AKA - Never Judge By Failure
It had only been an hour or two since Princess Twilight Sparkle came back from her appointment in Canterlot, but it seemed that a few of the citizens of Ponyville had taken notice when she finally returned rather frantically. Due to the recent attempted invasion of King Sombra (and the subsequent brainwashing that affected their town, as well as Canterlot and the Crystal Empire), a lot of the hamlet’s townsponies were already on edge after being taken by his dark magic so easily. But despite knowing from Twilight herself that the former King had been vanquished properly in Canterlot (which was even shown through a magic feed to really confirm that fact to the masses), there were more than a few worried glances towards the castle from Ponyville’s residents as they heard the Princess flying around inside and making quite a ruckus. Of course, the uneasy murmurs and rumoring didn’t really start until they saw all five of the other Elements of Harmony rushing towards the castle shortly thereafter.
But while Ponyville’s citizens struggled to keep themselves from going into a panic outside, Twilight and her friends were all gathered together for a much less taxing matter. Even with all of the chalkboards filled with sketches and candid photographs that were arranged around the Map Room, and the tediously-detailed notes which were scrawled across every inch of a massive blackboard, Spike and the other Elements didn’t seem too concerned about the reason for Twilight’s obsessive plans. Although, given how a large picture of their goal -- a poorly-crafted tin-foil crown -- was shown in multiple angles across the top of the chalkboard, it was fairly clear that this wasn’t another huge emergency. Fortunately, since they all knew that the overall reason for their meeting was to test the limits of Canterlot Castle’s defenses, none of them seemed apprehensive about working together to help their friend out.
While Twilight was explaining every tedious detail of the castle’s architecture, and the sheer magnitude of her brother’s efforts to thwart any attempted burglaries, many of the girls were taking notes to follow along. Rarity was the first to start paying attention to Twilight’s details, since she always carried a notebook and pen with her in case artistic inspiration ever struck; luckily, the unicorn had more than enough sheets of paper to spare when Applejack and Fluttershy asked her for copies. While those three tried to scrawl down as many notes as they could from Twilight’s charts (as well as what Rarity had already written), Pinkie Pie was using the sheet of paper she was given to make an ornate, and surprisingly well-crafted origami frog she made hop around the table.
As for Spike, who had helped Twilight set everything up as soon as she came back home, it was obvious he already knew her plans inside and out. So instead of joining half of the Elements in their impromptu study-session, he merely smirked while he stood beside the Princess with his arms crossed confidently. By the time Twilight finally finished the majority of her notes about the castle to her friends, she was too focused on her own thoughts to really register how the group as a whole was responding to them. Even though she was happy to see that everyone seemed accepting of the idea overall, her eyes were drawn to one specific Element by the time she completed her analysis.
“... So in conclusion,” stated the Princess, who finally lowered the pointing stick that was being held in her magic, and placed it on the table between two thick stacks of books, “it’s obvious from Shining Armor’s work that this won’t be an easy task. He made sure to look over every detail, every opening, and every opportunity we may have to make this a challenge for us. I know that this mission isn’t… exactly the most pressing, but I do feel like it’s paramount to give it all that we got.”
While she spoke, Twilight made sure to take notice of Rainbow Dash’s laid-back and unconcerned reaction. Unlike most of the other girls, who were either finishing up notes or looking over each other’s, the cyan pegasus didn’t even have a napkin beside her seat to write anything down. Instead, Dash was laid back in her throne while her hind-legs were perched over the edge of the table. It appeared that she was paying attention to Twilight’s lecture about the Canterlot Castle heist, since her eyes were still open and looking back at her; unfortunately, Rainbow’s neutral and unchanged expression made it seem like she had just sat through a boring Timeshare presentation.
But before Twilight could clear her throat to speak towards Dash, she heard Rarity say confidently in response, “I couldn’t agree more, Twilight! Considering what happened the last time Canterlot Castle was left unattended, we certainly can’t afford to risk another foe taking advantage of it without proper security measures! I doubt any beings like Chrysalis or Tirek would hold back if they tried to invade it again, so we shouldn’t attempt to do so either.”
Applejack, Fluttershy, and even Pinkie Pie nodded their heads to Rarity’s point, much to Twilight’s approval. Unfortunately, both Twilight and Spike were able to see when Rainbow Dash gave a light scoff, and rolled her eyes while shaking her head. The Princess’ brows rose up sharply in offense, and she blinked a couple times before asking rather loudly, “Rainbow Dash? Is there something you find amusing about Rarity’s comment?”
“Excuse me?” added an upset-looking Rarity as she, as well as the other three Elements, turned their attentions towards the cyan mare. As soon as Twilight asked that boldly-inflected question, Rainbow was quick to pull herself up so she was sitting in her chair properly.
“Whooooaaaa, whoawhoawhoawhoa!!” Dash immediately put both of her hooves up in innocence as she stared between Twilight and Rarity. “Okay, lemme cut the brakes here,” she said before motioning over towards Rarity, and saying in a very insistent tone of voice, “Rare, I was NOT making fun of what you said, alright? I was just reacting to this whole plan itself, that’s all.”
Even though Rarity’s soured expression softened the slightest bit from Dash’s truthfulness, that secondary comment left Twilight looking peeved instead. “Oh, really?” she asked in a miffed-sounding voice, while pointing a hoof back to her boards filled with her strenuous research. “Because given how long it took me to compile all of these notes, I really don’t thi--”
“N-N-Not that!” Rainbow blurted as she instantly turned her focus to Twilight, and kept her hooves out to keep the Princess from continuing her retort. “I’m not judging your stuff either! Believe me, the last thing I would ever do is question that brain of yours. I might be the best flier in the room, but there’s no doubt that you’re the smartest of any of us.”
Twilight’s expression quickly changed to a look of surprise, and she had to blink a couple times in response to that honest statement. When she looked around the room, Twilight’s cheeks blushed when she saw the rest of her friends nodding their heads in agreement. Even Spike gave the Princess a confirming shrug while nudging her from the side, which was enough to make her grow a meager smile out of bashfulness. “Umm… Thanks, Rainbow,” she said rather timidly, which made the pegasus nod with a honest smile of her own.
However, before Dash could say anything else, Twilight managed to bring her thoughts back in check with a quick shake of her head. “B-But! That’s doesn’t explain why you were rolling your eyes while I finishing up my assessment!”
“Pbbt!” Rainbow scoffed once more while looking away from the Princess. “I wasn’t rolling my eyes, Twi!” she said while looking up at the ceiling, almost as if she was halfway through rolling her eyes that time before catching herself.
“Yes you were, Rainbow Dash! I saw it myself!”
“Ummm, yeah,” noted Spike as he spoke up with an uneasy nod of his own. “I… I kinda saw that too, Dash.”
“Ugh!” After a sharp huff, Rainbow looked back at the two and replied begrudgingly, “Alright, alright! I’m sorry I rolled my eyes, okay? I didn’t mean to! I was just reacting to what you and everyone else is calling a ‘big deal.’”
Rainbow didn’t have the digits to give proper “Air-Quote” motions like Spike could with his claws, so the mare used her wings to mimic the gesture while saying the words ‘Big Deal.’ That action made Twilight’s brows raise even more in surprise, and her eyes to widen on Dash like she just said something really offensive. Spike and the other Elements looked equally as surprised by Rainbow’s answer, with Applejack being the first to speak up towards her. “Uhhh… Ya mind clarifyin’ what ya mean by that, Dash?”
“Yes, please do,” added Rarity as she stare at the pegasus with her eyes narrowed. “Because I certainly don’t see how ensuring Canterlot Castle is safe would be anything less than a ‘Big Deal’ for you.”
“Hey, I’m not saying THAT!” Rainbow’s brash and raspy voice grew a more defensive tone, and she looked around the room while everyone was staring at her. “I’m really not, okay?! I totally agree that the castle should be safe! And yeah, if a heist idea like this is the best means to prove that it is, then I’m all in like you guys are!”
Given how sincere that response sounded from Rainbow’s mouth, it made the others even more confused because of her earlier dismissive behavior. Twilight seemed especially puzzled while her head was slightly tilted to the right, and she finally asked her friend, “Well… While I do appreciate that sentiment, would you mind explaining what it is that’s making you scoff at this plan?”
Due to how sternly Twilight was staring at her, Rainbow winced the tiniest bit as she paused following that question. She tried looking around at the others, but most of them were just staring right back at her in wait for a response. Even Pinkie Pie was keeping her attention on Dash while holding an origami duck in her hooves, and repeatedly opening its beak to make unexplainable “Quack” noises. Fortunately, even that wasn’t enough to distract the pegasus as she closed her eyes, and sighed before giving her honest opinion.
“Ughhh… Alright.” Even though she looked a little uncomfortable, Rainbow looked back at Twilight before taking a breath, and saying, “Well… given how important it is for us to protect Canterlot and Canterlot Castle, I just… I gotta question whether or not Shining Armor is the best choice to do it.”
A couple of the girls around the table, particularly Applejack and Pinkie Pie, instantly leaned back in their seats while covering their uncomfortable winces. Rarity pursed her muzzle shut while looking between Rainbow and Twilight, just in case that remark was going to lead to anything bad. Fluttershy took notice of Spike, who took a preemptive step away from the Princess while looking elsewhere. Meanwhile, Twilight’s stare on Rainbow grew just as intense and focused as it was curious.
“... Oh, is that so?” asked Twilight in a firm, but not immediately warning tone of voice. Spike instantly knew better than to question it, but Rainbow didn’t seem to catch the hint as she heard her ask, “Would you mind explaining why you’re questioning my brother’s skills in protective magic?”
Rainbow tried to look around again, but it was obvious from the uncomfortable glances away from her that she was on her own. Unfortunately, the mare decided to only shrug her shoulders from the cold reception she was getting from the other Elements, and said towards Twilight, “Like… do I have to point out the obvious here? I mean, don’t get me wrong. Your brother is an awesome dude, Twi. He’s really athletic, has surprisingly good O&O stats, and I can totally see why Cadance married him. I swear, I’m not making fun or the dude or anything!”
Despite how honest and thoughtful Rainbow’s beginning statement may have sounded, Twilight narrowed her eyes on her before she asked, “... But?”
By that point, Dash saw no use to sugarcoat the subject as she threw her hooves down to her sides, and said in a rather blunt tone, “But… No offense, but Shining kinda sucks at his job, doesn’t he? I mean… why are the Royal Sisters letting him do it?”
Spike made a silent “Whoa” as he stepped even further away from the Princess, and her immediately upset expression on Rainbow Dash. The other Elements cringed and looked away from her as well, not wanting to face any of the fallout that would result from insulting the Princess’ brother. If it was any other pony in that seat instead of Rainbow, they likely would’ve realized how poor of a statement that was as judged by the mood of the room. Unfortunately, Dash’s response to everyone’s silence was another huff, before deciding to double down on her claim.
“What?!” she exclaimed while looking around the room with her forelegs raised. “Am I seriously gonna be the only one to say that?! We ALL know it’s true!”
“Oh do we?” asked Twilight as her tone of voice turned notably colder. She looked over at Applejack, who promptly covered her face with her Stetson to hide her embarrassment for Rainbow. Rarity and Fluttershy were trying to cover their expressions as well, which helped keep Twilight from calling either of them out. Even Pinkie Pie had her muzzle tightly clenched shut, while pretending to focus on a new origami figure with some scrap paper. Rainbow wanted to look offended at the girls’ responses, but wasn’t able to say anything before Twilight leaned against the table. “Rainbow, would you care explaining why you feel my brother isn’t suited for such an important job?”
By that point, even Rainbow couldn’t ignore the indurate, and bitter-looking glare Twilight had on her following that question. But despite how hard it was for her to keep from wincing at seeing that, the pegasus was able to sigh sharply before she said, “You know what? Fine! Because I’m your friend, and friends are supposed to be honest with one another, I’ll explain it as best as I possibly can...”
It was clear that Dash seemed the slightest bit regretful about even mentioning it in the first place, but she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. So after she sat more upright in her seat, Rainbow cleared her throat and began her explanation. “First off,” she said as she brought out her left wing, and kept one of her feathers fully extended while the others were curled inward, “If I was going to hire someone to make sure my castle is protected, why the hay would I choose the dude who had his own castle that got invaded two weeks ago?! I mean, the guy was literally kneeling to King Sombra this month, and now he’s going to try and protect Celestia and Luna’s place?! What kind of backwards logic is that?!”
Twilight didn’t say anything, but the way her eyes narrowed on her made it clear that she wasn’t happy already. Fluttershy tried to catch Rainbow’s attention in an attempt to stop her, but she was promptly brushed away by the mare’s cyan hoof as she continued.
“Two!” she said as a second feather on her left wing unfurled. “Can you even tell me something that Shining was able to do on his own after the Royal Wedding? Because from what I’VE seen, he hasn’t done a lot for the Crystal Empire, has he? I mean…” Rainbow then pointed a hoof over at Spike, and added, “Look at what Spike has done! He helped give Princess Cadance the Crystal Heart that stopped Sombra, twice! AND he also saved the Equestria Games from that giant ice-ball, so he technically saved the Crystal Empire way more than Shining has!”
Spike may have felt uncomfortable for being part of Rainbow Dash’s tirade against his adopted brother, but he couldn’t help shrugging with a thankful smile after hearing her say those things about him. Of course, he kept himself silent on any praises while Rainbow brought out a third feather, and kept going while Twilight was growing increasingly angry.
“Three! With every disaster we had to deal with, he was always the one to get himself taken out somehow! First, he got himself brainwashed by Chrysalis. Then, he lost the ability to use his horn because of Sombra the FIRST time he came back! When Tirek tried to take over, Shining got incapacitated by Discord while his wife was thrown into Tartarus!”
“OOH!~” Fluttershy didn’t want to interrupt her friend, but she couldn’t help looking giddy as she asked, “Rainbow, you said ‘Incapacitated’ in the correct form! Have you been using that ‘Word of the Day’ calender I got you for your birthday?!”
“Uhhhh… Well, kinda,” Dash admitted sheepishly while her focus was thrown off. “To be fair, it’s been really helpful with helping me write my novel, even tho--... W-Wait, that’s not important here!”
Rainbow turned her attention back to Twilight as she brought out the forth feather on her wing, even though she listed more than that already. “And for my final point, I seriously don’t see why Celestia and Luna don’t have you look over the security for Canterlot Castle! I mean, you’re planning to live there soon enough, right? Wouldn’t YOU be the best choice to make sure it’s safe? And even if you needed an outside perspective to make sure it worked, shouldn’t you pick somepony who hasn’t been taken down by every villain that we all defeated together?”
With that, Rainbow Dash gave her friend one last shrug before leaning back more relaxedly in her seat. Despite how strongly Twilight Sparkle’s glare was peering straight into Rainbow’s very soul, the pegasus carried a look like she just gave a really good speech in her defense. Of course, even as she looked around the room for support, none of their friends were willing to speak up about all the things she said. So with one final huff, Rainbow looked back at Twilight and said, “Come on! Are you seriously going to keep looking at me like that?”
“Rainbow!” snapped Applejack while her voice was muffled through her hat. “Please shut up.”
Unfortunately for Rainbow, it seemed that her unabashed words were all that needed to be said. Twilight Sparkle continued to stare at her for a good ten seconds or so, just long enough to let the silence linger, and to make Rainbow Dash’s expression skew uncomfortably. The mare tried to avert her magenta eyes from the Princess, but they couldn’t seem to veer off while Twilight gave such a warning look at her in wait. If she was stuck in that chair any longer in silence, Dash would’ve likely assumed that Fluttershy taught Twilight how to give The Stare to more than just small creatures. But from where she was in that moment, she knew that Twilight didn’t need any additional spells or techniques to look as mad as she did right then.
Just as Rainbow started to shrink in her seat, Twilight closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, and said with a calming sigh, “Okay… First of all,” she said in a somewhat less intense tone of voice upon reopening her eyes. “Before I say anything else, let me just say that I’m not mad at you, Rainbow Dash. I wanted an honest answer from you, and you did exactly that. You knew that the answer would upset me, but you also respected me enough to choose not to sugarcoat it. So because of that, I’ll give you credit for being honest with me, and also explaining your points as clearly as possible.”
Rainbow Dash, as well as everyone else in the room, looked rather shocked as they processed Twilight’s surprisingly respectful response. Even though her expression looked far too emotionless to say whether or not she meant what she said, it was still direct enough to make Dash smile a little in her seat. “Oh, ummm… Thanks, Twi,” she said gratefully with a more carefree shrug. “I mean… I know I could’ve said that a little better, but--”
“HOWEVER,” interrupted Twilight, with her voice loud and intimidating enough to make Rainbow instantly writhe in her seat. Spike, who was now teen feet away from the Princess, used a manilla folder to shield himself from whatever Twilight might have to say next. “... considering the circumstances of all the events you mentioned, AND all the things you left out about my brother, I really don’t think it’s fair of you to dismiss Shining Armor’s achievements so easily.”
With the way Twilight was glaring at her by the end of that response, Rainbow was surprised she wasn’t turned to a pile of bluish-grey dust by the Princess’ magic. Part of her wanted to speak up about what she could’ve possibly left out, but she knew by that point that her turn to speak was promptly finished. Now it was Twilight’s turn to have the floor about the topic of Shining Armor’s worth; and judging by how strongly her grimace was pursed across her muzzle while staring at Dash judgmentally, everyone in the room figured that she had a lot to say.
Twilight made another pert breath to settle her nerves, before she pulled away from the table and began to circle the room. “Let’s start with that Chrysalis point, shall we?” she said while spitting out the villain’s name like an expletive. “You’re saying that Shining shouldn’t be tasked with protecting Canterlot Castle, even though he protected ALL of Canterlot for months before his wedding, solely because he was a victim of brainwashing?”
With the way Twilight worded that question, Rainbow couldn’t help wincing while looking away from her. She knew she pulled herself into a pretty bad situation from all that she already said, but she tried her hardest to show some level of logic by noting with a mutter, “I mean… it didn’t stop Chrysalis, so…”
“Neither did any of us,” said Twilight in very stern matter-of-fact tone. Rainbow wasn’t the only one to cringe from that point, as she and the others all lowered their heads awkwardly. Twilight stopped her pacing briefly enough to huff, and admit rather honestly, “Heck, even I didn’t know it was a Changeling invasion! I seriously thought it was the real Cadance too! The only reason Chrysalis got herself within that forcefield was because she took Cadance’s form before that shield was made! And even then, Shining managed to protect the entire city without rest for over two months! I REALLY don’t think that should be discounted, Rainbow!”
“I-It’s shouldn’t!” Dash said just as quickly as she did with insistence. “I swear to Celestia, I’m not judging him for that! I’m just saying that WE did a lot more than he did.”
“Oh, really?” asked Twilight as she glanced back at her with a sharp turn of her head. “Which one of us was it who activated the magic that banished Chrysalis and the Changelings from Canterlot?”
Rainbow didn’t have a fitting answer for that, and just let out a weak whinny while looking down at her lap. Twilight only waited a second or two before she stated, “Exactly. Despite everything that happened, it was him and Cadance who saved us from Chrysalis that day! And that was after WE all tried to get the Elements and failed.”
A deep, and painfully audible sigh escaped Dash’s muzzle before she muttered, “Yeah, I know that, Twi. I really don’t want to be reminded of that.”
Even though the pegasus may have walked into that uncomfortable reminder of their past mistakes, Twilight chose not to say anything else about the wedding. While it was obvious from Twilight’s stare that she could’ve said more about how Shining wasn’t the only pony who screwed up that day, she also knew better than to pick at old wounds that were already healed. Not to mention, Twilight knew it wouldn’t have been right to chastise Rainbow about something that all of them were part of. So after looking around, and seeing that Dash wasn’t the only pony to have her head lowered in shame, the Princess sighed before saying, “Well… I’ll just say that if it was your brother who got manipulated and used by a changeling, you would probably be defensive too.”
Applejack and Fluttershy both nodded to that remark, not even hesitating to show any hints of dishonesty. Rarity tried to see how Rainbow Dash looked, and was upset when she saw the look of remorse growing across the pegasus’ face. Unfortunately, the only mare who spoke up after Twilight was Pinkie, who decided to chirp out without thinking, “Ooh! How about the other points, Twilight?”
Spike covered his face with both claws quickly enough to make them smack loudly. While Dash and other Elements gawked at Pinkie’s reply, Twilight rose her brows as she shrugged and answered, “Hmmmm… now, where should I begin?”
“Y-You don’t have to go there!” said Rainbow in a blatant, and almost pleading tone of voice. “Seriously, you don’t have to keep going, Twi! I, uhhh… I obviously wasn’t thinking correctly, and you don--”
“Oh, no no nooooo…” Twilight Sparkle gave an insistently wide-eyed stare back at her as she said, “You brought up a lot of examples of why you think my brother in inadequate. It’s only fair I counteract all of them with my own opinions, right?~”
Before Rainbow could even finish her regretful wince, Twilight went back to circling around the room as she spoke. “Now then… Much like in Canterlot, Shining Armor used his magic defenses to encompass the entirety of the Crystal Empire in his magic when it was first revived. Cadance may have been the one to keep the spell running, but Shining did everything in his power to make sure that Every. Single. Crystal Pony was escorted from the outskirts of the city so they could be in the protected regions! Even when he went to escort us to the Crystal Empire, he sacrificed himself to fight off Sombra’s dark magic while we all went to for safety! Now tell me, does that sound like a pony who wouldn’t take Equestria’s safety seriously?”
“I’m sorry,” Rainbow Dash said while her face was sunken into her forelegs, and her hooves were propping her head up from the table. “I’m sorry, alright? I wasn’t trying to insult your brother or anything. I ju--”
“You just didn’t think that his security skills were up to the task, because he was taken down by Discord, right?” interrupted Twilight as she continued to steamroll over Dash’s earlier points. “Even though Discord is near omnipotent, and had the immense power and skills to claim everypony in Equestria, including all of you? Why should HE be singled out when it comes to events where we all had challenges overcoming them? Are you going to also bring up Chrysalis’ second invasion attempt, where everybody including Celestia was taken without any warning?”
“No, I’m not!” Rainbow finally pulled her head up as she pouted in frustration back at her friend. “Okay, you win! You don’t have to--”
“Not until I make one last point!” snapped Twilight with a hoof pointed right at Dash, and her voice unyielding enough to make the pegasus’ muzzle snap back shut. The other four Elements were starting to feel bad for their friend, but none of them seemed too keen to intervene as Twilight said, “Now, while I do understand why you would question Celestia’s choice due to recent events, are you really going to blame Shining for not doing anything before us? Especially when ONE!” Twilight brought out one of her wings just as Rainbow had, and had a feather extended for that first inflected number. “Cadance already sent out that distress message, so they knew we would be coming to help them as soon as possible! TWO!” Another feather extended out before Rainbow could try to open her muzzle. “When Sombra invaded the Crystal Empire, he managed to assimilate and conquer the outer regions before the alarms were even rung! That meant that by the time they reached the castle, Shining and Cadance had to deal with at LEAST seventy percent of the Crystal Ponies being brainwashed by Sombra again! Or THREE!!”
With her third and final point, Twilight leaned in close to Dash’s seat as she asked with a pissed-off sneer, “Are you really… really doing to judge my brother’s character for playing along with Sombra’s theatrics, not only because he knew it wouldn’t last forever, but because that Tyrant had a spear to his daughter’s throat?!”
Rainbow Dash had no way to answer that without admitting her friend was right, which prompted her to lower her head with a regretful exhale. Even though that Sombra invasion was her biggest reason for questioning Shining’s experience, that point by Twilight was more than effective enough to shut down her own points. Dash may have not been a parent herself, but she understood how easily having a kid can change your instincts. And if she were to be perfectly honest, Rainbow knew that Shining and Cadance likely reacted the safest way to ensure their daughter wouldn’t have been killed by Sombra that day.
Since she could see just how much that last statement got to Dash, Twilight pulled away with a sigh before she finished circling around the room. As she walked, the Princess’ horn lit up brightly while picking up several items, including the chalkboard eraser and Spike’s envelope. Meanwhile, Twilight continued to speak loudly enough for the entire room while making her way towards her boards once more. “Now then! I’m fully aware that in retrospect, the seven of us may have had more achievements than Shining when it comes to protecting Equestria. However, considering the fact that WE all work together to work as one, and Shining prefers to work independently as a military leader, I really don’t think that we should be compared by the same merits! Shining got his cutie mark for his efforts in protecting others, and has implemented his magic well enough to excel in making that his line of work! He’s just as much of a protector of Equestria as any of us, and I absolutely trust his work when it comes to protecting Canterlot Castle! And if you have ANY respect for him, then you’ll all take his efforts as seriously as I have.”
After Twilight made that intensely passionate speech, nothing was said around the table for almost half a minute. Rainbow Dash may have been the main subject of their friend’s tirade, but she wasn’t the only one who looked too embarrassed with themselves to speak up. Applejack and Rarity looked at each other with shared and uncomfortable expressions, neither of them able to say much for either side. Fluttershy couldn’t say anything either, but flew out of her seat so she could reach out and hug Rainbow from the side sympathy. Pinkie Pie seemed the least morose of the five mares, and gave an affirmative nod towards Twilight while smiling genuinely. Spike, who was finally walking back in towards Twilight, appeared to be a little more at ease as well.
“You… You’re right,” Rainbow Dash finally said as she exhaled guiltily. The pegasus looked rather shameful when she looked up at Twilight, but she kept her tone of voice serious as she said without much apprehension, “I… I’m sorry about what I said about Shining. We’ve all made mistakes that got us captured and defeated in the past, and I… and I should’ve known better than to judge him for those same things. He’s a really good dude, and I never intended to imply differently, alright? I know he’s done a lot of good, and I… I had no reason to exassivate his screwups, because I know that any one of us could’ve done them in his place too.”
Twilight took a second to register the sincerity, and also the sheer magnitude of Rainbow Dash’s apology. But despite how unexpectedly jarring it may have been to hear someone like her say those things, Twilight Sparkle smiled more naturally while she tried not to tear up. Meanwhile, Rainbow was quick to motion towards Fluttershy and add meekly, “And, ummm… yeah, I may have been using that ‘Word of the Day’ calendar a lot more than I thought I would’ve.”
“Y-Yeah, I kinda figured that when you said ‘Exassivate,’” remarked Twilight, which caused the others around the room to giggle lightly. While she was happy to lighten the mood of the room a little, Twilight tried not to sound too emotional herself as she wiped her eyes with her foreleg. “But still, I… I really do appreciate that apology, Rainbow. I’m not mad about what you said earlier, but I also forgive you.”
That response made Rainbow Dash, as well as the other Elements around the table, smile more relaxedly when they heard the truthfulness in the Princess’ voice. Meanwhile, Twilight kept her horn lit up while holding the envelope in her magic, and using her eraser to wipe away a huge chunk of the chalkboard behind her. While a couple of the mares picked up their notes to make sure they didn’t miss anything, none of them seemed to notice when Twilight floated up several tiny items from behind their chairs. She also scrawled down something on a small slip of paper, which she folded in half and levitated towards Rainbow Dash. “Now then!” exclaimed the Princess as she went back to talking. “Since that’s all out of the way, I should give you all my personal insight into Shining Armor’s defenses…”
Rainbow seemed confused as she picked up the paper, and opened it up to reveal a short message written in black ink:
Thanks for giving me an excuse to inspect the room. Don’t say anything.
Rainbow’s eyes shot wide-open, and she looked up just in time to see a dozen individual specks floating around in Twilight’s magic. The Alicorn shot her friend a sly-looking smirk with a wink, and used the envelope to float all of those little items into her bag as evidence. “For you see,” she continued in a tone that didn’t indicate anything was amiss, “one of Shining greatest strengths, aside from his shield and protection spells, is his capability to predict any move that can happen far in advance~”
As she spoke, Twilight used some chalk to write down a message with her magic. But even with each diligent swipe of her tool across the blackboard, she didn’t seem to mind the increasingly puzzled looks her friends gave her while she spoke. “For example, if it wasn’t for Shining’s keen eye for using location to his advantage, he wouldn’t have thought to add a blizzard defense around the Crystal Empire. And while that may have not been effective against Sombra, that did provide more than enough defense against the Storm King’s forces when they attempted to…”
While speaking, Twilight finished her message on the board quickly enough to make everyone’s eyes widen in surprise:
Shining is going to send me a Thank-You letter in ten seconds.
After putting down her chalk, Twilight brought that envelope up towards her horn before giving the parchment a strong zap with her magic. The group could hear several distinct snaps and crinkles within that manilla paper, before a couple tiny plumes of smoke could be seen seeping up from the top. Twilight then gave that envelope to Spike, and said, “Spike, please write down the words ‘Nice Try’ on that envelope before sending it to Celestia, okay?~”
“Uhhh… O-Okay…” Spike seemed a little unsure why Twilight wanted him to do that, but he was quick to add those words to the envelope with a swipe of his quill. But just before he was about to use his dragon breath, the dragon jolted upward and let out a powerful belch. A large plume of magical green smoke blew out of his open maw, and conjured up a scroll that floated directly towards the Princess.
None of the mares may have been counting after Twilight wrote that message on the board, but all of them were certain that came in exactly ten seconds after she predicted it.
While Spike used his dragon breath to deliver Twilight’s message with one hard breath, the Princess seemed rather pleased with herself as she unfurled that scroll, and held it out for her friends to see. Just like she claimed, it seemed that Shining really did write a quick ‘Thank You’ note for his sister. After she rolled that scroll back up for later admiration, she cleared her throat before saying, “Aaaaannnd, that’s how to prove that my brother placed hidden microphones around the room~”
“Wait, what now?!” shouted Applejack in shock, just realizing then what it was her friend was doing. She and others looked around to see what was previously behind their seats, even though the evidence was destroyed and sent back to Canterlot inside that envelope.
“What? I said that he usually plans out things months in advance~” Twilight then giggled to herself before using her hoof to erase her message on the blackboard. “Yeah, Shining is also really good at espionage and spy stuff on the side. I had a feeling that he would try something sneaky to get an edge on us, but I didn’t think I would get him to expose himself so easily!”
“W-Wait a minute!” blurted Dash as she made a freeze-motion with her hooves like a referee. “So you… you only said that stuff so Shining could screw up and write a letter to you?”
“No, I also meant what I said!” Twilight clarified with a quick stare back at Rainbow. “Seriously, it wasn’t like any of the things I told you were false. He really is a talented pony, and was able to bug this room without any of you realizing it! I just figured that Rainbow’s statements about Shining would be a great opportunity to inspect the room without suspicion, and also to show how well I know him myself~”
Spike lurched forward and let out another burp, which floated out a much smaller piece of paper that floated to Twilight. The Princess smirked as she picked up the message, which was just written down with fresh ink:
You’re a jerk
While Twilight giggled to her brother’s immature response, Rainbow was struggling not to continue gawking in shock to what both Twilight and her brother were capable of. “Wow, I… I guess you guys really are good at this stuff, huh?”
While Twilight gave a cocky nod towards her friend, Spike scoffed and replied, “Yeah, tell me about it!”
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You're one to talk, Shiny...
Congrats! You get a like.
The only two problems I really hard with his strategies/defences was 1. Not having any anti changeling defences for the second invasion 2. while I get that Tirek was basically a juggernaut once he had enough magic, he hid behind a "magic shield" against a "magic eating enemy".
While both made interesting points...I gotta side with Rainbow on this. Twilight seems to have forgotten the SECOND Changeling invasion, which happened totally offscreen as well. It's difficult to judge people by anything more than their failures when we almost never see them do anything BUT fail. The girls even drew attention to the fact that the Princesses are kind of useless during the season premier, and any excuse that they'd always lost on purpose can get a little hard to believe given how often it's happened.
Nice!
9581850
This is true, to an extent, but its cause its a kid's show. Expecting it to live up to some actual consistency is just unrealistic. Also, importantly, by that margin basically everyone's mucked up tons of times. Luna and Celestia have failed just as often, if not more, than Shining Armor, and even the Mane 6; other than Twilight all of them fell to Discord's tricks initially and needed to be saved, none of them but Twilight were of help in the second encounter against Starlight Glimmer, all of them were taken out in the 2nd Changeling Invasion just as easily as Shining Armor and co. and they needed the help of the Pillars to deal with Stygian and the Student 6 to save them from Cozy Glow's schemes in the end.
Its a cartoon, a lovely cartoon, for young girls and the success of characters and their power completely changes as the plot needs to just make a point. Again if you're going to judge someone by failures on the show then you kinda gotta concede that basically everyone fails colossally consistently, Twilight least of all as the primary protagonist, but as Cozy Glow, the 2nd Changeling Invasion shows even she has on occassion simply completely failed to handle a threat and required rescuing.
9581880
Yeah, but at least members of the main cast actually SUCCEED. Shining and the Princesses...never really do.
9581903
Oh but that isn't really true. Shining and Cadance successfully defeated Chrysalis and all the Changelings at the end of S2. At the beginning of S3 Shining succeeds in holding off Sombra long enough for the Mane Six to safely make it into Cadance's shield AND at the end of that arc also plays a crucial role in Cadance defeating Sombra by throwing her to catch Spike and the Crystal Heart. That's 2-3 successes, depending on how you count, which I think is more than anything we've seen Luna or Celestia ever do even.
Again this is a children's show, one shouldn't expect anyone but the Mane 6 to really matter very often since they are the protagonists. Even then, as I said, the Mane 6 as a unit fail a lot, often enough Twilight alone has had to carry them all.
I don't quite get it: why would Shining send a "Thank you" note and immediately show that he was listening in?
Also, yeah, I would've really liked to see a bit more of Twilight and Shining trying to outsmart each other in the actual episode, instead of Twi just coming up with one shitty plan and then immediately giving up after Shining predicted it, and then going with this failed plan at the end regardless.
9581945
Too true
Well, this was fun. Okay, one, Shining Armor needs more love. Two, it was fun seeing Twilight and Shining Armor have a nice, relatively normal sibling moment on the show. It gave the guy some much needed character.
That being said, do all the guards in Canterlot have bad ADHD or something? 
I mean, it should take more than a party to distract them, just saying. Eh, kid's show. 🤷
This is like reading YET ANOTHER 'Rainbow Dash become character bashing mouth piece' (when she isn't being used by fan writing to sculpt the 'Rainbow Dash has never done anything wrong in any of her appearances narrative'), and said narrative slamming head first without a helmet, and it is incredibly satisfying!
If this was any other story, there would be NO counter argument or retort to ANYTHING Rainbow Dash said!
At the same time, Rainbow Dash's arguments aren't mindless.
AND he also saved the Equestria Games from that giant ice-ball,
Those ponies were idiots for thinking only unicorns could cheat and didn't bother to seal Earth or Pegasus magic while they were at it.
""“OOH!~” Fluttershy didn’t want to interrupt her friend, but she couldn’t help looking giddy as she asked, “Rainbow, you said ‘Incapacitated’ in the correct form! Have you been using that ‘Word of the Day’ calender I got you for your birthday?!”
“Uhhhh… Well, kinda,” Dash admitted sheepishly while her focus was thrown off. “To be fair, it’s been really helpful with helping me write my novel, even tho--... W-Wait, that’s not important here!”""
That is actually funny!
"". You knew that the answer would upset me, but you also respected me enough to choose not to sugarcoat it. So because of that, I’ll give you credit for being honest with me, and also explaining your points as clearly as possible.”""
Again, very different from how this would usually go, usually one character brow beats the others into submission.
I wish people would stop downgrading Chrysalis' accomplishment with the 'they only one because the other guys were so dumb' excuse. Shining Armor gave a perfectly rational sounding explanation for all of Twilight's accusations. And Chrysalis' acting as a wounded gazelle worked perfectly and believably. (It sure as Hell FOOLED ME! And I am not a fictional character to the best of my knowledge.) And Twilight OUTRIGHT SAID 'she fooled everyone' making clear she held no grudges and knew she'd screwed up too. And Twilight's friends IMHO weren't being idiots, for starters they left so they wouldn't say something they would regret.
“And, ummm… yeah, I may have been using that ‘Word of the Day’ calendar a lot more than I thought I would’ve.”
Nice boomerang!
Nice to show the Storm Empire was an ALL OUT INVASION, not 'let's take the capital and call it a day.'
So... Shining Armor bugged Twilight's throne room? OY! That's playing dirty!
The only way that could be funnier is if a changeling with a microphone was used to bug the room!
Okay. I get the joke and everything. But tactically, SA was exposing he bugged the room by sending a thanks to Twilight after she defended him.
Nice story. Fav and thumbs up.
Also, Twilight out smarting him with his bugs was a cherry on top showing that the author isn't making SA out to be a flawless character whose mistakes aren't his own.
It's funny isn't it?
All the other characters in the series "fail" for no real reason other than so the Mane 6 can shine but people bash the other characters for failing. Even though the Mane 6 can't ever seem to beat any villains without some sort of super powerful ancient relic or deus ex machina friendship power.
A bit ranty. Reminds me of RealityCheck, which you can take as a compliment or an insult. Well structured though, and the ending takes the edge off it quite well.
Shining lacks in the one place it really counts, results
>“Would you mind explaining why you’re questioning my brother’s skills in protective magic?”
Rainbow Dash laughed out loud. "I'm not. He's amazing at defensive magic. The very best. He should absolutely be a central part of the defensive plan of wherever he's living. He just shouldn't be the one making the plan."
Twilight's eyes had no more room to narrow without closing them altogether, but if there had been such room, she would have taken it all up.
Rainbow Dash moved into the first example. "Look. Changeling invasion number one gets a free pass because he got mind wedgied. No issue there, could happen to anypony. But let's look at the appearance of Crystal Empire and Sombra. He goes, and brings how many guards? Was it two, or zero? I forget. He had to give us a briefing on the run because he didn't keep a set of fast couriers on hand to get messages to us in advance. If we'd all hit the deck running and knowing what was going on, and you'd charged up a shield or simply supported his, could he have avoided the harm he took from Sombra? Maybe. And if he'd managed that, then he and Cadence could have kept the shield up much longer. We could have restored the heart at leisure instead of having to have a four-way-heroic effort. Once again, he was part of that. He's super skilled at the execution level, even things outside his specialty, like the two hoofed alicorn chucking maneuver. But not at the planning level. Heck, he didn't even bring a pony guard with him as lookout or to handle the briefing. He gave himself three things to do at once. He's good. He's really good. But he made himself weaker, when he didn't need to, and it made things much closer and much more painful."
Twilight said, "He didn't bring the guards with him because Sombra was too powerful for any pony of ordinary power."
"Sure. And that's why you bring a bunch of ordinary ponies with you to handle the things that need to be done that only require ordinary levels of power, like scouting, carrying messages, and crowd control. All things that he or we had to do when we really had more important things to be focusing on, and ordinary ponies could definitely have taken care of."
"Scouting? He'd pick off scouts and couriers."
"Okay, for scouts, I was thinking of just some pony looking over his shoulder while he was out there picking us up. And having ponies posted around the border of the empire keeping an eye out for changes. Remember how there was nopony there?"
"That wouldn't have helped."
"Only given what actually happened. You would expect it to help, knowing what he did in advance. And for couriers, Sombra never - even at his full power more recently - showed any ability to knock down a pegasus flying well above cloud level. So take the time to go way up before you leave the empire, and there you go."
"It's funny, weren't you just talking about things that we didn't know in advance..."
"If you never deploy scouts or couriers because the enemy might have extraordinary abilities you've never seen evidence for, that are outside their known capabilities, you never deploy scouts and couriers except when you hardly need them. Sure, it'd be a risk, but what you're putting at risk is a trained soldier who trained for this, signed up for this. And if we're judging by outcomes, again, it would have been fine."
"How high should they go? You're still imagining doing the thing that would have worked, rather than what you'd do."
"I'd follow the standard guard guidelines for sending messages over ground-based magical threats. Incidentally, they would have worked."
"Actually, how do you know that?"
"Fair point, maybe it wouldn't. Still the right thing to try. Second scenario: Tirek. Discord was screwing everything up so there was no real way to win, but they could have made it much less easy for him. Like, everypony run away from him and use long-ranged non-magical attacks, instead of having the wonderbolts attempt to kick him. Off chance, maybe I could have Sonic Rainboomed him a straight punch before he got his magic sucking going, but I wouldn't want to count on it. Anything slower wouldn't have a chance. And that probably wouldn't have stopped him anyway. Of course it wouldn't have worked because they had Discord, but at least it would have made sense."
"He didn't order the Wonderbolts to attack in melee."
"Good! I feel better about him as a leader!"
"All right then."
"But not enough. You'd think that after the first changeling invasion, he'd devise a system that would prevent the second one. Like, rotating challenge-responses, something. And he even had a changeling to ask questions of and experiment with - in a friendly way, of course - things like, any spells to get goop off. Any ways to interrupt a disguise or at least detect it."
"First, you'd think that his doing the first of those would be something we would notice, and you didn't say anything when you didn't notice anything."
"It wasn't my job at the time. I wasn't thinking about it."
"Second, he did find a spell to detect disguised changelings, but either it only worked on Thorax, or Chrysalis changed the next batch of drones so it didn't work, or they changed techniques. It's hard to find a general detection criterion based on one instance."
"Okay! I feel better again. If they thought they had a defense and it failed, that's respectable. But then, remember Cranky and Matilda's wedding? We ran ourselves ragged trying to get that bugbear, and…"
Applejack coughed. "What are you talking about? You slept through the whole thing."
"I was right there with you! I saved you from its stinger, like, twice. And there he was, sitting in the wedding doing nothing."
"Ah have no idea what you're talking about. We attended the wedding. Except for you, who totally slept through it. Plus, I don't even know what a bugbear is."
Rainbow Dash blinked. "Ummm. What was the music like?"
"Octavia on the cello, and Bellows Blower on the organ, it was nice? And not particularly relevant?"
"No giant rolling sound system?" She looked around at a bunch of shaking heads. "I guess maybe I dreamed that one. Withdrawn."
9582391
Having just read a story where Shining Armor uninviting Twilight from his wedding is presented as unforgiveable but Twilight trying to strangle him to death is perfectly okay, yes. So much yes.
Though I didn't like how Twilight kept tearing into Rainbow when the latter begged to drop it, that was mean.
All in all, Rainbow's argument holds little water. The people devising a spaceship aren't the ones flying it. Nobody in their right mind expects an architect to defend a castle they helped built by themselves. That's just silly.
9581850
Everyone failed during the Second Invasion. That was a major problem with the episode, that it was constructed around every single powerful character (excepting Starlight and Discord) being taken out at the same time, without anyone noticing, in a ridiculously short amount of time. Apparently by enemies they beat up by the dozens not that long ago. It was a bit stupid, to be honest.
9583435
9581945
Is there any reason for us to show any respect for the Guard, who have an even worse failure rate?
You misspelled "strengthening" in your title page blurb.
9583658
That would mean something if everything, up until Season 6, wasn't intentionally made to suck so that the Mane 6 could look better and succeed as the heroes.
9583809
They weren't even PRESENT during the Storm Incursion.
9583658
Again you're really expecting a children's cartoon to actually bother with making a group of random, unknown, characters in the background matter? Look; I totally respect and enjoy when people CHOOSE in their own fiction to make the story more serious, the setting more realistic or actually give it some consistency but...if you're going to be judging the show by it you're always going to be disappointed.
It'd be liking asking why in Power Rangers the military doesn't do anything, or why in the Mario series why Bowser bothers with the Koopalings when they have only ever failed in every engagement.
At the end of the day the problem really is, point blank, this is a kid's show about the Mane 6 (mostly Twilight) having to save the day. If random Guards were presented as competent enough to impede the plans of the arc villains then that would conflict with any sort of easy, narrative and story telling. The show NEEDS that a villain can rock up and in minutes conquer Equestria because the story usually only has 40 minutes total at most to tell the story of a villain, the Mane 6, side characters and impart a simplistic moral.
At the end of the day I don't think its a matter of 'do the Royal Guard deserve respect' as much as it is a matter of you're holding My Little Pony to a WAY higher level of story telling than it itself is trying to be.
My Personal headcannon? The Guard do fine dealing with the constant mundane and small crimes, conflicts and scuffles, but the story focuses on the Mane 6 and so we typically only focus on those threats which cannot be concievably dealt with by anything short of the frequent deus ex machina they and Twilight in particular reveal.
I get people find the 'Celestia/Luna/The Royal Guard are useless' jokes funny, but I think that's just a mark of a large fandom which aren't actually the target demographic and, thus, I think its rather disingenious to try to apply such thinking to the show itself.
At least no one found out about Spike's secret meetings with the CMC.
9583432
Rainbow's argument here isn't any better than the one in the story. Celestia rushed Shining and Cadance up north as soon as the Crystal Empire reappeared. They didn't have any time to make plans or set up proper defenses.They shot from the hip.
Shining and Cadance -- and later, the Mane Six -- did everything in their power to distract the crystal ponies from what was happening just beyond the border of their empire because they knew what would happen: MASS PANIC. The crystal ponies were terrified of Sombra. The mere mention of his name was enough to reduce them to a quivering pile of pony.
Rainbow's also forgetting that everyplace in Equestria isn't as... diverse... as Ponyville or Canterlot. There aren't any unicorns or earth ponies hanging around Cloudsdale, and there was a distinct lack of horns and wings in Appleoosa prior to the Mane Six's arrival. By my count, there were two ponies with horns and one with wings in the Crystal Empire when Sombra began his assault, and the winged one was kinda busy holding off icy death from the entire empire pretty much by herself.
9584836
Shooting from the hip so badly that you forget to bring soldiers with you when you're going off to battle is really, really bad. So no, I disagree that my RD's argument is 'just as bad'.
9585434
We'll agree to disagree about Shining's military prowess. I'll leave it at this: By U.S. military standards, Shining wouldn't be great. By Equestrian standards...
9584836 9585434
It's a persuasive argument that we shouldn't dismiss Shining Armor as a warrior or protector when virtually all the enemies he's failed against were severely out of his weight class.
However, the task in question isn't "fight off an attacking Tirek/Chrysalis/Sombra," it's "plan static layered defenses." And Shining Armor should well be judge as a failure here, precisely because he was the Captain of the Guard. It's not just his job to throw up a shield spell or exchange horn blasts with bad guys, what he does in this episode is what he should have started doing immediately after he was first appointed Captain of the Guard, or at the very least as soon as the first Canterlot Invasion happened.
On Shining Armor's watch plenty of bad stuff has happened he can't be blamed for, like Discord getting free. But there are also plenty of incidents he should be judged by, because the reflect a specific failure on his part to design security procedures. Chrysalis invading Canterlot the first time after he was mind-controlled? Not Shining's fault. Chrysalis first kidnapping Cadance, a Royal Princess, while Shining Armor is Captain of the Royal Guard and presumably responsible for her safety? That's a black mark on his record.
Sombra being stronger than him when he's some sort of mega Umbrum spellcaster? Not Shining's Fault. Sunset Shimmer being able to break into Twilight's room in the Crystal Empire's Castle, steal the crown and escape through unguarded portals? Shining's fault.
Chrysalis kidnapping Celestia, Luna and the Mane 6? Not Shining's fault, assuming he is no longer in charge of the security of the rest of Equestria. Chrysalis kidnapping Shining, Cadance and Flurry? Shining's fault.
In the Season 9 Opener, Shining being willing to surrender when his foal was threatened? Not his fault. The total lack of security features we see around his child or the Crystal Heart? Shining's fault.
To put it another way: Even if Shining Armor had personally beaten Chrysalis, Tirek, Sombra and Discord all in single combat, it would not matter, because he's not being asked to fight Equestria's enemies. He's being asked to design good security procedures, which he has done a terrible job at repeatedly in the past.
Sigh.
I can't believe I'm defending Shining Armor so much.
Regarding howard035's points:
The changelings and Queen Chrysalis had years, if not decades or even centuries, of surveillance and intelligence on the ponies while the ponies weren't aware of the changelings' existence. If the ponies' tactics to fight the changelings changed, the changelings' infiltration tactics would've countered. Until Thorax broke ranks with Chrysalis, the ponies were at a severe disadvantage to the changelings. It's a miracle the changelings didn't attempt more takeovers in that period.
No one knew Sunset Shimmer was coming back to Equestria. She could've run away to the human world and stayed there. Celestia admitted she knew nothing about the world on the other side of the mirror or whether Sunset survived the trip. Most houses put their alarms on the outside because they focus on keeping thieves out. Sunset came out of the mirror on the inside, so she already circumvented most security measures. Her whole trip into Equestria took maybe an hour, at best, and she's a skilled enough unicorn to elude guards for that long.
Maybe Shining should've had more security around the Crystal Heart. Maybe he thought the Heart could protect itself like the Tree of Harmony. Perhaps Sombra used his fear factor to scare away the guards around the Heart, took it, then apprehended the royal family by holding Flurry Heart hostage.
I'm not saying Shining Armor is a genius. However, we're judging him by human standards. Equestria doesn't have a standing army -- at least, one's never been shown -- and the primary way to defeat enemies is to love & tolerate them into submission.
9581553
Tirek can only drain magic from living things, so magic barriers are safe from his magic drain, unless he can drain the caster.
9583840
When you say "not part of the target demographic," have you seen some of the stuff adults are "suppose to watch?"