10. Failings of the Fey
The look in those beautiful, sky blue eyes haunted the Princess of the Seekers.
Every time she closed her eyes, Twilight could see them. She found herself in that moment all over again, everything, down to the way that smile which brightened her eyes slowly turned to fretting as she bantered with her friends, and ultimately worry and just a hint of something else.
Something Twilight feared.
She could taste it on her tongue, even now. No matter how she tried not to catch a hint as she walked away—disappointment.
By the stars and moon and sun, how she hated that taste.
From her nymph hood days, Twilight knew it well. The same taste her fellow Seekers all but radiated when looking upon her sickly form, whispering to one another when they thought she was out of earshot, worried that she might never grow up or find the strength to one day take the throne. And their points, all backed up with statistics and studies on changeling growth dating back to Sireadh Firinn’s youth.
Other hives included, of course. Because diverse sample sizes were must in any proper research project.
Even those that might hurt a little nymph who so wanted to grow up and be strong like her parents.
Twilight rolled over onto her back, twisting her covers around her body, and pressed one of her plush pillows into her face. Why did that face, those eyes, bother her so? All she did was balance the scales by repaying a slight against her kin! It wasn’t like she ruined the mare’s reputation or business like the classical tales.
Though, really, if Twilight wanted to get technical about it, Rarity could have done quite a bit to ruin her efforts to bridge the gaps between their races. Just think, if she spoke so loudly—a Bearer of the Elements of Harmony—perhaps one of those whispering ponies whose lips dribbled sweet, poisonous words might find themselves emboldened to spread similar notions around the city? Or the country, perhaps? And right in front of Twilight!
Worse. Love forbid, imagine if such things were uttered in front of one of her kin with less grip on their temper?
Alas, none of those thoughts served to banish that visage of Fluttershy’s face.
With a frustrated sigh, Twilight whipped her pillow across the room with a little flick of her wrist, snorting at the satisfying thud when it hit the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut, thumping her head softly against the mattress. “Why,” she ventured aloud, “does one mare’s face haunt me so?”
She barely knew the mare, after all. It wasn’t like she’d upset Cadence or Shining Armor’s friends with her words. So why should she feel such guilt?
Rarity slighted her first. And, frankly, Rainbow was only marginally better. Applejack and Pinkie, she could at least see as a bit causiously curious, though the latter trended more toward being as bubbly and happy as Paprika if she were perfectly honest.
As for Sunset Shimmer, well, if looks could kill, Twilight would be dead several times over.
Twilight Sparkle forced herself to throw off the covers and roll out of bed, landing nimbly on her hooves. Heaving another sigh, she shuffled off to the washroom to make her preparations for the day.
Her first full day after effectively kneecapping her fellow Bearers.
She did not look forward to whatever consequences came of that.
Three firm knocks against her bedroom door made her ear flick. From within the washroom, she heard her faithful friend and guard call out, “Your Highness?”
“In the washroom, Silin,” Twilight replied.
Silín’s hoofsteps sounded out in a short cadence until she poked her head around the door. “Good morning, Your Highness. How was your rest?”
She had to ask.
Twilight shook her head. “If I could even call it rest,” she murmured. “I kept thinking of what I said to them and how it upset that mare. Fluttershy.”
“The one you danced with,” Silín supplied, a knowing smile playing upon her lips. “You seemed quite taken with her.” A heated glare over Twilight’s shoulder earned only a waggle of the ears. “Cadence noticed as well,” her guard supplied.
“Oh, of course she did.” Things just got better and better. She clicked her tongue. “I should expect her to demand a full scale discussion on the matter.”
“She seemed to consider it last night, but I think your mood after your exchange with the other Bearers drove her to give you some time to yourself.”
Twilight felt her heart sink into her stomach. Everyone had seen. That entire exchange had played out in the middle of the dance floor, regardless of whether or not someone overheard, they could see and read plenty from posture and expression alone.
Now how might that tinge the meeting in the public eye?
The young Princess of the Seekers could almost hear those doubting whispers of her kin just over her shoulder. Sireadh Firinn would never have made such a misstep, no matter how slighted she might have felt. Only a sickly little nymph would think herself so bold to make such a scene out in the open.
A proper Seeker, a proper changeling, would make their point with subtlety and cunning, in ways that none could confirm but all would know.
“What do we have planned today?” Twilight asked softly.
“Not much.” Silín turned her gaze up, thinking a moment. “She’s expecting you for breakfast, of course. I believe she was hoping to have you meet with some of the military personnel in the city later in the afternoon, if you’re feeling up to it.”
“No parliamentary address or speech?”
Silín shook her head. “Not yet, I think. Though, I do believe she spoke of such an address after you had the chance to meet with individual leaders or committees. That said—“ the leader of the Black Helmets flicked an ear “—she did wish to speak with you privately this morning.”
Suddenly, Twilight felt a chill down her spine.
Celestia didn’t exactly call private meetings after someone made a scene without purpose.
Well, I did make my bedpod. It’s only fitting that I now lay in it. Nodding, Twilight turned the faucets with an almost absentminded work of magic. “Breakfast at sunrise it is, then,” she mused, noting the slow crawl of purples and pinks creeping across Luna’s night sky. “Would you mind polishing my regalia?”
Silín Labrais bowed and stepped back out of the room. “Of course, Your Highness,” she demurred. “Call me if you need anything.”
As her friend pulled the washroom door closed, Twilight let her shoulders sag. What a day.
A single day.
She stepped into the water, shivering at the sudden rush of heat. Maybe they were right to question me back in the Assembly Hall.
It came as some solace that Twilight could share a quiet moment or two with her eldest surrogate aunt. Even if it meant an inevitable lecture on her behavior.
Such time was precious, rarely afforded due to their distance and, well, the fact that slipping away to go visit a young changeling princess wasn’t exactly something Celestia could just do on a lark without raising a cargo ship worth off questions. And traveling to Canterlot? While disguises certainly didn’t diminish the value of their walks, it didn’t quite hold the same feeling as those Twilight could enjoy in Halla Eolaís. So, this, while tinged by the subject, was quite a novelty.
And who knew when she might enjoy such an opportunity again?
It was Celestia who broke their silence first. “You seemed to enjoy your dancing last night,” she said, her eyes lingering on a nearby bust of some unicorn scholar of old.
“I was pleased to find so many willing partners,” Twilight replied in much the same tone. “Though none bold enough to try changeling dances.”
“Not everypony has such exotic tastes as my niece or Shining Armor,” came her teasing reply. “You looked radiant.”
Her cheeks coloring, Twilight glanced up at her surrogate aunt. “I wasn’t sure how they would think of me in a dress after the wedding.”
Celestia arched a delicate brow. “I didn’t mean your dress, you silly nymph. I meant you. And your partners, for that matter.” A smile playing upon her lips, she wished her tail, adding, “I feared you might dance alone all night unless Cadence dragged Shining back to the floor.”
“I thought the same.” Grinning, Twilight gave a merry chitter. “I might have grabbed him myself.”
They shared matching smiles and continued on their walk, that momentary escape from the oncoming lecture a welcome one to be certain. Twilight let her eyes flit away from Celestia. Instead, she found solace in the a bare spot on the wall a bit up the hallway. Right between a pair of paintings of Celestia and Luna, far younger by the gleam in their eyes and the pre unification style clothing they wore.
Oh. And the fact that they wielded three Elements each.
A few nigh impossible, by the hive’s estimates.
“Yes,” Celestia’s voice brought her back to present. “You were quite radiant. Though, I daresay, a bit more so with those lovely mares who caught your eye. And perhaps that young pegasus stallion.”
Her cheeks coloring, Twilight ducked her head. “Are you planning to tease me before Cadence even has a chance?” she muttered.
A prickling sensation on the back of her neck, like needles poking her carapace, told Twilight of the little smirk the elder princess wore. “Now, honey, would I rob one surrogate niece of the right to tease the other?” A gentle hoof tussled her mane, she glanced up and was met with a hint of slyness in those eyes. “Especially when her Ladybug had so many ponies agape at how well she danced.”
Twilight waited for the other horseshoe to drop. It surely would. Any second.
“Part of the plan, as it were,” she replied. “Dancing with Cadence and Shiny was just a thrill, but the rest was more trying to get the crowd to stop shying away.” And stop that horrid gossiping. “Though, I think I might have them and Mr. Pants and Mrs. De Lis for that. Their asking to join me for a ceilí did more than my aimless shuffling, I’m sure.”
Here, Celestia committed an act so brazen, so improper those hoity-toity ponies with too many riches and noses in the low stratosphere would have almost certainly had a heart attack:
She snorted.
“You call that aimless shuffling?” she asked, her expression one of utmost incredulity.
The young princess squirmed beneath her gaze. “Kinda? For us.”
Celestia’s expression held a second longer, then she turned her eyes skyward and shook her head. “As long as I’ve known your mother and father and your grandparents before them, you and your kin never cease to amaze me with your ways, I swear.” She stopped her teasing just long enough to resume that kindly smile and say, “You had them enraptured, you silly nymph. I daresay you might have been on your way to achieving your goal.”
Her chitinous ears flicked. There was the angle.
Might have been on her way.
Might, indeed.
Twilight blew a deep breath through her nose and found an interesting speck on the marble floor to occupy herself. “Yeah,” she murmured.
“Oh, come now, Twilight. I may call you a nymph, but we’re both adults. Surely you can look me in the eye when we talk.”
She felt the little jolt within her veins. Celestia knew just which button to push to coax that old pride forth, and just enough to get what she wanted.
Damn.
Slowly, the young princess lifted her chin so she could look her surrogate aunt in the eye. “You saw,” she said softly.
Celestia gave a solemn nod. “The results, yes. But I’ve not heard your side of the tale. I would like to, if you don’t mind sharing.”
Twilight gave voice to her discontent with a low, guttural sound the likes of which could have never come from a pony’s throat. But her respect for Celestia and all she’d done for Sireadh Firinn and Eolas overrode even the most nymphish desire to bite her tongue and refuse to speak purely out of shame and worry.
There would already be fallout for her choices. What more could a recounting to Celestia do but make her feel like an utter fool for her antics?
More so than currently, anyway.
Resignation weighing heavy upon her shoulders, Twilight recounted everything she could think of about the evening. From the time she and Silín left her suite, to the frightened stares and horrified whispered comments about her mother, Magic, her fangs, her race, everything she ever stood for since the day she’d hatched. From how those horrified whispers turned into poisonous hissing slander upon her as she stepped hoof into the ballroom, to the burn that filled her chest and how her blood demanded repayment for Rarity’s contribution, all the way through her dances with friends, partygoers, and Fluttershy and that confrontation.
And through it all, Celestia stayed silent, simply content to listen while they walked. Every so often, she would either flick an ear at something she deemed important or tilt her head to one side as if considering herself in a similar situation.
Perhaps she was.
By the time Twilight finished, they had come to private portion of the East Wing, where one who Celestia deemed favorable could join her for more private conversations. A familiar place for the young princess, though certainly not in this form.
It was all familiar, really. So many times she’d spent wandering these very halls with Celestia and Luna, complaining about how the other Seekers looked at her, while they listened patiently and offered advice.
At least this time she didn’t need to come up with any clever euphemisms for her hive or changeling issues in general.
And, just as familiar as the scene, was the way in which Celestia smiled and laid a hoof upon her shoulder before beginning to speak.
“Oh, my dear, sweet little nymph,” she said as she had so many times before. “You remind me so much of Luna, your mother, and myself in our younger years.”
Twilight blinked. “I do?”
The Princess of Day laughed. “Young, driven by ambition and emotion, and impulsive in your own right. Some stories, you’ve not heard, but the three of us weren’t always the wise, nurturing figures most see.” Her smile as bright as the noontime sun, she added, “You, my dear, fall into the rather perplexing position of being neither wrong, nor right.”
“That makes …” her voice trailed off, Twilight wrinkled her snout. “Incredibly little sense.”
“Does it?” Those purple eyes danced. “Come now, what about our lessons? How many times did I give you some logic or moral question that you found so maddeningly complicated until you realized there were several ways to address the issue? And how many times did you find one even I hadn’t considered?”
Twilight bit her lip, her ears splaying. That she had. And, indeed, the little nymph she’d been would have relished such a notion of many right ways rather than one.
Before she could offer an answer, Celestia turned toward a portrait of Luna and herself standing alongside a pair of unnamed unicorns—unnamed to all save Twilight and the Seekers.
“I remember when your parents favored these faces,” Celestia mused. “We were all so young. Your mother and I used to bicker over philosophy while Luna and your father laughed behind our backs. But she taught me quite a lot in those days. Among them, the notion that there is always something we could do differently if we took just a moment or two extra to think.”
That certainly sounded like the wisdom of Sireadh Firinn. Though, not in the usual manner.
“I was expecting you would be upset with me,” Twilight admitted. “That I’d let our penchant for balancing scales and answering slights damage relations further.”
Celestia shook her head. “Oh, no matter how the years pass or how much time I spend with your parents, your kin, and even you, my dear, the oddities of changeling logic and mores amaze me to this day.” She turned quickly and tapped Twilight on the forehead with the tip of her golden-shoed hoof. “And let’s be honest, visiting royalty voicing her offense at those around her speaking rudely about her might sting some ponies’ sensibilities, but I hardly think a moment of temper could do near as much as another Queen trying to usurp the throne.”
Though she no doubt meant to reassure, Twilight couldn’t help but wince at the mention of Chrysalis.
“That said,” Celestia continued, “while I don’t necessarily agree or approve of how you chose to voice your displeasure in such a public, formal setting, I can’t pretend that you had no reason to feel slighted in that setting.” Sighing, she turned her eyes skyward. “Nor that Rarity doesn’t need a reminder that her penchant for gossip might lead to problems in the future.”
Snorting, Twilight glared down at the marble. “It’ll get her on the wrong side of someone who will do more than just make a point in front of a crowd,” she grumbled.
Another tap on her forehead earned another inequine rumble, but Celestia didn’t so much as blink. “True, and it’s a lesson she may very well have learned at your hooves last night. However—” she turned toward that picture once more, rustling her feathers “—it is one of many lessons she could have learned, as your mother would say. Decided by your own thought process.”
“I’m not entirely sure I follow.”
“Then, perhaps we’ll return to a happier time. Your nymphhood, I think, dictates that the best way to teach you lessons like this, is through a story. And I have just the story in mind. Come, this is one more suited for privacy.”
The Princess of Day unfurled and draped a wing across Twilight’s shoulders, steering her down the corridor toward a lone side door Twilight knew to lead straight out into the Royal Gardens. A hidden entrance, one of three her surrogate aunts had shown her.
“For ease of slipping out for a breath of air unabated,” as Luna once said with a meaningful wink.
Celestia pushed the door open with a little nudge of magic and led Twilight out into the warm sunlight. Before them, a verdant garden awash with carnations, roses of red, white, violet, and pink, daisies, moonflowers, and more. Certainly more than Twilight could name, no matter how often she visited. A pair of blue jays flitted about among the branches of a star oak while a grumpy squirrel emerged from its hole to chatter angrily at them for disturbing his rest.
A little slice of nature Celestia and Luna had kept pristine among the marble they’d forged their city.
Twilight drank in the sweet scents wafting through the air and felt the muscles in her neck and shoulders relax. But not so much she lost track of herself.
“So,” she said, glancing up at her aunt out of the corner of her eye. “What’s this story about mom you mentioned?”
“One of my favorites,” Celestia answered. “Has Sireadh ever told you of Tecton the Earthshaker?”
The Princess of the Seekers nodded once. “He was a smith and an earth pony warrior famed for his part in the campaigns against gryphons raiding farming towns in the northeast,” she recited. “There were legends that he could split ledges off the side of rock formations with a single stomp.”
Chuckling, Celestia shook her head, her prismatic mane flowing in the breeze. “Tecton would be flattered to hear his praise endured, as he most certainly loved hearing it in life. He was strong, brave, brash, and stubborn, like so many heroes in that time. But unlike some, he didn’t much care to recall his humble roots before the gryphons came to his town.” Her lips twitched. “You might guess how your mother liked a burly stallion who boasted and posed for his adoring public.”
“Not in the slightest, I’d guess.”
“You’d be very wrong. We were all rather close friends of his.”
Blanching, Twilight turned and regarded her through narrow eyes. “Are you having me on? My mother hates braggarts almost as much as you hate coffee.”
“Now, now, don’t exaggerate. Your mother can’t possibly match my disdain for coffee.” Winking, Celestia turned to nibble at the petals of a pink rose. One of her favorite snacks. “Yes, Tecton did grate on our nerves with his cavorting. Oh, especially your mother’s.” She wiped the smile off her face and adopted a colder, more regal expression. Sireadh Firinn’s patented stern ruler face. “Tecton,” she said in a rather fair imitation of the changeling Queen, “I promise your reflection looks the same as it did five minutes ago, but if you don’t stop posing for yourself, I can’t promise the same five minutes from now.”
Twilight’s brows disappeared beneath her bangs. “Now that sounds more like her. Though … maybe not so overt on the threat.”
Celestia held up a hoof and said, “Ah, but I did mention that we were much younger. And, also, Tecton … well, let’s just say he had a lot in common with the stones he could crush beneath his hooves.”
“Thick?”
“Quite. Luna’s crush lasted little more than a minute before she realized he’d never be one for a more educated conversation, but she did enjoy his humor.” She shrugged. “But I digress. One day, Tecton started arguing back with your mother. I think it was because he had a bunch of mares fawning over him while he lifted the bench they were sitting on.” Chuckling, she swished her tail. “Your mother tolerated it for a while, but when the shrieking laughter got to a point where the four of us had to keep raising our voices to be heard, she got out of her chair and stomped over to them and got right in Tecton’s face.”
The young princess could just picture it. Her mother, disguised as that unicorn in the picture, maybe just taller than Twilight, glaring up at a mountain of a stallion, barely restraining the urge to let out a hiss and let her eyes glow.
She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m guessing she ripped into him.”
“Worse.” Celestia giggled. “She encouraged him.”
“C-Come again?”
To her surprise, Celestia nodded gravely. “Your mother looked him in the eye and told him she was unimpressed, and that he should stop wasting the mares’ time with foolish games. Tecton was stunned, but he put the bench down and asked her what would impress her.” Rolling her eyes, she said, “Your mother could so play up the altiloquent mare when she wished, especially with her vocabulary. She turned away and turned up her nose, and told him that he’d have to do more than lift a bench with a few mares on it if he wanted to really impress somepony. Naturally, he took the bait, and promptly harnessed himself to a cart meant to be pulled by four and took it twice around the town. Your mother yawned when he returned.”
Twilight found her smile spreading, a chitter of mirth bubbling forth from within her chest. “Let me guess, he kept running off to do bigger, more challenging things and she’d just keep acting like she couldn’t possibly care less.”
“Right in one.” The Princess of Day breathed a fond sigh. “I thought they’d keep going all day, but he finally collapsed in a heap after some cockamamie bet, your mother still unimpressed and challenging him to do something worth her attention. This time, at last, he refused.”
“Did he?” Her ears perking, Twilight tilted her head. “That doesn’t sound like the stallion in the stories at all.”
“It doesn’t, no. But this was where he started to mature. Tecton refused and simply told her nothing he did would impress her.” Here, her smile was not so much bright, but warm. As warm as the first touch of dawn’s light. “Your mother placed a jug of water in front of him and told him that he just had. The look on his face that moment has lasted me over a thousand years.”
The words hung in the air a moment, a deliberate move meant to allow Twilight ample time to imaging the scene herself.
It took little time at all for both she and Celestia to burst into laughter and merry chittering, a gentle wing slid up to wrap around her shoulders and pulled her in close. The Princess of the Seekers leaned against her side, content. Happy.
Like she was years ago. Before the wedding. Before her temper overrode logic and drove a deeper wedge between herself and the other Bearers.
Her good humor evaporated in an instant. The story was lovely, of course, as all stories of her parents’ younger years with her surrogate aunts tended to be. But how exactly did that relate to her actions at the party?
“So, mom taught him a lesson rather than yelling at him,” Twilight surmised aloud. “But I just made a scene.”
“You returned an offense tit for tat, as your nature demanded,” Celestia corrected. “Not inherently wrong, but perhaps a missed opportunity. Easy to miss without an extra second’s thought.”
She withdrew her wing and folded it against her side, and walked a few slow steps ahead. Humming, Celestia turned her eyes skyward and said, “I suppose it’s more that I see a route that you might have taken if you’d thought to consider the longterm rather than pursuing a short term resolution to a very valid offense against your kin. And yourself, for that matter.”
Twilight cocked an ear to one side, her mouth open as if to speak.
There was a point to considering longterm goals over the short term. That much, her parents had taught her. Especially in research.
But also in trickery. Planning for goals in the future yielded more profitable results than a quick con or a deal made in haste.
Or in anger.
She let her shoulders sag, a hoof came up to rub at her forehead. “What would the longterm planner in my mother have done, then?” she asked, her voice betraying her tired frustration.
“One can never be sure what she might do, but I can tell you what time given for thought during our walk has allowed me to see as your alternative. Similar to Tecton’s story.” She held up a hoof as if offering a plate of food. “On one hoof, yes, the instant satisfaction in putting somepony in their place and teaching them that their offenses were noticed and unappreciated is understandable and does get the point across. But—” she set her hoof down, raising the other “—alternatively, what if you’d instead returned her smile with one of your own and held her close, and just allowed her to see not a changeling walking among her potential source of food, but yourself. Let her watch Twilight Sparkle interact with family, friends, everyday ponies on the street, and have it fly in the face of her views until she herself recognizes the mistake and reconsiders her view. And, perhaps …”
She approached Twilight and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “She might feel just the tiniest hint of shame at having thought such unkind things about a visitor trying to help two nations mend ties.”
Twilight stood stock still, her jaw tightening and nostrils flaring as she let the notion register.
Then, she closed her eyes and let out a low utterance of curses in Old Changeling.
“It would have accomplished everything I wanted in that moment,” she admitted. “And mom would’ve done it herself, and wouldn’t have made a mess of everything because of it.”
Celestia drew back and laughed. “Oh, Twilight, you’ve not done anything to make a mess of relations that any other dignitary hasn’t. Far less, in fact.” She patted Twilight’s shoulder, drawing her in for a warm embrace. “Now, about breakfast.”
“Oh.” Twilight’s ears perked up. “That’s right. Silín mentioned you wanted to have breakfast together.”
“Oh, did she?” A familiar, knowing smile played upon her lips. The sort Celestia always seemed to wear when she had some sort of surprise waiting. “Good. Very good. Then let’s head back inside, shall we?”
There were few ponies who could send shivers down a changeling’s spine by tone alone.
Celestia was at the top of the list.
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I do believe I like Twilight's mom in this story rather a great deal.
So...Bearers at the breakfast table?
9522083
Oh undoubtedly. And knowing Celestia, she had Sunset and Twilight either sitting directly next to each other, or on either side of her, across from each other.
9522086
I’d think the hate would make her physically ill with that close a proximity. Also she should really just tell Sunset to blame Celestia. She was the one who asked it to be taken in the first place.
I do like this celestia. It's altogether rare to get one that runs as well lessons of statecraft as delicate as a spider plucking a web woven of silk. Little ripples throughout the web of her realm, a right maestro of one.
Well done.
Always interesting to hear about the last D&D group. This one is so not ready for Discord, though.
See I simply don't agree with Celestia's second option here. Ignoring a slight against your person and instead still holding aloft the hand (or hoof) of friendship just gives the being who slighted you explicit permission to continue slighting you because they now think it is okay to do so. Regardless of whether this option paints you in a better light or not, the person who slighted you and others around you will simply see you as weak for letting the rudeness continue unchecked.
Dignity in stoicism. To allow oneself to be affected by other's words is to give them power over you.
Sinister breakfast? Methinks you left us at a cliffhanger of what could quite possibly be the most hostile breakfast with the bearers elements of harmony to ever exist. And now I can't wait for more!
all the bearers plus luna, and cadence and shiny armor are going to be there, with twilight sitting either between luna and celestia who will treat her like a child in front of everyone making the other bearers laugh or be stun at how the princess are treat twilight, or twilight between sunset and rarity
9522160
Aye, it honestly sounds like the same naive, non-committal "advice" people like to give on bullies (having never had to deal with one themselves): just ignore it and he will go away. Yeah ... no. That's not how reality works. That's just taken as permission to keep doing what they are doing, because why wouldn't they. You want them to stop, you have to actually do something about it.
Celestia came off as the opposite of wise in this situation (or, fittingly enough, as a non-committing politician that she is) and the story she told about Twilight's mother is completely non-applicable to this situation, considering the circumstances, motivations and the personal relationships of those involved had nothing in common. It's apples to pancakes, not even oranges.
Ah I was looking forward to this aftermath (just about as much as I look forward to every new chapter, which is ALOT) and was very pleased with the results. How understanding Celestia is about the changeling's nature and how an extra second or two of thought could change a situation. This is real-life relate-able, taking an extra moment to T.H.I.N.K. instead of acting solely on instinct.
I'm not quite sure I see the relevance of the Tecton story to the current situation, but I would wholeheartedly agree with Celestia on her larger point. Answering malice with malice just lets the malice breed.
Is Tecton in the habit of eating several dozen eggs daily?
9522160
9522379
Could you point out the exact line and paragraph where Celestia says to IGNORE a slight against one's person? Because I can quote the exact line and paragraph where she says to specifically NOT IGNORE a slight, but instead address it in a more subtle way than outright pointing the slight out.
9522379
9522160
Twilight could have been the bigger mare here and then escalated her responses later in Rarity's behavior had continued.
Not to mention this specific person is ridiculously emotional and would respond better to a friendly oveture, something Celestia knows.
breakfast is going to be very interesting for young twilight i feel, also i dont know if this can be said enough but i love how you word things and describe them perfectly to make it one feel as though they were really there experiencing it first hand i love that about writers who do that and enjoy their writing so much that they can do that easily well done and cant wait for the next chapter
Whilst I agree with other folk's sentiment that Celestia's advice comes across as overly naive, I would remark that it seems much more valid when taken in light of her common character portrayal as a savvy social engineer.
It's easy to read her alternative as "Ignore the bully and things will work out in your favour because you're a good person". But the emphasis isn't on a lack of action so much as Rarity witnessing how wrong she was. Do you imagine that in Twilight's position Celestia would simply turn the other cheek? Or, rather, be working exhaustively behind the scenes to ensure that Rarity sees how wrong she is? Arranging for her to be present for friendly exchanges, nudging ponies like Fancy and Fleur to counter her opinion and so on.
Which I expect is exactly what she's up to. I for one am looking forward to The Most Awkward Breakfast.
9522495 Except approaching it subtly is essentially ignoring it in the hopes that Rarity would "learn from her mistake." If you fail to address the slight right off the bat, it'll simply continue to grow and fester. Because while you are attempting to do things subtly and with kindness, a vast majority of the time the bullying simply going to take advantage of your subtly.
9522486
Nooo one... Brags like Tecton!
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I would refer you to 9522541 comment, as they explain the other side of the argument better than I could.
The most sinister breakfast ever
9522486 9522559
And it makes him the size of a barge.
9522160
Oh, but that's the beauty of this chapter, though! Neither view's totally or inherently wrong or right, as Celestia noted at the start of the conversation. There are upside and downsides to both sides of the argument, and it really boils down to who you want to be as an individual on which would've been best suited.
Celestia presents a counterargument to Twilight's tactics, but she presents it in such a way that it doesn't necessarily invalidate what Twilight ultimately did either. I'm quite confident that Twilight can pull through and accomplish what she is set out to accomplish either way in the end, and I think Celestia believes the same. She just points out that either viewpoint can and will bring differing results and, in turn, differing views of the speaker who utters them, and would naturally require differing paths and actions to get to the same end goal in the end.
If anything, I would argue that Celestia's trying more to point out to Twilight to think ahead and consider how her actions may influence future events, in relation to the goals Twilight is here to try and accomplish, and to try and be aware of where the paths she chooses might end up leading her. A sort of a subtle "cause and effect" lesson, if you will.
It's gonna be a very awkward breakfast isn't it ?
And why can't Celestia just be clear? If what she really means is "You were wrong" then just say it instead of going on some lengthy spiel to make yourself sound wise. This seems like an unnecessarily roundabout way to talk for equals.
9522840 Because I like racking up Dumbledore points.
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I can practically guarantee that Rarity is at the breakfast, along with the other element bearers.
9522840
Gonna say it's habit. Celestia spent a thousand years without actual equals, and telling her little ponies they wrong sounds exceptionally hurtful from The Royal Mom Princess
9522840
The foolishness of subtlety at its finest. The path that was suggested Twilight's mom would've taken simply would not have borne any fruit, as all parties involved have forgotten that people... don't generally have the ability to read lessons counter to their beliefs out of such observed actions alone.
That's not to say I'd do exactly the same as Twilight though. I would express willingness to share what they wanted to know in private, lest it come across as embarrassing for aby of them. If they accepted, all well and good, if they declined, then oh well, and only if they demanded I speak then and there would I continue. THEN the ensuing shame would be their own faults, even in their own minds.
9522720 I suppose you could be correct, but my point still stands: As someone who has spent a good portion of his life being bullied, bullies just wont give up and feel bad if you decide to show them "your good side". They will simply keep doing as they always have, with the added caveat that they're now laughing at you for attempting to play nice and make friends. And regardless of what anyone else says, Rarity was acting as a regular bully would. The relationship with Fluttershy can later be repaired, as can her relationship with Rarity once the gossip queen understands that a Seeker Princess isn't going to abide a bully. But trying to make nice to a bully has a far greater potential of ruining future attempts to make peace with the ponies as opposed to just putting the bully in their place.
This is a lesson I had to learn at a very early age.
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And I'm not in total disagreement with that. I recognize that Celestia's approach would at best delay a resolution to the problem, a resolution they have to have at some point in order for their goals to be accomplished. But that being said, I also know that the philosophy of taking an eye for an eye ultimately just leaves everybody blind in the end, with nobody really the better for it, and with the situation being so very sensitive, that's not necessarily going to help either. Like I said, there are upsides and downsides to both arguments.
In all honesty, probably the best tactic to have taken would've been something that was right down the middle of these two approaches. Not that it matters now, though. As Twilight noted in the chapter, she's already made her bed pod, now she gets to sleep in it regardless of what Celestia or everyone else thinks. She's committed herself to this stage of the path.
9522160
You're assuming that Rarity is actually a bully who intentionally bullys others and enjoys it. Celestia's approach assumes that Rarity is a nice pony who will change her behaviour once she sees it in a different light.
I'd agree with Celestia here. Not sure how this affects the surrounding nobles though.
9524400 Only a bully would act as Rarity did right off the bat without even attempting to offer the benefit of a doubt. Like, I get that Chrysalis did some pretty nasty things, but just looking at Twilight and the Seekers is enough to know that, while they are collectively Changelings, there are different types of Changelings as well, and so you should not assume they are all the same. Just as there are different types of ponies, and you should not assume all of them are the same in their ideals or thoughts.
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And, perhaps, there are different types of people who say nasty things, and not all of them have the standard "bully" mentality that you're insisting on.
Just a thought.
My my... so much going on here. Not too surprising to see Twilight already agonizing over her decision even before talking to Celestia... I mean she already lost her satisfaction with it upon seeing Fluttershy. I'm a little surprised her 'balancing' thing didn't take into account just how understandable the animosity is. Changelings other than Chrysalis' hive have been very secretive towards ponies, per racial policy. Example: Twilight was impressed that Sunset even knew the proper name for her people. Clearly it's not common knowledge. So ponies know... the invasion. Yeah, nearly having your way of life destroyed and replaced with mind control enhanced slavery would probably stick in your memory. I mean I can't speak from personal experience, but...
And yet Twilight didn't factor that in. She also didn't factor in that she knew Rarity didn't really mean it. Twi knew that, being the empath that she is. She made it clear when addressing the matter; Hell I nearly quoted it there. And yet, still... that response...? Eh, as Celestia said, she wasn't wrong. No matter Rarity's motivations, it was a shit thing to say and striking back wasn't wrong. But... it wasn't necessarily the most right, eh? "It's possible to make no wrong moves and still lose."~ is one of those weird phrases that doesn't really work if you take it too seriously. 'Well I lost, so they must have been wrong moves, right?' More like predicting that far ahead wasn't within reasonable expectations. It's the same here. Twilight's being pretty hard on herself but... she's young and her experiences haven't taught her everything about how this game can be played. It wasn't the wrong move, but going forward it wasn't the strongest play available. The irony of having an empath who lacked empathy.
She also could have considered this: Rarity is Generosity's Bearer. Now this (clearly) doesn't mean she's perfect, but it does mean she's a good enough pony to have Celestia's trust. Otherwise, her house would have gotten the Shimmer treatment, and maybe another Changeling would have Generosity (there's another irony, at least on the surface of it). As such, there was even further reason to let the slight go, at least for the present, and see how it played out. She didn't do that though. So now we have this. Who's looking forward to breakfast? I could go for some pancakes... with coffee (bite me, Tia, you and I ain't done here anyway).
Honestly, the animosity and mistrust in the room was completely to be expected. Just as Rarity made a bad first impression, so too did the Changeling race. Differentiate because Twi looks different? Chrysalis doesn't look like her drones, and hell who cares what they look like; they're bucking shapeshifters. Twi could be Chrysalis' top lieutenant, subtly shifted and back to lull ponies into a false sense of security. Who can say otherwise? The princesses? They didn't spot fake Cadance, now did they? Nope. So of goddamn course ponies are feeling a bit mulish (heh). Celestia might have headed that off by letting them know who was coming to dinner, but I assume she never educated them about Changelings at the Hives' request, so probably a little late to start now... or at least late enough that she may as well let Twilight handle it (oh hey, it's like canon!).
That didn't enter Twi's mind either: that even at best most ponies have nothing to go on here. It was too early to condemn a negative initial reaction, and she's getting that.
I'm glad she took something good away from that story Celestia told. Honestly I found it a little disturbing. I mean, the poor guy is trying to impress some ladies using the only talent he's got, and Sireadh just basically emasculates him because he's being too loud? Oh, but then she rewards him when he finally caves to her opinion (or just gives up because he's finally realized she doesn't care about anything he does other than shutting up). ...Kinda reminds me of my first ex, so maybe that's my cross to bear. And I do see the similarities here. Rather than just calling him out as a loud, boorish lout (her friend, ladies and gentlemen, and a fine friend she must have been), she gave him the chance to learn for himself. I... don't quite know what he's learning, but he learned it. Felt like inverse blank flank bullying, or a reverse Taming of the Shrew (and that play did not age well, imo), and the fact that she was impressed meant there was a chance he'd fail. Failing here would almost certainly have entailed hurting himself trying to impress her, so that's a bit harsh (again, these are friends). But Twilight took away a good message in that she could give somepony like Rarity a chance to swim, or sink herself deeper, rather than torpedoing immediately. I'd say that's pretty good advice. Not universally applicable, sometimes a jerk is just a jerk, but given that Twilight knew Rarity was just going through the motions AND a Bearer... yeah, probably good advice here.
I will note another quote (and rather a famous one this time): "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." In the case of Rarity... I found it a bit disturbing that Twilight defaulted to the idea that 'she should keep her mouth shut, lest she offend someone with a shorter temper than me.' We've got readers calling Rarity a bully... but that right there? Bully speak. 'Shut your mouth before someone shuts it for you.' Yikes. Twilight? You okay?
I mean I guess she has a point. Like, say some less even-keeled Changeling hears Rarity make that remark. What's next? That Changeling goes for vengeance! He replaces somepony in Rarity's family, gets close to her to infiltrate the Canterlot elite, and plan an invasion that... oh wait that was last week. Disregard.
And Twi? If you're saying that... practice what you preach. Rarity made a (stupid, stupid) comment that offended one person in the room. Your rejoinder? That may have been aimed at her, but I'd wager a large number (with sharper fangs than yours, in your words) also felt the sting of it. You're not worried about reprisals... but Rarity should? ...You sure you're okay?
Kid's got a long way to go.
Edit: I don't normally edit my comments, and I've changed nothing that I typed above but... let me make it clear in case the volume of words doesn't (because I just reread it and realized I left this out). This story really gets into the heads and motivations of the characters and the world around them. It presents some amazing characters who are both flawed and likable in ways that have me picking at them while rooting for them. It's rare that a chapter this size is all I do during an 8 hour shift (you know, other than working), but it's been very thought provoking. If you take nothing else away from a bit of deconstruction like this, keep that in mind. If you're wondering about this fic and somehow this comment is the first you see? This one is worth your time. Upvoted.
That's the worst position. You want to be right, but you might make a fool of yourself if you insist so.
I dislike moral quandaries if only for the fact that I can't get my thoughts straight when thinking about them.
Ah, the self doubt appears! I think it's worsened in Twilight, in addition to her physical background, she's a serious academic, and academics like to question everything, themselves included in Twilight's case.
Ah, hindsight. Celestia-assisted hindsight no less. Nasty stuff, but undeniably educational.
As for the advice... Well, it's rumor versus reality, and the problem there is that there's dozens of gossiping courtiers and only one Twilight. Still, with all eyes on her, she could likely have drowned out most if not all of the slander... for a while. I'm not sure, but I should probably trust the mare who's been doing this sort of maneuvering for a very long time indeed.
In any case, this will certainly be a breakfast to remember.
More?
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place bet on who going to cause a sense, I say it be Candace by get fluttershy and twilight to sit next to each other with cadence next to twilight and shiny armor next to fluttershy. oh and both princess right across from her,
You've made me into an addict of bugsparkles... Damnit... This is freaking good though. Slow going but still super good to read. Looking forward to future chapters though I have a tiny hope it won't get "too" dark with the plot later on :) Keep up the good work!
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You should read Law Abiding Pony's Of the Hive fics. A quite different take on Changeling Twilight, but still a fun read.
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Link please? I'm interested in Twibug too. X)