Pyrrhic Victory
'Another such victory and I am undone.'
-Ancient Quote
"Hey Twiley."
The lavender alicorn didn't bother to glance up at her brother. Faith had told her to talk to him but despite the good advice she just couldn't bring herself to look at his face. Well, she could, but she knew if she did she would only smack it with her hoof. Where once his words would have offered comfort she felt now that all they would offer would be pain. So she had tried to tuck herself away, to avoid what she knew needed to be done.
Leave it to her brother to hunt her down.
"Still haven't forgiven me, huh?" Shining said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. She wondered if he had felt the same way she did and had tried to avoid her.
"Uh huh," Twilight said, turning to a new page, nose practically buried in the book. She would have liked to claim that the volume wasn't interesting and she was just reading it as an excuse to ignore her brother... but truthfully it was so intriguing that she would have been pressed not to continue to examine it even if she did want to see her brother.
Luna had left the tome sitting on the table as a bit of a peace offering for her actions the night Twilight had ascended. It was just what she needed but was afraid to ask for: a guide on black magic.
Even with her mind clear and the fire within her chest now filled with faith instead of rage Twilight would never be able to go back to pure white magic. The darkness had always been a part of her; she realized that now. It was a piece of her, no different than her horn and the only reason she hadn’t used it before was because she had denied its existence. And all that had managed to do was repress it. The end result, when combined with the heartbreak and mental angst she'd felt because of her friends betrayal, was that she had exploded. She become a pillar of darkness and let the black magic drive her into near madness.
She smiled slightly as she paused, bookmarking her spot. It had been Doubt that had helped her, keeping her focused as the dark seductive magic had torn through her. Without him she would have probably ended up doing something she'd have regretted for the rest of her days (like killing somepony or getting a tattoo… both of which were horrible in her opinion). Yet another sign that he wasn't as bad as he let others believe. Yes, he had encouraged her but he had done so in such a way as to minimize the damage.
The black magic would always be a part of her, as would the white. She was a blend of the two... they didn't merge into one, as was the case with Faith, as much as they swirled about her form in tandem. The powers within her were much like the Cakes' twins: at times they would drift off and do their own thing, one sleeping while the other was restless. But for the most part they were together, working towards their common goal, leaning on the other and lending each other strength.
Light and darkness. White and black. The sun and the moon. Twilight.
It was fitting.
The book was teaching her so much about her new abilities. Black magic, despite what others would have wanted her to believe, was not on its own evil. Did it lead towards a path of wickedness? Of course… the darkness was easier to wield and fueled by emotions. The more powerful the feelings the easier it was the cast spells… but they could become erratic and dangerous. But it was possible, with dedication and work, to turn black magic towards good; just as one could find ways to turn the serenity of white magic into a violent force, cold and logical and devastating. Magic was merely a tool… it was the wielder who determined its use.
Already her mind was a whirl of spells she wanted to try out; the shadow meld spell alone would have seemed an impossibility only days ago. Now... now she could feel with all her being that it was something she could do with ease.
"Twiley?" Shining said softly.
‘In fact… maybe I should try it right now,’ she thought, looking longingly at a shadow near her hooves, imagining herself sinking into it and fleeing the conversation…
The alicorn sighed, shutting the book and turning towards her brother. There was no getting away from her problems; doing so had led to her repression in the first place. "What?"
"Can... can we talk?"
So many retorts bounced on her tongue. She wanted to snap at him, insult him and tell him off. It would be so easy, so very simple to just let him feel the full power of her rage-
'You don't want to do that, though,' her mind whispered.
'Faith...' Twilight growled in annoyance.
'Not me, my dear,' Faith's voice rang through her head, stopping her cold. 'Though I do agree with the advice.'
"Twiley?"
Twilight sighed, tapping her forehead. "It’s very crowded in here at the moment."
"Dou- I mean Faith?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "In part. My better nature too."
Shining managed a smile. "I hope its speaking in my favor."
"It is." Her eyes narrowed. "But my common sense is screaming I should punch you."
"I deserve that," Shining admitted, moving to stand next to her. “Can I at least say what I need to say?”
“You can do whatever you want, brother; you always have.”
Shining glowered at that statement. “I am trying to be nice and you are not helping in the slightest.”
“Tough,” Twilight stated coldly. “My friends didn’t have a problem finding ways to apologize for their mistake.”
“Maybe because you actually gave them a chance!” Shining shouted in frustration. “Maybe because you didn’t try to blast them with magic the moment they opened their mouths. You at least let them screw up first before you rip into them!”
Twilight was caught between shock and rage. She would have leveled him right there, but be it his complaint or simply her mind being startled too act… she found herself just sitting there, glaring daggers at him.
“Do you realize how hard this is for me?” Shining finally asked.
“For you?” Twilight growled, eyes flickering: one white and as cold as an arctic frost, the other black like the flames of Tartarus. “Always about you! Aw, poor Shining Armor, everypony isn’t lining up to kiss your pearly white flank!”
“And always about you!” Shining snapped. “So we have something in common, Twilight! Now you are going to shut your mouth and let me finish my thought! Understand?”
It was only with the quick flick of a silver wing that ensured Shining wasn’t reduced to ashes.
“I was enjoying that apple pie,” Faith said coolly, a bit of ice cream still clinging to his lip. “It was warm and sweet and the ice cream cold and creamy. And wonderful blend of opposing forces.” The lord of the gray leveled a hard stare at Twilight. “Can I not go 5 minutes without you getting in trouble, my dear?”
“What the hell are you doing?” Twilight snapped. “You protect me!”
“I am… I am protecting you from yourself.” Faith’s horn glowed and Twilight found herself bond to her chair with silver rope. Faith stepped aside and found Shining was as well. “You will talk to each other, you will act like adults, and if you aren’t complete foals I may bring you back some of the pie… or perhaps a cookie, since I find I am quite fond of the pie. If you do not you both can spend eternity tied up staring at each other.” Faith nodded his head before his entire body turned into silver dust, falling to the ground and disappearing upon impact.
Shining ran his tongue along his cheek. “He seems… puckish.”
“He’s sarcastic too. I think I prefer him being all brooding and mysterious,” Twilight grunted, tugging on the ropes. Whatever they were made of they held fast, not hurting either of them but refusing to give even an inch. After several moments Twilight finally lowered her head in defeat. “Why is it hard for you?”
“What’s that?” Shining asked.
“Faith told me to listen so I am going to listen. So tell me why it is so hard for you so we can get the hay out of here.”
Shining sighed, eyes drifting shut. “If Rainbow Dash and Applejack were fighting, who would you side with?”
“What does that-?”
“Just answer the question.”
“I don’t know… whoever was right.”
Shining shook his head. “You can’t know that. They are yelling at each other and everypony is looking to you to stop them and they aren’t stopping. You don’t know why they are fighting… they are hurling accusations at each other. Who do you side with?”
“I… I sit them down-“
“They won’t listen!” Shining said earnestly. “Applejack is in near tears and Rainbow Dash looks like she is so distraught that she will collapse at any moment. You can’t help them both so you have to choose! Who, Twilight?” Shining forcing himself forward, straining against his bonds. “Tell me who!”
“I don’t know!” She cried out.
“Tell me who to choose!”
“I don’t know!”
“Who was I suppose to choose?”
“I… I…” Twilight blinked, Shining’s words finally making sense. “Oh.”
“Yeah… oh,” Shining said softly. “The woman I love and my sister… the happiest day of my life and they are at each other’s throats. I lost either way, Twiley… I either denounced you or believed my wife was a monster… and yeah, she was, but I didn’t know that. I was in the worst of positions. No matter what I did I was going to lose one of you. A pyrrhic victory.”
“Shining…” Twilight said softly. The next words died in her throat when she saw he was crying.
“I… I screwed up, ok? I wanted to protect my wife but I said horrible… horrible things to you. I don’t know why I said them… maybe I was jealous of you to begin with, what with you being the big hero of Equestria and I wanted to bring you down. Maybe I was mad you didn’t come to me and let me know in private. Maybe the stress of everything got to me… I don’t know. But I messed up and now you hate me and I’m never going to make it up!” The stallion did nothing to hide his shame and guilt. “I… I tried and failed, Twilight and now you hate me… and for what? To protect that bug!” Shining grit his teeth in anger. “Celestia told me the queen survived… barely. I want to just throttle her for doing that to Cadence and to me and to you and everypony… and I don’t think Cadence will ever want to be with me because I let her down and I hurt you doing it and she never would have wanted that-“
“Shiny, stop babbling.”
“… what?” Shining Armor said in surprise, the ropes falling from his wrists.
“Stop babbling and listen to me,” Twilight said calmly. “Have you talked to Cadence about this?”
“…no.”
“Then you need to do that. Go buy her some flowers, get her some jewelry and if you need to, have Faith tie you both up so you can work through it.”
Shining blinked in surprise. “Do… do you forgive me?”
“No,” Twilight said softly, hating the look of utter sadness that appeared on her brother’s face. “It’s too soon… the wounds too fresh. I’m sorry, Shining, I wish I could… but I just can’t. You’re right… you were in a horrible situation… but that gave you no right to treat me the way you did.
“I am not ready to forgive, not just because of you but because of me. I… I need to learn a few things about myself before I can truly be open to friendship and love again. That night… it left scars and it is going to take a long time to heal. So no, I can’t forgive you just yet.” She trotted back to her book. “But Shiny… don’t give up on me.”
The captain managed a smile. “Never, little sis.” He trotted to the door.
“Shiny?” Twilight called out. “Cadence loves roses.”
“Right… thanks.”
Twilight smiled back before returning to her book.
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i want this fanfic be made into a movie and I want tim burton to direct it!
Can you imagine burtons desigh of dark alicorn twi and doubt (before he became faith)
i want this fanfic be made into a movie and I want tim burton to direct it!
Can you imagine burtons desigh of dark alicorn twi and doubt (before he became faith)
Reasonable reaction for Twilight... and I find Shining's 'excuse' for siding with his 'fiance' a bit too pathetic (Guess he went with the mentality on who he would rather buck)... curious though, is Cadance going to play an important role in Abundance?
*Speaking of Cadance, I wonder what she will say to Shining? Either two things will happen... they either end their relationship because of this or they stay together and try to make it up to Twilight
Very nice. I needed a nice sappy heart to heart chapter to calm me down after having to deal with dipshits on TF2 MVM.
sorry about posting that twice
it was an accident
another great chapter indeed.
1520846
I don't see why it's pathetic. Shining Armour was caught between a rock and a hard place. His wife or his sister, who to choose? I fully understand his dilemma, and it's wrong of Twilight to assume he did it just to hurt her, or that he automatically should have sided with her. His example of Rainbow Dash and Applejack fighting was a good one, it was exactly the sort of situation he found himself in, and no matter what he did, he'd end up losing. Try to picture it from his point of view: he's stressed already because of the threat to Canterlot, stressed because of the wedding, he's overworked, and then his own sister who he loves dearly just barges in and starts screaming "EVIL! EVIL! EVIL!" in the face of his wife seemingly out of nowhere, with nothing to back up her claims, trying to ruin the only happy thing left in those days. Is it really that hard to see why he was upset with her, and why he sided with fake-Cadence?
In fact, I find that Twilight only has herself to blame for the way things went between her and her brother. Yes, she was trying to protect him, but the way she went about it was just... well, stupid, to be honest. She should have handled the situation much more delicately, and have realised that maybe ponies wouldn't immediatly agree with her if she started shouting accusations of "PURE EVIL!" at Celestia's own niece. I fully understand why Shining Armour did what he did, especially given that in his mind, he thought every one of Twilight's accusations had a reasonable explanation (the bridesmaids, the mind-spell, etc.). Don't forget that, even for a moment, Twilight also thought that she was wrong (until Chrysalis trapped her in the caves). It's not so hard to see why everypony thought Twilight was wrong. (Which doesn't mean I agree that they all should have walked out on her,mind you, but that's another point entirely.)
It was about time Twilight realised this, and that the world doesn't revolve around her and that she's not the only one who can have it tough. I'm glad that finally started to sink in in her twisted little brain. It was about time, I was starting to give up on her ever being a good person again. Now, there's at least some hope.
I have loved every single chapter you've written here, and I'm sad to see we seem to be moving towards an end.
Also, I believe Pyrrhus of Epirus was a Greek, not a Roman. Though you could say that "Parallel Lives" (the book in which the quote occurs) has had far more influence on Rome and Roman history than on Greek, it was written by Plutarch, a Greek, even if he was a Roman citizen.
Yay, nitpicking.
AAAAGH! NO!
THAT'S NOT ROMAN! HE WAS FIGHTING THE ROMANS! goddamn, man, I saw pyrrhic victory and was like "awww yeah" then the quote "awww yeah" then the source "faaaace palm"
So, now for a quick history lesson- The phrase is named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War.
The phrase was named after him, because he did so badly(not his fault, he was fighting Rome).
Lot's of big words in this chapter, missy. We be not but humble bronies.
In all seriousness, I'm on the fence in the conflict between them. Sure, Shining was in a bad position. I get that, no matter what he picked, he was going to lose (Which is one of the NUMEROUS reasons why I hate Dragon Age 2). On the other hand, I do sympathize with Twilight's pride and rage preventing her from forgiving Shining, as I have a problem with needing to cool down before I actually start doing the thing I should be doing; forgiving and admitting I'm wrong. Rage is a double edged sword; it gets things done, it just really stunts logic.
It does kind of sadden me though that Twilight would rather hold on to her bitter feelings of hate and rage rather than preserve her relationship with her friends and family. But hey, such is the nature of rage.
1520847
STOP QUITTING YOU MOTHERF-
-ERS!
Good chapter. Looking forward to the next one, as well as the sequel.
1520847 I know how you feel bro... Luna DAMN why does everyone but me and one or two other ssem to fail SO FRIGGIN' BADLY
It is a mere matter of perspective.
Shining knew he had to trust one, and condemn the other. It was no way he could have ahd a complete victory.
1520846
SPOILER
In The Walking Dead, you have to choose whether to give Carley the ammo to her gun, or help Doug block out the walkers. If you help Doug, carley will be dragged down by two walkers and helplessly maimed and devoured. If you give Carley the ammo, Doug will be dragged out of the window and mob-eaten. Regardless of who you save, they will die in two episodes or so. A very pyrrhic victory.
End of spoiler
If Shining had believed his sister, he could potentially have been branded a traitor by Celestia, killed or replaced by Chrysalis/another changeling, and/or something even worse. Things would have ended badly, regardless of his choice, that I have to be certain of.
no author exposition? I rather enjoyed those, almost as much as the chapters themselves in some cases.
It's a start. That's all anypony can ask for, really. Twilight is going to have to learn to discipline herself though... incinerating somepony because you don't like what they said? I know dragons with more restraint.
1520915
I still find him to be a very bad brother... If I were in that situation, I'd rather tell her off and speak to my fiance to postpone the wedding until this is all sorted... instead, he blatantly disowned her (out of spite for her own popularity over him and for siding with his future 'wife' cause of lust I assume) and just went about in his life until he realized what he has done, but it was too late for any excuse...
Also using 2 friends fighting as an example doesn't work here:
Cadance (fake): Fiance, lover, potential mother of his children
Twilight: Younger loving sister, who he grew up with
He choose the wrong option, now let him burn for that...
I understand the world doesn't revolve around Twilight, but for too long has she been selfless and never spoken up for herself (she's bottled up all the emotions and stuff until it burst... like what Faith/Doubt said about the twig example, bend it too much it leaves scars and eventually snaps if not properly cared for)... I'm not saying Twilight should never forgive Shining, but what they need is time off and time to realize what they have done to the other...
Definitely looking forward to Twilight and Celestia's bondage session.
...what?
1520840 i...i..i think i just came.....
Y'know compared to twilight I'm too goddamn forgiving even if I was betrayed
1520998
That's... actually a pretty baseless assumption, to be honest. I mean no offense, but there is nothing that indicates this at all from what I can remember of the episodes. I don't really get where you get Shining Armour sided with Cadence because he was jealous of Twilight's popularity. He sided with Cadence because he thought Twilight was wrong (as did everypony else, even Twilight herself, for a moment), and he disowned Twilight because he was angry with her for baselessly attacking his wife and trying to upstage his wedding. If my own sister, on my wedding day, came and claimed my own fiancé was pure evil, with nothing to back up her claims, and tried to ruin what's supposed to be one of the most beautiful days in my life, I would be angry too.
What was Shining Armour supposed to do? Say: "Oh, hey sis! Thanks for barging in and saying my wife's pure evil, even though you have no proof for what you said! Of course I'll believe you! Cadence, honey, the wedding is off and you're arrested because you're pure evil because my sister said so even though she has no proof and all her accusations can be explained reasonably!" Somehow, I don't think that would have worked. Twilight made her brother angry, and rightly so, because she was attacking the person he loved and wanted to share the rest of his life with (well, at least he thought Chrysy was Cadence), for seemingly no reason. What Twilight should have done is taken her brother aside, or any of her friends, or Celestia, and calmly said why she thought something was up, and then confront Shining Armour and Cadence with it. Instead, she barged right into the rehearsal screaming "EVIL! EVIL! EVIL!" on top of her lungs and attacking a person who (as far as the rest of the mane six, SA and Celestia knew) had done nothing wrong. Of course they weren't going to believe her, and of course Shining Armour would be pissed. We, as the audience, of course knew Twilight was right and Cadence was pure evil. But from the ponies' point of view, Twilight was spouting nonsense, trying to ruin her brother's big day for no good reason. Everypony would be angry about that and say harsh words.
Of course, her friends should have listened to her concerns the night before the rehearsal instead of brushing her concerns off, and then Twilight wouldn't have barged into the rehearsal and ruined her relation with her brother. But that's a mistake of the mane six, not of Shining Armour. In fact, of all ponies at the rehearsal, Shining Armour is the one who bears the least amount of blame. He protected his wife from his sister's random accusations, like a good husband would do. He hadn't seen Twilight since her arrival, he didn't know she was getting upset about Cadence. It's the fault of her friends, partly at least, however, that they let the situation escalate to the point where Twilight did what she did, and thus ruin her relationship with her brother.
I really can't say I'm angry at Shining Armour, because from his point of view, Twilight was spouting nonsense, and that would make any brother angry. Of course he knew her and grew up with her, but everyone who has a younger sister (me included) will say that growing up together doesn't mean your sister can't make mistakes, big ones even, or that you always have to side with her, especially when all evidence (that you know of) points to her being wrong. Suppose for a moment Twilight HAD been wrong and Cadence hadn't been replaced or evil. What then? Would we still be angry at Shining Armour for telling her off? Of course not, for Twilight would have been wrong to accuse Cadence like that. And Shining Armour would have been right to be angry with her. We only think he's so bad because WE know Twilight was right all along. But that's exactly the point: nopony knew, and even Twilight herself doubted herself for a moment once Shining Armour told her off.
And that's what we need to keep in mind: Shining Armour reacted from a certain perspective, namely, that Twilight was wrong, like everypony else believed at that moment. It doesn't matter if she was right in the end. We need to look at the situation in context. At that moment, did anypony know Twilight was right? No. They all behaved based on the information they had, and need to be judged accordingly, and we need to look at it and ask ourselves: "Do their reactions make sense in the context of the situation?". And for Shining Armour, I have to say that that definately is the case. I'm not saying Shining Armour is without flaws or fault in the current situation, but it's hard to blame him for behaviour that in context made perfect sense, and not to mention, if it had been any of us at our wedding, we probably wouldn't have behaved very differently.
Oh boy, that got kinda lengthy. Sorry about that.
It's all in good spirit, though, and I mean no offense with any of what I said. I'm just trying to offer a different perspective on SA's behaviour based on my own observations, nothing more.
1521153
I see your point... but one thing Shining should know now is that forgiveness can't be accepted just a day or two after he broke the heart of his little sister
I have loved this fic since you started writing it im sad and excited to be so close to ze end
1521175
That is true, and I agree.
1521208
Thank you... now comes the 2 BIG QUESTIONS:
1.) Celestia, how is she going to justify what she has done?
2,) Cadance, how will she handle Shining?
Really loving this story.
Can't believe it's almost over.
One small point though...
What happened to the bonds at the end? They started off being tied up and then they just seem to disappear?
I had a Pyrrhic victory once, it was one of the worst moments of my life
1520978
Didn't do one mainly because there wasn't much to say. We are moving towards the end... maybe two chapters to go. Things won't be tidied up nice and neat because that isn't how life is. Some relationships will remain fractured, others will be on the way to be mended, but there will be scars because of all of this.
great chapter, i laughed when faith turned up and saved shinings life while complaining about how they ruined his moment with a pie...
1521209
1) Well, Celestia is of course more guilty than Shining Armour (one of my peeves with the wedding episodes, really). She knows Twilight very well as her faithful student, she knows Twilight would never randomly accuse ponies of being evil, she knows Twilight saved Equestria twice and to top it all off, she KNEW there was a threat to Canterlot, she just didn't know what it was. What she should have done was double-check what Twilight said. Even if Twilight was wrong, as a ruler to her kingdom, it was Celestia's duty to make sure that this was not the threat she was so afraid of, just in case. Instead, she did what she did, and the writers of the show failed miserably at her character.
So, how should Celestia react now, how can she justify her behaviour? Well, she's not entirely without valid reasons. What goes for SA goes for her, too: Twilight was still making random accusations without any evidence. That's a major point in Celestia's favour. Also, we mustn't forget, Cadence is Celestia's niece, she's her family. By siding with Cadence, Celestia was protecting her family from a seemingly unjustified attack. That's another point in her favour. Sadly, that's about it. Celestia still should have investigated, if not for Twilight then for her kingdom's safety. The best thing would be if Celestia confessed she made a mistake, but at the same time, this is not an excuse for Twilight to hate her or to never forgive her. Twilight must not forget that Celestia did a lot of wonderful things for her her entire life, took care of her like a second mother, taught her things and so much more. If Twilight says all of that is nullified by one mistake Celestia made, then Twilight's acting wrong as well. No, the best would be if they both admitted to having made mistakes, and Celestia should be the first one to do so, for Twilight's sake. Celestia has some valid reasons that justify her behaviour, but unlike Shining Armour, these reasons do not excuse her behaviour, at least not for me. I'm curious to see how defender2222 will handle this.
2) Personally, I don't think much will change between Cadence and Shining Armour. Cadence is mostly calm and composed, and reasonable to boot. She understands Twilight's point of view, but she also loves Shining Armour unconditionally, and she will definately understand what made him do what he did. At least if she acts in-character. As for how she'll feel about Shining Armour and fake-Cadence, well, she can't really blame him, since not even her own family (Luna and Celestia) realised Cadence was a changeling until it was too late. I think SA will probably blame himself for not noticing it, and then it's actually up to Cadence to reassure him.
1521153
I think that his jealousy also played a big role here:
Come between Twilight and Cadence.
Say to his wife something like "do not worry, I'll talk to her".
Take away (by force, if necessary) his sister somewhere and talk.
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_Sparkle.png
Description=Story of my life
1521394
That would have been the rational thing to do, yes, just like it would have been far more rational for Twilight to take her brother or mentor aside instead of barging in shouting "PURE EVIL!". But Twilight wasn't acting rational, she let her emotions get the best of her. Same for Shining, no doubt. He was angry at his sister, rightly so, and he spoke with his emotions, not his brain. Just like his sister had.
1520840 that sounds quite interesting i wouldn't mind seeing that movie but i got to wonder is the reality that Luna saw in her dream where twiglight becomes an evil ruler still a possibility or has that finally been thrown out of the equation
1520915>>1520942
/)
Also, it's interesting to realize that Shining, and pretty much everybody else, reacted the same way to Twilight at the rehersal as she did to them afterwards(albeit more violently). Whether that's hypocritical or karmic is a debate for another day(or in your own head). Seriously. I don't want to see anyon debating that thought.
Being able to understand the point of view and actions of others is a highly important skill in life as well as writing. It's what allows you to create a living, three dimensional world as opposed to a flat, depthless, puppet show. I've seen a lot of commentators that seem to lack this ability and were taking Twilight's perspective on things as the word of God.
It's also the reason(combined with comparing this to the actual episode) that has made me dislike Twilight and Doubt so much(Yes he's Faith now, but I'm not talking about him now).
Other than that, "Faith" being the sixth Element is actually rather bril-(-makes note: "The Fifth Element/MLP-FiM Crossover"-) brilliant. It not only makes more sense than "magic", it actually works better considering her own dialogue when she "found" the sixth element. It's just a shame Doubt came off like such a douche. Faith seems like a nice
guyponyalicorn though.I'm sorry but has no one seemed to notice that Twilight was ready to literally kill her brother and was only stopped at the last second? Nor did she feel any such remorse except for the fact that Faith stepped in and didn't let her kill him?
Kinda killed my hopes that Twilight would end up well, because it's dropped her down to "Horrible little witch"
1521599
Luna saw Twilight with a stallion racing towards a Centerlot with rebellion in their hearts.
It never said what they were rebelling against or why.
1521637
I think people are forgetting just how short of a time has gone by. Twilight has been through hell over barely 72 hours. She can't get a grip on anything... every being she has been friends with has either betrayed her or changed into an entirely different being. And then, add into it that the one she feels betrayed her the most just began yelling and (rather stupidly on Shining's part) echoed the very arguement that made Twilight snap in the first place... yeah, that's like giving a man who just lost his wife and job a loaded gun and insulting his mother...
Does it justify her actions? Hell no and it will be addressed in the final chapter.
Meh, if I were her I would seperate the two, beat them into the ground, find out what's wrong, beat them into the ground again, then have them kiss and make out . . . I mean make up . . . make out. Yeah.
1521677
Betrayed her because she made a stupid mistake in how she was going around presenting things, I don't feel it's betrayal when one does it in a completely stupid way as keeper said. You go in yelling EVIL EVIL EVIL without any hint of presentation or any evidence of accusation on a stress filled wedding against your brother when to your friends you've been showing nothing but jealousy over your brother getting married with no real issues behind it otherwise, looking to the world like a stupid, bratty sister who cant accept her brother getting married so you try and paint his wife as EVIL. With the other reason that they are only changing because of her falling flat because..Well, it's all because of her.
He started yelling because she wasn't going to listen otherwise (And she wasn't, which was clearly shown), she's a stubborn goat who started this entire mess, and the loaded gun doesn't help when it's given to you by another. (At least Faith is starting to get a bit better than my opinion of doubt, I originally saw doubt as evil because most of his actions were exactly like how an abuser keeps someone from their family.)
Not to mention she hasn't endured any real hardships at all, she certainly hasn't lost a job, she certainly hasn't had a death in her family, she just is ragefilled over her friends. Not to mention getting God powers out of this..
1521729
I never said she was justified in her actions, did I? I am merely pointing out, from her point of view, why she behaved the way she did. Just as you and Keeper and others have pointed out why Shining acted the way he did. All of them made horrible mistakes and none of them are in the right. We've only just seen it more from Twilight's side because the story focuses on her. If I had done a reversal and had all the events that occurred happen but from Shining's view, the story would feel more sympathetic to him (actually, that is an interesting idea for someone to do... retell this story, from Twilight's fall into darkness to Doubt to the return of Faith... from the point of view of Shining or Cadence or Celestia or someone else...)
The point of this story was never to attach a label that someone was right and someone was wrong. This story was about what happens when someone is pushed to the brink and doesn't have the support system to save them from tumbling... and then how they can rise out of anger and rage and begin to heal. I like to think of it as the dark reflection of the show's events, with Darth Link's story as the middle ground: The show did the light, fluffy end where everyone makes up with barely an apology... Link explored the strains... and I explored the darkness.
1520840
I want Morgan Freeman to voice Doubt/Faith.
IMHO that was a rather pathetic explanation coming from Shining Armor. I've never heard of a Pyrrhic victory before (my knowledge of ancient greek is rather limited, sue me) but I think he could have found a different solution to the conflict. Take Twilight apart from the others and see what the hay she's yelling about, for example. Of course, Twilight was an idiot for barging in like that but if your sister is obviously upset about something, you listen to her.
Though I admit, I am biased towards family. Family is more important than friends, love and whatever. Or at least that's how I feel about it.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next chapter. This is one of the rare stories for which I drop everything if I notice a new update
1521816 I think that Twilight even if she was upset with Shining Armor never should have blasted him, if she hadn't been stopped by 'Faith' she would have only made more enemies and no one would ever forgive her because of it, Twilight clearly is still not thinking rationally and it doesn't help that she has god like powers.
For now I think Twilight just needs a week or two away from everyone to clam down and then maybe once she's more relaxed everyone can try to apologize.
1521974 This, just this. I just went back through chapter 20 and read all of Doubt/Faith's lines in his voice, it was glorious.
...all of the feels. All of them.
Holy BUCK people, you sure are really hyped to give your opitons but DAMN.....that was very long....at any case, I'm just here to see the end result after everything that has happen, knowing now that Spike and Twilight are no longer heroes, villians or even anti-heroes it brings to thought and to question of what they will do with their lives now.
1521816
The problem is it's hard to sympathize with her after you've known people who have thought and act like her, I've had to cut some unruly friends from my life because they were as wrathful and continued to enjoy the wrath they seemed to enjoy being in, people who you must tiptoe around and always be nice to fully or else they'll become pissed off and might hurt you. I almost wished a few of them had cut her off because she wasn't exactly in the right and her narcissism seems to have increased since her godlike power was gained.
It's hard to justify her narcissism (I've done NOTHING wrong! They are all the wrong ones and they must be the ones to apologize to ME! I don't need to do anything but sit back and wait for them to interact with me despite it was because of MY actions that caused them to turn on ME) with faith and godlike power backing her, she seems to believe everything is supposed to revolve around her at this point.
Her Wrath (I'm going to kill my brother right here and now, Hey why are you stopping ME?) is holly unjustified, I feel faith made a horrible decision and that she might cause problems later on if he doesn't get her some actual counseling with an anger therapist, because he certainly hasn't thought of her anger except "Stop it, act like an adult" which isn't exactly good counseling or anywhere close to fixing her issues. She's acting like she wants to murder people over what constitutes a major Argument because of problems SHE caused because she was emotional, yet she has still yet to think of herself as anything but RIGHT because nobody seems to have told her off and she seems to be enjoying the smug "Rightness" she's enjoying with faith backing her up.
I know your playing devil's advocate here, so you don't need to keep repeating the "Justified" line, just implied at this point
:
But yeah, it doesn't seem like she's rising out of anger, just that she's happily reveling in it with her guardian there to protect her from outside problems.
1521663 so that futture will still happen but it makes me wonder what exactly is the dream suppose to mean
1522442
The problem with Twilight Sparkle is because ponies have taken her for granted and haven't really let her be herself... she's always had to be perfect just to be accepted and when she needed help (like with the Lesson Zero ep) she was scoffed off for being ridiculous etc... so I think with this ARGUMENT she had, this just made her snap believing non of the ponies in her life actually gave a damn about her and thinking she was all on her own (save for Spike, she realized that she treated him the same and thus is willing to forgive the boy who is practically a son to her)
1520840There is no doubt in my mind that you are some kind of genious
!
Don't get jealous author, you too
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