very concept in minute detail.
She even pointed out that her group of friends is "not a democracy" and that in the end she calls the shots (somewhat ooc as well)... so I was a bit disappointed that she'd still defend Dash's rant the same way she did her more reasonable friends. (*)
Dismissing that rather personal attack would've gone a long to balance the dialogue and take away some of Dust's artificial moral high ground.
Unless what Dash told Twilight during their council meeting was different from what she was barking about at SCC. And it kinda feels that way; there's some dissonance between Dash calling her out for neglecting her friend(s) and Twi seemingly dressing those words up as Dash's concerns about her "history of irrational decisions and recklessness".
(*) I do count AJ as part of the "reasonable" faction here, even though her argument is basically just 'tradition for tradition's sake'. A more neutral take on her core argument would be that Dust's publication would cause significant and rapid changes in the lifestyles of all three tribes, which should definitely be considered - in fact, this should be the princesses' main concern imo.
Dust's argument about change being inevitable is valid in a way, but ... if a mechanic told you that every machine will inevitably break down at some point ... then turned around and threw a wrench into the gears, you'd probably question their sanity.
Rarity voices her concern about the safety of the process in it's current form because she has justifiable doubts about Dust's ability to objectively determine the level of potential dangers. Dust claims that she's ironed out the kinks and that the process is safe, but she apparently made the same claims about her previous invention - which not only turned out to be un-safe but also caused physical harm to a large number villagers.
Dust's attitude in regards to safety boggles my mind a bit. The princess she wants to convince and the most accomplished magical researcher alive are one and the same pony... why doesn't she ask Twi to review her work and science out the safety aspect? But nope, Dust is right and everypony else is wrong because eggs and omelettes.
Twilight's total disinterest in Dust's work seems a bit odd as well. I mean, Twi is the kind of researcher who'd build a nuclear bomb just to see if it works ... and here there's a pony, that even lives in the same village as her, that basically invented alicornification with a selector switch ... and she's just like "Nah, I'm not convinced. Go away." Wut?
Fluttershy's concerns regarding the potential further divide between the rich and the poor seem valid. Dust claims that she wants to help fillies like Applebloom ... but then completely shrugs off the fact that AB would never be able to afford the procedure. She's minor nobility herself after all, and that's just how things are. More than just a little hypocritical ... and when called out she just tells Twilight to figure out the minor monetary difficulties; she's a princess with access to the royal coffers after all and progress can't be stopped because of impoverished commoners.
Btw, am I the only one wondering why it is Flutters who's worried about social/financial issues while Rares is concerned that somepony might get hurt?
And what the heck is wrong with Pinkie? Canon Pinkie Pie works her butt off to make sure everypony has maximum and equal amounts of fun, even if it means she has to make personal sacrifices ... but this Pinkie? Nope, switching species at will can't possibly be fun for anyone, and even it was she doesn't care because she doesn't need wings to get up to Cloudsdale. Who cares about anyone else, this is clearly poinless. Excuse me, what?
That's the kind of self-righteousness and egocentricity I've come to expect from Dash, not Ponk.
Dear author, you freaky-friday'd almost the entire cast for no apparent reason.
is it possible? maybe?
fuck you and don't come back until you learn to admit that you're wrong
5964513
magic