Plot Bunny Theater: Hell Hath No Fury · 5:25am Jul 27th, 2020
Howdy folks! First and foremost, as always, Adorable Applejack:
... I do now.
Now then...
This idea just came to me like a week ago, but I really dig it. It involves my favorite thing about the show: Twilight and Spike's relationship. I know, I know. It took the show two hundred friggin' episodes to actually quantify it, but from the very beginning, I could see the sibling angle. Main reason for this is their relationship reminds me a hell of a lot of my relationship with my big sister. There's a lot of snark, a bit of shit talking and teasing, but we love each other to death, and we always have each other's backs. Also, there's a sort of unspoken understanding between the two of us: "If anyone hurts you, I'm going to jail."
This brings me neatly to what I feel is one of the most powerful moments of the show's 222 episode run:
Like, the show had dealt with themes that were a bit more mature than others, like the whole slavery angle in all of Sombra's episodes, but this was something entirely different. Chrysalis basically said, "Surrender, or I will permanently disable your friend." And then Twilight and the girls actually did surrender. The girls were forced to choose between the subjugation and enslavement of possibly the entire world, or the suffering of their friend... and they chose their friend. Again, powerful shit. "Coward, every time," as Best Doctor would say.
What's important to remember about this powerful moment is that when Chrysalis says she will rip his wings off unless they surrender, Spike, in a moment so mature it cemented him as based, tells Twilight to forget about him and save the world. Again, this kid straight up said, "Forget me, I'll suffer if it means the world gets saved." Remind me again why people hate Spike? Still, Twilight immediately acquiesces, choosing her brother over the world.
But what if she didn't?
To be clear, I'm not saying Twilight would say, "Nah, go ahead and cripple him. Get fucked." But what if she hesitated for just a fraction of a second too long? If she had a moment where she fell back to logic, where one crippled dragon does not compare the suffering of the entire world. And in that split second of thought, Chrysalis grins. "Oop, too late."
RRRRIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP!!!!!
Time slows to a crawl as the wings that Spike was so proud of and happy to have are violently torn form his body in a fountain of blood. His scream of utter agony would echo in Twilight's mind forever. Chrysalis then tosses the bloody dragon towards Twilight like a sack of garbage. He bounces several times, staining the grass with green blood. He comes to a stop between Twilight's hooves. She doesn't kneel down, she simply... collapses. Her eyes unable to look away from the broken, bleeding body of her little brother. Spurts of blood still ooze from the ragged stumps on his back, but that's not the worst part. No, what truly drives the stake of ice through her heart is Spike's barely intelligible mutterings, saying she made the right decision, and now she and the girls can beat the bad guys and save the day. Finally, mercifully, Spike passes out from pain and blood loss.
A shaking purple hoof gingerly runs across his forehead, the warmth quickly bleeding from his scales as shock sets in. She isn't even sure what is real anymore. The torrent in her heart, the roiling in her gut, the tears in her eyes, and his still echoing scream in her ears. Everything is simply a blur, a raging storm of sensations, until one voice, cruel and sadistic, pierces the eye of the storm.
"Oh, well. He lived most of his life without wings. I'm sure he'll... readjust."
Twilight slowly looked up... and her world was subsumed by white.
We cut to Twilight slowly coming back to consciousness. She tries to open her eyes, but even the soft light of the room she is in is too much for her. Still, she attempts to sit up, until a gentle hoof and a very familiar voice eases her back down. "Hey, hey! Take is easy, kiddo. It's alright."
"Nrgh... d-daddy?"
Night Light explains that she is in the Royal Infirmary... where she has been in a sort of coma for three days. Instantly, her eyes shoot open, and she demands to see Spike. Night Light once more soothes her back to bed. He says that immediately after... well, after, Luna showed up and placed him in a magical stasis spell. Barely a minute later, Rainbow Dash broke every air speed record ever set flying to the Dragon Lands. Again, mere minutes later, Dragon Lord Ember dispatched a sort of draconic micro-surgeon who was set to arrive very shortly. He says that they are... "hopeful" that they can reattach Spike's wings.
As Twilight processes this, she looks to her father. Night Light always lost on Poker Night with the colts for a reason. She asks him what he is leaving out. He hems and haws for a bit before he sighs. "Sweetie, do you... remember anything about that day?"
It is here that we get the main thrust of the story. After the trio so cruelly disfigured and harmed someone so close to her, Twilight sort of... snapped. But this wasn't like when she was a filly, only barely aware of her potential who turned her parents into potted plants. This was Princess Twilight Sparkle, alicorn, Princess of Friendship, Element of Magic. So, something a bit more dramatic took place. IN a fit of absolute blind rage, her mind gone and focused only on punishing these vile creatures who dared to harm her family, Twilight absorbed the magic from... everything. Like, everything. For a few precious moments, Twilight Sparkle became the Avatar of Harmony.
We're getting a little deep into head canon here, but I've always had a thought about the realm of Equestria. We have always seen in the show that, at leas tin most cases, things tend to work out in the end. The "meta" reason for this is probably, "Hey, it's a kid's TV show, shit has to stick to the morals." But what about the "in universe" reason? Well, my theory is that much like our universe has the four fundamental forces of nature—the strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism, and gravity—that are basically the reason the universe exists as it does, the realm that Equestria inhabits has a fifth: Harmony. A force that does everything it can to ensure balance and, well... harmony.
This makes some sense when you consider the most direct interactions the characters have with this force, the Elements of Harmony. The Elements didn't kill Nightmare Moon. It just banished her, probably because a single pony can't properly embody Harmony, so they couldn't do what they intended to do. But a thousand years later, when six different ponies embodied all the Elements, they did what they tried to do in the first place: purge the insanity/corruption from Luna's mind, restoring her to what she was meant to be. Similarly, they didn't kill Discord. They turned him to stone, twice, most likely because they felt he could be redeemed. And before you start talking about how they killed Sombra, the EoH were never used against Sombra. Celestia and Luna never used them against him back in the day, and inThe Beginning of the End, the Mane Six couldn't use them because Sombra had destroyed them.
So, like I said, Twilight became the living avatar of Harmony. She represented, and in a way controlled, one of the fundamental forces of the universe. She was basically pony Dr. Manhattan. And all that power, all that control over the fabric of reality, was focused on one simple idea: punishing those who dared to harm her family. But here's the thing... Harmony is a positive force. It can't kill, not because it doesn't want to, but because it physically can't. Much like how gravity can't do anything other than attract two bodies together, Harmony is bound to instill peace in every aspect. And so this is where we learn the fates of the Evil Trio.
Chrysalis, the mad, fallen monarch, was reverted to a grub, barely out of the shell. She was given to King Thorax, to be raised in a stable, loving home in the reformed Hive, growing up sharing love instead of stealing it.
Cozy Glow, the damaged filly who saw friendship only as a means to acquire power, received a total mind wipe. Every memory of her life up to that moment—her home, her family, whatever trauma she suffered to make her view other ponies as nothing more than means to an end which the show for some stupid fucking reason decided to never share with us you assholes—was gone. She was turned from a sadistic, wicked being, to just a scared little filly who needed a friend. Already feeling the desire for a bigger family, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor took the filly in, ensure she would grow up knowing love, companionship, and friendship.
Tirek, the fallen creature from a distant land... I have no fucking idea. I have thought and thought, and I just can;t think of a satisfying ending for him. I have long believed, as many have, that any path to redemption for Tirek has to start with Scorpan. I don't know about y'all, but I can totally understand the feeling of being so far down a path that the only person who could talk me back was family. And especially an estranged family member? That's just good drama, dude.
Either way, the story would end with a mirror of the previous bit. Spike would awaken in a hospital bed with Twilight calming him down... telling him the surgery was a success, and that after about a year of physical therapy, he'll be back in the sky.
So... that's it. Like a lot of us, I am a big fan of "Badass Twilight Sparkle." And having that tie into my love of the Twilight/Spike relationship is just the tits. I think this idea has some merit if it was fully fleshed out. Just a little thought experiment on a "What If" scenario, that would be both badass and heartfelt.
Never forget that I fucking love you all. Until next time which may include a new story I'm not sure if it will ever be done and even then if it will be released stay safe, stay free, and stay metal! Jake The Army Guy out!
I like this idea.
A lot.
I suppose Tirek xould be turned into a regualar red Earth pony. It would be fitting, becoming something he holds in such distain as anything but a race of living, succulent batteries. Then to try to reverse it, he could then embark on a journey to his homeland, and so on. Although since Tartarus puts it's guests into a time stasis, as evidenced by Pinkie's line of "I can do this for all eternity," I wonder if Scorpan is even alive. It could explain why Tirek's never made the attempt to go back to his homeland, even to rule it or seek revenge. There's just nothing for him there. (Although when Tirek talked about the old necklace being worthless as Scorpan, that sounded kind of like present tense...?)
Otherwise I suppose babifying, effectively erasing him from existence, feels symmetrical with Chrysalis and Cozy's mindwipe. Actually, making Cozy a foal again feels more intimidating, and less reversible than amnesia. Robbing Tirek of making up with his brother, as well as Chrysalis of her chance to make amends with her 'family', feels like it adds a subtle tragic element to what Twilight does to them. There will never be another story with these characters, because she has effectively killed them off.
I could see Tirek's power to eat magic just being removed. It serves little purpose in a world of harmony... Although I have a feeling that without it he would die not long after since his health seems to be tied to the magic in his system.
... Lord I don't wanna be her therapist after that goes off. I mean shit. That's like a MIRV level Tactical Nuclear Strike. Hope ya get your story done cause I really... Really miss your work dude. Like seriously.
Anyhow, love ya dude, keep safe, keep free! And for God's sake keep Granny Apple away from the Bourbon. She gets 'ornery with that boom stick of hers once she has a couple in her.
This idea is HARDCORE!!!
Love the idea of Twilight going full-on planet buster on that nasty trio, but DANG! Spike losing his wings in such a violent fashion hurts, but hurts in a good way I guess. Good drama. Love it bro!
This might be the first time anyone has ever willingly identified with Spike. I appreciate him, because he's typically the harried straight man, but I don't know how many people have ever identified with him.
A fascinating concept. And thinking about it, when viewed in a sibling context, Twilight and Spike do remind me of my sister and me as well.
But yeah, Twilight having a similar episode to what happened after the first Rainboom would be truly terrifying at this point.
and the ripples would likely spread through her entire realm. For generations, there would be an undercurrent of fear of the incarnate goddess on the throne.
That went super dark in a really wholesome way. I didn't realise that was even possible.
Dude, this is pretty cool. And YES, it took way too long to finally cement Spike and Twilight (and ergo Shining Armor) as practically siblings. I've always gone the route of adoptive little brother for Spike.
5324060
Bruh, that entire episode, I was borderline in tears. When Twi was talking about her sibling rivalry with Shining in the beginning, and baby Spike drew little stars next to his name under their list, hit every single "feelz" nerve in my body. Then the moment where Spike basically tells Twilight that he's the good little brother by making her realize her plan was right all along, only for her to ignore him broke my fucking heart. And at the end, When Shining Armor and Twilight hugged him and Shining said, "the little brother we've always had," I lost it entirely. That episode was a damn emotional gut punch.
5324071
It's one of my absolute favorites. I mean, story by the women who voiced and know all 7 of our main characters? Awesome. And the way it played out was just so fun, and we get a sappy side story like feeling like part of the family? Sign me the fuck up. Plus it was one of those episodes where it actually has Spike on the team. People were really quick to put Glim-Glam in the "7th member of the team" and I was just like "um, bitch what? That spot's taken since season 1".
How about this? Tirek is de-powered and magically transported to wherever Scorpan is. There Scorpan can begin the process of Tirek's redemption.