• Member Since 25th Oct, 2016
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Huk


"Consequences… Give a person a situation with no consequences and you’ll see the real them… Every time."

T
Source

During the celebration of another victory for Equestria, Rainbow Dash asks Celestia why she never helps them fight the bad guys. She never thought the answer involves ancient history and Daybreaker...


Meta:

Cover based on the image from: https://derpibooru.org/images/1724452
Proofread by Ginger and Grammarly :duck:
Another one to get into the feature box. Thank you, dear readers, I hope you enjoyed it :twilightsmile:

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 100 )

:'3

I agree entirely with your sentiment. Celestia is the PRINCESS OF THE FREAKING SUN! A massive, thousand times the size of the earth sphere of NOTHING BUT PURE, UNFILTERED, UNRESTRICTED, UNRELENTING HEAT AND FLAME. One misstep on the part of her enemies that would break her resolve... EVERYTHING dies. She could drop the sun itself on her enemies and melt them into a statue of ash and dust blowing away in the breeze. Tirek doesn't know what kind of power he wielded when he absorbed Celestia's power. The same could be said of Luna or Cadance or Twilight.

Luna. Princess of the Moon. Never put the moon down again, freeze everything. Or just drop the moon on her enemies. Or she could give them never ending nightmares and then make them real.

Cadance. Princess of Love. Suck away their capacity to love anything. Their planet, their families, their own lives. They'd walk into a bubbling pit of molten lava and not give two shits about the pain.

Twilight Sparkle. Princess of FREAKING MAGIC! Piss her off and she can do ANYTHING to you. Once she comes into her power as the Princess of Magic, she'd have the ability and capacity to do LITTERALLY ANYTHING to ANYONE. Turn them into ooze. Turn them into bugs. Turn them into the hay or grass other ponies eat. Hell, she comes into her REAL POWER... she could erase them from existance. Magic, just the general term "magic", encompasses A LOT. She comes into her power, she can easily be THE most powerful being in all of Equestria.

My eyes are not deceiving me, this in fact has 0 views.

It’s actually a decent read, too, it deserves at least some readers.

Huk
Huk #4 · Feb 2nd, 2020 · · 1 ·

10065183

Is that a :yay: - :unsuresweetie:?

10065214

I like the way you think :twilightsmile: and yeah, that's pretty much what I think also. Alicorns are a very powerful period. That would also explain why dragons didn't burn Equestria to the ground with Celestia around. Heck, after hearing about the incident in the story, dragonlord Torch was probably so impressed he proposed peace himself.

10065218

I posted that like... 10 minutes ago (or maybe 20), so this is normal, the views are not refreshed in real-time but ever 15 or 30 minutes. Thank for the read, glad you like it :raritywink:

A sign of true power is control.

Stating that, this basically means for all her age and experience and raw power Celestia's at the most basic level of combat magic.

Which boils down to her not learning to use her power rather then be used by it and failing to realize war is war, even more so since she's content to torture creatures for millennia.

Hooves aren't really clean in past or present, it ms just as stated that ponies idolize her.

Rainbow Dash will forever be my favourite. "Why do you never help?"

reminds me of another fanfic.

"A world of matchsticks." basically Celestia pulling a superman speech about always holding back in fear of hurting someone innocent.

10065230
The problem is it borders on might makes right- and at this point any villain with the common sense to kill them instead of keeping their power drained persons around to gloat would win by default.

If all four Alicorns are dead can't exactly send the power back to them, and you can't really use harmony when the main foci for it are missing due to death.

Well done. I had a similar idea. My idea was also allways she "created" the badlands, and vowed/sealed that power away. My side is that it was before she got the elements and froze discord. Dont forget there was around 1000 years before luna got seated for 1000 more. My only problem was where starswirl would be at the time. I dont remember his timeline.

Huk

10065237

What we've seen in the show is contradicted by the fact that Equestria is still standing after 1000 years of her rule. If she really were that poor of a fighter (magic, or otherwise), I doubt Equestria would be where it is now (if it would exist at all).

[...]even more so since she's content to torture creatures for millennia.

You're probably referring to her keeping Luna on the moon.

We don't know whether Celestia had the power to release her earlier or at all. And yes, I know what Lauren had posted a few days ago on Twitter. But assuming Celestia was the one who released Nightmare Moon, the fact that she waited until she was ready, paints her as a responsible and emotional leader, not a monster.

She had to choose between her sister and her ponies. She knew that without the elements, she would not be able to contain Nightmare Moon again, and many would perish. Instead of going with the instincts, she made a decision to keep Luna trapped until she finds new element bearers. She made a choice she should have made and suffered the consequences. Granted, Luna got the short end of the stick, but unless Celestia is an emotionless bitch, she was suffering every time she had to raise the moon.

What else could she have done?

The problem is it borders on might makes right- and at this point any villain with the common sense to kill them instead of keeping their power drained persons around to gloat would win by default.

If all four Alicorns are dead can't exactly send the power back to them, and you can't really use harmony when the main foci for it are missing due to death.

I... am not sure if I got that right. But if I did then, keep one thing in mind. The fact that Celestia says she promised herself she would never use her full potential doesn't mean that's written in stone. If a villain powerful enough were to invade and push her to the wall, she would cook him.

She prefers diplomacy, because it works better for all parties in the long run, and because she doesn't like killing.

10065240

Well, in the show, she was the one to complain 'Twilight, Princess never helps!" so she was the natural candidate for the role. Add to that the fact that she like cider and... ;]

10065246

Interesting... I had the one you mentioned in 'read it later' shelve. Need to give it a look.

10065282

Oh, never thought about 'sealing' her magic away, but it's an interesting idea, I admit.

Dont forget there was around 1000 years before luna got seated for 1000 more.

Was that time-frame stated anywhere in the canon? In most of my stories, I always assumed that Celestia and Luna are about 1200 years old, and the battles they fought for Crystal Empire, Discord, and so on happened in those 200 years.

I can definitely see Celestia possibly holding back if she can't control her full power. Or is worried about becoming Daybreaker, so she tries not to use too much power.

Pretty sure Daybreaker was never anything more than a dream figment.

10065338
Equestria also controls the sun and moon.

The number of creatures able to do so is limited so normal conflicts would not be worth the potential catastrophe from any normal nations front.

So yes, Equestria standing for over a thousand years with no internal strife from dissenting factions against the literal god-queen and no external strife due to the sheer fear mongering brought by that one act and the continual hoarding of magical power means her skill in combat is nominal at best in any known context.

Add to this the literally useless military and her competency has either deteriorated or she's turned away from the issues to prevent having to face her own shortcomings on that front.

I'm also referencing the fact Tartarus isn't a prison so much as a wasteland where she dumps her problems, if they aren't deposited into another world for those people to deal with(Starswirls his own can of worms), the alluded use of petrification, I.E driving prisoners to insanity and destroying on a level no sane individual would consider Justice.

Or the fact that we now have cannon confirmation that Celestia actively freed Luna with no plan B should anything have gone wrong with Twilight, much less the rest of the orchestrated Destiny she set in place.

The we have the "Harmony was fine with Luna" excuse being ignored when she went above and beyond on Discords' suggestion, ignoring his continued actions with no justifiable reasoning, to petrify three individuals, two of whom were in the category of torture seeing as she did nothing for over a thousand years with Tirek and dropped the idiot ball big time with Cozy, much less the general stupidity when dealing with a known threat like the Changelings twice over.

Her skill is at best in manipulation, as any sane creature would have no reason to start a war with them on principle of the power Equestria's basically had handed to them by fate. Or, more accurately luck, greed and manipulation.

Edit; too add, we know they have access to alternate worlds. Worried you can't train and control it here, move to an already barren lifeless plain and practice there instead of just going nope, not even going to try.

Not the first time I've seen this idea floating around here, but fairly well done nonetheless.

Some errors.

Earth ponies cavalry, pegasi earth support and reconnaissance, noble unicorn worriers and spell casters.

air
warriors

What takes him so long...”

What's taking

“Maybe, he’s negotiating the agreement? You did give him a lot of leeways.”

leeway

Dragons roared in agony, fidgeting on the molten ground for a while longer, but even they were no match for the heat.

While not technically incorrect 'writhing' or 'twitching' might be a better word here.

A liquefied fury of the Princess of The Sun.

The

Thanks to the diplomacy, friendship, and reformation, there is no danger that either of us becomes Daybreaker or Nightmare Moon.”

becoming

Suffice it to say, Celestia’s almost as obsessed with your well-being, as she’s with cake.”

she is

Love the stories picture...

Absolute power corrupts, absolutely. Celestia is right to fear her power; to fear bringing forth Daybreaker.

Huk
Huk #18 · Feb 2nd, 2020 · · 1 ·

10065351

With Nightmare Moon, she saw first hand what could happen if her dark side ever wins. But I think the other reason is that she really tries to avoid violence. It would make sense too. After Luna's banishment, she probably had to fight many battles. Imagine having memories of leading your troops into battle and then seeing half of them lying dead or dying on the battlefield. And on top of that, imagine being immortal and accumulating such memories with time. Knowing what war leads to, wouldn't you want to avoid it, even at the cost of some compromise?

One of our Polish kings, Casimir III, did just that - trying to avoid war when it was possible by compromising. Now he's known as 'the Great' because thanks to peace and diplomacy, Poland was able to prosper for many years.

I would imagine Celestia as that kind of a leader.

10065374

Well, whether Celestia turned into that Daybreaker from her dream, or something resembling it, is up to the interpretation. But she got pissed off to the point of destroying the entire army withing seconds, so whatever it was, she doesn't want to turn int that thing again.

10065395

Why do I have the feeling you don't like Celestia very much :unsuresweetie: ? Anyway...

And what would be the problem to trap Celestia and force her (or her unicorns) to move the sun, while you rob the land? And what about the movie? If the Storm King could move the sun with his staff (with embedded alicorn's magic), what would stop somebody else from just taking Celestia's magic by force?

I'm also referencing the fact Tartarus isn't a prison so much as a wasteland where she dumps her problems, if they aren't deposited into another world for those people to deal with(Starswirls his own can of worms), the alluded use of petrification, I.E driving prisoners to insanity and destroying on a level no sane individual would consider Justice.

Petrification sucks, BUT, as far as I'm aware, the only one that was able to see and hear through his stone prison was Discord (probably thanks to his magic). When Twilight got petrified by the... chicken thing in 'Stare Maaster,' she later acted as if she did not remember what happened, and wasn't aware of the passage of time.

Or the fact that we now have cannon confirmation that Celestia actively freed Luna with no plan B should anything have gone wrong with Twilight, much less the rest of the orchestrated Destiny she set in place.

Because it's not possible that Celestia had plan B (and C and D) we didn't know about? Or that she was watching how the events unfold and making sure Nightmare Moon would not hurt anypony? If you want to believe that, that's your right. But this is just one of many possible interpretations there can be.

Edit; too add, we know they have access to alternate worlds. Worried you can't train and control it here, move to an already barren lifeless plain and practice there instead of just going nope, not even going to try.

No idea what you mean by that. Unless this is something from the comic (which most people don't read, or consider real canon).

10065407

Thank you! I fixed some of the mentioned, but I'm not sure about these:

Thanks to the diplomacy, friendship, and reformation, there is no danger that either of us becomes Daybreaker or Nightmare Moon."

becoming

You sure there should be becoming here?

Suffice it to say, Celestia's almost as obsessed with your well-being, as she's with cake."

she is

What's wrong with using contraction here? I know you can't end the sentence with contraction, as in:

"Yes, I'm." vs. "Yes, I am."

But does the same apply here when she's is not the last word?

10065437

Um, you mean the story's picture?

10065468
We know she didn't have a plan B as Lauren Faust stated so, which severely crimps the interpretation part as that over rules with canon, more so when we've seen the only active force to defend Equestria is the royal guards.

Who are frankly useless against weaker threats then an Alicorn, and have no weaponry to deal with one.

The Staff used by the Storm King was stated to be an artifact, something not able to be replicated in modern day, so thats a moot point as finding these artifacts would be an arduous and very clear power grab.

Not to mention this was addressed in the point about keeping them alive instead of executing them once their power's drained.

Add to this the Average Unicorn is so weak as to rarely have more then base Telekinesis, as well as canon material stating how much power it took being debilitating to those using it, that starts a clock the instant it's tried with Doomsday at the end.

A cockatrice is not equal to, nor comparable to an Alicorn nor the Elements of Harmony. That's an animal using a defense mechanism, not a sapient creature choosing to punish(torture, mentally degrade or force into submission) another thinking being.

And trusting anything Discord does or says has proven to be both a fools errand at best.

The literal mirror. They've had since Starswirl made it.

It can go to more then location with proper application, lazy twat with bells just decided the best solution was to throw his problems into a realm with an entire civilization.

I'm not a fan of Celestia. I don't hate her.

I despise the constant handwaving of her faults by good intentions- which don't mean crap when you risk god knows how many lives for your selfish, personal ends and friends-and the main casts hypocrisy in this fandom and this is partly an extension of that.

The only thing that get's me is the name. I just... it just seems too simple, I guess? Like... something like, 'A Candle Burnt At Both Ends', or, 'As a Spark is To The Sun', would be nice. Something like that. Something more... cryptic, or, well, complicated.

Regardless, fun read, bruv.

I for one, think this video explain it perfectly

10065395

Or the fact that we now have cannon confirmation that Celestia actively freed Luna with no plan B should anything have gone wrong with Twilight, much less the rest of the orchestrated Destiny she set in place.

Lauren Faust has redacted that statement.

10065702
More then likely because she realized it doesn't paint Celestia in the perfect light the show demands her be, but redact doesn't mean the same a no longer applicable as my job irl often shows.

Unfortunately, the statements made and until any other canon information is presented it still holds as the only solid information ever supplied for the leading events.

F i r e

This is always the answer to a difficult situation.

10065670
I agree, my suggestion is And then I Saw the Sun

Makes sense. Fire is powerful, but it is a double edged sword at best.

10065468
You make a lot of good points but even Twilight has gone Nova with her mane. Doesn't mean she was posessed by some inner demon. In canon, when Celestia fought Chrysalis at the wedding, she was easily winning. She only backed off because Chrysalis let out a whimper of fear which seemed to suddenly made Celestia very uncomfortable with hurting her any further. (Probably due to not actually having it in her to ever go further than intimidation due to her own suffering from Nightmare Moon incident) Chrysalis convinced herself she won because of all the love she acquired, but most likely Celestia just lost her will to finish her.

10066161
Wow, that's an interpretation of that battle I never considered before. Though looking back on it...that surprisingly makes a lot of sense. I mean, even a single moment of hesitation could have been enough to make her lose a fight, and Chrysalis is definitively the one to take advantage of another's mercy or empathy if given a chance.

YES! :pinkiehappy: :rainbowkiss:

THIS. WAS. GENIUS!

You just perfectly listed out why I feel Celestia doesn't get involved in adventures anymore. She holds the power of the sun in her hands. It's almost like Superman, but without the control he's got.

This was an amazing story for a headcanon I've always agreed with, and I can't thank you enough for writing this.

Wonderful job. Thank you for sharing. :twilightsmile:

10065702
She most likely just "redacted" it because of backlash.

10065468

You sure there should be becoming here?

lol, my mistake I read the 'that' as 'of' for some reason, so it's okay as is.

What's wrong with using contraction here? I know you can't end the sentence with contraction, as in:

"Yes, I'm." vs. "Yes, I am."

But does the same apply here when she's is not the last word?

Should have clarified that, while it's not technically wrong, it reads a bit awkward as is.

10066161

10066237

My personal favorite interpretation was :

...Chrysalis nodded. "I guess. I'll ask Celestia, she still owes me for the wedding. She and her taste for drama and her thrice damned obsession with students saving the day." She threw her hooves up. "We had arranged it. Twilight would reveal me, Celestia would beat me into submission, I would flee and swear vengeance, Progenitor would scold me and then we would have been finished for the afternoon tea. But nooo! She couldn't win like we agreed. She had to lose the fight, and then leave me to improvise to fix the mess." -I Don't Want to Grow Up, Orbiting Kettle.

10065907 Ooh, I like that one. What about, "As The Candle Burns"? Or, "When Sparks Fly".

10066383
I think I would go with As the Candle Burns, it's much more melancholy.

“Celestia, I know you’re not a worrier—”

I think he meant warrior considering she seems to worry a lot.

10066406 Oh, what about something like, "Obsolescence". Something that illudes to her being a relic from a time long past.

10066450
Hmm... Nah. That wasn't the point of the story.

10066469 True. I think it's more of something implied. The only other thing I can think of is, "When God's Play". Not quite on the mark, but close. Or, "Sun Burnt". But, at this point, I'm just spewing symptoms.

10066472
When god's burn is the better of the two.

This acctually makes sense

Yeah, that has always been my interpretation of why Celestia never fights as well.
Nice work.

Huk

Wow, I went to sleep, and the story was barely moving, and now after a day of work, I learn that it made it almost to the top of the feature box. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside... Thanks, guys :twilightsmile:!

10065506

Before I start, I just want to say that after reading your posts, I have a feeling that you expect Celestia to be some kind of saint. You pound her mercilessly for every mistake she made as if it was some grave sin or something. Maybe I'm wrong, but I've seen first hand how that kind of attitude looks (and what it does) in the real world, and your responses fit the picture. If that's the case, then we'll never agree. Still, I owe you a reply, so let's do it... :unsuresweetie:

We know she didn't have a plan B as Lauren Faust stated so

Source? Because if you mean this https://twitter.com/Fyre_flye/status/1220940739795795968 :

Watch the episode again ---- the stars aligned in a perfect pattern that allowed her escape. And who controls the sun and the moon and the stars...? ;)

Then there is nothing about Celestia not having plan 'B' or anything like that...

But anyway... Since we don't have all the facts, we can only assume based on what we know, and at this point, we're both speculating. The problem I have with your approach is that (the way I understand it) it assumes that Equestria thrives not thanks to a strong army and competent leadership, but despite it. It pretty much comes down to 'Equestria was pretty lucky' and looking realistically, this simply doesn't make a lick of sense.

Equestria seems like the most prosperous country in the show, and you want to tell me that no bad guy, came with an idea to just capture Celestia and/or ponies and rob the place :rainbowderp:? If Equestria and ponies really are so weak, then that should be easy pease, and forcing Celestia or a bunch of slave unicorns to move the sun, shouldn't be a problem either. So how the heck the gold-loving, dragons or griffons (for example) didn't rob it? How is that country not only standing but thriving?

Or let me ask it this way. What is more likely, that for 1000 years, the country thrived despite having a moron in command and a weak army. OR that it succeeded thanks to having a wise leader, and strong versatile (cavalry, air support, and magic) army? For me, the probability assessment indicates the latter :unsuresweetie:.

As for the rest... It is interesting and all, but that is your personal canon:

- If you want to believe that petrification by cockatrice is different than petrification by the Elements and/or ordinary magic, fine. But there is no proof of that (and frankly, looking realistically, in the real world, we usually try to copy animals' abilities with technology. So there is a high chance that ponies developed their petrification magic by reverse-engineering cockatrice's ability).
- If you want to assume that there is no other artifact in the world that could move the sun, fine. But again, that's your assumption that can neither be proven nor disproven (and it doesn't explain why someone could not just capture Celestia and force her to do his bidding).
- If you want to assume that royal guards and ponies, in general, are weak fighters, fine. But you're ignoring this:

i.makeagif.com/media/7-24-2019/wNXkRD.gif

(neither girl was at that point a trained soldier)

And this (yes, yes, I know he had an artifact...):

And this:

i.pinimg.com/originals/95/9b/8c/959b8cb458ac0f522a1dab8f7d4021e2.gif

And this:

i.imgur.com/nDFV7ah.gif

(A single UNICORN, able to produce a shield, covering a goddamn CITY, a shield that was able to take a pounding from an ARMY of changelings and failed only after Chrissi messed up his mind. If that's not power, then I don't know what is.)

Not to mention, both Celestia and Luna, kicking asses of Sombra, and Tirek without (as far as I know) using the elements...

As for this:

The literal mirror. They've had since Starswirl made it.

It can go to more then location with proper application, lazy twat with bells just decided the best solution was to throw his problems into a realm with an entire civilization.

One, as you noticed, that predates Celestia's rule. As far as I know, she never dumped her problems to the other world (Sunset escaped there on her own accord). That blame goes to Star Swirl, and considering how they treated Stygian, Star Swirl and the pillars, made a lot of mistakes back then.

And two, if I remember correctly (don't remember if that was in the show or the comics), the justification behind ponies dumping artifacts to the EQG universe was that most of Equestria's magic was suppose NOT working there (Sirens magic was an exception, but even it was barely working, and they weren't a threat). Without magic, artifacts were useless. It wasn't until Sunset brought in the crown that the shitshow started.

I despise the constant handwaving of her faults by good intentions- which don't mean crap when you risk god knows how many lives for your selfish, personal ends and friends-and the main casts hypocrisy in this fandom and this is partly an extension of that.
[...]
More then likely because she realized it doesn't paint Celestia in the perfect light the show demands her be, but redact doesn't mean the same a no longer applicable as my job irl often shows.

OK... Explains something to me, please. Assuming Celestia was the one who released Nightmare Moon, was that a good or a bad thing, according to you :rainbowderp:?

10065682

YES, this! This is very similar to what I wanted to show here. Nice video :twilightsmile:!

10065670
10065907

I planned to go with some fancy title at first, but in this case, I decided to use the simple one because it acts as an instant hook. People have been asking themselves that question since season 2 or so. After seeing the title, they already knew what the story will be about, without even reading the synopsis.

Since the story made it to the top three places of feature box, I think the simple approach was the right choice :raritywink:

10065756

And guns:

Norma "Meltdown" Jessop:

"So I hope you all learned something from this. You can fix anything with a gun! The bigger the gun, the faster things get resolved."

:trollestia:

10066054

And in this case, it's not just fire, but more like armageddon, so yeah... Having nukes is good, using them? Not so much... :unsuresweetie:

10066097

Is that just "Eh," or an orgasmic "Eeeehhh" :trollestia:? If that's an 'eh,' then what did you not like about it? Can't fix the problem if I don't know what's broken :unsuresweetie:

10066161

... you know, I don't know if that's canon or not, but... I LOVE your interpretation of that fight. Never thought of that before.

10066261

Well, I'm just glad you liked it :twilightsmile:

10066317

lol, my mistake I read the 'that' as 'of' for some reason, so it's okay as is.

Yeah, that was my thought as well :raritywink: (ironically, in the first draft, that sentence was 'of us becoming NM and DB,' but I changed it.)

Should have clarified that, while it's not technically wrong, it reads a bit awkward as is.

Ah, after listening to the Word's Text-To-Speach a few more times, I think I know what you mean. Changed. Sorry about that. As a non-native speaker, I don't catch such things easily :twilightblush:

10066359

Oh, hell. I need to read that one :rainbowlaugh: Thanks!

10066414

Fixed, thanks! ... Ginger and Grammarly - I want my money back... :twilightangry2:

10066676
10066790

The alternative is that something like that:

"Bah, I dealt with that s*it for a thousand years, let Twilight deal with it now... Luna, bring the beer!"

"Now you're talking, sister!"

Someone should make a story about that :trollestia:


And done! ... only took three hours :trixieshiftleft:

10066830

You're welcome! It's verra good, and the sequel/prequal is even better!

10066830 You know what? You are not wrong. I can't argue with that.

As much as Celestia being powerful is everyone's headcanon, I keep getting distracted by the fact that there is a discrepancy when Celestia brought down the whole sun and yet her base is untouched by the heat. She did mentioned that her magic is "powerful but inaccurate", but the evidence written here shows no proof that it hit any allied force or mentioned of how damaging the magic actually really was. It is hard to show just how strong everything is when others keep hearing the same thing multiple times, in this context, the sweltering heat, that it loses it's meaning. The word "literally" is used so much that it has lost it's meaning, for example.

I would try to focus more on how inefficient her magic was. Give good context to readers to help them imagine how strong the "powerful but inaccurate" statement really is. Like giving an example of "how big the enemy force is in terms of stadiums or anything easy to visualise verses about 1/4(ish) of Equestria that got affected by Daybreaker".

Number of "A" forces and number of "B" forces loses all meaning of actual size. Giving us an image to compare them to helps put things into perspective.

10066830
We've seen how useless the Pony military is-it's literally one of the show's running gags to the point a 1000+ year soldier is still familiar enough with the weaponry and armor in use to call them subpar and try and whip them into shape.

And the wedding-during-threat-of-invasion, poorly planned defense, sacrificing two guards to Nightmare Moon, Keeping a god of chaos(contained or not) in a public location, Cerberus as the only major guard of Tartarus, charging Blindly as fools towards Tirek(who drains creatures magic) not preparing defenses against Changelings at all after the invasion, using another world as a dumping ground for artifacts and monsters.

And the irony in pointing out the Element's out performing soldiers lay in a few points.

Both Rainbow, Applejack and Twilight far exceed the averages of their tribe-Twilight being one of three ponies born within the time frame of 30+ years to match a lower Alicorn like Cadence before ascending. Rainbow being the only Pegasus in 100+ years possessing enough magical(because it ain't physical strength that lets her fly) potential to break supersonic speeds. And Applejack typically showing above average durability, endurance and physical strength.

Add to this the Changelings actively avoiding harming them and the show's plot armor and I'm finding that a laughable point when the sane option would've been to put them down instead of capturing them and gloating-which I've already addressed.

I never said there wasn't another artifact. I'm saying finding it, using it and not having the Elements go "No, we didn't choose your species to lead the world into prosperity" is a horribly rough road to walk with arguably less pay off- as unless you found all of them(impossible due to a half dozen reasons involving both the logistics of tracking them down or even using/repairing them) someone else will pull the same stunt and everyone ends up dead.

And at this point every threat capable of
On top of that, a strong, wise, confident wouldn't be so selfish and daft as to repeatedly risk the world to further a students ascension when she has all the resources in the world to do so through safer, less politically charged(cough, terrorism, negligence and breaching of every treaty ever written, cough) methods then routinely letting these things happen.

Starswirl taught Celestia-yes, it predates her rule, but guess who had it in a closet for 1000+ years?

Yes, risking the entire civilization and wars untold to save your sibling is a bad thing. It's by definition selfish, entitled, and arrogant beyond any sane measure, even more so when anyone else doing it's immediately marked as a monster.

I don't expect a saint. I expect her to be held to the same standards as anyone else since she sets an example, not allowed to do whatever she pleases with no consequences like a god.

Huk

10066892

A few things:

One, she didn't literally brought the sun down, but instead, using her connection to it, intensified her magic to the point of causing local armageddon.

Two, it was inaccurate in the context of fighting a single foe. My idea is that when using her full power, Celestia can't just focus it on a single pony, or changeling, but instead needs to target a certain minimal area. When she was fighting Chrissy, using her full magic would mean turning part of Canterlot into singing ruins and killing everyone being there at the time.

And three, during that sneak attack, only the dragons (and possibly some other flying units like griffons) made it to the Equestria's camp. The rest was charging from their camp hundreds of meters away, hoping for the death of general and Celestia to cause panic and break the lines. But Celestia recovered in time to stop the enemy before they reached them.

I probably should have described the distance too, that would have made it more clear.

I would try to focus more on how inefficient her magic was. Give good context to readers to help them imagine how strong the "powerful but inaccurate" statement really is. Like giving an example of "how big the enemy force is in terms of stadiums or anything easy to visualise verses about 1/4(ish) of Equestria that got affected by Daybreaker".

Number of "A" forces and number of "B" forces loses all meaning of actual size. Giving us an image to compare them to helps put things into perspective.

Hmm... I thought that giving the numbers should be enough to allow the reader to imagine sixty thousand troops, and how they vanish in a few seconds in the pool of lava. But, now that I think about it... a paragraph with some nice comparison would allow for a more vivid mental picture. Noted for future reference :twilightsmile:

10066897

OK, I think we both said everything there was to say. We'll just have to agree to disagree :unsuresweetie:

However, there is one statement I have to address:

Yes, risking the entire civilization and wars untold to save your sibling is a bad thing. It's by definition selfish, entitled, and arrogant beyond any sane measure[...]

So petrifying ponies is cruel, but keeping Luna locked on the moon is... OK :rainbowderp:? Don't you see a contradiction in your statements here? Or are you saying Luna deserved to be locked there forever for 'the greater good'?

I seem to be missing something here. It sounds like her troops were fighting the enemy, she vaporized a large area, the fighting stopped.
Did she target another area and the enemy surrendered at the show of force? Or are her troops impervious to fire hot enough to vaporize a dragon? Or did something else happen?

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