Quiververse Bonus Reel

by EchoWing

Q&A, Part Three

Q&A #3

Assorted discussion sounded among those gathered as Quiver Quill clapped his hooves to bring everyone to attention. “Okay everyone, here we go again!”

Rarity sighed contentedly. “It feels as though it has been forever since we’ve had one of these sessions.”

“Probably gonna be a while before the next one, too.” Applejack shook her head. “Shame, that.”

“Well, hopefully we’ll have plenty of questions come the next round.” Quiver shuffled some cards in his hooves, then began. “Okay, first we have a series of questions from one Snowy Helmet. First, to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as well as Princess Cadance and Princess Twilight if they also want to chip in. ‘If I may ask, are you currently making any plans to expand Equestria’s history programme? Don’t get me wrong, I understand you may have had bigger concerns when the nation was just starting, and that Princess Celestia ruled alone for the better part of a millennium and actually had to do most of the work herself… but if I may say so, now that there are more princesses and other organs of government, I think expanding the history curriculum might be a good idea’.” He looked up from the cards and added, “Gotta agree.”

“Indeed, and recent events have shown that education reform should be a priority.” Celestia frowned. “Sadly, even with Chancellor Neighsay in agreement regarding the need for such reforms and exactly how those reforms should take place, implementing them will take more time than I would like.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Between the casual arrogance of the academic world and the bloated state of bureaucracy at the federal level, this is not a surprise.”

Cadance offered a reassuring smile. “Well, I can’t speak for the whole of Equestria’s government, but the Crystal Empire’s local educational system has already been seeing some reforms. Hopefully, the new curriculum will be a model for the rest of the country to follow.”

“One can hope.” Quiver moved to the next card. “Next, to the Princesses and…” He laughed and turned to a flame-maned pegasus. “Hey Runnie, this one’s addressed to us!” He then turned back to his card and continued, “‘Do the prisoners in Tartarus stop aging because of some magic inherent to the place, or are the older prisoners like Tirek simply still alive because they have very long lifespans? Mind you, in either case, I trust all of you not to send any prisoner to Tartarus without a very good reason, for lack of a better term… but I confess I couldn’t help but wonder’.”

Sunrunner smiled. “Well, it’s nice to be thought of, but I’m not the one to ask about how Tartarus works.”

“Fortunately, I can answer that question.” Celestia smiled and explained, “Those incarcerated in Tartarus do age, but those imprisoned there are the recipients of rejuvenating magic meant to help sustain them. That said, very few sapient beings are locked away within Tartarus, with Tirek being the most prominent example.”

“And in Tirek’s case, centaurs are naturally immortal. How merciful being locked away for all eternity would be is something we could debate endlessly.” Quiver moved to the next card and continued, “In any case, that’s a topic for elsewhere. Finally, a question to Sir Quill and Commander Sunrunner.”

“Well!” Heads turned to the two doppelgangers, the stallion distinguished from his counterpart by his formal attire and the mare by her armor. “And here I thought that we’d been forgotten about.”

Aria Blaze rolled her eyes. “Given how long it’s taking to get to our stuff, you might as well have been.”

“At least your story has gotten previews released!” Chrysalis snarled in the Sirens’ direction, which prompted Sonata Dusk to stick her tongue out at her before she turned to the two doppelgangers. “And the less said about your world and its pathetic version of me, the better!”

Quiver cleared his throat, and continued. “As I was saying, ‘If I may ask, how well do you get along with your families? I know your, shall we say, main counterparts in the Quiververse have had some bad luck in that field, particularly Quiver. I hope this is different for the better regarding the two of you. Though if it’s not, you have my sympathies, like your main counterparts do.”

Commander Sunrunner nodded. “Well, we can put Snowy Helmet’s concerns to rest. Suffice it to say, I had a much better relationship with my world’s Sunset Shimmer than my counterpart in the so-called main course of events did. For want of a nail, I guess.”

Sir Quill gave a half-smile. “As for me, well, I’m afraid my familial situation is only slightly different from that of my counterpart.” The smile faded as he admitted to Quiver, “My world’s version of Regal isn’t dead, for one thing, though I’m afraid he’s about as functional as yours was. Therapy and assistance from higher up has helped, however, though not by much. Regal’s all sorts of stubborn. My father’s much less angry than yours is, but he’s still less than happy with his lot in life.”

Quiver managed a half-smile of his own. “In spite of a nail, I suppose.” He went on to another card. “Next we have questions for Final Legend Zero. First, a question for the alicorns. ‘Consider the following hypothetical situation: you discover some means of making any pony an alicorn, immortal, or both. IT doesn’t involve anything morally objectionable, has no significant costs or negative side effects, and can be used an infinite number of times. Do you make use of it? If yes, do you give it to a select few or make it publicly available? If the former, how do you determine who to provide it to? If the latter, do you look for a way to adapt it to work for other non-pony sapient races? Would your answer differ based on whether it provides ascension, immortality, or both?’”

“I would think the answer to that question is obvious.” Luna sat up and declared, “Were we to discover a method that allows for ascension to alicorn status, immortality, or a combination of the two, which does not violate morality or ethics, brings no suffering upon anypony and can be used indefinitely, we would most certainly use it. There would no doubt be consequences for society at large, but the positives would exceed the negatives. And I would greatly question the sanity of anyone who would deny such a procedure.”

“And we most certainly would find the means to adapt it for other non-pony sapient races, though I would hope that doing so would be easier for some races than others.” Celestia smiled as she reasoned, “If such a method worked for ponies, it would likely also work with races that are close enough relatives to ponies to allow for interbreeding.”

“No objection here, though I suspect that there are those who would impede that for a number of reasons.” Quiver went on to the next card as he scowled, “Such is the world we live in. Someone always has to have power over someone else, even if imaginary.”

Adagio Dazzle smirked. “Well, you know what they say about there being two kinds of people in the world.”

“Yeah, but change is the only constant.” The stallion cleared his throat again and continued, “Anyway, a question specifically for Celestia. ‘Are you responsible for Nightmare Moon escaping from her prison?’”

“No.” The elder alicorn’s tone was very firm as she elaborated, “The bonds which imprisoned Nightmare Moon were not permanent in the first place, and beyond my ability to strengthen once imposed.”

Luna nodded. “Indeed, Nightmare Moon broke free from her own shackles once they were weakened enough to allow it.”

Quiver nodded. “There’s a postscript here. ‘If, in the likely event that Quiververse Celestia didn’t hold the keys to Nightmare Moon’s prison, then I have a message for her after her answer: “I suspected that was the case. However, at least one version of you was responsible in their respective timeline, so I had to make sure.”’”

The Royal Sisters stared agape, with the elder barely managing to respond. “What.”

Chrysalis cackled. “Oh dear, a version of perfect Princess Celestia who would willingly unleash utter devastation upon their population! How absolutely wicked!” She grinned. “I wonder what the reason was?”

“Whatever the reason was, it was stupid and dumb and outside of the context of this discussion.” Quiver went to his last card. “Finally, one more question for Celestia. ‘Why did you leave the Elements behind in the Everfree Forest after your battle with Nightmare Moon instead of bringing them to Canterlot?’”

Celestia recovered herself enough to form a coherent answer. “There are several reasons why the Elements were left behind in mine and Luna’s castle. The first is that we had already been keeping them in the castle since we’d retrieved them from the Tree of Harmony, and they had been safe enough there when active. And I would think that a set of six stone spheres would be a much less appealing target for potential thieves than a set of six gemstones. The second was that the very act of using the Elements and banishing Luna had drained me of much of my strength, as well as rendered them inert. It was easier to move them back to their respective pedestals than it was to carry them all the way to Canterlot. Third, the Everfree Forest is hostile territory in its own right, and between that and other measures I took following those events, I felt that they were adequately protected until such time as new, more worthy bearers could come.” She sighed. “I suspect that most versions of me would have similar explanations. In my case, I was also firmly encouraged to take that course of action by Star Swirl.”

Quiver raised an eyebrow. “Well doesn’t that have implications.” He set the cards aside. “Anyway, that’s it for now. Thank you, devoted followers. Hope to see you all again soon.”

Author's Note:

And here we are, another Q&A segment. I hope that I've answered these questions in a satisfactory manner.

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

Good to see this again. I don't have a lot to say, just that it was nice to see the characters assembled here again, and to see the questions and answers given.

[EchoWing]

11750366
Thanks. It's gonna be a long stretch before I do one of these again, unfortunately. Hopefully, however, it won't be too long.

[Snowy Helmet]

To Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight, Princess Cadence, Quiver Quill, Sunrunner, Sir Quill and Commander Sunrunner, thank you all very much for answering my questions. :) I confess to being sad that Sir Quill also doesn't have the best of relationships with his family, but as Quiver Quill said, in spite of a nail. And while I admit to being a bit rattled that centaurs are naturally immortal and Tirek is set to staying locked away for eternity as far as his prison sentence is concerned, Quiver is right that it is a topic for elsewhere.

Also, to Sir Quill and Commander Sunrunner, I promise I did not mean any offense when I called your counterparts the "main counterparts". I only meant so in that they're the Quiver and Sunrunner whose stories we primarily follow. You may be different, but you're both equally great in your own right.

Again, thank you all very much.

|||||||

And dropping out of character to talk to you directly, thank you Echo for writing and sharing this Q&A. I very much enjoyed reading it! :)

[EchoWing]

11751051
I'm glad that you were satisfied with the answers.

[Speckle]

Oh, darn! I missed out Better luck (and timing) next time, I suppose.

Good to see you posting, though

[EchoWing]

11751533
Yeah, though the next post is still a long ways off. Believe me, I want to get back to active work on my stuff, but alas, circumstances don't allow it.

[Speckle]

11751587
Don't give up! You'll get your chance

[EchoWing]

11751646
I know that I will. I just wish that it was coming sooner rather than later.

[Speckle]

11751761
I hear ya there "hugs"

[Eurvos Morgenbrise]

I'm wondering if Final Legend Zero was referring to some version of canon, since the only version I can think of is based on something Lauren said and even then, I personally can see that as being more "Celes knew the Elements would awaken, had already set Twilight on the path, and all that was left was to put Nightmare Moon in the way so that Twilight could take care of it, so she released Nightmare Moon and waited in Canterlot, probs not expecting Nightmare Moon to come after her first and seal her in the Sun"

[EchoWing]

11801919
I suspect so. And I suspect that his objection to such a course of action was that doing so essentially risked the lives of all of Equestria's citizens on the chance that Twilight would be successful. Nightmare Moon being freed through circumstances outside of Celestia's control? One could argue that she's simply doing the best she can with what she has available. Celestia deliberately freeing Nightmare Moon, however, makes her at least partly culpable for any damage that Nightmare Moon causes, which is not only immoral and unethical, but also horribly irresponsible.

Tell me, would you follow a leader who deliberately freed a monstrous being? One who would be more than happy to imprison or kill said leader, and likely anyone who opposed her? All on the off-chance that their protege, guided by legends and vague, incomplete information, can save said monstrous being from themselves and succeed where you failed? We saw several examples in canon where the Elements either never came together or failed to defeat a given foe, and God knows how many more there have been.

Give me the choice between believing that Celestia knew she couldn't stop Nightmare Moon from being freed, or one where she deliberately freed Nightmare Moon, and I think I prefer the former.

[Eurvos Morgenbrise]

11802286
Might have been one of those "flashes of insight" Celes supposedly has from time to time.
She might not have known what exactly would happen, only that it was the correct move.
And it was, seeing as Luna was successfully cured and the Elements were back in play.

[EchoWing]

11802481
And that's something else he's raised issue with - where are those "flashes of insight" coming from? How often do they come, and how long has Celestia been getting them? It's suspect, and a little worrisome.

[Eurvos Morgenbrise]

11802730
I'd wager it's one of those "intentional mysteries" that Lauren chose not to have an answer for.