Epilogue
The Golden Oaks Library had sat completely unused and undisturbed for almost two months now. A thin layer of dust had accumulated in that time, blanketing everything in the home and filling the air with a stale, musty smell. Nothing inside had been moved from where it had been left last. The last vestiges of sunlight peeking through the organically circular windows painted a few spots with orange light, the glow of which allowed much of the rest of the interior to just be visible in the waning light.
The scene was abruptly disturbed when the front door swung open, creaking gently. The displaced air kicked up a few particles of dust in front of the entryway, while the whole interior was lit up with the glow of sunset. The large square of light cast by the door was partially obscured by the shadow of an alicorn, a pegasus, and a baby dragon as they walked in. The door quietly swung shut behind them, locking with a quiet click. The baby dragon walked somewhere else in the room. There was a click, and a lamp next to a chair flickered into life, filling the room with light.
Twilight blinked and looked around at it all with a thoughtful look on her face, examining the alcoves that had been carefully dug into the walls and filled with a large number of books on a wide range of subjects. She slowly trotted forwards and began to go around the outer edge of the room, her eyes tracing over every single book on the shelves near her eye level. Rainbow and Spike just watched her from the side, curious to see how she’d react.
Spike’s face contorted with mild disgust when he noticed that the dust was thick enough for Twilight to leave prints on the floor. “Uh, sorry for all the dust,” he suddenly spoke up, although Twilight didn’t pay him much mind. “I don’t normally let things get this bad, I swear.”
“He’s right,” Rainbow nodded along in agreement. “He’s pretty on top of things when it comes to tidying up after us and cleaning up the house. We’ll, uh… we’ll deal with that once you’ve-”
“Ssh!” Twilight lightly shushed them, causing Rainbow to clam up. She continued to quietly trot around the edge of the central room, occasionally pulling a book off a shelf to a examine it before putting it back. Eventually, when she was on the other side of the room from Rainbow and Spike with her back turned to them, she came to a stop. She looked the books in front of her for a few minutes before turning around to look at her housemates with an enormous, giddy grin. “It’s perfect!” she declared in delight.
Spike and Rainbow both mentally sighed with relief.
Twilight then began prancing along the edges of the room, her horn lighting up with magic and pulling several books off of the shelves to hover around her while her excited eyes looked each one over. “Wow, I had no idea I had so many books in my house! I could read these for weeks! Oh, I don’t know what to read first! Should I read history or science? Magical theory?” she brought a certain fiction book to float in front of her eyes. “Daring Do and the quest for the sapphire stone?”
“Oh, definitely that one!” Rainbow instantly suggested as if there were no other choice. When Twilight gave her a questioning look, she just shrugged. “Hey, you introduced me to Daring Do. It’s a great series, and you need to unwind.”
Twilight grinned and let out an excited giggle while running in place. She put a few of the other books back as she did so. “Are there any more books in here?” she asked while looking at Spike and Rainbow again.
Spike perked up and nodded. “Oh yeah, loads. A lot of them are upstairs and in the basement. Want me to show you?” he asked, already able to predict the response.
“YES, PLEASE!” Twilight all but shrieked, bouncing up to him. Spike chuckled under his breath and gave Rainbow Dash a playful wink.
“I still know her,” he mouthed before waving at Twilight for her to follow him. He then turned and headed for the bedroom. “Right this way,” he called over his shoulder, and Twilight happily ran after him, her wings standing wide open from her giddiness. Rainbow watched them go with a soft smile on her face. One they had vanished into the loft, though, she sagged, dragged herself over to a chair, and flopped down into it with a loud and relieved sigh. Oh, it felt good to be back home.
She had missed this chair so much. She had missed this house, this town. She was seriously considering hugging the chair despite the dust and taking a nice long nap right there until something lightly thudded against her thigh. Opening her eyes and looking, she caught sight of a photo album sitting there against her leg, having fallen off the armrest from her landing.
Curious, she lifted set it in her lap and opened it to the first page. Her face twisted with shock and confusion when she saw the photograph of their whole group when she and Twilight had first moved here after defeating Nightmare Moon. The picture was exactly as she remembered it, save for one notable exception.
The big red ‘X’ that had been drawn over her face.
She stared at the photo for several moments, trying to figure out what it meant. Her considerations were disturbed when Spike wound up coming down a few minutes later, a smugly satisfied grin on his face while he wiped his claws off on each other. “Well, I think she likes it here,” he stated the obvious before looking down at Rainbow Dash. “So, Rainbow, what’s the plan-” he froze when he saw the photo album, and the picture Rainbow was looking at. He came down a few more steps, looking very apprehensive.
Before he could say anything, though, Rainbow just smiled at him and shook her head. Spike looked at her in confusion for a moment before she used a hoof to show off her ponytail. Spike blinked, then smiled and nodded in response. No words were needed. The message was clear.
Whatever had prompted Spike to cross out the mare in the photo did not matter anymore. Rainbow was no that pony anymore. She had grown. She had changed. She was better.
Twilight came speeding down the stairs with even more books following her in her magic, her excited expression having only grown in intensity. She came to a screeching stop in front of Spike and began talking at him in one long uninterrupted stream of words that, for a moment, reminded them of Pinkie Pie. Spike looked at Rainbow in a silent plea for help, but his requests went unanswered.
Rainbow just watched Twilight talking, not really hearing what she was saying. She didn’t need to know the words. At that moment, all that mattered to her was that Twilight was smiling. Twilight was happy. Rainbow closed the photo album and set it aside.
If Twilight was happy, then so was she.
And To Be Continued In...
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And so the fourth arc ends....
But more has yet to come.....
With Twilight having no memory of her past, can Rainbow pull through and help her marefriend try and recover what she can remember? Or will Twilight be doomed to lose her memories for the rest of her life?
All in all, I give this a 10/10 mustaches!
So, when's the next book coming out?
9210631
When I have the cover art, I'll start on it. Might take a few months.
9210639
Yay! Boo!
...
Yay!
This is a bittersweet ending to an awesome story.
Can't wait for the sequel!
"Little Memories", huh? Going into this story back in May, I figured this would be the finale to the series, and kept that thought up until Twilight woke up without her memories. It makes sense that this doesn't just end with Twilight being an amnesiac, and the other consequences of her premature ascension unknown. That logo, though....that fractured starburst...the next story's gonna be real bitter sweet, ain't it. Absolutely amazing job done with this story, and it's earned a spot in my favorites for sure. I'll see you around in the next story.
9210838
Bittersweet indeed. It will also be returning to the shorter plot arcs and episodic format of Little Glimpses. More slice of life, less adventure.
9210875
Yeah, that makes sense. As much as I loved the big adventure in this story, it just ended. Everyone's home now. It'll be really nice to see how Rainbow's matured when we return to the SOL setting compared to what she was like in Choices.
9210883
Yeah, she is in pieces in Choices.
9210903
....right. There's that.
All I can say is downright excellent job on this story throughout. The exchanges, characterizations, action, general story wrap-up and future story set-up are all well done in all the right places. The last two chapters with Rainbow and Spike gradually reintroducing Twilight to Equestria and then with Twilight's reactions to the library were especially well done. I suppose, if there IS a bright side to amnesia, it is that somebody gets to experience their favorite things like it truly WAS the first time AND gets even more of a chance to make NEW memories.
Anyway, I will definitely be looking forward to the next story, but will certainly understand you needing to take a break too.
9210907
shes gonna get her memories back in the next series right???? also when is the next series i need to knowwwwwwwww
9211195
In answer to your first question: Read on when it comes out. As for when the story will come out, well, I need the cover art first, and Novaintellus, while an amazing artist, isn't the fastest one in the world to commission. It's gonna be a few months, probably.
9211195
Replying to the wrong person, my dude lol. As for when we're getting "Little Memories", it might be a bit. Skijarama mentioned in an earlier comment that they're waiting on getting the cover art, which might be a few months.
9211233
aww
This story sort of fell apart for me during the first bits of being in the Crystal Empire. It felt as if they were just faffing about and not accomplishing anything. I don't really feel I've missed much when I skipped from there to the chapter where Twilight gets assassinated, at least in terms of permanent effects, as the real permanent changes I actually care about happen there. It's nice to hear the return to SoL style, so we can get back to character development instead of only defeating Sombra and Chrysalis in way too many words.
(Yes, I realize I've missed RD falling into her pit of despair, but I just can't be arsed to dig it out from between the things I didn't care about.)
At least I can say that I feel you managed to make the final chapters much more gripping than the ones about the intial conflict.
9212109
Well, I can certainly understand where you're coming from with your criticism, and I appreciate that you explained your view without being rude about it (Way too many people are just titanic jerks about this kind of stuff when there is no bloody reason to be,) but there was the entire character arc with Thorax and Wind Whisper that turned out being my favorite part of the story, and it was given a lot of time to develop and grow over the middle of the story, which is where you say it kinda fell apart for you. Given there have been a fair number of people who have seemingly fallen in love with those characters and their arcs, I feel it is safe to say that you are in a bit of a minority, there.
To be frank, I was expecting this being the shortest story in the initial 3, but that Thorax/Wind subplot, as well as just my general improvement in terms of writing character dialogue and such, wound up making it the longest.
I do hear you about 'way too many words,' though. It is a struggle I am still trying to overcome - the delicate balance between too much detail and too little. While I was at Everfree Northwest, I was told by fellow (and much better) writers in the community to try not to go in either direction, but that if I can't seem to find the balance, the lesser of the two evils is too much detail. I am definitely not good with my amount of detail right now, sadly, and it is something I am trying to work on, but it is slow going.
I do plan on having an editor for story 4, though, so maybe that'll help.
All the same, thanks for stopping by and giving your feedback. I mean, how am I supposed to get better if I don't know what exactly I'm doing wrong, right?
Damn, I’m 1000% looking forward to this one now. Can’t wait to see it!
Nicely done. Haven't read the last chapters yet, but still.
A well-performed trilogy in a parallel universe. Any single part of this is good, but the whole three fictions together are good.
I began reading the first when I was visiting Taiwan during my winter holiday this year, and was quite amazed by how a overlookable fact that Rainbow saw two strange ponies during her race could've affect the entire timeline and how you had written it. The TwiDash plots felt natural and it developed slowly over all those events. This is good. Awesome even.
H3LP 1 4M 57UCK 1N 7H3 C0MM3N7 B3C4US3 [DATA EXPUNGED] ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H
Wish you have a nice weekend.
Your faithful reader,
Accurate Balance
(Edited) Memory loss? Oh my goodness this is really... Ehh...
9213374
Heh, there's more to come. ;)
9213416
I should've guessed so. ( ^ _ ^ )
I don’t get it...big red ‘X’ on her face?? Does that mean Twilight crosses that out or she? Or I’m just forgetting about the previous stories
9217894
In Little Choices, Spike crossed out Rainbow's face to try and get Twilight to understand that her inaction was causing more trouble then it was helping. Rainbow was sinking into self-loathing and despair in part because Twilight was refusing to meet her halfway, putting a serious strain on their friendship. When Spike crossed out Rainbow's face, he did so while saying "I don't want that to happen."
He then had Twilight go through the entire photo album.
9218310
Can you remind me which chapter was it in? You have waaaaayyyy too many.
9219452
Solemn Homecoming, Rising Swarm.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/321097371637252098/396185107180027905/unknown.png
9232340
You have a Discord?
9234280
Really? Maybe I'm failing to remember something because I thought Wind was totally incidental. That's why, even with the greater emotional baggage that is now attached to "taking away Windy's brother", I still saw it as strange that it rates higher than the Luna operation when (a) the entire reason he took away Windy's brother was in service of the Luna operation and (b) he saw firsthand the world-shaking consequences of that action, which he was key to and which he could have warned Luna about at any time.
But if I'm forgetting something about him choosing Windy's brother specifically because of Windy, then that could possibly change how I see it.
The strange thing is that I'm not sure I'd want Twilight to get her memories back. I mean I do. But it's too cliche of an ending. Even if she gets her memories back, I don't think they should come back in full. Even if you do give her back her memories, I feel like you should let there be a few memories that are still missing at the end. That way it can allow for a few holes in her memories that she has to live with.
Wait, so this means Rainbow will need to restart their relationship from scratch, huh? Oh I bet that will be positively agonizing... Let's hope Rainbow doesn't try to shortcut it with a Magical Mystery Cure... 😉
Well, that was quite the ride. I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure where you were going to take the story after Twilight’s death and resurrection. Still, I’ve followed the story this far, and I’m curious to see where it will lead next.
You know what’s funny? I started reading this story not realizing this is the third story to a 3 story trilogy. So when I read the first chapter I thought, “Dang this is some heavy background lore for a 200k word story.” “Is Twidash a thing and it just hasn’t been mentioned yet? Rainbow has made some weird remarks about her.” “Okay, so apparently Rainbow Dash is adopted by Celestia?” “Man, I wish there was some more explanation to everything that is happening, but that will probably come in later chapters.” Now that I realize this is a prequel I’m going to go read the first two. So far good writing though!
9513742
I mean, no offense or anything, but...
i.ibb.co/Tbr4wD1/how-do-tyou-miss.png
How do you miss that?
9544382
Good times, eh?
9753037
Twilight was dead. Dead as a doorknob. Celestia broke things a bit to get her back, it was a resurrection rather an a resuscitation.
9862938
hmm... I guess that makes sense, even if it does seem a little too much like True Death for such an otherwise idealistic universe. Now, well I'm curious as to why you made that decision.
9862993
It largely boils down to me preferring the notion of reincarnation over any notions of an afterlife in my fiction. With an afterlife, death carries no weight or significance, because the life doesn't really end, does it? It just changes shape and goes to another intangible space.
In a setting with magic and destiny and fate and all that, a sort of reincarnation system makes a lot more sense to me. Death still carries meaning and weight, as that person is gone, but at the same time the stuff that made them up doesn't just cease to be. It goes in line with the existence of a soul without invalidating the weight of death.
This has been my favorite story of yours. Very focused from beginning to end. A creative merging of villains—Chrysalis versus Sombra! Definitely something you don’t see every day. Terrific characterization, high stakes drama, and the satisfying reward of being able to watch Rainbow Dash come into her own as a princess and a leader.
I’ll confess, I’m a little disappointed Rainbow doesn’t keep the Crystal Empire. One, because it seems the next logical step in her maturity and her growth as a leader… And two, because she earned it. She earned it, hooves down. She brought the crystal ponies hope. She gave them their memories, their liberty, their lives. I know it’s just my own personal belief system talking, in my opinion, those actions are far more meaningful and qualifying than some distant thousand-year-old “birthright” that Cadance didn’t even know she had. Kind of a bummer the crystal heart didn’t recognize that, too.
But, I realize she didn’t want to take up that cup… And I recognize that, narratively, there probably aren’t as many stories to tell having Rainbow Dash pigeonholed as the ruler of the Crystal Empire, a thousand miles away from Celestia, Luna, and all of her friends in Ponyville.
Gratified to see more development between Celestia and Rainbow Dash. Gratified to see Rainbow Dash grow into her role, even to the extent of making minor changes to her keep up her appearance. It’s quite the transformation she’s made from the earliest chapters, when the mere thought of putting on the princess act made her shudder. It’s rewarding that she isn’t flinching from the authority and honorifics now, even if it’s mostly out of a sense of duty.
I’m very satisfied with Twilight’s ascension. I was never a fan of how it was handled in the show, where it always seemed fairly gratuitous not particularly built-up to me. (Alicorn Twilight is right about where I fell off the MLP wagon—ironic, I guess, considering the subject matter of my own fanfiction…) Here, there’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Ascension is literally the only way to save her life. I’m cool with that.
I had assumed there would be some kind of armistice reached between the Crystal Empire and the remaining Changelings, which would allow them to remain in the Empire as permanent refugees and become fat and happy off the love that seems to flourish there. Guess I was mistaken about that. It will be interesting to see where the hive goes from here.
I accidentally clicked on the last chapter a while back and started reading it by mistake, so I knew in advance the amnesia twist was coming. I’m curious to see where it goes. I imagine it will be pretty traumatic for Rainbow Dash.
Speaking of Rainbow Dash, when does she get her horn? No, I get it—the timing isn’t right coming right off the end of the war and Twilight’s personal tragedy, but it’s gotta be somewhere in the future for her. It will be interesting watching Rainbow teach amnesiac Twilight how to fly, but how much more interesting will it be watching non-amnesiac Twilight teach Rainbow how to magic some day? Fingers crossed, she’ll get there eventually!
9879841
*that moment when you realise our life is a lie*
Oh ponyfeathers!
How could I be so blind?
Argh! Curses!
I was NOT ready for this...
9875452
I don't think Rainbow will be getting a horn, although I haven't read the next story yet. In one of the previous stories - Choices, I think - Celestia mentions something about how being an alicorn means having powers that can corrupt you from within. Apparently, that's how Princess Luna ended up being twisted into Nighmare Moon. Also, that's more-or-less how Celestia almost ended up becoming Day Breaker during the fight against Sombra.
IIRC, Celestia mentioned something about being worried that the same might happen to Rainbow Dash.
9913457
That was the end of Glimpses, IIRC. I dunno, I tend to think Rainbow Dash has shown considerable growth since that point, and especially by the most recent chapters of Memories.
Actually, I think there's a stronger argument for her becoming an alicorn in the aftermath of Consequences. Look at how outmatched she was against Chrysalis with no way to defend herself. Look at how vulnerable she was, and consequently how brutalized, and how tortured, and how physically and emotionally scarred. If the Elements of Harmony hadn't been written to serve as deus ex machina to heal all of her wounds, how many months—years?—of recovery and physical therapy would she have taken to heal? All because she lacked for certain abilities that could have given her a tactical advantage at various inflection points in the fight. What if she could have put up a barrier, or teleported away when Chrysalis had her immobilized or pinned?
The shield protecting the entire city was riding on Twilight and Starlight certain points, too... How useless did she feel in those moments when she was physically, biologically unable to help? Heck, at the end of the story, she's made Princess of the Skies in part because of her idea to booby-trap clouds with elemental magic — something she isn't even capable of doing without a unicorn to help her.
"You climbed to the highest peak I could have ever hoped to see you reach. You saved Equestria and an entire Empire from two evils at once, and you did so despite carrying the weight of your own past mistakes on our back." — Little Consequences, Princess of the Skies
If we accept the show canon that ascension is something that's awarded for accomplishing a great feat — and that *is* the case, according to Cadence in Glimpses ("It’s not quite that simple, Rainbow. Becoming an alicorn usually requires the accomplishment of some great deed which will be felt across Equestria for years to come.” — Little Glimpses, Compassion) — to me, this story right here, this is that feat. Rainbow's accomplishments here seem much, much greater than Twilight Sparkle solving some moldy old spell in Magical Mystery Cure, for instance. Whatever Celestia's reservations were about Rainbow not having good enough character to become an alicorn, they ring a bit hollow after everything that's happened.
IMO, there's a much more reasonable, plausible, and mundane reason why Celestia doesn't make her an alicorn: she still has a phobia of magic. Putting a horn on someone who can't stand the touch of magic on her skin would probably not be a kindness.
9913915
IMHO, it's not a matter of maturing, kicking changeling butt, or even saving the lives of every citizen in two separate nations. Rather, it's a matter of keeping one's emotions under control, something that even Celestia failed to do when facing Chrysalis. As much credit as Rainbow deserves, she does have a lot of emotions raging inside her (not that anyone could blame her). A few small steps in the wrong direction, and she could end up turning to what you might call "the dark side". The last thing we need is Rainbow awkwardly walking around in a cybernetic body shouting a Hayden Christensen-like "NNNnnnnnoooooooooooo!"
BTW, you do make a good point about the magical phobia. I had completely forgotten about that.
On the flip side, I also failed to consider the whole "great accomplishment" thing, which Rainbow does indeed have going in her favor... kind of (see below). Then again, all of the mane six had arguably made such an accomplishment when they turned Luna good in the show's pilot, so I must assume that this is either a plothole, or there's more to it. Draw your own conclusions, I guess.
About the "in her favor" comment I made before: while everypony was happy in the show about Twilight being an alicorn, I doubt Rainbow would be even remotely happy the same happening to her. Even putting her phobia aside, she'd have no idea how magic works, and unlike Twilight, I don't think she'd have the passion or the patience to really learn how to use her horn. On top of which, there's also her fear of responsibility, which I don't think she really 100% conquered. True, she's made plenty of progress in that regard, leading the Chrystal Empire and Equestria to salvation, but I still don't think she'd ever want to be taking on even the most mundane official duties every day, much less the more stressful duties. And even with Twilight's bookworm-ness rubbing off on her, I can't see her leaning the complex in's and out's of governing a nation. Faust only knows how she'd handle some snooty, elitist noble ordering her to cut his/her taxes or whatever.
9913972
i.imgflip.com/zs0r5.jpg
9913989
After looking closely at that picture, I have determined that Morgan Freemen is holding his index finger, not his middle finger.😇
9914036
Duh.
9914038
Lol. Seeing the word "Duh" next to your avatar makes it look like you're rolling your eyes at me.
9914150
Maybe I am.
9913972
I can’t argue that isn’t Celestia’s intent when she states it so clearly at the end of Glimpses… and when we’ve also got Morgan Freeman up there wagging his finger at us.
Still, I disagree with her reservations on a number of levels.
1. Celestia was unable to keep her emotions in check; she let the darkness into her heart, which caused her to “fall”… Granted. But what bad came of it? If anything, Daybreaker allowed Celestia to stand her ground against Chrysalis that much longer, whereas without that power-up, Chrysalis might have crushed her into the dirt like Cadence, like Luna. Moreover, all of Daybreaker’s negative emotions were directed AT CHRYSALIS, in service of protecting and defending the ponies she loved. Daybreaker was driven by retribution and concern for others, whereas Nightmare Moon was driven by jealousy and self-importance... It doesn’t seem like it’s a “one-fall-fits-all” kind of thing. Rather, it’s an entirely different can of worms, with entirely different levels of severity. (Note, as well, that the Elements of Harmony didn’t automatically banish Daybreaker the way they banished Nightmare Moon.)
The question then becomes, where would Rainbow Dash fit in, if indeed she were to “fall?” It’s hard to see her following in Nightmare Moon’s hoofsteps, at least to this point in the story. Rainbow Dash is Loyalty — in what universe does Loyalty betray her mother, betray her friends, betray Equestria? It’s hard to visualize the route Rainbow would take from alicorn-with-high-passions to threat-to-all-ponykind, if indeed she were granted ascension. I just don’t see her succumbing. I can see her pulling a Daybreaker in a high-pressure scenario, maybe — but as stated above, it also isn’t clear to me that Daybreaker was a threat to anyone other than Chrysalis and the Changelings.
2. This is just my personal philosophy speaking, but I just find it repellent, the notion that you have to divorce yourself from passion and emotion to qualify for ascension. I can understand the logic, but it seems wrongheaded, and even kind of creepy, in a way — in the same way that prequel trilogy Jedi were creepy monks who were told they had to cut love and emotion out of their lives if they wanted to become masters of the art.
If we were talking about show canon Rainbow Dash, I would agree, she doesn’t have any business being made an alicorn. She’s much too quick to temper. But growing up in this alternate timeline with Celestia and Twilight has made this Rainbow Dash a subtly-different character. She’s more thoughtful, she’s more self-restrained, she’s more detail-oriented and she doesn’t have as hard a time seeing the “big picture” the way canon Rainbow does. If you look past her attack on Starlight Glimmer, which was Discord’s doing, Rainbow Dash doesn’t even seem all that hotheaded in this ’verse. She’s a much more refined and well-rounded version of the character she is in the show. If she does have emotions working against her, they aren’t anger, rashness, and volatility, which is what Celestia seems to imply about Rainbow in Glimpses — they’re anxiety, self-doubt, and latent post-traumatic stress over her parents and her near-death experience with Chrysalis. Therefore, a lot of these arguments that Rainbow is unworthy to ascend, I just don’t see.
If it were to happen in this timeline, I think Rainbow’s reaction to it would completely depend upon the circumstances of how and why she ascended. If there were some precipitating event — say Celestia and Luna were taken out of the picture, and she felt she *had* to have that kind of power to fill their horseshoes and continue to attend to the procession of the sun and moon — she might grit her teeth, but I don’t think she would shirk it. That’s just to give a random example, I’m just spitballing.
Again, if it’s canon Rainbow we’re talking about, I agree. This version of Rainbow Dash, though? She’s a lot more patient, and even a lot more bookish, than I think you’re giving her credit for. If she were able to overcome her knee-jerk psychological reaction to magic, and if she had Twilight to show her the way, I don’t think she would be deterred.
True, but:
“It’s not quite that simple, Rainbow. Becoming an alicorn usually requires the accomplishment of some great deed which will be felt across Equestria for years to come. And besides, it’s possible to have the ‘prince or princess’ title and not be an alicorn.” — Compassion, Little Glimpses
That obviously goes both ways. It's possible to be an alicorn and not have the 'prince or princess' title. Obviously, Rainbow won't lose that, as she'll always be Celestia's daughter — but ascending doesn’t mean she gets automatically thrust into mundane official duties. Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn in the show canon, and she was still a librarian for, like, a year. Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn in this ’verse, and (spoilers for Little Memories) she hasn’t even been designated a princess. She’s continued to live a low-key life in Ponyville.
Probably hilariously.
9914892
Think back on Choices when Nightmare Moon turned RD into a Fallen Alicorn in that nightmare with the Tantabus. While RD is not an Alicorn and thus incapable of such a fall at present, the form she took in that dream is what she would become. Her self doubt, her fear of responsibility and all of her PTSD, would be the driving force behind her fall if it were to happen. The resulting mare would be a hostile and volatile creature with no desire to be recognized by anyone, and just wanting to distance itself from everything else - possibly out of a misguided desire to simply not screw things up for them any further. Drive what she loves away through open acts of aggression and hostility, and thus remove herself from the picture.
Yes, that was true in the moment. That would then have extended to Sombra. But what would have happened after he was gone if she had remained as Daybreaker? To briefly reveal some 'darkest of all worlds' stuff, her rule over Equestria would have been one of absolute and total control of everything. Strip her subjects of most freedoms, no action going unmonitored, borders closed and ties to other nations cut, etc. A fiery, ashen dystopia would have been the outcome. And all of that because of a magically super-charged desire to protect the ponies she holds dear. From literally anything that could be a threat, regardless of the price that has to be paid for that safety.
Luckily, much like Nightmare when the Mane 6 blasted her, Celestia's fires were cooled off and Daybreaker ceased to be, although her whispering voice remained in Celestia's mind for a time as an after effect. The temptation of that power and lack of restraint calling at her to take it back, essentially.
It's less about divorcing oneself from emotion and more about controlling oneself, and how one handles each feeling. Reigning in the instincts, so to speak, and being careful not to feed things like anger and rage and hostility. It's all about keeping control of oneself, not ones emotions. Twilight's been allowed to feel plenty of negative emotions in canon, and that's because she cannot control how she feels. She can, however, control to what extent she feeds those negative feelings, and how much she acts upon them.
Like Luna said in that one episode with Sweetie Belle, when she succumbed to her worst instincts, Nightmare Moon was born. It's a similar scenario. across the board. It's not about what you feel, but what you allow yourself to do with those feelings.
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Well, you're the author, so I can't argue! I'll just have to accept it and hope Rainbow Dash manages to get there someday.