How We Are Seen
“I might be the villain of this story.”
-Rebecca Makkai, The Borrower
"Thank you," Faith said to the innkeeper, passing along a few bits to the kind stallion. His horn flared and another pile of bits joined the first. "We'd like our arrival in Equestria to be a surprise... you wouldn't want to ruin a surprise by revealing it, would you?"
"Of course not, my good masters," the innkeeper said, happy to please. He accepted the bits and waved as Faith turned to leave. "We should help each other, whenever we can! That is what harmony is about."
Faith nodded, internally smiling. He had figured out the rules of the game rather quickly and he was enjoying his time exploiting them. Just because he was back to being his old self didn't mean that he couldn't be devious every once and a while. And even if it did mean that… well, there was still quite a bit of Doubt still in him.
"That was quick," Twilight said once Faith rejoined them outside the inn. The alicorn of the gray lifted several bundles from his back and Twilight accepted one. She gave it a shake, allowing the tightly packed cloak to breathe before throwing it on. “I thought it would take you longer to convince him to sell us goods.”
"The law of the land is harmony... if you are smart you can use it to your advantage. He is eager to be generous and honest words can so easily be twisted."
Shining nodded. "He's right. I've found out a lot about the queens thanks to all the ponies not wanting to lie and feeling the need to offer advice. I don't think your friends realized that being so strict would mean there would be so many loopholes." His mood went sour in an instant. "Just don't break one of the five rules... that will draw attention."
"And attention is the last thing we need," Spike said as Twilight helped him pull on his cloak. After the battle it had been decided that it would be better for the dragon to appear as ponylike as possible. There weren’t any other dragons in Equestria and every guard would be on the lookout for the baby dragon, as he would be the easiest to spot. Thus, he had gone for a build roughly the size of Shining Armor's and remained on all fours. With the long cloak hanging off his form one would have to look at his hands and feet to notice anything strange about him.
Faith pulled his own cloak on and Twilight took a moment to look at the others and then herself, wanting to make sure everything was perfect. The four cloaks were a dark brown with braided cord holding them tight to their bodies. Twilight had grabbed a stack of bland-looking books from their room at the inn and placed them on her back. She took a deep breath before taking on the serene and downcast look of a monk. Until they got to the rebellion's hideout they would need to lay low; looking like scholars would help their cause greatly.
"Any other tips, Shiny?" Twilight whispered as they emerged from the inn and made their way past the battlefield. The remnants of the fight could still be seen and the 4 did their best to appear at once both interested and uninterested; too much interest would draw attention but ignoring the scene entirely would only lead to ponies wondering why they weren’t staring at the broken trees and torn-up grass.
"Stay low and stay smart. I've found that if you have to fight, taking one pony on one on one gives you a chance. It’s when they are in large groups that things get dicey."
"Like with zombies," Spike said.
"Why is it always zombies, Spike?" Twilight asked.
The dragon shrugged as the group began to make their way down the road. "Seems to fit. Ponies are captured and converted... they are all around us and will hunt us down... herds are more dangerous than a straggler..."
"The boy brings up a good point," Faith stated. “I would suggest not letting them bite you.”
The four of them fell silent and for a few minutes Twilight was able to pretend she was just out on a stroll. This was not a march towards war or a journey to fight her friends... just a casual trot down a road with the sun hanging in the sky and a light breeze.
Twilight glanced at two ponies that walked past them, their coats overly colorful. She nodded just barely and the two flashed overly large grins. "It just seems so... wrong," she whispered. "I mean... they look so happy."
"Because they are being forced to be happy, Twiley," Shining said softly. "They aren't really happy... somepony is making them feel that way."
"But is that really different than how things normally are?" Twilight quietly argued. She knew her friends were behind all this and their actions were terrible... but Twilight was seeking some way to make all of this fit properly. She was grasping at any angle she could find; anything to make their actions not as vicious as Shining made them out to be. "I mean, science knows that many of our emotions are chemical reactions. By altering the chemicals, we are able to make some pony feel whatever we want them to." She could see the disgust in Shining's eyes and she hurried to clarify. "I'm just saying that a lot of the emotions we feel aren't that magical at all... they aren't special."
"I am trying very hard not to be offended," Faith muttered.
Twilight's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "Oh! Well, I don't mean-"
“No no, I get it… I’m just a chemical imbalance.” Faith wiggled his head and screwed up his face in what could best be described as a ‘dumb dumb look’.
"I get what you are saying, Twiley," Shining said, ignoring the sulking abstract. "But here is the thing you are forgetting: true emotions, real emotions, come from here," he tapped his head and then his heart. "Not from some 3rd party. When you inject an emotion into a pony you are robbing them of their free will."
"But you have to admit they do it to themselves all the time. Think of all the depressed stallions that go and get a glass of hard cider. They are putting something in themselves to change their emotions."
"They aren't dragged in kicking and screaming," Shining countered.
Twilight shook her head. "They are in psych wards, Shining. Are you saying that we shouldn't medicate the criminally insane?"
"No, that is not what I am saying-"
"We are falling into the very problem that Equestria now faces," Faith stated softly. "Extremes. Shining, you must admit that at times, such changes in a pony by a 3rd party are needed... if you don't admit that then your dear fiancee is as much a foe to Equestria as the queens." Shining stammered and Faith turned to send a dark glare Twilight's way. "And you must admit that what is happening here is not sunshine and roses. They are your friends and you are trying to find a silver lining to their actions; this I understand. But what they are doing is wrong... I should know... I've done it myself."
"You have?" Spike asked.
"When I was Doubt. Not to the extreme the queens have but yes. I took what a pony had and pushed it towards a direction I preferred. Rainbow Dash and the rest, from what I can see, amplify an emotion to an extreme. There is no finesse to what they do, no attention to the details. I was a fine wood chisel... they are a keg of dynamite."
The baby dragon shook his head. "I can't believe the girls would do this."
"Me neither, Spike," Twilight whispered sadly.
Faith sighed. "The worst monsters in history have acted with the best of intentions... and the greatest heroes with the worst."
"Don't you think you are simplifying it?" Shining asked. He was growing annoyed by the abstract... mostly because he was making Shining question things he didn't want to.
"Am I?" Faith challenged. "May I tell you a story?"
Twilight smiled slightly. "You have got to stop monologuing."
"Quiet you. Now then, this tale takes place many, many years ago, back when I was merely Faith the abstract, without form. There was a hero who came upon these lands and saw that the world had become stagnant. The rulers of this land refused to ever let change truly come forth. The rulers liked things the way they were and the thought of change frightened them. The hero came to the rulers and when they stared at this figure, a mismatch of different species and preaching drastic change, they panicked. They tried to drive the hero out, to keep this noble figure from saving the ponies who longed for something more. The hero's methods were... extreme. The change that came about brought forth a chaos the likes of which you can not imagine. Many lives were ruined by this hero's actions, just as many were made better. Now... what do you think of the hero?"
Twilight smirked, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "I see what you are trying to pull, Faith. The 'hero' was Discord and the rulers were the Princesses. You are trying to show me that even evil can be twisted to look good and that-"
"The hero was Celestia," Faith stated softly.
The alicorn of the stars staggered as if punched in the gut.
"When Celestia and Luna appeared in these lands they brought with them chaos. Think about it... two ponies that could control the very moon and sun! Such things had been controlled by the unicorns for years! And they were faster than any pegasus that would live. Their strength made the mightiest of earth ponies look like foals. Never before had an alicorn been seen and to the first ponies that looked upon them there was a mix of awe and terror. With their rise in power came great upheaval. Princess Platinum and her descendants would slowly lose standing until... well, you've met Blueblood; a noble house, destined to rule, sees its heir care more for parties than the crown. Commander Hurricane saw his mighty army reduced to performing shows and guarding the very creatures he had attempted to drive out. He died bitter, by the way. The Chancellor found herself cast aside and left to wonder the lands, a shepherd without a flock. The mind of that one, already nearly lost, was broke the day Celestia took the throne. Madness... it is not a pretty thing. Their lives were ruined by Celestia and Luna's arrival."
"You... you can't mean that Celestia and Luna are evil!"
"Of course not," Faith said with a snort. "But to some they are. Life, you will find, is shades of gray. Show me a villain and I will give you a hero whose tale has not yet been told."
Shining shook his head in annoyance. "Why are you bringing this up? You just said yourself you are against the queens."
"Yes... I am. And you are and Twilight and Spike. And I am sure many more. But you must realize that there will be no complete victory." Faith looked up at the sky and, for the first time in a long, long while, sounded as old as he truly was. "Even if some great upheaval comes and your friends are returned to normal and all those ponies they amplified are cured and the princesses put back on the throne... some will see us as villains."
"How can you say that?" Shining snapped. "We are saving them!"
"From harmony. From happiness and laughter and joy. We are seeking to return sadness and loneliness and misery to this world. Yes, it is needed and without such things the world will never be truly filled with life... but do not be naive. What we do here will cause pain and the sooner you realize this the sooner we can solve things. Because," Faith wheeled around and jabbed his hoof at Shining, "if you are seeking to play knight and save the land you are a fool. This will be a war and all will lose."
Shining stared at Faith before purposely trotting ahead, not wanting to hear anymore from the abstract.
"Well... that is depressing," Spike muttered.
"So is life... the sour makes the sweet all the more wonderful." Faith looked up at the sky and sighed. "My concern is not with the queens."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, digesting what Faith had said.
"I sense another hoof at play here... you have sensed it too."
"Yes... something is not right." Twilight leaned forward, whispering so only Spike and Faith could hear her. "We can only trust each other... until we get the full story."
Spike nodded in agreement. "We've only gotten Shining Armor's side... he could be feeding us lies."
"You feel doubt... clever boy," Faith stated with pride. "Yes... we must be cautious. Things will come to a head soon enough and we will need to pick a side."
Twilight glanced at her brother. "Yeah... I just hope everypony can accept it."
Stats
Page generated in 0.064 seconds
Total duration
1,018 users online
2,021,617 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
And thus Faith nears the end of his conversion from villain (as he was in Faith and Doubt) to the Gandalf/Obi Wan figure to Twilight's hero.
I have always been interested in the idea of other points of view... that might explain how I can writing God Squad and this at the same time. History is written by the winners and they justify their evil till it appears to be the most noble. It truly is fascinating... but you can go mad staring into the gray. Maybe I have... I question my sanity all the time. Or, as Faith said, we are all crazy and I'm just ahead of the curve.
Edit: There is now a TVTropes page for Faith and Doubt... please take the time to visit and edit it.
A hero is a villain when none is around
A villain is a hero without a chance to prove him/erself
1625754
Everything has a balance and if the balance is broken... life itself becomes broken... light and darkness, hope and despair, happiness and sadness, faith and doubt... all of these are needed in the world (if you do not know true sadness, you will not know what true happiness is)
Monologuing, stagnant, and cautious.
Also, a very nice analysis of the problem. Individual freedoms versus enforced utopia.
Anyone who think themselves heroes and their opponents the villains often fail to sometimes see that in the process of waging a war against them, they themselves can be seen as the villains. The same can be said for the opposing side. That always made me
about the most basic fantasy stories. Why is this story only told from the perspective of the protagonists, or the "Good" side? Why do we never hear something about the "Evil's" reasons for why they do things?
But while I do agree with that there should be another P.O.V in a story such as this, I can't help but feel that this won't be as easy as Faith proclaims. I for one, believe in free will, and that in removing it entirely, you willingly accept the role of a villain for it. While there is no doubt that the queens will justify themselves for this, I do not think that they are in the right on this. But Faith is right in that a war will only bring suffering to all of Equestria, but it could be the probably best solution. The negative is always there to ensure us Why there is a positive. That is what I believe the queens overlooked when they seized power: Their solution is only a short-term one.
1625835
Faith is more concerned with the innocents. Ponies will view Twilight and the rest as villains for overhthrowing the queens and reintroducing pain and sadness into the world. And he wants the others to understand this.
1625844 So essentially, the innocents will see Twilight as a villain simply because they were too high on the harmony drug and got so abruptly taken away from it at the time.
I hate to sound rude and all, but that is basically their situation here.
good chapter again though not as good as the last couple still good though
1625875
The drug addict metaphor is a good one for what they face. There will be some that are glad Twilight freed them... and others for whom the drug that is harmony was so wonderful they would never want to let it go and will look at Twilight as a monster.
great chapter!
faith is hilarious as usual, as well as quite philosophical. the philosophical viewpoint is rare, which makes this all the more of gem imo.
and i definitely understand what you mean by different view points, war is never good, there is never a winner, everyone always loses, some just lose more than others. another crucial point is that the winner is the one to write history, which often highlights the good gained instead of giving a fair view on the whole situation.
I'm somewhat reminded of Witches Abroad.
"That's fairy godmotherly thinking, that is! Goin' around inflicting happy endings on people whether they wants them or not, eh?"
I think Shining Armour is right in this case. They don't get to decide how people should think and feel. They don't have the right.
1625958
Exactly. Every war and every side in a war has had a point, even if it is very, very small.
Why I like writing this story is the fact that I can explore things such as the nature of good and evil, the idea of just how powerful emotions are and how justification can lead to horrible and wonderful things. There is a line from Burn Notice: "When you are a spy you must get use to people doing bad things for good reasons... and good things for the worst of reasons"
Well, still kinda impartial to this story, but might be warming up, even though know it's gonna get uglier later on.
Faith definitely has a good point, though it sucks to think of Twilight and the others being thought of as villains when all this is over (or even while it's going on), possibly. I understand WHY that is, but I personally don't like it, just for doing the right thing and trying to topple a government that was corrupting the country(?) and making ponies act VASTLY different, with only knowing happiness and nothing else. 
And Celestia and Luna's past that Faith mentioned a bit in Faith and Doubt... damn. 
That's just brutal, if you ask me. Though of course, if normal ponies wouldn't give them a chance, can maybe see why they decided to get vicious and attack the founders of Equestria. 
Good to see Spike's ability again, this time as close to a pony as he could get, though he's still a dragon, it appears. I guess decided to prevent it from becoming broken, made his greed-wishing powers unable to let him actually become a pony, no matter how much he wishes. Well... as always, looking forward to new chapters, even if it's still with uncertainty at this point.
Glad to see you fixed some of the errors I spotted after first reading, when it had just been released and you had chapter comment recently made, but still a few I saw after refreshing and re-checking (probably will later regret doing it this way again
):
Just because he was back to being his old self didn't mean that he couldn't be devious every once and a while. <---------- Once in a while is technical phrase, not once and a while.
The alicorn of the gray lifted several bundles from his back and Twilight accept one. She gave it a shake, allowing the tightly packed cloak to breath before throwing it on. <--------- Accepted, not accept. Breathe is what you do with breath or clothing in this case, breath is what comes from the mouth, normally.
The remnants of the fight could still be seen and the 4 did their best to appear at once both interested and unintested; too much interest would draw attention but ignoring the scene entirely would only lead to ponies wondering why they weren’t staring at the broken trees and torn-up grass. <---------- Uninterested.
I've found that if you have to fight, taking one pony on one on one gives you a chance. <----------- Think one-on-one is more accurate, though not sure how to describe why.
By altering the chemicals, we are able to make some pony feel whatever we want them too." <------- With usage of to, too, and two, this case it should be "to".
"They are in pysch wards, Shining. Are you saying that we shouldn't medicate the criminal insane?" <------- First should be psych, second should be criminally as far as I know of proper usage of verbs/adverbs(?) or whatever it is.
Shining, you must admit that at times, such changes in a pony by a 3rd party is needed... if you don't admit that then your dear wife is as much a foe to Equestria as the queens." <---------- I think "is" should be are cause of usage of times and changes, to be consistent. Second I think might require a comma after is. Also, isn't wife technically inaccurate? I don't think they got married before/between the end of Faith and Doubt and the beginning of when all this took place, did they? Maybe more like wife-to-be, if not still fiancee.
Shining stammers and Faith turned to send a dark glare Twilight's way. <-------- Stammered, with usage of verbs/adverbs again, I guess.
I took what a pony had and pushed it towards a direction I prefered. <------- Preferred.
The change that came about brought forth a chaos the likes of which you can not image. <------- Like in an earlier chapter, though didn't fix that, think this should be imagine, rather.
The Chancellor found herself cast aside and left to wonder the lands, a shepard without a flock. <------- Spelling should be shepherd for the word/expression I think you mean.
The mind of that one, already nearly lost, was broke the day Celestia took the throne. <------- I think "broken" cause of how writing in past tense in this sentence, but broke might work as well.
What we do here will cause pain and the sooner your realize this the sooner we can solve things. <------ "You" with how you wrote remainder of the sentence.
Because," Faith wheeled around and jabbed his hoof at Shining, "if you are seeking to play knight and save the land you are a fool. <------- Think a comma after land makes it look more accurate than as it is now.
"We can only trust each other... not until we get the full story." <------ I'm not sure if in this sentence, the "not" is not really necessary. Cause of how it sounds to me, but maybe it's fine like you have it.
There seems to be a lot of stories on Free Will, and they always seems to have the same message. People deserve the freedom to choose their own destiny. Though I don't disagree with that statement, it gets boring after awhile.
That being said, this story will be great no matter what path you take. I can only hope that the unique writing style that was in Faith and Doubt will continue in this story.
1626109
Yeah, it will get darker but also lighter. As Faith said, the sour makes the sweet all the more better and there will be happy moments in this and there will be victories as much as defeats.
And good catch with the wife mistake... I am use to writing Shining and Cadence married that I forgot they haven't gotten married yet.
1626143
I will only say that if you think this will be all anime fighting and such to defeat the queens... well, you don't know me very well.
1626200
Yeah, its fun.
I see Faith and Twilight very much in a mentor/apprentice role... like Anakin and Ahsoka.
You always find the best way of portraying the 'grayness' and duality in everything. Faith and Doubt, Light and Darkness, Good and Evil - Everytime I'm about to read the next chapter of your stories I always know I'll find something both insightful and exciting, something that I can actually 100% relate to on a philosophical level. It's quite surprising actually!
1626171
And maybe Faith and you make a good point, but I imagine as much as there'll be happiness, even if shouldn't be necessarily done too soon (for obvious reasons, given the setting and all); I don't doubt there won't be some heavy moments, if Twilight thinks about how her friends could do all this and other stuff when she sees more first-hoof later on. 
Well, it's not hard if this is the only series of yours that somepony has read, as in my case.
iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/172870%20-%20animated%20edit%20epic_wub_time%20reaction_face%20vinyl_scratch.gif?1344079760
Hmm, forgive me if I'm reading Faith's monologue wrong (though considering you just named him as an Obi-Wan type character, I doubt it), but I have to disagree with his "It depends on your point of view" theory of looking at things. Right and wrong, when dealing with the initiation of force, are objective and concrete; they do not change simply because the person (or pony, in this case) doing them changes. The ends do not justify the means.
As for his story about the Princesses, I would have to say that there was little to no way their actions could've been evil, because it did not involve the initiation of force. The ponies they replaced, on the other hand, could only have kept things the same year after year through the use of force, as any hint of change would've had to have been ruthlessly suppressed or things wouldn't have been the same. And as the only proper use of force is the defense against its initiation, Luna and Celestia would've been in the right using it in self-defense against the regime's attempts to suppress them. I should also mention that those who initiate the use of force, by logic and reason, can hold no claim to be free from the use of force themselves. Hence, there should be no question as to who was right and who was wrong in the confrontation.
And there should be no question that what Twilight's friends are doing is wrong; it involves the initiation of force (or the threat of it) plain and simple. That they are allegedly trying to make everyone happy is irrelevant, as is the fact that the resistance's actions will bring back sadness, anger and other negative emotions.
So far so good...
One pseudo-complaint. I think you may have done the whole "we'll be villains as well" shtick a little too soon. The philosophical stuff just feels a little too handed-to-us-on-a-silver-platter; I think it might have benefited more if it was done a little later, but maybe I'm just hypothesizing.
1626450
Faith isn't arguing that they should be villains. He is merely warning Twilight and Shining that not everyone will be happy with them. The original quote for this chapter was "We will be greeted as liberators" -Dick Cheney. Shining is taking this view, that they are coming in and defeating evil. Faith, having seen this played out over a thousand times, knows that they will face ponies that will hate them for their actions and Shining and Twilight need to accept that if they are going to be effective.
1626465
I realize that. I was just trying to sum it up in less than four words to get my point/suggestion across.
Apparently I failed...
1626427
Faith never said they are right. His entire point is that in the eyes of some, the queens are heroes. Even if those reasons are twisted, there will be ponies that will support the queens even without being brainwashed. Just look at terrorists... they are freedom fighters to some, fighting against regimes, while to others they are vile murderers. And those regimes are kind and wonderful to some and evil to others.
And initiation of force does change from right and wrong, depending on whose side you are on. 'Preemptive strike' is a clear example of this. The military does it ALL THE TIME. And why is force the only danger? Words can spark revolutions... and for some it is better to strike down the malcontents that would influence others to violence than to say "Well, we don't want to attack until they do".
There is no such thing as a absolute. EVERYTHING is shades of gray and to believe there is anything in this world that is 100% good or evil, without a shred of the other, is to be blind.
1625973 Exactly, it's not a Utopia if you use force to get what you want or rewrite the balance of power so everyone will be forced see things as you see them, it infringes upon basic rights and makes you a dictator.
Sadly The Queens are those evil rulers who will never admit that what they are doing is wrong, no matter what anyone brings up they'll say "It's for the best even if you don't think so. But don't worry soon you will think so, soon you shall be one of us."
Good so far, interested in seeing how they meet the rebellion.
Gentle breeze guide you home, and a warm smile to welcome you.
Beautiful again each chapter is beautiful and I like the way you have everything spike the "hulk", faith the teach, and twilight the student
on a sort of related note this reminds me of what a guy named elie weisel said "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice but there must never be a time when we fail to protest
1625754
I don't know either of those names you mentioned...
Please don't tell me it's from yet another thing that's popular that I've never heard about.
Am I the only one who hears the voice of Liam Neeson whenever Faith has dialogue?
1626484
"There is no such thing as a absolute. EVERYTHING is shades of gray and to believe there is anything in this world that is 100% good or evil, without a shred of the other, is to be blind."
If that be the case, who and by what right, by what code, by what standard gets to decide when something is righ or wrong, good or evil? Such things have to be objective, otherwise there is no way to define them and it pretty much becomes "He said, she said".
By the way, when you say "There is no such thing as an absolute", you're declaring an absolute.
"Faith never said they are right. His entire point is that in the eyes of some, the queens are heroes. Even if those reasons are twisted, there will be ponies that will support the queens even without being brainwashed. Just look at terrorists... they are freedom fighters to some, fighting against regimes, while to others they are vile murderers. And those regimes are kind and wonderful to some and evil to others."
By what code, by what standard are they heroes? The Nazis were heroes to some, even to some who knew what they were doing to the Jews (in fact, there were probably people out there who considered them heroes FOR what they were doing to the Jews). Did that make what they did right, or were the people who considered them heroes using the wrong premisis?
"And initiation of force does change from right and wrong, depending on whose side you are on. 'Preemptive strike' is a clear example of this. The military does it ALL THE TIME. And why is force the only danger? Words can spark revolutions... and for some it is better to strike down the malcontents that would influence others to violence than to say "Well, we don't want to attack until they do"."
A 'preemptive strike' against whom? In the case of a nation like Iraq or Iran, I would agree with you, as such dictatorships rule through the use of force, ergo they cannot claim to be free from the use of force themselves. However, against a nation that respects the rights of its citizens, a 'preemptive strike' is very much evil and immoral.
Words do not spark revolutions; the use of force does. Words do not cause harm, they do not prevent a person from living his or her life, and they do not kill. Words can push people to initiate force, but until that happens, they remain nothing but words. And yes, it is better to remove a CLEAR, OBJECTIVE threat to one's life before it takes action, but because a clear, objective threat isn't always visible, such events must be avoided as long as rationally possible. The mere fear of a threat that can't be proven is not enough to justify a first strike.
1627871 Gandalf and Obi-wan? They're from Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, respectively. And yes, they are both immensely popular things that it appears you've never heard of.
1628375 First of all, you are completely wrong about words not sparking a revolution, and you yourself pointed it out through a logical fallacy in your comment. You say that only use of force can spark a revolution, but you go on to say that words can initiate use of force. If use of force starts a revolution, and words sparked that use of force, than words are directly responsible for the revolution. Therefore, it is completely reasonable in a totalitarian's eyes to silence a prominent voice of dissent before his words cause greater violence. The point with the Queens is that they don't really respect the rights of their citizens, as shown by the way they've brainwashed and experimented on them, especially the CMC. For the 'right-and-wrong' question, that's something everyone has to decide on their own, hopefully with a little help from those who've already decided. That's why some people won't even think about committing murder, but others will plug someone without a second thought. We decide for ourselves what is right and wrong, and, for the most part, won't change it unless we're forced to. It pretty much is 'he said, she said,' but having governments has the effect of solidifying some of the more basic morals from generation to generation, and they have that authority because we gave it to them. To the 'Queens are heroes' thing, they are heroes to those under the right circumstances. Say the pony in question had no happiness left. They lost their job after divorcing their very special somepony because their relationship couldn't take it when their foal was stillborn. And then they broke their leg. They're at rock bottom, when suddenly, there is this great swelling of blissful feelings, and they hear that the new queens are responsible for it. They'd do anything to please the queens after that. Now, most of those probably wouldn't be that extreme, but ponies, in general, are a very sheltered people, so it doesn't need to be that extreme. Morals really do change depending situation and personality, and to hold them too rigidly across all of society is foolishness.
I think I'd get along with Faith, here. Creation and destruction, order and disorder - it all depends on your point of view. The apple rots, but the micro-organisms grow. The order of a farmer's field is disorder for the animals that once lived there. Good and Evil are simply the labels we assign to these things, depending on our preferences.
1628375
What code- Those that are in power, simple enough. In some countries, it is perfectly ok to chop off the hand of a thief. In some countries putting a man to death via lethal injection is murder. It all depends on who is in charge... who has the power. Morality is not a natural thing... humans aren't born with morality. It is taught, via school and religion and government and family. Thus, it is not fact. Morality can be changed and it can develop and it can evolve.
What made them heroes- To us, the Nazis were evil. To other Nazis they are heroes. To your code they are evil... but to anothers they are heroes. Do I agree with their code? Hell no... the Nazis were pure evil IN MY POINT OF VIEW. But no one code is universally correct. The one that is seen as correct is the one that wins. Remember, history is written by the winners. Had the founding fathers lost the Revolution, Washington would be seen today as a traitor and Bennedict Arnold a hero.
The only absolute is that there are no absolutes, which is a paradox but an honest one.
Dude Defender..... You should be like a prophet or something. Faiths words run deep and I love that I can understand them.
A long way of saying "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" without throwing it too far out... EPIC.
Will track XD.
I have to say man, I love your writing. This line resonates me with "Show me a villain and I will give you a hero whose tale has not yet been told." I love how you are showing both sides of both the "hero" and "Villain" . As they say, history is written by the victors.
1636714
I am not published yet. I originally was trying to break into the market doing detective stories/crime drama-mixed with humor but everyone is doing that right now.
Currently I am finishing the 3rd draft of my novel Bull Island. Taking place in the late 1800s, it is about Harold, a teen who runs away from his abusive home and ends up living with his uncle John, who is a big game hunter. But John's prey isn't elephants or lions... it is Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster and unicorns (yeah, John has a mounted unicorn head in his study... unicorns were not nice creatures and it is good he killed one).
John ends up getting a contract from his former apprentice, Thomas 'Dasher' Dashel to join with 30 of America's greatest hunters (including his old drinking buddy, the giant Bob Babcock and John's on-again/off-again lover Irma Van Kamp) to travel to Bull Island to hunt new prey: the wendigo, the eater of man.
Subject: the plot
Status: thickening
Solution: MOAR
Pretty straightforward.
He's sure determined to spread doubt for someone who's supposedly the abstract force of "Faith". Usually, the character who whispers into the hero's ear that they might be wrong, that their cause is unjust, that the good they do will end up being harmful to someone, is a villain attempting to thwart them and that seems to be the role "Faith" is playing at the end here.
Noted Errors and location
(Monologuing)
Well that's all the errors I could spot for now....
Interesting story so far!
My thoughts on the what makes and breaks a society: Just three things, One is Order, two is Nightmare, and three is Chaos...
In general Order is like sheep... following the crowd, Nightmare is like wolves... Chaos is Change and Balance.....
Well enough for now... got more to say but I want to read!
I just realized this is so much like the very last episode of The Powerpuff Girls as the 2nd to last song said
"there's no dark without the light,
there's no good without the bad,
there's no ying without the yang
there's no hot without the cold."
1628329
no, i hear it too. im glad someone else shares my opinion- of course i usually see any epic yet wise character as being voiced by liam neeson by default, therefore i am personally bias lol
1626206 thats how most everyone see's Twi and Celly, yet they are still shipped.
Alot.
1718998 Horseapples!
You beat me to it!
any one else getting a big big big big feel of LOTR in this sequal
taking a pony one on one
OR talking to a pony one on one
Faith blew my mind and then it exploded again.
This is a recurring theme in my own FiMfics. That Discord was not supposed to be all evil or all good. He simply is. And he is supposed to represent nature and creativity in its more wild forms to balance how the Princesses and most Equestrians in general are control freaks with nature and life itself. He only went all evil when he was starting to feel pressured by others to "behave" more and to stop being so random with his magic and then **plot things** happened that made a bad situation much, much worse.
To be deeper and more shades of grey than I usually prefer: A hero is one that the majority agree with. A villain is one the majority disagree with.
That's it? That's the shortest quote I have seen yet!
This is something that I would actually like to point out.
Life needs a balance, there's always a balance to everything and that balance is between Chaos, and order, to much chaos and the whole world is darkness to much order and you lose your way.
- Me.