I Will Be Your Villainess

by Darkevony

Chapter ???: I want to help you; save you.

Poor Tiara. She deserved better. Everyone does, but her especially. Characters like her are always written unfairly. It started off with a few snide remarks and a lapse in judgment, which snowballed into light teasing of her classmates and from there, into full-on bullying. Then they must’ve felt like they had the perfect excuse to make her even more horrible and irredeemable since they would have rather used an existing antagonist for their plotlines rather than a throw-away villain, despite Tiara being just a filly who could’ve easily, and believably, made a change for the better and repent for her deeds.

But no. They never did redeem her. And why would they? It seemed like everyone was on the same page with her. They hated her. Was it just her design? Was it just the sour first impression everyone got of her when she acted all high and mighty in her first real appearance? That’s just it. Once a character has been struck by that awful image, it’s almost impossible to get them out of it. A lack of interest from the audience creates no good reasons to save her on the part of the show’s creators. The lack of reasons being created to give Tiara some redeemable qualities further drove the lack of interest in her character. So on, and so forth. A self-reinforcing cycle of nothing good.

Which ultimately culminated in her becoming one of the major antagonists of the show. Only then did she create some interest in her character. But what kind of interest was that? Well. People were real interested in seeing her fall.

It always left a sour taste in my mouth. Especially since they came so close to giving her that turning point. That split second where she seriously contemplated not going against Equestria... That minuscule hesitation in her steps could’ve been everything she needed. She was so close. But they made her refuse it, and the curtains fell on her story forever on. The ultimate bad end. The stone treatment, rather than being sent to Tartarus like the rest of the big Bads. Left to spectate the world without so much as a voice to yell out her frustrations.

To someone like Discord who could endlessly stay entertained within his own mind, turning to stone was an inconvenience rather than a punishment. But to Tiara... Oh, poor Tiara. Nothing of the shows, future generations, comics, books, or extras ever showed her returning from that imprisonment. How long must she have suffered in there?

It was of little use to air my grievances over this to my friends and family. The first question anyone would ever ask was, “Wait, you actually like Tiara? Why?” At first, I was more than happy trying to sell Tiara off to them all day if need be. But it was always a fruitless endeavor.

My argument was always the same. A combination of “I don’t know, I just like her. She’s just so confident and cool,” and the more sound point of “She’s just a small girl making a few mistakes. No reason to hate on her so badly.” But those few mistakes became many, and all the weight in my words fell off over time.

I guess the reason why I always liked Tiara so much was simultaneously more complicated and simple than that. Simply put, she had something I didn’t. Drive. Ambition. Grace. Beauty. Yes, even as a snotty young brat. She simply had a strength of character that I myself couldn’t. I could never even imagine myself standing up to others let alone putting all the effort Tiara did in trying to become the best. Also yes, even when she resorted to foul play.

Of course, like most people, I couldn’t agree with the methods she would use to achieve some of her goals, but her efforts were undeniable. She wanted it far more than anyone else did. Wanted what? Wealth? Power? Status? No. The way I always saw it... is that she just wanted to be happy for once. She grew up in a loveless, uncaring family after all. She had been propped up by fake friends who just wanted to use her as a scapegoat. And Equestria, nay, even my world seemed to hate her from the start.

Was she wrong? Were those things she wanted only capable of temporary comforts rather than true happiness? Yes, absolutely. But that pitiful girl fighting for the idea of happiness is what should’ve been what everyone took away from her.

And so this is where my strong feelings for Tiara became increasingly more complex. With everyone telling me that I shouldn’t like Tiara, after coming to care about her a lot, I began to feel indignant over their suggestions. Why am I wrong? Because people couldn’t understand the tragedy of her character? Because the writers further drove her into that corner? It was a sense of tribalism that connected me evermore to her, or perhaps even stockholm syndrome? Whatever the case, I would never admit that she was irredeemable. There were other better, kinder, more amazing characters in the show. Even greater villains than her. But none that had my unyielding investment and want to see her be redeemed.

And yet she never was.

---

So I want you to imagine my surprise when I awoke in Equestria and inside her body! Crazy, isn’t it? Maybe God is real and heard my heartfelt wish for her? Or maybe the gods of Equestria were the ones to do so? Wait, does Equestria even have gods? Not sure. Anyways, the point is, I was super excited to have become Tiara.

I laughed at the memory of my family and friends when I remembered that they always used to tell me to calm down after I went on Tiara-tirades. “It’s just a fictional character”, they’d say. Ha! I say. Yeah, I laughed and laughed...

But after laughing for a good while, I began to panic a whole lot. It was nice that I had become Tiara and everything... but what about Tiara herself!? What had happened to her?! The whole point of my heartfelt wish was to see her be redeemed and finally find happiness. What good was it that I would be the one to obtain that instead of her...?

Or? You know what... Maybe this was a test. I don’t know how I came up with this idea, but something was telling me that this was my chance. That I could ultimately save Tiara from her fate! Perhaps this was just the gods’ way of telling me that Tiara was too far strung along by the forces of evil to change all by herself, and that they needed me to take her place in order to create long-lasting relationships that would stick by her until the very end, no matter if she returned to her cruel self. Yes. Maybe that was my purpose for being here. All Tiara needed was someone to be there for her after all.

But I want more than just a few ponies to like her back. I want all of Equestria and the world over to see just how truly beautiful she can be. I want everyone to feel the same way I feel about her. I want her to be respected, admired, looked up to... loved.

To that end, I must train harder than I ever have before. For if I am to save Tiara, I will need every bit of grace I can manage. I will have to choose all the right words. And not for a second should I stop moving forward for her sake. All in order to make my dreams for her a reality.

Author's Note:

Just a short one for now. I apologize for the naming convention of the chapter, but for reasons I won’t get into, I didn’t feel like naming it chapter 1.5 was good enough...

Comments

[hmaf43]

Poor Tiara. She deserved better. Everyone does, but her especially. Characters like her are always written unfairly. It started off with a few snide remarks and a lapse in judgment, which snowballed into light teasing of her classmates and from there, into full-on bullying. Then they must’ve felt like they had the perfect excuse to make her even more horrible and irredeemable since they would have rather used an existing antagonist for their plotlines rather than a throw-away villain, despite Tiara being just a filly who could’ve easily, and believably, made a change for the better and repent for her deeds.

Realistically, you should change or remove cozy glow.Having two duplicate villains that are both fillies who relies on wits to win as main antagonists is not something mlp:fim would do

The stone treatment, rather than being sent to Tartarus like the rest of the big Bads. Left to spectate the world without so much as a voice to yell out her frustrations.

Legion of doom got sent back to tartarus, and for some reason, an earth filly from ponyville is more dangerous than changelings queen, magic zuccer, filly alicorn, king of conquest?

To someone like Discord who could endlessly stay entertained within his own mind, turning to stone was an inconvenience rather than a punishment.

He might go insane and acted weirdly because he was sealed for a long time?
This is a example of how bad it might be, even if that person had perfect memory and capable of constructed a 1:1 mindscape replica of real world.

[Darkevony]

11623344
With Mary changing Tiara’s life so early on, her becoming an antagonist along with Cozy Glow won’t come to pass anymore. So that’s a small detail that won’t have any bearing on the story going further.

And yes, that’s the implication I wanted to make. Whatever Tiara did, it was considerably more dangerous for Equestria which earned her the worse end.

[Danger Noodle]

This s super intriguing. I like the premise and how you've written it so far.

[Pete100]

Poor Tiara. She deserved better. Everyone does, but her especially. Characters like her are always written unfairly. It started off with a few snide remarks and a lapse in judgment, which snowballed into light teasing of her classmates and from there, into full-on bullying. Then they must’ve felt like they had the perfect excuse to make her even more horrible and irredeemable since they would have rather used an existing antagonist for their plotlines rather than a throw-away villain, despite Tiara being just a filly who could’ve easily, and believably, made a change for the better and repent for her deeds.

I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say she’s irredeemable.

To someone like Discord who could endlessly stay entertained within his own mind, turning to stone was an inconvenience rather than a punishment. But to Tiara... Oh, poor Tiara. Nothing of the shows, future generations, comics, books, or extras ever showed her returning from that imprisonment. How long must she have suffered in there?

Imprisonment? When did this happen?

[Luckyfanisaac]

So when’s the story gonna start?