"Warmonger?" Twilight echoed.
"Indeed. It's almost a shame; in darker times, I might have welcomed a mare like Thunderhoof. I don't know why she went into the Wonderbolts rather than a more martial division of the EUP, but she rose through the ranks with incredible speed." Celestia lit her horn and pulled out a thin volume from under the tea table. Though yellowed with age, the Wonderbolt emblem on the cover was still clear. "The old gazettes in the Canterlot Archives contain some of the only remaining images of her."
Twilight turned each page with the care and respect owed to a publication of that age, even if it was essentially an old sports magazine. Soon enough, she found a group shot of the entire Wonderbolt roster of the time, all of them with the stiff and dour expressions of ponies waiting minutes for the lengthy exposure process of a doggerreotype* to finish.
* Lucky Doggerre revolutionized photography, cutting down exposure times from hours to a mere fifteen minutes. No prizes for guessing his species.
Thunderhoof stood front and center, her build similar to Rainbow Dash, not small so much as aerodynamic. Even in the picture, she gave a sense of tension beyond that of holding still for the camera, like a coiled spring ready to release its energy explosively. The sepia tones of the old photo brought Daring Do to mind. "She seems... intense," said Twilight.
"Very much so. Thunderhoof was a mare with little patience for nuance or shades of gray. She knew what she wanted and took it without shame or hesitation." Celestia sighed. "Unfortunately, what she wanted more than anything was an Equestria more proactive in its defense."
Twilight blew out an irritated snort. "If you're trying to shame me into cancelling that list of threats at large, it's not working."
"No, that was definitely a wise decision. But Thunderhoof would see having even one entry on that list as a gross failure on the part of every member of Equestria's military, up to and including me. Especially me. She believed that my permitting enemies to exist was a violation of the tenets of Harmony."
"I take it the concept of Kindness was lost on her."
Celestia shook her head. "She could be kind. She just saw no reason to extend kindness to her foes beyond swift elimination. Indeed, she took it even further than that." Her expression grew confused. "Even today, I don't understand how she convinced herself that Harmony could somehow be forced upon other nations. She wanted to wage war not just to conquer lands, but to overthrow entire cultures."
"But, but..." Twilight's thoughts reeled at the incomprehensible concept. "That's an inherent contradiction. By its very nature, Harmony must be something that emerges organically, by choice. Sure the Elements can bring it to bear as a tangible, magical force, but as a philosophy? At best, Thunderhoof's approach would get something like Ourtown."
Celestia shuddered. "I fear Thunderhoof's vision of Harmony would be far darker than an isolated town of talentless ponies. Sadly, while you may see the errors in her argument, many did not. And she was nearly as talented with persuasion as she was with warcraft."
Twilight swallowed, dreading her next question. "How many did she convince?"
"I don't have an exact number, but I do know that it began in the Wonderbolts. If you read that gazette, you'll see how she'd already turned them into a cult of personality. But by the time I realized the depths of her delusions, the country was weeks away from civil war."
"What!?" Twilight nearly fell out of her seat, her wings splaying out in shock. "But... you have literal centuries of political experience. How could anypony undermine you to that degree?"
Celestia smiled, the warm, sincere sort she wore when she didn't need to fake any of her joy. "It's good to see you haven't lost all your faith in me."
"I..." Twilight folded into herself as she reflected on her earlier words. "I never meant to imply—"
Celestia shook her head. "I neither expect nor want you to spend your entire life under my wing, Twilight. Even I need ponies who will stand up to me and question my judgement. I am neither flawless nor omniscient." She still smiled, though it took a turn for the rueful. "I'm sure you remember Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding."
"Well, yes," said Twilight, "but Chrysalis was literally born to insinuate herself among unsuspecting ponies."
"True. Whereas Thunderhoof had the advantage of spending as little time as she could in Canterlot, where I had to remain to keep the country running. I only know as much as I do from investigations after the fact: Literature, testimony, a few snarled words from the mare herself."
"How did you first find out?"
"When she finally began putting creepers into Canterlot. Thunderhoof had no intent of conquering the city by force, only converting it to her side. She knew the world could not survive without me and that she'd never convince me of her beliefs, but if the rest of equinity sided with her, she'd force my hoof. For what it's worth, she'd hoped to take Canterlot with as few casualties as possible. She might have had a twisted vision, she still ultimately sought to improve lives, not destroy them."
"By going to war in some kind of perverse, self-defeating crusade for Harmony," spat Twilight.
Celestia smiled at that, a twinkle in her eye. "Ah, if you could only have met her yourself. No doubt the debate between you two would have been legendary. But I digress. Ponies more loyal to me than to Thunderhoof caught wind of her attempts to sway the masses, and I investigated the matter personally."
Twilight leaned forward, an eager grin on her muzzle. "So how did your debate with her go?"
"Quietly, and in private." Celestia chuckled quietly at Twilight's disappointed slump. "Once I knew what she was doing, I knew how to stop it. As you noted, I do have a fair amount of experience in leading my little ponies. Publically shaming or banishing Thunderhoof would have only made her a martyr and incited her followers to rise up against the solar tyrant."
Twilight quirked an eyebrow. "That sounded like a quotation at the end. Has that ever happened?"
"Look up the Sweet Potato Rebellion of 185 some time." Celestia paused for a moment, then facehoofed and groaned. "Wait, no, you can't. I had those records expunged. Not my finest hour. Or decade, really."
"Any other embarrassing little incidents you wiped off the record?"
"A few." Celestia managed to smile again, though her ears still lay flat. "I suppose restoring them will be my next assignment, Headmare Twilight?"
Twilgiht found herself grinning in spite of herself. "Ask me again when I'm in a better mood." She collected herself and said, "So what happened with Thunderhoof?"
"It took some time, but we were eventually able to strike a compromise. Thunderhoof didn't want a civil war any more than I did, and if nothing else, we agreed that there was no way for her to mobilize Equestria without one."
"That's..." Twilight took a moment to analyze her mental state. "Is it weird that I find that anticlimactic?"
Celestia's smile grew more genuine as she poured a fresh cup of tea and reheated it with a thought. "Given our respective track records, I imagine you expected a combination of calls for reason and aerial combat, culminating in some grand magical display that sealed Thunderhoof away for a thousand years."
Twilight nodded. "That does match up well with your other confrontations that I know about."
"In this case, we were both working towards the betterment of Equestria, even if we were going about it in very different ways. As such..." Celestia's teacup danced in her telekinesis as she thought. "Well, you might say we made a wager of sorts."
"A wager?"
"Yes. Thunderhoof took her most ardent followers, the ones who were true believers and not just following the herd, to settle a remote part of the nation. I remained in Canterlot. Each of us would seek Harmony in our own way, and history would determine who found the better path."
"That's an awfully unfair advantage in your favor," said Twilight. "How'd you get her to agree to that?"
Celestia shrugged her wings. "Flattery, if I'm being honest. Thunderhoof's greatest weakness was always her ego. The right phrasing convinced her that I thought her victory was inevitable in the long run, that I was merely trading peace now for defeat later on."
Twilight considered all she'd been told. "So what you're saying is that somewhere in Equestria, there's a village raised on the belief that Harmony can and should be forced on others, that they have to demonstrate that that's better than a more sane approach, and that they're probably going to win when the time comes to do so."
"Assuming they haven't mellowed with time, yes."
Twilight took a deep breath. Calm in, stress out. "Princess, I say this with all the respect owed to you for all you've done for ponykind. but did it ever occur to you that that could lead to, you know, an army attacking Canterlot?"
"Oh, the possibility is certainly there. Until Tempest Shadow said who she was working for, I thought they were finally making their move," Celestia said with no more concern than discussing the weather.
"See, this kind of thing is precisely why I want that report," said Twilight, trying very hard not to slam her muzzle into a tablecloth that was probably five times older than her and worth twice as much.
"I know it sounds a little crazy, but based on past experience, I've found that that is the best way to handle this sort of ideological uprising. Scattering Thunderhoof's followers across Equestria would be all but begging them to form a secret society and plot my downfall."
"So instead, you let them plot it together and out in the open."
"In what was complete wilderness at the time. It is very hard to be a zealot and a firebrand when you're spending most of your time building shelters, tending to crops, or taming wild weather. The power of the bonds of community becomes self-evident when you watch that community form before your very eyes, and the hypothetical glory of combat begins to pale when cradling your newborn foal and imagining them on the wrong end of somepony's spear. I have seen the flames of worse revolutions become hearth fires several times in the past, and I imagine I will in the future." Celestia laughed to herself. "There is still a good amount of Equestria yet unclaimed, after all."
"I'd still like to investigate this town for myself. What's its name?"
"If Thunderhoof held to what she decided during our debate, Galloping Grove."
"Got it." Twilight got out of her seat, wings already spread for takeoff and her destination in sight.
"Twilight?"
She looked back to Celestia. "Yes?"
"Thank you for making sure I knew what I was doing, and not just assuming I did because I'm me."
"Um... you're welcome?" Twilight's mind boggled, and latched onto the first concrete thought it could find. "I'd still like that list." To her credit, she kept the scream internal.
Celestia simply smiled. "Of course. Have a lovely night."
"You too." Twilight took flight before she could embarrass herself further.
Two hours and five atlases later, Twilight realized that all the embarrassment in the world would've been worth the chance to ask "Where's Galloping Grove?" She'd assumed that the Canterlot Archives would have a map marked with the town. A record of its founding. A census report. Something. Only after a fruitless search did she consider that if Thunderhoof had been scrubbed from history, then the village she'd founded probably would be as well.
She groaned, moved the latest book aside, and rested her chin on the reading table. "I hate secrets."
"Right? The worst ones are the little open secrets everypony knows but nopony talks about. How do they know not to?"
"It's like all the other unwritten social rules. Everypony else already knew them and assumed we did too." Twilight blinked and turned.
Sitting in the chair next to her, a mare in a ratty sweater smiled and waved. "Hey."
"Moondancer!" Twilight cried, embracing her friend.
"Shh!" The admonishment made Twilight flinch back enough for Moondancer to give her a stern glare. "I'm happy to see you too, Twilight, but this is still a library."
"It's almost nine and finals aren't coming up. We're the only ones in here." Twilight swept a hoof over the empty stacks for emphasis.
"It's the principle of the thing."
Twilight the librarian poked Twilight the world-savior, and she let her foreleg drop. "Okay, yeah, fair. I don't suppose you know where Galloping Grove is?"
After a few moments, Moondancer shook her head. "It doesn't sound familiar, but I haven't studied obscure geography for a few years now. Why do you ask?"
"I probably shouldn't tell you. I'm not sure if this is a matter of national security, but it definitely won't make me any friends if I divulge the details to every mare, hen, and jenny." Twilight groaned. "I'm probably going to have to go back to Ponyville just to have Spike send a letter to the princess."
"I mean, you are a princess yourself. Can't you go ask in person?"
"I just left." Twilight looked down as she tapped the tips of her forehooves together. "And I might not have been as polite as I could have been."
"You actually talked back to Princess Celestia. You."
"And she thanked me for it, which I'm still trying to process." Twilight sighed. "Besides, she's deep in her personal time at this point. She might even be reading a book. How could I interrupt that? And that assumes she'll even tell me rather than leaving it as an exercise for me to solve myself."
"She did always love it when we could answer our own questions." Moondancer hummed at that. "Or each other's."
"You have an idea?"
"If books..." Moondancer bit her lip, adopting an expression somewhere between frustration and nausea. "If books..."
"Moondancer?"
"Give me a second. If books... can't... help..." Moondancer gagged. "Going to need to scrub my tongue. If that's the case, then you can go ask some primary sources. Ponies whose jobs depend on them knowing every nook and cranny of Equestria."
Twilight gasped. "That's brilliant!"
"Shh!"
"Sorry. Wait, did you ever find yourself in a situation where books couldn't... couldn't..." Twilight shook her head. "Oh wow, I don't even want to think that phrase."
"Seriously. And it has come up a few times, mostly with topics where the bulk of the information was preserved through oral tradition and still hasn't been transcribed." Moondancer frowned and tugged at one of her sweater's many loose threads. "Pretty much the only social interaction I had for a while."
A pair of grumbles broke into the conversation. Both mares looked at their barrels, then laughed. "Well, how about a little social interaction and a late dinner?" said Twilight.
Moondancer beamed. "Sounds great."
Twilight glided down to Ponyville in much better spirits. That lasted exactly as long as it took to check the train station for any sign of Galloping Grove on the rail map or the posted schedules.
"Galloping Grove?" said the ticket clerk when she asked. "Never heard of it. Can't be that important if the train doesn't go there."
"Several lines end in the middle of nowhere," said Twilight. "This is an actual town."
The clerk scowled at her, then turned up his muzzle. "I'll have you know Peaks of Peril Terminal is a vital stop for our kirin riders."
"Uh huh. And how many kirin ride the train on an annual basis?"
"That's entirely besides the point."
Twilight rolled her eyes and stomped into Ponyville proper. Her ire kept her going for a few blocks before her eyes and body started to slump. Miles of flight and teleportation, the stress of confronting Celestia, and the late hour all joined forces to air their grievances.
"No fair," Twilight mumbled. "I'm s'possed to be the frien'ship princess. Yer not s'pposed to team up against me." After a jaw-stretching yawn, she pointed herself towards the castle. "Not like the post office is even still open. I'll jus'—"
Whatever Twilight was just about to do, she never said. A moment later, she fell asleep on her hooves. A few seconds after that, a contingency teleport she'd put into place after the last time that had happened sent her to her bed, lying on her side atop her sheets. The crystal that had stored the spell, hanging from the bed's headboard, burst with a faint pop that she didn't even register.
For the most part, she dreamed of standing before an audience of ecstatic lunar alicorns, eliciting stampedes of applause with every line she repeated from earlier that day. But now and again, a compact mare would scowl down at her from the rafters, and the stomps would sync up enough to sound more like a marching army than a cheering crowd.
Post office, huh? I think we all know who Twilight is going to turn to next.
Either it's gonna go to the Post office, or Luna's gonna jump in on this and wonder what the heck Celestia's been up to.
Twilight X Moondancer ship!
----
Betting Twilight gets teleported to Galloping Grove from Teleport Crystal Dust or something.
Lol if it's Starlight's hometown or something, which changed its name.
Was thinking it'd be Moondancer's hometown, given her sudden appearance, but no.
----
Typo:
To be fair to Equestrians... how many people know anything about their own country's previous century of history?
(Hint: many people can't even find their own country on a map of the world)
9557058
How many of those people who can't find their country, have seen a world map before?
This was the moment I figured out where this was going, and also felt a sense of dread.
...I ...am so mad at you right now.
You're going to a place I never thought ponies would bring me. It's the age-old dilemma of ends justifying means, nature versus nurture and whether man (or pony) is inherently good or evil. In this particular case, the question is: Is Harmony something that needs to grow organically, or does it require force?
From all I've heard of the source material, this story's already several hundred times deeper -- though that may not be a complement. Here's one, though -- I'm eagerly following this.
Okay, I was wondering when we'd get into the actual show.
Hum, I was honestly expecting her to just be perpetual embarrassment for the Wonderbolts and got either kicked out or just disappeared during a stunt and went into a different dimension. Oh well, I can't wait to See Corn and Peg, and see what Twilight thinks of them.
I was wondering how the story woukd continue after she learned who Thunderhoof was, and now I see! I am so looking forward to seeing how this goes! :D Great job with the writing once again! Poor Twilight doesnt know how to handle being praised for behavior that would have scandelized herself a couple years ago. XD Also like the cameo of Moondancer!
I think you're mixing up your media types again...
I bet it was Spike who asked her to have this sort of spell prepared, so that he won't be the one to carry her back to her room.
Twilight's going to be such a cynic by the end of this story. I love it.
Luna must be so proud.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=calculatus+eliminatus+lyrics&&view=detail&mid=D2EB4E80A08DD27D6057D2EB4E80A08DD27D6057&&FORM=VRDGAR
9557021
Muffin?
And yet she and a good number of other changelings can't act their way out of a paper bag...
Honestly though, things like this actually give credence to ponies like Thunderhoof having a point if Celestia has been going around making enemies in addition to all the others she's just locked away and sweeping them under the rug for centuries.
Oh, good grief. We're heading towards Twilight also denying that Thunderhoof existed, aren't we?
Well. That took a turn
I've only been able to see one or two episodes of that show (and I had to juggle 2 tabs to do it since the audio was not synchronised) since episodes seems so hard to find -for free that is- and I am increasingly intrigued with a want to see how Twilight and the denizens of Galloping Grove react to each other. Did they simmer down like Celestia predicted, or will the kid-friendly atmosphere of Corn & Peg be shown to be a facade functioning only because all the current inhabitants think alike?!
9557067 In the USA, I should hope most of them.
Yet back in 2009, a rather stunning survey revealed about 20% of citizens couldn't find the USA on a map.
Even fewer could successfully identify other large countries... and lesser-known countries, forget it.
I, on the other hand, could correctly label about 100 last time I tried. (BLAH BLAH ALONDRO BLAH BLAH SUPERIOR BLAH BLAH PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS BLAH BLAH!!)
I sat through an 11-minute episode of Peg and Corn, and honestly, if you ignore the fact that it looks like a bargain-bin version of MLP and just compare it to other shows aimed at preschoolers, it's not that bad. I could see my toddler niece and nephew getting into it. Still, it'll be interesting to see how you make Galloping Grove fit into Equestria.
Anyway, it's great to see Twilight grow into her role of a national leader.
And each of them had very different ideas about what a better Equestria would look like. Regardless, it would be nice if people in the real world viewed their political rivals this way.
9557664
Well the idea came up because in the episode that Estee showed in his blog, Captain Thunderhoof ordered a colt that was an ugly bully to return the stuff he threw into a tree (which he couldn't even if he wanted to), then blasted him with a beam of magic that gave him a makeover and turned him good. So, imagine if a singular pony managed to harness all of The Elements of Harmony, and instead of using them on major threats like Sombra and Discord, they went for Diamond Tiara, Gilda, and even Cranky.
I doubt it's actually going to be the case, since Thunderhoof is mostly like dead (I hope: the idea of her becoming an alicorn is disturbing), but it does give some sense of what FOME is basing the idea off of.
I wonder what Nightmare Moon might say on that front.
Hmm. What about the Middle of Frozen Nowhere Terminal before it was overhauled to serve the Crystal Empire?
9557415
It's honestly surprising how not one changeling seen so far seems to have even the slightest notion that even if you look exactly like someone else you also need to act like them to fool others into thinking you're them.
I don't know why I find this so funny.
I AM TWILIT SPORKLE, PRINCESS OF FREN'SHIP. BE MY FREN.
-GM, master of FREN.
9557881
Rainbow Dash looked up at the alicorn inventing the Royal Canterlot Drunken Ramble* on the roof of the Apples' barn. "So, yeah, this is funny and all, but I'm still wondering how it happened."
"Well," said Applejack, "y'know how she's been tryin' out new parts o' her magic since she got 'er wings?"
"Uh, yeah. I usually just call it flying lessons."
"Well, you ain't Twi's only tutor. Today, she wanted t' test how much bein' part earth pony helped 'er resist toxins."
"YUR MY FREN! AN YUR MY FREN!"
"So, we decided the most fun way t' do that was with hard cider."
Dash snorted at that. "Twilight couldn't even finish one mug back in the day without arguing science with a bar napkin."
"ERRYPONY'S MY FREN!"
"To 'er credit," said Applejack, "this took three mugs."
* Twilight was actually more than a millennium late to that particular claim, but Rainbow Dash didn't know that.
9557021
This is me we're talking about. We all knew Best Pony would show up sooner or later.
9557056
Any Twidancer shipping is in the eye of the beholder. Just two friends going out for dinner. Together. And having a lovely time making jokes about obscure bits of academia that maybe three other ponies would understand. Just friends. Possibly even best friends. Completely platonic best friends.
9557081
Crossover tag's been there the whole time.
9557096
Glad you're enjoying it! And yes, when you get two series that show a startling lack of concern over the sanctity of the mind like these, it leads to some very interesting philosophical questions.
9557140
Sorry, not that kind of worst Wonderbolt ever.
9557169
Yeah, Celestia thanking Twilight for questioning her probably would've kept her up at night if she hadn't spent the day bouncing back and forth across half of the country.
9557232
How so?
9557334
"Can you blame me? She must've gained fifty pounds when she got the wings."
9557373
Faultless logic. It's always in the last place you look, so you should look everywhere else first for the sake of consistency.
9557415
In recent years, I've become convinced that Celestia sent Twilight Star Swirl's Unfinished Theorem because it was the only way to salvage Equestria's diplomatic standing in the global community.
9557524
Twilight doesn't pretend problems don't exist. Not for long, anyway. Twilight solves problems.
9557725
And now I'm imagining you with a mustache.
9557824
Corn & Peg is pablum. In other words, nutritious but largely flavorless, and easy for young children to digest. That's not a bad thing, it just doesn't lead to much appeal outside of the target demographic.
Yes, yes it would. Sigh.
9557866
That will be addressed next chapter.
As many as two yaks rode the train every decade! How can you say no to such demand? Besides, the Guard needs to get those penguin counters to the Frozen North somehow. (And yes, I know there aren't any penguins up there, but they need to send the penguin counters to be sure.)
As for changelings, Chrysalis taught her brood everything she knew about infiltration. This should explain a great deal.
9559004
FOR THE LAST TIME SPIKE! I. AM. NOT. FAT!!!
Now, calm down, darling. We understand that you just have a large frame. I have to enlarge your gowns two-size up since your corronation.
Told you Twi. You should join my exercise routine if you want to burn all those hayburgers from your body.
9559015 Mooo-staaaaaaache.
9559004
Well it's rather telling that she considers the period since Twi and the rest of element bearers started actively heroing the most harmonious Equestria has ever been. You know, a period that's included at least yearly attacks from supervillains and/or hostile nations as well as other potential peace-shattering incidents...
So yeah, I'd buy that.
9559015
Eh, it was a joking comment on your author's note. Don't worry about it.
9559015
Which probably means that Galloping Gorge is going to become Galloping Smoking Crater......
I honestly love the way you portray Twilight in this fic. She's not afraid to say some things and she's not a total prude and not totally insane.
9557824
Earth does have a lot of unclaimed land. Too bad so much of it is almost as hostile in terms of the elements as Equestria is in fauna!
9557857
I had actually been wondering whether she was still alive or not, and wasn't sure how that lightning-bolt crown thingy of hers might be incorporated to her status, like being an alicorn-amulet-type artifact for longevity
Well, you do have to purge the entire previous generation and utterly crush every enclave of contradictory beliefs.
It's a lot of work! And, sheesh, the mountains of bodies! Do you have any idea how many flies show up? And the smell!
Then ya gotta brainwash all the kiddies. That's not too hard. Kids are mostly stupid and gullible.
But once you've had enough time, you get a nice, obedient population who will worship you as a god!
(And so, Alondro creates North Korea... )
Given what is said concerning the captain the picture for this piece doesn’t quite fit.
9558970
Please tell me you've made this part of your 'verse-canon.
Twilight and Moondancer are so great together.
A Prench Diamond Dog?
Cozy Glow's ancestor. Definitely.
It's Ponyville isn't it.
Ah well.
Inclusivity!