Dear Princess Celestia (Final Report)
Dear Princess Celestia,
This is definitely going to be the weirdest friendship report you’ve ever read.
Really, it’s kind of hard to put into words. Mostly because you probably don’t know who I am. But I know you, and your sister, and Twilight Sparkle, Spike, all the rest of their friends
That was starting to get really creepy, sorry. Let me start over.
Long story short, I’m from another world. One that’s lucky enough to get a have a glimpse of Equestria and how amazing and beautiful it is. For a long time I thought to myself that there would be nothing better than having the chance to be a part of your world.
Well, I got that chance and I was right. For a long time it was just as wonderful as I hoped.
Then I went and messed it all up.
I thought it was okay to just force myself into a story that I wished I could’ve been a part of without thinking about the consequences. Sometimes just to watch it play out. Other times because I thought I knew better than ponies that I had seen overcome the challenges they faced without me. I told myself that I loved Equestria and the ponies in it and that I wasn’t doing any lasting harm. I mean, you used your prophecies to affect Equestria all the time so what was the difference?
But I was wrong. You always used your prophecies to help push Twilight and her friends into being the ponies you believed they could be. I’d like to think I started that way myself, but the truth is it didn’t take very long before I was doing it just to make myself feel good. I was so caught up in living my fantasy I started changing things more than I should have, and part of me knew how wrong that was. If I hadn’t been found out I probably would have done some terrible damage to Equestria’s future.
That’s why I want to thank you, your sister, and Twilight and the others for giving me a chance to fix my mistake.
I sort of wish I could ask Luna how she came up with the idea of linking the time travel spell to the Tree of Harmony. I guess she never really did now, but it would be kind of appropriate if she’d learned about it from the same place I had. Undo everything with the same thing that caused it.
I’m home now (I guess technically I never left?) and everything's the way it should be again. That’s what’s important, but I still feel like I need to write this because
Well, I guess because the adventure doesn’t really feel over unless somebody does!
I don’t think I was wrong for wanting to see Equestria with my own eyes. I just never thought about how big the difference between helping someone and just giving them all the answers really was. You never did that with Twilight or her friends, and that was the major difference between us. Coming to their own answers and discovering themselves as they reached their goals was what made them strong, not the answers or goals themselves. No matter how strange, cringe-worthy, or outright painful the path might have looked, it’s what turned you all into the ponies (and dragon!) that I love.
So yeah, that’s all. The Tree is looking kind of impatient (don’t ask how that can happen, I don’t even really know!) so I’d better wrap this up. Just remember no matter how tough things get in Equestria that you’ve got me, and heck a whole world full of people cheering you all on!
Wishing you the best and thanking you for all the great times,
Gary Stu
Celestia read the letter over once more before rolling it back up again. Somehow it always managed to both comfort and confuse her.
She had no idea where it had come from. Part of her remembered it always being on her nightstand waiting for her but somehow it felt far more recent than that. Perhaps because she simply had never opened it before hearing about the big Apple Family Reunion down in Ponyville (an event she never failed to keep tabs on), and yet the words had felt familiar even then.
As little sense as that made, though, Celestia still smiled as she looked back at the hallway behind her. Countless stained glass windows depicting the great accomplishments of her beloved student and her friends. Purifying Luna, defeating Discord, saving the Crystal Empire…
Looking down at the dark cover of Star Swirl the Bearded’s book, she couldn’t help but smile a bit wider. Especially at the thought of so many cheering her and, far more importantly, her little ponies on. Setting the book and the mysterious letter aside for the moment, she took up a quill and parchment and began to write.
“Dear Twilight Sparkle,
The spell contained on the last page of this book is Star Swirl the Bearded's secret unfinished masterpiece...”
And so the story goes
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Hm, I thought this would happen and I'm disappointed by this ending. Instead of working through everything it all resulted in using time travel as the Deus ex Machina solution to undo everything that ever happened and sending Gary back to Earth like he was never there in the first place.
But that's just me. Don't take it personal, I don't like time travel as the solution to all problems in general. It always gives me the impression of "Oh, you messed up majorly in life" or "Damn, the enemy won and conquered all." Well, whatever, just use time travel, it is the fastest and easiest solution and like the most common option in the world.
I don't know, time travel always feels like the cheap and easy way out of a diffcitult situation.
You know what? This story was pretty good. Pretty darn good, even. I liked it. I am happy.
8801565
That's fair and I expected this sort of response. In most cases time-travel does feel like a cop-out and I'll admit I feel like I'm having my cake and eating it too.
What can I say though? I'm just a guy that likes happy endings.
Even though I expected something like this, it feels like a cop-out. I expected it, and I'm still disappointed.
Good work Bed Head. This was a pretty fun story to read through.
Not bad. I do agree that the time travel solution was a bit of a cop-out, but the way I see it, Gary had already screwed everything up so royally that with the characterization you gave him (based on this final letter), he would have wanted everything to go the way it should have, and the only way to do that would have been to erase the events via time travel. Hell, Starlight tried it as a villain, so I think the 'hero' should be able to at least get a mulligan.
So he got back to his original home and time was completely reversed like he was never there and no one remembers him?
8801641
Eeyup
Fine story, I really liked it all but the ending. Never liked the "it was all just a dream" trope. At least it wasn't after hundreds of hours spent in three story arcs, but it sure feels the same.
Hm.
Inspiring and thought-provoking.
+1
8801650
Three story arcs? Sonic '06 had four storylines.
Sonic
Shadow
Silver
Post Sonic Death in a plan to revive him
I should know, I own a copy of it.
Yep, this is what was about what I was expecting. If this story wasn't already complete, I would have lost all interest at this point. As it is, I'm tempted to remove my upvote. I'm not even disappointed with using timetravel to fix everything, I'm annoyed by the entire message of the story, undoing a timeline that had nothing wrong with it. Had this been my story, just to drive the point home, I would have made it so that instead of everything go back to canon, every possible thing of chance that could have gone wrong in canon did go wrong instead of right.
Oh wow, I didn't know this was still going...
I'm glad this went away from just another Stu-bash. There's already plenty of those. I love how we see a Stu that, while still causing harm, is also relatable and sympathetic. It made this one of the most unique Gary Stu in Equestria fics I've ever read.
8801721
No offense, but that sounds unbelievably petty. Like... to an insane degree.
Removing an upvote, while valid, the reasoning is flawed. "I'm upset it ended happily", despite not being upset by the use of Deus Ex? You'll pardon me, but you seemed to misread the tags. This isn't a tragedy, it's a comedy.
As for making everything go wrong, why? It'd be a bad ending that is the author saying, "I don't care for what might happen, I am forcing it to go wrong." I truly don't understand this mindset. It sounds like you wanted the ponies to be punished for turning against Gary, for some reason.
Oh well, no point arguing. I'll just point out you sound incredibly petty in this comment.
Just to throw my two cents into this little debate:
Gary was totally in the wrong, for one big reason. You can go on about all the character growth, robbing the actual characters of the chance to develop, and all that, but there's one factor of greater importance: He knew what was going to happen. He knew exactly what would happen, and he knew that Equestria would be perfectly fine if he didn't interfere. He knew that the others would deal with it on their own, but he took that, so that they would throw praise onto him. He didn't save anybody that wouldn't have been fine otherwise. Would the citizens of Equestria care who saved them? Probably not. But he had no reason to do what he did other than out of greed.
To start off I like this story and how it sort of makes sense. But I'm a huge nerd and I did a presentation on time travel along with paradoxes back in the seventh grade. If he went back in time and changed things then it creates a paradox.
The multiverse dislikes paradoxes immensely and has to fix them by erasing the timeline from existence. Correct me if I'm wrong but that would mean that both the one with and without Gary would be erased. So that's where I'm standing.
a good if sad ending in the end.
8802201
In a way i guess, what i like to think is that “timelines” cannot be changed or erased as their past is set, you can only travel between different timelines which followed a different current.
Time flows like a powerful river you cannot go against the flow but you can exit it and find a different river,
For example when Twilight fought Starlight in season 5 finale they weren't moving throughout time back and fourth just jumping to different timeline, so Twilight didn’t need to chase and defeat Starlight, she could’ve just left her possibly lost in the multiverse.
One proof of this is when Starlight enters the portal, Twilight and her entire reality should’ve been erased in an instant as their past was already changed, of course in that case we end up with a paradox of Twilight never defeating Starlight in the first place and her going back in time and such.
All those timelines where Eqeustria was conquered/destroyed always existed and always will exist, details may be different as to why but they are.
Also this ending is a cop out, for shame author, for shame.
8801574
Congratulations. You've written my favorite human-in-equestria story.
8802047
You're misunderstanding the point. This isn't a happy ending as far as I'm concerned. I was against the ideas of the ponies ganging up on him and blaming him for changing things from the beginning.
Why would I want everything to go wrong than? Because that was the whole reason I was against them ganging up on him. As far as I was concerned, there was no guarantee it would stick to canon in Gary's absence. The fact that he ended up there at all means its a split from the mainline. Thus, the lessons to be learned in my idea of making everything go wrong are simple: First, don't assume that just because something is suppose to happen that it will. Second, you don't rage over how an already good thing could have turned out better. Third and final: Don't gang up on a guy that has saved your COUNTRY and WORLD time and again, especially not when what you're upset about is that YOU lost glory by not being the one to defeat the villain of the week.
To sum it up, as far as I'm concerned, Gary did nothing wrong so YES, I do think the ponies deserve some punishment for turning on Gary. And I never said it'd end on that note- the ending I'd make would have things returning to either pre-time-rewrite attempt with them burying the hatchet with Gary, or something similar.
Oh, and for the record, I didn't take way my upvote as tempting as it STILL is. And it wouldn't be because its NOT tragedy,(because what it already has is a minor-tragedy as far as I'm concerned), it'd because these last few chapters have been killing much of my original interest in this story, with this being the kicker.
From where I sit, the only ones petty are the ponies.
8802590
Using Gary's presence as a justification for Gary's presence is a bit oxymoronic. We don't know if there was a hidden human, and there might be one in every episode, but they choose not to interfere and stick to hidden areas that we don't see. You're arguing a hypothetical you can't prove and, frankly, is circular in its logic.
Quite the assumption. Why not do such a thing? If you think you got trapped in a fantasy world, great, you know how it'll play out. Or are you assuming that Equestria is an actual place in a different galaxy with different universal laws of physics? You'll pardon me, but I'll be using Occam's Razor and go with the thought process that leads to the least number of assumptions.
Good point, but where is the evidence to back it up? From what we've scene, he made everyone else's life worse. Spike has even more self confidence issues, Twilight isn't an alicorn, lessons weren't learned, etc.. If you're claiming they turned out better, why are their lives worse? Please, provide some evidence.
I don't hate Gary for the good he's done, I hate him for the harm. Why would being a "hero" put him above reproach, especially when that heroism is basically stolen?
Besides make everyone else's life worse?
shrug that's fair enough. I wouldn't blame you for it. However, in the original comment, it sounded much different than this. Much more... petty? Whiney? I don't know the precise word, it simply sounded like pointless complaining.
8803051
Because of the goddamn Multiverse and Butterfly effect, that's why. I said it before and I will say it as many times needed: I would NEVER assume that the fictional world I went into is the canon one because, after proving one exists, there is no reason for all the non-canon versions of that world to not be real as well.
And I say no, nay to all your points about him making their lives worse. He didn't. Their lives have only gotten better since the first episode. I do NOT count the parallel time because, guess what? There is ALWAYS a timeline where things turned out better for you and there is ALWAYS ones that turn out worse. At the end of the day, the world was saved and Gary, for all he "stole" is bunking with Twilight and hasn't done much to profit from his knowledge in one way or another.
The fact that he was brought to the world that would be the first thing that screamed to me that the timeline was different and, perhaps, he was needed in THIS version of things because things wouldn't have worked out as in canon by the laws of chance.
You say my thinking is circular but when you're talking about timelines and dimensions, my thinking is what I would consider common sense and basic survival planning.
And what you probably consider straight forward, puts someone like Gary in a loop of no escape. Do nothing knowing that anything that does go wrong is your fault or do something knowing you changed things that MIGHT have been fine without you.
8803140
I would ask you to elaborate on your point here, but I've asked it before and you haven't provided it.
So, just for clarification. If you ended up in a fantasy world based on a set of books or a show, you would assume it was an actual, real place in the universe that disobeys our laws of physics rather than the interpretation that you were sucked into a fantasy on railroads? Am I correct in this regard?
Actually, you're wrong in this regard. Gary has gone out of his way to make sure they didn't make X mistake and learn Y lesson. He inhibited their learning processes, but that's not all. He knew everything was going the proper way during the Crystal Empire, but when Spike turned to him, he didn't try to correct it or go with them. Instead, he took his chance and let Spike's self-confidence plummet.
He did make their lives worse. You're belief of multiple timelines doesn't disregard his conscious efforts to make them worse people.
Uh... did we read the same story? Gary was a celebrated hero with many friends and the high status that saving an empire gives. He profited heavily from his knowledge. I'm not even sure why you're arguing this point, as it seems like a weakest link. If I were a lesser man, I'd go after this singular point in an attempt to strawman you. I hope you show me the same courtesy.
I have to arguments here I can use, so why not both?
1)
How so? There could very easily be humans in the canon world (can we call it the Alpha world?). We just don't see them as they don't get involved. This is a pretty big assumption, and, while the weaker argument, holds the same water as your argument.
2)
Gary didn't even do basic fact checking when he arrived. He didn't look to see if they were in any real danger at the time, he didn't watch them from afar. Saying he had to assume that isn't true, it's begging the question. He assumed it was different by his presence (pretty narcissistic) and acted accordingly. He could have very easily waited and watched. If he got caught watching, I'd feel more sympathetic to him, but he didn't.
He assumed something and ran with it when he had no reason to.
I refer to argument #2 from above. It's a big assumption he didn't have to make and risked everything.
Good sir, tone down that ego. Common Sense and Basic Survival Planning? You're talking about an argument that is about timelines and dimension hopping, something that is regulated solely to theoretical and fantasy. You have to be pretty assured of yourself if you think yours is the most common sense and basic idea out there.
With that out of the way, I'll target the only targetable point. Basic Survival Planning. No. It's not. Getting involved with one side isn't basic survival planning. Basic survival planning would be allow the heroes to do their thing and go to the local government office to request immigration paperwork, if that is required. Putting oneself in more danger isn't survival planning, it's the opposite.
See, you'll likely argue the point, "He wouldn't want the world to be destroyed!" but, we've seen in the Nightmare Moon Timeline it isn't. He could easily become a soothsayer for her or live out his life in ease with the rest of the ponies.
And if you argue the point, "He would know he'd have to step in to stop NMM", I ask you why he would paradoxically think "I know what is going to happen" and "things won't occur as I know them." It seems like a "have cake and eat it" logic to me.
Hey, guessing mindsets is my thing! As for loop of no escape? That's not real life, which is your assumption. If he was under Luna's reign, he would likely live a normal life under the moon. Sombra? He has hands and can give lots of scientific advancements. Same with the Changelings. You're creating a stark "He helps or he is the literal worst", but that isn't true. There are infinite number of options if you choose to believe it's a free timeline.
Of course, if you go with my interpretation and it's a set destiny, then things will happen as they will and his influence has no impact on success or failure.
8803274
Oi, we are never going to agree on this. Also, I don't have an ego, nor do I see why simply being assured of yourself means you have an ego. We're talking about and judging the idea of a human in this situation. Writing it off as fantasy and fiction as a reason to not look at it seriously is a weak attempt at being dismissive.
But if you need an explanation, here: Butterfly Effect means changing one thing in the timeline can have radical consequences- read/watch the Sound of Thunder for example- and the Multiverse Theory is that for every possible thing that could happen, there is a universe where that happened. Based upon that while working on timetraveling, YES, I think its common sense to NOT assume that upon being a world you know SHOULD be fictional that you shouldn't be so sure that it is the exact same version you knew.
No, I would assume I was in a completely different universe that entirely works under its own laws. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't assume this.
Honestly, I will never understand the mindset of you and the rest that say that what(not WHY) Gary did was a bad thing. We are talking from completely incompatible points of view. I do NOT believe in set destiny, fate, or ANY of that. Not even in universes where those things exist do I believe that they are ironclad or immutable, but merely forces that can be overcome.
I frankly just want to be done with this disappointment of an ending now. So good night to you good sir and good night to this fic.
8803309
shrug arguing with people on the internet never changes minds. Rather it's about seeing someone's mindset through the stage that is argument.
It was the words you used. That it was "common sense" and "basic survival planning", it implies your mindset is 100% common and accepted. I didn't mean it to be rude, rather poking fun at your choice of words. I should have phrased it better to be more joke-esque. My apologies.
Different basis of thought, then. Completely different mindsets and bases.
Aaaah! Okay, thanks for the clarification. Yes, that is the reason why I phrased it as such, because that's what I truly thought you were arguing. This is far more reasonable.
Yup. Agree to disagree?
8803329
(shrugs) I honestly do think it should be common sense. Think about it like this: You are in another world that works completely different from the reality you know AND it seems to be a fictional world you know as reality. By that point, you should realize two important things. The first is that there ARE other universes(this makes more sense for MLP, but in other fictional worlds, the laws are more stretched than defied) and that fictional worlds seem to be real. If those two statements are two, combined with you appearing in the canon timeline which doesn't happen in canon, leads to the possibility that this universe might not be exactly the same as the one you know. That's my reasoning.
Ironically, my one idea actually fitted you idea of fixed destiny: assuming that destiny is at least vague, it would probably mean that what it mainly wanted was Equestria to survive and its villains beaten. My idea from the very first post was that Gary might be there because the universes needed someone to interfere because this is one step left of canon- main events still happen but go wrong on their own, and thus need outside influence.
But yeah, agree to disagree. And I'm sorry if I come off as an ass. Its more I'm good at putting my self in a situation and knowing where my paranoia would lead my mind. Assume the worst, hope for the best as the saying goes.
PS Sincere word of advice? Jokes are hard to do over the internet. Try adding an XP after them. Lol works too but too often makes them think you're laughing at them. XP often works to convey a lack of complete seriousness, in my experience at least.
Even in the finale drama ensues.
Anyway, I enjoyed the story, and think the ending was an interesting way to resolve everything.
Personally, I think writing him out of continuity is an odd ending. Especially given your reasoning that "At the same time I couldn't simply leave him in Equestria or else any lesson he'd learned from this would lack impact".
Like, this ending surgically removes all impact he had on the story. There physically cannot be impact. In a few months, he'll probably convince himself this was all a dream, so the lesson he learns as a result of this adventure is invalidated. Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't understand how "literally none of it happened and nobody has to learn any new lesson" is a more impactful ending.
I'll definitely agree that this is the happiest ending, since every other ending still leaves the ponies with a laundry list of awesome moments that Gary stole from them, but I see no way that this can be defended as the ending that leaves the most impact.
Final thoughts: I liked the story alright, though I've never been so hesitant to scroll down to the comments section and I felt that most of the characters were handled wrong. A decent idea with solid execution, and a never-ending debate about the morality of time travel. Have fun with the Debate Club.
I'm disappointed. I agree this was the cleanest solution, but I still don't like it because this story implies that Gary doesn't have the right to exist in the timeline. Yes, the timeline is preserved 100% of the time now, but the solution is basically suicide. But then again, I don't have an alternate solution for the timeline. His mere presence in the timeline alters it. Yeah, he could just live in the everfree, but that might even change things. The only solution I could think of is him having been a "side-character" the whole time. Then again, maybe I'm supposed to be left disappointed and unfulfilled. Anyway, made me think, so it's a good story in that sense.
I'm not totally happy with the ending, but I see why you had to take that route, Author. Thanks for this final update.
Expected a solution like this, and I still like this story despite of it.
You know, despite this being deus ex machina, it does fit. Gary Stu himself was one to begin with, and the story never really was (in my opinion) about the solution, but about the reaction.
YMMV is in full force here, but I really liked how you, the author, managed the characters and the responses. It felt mostly natural, if a bit hamfisted sometimes, and one can picture the canon characters acting the part.
Overal, a fitting last part. Be proud of it and have a good day.
In many ways, we are all Gary Stu. The details might change, and there would undoubtedly be some exceptions, but I think that, by and large, all of us would interfere in some way or another.
Like Gary, it would be hard to avoid butting in, in some way, even if it was only the observer effect.
Even if one were to make the promise not to interfere, many would probably find it hard to resist doing so, even if we avoided interfering with big events. Caring for and liking people/characters would make it hard to stand by and watch them suffer, even if we knew it would eventually work out anyway, not when we knew we could 'fix' it with just a few words. And if you started there, where does the interference stop?
It could easily spiral out of control from there.
And telling the truth from the start, even if you were believed (and in some ways, especially if you were believed), it could all fall apart. Foreknowledge of how things will come to pass will change behaviours, even if unintentionally. It might work out, it might not. It would still have the secondary effect of robbing people of their agency and using the opportunities to grow further.
I think Rarity put it best, she was the most on the mark. Gary Stu just wanted to feel involved, and he caused damage, however unintentionally, and when he realized how much harm he was doing he was in so deep he felt he couldn't dig himself out. He wanted attention, to be appreciated, and he basically peeked at the test anwers and set himself up as the guy who always knew the answers, thinking it wouldn't affect anyone else's test scores too much, not really considering him getting the highest score all the time without any apparent effort might make them stop putting in as much effort themselves.
Basically, he was selfish, and deserved a reckoning, but he was selfish in a way that's all too understandable.
After reading this, I actually have to say I would not like to go to Equestria. Not because it is not a wonderful place, but because the struggle illustrated is one I feel every fan could fall into. Perhaps if I was to be placed after all is said and done, with no idea of what was to come. That is to say, if the seasons had ended and I had moved on. Without any foreknowledge, only then could I exist in such a place without an unreasonable amount of fear for the characters' agencies and fate as a whole.
Even then, my mere presence could cause the grooves of destiny to spiral off course into a time never planned for not predicted.
Apologies for getting so 'poetic' here, I am simply in the mood as it were.
If you ask me Garry was a bit to nice to them. sigh Just don't ask. Many things that Celestia did was downright insane, she manipulated Twilight in the name of Elements of harmony, and she probably sent that stupid scroll just so she could make her into an alicorn. I cannot imagine people not been angry at Celestia.
There is another thing, Garry saved them from making embarrassing mistakes that they never needed to make in the first place. As far as the events were ended up the same then why does it matter to cry about some robbed potential that honestly none of them should really care?
Yes, Gary endangered Rarity and made Rainbow do the hero thing and save her. He also could have interfered, and then he would be just as evil by not doing what they are supposed to do.
Yes, he did save Crystal Empire instead of Spike but don't any of them actually thinks he made them a favor by not endangering Spike on the fool's errand of saving Crystal Empire from the psychopath. (That victory was a pure miracle by itself.) Instead, they are worried about how he screwed up Spikes chance at being a hero. Are you kidding me?
9735825
Every action has consequences, and every action taken piles up into a greater whole. Take Spike, for example. Spike's adventure in the Crystal Empire was a pivotal moment to his character, it was the moment he stepped out of the shadow of being just Twilight's assistant and into the role of a hero in his own right. With that came a new strength of character he lacked before, and several consequences that came with it. It was because Spike saved the Crystal Empire that he would return there regularly, which not only allowed him to save the stadium when the near-accident happened during the Equestria games, but it also placed him in the position to help Thorax, which itself led to the redemption of the changelings.
And the girls themselves were no less influenced. The girls learned a lot of lessons through those mistakes they made, and by learning those lessons they grew in personal strength. As the story pointed out, Applejack went from headstrong but sure to simply kowtowing to another, while Rainbow Dash was actually getting less confident in her own abilities because she relies on Gary so much. Not to mention that those lessons denied meant that Twilight wasn't ready to become an alicorn yet, since she would not be able to finish the spell if she were to simply turn to Gary for help without fully understanding the nature of friendship and find a way to solve the problem together.
Now imagine what would happen to Equestria without Twilight as a Princess. Tirek attacks, no alicorn Twilight to stop him, nor a crystal chest to serve as a powerup to beat him. No crystal chest, no castle. No castle, no cutie map. No cutie map, no stopping Starlight. No Starlight, no teamup with Trixie, Thorax (who'd himself be gone) and Discord to stop Chrysalis.
We've seen in the Cutie Re-Mark how dangerous messing with pivotal moments in the Equestrian timeline is. What Gary was doing was more than just stealing glory, he was preventing all the growth the girls needed to face their challenges and save Equestria. That's why the Guard found Gary digging at the base of the Tree of Harmony: he wanted to dig up the crystal chest in an attempt to put things back the way they were, regardless of how much they had spiralled away.
Okay, first off. What fucking idiot calls himself Gary Stu? That's a character type, not an actual name. Even if Gary is a reasonable name for a guy.
That, on top of everything else wrong with this story (which is literally everything about it), is why I can't like it. Not even a little.
I read it all at least. So there's that.
Well, by the end the story has had my attention.
And it's ended magically!
Whatever they may say!..
I guess, I need to place this for public viewing:
Gary Stu has saved no one in this story.
!
He's been a tumour that needed removal.
And my final verdict -- good riddance
And just because the story hasn't left me disappointed, I will upvote it.
9985704
Don’t forget, if Spike never saved the Empire, he most likely wouldn’t have the confidence to save Twilight and her friends from the Maniac
no offense good story but I call bullshit Agency that's the core of this issue he knew the future so what he interfered so what he changed things just by being there I know that emotion cares little for logic but the MC had every right to act as a free person his intent while somewhat greedy is no different from literally any other character in MLP being selfish is being a living being his action weren't perfect but they should have been able to tell he was fighting himself on all things that alone should have shown that his intent was clean if not spotless like them long story short the ponys and dragon are hypocritical jerks who acted like they had authority over his existence because he knew the future how does that make sense and being afraid of changing the future that's the time of stuff I'd expect out of a harry potter character who understand jack about magic, not a 1000-year-old ruler nor magic-wielding ponies who mess with stuff they should not all the time ... sorry I just feel this story failed to "care" for the character and was just a attempt at degradeing the MC it's not the intent but it's what I got.