Dear Spike
Dear Princess Celesita
Dear Princess Luna
Somepony please help
I wish Id never found those stupid disks I’m sorry I touched them please just make this whole mess stop I dont know what to do cuz twilight and the others are yelling for me through the door but i just can’t talk to anypony because everythings just messed up so bad and its all my fault!
now i have to clean all this ink up
Please help
Spike
My dear little dragon,
Just take a moment and breathe.
Luna has caught me up about what’s happened in Ponyville. Know, Spike, that I’m ready and more than willing to listen to whatever is troubling you. Even if I can only do so through these letters.
So please, tell me what’s wrong.
Your loving Princess/One-time caretaker,
Celestia
I WAS SUPPOSED TO SAVE THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE
I’m sorry about all the ink stains but my paws just won’t stop shaking. I almost can’t believe it but Twilight said she saw it herself in the story disks. That when she got caught in a trap and couldn’t get the Crystal Heart to Cadence I did.
But that isn’t what happened when we went to the Crystal Empire. I thought I’d be more help if I kept the fair going with Rarity and the others so Gary just ran off and became the hero in my place
It’s not even all Gary’s fault. I’m the one that told him to go. And then Twilight said that he suggested asking the rest of us for help while they were searching but she wouldn’t let him because we all thought she was supposed to do it herself. Except Gary knew that wasn’t gonna happen anyway and he never said anything to me about any of this and
I hate this. I hate feeling like this. I just want those stupid disks to go back under Gary’s bed so everypony can go back to being happy again. Gary’s my friend Gary’s supposed to be our friend but now everypony’s all mad at him because of those dumb disks and I still tried to stick up for him. I believed Twilight about all the stuff she saw but I thought Gary must’ve had a good reason.
Until she told me about the Crystal Empire.
I don’t want this. I don’t want to only be angry at Gary because he did something to me. But I can’t help it because he took my chance to be the hero and that’s not fair but it’s not fair to blame him because I could’ve gone instead of him or Twilight could’ve listened to him and it’s not fair to Twilight or any of the others if I hate him now after the way I’ve been trying to defend the guy when they’ve all been mad at him and I don’t want to be a horrible selfish dragon that only cares that he got hurt and
Please help
I don’t know what to do
Spike,
You are by no means a selfish or horrible dragon.
I just finished observing the disks’ version of the Crystal Empire’s return myself. While I’ll admit the outcome of you saving the day surprised me, I was unsurprised by how the events transpired. Placing the safety and feelings of your friends first. Defending what was important even against seemingly impossible odds. Never once worrying for yourself so long as somepony else needed you.
Those traits were not conjured out of nowhere for the sake of a story, my little dragon. You've demonstrated them in defending Mister Stu this long and I’d say he has been fortunate to have you on his side.
That being said you are most certainly not wrong to feel wronged by Gary’s actions. Nor are you a terrible creature for changing your opinion because of them (Though I urge you to remember we've yet to hear Mister Stu's side of the story). An unfortunate truth is that sometimes, even among close friends, it’s difficult to understand another’s feelings until we’ve been put into a similar situation. I can offer only one piece of advice to truly help remedy the situation, though it is guaranteed to work:
Talk with your friends, Spike. Be open and honest with them about how you feel. They will not think any less of you, of that I’m certain.
Wishing you the best,
Princess Celestia
Dear Princess Celestia,
I have to admit this ink looks rather nice on the parchment Twilight brought. Perhaps I should use it more often after all. How fortunate she brought a spare bottle
Dear me I seem to be doing that a lot today. I suppose it’s simply relief taking hold. Whatever was on that letter you sent to Spike did the trick: He finally came out of the back room of my shop. He and Twilight are both “hugging it out” at time of writing and apologizing to one another almost non-stop.
The rest of us elected to give them some privacy while Fluttershy and I were availed of the situation.
So, it is my understanding that Twilight was supposed to be gathering our opinions about this matter regarding Gary Stu. Well, no time like the present. Especially seeing as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack (who finished cleaning up after her family and came by to see what word there was on Gary shortly after Twilight arrived) have rather thoroughly explained the whole thing about the story disks and Gary knowing about our adventures from watching them.
Shocking as it might sound, however, I believe I can understand Mister Stu’s position somewhat.
I, of course, in no way mean to imply that I know what is to be done better than yourself, so perhaps some explanation is needed.
You see, your majesty, I am a fan of a good novel during my free time. While I enjoy a thrilling mystery or adventure story though I have been known to occasionally indulge in bit-store (what others colloquially might refer to as “trashy”) romance stories. And, on the even rarer occasion… pen such stories myself.
Nothing professional of course! Certainly not anything worthy of a Princess reading! Just the odd short story or two submitted to a small magazine created for fans of such works. There are somethings my artistic soul can only express through ink and paper as opposed to cloth and jewels after all.
That being said these stories are something of a guilty pleasure of mine. Often they’re as simple as taking a book I particularly enjoyed and inserting myself (perhaps with some occasional touch-ups) into the story. Usually to resolve an issue in the plot in a way I felt was more favorable to myself the characters I liked.
So, putting that out in the open, you might begin to see where I empathize with Gary Stu over this matter. My novels, his story disks, both of these were fictional stories to us. I can only imagine, were I to find myself magically transported into one of my books, I’d be sorely tempted to act like my avatar in the stories I’ve written and assist the main characters (among other, shall we say, minor indulgences.). From my point of view Gary’s actions are understandable.
By no means, however, do I feel that what he did was right.
While writing one’s own version of a story is one thing, actually living that story and interfering in events is quite another. Assuming that the story disks are accurate then Gary knew (or at least should have strongly suspected) that his influence was unnecessary for any of us to succeed. Yet still he indulged, he inserted himself into our lives, and he took triumphs that should have rightfully been ours and ours alone to claim and spoonfed us answers he saw us come up with!
Were this a story it would be a rather dull one, that’s for certain. An infallible main hero who only succeeds through the writer’s abuse of future knowledge? I know quite a few ponies who have sent letters with feedback on my work that would have quite a bit to say on the matter.
The chief problem with this matter is that, to those of us native to Equestria, it’s not a story. These are our lives that Gary saw fit to play with, whether it was small things like cheering on Rainbow Dash and helping Applejack or larger issues like stealing poor Spike’s moment of glory. Mister Stu has said time and again that the reason he helps out so much is simply because he desires to be a good friend to the rest of us.
Given his actions, I can’t help but feel that being our friend matters far less to him than living out his self-indulgent fantasy of being the one being in Equestria that we rely on more than yourself, Princess.
I expect I shall have quite a few things to say to Gary myself once he has been found.
Respectfully yours,
Rarity
P.S.
Hello
He
(I’m feeling good enough to write now. Good timing since Fluttershy is kinda nervous about adding her two bits herself. — Spike)
Um…
So, about Gary.
I agree with most of what Rarity said, actually. All except for the last part. And the part about what Gary did not being right. Not that I think he was entirely right to let Rarity fall up in Cloudsdale or steal Spike's moment at the Crystal Empire or honestly just tell Rarity that I wasn't comfortable being a model when I asked him to keep that a secret even if it did turn out alright
I’m sorry. What I’m saying is, I don’t know what else I would have expected Gary to do.
Equestria was some kind of story to Gary, right? And he just got magically transported into it? Well we were the first creatures Gary met after arriving. Given that he knew about our world, and us, and everything that was going to happen…
I guess I just don’t think this situation is really fair to poor Gary.
(Apologies, Princess, I need to take over again. Also I might have needed to use that stasis spell that you told me to only use in emergencies in order to get everypony calm enough that Fluttershy could finish speaking. I promise it was only for a few seconds! — Twilight)
Um, right. So Gary.
Really, he knew what was going to happen. It’s not like he or the rest of us could have done anything to change that, right? But that means that he was going to get somepony mad no matter what. I mean, he either had to use what he knew to try and change things, which has already made so many ponies upset, or he had to keep what he knew a secret, which wouldn’t be much better once we found out.
Oh dear, I know I’m upsetting a few of my friends but I actually feel sorry for Gary. There really wasn’t anyway things could end well if we found out he could see the future. Maybe if he’d told us the first time we met but even then I don’t how things would’ve wound up if we even believed him back then. Perhaps he was just trying to hog all the glory for himself…
But I want to think that he really wanted to be our friend. He just made a really, really bad choice about how to do it.
Your faithful citizen,
Fluttershy
P. P. S.
I’m adding this last note in a special ink I developed some time ago. One that shouldn’t be visible until exposed to Spike’s flames.
I know I shouldn’t hide things from my friends like this but since this matter regards information from those disks I felt it was prudent. Since my special assignment is now complete, Princess, I was hoping that you’d have the chance to answer a very, very personal question for me.
Gary stealing Spike’s place at the Crystal Empire and my own role in that since I ignored Gary’s advice to ask for help were only part of the reason I tried to avoid bringing it up to anypony but you and Princess Luna. And since you asked about how much of the disks I’d seen
I have to confess, Princess, I read every word on the disks and boxes as I said. Particularly the titles of each story and those combined with what I saw of you and Princess Luna after our Crystal Empire adventure
Is it true?
Am I supposed to become a Princess?
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! She knows now! Worst thing ever or best thing ever!
We have to see,, and I hate Gary Stu for taking Spike's glory....and love to see theri reactions if they knew Gary stu is a refrence for a super character that wins with out trying and gets all the glory and babes and becomes the king of the universe just by smirking.
Wuh oh! That ending...
Fluttershy has a point Gary Stu was in a bind telling or not telling, interfering or not... he was in a no win situation.
In regards to taking spikes glory I think it was more of a situation in which it being real life there was a very real chance of everyone dying if Sombra got the heart, heck in canon a lot of what happened relied on luck so trying to minimise the risk by doing it himself makes some sense. Plus lets think of it from Gary's perspective of letting it play of canonically,he would have been putting hundreds of ponies at horrible risk in order to give spike a chance I repeat a chance at saving the day,and he has no way of knowing if things will still be as they where in canon because things have already changed from his interference, all it would take is for Twilight to be delayed slightly from say talking to or about him causing them to reach the heart late enough that Sombra gets to it before Candance.
Oh shit, princess bomb has dropped!
Celestia reaction: SH*****T, Gary, it's game over for you!
But seriously, Celestia has a real trouble now, because it may render Starswirl's spell useless.
But what about Discord reformation's episode, it's interesting too...
This must've been difficult to write considering you had to play both ends of the spectrum here with one end being Gary in the wrong for using future knowledge to insert himself into the Mane Six as a friend and Gary in the right for just trying to help in his own way. I mean, could anyone in his situation not do the same thing? Maybe not to the same extent but even just a little?
The part I wonder most is, how much did Gary's prescence alter things without his efforts to change is this less "someone inserting himself" and more "Someone trying to make sure things happen MOSTLY as they should, because when he didnt, bad stuff happened"
I realize I'm probably in the minority here, but...
Gary Stu deserves life in Tartarus. It's entirely possible that, by interfering with Twilight Sparkle's adventures, she has missed her window to become an Alicorn. Which means that when Tirek comes along... nobody will be able to stop him.
Which means, eventually, that Gary Stu's "life imprisonment" will be very, very short, indeed.
Gary has a lot of explaining to do.
8580573
Gary definitely had an out.
He didn't have to tell them anything but didn't need to insert himself unless things devolved so horribly.
8580616
It feels strange to say that when Gary seemingly was fine letting Rarity fall to her potential death.
So what changed between then and the crystal empire that he was fine letting Spike not getting his glory?
8581096
Nothing changed between the Best Young Fliers' Competition and the Crystal Empire; each was simply a matter of pragmatism.
At the BYFC, having previous seen other major events play out as they did, Gary reasonably assumed that by not trying to stop that nonsense, things would work out as expected. I admit that I am speculating here a bit, yes, but all else being equal, it was a reasonable assumption.
In the Crystal Empire, Spike decided not to go, and when Gary tried to convince Twilight that, hey, maybe some of our friends, like Spike, should come with us. I'm sure if we had our friends, like Spike with us, it'd be even easier! No? Really? Well, uh, gee, now what? Twilight literally could not have succeeded there alone: It was foretold! It was written! But Spike wouldn't go with her, and she wouldn't let any of the others go either. Gary, in that case, had only two choices: Either go with Twilight and steal Spike's shot at the limelight, or become enslaved and die. It's probably inarguable that Gary's own bad decisions landed him in that situation in the first place, but as it stands, putting himself in Spike's place was nevertheless the only shot they had at winning that confrontation.
The real question now, I think, is how much did Gary insert himself into situations after that, once he knew how badly he'd screwed everything up? I think this ties into the reason why he hasn't tried to skip town a second time: Things literally cannot get any worse for him than they are now.
Spike's not a hero, Discord can't be released and reformed because he'll either know what's happened or will find out in short order and will immediately go off-script, and Twilight's Princess Surprise is spoiled and the entire rest of the series he has is probably invalidated. But then again, maybe not completely invalidated.
This mess can be salvaged: It is possible for them to get it back on track and still have things play out as they were written. Mostly as they were written, at least.
This mess can be salvaged, but there's no way it can be fixed.
8581096 Really? Really? are you NOT LISTENING!?!?! unless things devolved so horribly... how ignorant are you in dismissing the dilemma... what if by not interfering things it caused it to devolve horribly? or what if not? what if by his very appearance in Equestria things changed? What if not? Its a no win for Gary Stu for the simple fact that of WHAT IF's!!
8581305
You're saying it's a no win scenario for Gary solely off the idea the idea that simply every thing will go wrong.
Did it at any point occur to you that if Gary involved himself less or at all that the situations may not go wrong or he'll that it may go even better?
You're basically using the same mindset of every generic time line hero.
That from the second you enter the "story" you need to protect the time line even though you don't have a hint things are going off balance in bad ways and you can't see the future of the time line with you on it.
Another such piece of work, if you're into French litterature, is Les Liaisons Dangereuses, by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. It is an epistemologic piece of novel that I very much enjoyed.
8581318
You can't seem to read at all because that IS NOT WHAT I SAID!
I said that Gary Stu's problem was : WHAT IF! maybe it would go right maybe it wouldn't... now how will he know that? oh right HE CAN'T
8581335
Gary's problem to you is basically: Life.
In other words the exact same thing everyone else has to deal with. Dealing with a bunch of what if the same thing everyone else has to deal with.
Gary's actual problem is what Rarity stated. That he's treating the ponies more like characters on a paper or screen rather than the real ponies they are to him now.
Let them solve their own problems like he knows they can and if starts going really wrong then he can use his "future knowledge" to get things on track.
Meanwhile don't sit there and let someone fall off and potentially die for the "story".
8581356 No, WRONG. Life doesn't give you disks containing events of the future. Life doesn't transport you to a world that until then was just a made up story on the tube. IF Gary Stu had ZERO KNOWLEDGE OF MLP then yes he is a jerkass for what happened to Rarity. But he has knowledge (not predictions/educated guesses but knowledge) of the future something that no one has ever had. Thus the dilemma of what he should and should not do about that knowledge.
Let me ask you this: How long was it from the Young Fliers to the Crystal Empire? How and when did Gary Stu arrive in Equestria? What is Gary Stu's side of this?
This entire story is a collection of letters and NONE OF THEM are from his view point. NONE. We don't know when he made the transition to non interference to inference and why.
My original point was that Fluttershy had a point... Gary Stu was in a bind telling or not telling, interfering or not... he was in a no win situation. She alone understood this... She alone empathized what he had to go through.
DOES THAT MAKE WHAT GARY STU DID OR NOT DO RIGHT OR WRONG? No idea.
8581419
First, "Life" will hand whatever events it damn well choose and in this story it has chose to give Gary Stu access to the world of My Little Pony.
And for the recoRd Gary's future knowledge is of a future in which he doesn't exist and keeps finding himself in "episodes".
There is no dilemma on what to do with that knowledge. Respect them enough to let them solve their own day to day problems (like your future knowledge says they should do) and interfere if divergences happen and they dont.
When life threatening issues like falling from and insane height comes along you should be trying to cut those off.
8581431 I'm sorry since when is 'dimension hopping' a "life" event? Since when is time traveling a "life" event? Since when is 'IRL' talking ponies that move the sun and moon a "life" event? You are calling out Gary Stu for being an idiot in a situation that can only happen in fiction not non fiction aka "life."
Also I never once said that Gary Stu was right or wrong in NOT interfering with Rarity's fall I said Fluttershy had a point that Gary Stu was in a bind on what the best course of action would be after dimension hopping to a place that shouldn't be real that he had foreknowledge of ... something that no one has ever had to deal with before.
Having said that: Should he had interfered? Probably, maybe, I don't know. Do I understand why everyone is upset yes. Was that what I wanted to talk about NO. If it was, I would have said that in the original comment.
Celestia needs to fix this mess now.
This is what she has been doing for millennia, her visions are more trustworthy than his story disks because they come from the same 'dimension'. Celestia knows about the different dimensions and the difference between them. She should know that what is shown on the disks does not have to be their universe thx to the mirrors. (In one universe Sombra is the good and proper ruler and in the next evil incarnate.)
But the regular ponys cant see this because they do not have this experience and the disks have been correct so far. But what if Stu did not do what he did in The Crystal empire and everyone was enslaved because, opps it was a dark alternative universe were Sombra won.
And Rarity, how should he have stopped that?!. Breaking her legs, warning her friends or should he stand bellow the clouds trying to catch her while saying that he knows nothing about the future or what was about to happen ?.
Yes, Stu will be so happy knowing that he did not interfere with their life, he feels a sens of self worth and satisfaction knowing that his moral and apathy is so much stronger than every one else and that he did nothing to stop what could have happen when he is fighting for his life against Nightmare moon or Sombra conquering the world.
Celestia should take charge and talk to Stu, thanking him of safeguarding a possible future that is far better than the alternative. Right now she sits around playing innocent pretending to have the moral high ground when she has been interfering and tampering with others life longer than most have existed.
I suppose it was for the "Princess Twilight Sparkle" episode, but I'm not sure
you know i can't help but point out twilights own actions in part of this at least have been kinda... selfish?
8580573
If he did interfere, then Rainbow Dash would not have had her Sonic Rainboom, which would have seriously screwed up events.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It seems he only intervened when he had to, or was forced to.
8582818 You are not wrong. She was.
8580541
Gary tried to get Spike to go instead but Twilight refused. I don't think Gary was to blame for Spikes glory stolen.
8581469
Those events are "life" events for Gary Stu because to him they are now real. Life is anything and everything that happens in it and for Gary this is now life.
You mean how everyone was calling out Twilight for detaining Gary for something so outrageous it could only happen in "fiction"?
You keep repeating this like I said you were right or wrong. I don't care whether you think it was right or wrong.
Though it was wrong because its treating her more like a character than a person.
Fluttershy's point only has value if you sit there and pretend that he literally has only two options to him but I'll repeat it once more: Respect them and have faith they can solve their own regular slice of life problems and intervene when more dangerous and life pressing matters come along. You don't have to tell them anything while maintaining the actual moral high ground.
8581656
Nothing has stated this world's comics are part of the continuity.
Your answer to the Rarity situation: Read the spellbook Twilight used as there may be warnings about the wings used. Or maybe pull her aside and just bluntly tell her how she's been affecting Rainbow Dash to dissuade her from participating. Or maybe put the idea in her head the wings might be temporary or fragile so doing a flying competition might not be the best idea.
8584190
Yes he is.
Spike not wanting to go is a divergence. One that would've been less likely to happen if Gary wasn't being part of events and being part of the solutions like he knows he shouldn't have been.
It's like accidentally hitting a window and causing a crack in it, then proceeding to hit the window over and over again the same way thinking "well this will preserve it".
8452738
Except Gary only intervened in the crystal heart when circumstances prevented likely canon outcome. Gary's interference in the young flyers competition allowed likely Canon to unfold.
All clues point to Gary trying to keep canon close as possible. I think some even mentioned inviting him to ogres and obulettes, meaning Gary seems to be trying to avoid major interaction as well to keep timeline integrity.