Same Time Next Year
I've actually had this idea kicking around in my head ever since last weekend, but didn't have the time or focus to get it out until now. Enjoy. 
She’s like this every year…
Over the past few decades, Spike had lost track of how many times he walked through the royal hall of Canterlot. Nine-hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand the ruler of Equestria would be waiting for him there—patient, calm, composed, and, at worst, maybe signing a stray scroll or dismissing the last pony who had come to court.
Today was a one out of a thousand. There were five separate creatures gathered before the throne and, by the look on her face, Princess Twilight Sparkle had likely had an entire line of them until now and was only getting to them at this point.
“Princess, I still need your approval on the Canterlot firefighters' budget for next year.”
“Yes, yes…of course. Here.”
“Princess, we have too many students staying in for the holiday at the School for Gifted Unicorns. The regular dormitory hall doesn’t have enough rooms available and we need to resettle them today.”
“You have my permission to open Mistmane Hall in addition to Meadowbrook.”
“Princess, we really can’t push this off any longer. The growth of non-equine creatures settling in Manehattan is slamming the limited number of fisherponies. Prices have gone up 180 percent in the past two years alone and it looks like it’s getting worse.”
“Schedule that meeting with the Manehattan city council for 11 AM tomorrow.”
“Princess, the diplomatic talks with Abyssinia are at a standstill. Their latest unusual demand is that they want to reserve the rights to compete for holding the next Equestria Games before they consider lowering their tariffs.”
She sighed and rubbed her hoof against the bridge of her snout. “Fine…fine, we’ll consent to that, but let them know this is the last preemptive favor we grant them.”
“Princess, I just got a letter from Griffonstone saying that their government, under public pressure, is reneging on the deal to build the first Rich’s Barnyard Bargains franchise. They say it’s an attempt of Equestria to influence griffon society through corporate expansion.”
“Through corporate…” she began to echo back with a twitch in her eye--something Spike hadn't seen since the early years. However, she reined it in. “Alright, I’ll…I’ll get to it.”
“The corporation says they have a contract. That they have to uphold their end of it, and they're saying the government of Equestria should back them up.”
“Alright, we’ll get a meeting with both sides at 2 PM tomorrow.”
“Um, princess? 2 PM is when you’re meeting with the Cloudsdale Weather Authority.”
“Alright, alright! Just…put it in whenever I have an opening.”
The last pony grimaced on not getting a definite date, but nodded and turned. He soon passed Spike by as the other four did before him. He watched him leave, but as soon as the door closed and the echo finished resonating he turned back to Twilight.
She had gotten much better at hiding her stress over the years. Spike still remembered when Twilight finally realized that her predecessor wasn’t always as calm and composed as she assumed. She simply learned to hide it better when it got to her and Twilight had soon followed suit. A valuable skill to master, but he hadn’t known the mare for close to half a century and not known how to read her. Even when she drew herself up and calmed down enough to resume her stately, sagacious appearance, he knew something was off.
“Thank you for coming again, Spike. I’m sorry I couldn’t greet you as soon as you walked in.”
He halted a distance from the throne; looking a little uncomfortable. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you this bad, Twilight. I know this time every year gets to you, but I think it’s been getting worse.”
She seemed unaffected by the observation. “Really? You think so?”
“Normally you’re so organized you practically don’t even need any aides. This is the first time in ten years I’ve seen you forget a date.”
Twilight hesitated, bowing her head slightly to one side, but that was all. This late in life, the princess had abandoned the days of slumping in seats, burying her face against a table covered with notes in defeat, or building pillow forts to wallow in self-pity. In one sense, it was a sign of maturity. In another, it made it harder for Spike to see what truly was bothering her.
A moment later her large wings extended and flapped once. Her body, like it was nothing more than a balloon, effortlessly rose out of her throne, glided down the steps, and alit right in front of him. “Now that you mention it, I guess I have been thinking about it more this year than others.”
For a brief moment, her eyes remained to the ground and her body partially slumped. Yet following that, she raised her head, folded her wings, and stood straight and tall again. Once again regal, once again composed, and once again the ruler of Equestria.
She didn’t look back at Spike, however.
“It has to be done, though. And it will be over before I know it.”
Spike looked at her uncertainly. “Are…you sure it has to be done?”
“What makes you say that?”
“We could always not do it this year.” His voice was upturned, as if he was being a bit facetious, but in truth he was perfectly serious.
She was silent, perhaps considering that idea and perhaps not, but in the end simply stood there silently.
Spike sighed; slumping and looking at her more critically. “Come on, Twilight. You know this is a waste of time. It’s the same thing every year. Why would this year be any different?”
“You never know.”
He frowned. “Yeah…they might be even angrier this year…” he muttered half to himself. He stared at her silently for a few seconds before he crossed his arms and decided to play his trump card. “Do you want my opinion as your Royal Adviser?”
“Always.”
“You shouldn’t do it this time. In fact, you should cancel it all together.”
She shook her head. “Out of the question.”
He groaned. “I don’t know why you insist on doing this year after year, especially since I don’t think it does any good, but while it may not be having any effect on them I know it’s having a terrible effect on you. You always look like you're going through a crisis before and after it's done. You may act a lot more like Celestia did now, but I can tell going through this whole event really gets to you. Anything that gets you this worked up can't be any good. And…"
He hesitated, realizing he was getting far more personal with this next part.
"And, well…”
He winced a little, folding his claws and digging them into each other.
“Well, the truth is, if this upsets you, I don’t like doing it.”
This was enough to make her look at him, and when she did she couldn't contain her unease. She actually stood there uncomfortably for a moment before speaking up anxiously. “Spike, are...you saying you want to be excused this time?”
He found himself silent for about a second before he sighed and shook his head. “No. If this really is upsetting you, then the last thing I want to do is opt out of it and leave you on your own. I just don’t like having anything to do with anything that makes you this distraught.”
She smiled at him softly. “I really appreciate that, but I’m fine. I can do this. It’s only an hour at the most out of every year.”
Spike gave her a brief weak smile, but only to calm her worry at him abandoning her. Inside, he still felt much the same way.
“My advice makes sense, you know. Where would they go? Who would want them living with them?”
“They wouldn’t be put back into Equestrian society, Spike. They’d relocate to Tartarus first.”
“They could get out of Tartarus, though. Tirek did once already. Or someone like Discord could get them out.”
“We have new magical security measures. They’d be bound from performing any magic, even the weakest magic.”
“Yeah, about that… Back when that mess happened, we had new security in Canterlot and they still went in without any of us every knowing they had been there. I don’t think Chrysalis even needs magic to start feeding off of ponies. And what about Cozy Glow? Everyone just thinks she’s an innocent little pegasus. Most creatures don’t even know what she looks like.”
“We took an awful big risk with Discord, didn’t we?”
“Didn’t Discord end up siding with Tirek?”
“Alright…I took an awful big risk with Starlight, didn’t I?”
The dragon sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fair point, but you’ll never get concurrence on this. I already passed Pharynx walking in. He’s probably already written up ‘no’ and he’s just waiting to pass it to you.”
“True, but Chrysalis is a prisoner of Equestria and under Canterlot guard. If necessary, I can overrule the recommendation of the Changeling Kingdom.”
Spike went wide-eyed. “But you’re not seriously considering doing that, are you?”
“It depends on what I hear.”
Before the dragon could retort, the doors echoed from the sound of shifting. Both looked forward and saw it swing open; revealing a griffon in Canterlot Royal Guard armor.
“Princess,” His voice was even more solemn than he was normally. “We’re ready.”
She nodded back. “Thank you Gallus. We’ll get started right away.”
The first 20 years following the “War of the Bell”, the statue that had resulted had remained posted in the Canterlot Gardens adjacent to the labyrinth. The non-pony races believed it was a warning against any other invaders, but the actual tour guides stated that it represented what happened in a void of the Elements of Harmony: Greed, Selfishness, and Vanity. It was considered a way that those three could be used for something good and serve as a lesson to others.
Yet after 20 years, Princess Twilight had the statue relocated to a different part of the labyrinth almost impossible to reach. Soon after, she announced their first “parole hearing”.
Today looked much like that day did. The entire Canterlot Gardens were locked off. The necessary representatives, at least those who felt safe enough to be there, were gathered in a topiary square along with an entire quarter of the royal guard. Each one of them had weapons or horns aimed at the statue in the center of the area. The statue itself had been encased inside a globular cage that ran both under the ground and into the air. It was made of adamantium; the same substance that made up the gate to Tartarus. If that wasn’t enough a sphere of magical energy serving as both a shield and an inverted space-time trap that would redirect any action, both magical and physical, back into the same prison enveloped it, and it was reinforced by magical relics as opposed to spells that could be broken or negated.
Nevertheless, there were only two emotions on the faces of all of the ponies and creatures gathered: fear at the prospect of what was about to happen, and fury at the possibility of needing to put these creatures down. Neither had diminished in nearly fifty years.
They all had their eyes on the statue when Twilight entered, although as soon as their princess arrived the entire assembly turned to face her. Many of them looked less fearful just from her being there. No one spoke as she approached a group of representatives with Spike at her side.
She stopped just short of it as one of the pegasus guards approached her. A parchment was in her wing, and after giving a salute with her opposite one she presented it to her. “Princess Twilight.”
She nodded back. “Quiver.” The parchment levitated out of the guard’s wing, courtesy of the princess' magic. “Are all the required representatives here?”
“Yes, princess. The King of the Changelings has authorized his brother Pharynx to stand in for him, and has further authorized him to make decisions on behalf of the Changeling Kingdom.”
Twilight glanced to one side. Sure enough, a lone changeling stood among the others. He was a bit larger and even meaner-looking than most of his race, but his irritation and ire was solely directed at one of the three statues in the center of the assembly. After a moment, he did notice that Twilight was looking at him, but he only responded with a curt nod before resuming his vigil.
“Cloudy Day has been sent as the representative from Cloudsdale this year.”
An older-looking pegasus was near the changeling. Unlike him, she was definitely in the “fear” group. She trembled and drummed her hooves nervously and generally looked eager to get out of there as soon as she could.
On her other side was a much older stallion with gray hair and a sharp and critical look. He eyed the statues as if he was waiting for them to spring to life of their own accord at any moment.
“And…as we have, once again, been unable to locate any members of the centaur race, let alone ones that could evaluate Tirek on his behalf, we have again appointed a Canterlot official. It’s Rustic Tome this year.”
She nodded as her magic rolled up the parchment. “Thank you.”
With one final salute, the royal guard stood to one side; leaving Twilight free to fully advance. There was a perimeter marked out around the area with one final, if not flimsy, defense: a banister which served as a fence around the statue. Twilight reached the edge of this, where a gavel and block were already waiting, so that there was nothing between her and the monument. Spike took his place at her side, and after looking at the statue one final time she took a deep breath before her horn began to illuminate with a strong purple aura.
It was common knowledge that while the imprisonment of the three had been performed by the mutual efforts of two alicorns and a draconequis, and was, by most counts, an unbreakable curse, it nevertheless wasn’t nearly as strong as the powers of the original Elements of Harmony had been. Therefore, it was perfectly feasible, in theory, that it could be undone again by the same two alicorns and the draconequis or, barring that, something powerful enough to be as strong as them combined.
Princess Twilight Sparkle certainly fit that bill. Following the War of the Bell, it became clear that her power came from the sum magic of friendship of every creature residing in Equestria, pony and non-pony alike. It had only grown stronger in the decades since and continued to grow every year. As much as the former rulers had been revered as gods, so much more Princess Twilight. Foes she had encountered since that day had been forced to try and damage either her relationship with her friends or with Equestria at large to stand a chance against her, but the raw power she commanded now dissuaded most from trying. It was still talked about to that day when Lavan arose from the depths of the caverns under Equestria that Princess Twilight actually managed to lift the entire city of Canterlot out of the path of the magma.
She could definitely manage the curse.
As everyone tensed up, especially the guards on their weapons and magic, her horn projected a beam of golden light and struck the statue. The effect was instantaneous. As the resonance of the spell taking effect caused a chime to ring through the air, it was rapidly followed by a crackling noise. Fractures formed on all three statues simultaneously and quickly began to spread along them. Rustic Tome took a deep breath. Cloudy Day tried not to cringe. Pharynx almost bared his mouthparts. Finally, with a sound of crumbling, the stone collapsed off of the three figures and quickly disintegrated into dust.
Tirek let out a hollow exhale as he stretched out his withered limbs. As soon as he was done, he looked about himself at the gallery of cold-faced ponies glaring at him and sneered. Cozy Glow immediately fluttered in place, continuing the exact same flight movement she had begun last year, but dropped into a landing soon after.
Chrysalis, of course, did the same thing she did every time.
She bared her fangs and hissed angrily at Twilight, before she mustered what power she had and flung herself at the magical barrier. And just as every year before, it reacted by feeding energy back on her, making her vanish in a blip of light only to reappear on the opposite side of the prison moving back into the interior. She touched down exactly where she started. She didn't try to move again from there, but she did look up and sneered murderously at the princess.
Tirek gave the changeling a tired frown. “If that didn’t work the first twenty times, one would think you’d learn to throw in the towel…” It was a mutter, but the assembly had gone so quiet that everypony could hear it.
Twilight herself alone remained unchanged, passive and expressionless in the face of these gestures. Her horn lit up, levitated the gavel, and rapped it down three times on the block.
“This hearing is now in session,” she announced before putting it to one side. “Tirek…Chrysalis…Cozy Glow… The three of you have been serving your sentence for your crimes against Equestria for 48 years. You will now be evaluated as to whether or not you will continue to serve your sentence and punishment as enacted by former Princesses Celestia and Luna, or if you merit a pardon to a lesser sentence. Pending a review of your conduct and disposition, this could lead to a future further reduction in sentence up to and including absolution of your crimes and integration into Equestrian society. As in previous cases, myself, as monarch of Equestria, and three representatives will form a small committee which shall render all judgment.”
Her horn lit up again; producing a pre-prepared roll of parchment and a quill. Both were levitated in front of her. The other three representatives got out their own parchment, although Pharynx didn’t even bother with a quill. As Spike had noted, his had been fully filled out in advance.
“You may now speak on your own behalf and plead your case, either for yourselves or your co-conspirators as a whole.”
Chrysalis sneered. “I have nothing to say to you cowardly, nauseating ponies,” she spat with hateful venom. She glared around her so powerfully that even some of the hardened guards wavered a little. “Here I am, half-starved and powerless, and yet you all still cringe behind your magic, bars, and spears. The only thing that disgusts me more than seeing your sickeningly innocent little faces is this entire mockery you’ve put me on display for.”
Tirek crossed his arms as he glared at Twilight. “At the very least you can be honest for once, princess. You’ve already prepared your verdict for us. The real reason for all of this is that it’s not enough for you to keep us in your garden as a reminder of your own greatness, is it? You have to make sport of us with this ridiculous ‘parole hearing’ once a year.”
Cozy Glow looked between the two of them for a moment, Tirek looking a mixture of cross and bored and Chrysalis glaring daggers at her captors, before she cupped a hoof to her mouth and coughed. “Well, if Tirek and Chrysalis are going to just give us a repeat of last year, then I guess I’ll go first.” She walked forward, smiling innocently and opening her big, cute eyes. Her voice became the perfect tone it had been when she acted as the Headmare’s assistant all those decades ago.
“Princess Twilight, I know I made some very, very bad mistakes, and you’re right that I deserved to be punished for them.” Her smile faded into a frown as her eyes grew large and sad; before her voice grew meek and pitiable. “I realize now that what I did hurt a lot of creatures; not just ponies. I’ve learned my lesson though, and I’m ready to make a change. I will gladly accept whatever alternate sentence you have for me if it will give me a chance to prove to you that I’m ready to follow your ways of friendship from here on out.”
Spike frowned before giving an eye roll so strong he nearly leaned back. Twilight, however, remained impassive and unchanged.
Seeing that, Cozy’s look blanched a moment before she smiled innocently again. “Besides! I’m not a changeling queen or a centaur! I’m just a little pegasus filly! Without any magic of my own, how could I possibly be a danger to any other creature?”
Tirek let out a loud snort. “Funny you should say that. Didn’t you almost get the princess and her friends locked in Tartarus forever and destroy all magic within Equestria at the same time without any magic of your own, either?”
At once, Cozy’s more “honest” side began to paint over her face. Her eyes flashed back to the centaur.
“By all means, trust her,” he shrugged. “Oh, did I never tell you about what happened when she offered to let us test out Discord’s Chaos magic on her?” He looked to Cozy. “What was it you called us for doing that? ‘Fools’?”
Cozy's eye twitched as her lips curled into a snarl. Soon after, she was flying in his face and muttering through clenched teeth. “Would…you…be…quiet?!”
He grinned as he looked back at Twilight. “She’ll backstab you the first chance she gets, you know. She can’t keep her little hooves off of more power for herself. She always just tells you what you want to hear until she gets it. You know that better than anyone.”
“What is the matter with you?!” Cozy finally outburst at full volume. “Do you want to spend another year as a statue?!”
“Like I said, the princess has already decided that,” he answered smoothly, giving Twilight one more dark look before looking back at Cozy. “She knows she has power over us now, and she’d never give that up for anything. At the very least, I know she’ll never let me free.”
His jaw began to tighten in growing anger as what he had in the way of flimsy muscles firmed. “She knows how this is the most fitting and painful torture she can grant. Look at me…” He gestured about. “I’m surrounded by creatures brimming with pegasus flight, earth pony strength, and unicorn magic, I’m the only one of my kind who can harvest that energy, and here I stand…” His teeth gnashed. “Helpless forever to get even the smallest taste! Instead, here I’ll stand immobile and helpless, ruing the day I ever came to this confounded infuriating country, and the day I ever laid eyes upon one of these accursed ponies!”
He smiled cruelly at her.
“But over the past year, I realized something. I might not be able to take my anger and vengeance out on them, but there’s one pony I can do everything in my power to make as miserable as possible…”
Realizing what he was saying, the pegasus stared back in open-mouthed shock and horror. Tirek merely grinned back. After a few seconds, her face twisted into absolute rage. Just as she opened her mouth to retort, however, she closed it again. An idea came to mind that warped her fury into a devilish smirk.
She turned back to Twilight with an innocent look again. “Golly, princess…it sounds like Tirek over here doesn’t even want to go to these parole hearings anymore.”
His own grin faded. “Wait, what?”
“Or if he does, it’s only to ruin any chance that Chrysalis and I have. Now that I think about it, is it really my fault that I ended up causing all that trouble at the School of Friendship? Wasn’t he the one who told me what to do so that you and your friends would end up locked in Tartarus with him?”
“What’re you-”
“You know, he did wait a thousand years already for most ponies to forget about him before he broke out of Tartarus the first time. My guess is if he’s not even trying, he’s just waiting for you to turn things over to your successor and then he’ll trick her into letting him out. If I were you,” She smiled. “I wouldn’t even let him come to one of these hearings ever again. I’d just leave him a statue from now on.”
“What?!” he cried.
She smiled at him. “Well, you said the princess already decided, so what’s the point?”
“The point is I’d rather get out once a year than never again, you overgrown feathered mosquito!”
She scowled. “Well maybe you shouldn’t try to blow it for the rest of us then, you dried up old goat!”
A sharp chitinous appendage slamming down on the ground loudly silenced both of them, and they wheeled about to see Chrysalis sneering.
“You both make me sicker every year! You haven’t an ounce of dignity or pride between the two of you!” She turned back to Twilight. “Is that what you want to see me do, Twilight? Grovel? Plead? Beg? ‘Oh please, fair and kind Princess Twilight Sparkle! Please have mercy! We’ll be good little creatures from now on! We’ll do whatever you say!’” She snarled. “You can keep me sealed away in stone for ten thousand years and I’ll still hate you with every last part of my being! I’d rather be destroyed than kneel before you and whimper for forgiveness! So if you’re expecting to torture that out of me, then why don’t you get the backbone to simply shatter our statues already!”
Both Tirek and Cozy went wide-eyed. “She’s speaking for herself! She’s speaking for herself!” The centaur immediately cried.
“Really! Statue is fine!” Cozy chimed in.
Not once during any of this did Twilight show the slightest change. She instead straightened up and turned to one side. “If that is all, I will now ask the board to provide their recommendations.”
Cozy began to tense up fearfully, realizing they were already out of time. “W-Wait! You’ve made your point, princess! I’ll do whatever you want from now on! You’ll never see me misbehave again! I promise! I mean…look at me! I’ve spent four times as long as a statue as I have as a pony! I’m just a filly! Isn’t this…you know…a little cruel and unusual? Can’t I get another chance? I didn’t have the same childhood as you and your friends! I never had anypony in my life bringing me up the right way!”
Tirek glanced at her with a sour frown. “If spending an entire year at the School of Friendship being indoctrinated by the top party-loving ponies wasn’t enough to get you to ‘see the light’, why would now be any different?”
Cozy glared furiously at him, but he kept going before she could cut in in a bitter lament.
“You all think I look pretty funny, don’t you? The great Lord Tirek here to perform for all of you as a withered husk of what he once was! You’ll all have a good laugh once this is over, asking yourselves if this was really what Equestria was scared of, won't you? I’m sure your precious princess will be tickled pink all week!” She wheeled back on her. “Even Celestia and Luna only had me imprisoned! I’m your personal trophy! If you ever see Scorpan again, why don’t you tell him about me? I’m sure he’d love the joke! Maybe he’d want to carve his initials into my flank! After all, this is what that traitor wanted all along!”
“I have nothing more to say to you besides what I say every year, Twilight,” Chrysalis hissed. “You can’t keep me here forever. I don’t care how many years pass or how hungry and miserable I get. I will get out of here one day. And when I do…before I turn all of Equestria into a wasteland and eat every last bit of love and friendship you’ve cultivated here over the past fifty years…I am going to find your former student, even if she’s a nag by the time I get her, and I’m going to wrap you both up in an airtight cocoon so that the last thing you ever see is each other suffocating!” She violently twisted about. “And the same goes for every last one of you wretched little ponies!”
As before, Twilight did not change. She stared silently and impassively even as other members of the committee and the guards themselves began to grow unnerved at the raw hate and violence coming from Chrysalis. She looked nearly feral by the time she was done, and her words echoed on in their minds long after the area was silent again.
After a time, however, the committee composed themselves, finished their own recommendations, and passed them down. Twilight used her horn to levitate them along with her own and arranged them in front of her. She looked down over the parchments impassively for several moments, then looked up again.
“The committee has evaluated each one of you separately, and the votes are unanimous for all four members of this committee.”
She stood as her horn began to glow again.
“For all three of the accused, the verdict is the same: parole denied.”
A stream of light fired from Twilight and struck the three simultaneously. In spite of his earlier words and brave face, Tirek once again ended up frozen in a position of cringing. Cozy’s own posture was stuck groveling and fearful. And, as in almost every other year, Chrysalis managed one last wrathful hiss before she was immobilized.
Twilight let out a long sigh as soon as the spell was cast and the three were again statues. She rose from her position, levitating the four parchments, rolling them up, and passing them to an aide at one side. “This hearing is hereby adjourned. Next hearing is set for one year from now.”
At last, the gathering began to ease. The committee members immediately rose, and Pharynx himself wasted no time on pleasantries but immediately took to the sky. Rustic and Cloudy stayed behind and talked a bit as the rest of the soldiers shifted their weapons or doused their horns, then turned to begin making their way out. A few stayed behind and began to undo the containment spell. Spike let out a long sigh.
“Well…that went exactly as planned once again.” He began to turn. “Still think it wouldn’t have been easier just to can…”
Spike trailed off. Princess Twilight wasn’t there anymore. He looked around, puzzled momentarily, before looking skyward. He was just in time to watch her fluttering lavender mane vanish.
Spike, naturally, tried to speak with her as soon as he returned to the Royal Palace, but the guard let him know that she was reopening court following the impromptu suspension and that she wouldn’t be able to talk until after the day’s business was over. Yet although Spike waited, when the time came for the palace’s royal hall to be closed for the day, Twilight didn’t emerge. He found out she went straight back to her room.
The dragon grew more uncomfortable with these latest reactions. He was the only one who noticed the change in Twilight’s behavior before, but now the whole palace was beginning to walk around looking uneasy and concerned. He knew it was especially bad when he stopped in front of Gallus en route to the royal suite. Griffons rarely showed their care or concern for anything, even ones like him who were as much “honorary ponies” as Spike himself was.
That evening, he looked worried.
“How’s the princess?”
He sighed. “Not only did she dismiss most of the evening staff, she sent a message to the kitchen saying she wasn’t hungry. She even turned away her evening tea and said to put the students’ writing assignments aside for tonight.”
“What about Striga?”
He shook his head.
“You’re joking.”
“She put her out while the sun was still setting. Just between you and me, I haven’t seen her like this in ten years. Not since she noticed the others were…well…getting older faster than her.”
Spike grimaced himself at that, knowing full well what that day was like. Not just for Twilight but for him. “You think she’d mind me going in?”
“You? Never.”
“Thank you.”
Taking a deep breath, he walked past the guard into the entryway. Only a short distance later he reached the door and rapped on it.
“Princess Twilight? It’s me, Spike.”
There was no answer, but nothing saying not to come in either. Spike held a moment before he tried the handle. It wasn’t locked, so he turned it and pushed the door open.
The room was well kept and arranged as it was most evenings. Neat and tidy, the way Twilight preferred it, with everything in its proper place. The fireplace was set and burning and the rug in front of it was swept and awaiting her to recline. Her book (or, more accurately, three books) was chosen for the evening and setting where her tea would normally go.
Only she wasn’t there. She was standing at the sitting room window and staring out at the sun setting over Canterlot. The Helioluna was placed to one side and running on its own. Her back was to Spike, and she didn't even acknowledge he was there.
Spike swallowed; knowing the only time it was “good” for Twilight to not notice someone coming would be if she was engrossed in reading. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. “Hey, Twilight.” His tone lost all formality now that it was just the two of them.
No answer.
“I heard you didn’t have any dinner tonight. Um…” He risked a smile. “Were you waiting on me? Heh, ‘cause I already helped myself to a big plate of amethysts. They really stick to my ribs.”
No answer.
He rubbed the back of his crest. “So, uh…done for another year, huh? Don’t have to look at their faces for twelve moons. Went pretty much the way I expected again, though. Actually, I almost thought Tirek might try absorbing Cozy and Chrysalis’ power again…heh…”
No answer.
“Twilight…you’re not upset about that hearing, are you? It’s really not a big deal. I mean, every creature would say it’s nice of you to even want to give them another chance, but it’s better that they stay where they are.”
Still no answer.
“You heard them going on at each other. They do that every year. And it’s really too dangerous to risk it. So…” He hesitated. By now, his own face was looking anxious. “So why does it make you more upset every year when this happens?”
Twilight’s head finally bowed.
“It was right here, Spike.”
That wasn’t the voice of the Princess of Friendship. It wasn’t the voice of the Ruler of Equestria. It was the voice of Twilight Sparkle: the confused young unicorn who was troubled with something down to her very core. Spike hadn’t heard that voice in a long time, but he recognized it none the less. “What was?”
“20 years after the War of the Bell, it was just like any other morning. I was right in this room, trying on my gown for some upcoming summit, and I heard the birds singing and smelled the spring flowers. I went to the window and opened it wide to get a whiff, and right out there, on the edge of the labyrinth, was the statue garden and one of the tours. They were right at the statue of the three of them. There were two griffons in that entire tour group, and I remember what one of them said.”
She took a deep breath.
“‘I guess the lesson is friendship is nice, but keep some petrification curses just in case.’”
Her head fell lower.
“I thought about that the rest of the day. When I went to bed that night, I kept hearing it. When I tried to hold court, I kept seeing those two. Most of all, I kept thinking about it every time I looked at myself in the mirror, saw those wings I ‘earned’, and studied that crown on my head. I thought of the school, the castle, the Tree of Harmony…all of it. And I started to wonder…did we really win that day? Did I really win?”
“Oh, come on, Twilight,” Spike protested. “Of course you did. We all did. It’s just…well…um…” He thought for a moment. “It’s just that some creatures…I mean…some individual creatures…they can’t be reasoned with. You just have to sometimes put your claw down. Some individuals are just…just…" He fumbled a moment, but finally shrugged. "Well, bad.”
“Are they?”
Spike was caught by the poignancy with which Twilight said that.
“The more of these hearings I go to, the more I understand. The first few years of my reign I thought Tirek was a beast or demon to treat like it was taboo to even say his name. Now I know the truth: he’s a bully. He never felt good enough around his father and he never had faith in himself to be more than what he is, so he stole what power others worked for and used it to 'feel like a big shot'--throwing his weight around tormenting others and making them feel as weak and helpless as him.”
She levitated the Helioluna back in front of her.
“Chrysalis…as crazy as this sounds, I actually pity her. I used to think of her as a horrible, twisted monster. Then I started to realize she’s a slave to her own pride and vanity. She wants dominion and the power to reign over others so badly that she’d rather be driven mad with her own starvation than finally live free of pain with others who could learn to care about her. She’s so terrified of ever trusting anyone else with her safety or risking showing ‘weakness’ by caring for anything other than herself that she’s turned herself into this miserable, hate-filled savage that only wants everything to be in pain.”
She sighed as she stashed the Helioluna on her shelf.
“And Cozy Glow? Cozy Glow… She might be the worst of them all. She can’t see the world past herself. No matter who does what for her or how other creatures reach out to her, she never sees them as anything else than tools to use. But…” She sighed. “But…she’s a child. Not every child in Equestria is like how Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were and just becomes that empathetic at such a young age.” She grimaced. “Me least of all…”
“Twilight-” Spike tried to interject.
“But Tirek was right. She should have learned how to be a better pony. If we really did embody the Elements of Harmony and we really did mentor her the best we could, then why did we fail?” She sighed. “Celestia had a ‘failed student’ too, didn’t she? Four years later, she became one of my best friends. And where’s my failed student? Sitting in that garden…forever. We’ve met all sorts of creatures like the three of them over the years, Spike. Garble was a bully. Trixie couldn’t let go of her pride. Fizzlepop didn’t care about anyone but herself. All of them changed for the better, but these three won’t… What failed, Spike? Did we fail? Or did friendship fail?"
She exhaled as she lowered her head again.
"Honestly I don’t know which would make me feel worse…”
“You didn’t fail,” Spike immediately insisted, toward her as he tried to find the right words. “And neither did friendship. It’s just…just…just that some things mean both sides have to work at them is all. This isn’t just about you, the girls, and your past, Twilight. It’s about the good of Equestria. I get what you’re saying, but…it’s not just up to you and what you do. I’m sorry, but it isn’t.”
He stopped again on reaching Twilight. He could hear her breathing from this close, and it was unsteady and long. By now, the sun was nearly under the horizon. The moon was coming out.
Twilight finally looked up soon afterward, although she still wouldn't face him. Her eyes looked to the heavens, and to the emerging moon. She was silent again for several moments.
“It’s funny. I’m getting this worked up over the three of them, and Celestia had to do that to Luna. It hasn’t even been fifty years for me…”
“Twilight…”
“I was going to leave them unpetrified, Spike.”
The dragon went silent, not only at the confession but at the sound of Twilight’s voice breaking.
“Every year…I’m going to do that. I just need to hear it from them. From any of them. It never happens. No matter how many years pass, it never happens. They never say what I need to hear.”
She finally turned to face him. Spike gave a start on finally seeing her face. Both cheeks were stained with tears, and more were flowing out.
“Why, Spike? Why can’t they see it? They’re standing there with nothing but their thoughts and see and hear everything around them, but they never make the connection. Two words. All I want to hear are two words. Why won’t they understand?”
Her voice was breaking more now as tears kept flowing. Without any more prompting, Spike stepped forward and put his arms around his oldest friend. In spite of her larger size, she quickly put one of her hoofs around him and leaned her head against his shoulder.
As the sun kept lowering, she began to cry more loudly.
“Why can’t they just say ‘I’m sorry’?”
In the skies over Canterlot the sun lowered beneath the rows of the hedges of the labyrinth, and the last ray of sunlight to touch the hidden statue of Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis was swallowed up. The night creatures came out and began to call to one another soon after; drowning out the mournful sobs of the princess.
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Simple reason why actually.
There's no reason for them too from their perspective, and there won't be till they have one forced on them.
Plus the griffins right, Harmony mind controls and tampers with some to reform them and then does nothing for the others, so it's a very, very questionable Ideal as far as Honesty and fair judgement are concerned.
Easy way to put it is the carts going before the horse, in every sense of the word, and Twilights not thinking cause and effect beyond what got them there.
Oh, this.... this is really well written. You touched on exactly the problems that bothered me about petrifying them, but you went even deeper, asking the hard questions. And you didnt give the easy ending, but that makes it more meaningful. Spike said it best - it’s NOT any one person’s job to “fix” somebody. Everyone’s choices are their own. As a Christian I have to learn this when I want to “fix” people whose self-destructive habits are hurting them, but I have to recognize that only God can heal hurts that deep. We shouldnt stop trying to help, but we have to learn to recognize where our influence stops, and not beat ourselves up for not getting the results we want.
But I also like the hope written into this. The fact that Twilight is giving them a yearly parole hearing feels EXACTLY like something she would do. The fact that she refuses to give up is RIGHT. And there is the hope that someday, however long it may be from now, one or all of them might finally GET IT, and at least get to move to Tartarus where they can live with limited freedom - anything at all would be better than aware immobilization.
Really, really well done. Thank you for writing and sharing this.
(P.S. Not that I wouldnt MIND an epilogue showing them finally getting it... yknow, if you ever felt so inspired. :) But it is quite meaningful as-is, too. Adding to my Favs.)
This was good and intresting. I could definitely see Twilight trying her best to give the three redemption, only for them to stay stuck in their own ways. I also think it would be interesting to see more added to this. Like one year they hold the hearing again and at a point Twilight informs Chrysalis that Starlight has passed, and it just strikes a chord in her. Or Tireks brother shows up one year and tries to make amends with his brother. And say these led to the others being free, leaving Cozy all on her own. At this point Twilight can really hold the hearing by herself, and she just talks with Cozy. It's all up to you though, just some interesting ways this could be expanded into something more. Great little fic, good luck writing.
Because they aren't. They aren't sorry and they never will be, by their lights they are absolutely justified. And the fact that their continued refusal wounds Twilight so is likely what they treasure most in this long existence.
9894297
To be fair, it seems clear that they are entirely unaware that it DOES hurt Twilight so. Tirek and Chrysalis especially seem completely convinced in their own minds that Twilight is just putting this on as a farce to torment and mock them further, and she did an excellent job of staying stone-faced and impassive throughout.
They are blind to anything outside their own perception of reality. But that doesnt mean it cant change eventually. And they certainly have TIME, being encased in stone. If murderers in prison can have a complete turnaround, who knows what miracles can happen?
Chrysalis had dreamed of conquest since she was small, as the song goes. Twilight and her friends had broken her dreams, and whether they were 100% justified or not in foiling said dreams (they were) is irrelevant to a being like her. She sees nothing wrong with any of the atrocities she's either committed or tried to commit, save for the fact that she failed, and she only hates you if you try to get her out of it. Just ask Starlight, who understood her on some level regarding how she operated, what happened when she tried. An appeal regarding her subjects wasn't enough. What's more is that she obviously enjoys the suffering she causes.
Tirek is someone who wants to feel important, that is to say, feel strong, so he eats all the power he can get his hands on, and he bullies others beneath him, to enhance said sense of power, and it seems like he'd go to horrifying lengths to exercise said power, to cement his superiority. His own brother wasn't enough to get him to stop, and in his mind, Scorpan betrayed him in the end, the fact that he tried reasoning with him first being absolutely irrelevant, and so he hates him for it, seeing him as weak minded, and as worthless. But in any case, for him, betrayal is fine when he does it.
Cozy Glow, what can you say? She goes through all of the motions of being nice, but they mean less than nothing to her. She doesn't care how much you love her, just how much she can use you, or how much you'd get in the way. She can know the words, but not the music.
It may or may not be kinda tragic on some level, but sometimes you're left with little choice... because they have be willing to change, on any level, which they don't.
(In case it wasn't obvious, I find Chrysalis to be the most interesting of them, in part due to how... vehement she is in wanting to be monstrous)
Free will can be a real byayh at times. No matter what they see or think or do, as long as the three of them never feel like saying sorry, they’re never gonna do it. Well, maybe Cozy will, but only if she thinks it will help her because she’s probably a full blown literal psychopath. Twi’s gonna have to learn eventually you can only really help those who want help to begin with.
9894326
Of course, Discord was the exact same way until Fluttershy got her hooves on him.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......
9894393
Discord had the fortuitous occasion of being considered possibly useful by Celestia happen, and considering these three are at least forty times more murderous with those they hate, and in general, odds don't really look good with them.
Discord couldn't even be trusted in S4, and in S9, he'd fucked up there, out of a misguided desire to help Twilight. And that's the optimistic scenario, the outcome for it all, with him. With them, it seems even worse.
Perhaps you could have an above 0% chance of reaching Tirek and/or Cozy, on some level, but Chrysalis, I think she's the least theoretically redeemable of them, as thoroughly consumed with hate and sadism as she seems to be, ironically for being someone that eats love to gain power.
9894449
I say Cozy’s the worst out of them. Buglady’s obviously got issues but that seems more rage and self centeredness than anything. Cozy’s likely an actual psychopath. Not what internet people like to call mean people online, I mean the medical definition psychopath. There’s no known cure for psychopathy and you have to handle it early in children before they get too far lost. Cozy’s a kid but I think she’s too far gone. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you are likely to get a sorry out of either of them ever (tirek of all people is still probably the best bet for that) but I’d still have to say Chrysalis is an ant compared to the monster cozy is.
9894457
Yeah, ironically enough, perhaps Tirek is the one that has the biggest shred of a chance (which isn't saying much).
He's possibly the least sadistic of them (not to say he isn't sadistic, but he wanted to hunt down Twilight, instead of either executing her friends [Cozy], or torturing them [Chrysalis and her "we should have fun with our guests"], coupled with the suggestion of killing the Windigos ASAP out of pragmatism).
Cozy Glow indeed seems like she lacks empathy on a rather fundamental level.
Chrysalis, I think should be noted, is a severe narcissist, and is rather sociopathic, along with the aforementioned sadism... and those things are not easy to treat, especially when she's entirely unwilling, to the point of being murderous, coupled with her probable attitude of "they're the ones with the problem, being infected by friendship and sentimentality, not me."
Chrysalis blames Starlight for losing her hive, ruining her life, as she has stated numerous times, when in reality, she only has herself to blame (and yeah, that's kinda like how Tirek thinks regarding Scorpan). She herself has a pathological inability to accept responsibility for any of her actions.
I think it would just feel... the most wrong if Cozy or Chrysalis reformed, if I had to choose. It wouldn't feel entirely right with Tirek, but maybe I could understand that thought process.
Maybe.
I'll admit, I'm rather biased because I firmly think it would take away what's appealing about Chrysalis, if she would ever let herself care about someone other than herself, on a selfless level. Her absolute stubbornness is one of her defining traits in my eyes, as is her sadism (which I really appreciate about her as a villain: perfect fodder for a sadistic writer, and it's not going OOC with her).
She's a pretty Disneyesque villain, and I like it.
9894480
I think Chrysalis is the most interesting one of the three because she seems to want friendship on some level, but after being left to stew alone for ages she ended up almost totally consumed by her rage and egomania. When Starlight offers a hoof to Chrysalis after reforming her hive she genuinely considers it before snapping back, and then later as part of the Legion of Doom she ends up apparently abandoning her desire to be in charge of the trio and treats the others as more or less equals when they're out getting stuff done. She also uses her transformation powers to entertain the others around a campfire, which isn't something you'd expect from someone that cares entirely and only about themselves and how they can dominate others.
Twilight's estimation of Chrysalis in this story is pretty spot on: her contempt and rage is a defence mechanism. She cannot allow herself to appear weak in front of anyone, and hatred is powerful. It's possible to break down these defences, but I don't think Twilight's parole method is capable of it - Chrysalis decided to hate Twilight and anyone she judges as her lackeys a long, long time ago, and abandoning that hatred would mean making Chrysalis' fears come true: showing weakness in front of a mortal enemy. It doesn't matter that said enemy has you soundly defeated and you're utterly powerless to do anything at all against them, as long as Chrysalis gets to spit vitriol for ten minutes a year then she can keep convincing herself that she hasn't lost yet, not really.
If Chrysalis is to heal then she needs the company of equally strong and/or devious beings that she can relate to on some level, and the tragedy of it is that the only ones that ever managed to fit that description are trapped in stone alongside her.
It’s too bad Twilight can’t just travel back in time to learn their origins at a personal level since Starswirl’s time spell is between time. Unless... she memorized it. Hint, Hint
This was an extremely well written story. Dont know if you ever plan to do a sequel but if not this was an excellent one shot. As Twilight said, Celestia had to go 1000 years without her Sister. I wonder how long Twilight can handle this until she just gives up or not.
9894571
Doubt it, Twilight focus on the good of friendship, now she’s experiencing the bad of friendship
9894312
Well they don't have time. Chrysalis at least is starving by inches, which honestly sounds like a hideous way to die, one day at a time over the span of a thousand years or so. Cozy has also gone without food or water, give it about 10-20 minutes per interview, twenty times over, it's been between three to six hours so far as her body's concerned. She's only got about a day's worth of time or so before thirst begins to be a major issue.
I suppose deprivation is a way to break the stalemate, but I doubt that's how Twilight wants to "win" this.
My boy Spike nails it right here.
Twilight shouldn't cry over failing them. She did her part, and gave them more chances than they deserved. They need to be the ones that bring themselves to apologize. Forgiveness is not something we do for others. It's what we do for ourselves to get well and move on. Twilight can and should forgive them for her own sake, to free herself from that misery. Holding a grudge is like letting someone you hate stay in your souls rent-free. But being forgiven does not mean being reformed, and nowhere near redemption. That, not forgiveness, is what they need to be freed. And that is entirely on them, not Twilight.
...If this is one of those stories where Twilight's friends are already dead or dying...
...Is it?
Isn't "I'm sorry" technically three words?
Because Tirek is absolutely right about what you’re doing and you just don’t want to admit it?
You’re not helping them, you’re leaving them alone with their thoughts for an entire year, then waving freedom in front of their faces if they just capitulate to you and your demands. You are not making any effort to HELP them, you’re demanding they change on their own with the threat of overwhelming power used against them if they don’t.
At present the only incentive for them to say “sorry” is to end the cycle of petrification - which is exactly what Cozy just tried to do, but instead of even taking the chance and moving her somewhere to get her the help she, a child, so obviously needs, you petrified her again.
I’m sorry. I don’t know exactly what you intended when you wrote this fic, but that’s my take. Twilight expects three lunatics to be capable of recognizing and self-examining their own lunacy without any outside help. And she keeps doing it over and over and expecting different results herself. Insert FarCry 3 quote here.
This isn’t merciful or beneficent on her part. It’s just torture.
9894714
And the stupidest part is that it's legitimately in-character for her. This is absolutely something Twilight would miss.
9894726
From a pragmatic standpoint, the entire point of having friends is to have other people you trust to cover your blind spots even as you cover theirs. I can believe that Twilight would miss this, but the fact that no one else seems to have pointed her mistake out to her and instead is only focused on consoling her tells me Twilight either doesn’t have friends; or the friends she has think in basically the same terms as her, are basically sycophants; or that she does have friends but doesn’t listen to them.
Do you want Midnight Sparkle? Because this is how you end up with Midnight Sparkle.
Sorry Twi, but I gotta side with Spike on this one. You can do everything under the sun, and there will always be a select few that absolutely cannot be worked with. Don't torture yourself over this, it's not your fault.
9894734
The issue with that from a storytelling perspective is that if there was to be a truly, completely irredeemable character in Friendship is Magic, you’d think it would be Discord, the literal personification of chaos, evil, and disharmony, who was presented as the antithesis of friendship and the elements that make it up.
Leaving aside any of my personal opinions on the character, there is no narrative point to reforming Discord unless it is to send a clear message to the audience that anyone is capable of it, that there is no such thing as an irredeemable monster, all that matters is finding the means of doing it. In the universe of the show, there are not a select few who absolutely cannot be worked with. Else Discord’s reformation means literally nothing, is a narratively empty event devoid of moral or story purpose.
9894637
It seems to be set about the same time as the bookends of the last episode, meaning that the Mane Six are all still alive but everypony except Twilight has visibly aged. They're not dead, but they are middle-aged. And it seems from the references in the text that there was a time when the implications of that hit Twilight like a bag of bricks.
9894763
Yea well I'm not saying this from a story telling perspective, I'm telling it from a real life perspective, because I don't live entirely in a fantasy world. Saying that some people can't be worked with would mean that discord should still be evil is nothing more than applying ones personal opinions to a group instead of approaching the situation on an individual basis. Yea, discord was evil. Yea, he fucked up by betraying his friends. He still learned his lesson. Discord is a completely separate entity from Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy, and should be treated as such. Hell, the 3 of them are separate from each other, though they can't seem to get away from each other's throats long enough to try and redeem themselves.
The definition of insanity is trying to do the same over and over again and expect a different outcome... Maybe Twilight should try something different... Separate them, talk with them a little more, etc.
9894795
So there were these two inmates in a lunatic asylum. One day, they get sick of being in there and decide that they’re gonna escape. So they spend some time gathering supplies, learning guard routes, and finally one night they make their attempt. They get to the roof of the asylum, and see freedom at long last. All they have to do is jump from the asylum roof to another nearby one. Now, the first guy, he makes the jump no problem, but the second lunatic, he won’t jump. He’s too scared that he’ll fall and not make it. So the first lunatic says, “hey, I have this flashlight I stole from one of the guards! I’ll just shine the light across the gap, and you can walk across the beam like a bridge!” And the second lunatic throws his hands in the air and shouts, “what do you think I am, CRAZY?
“You’d turn the flashlight off when I was halfway across!”
Batman: the Killing Joke is one of writer Alan Moore’s better works. The joke above comes from the end, a joke that the Joker tells Batman after the former has been defeated yet again, failed yet again. See, the entire comic is about the Joker trying to prove that everyone is just one bad day away from being like him. While meanwhile Batman spends most of the comic trying to reach out to the Joker and try to help him, because he knows that the two of them are basically locked in a death grip, and the only way their lives will go if they continue the way they are is with one of them killing the other - and Batman doesn’t want to kill the Joker, he wants to help him.
The joke is funny, but it serves a narrative point too: it illustrates how absolutely batshit insane it is to expect one lunatic to be able to help another lunatic leave the asylum.
I still don’t get why people are upset Cozy got petrified even though she’s a kid. Kids can be irredeemable monsters too.
9894846
Because in terms of ability she still a kid, and “Frenemies” shows us pretty clearly what happens when she runs into someone (Rusty Bucket) who has no interest in giving in to her demands: she’s powerless to do anything other than moan and whine and scream, like any other kid.
It’s not like she has magical mind control powers. Her entire plan in Season 8 depended on no one knowing her true nature or intentions. If she was in a mental institution or juvenile hall we have no reason to think she’d be any more troublesome than any other kid as long as she had competent wardens who were made aware of her silver tongue.
And if the ponies of Equestria are really so convinced that she’s a potential danger, it’s not like you need some special weapon or power to stop her. She’s a kid. There must be a baseball bat somewhere in Equestria if you find her that terrifying.
I have yet to be convinced Cozy Glow is a real child; she's consistently been better at being bad than the ancient apocalyptic threats that make up the resr of her team. I'm also against her being reformed for the same reason: as a villian, she does a great job a representating the dangers of false friends and is not interesting as a reformed character.
Very nice drama piece.
Really loved this. Great job!
Wow! This is a powerful story! Definitely well written and the emotion is so strong.
There isn't one distinct part that is better than the others. The whole story just has perfect synergy wthe transition from scene-to-scene.
The ending is also good for how it shows exactly why Twilight puts herself through this and why she wants to keep doing it. She wants to know she can fix the problem. She wants to not worry how creatures might see her view on 'friendship' as one that is conditional until you get petrified for not falling in-line.
Twilight doesn't want to rule with fear and her analytical skills refuse to stop trying to figure out how 'she' could make things different. She only needs those two words to have a foundation to start. However it is unlikely she'll get them.
Definitely a powerful tale of what happens after 'The Ending of the End'. Bravo!
A wonderful little thought experiment, and quite well-written, too! Part of me was hoping to see Scorpan as Tirek's representative on the committee, but I suppose tracking him down would be pretty tough. Plus his very presence might throw the whole parole hearing sideways.
The one thing that nagged me about this idea is that Twilight isn't giving them any degree of freedom or offering to help them in any appreciable capacity. I mean, look at Discord. He was given incredible latitude to mostly do what he wanted during his reformation period—under close surveillance and threat of being imprisoned again, sure, but the freedom was important. He was allowed to be himself. That was a huge part of what got him to reform at all. If Fluttershy had tried to change who he was or asked him to stop causing chaos, he never would've accepted her kindness.
I could go on and draw parallels between these three villains and others that have been reformed—Starlight Glimmer to Chrysalis, Sunset Shimmer to Cozy Glow, and Nightmare Moon to Tirek—but the point remains the same. These three aren't gonna change if they're just left to stew in their bitterness and hatred for a year, only to be given a chance at "freedom" without any guidance or assistance. They need to be shown some degree of understanding for where they're coming from, offered space to make their own decisions (under close supervision), and they need to be trusted in some capacity.
Still, this story is a reasonable way for Twilight to approach the idea of helping them. She's probably still blinded by how close these three came to ruining her life and destroying her worldview that she's not willing to give them an inch, even though she's likely powerful enough to keep all of them in check, given their weakened state. In some capacity, she still fears them and resents them, but she wants to help them see the light. Hopefully one day she'll be able to see that the method she's using just isn't the right one.
Thank you for writing this! It definitely got my brain churning.
9894958
Very much this. This is a good story in terms of technical merits and character, but it’s difficult for me to view it as anything other than a story of and about failure - and not just the Legion’s.
9894733
She has Spike, but Spike is mostly focused on how this is hurting Twilight. It would be interesting to know her other friends' perspectives, though.
9894973
It's a tragedy, after all - and the key of that genre is chracters being undone by their own flaws.
9894675
Oh, side note, yup. Making two words into a contraction doesn’t stop them from still being considered two words. I was binge-watching season 4 of The Flash recently and that actually came up.
Which maybe is a metaphor for this whole situation. Twilight is looking at what she wants with a priori wrong assumptions.
The real sad part is that when her family and friends are gone. She will still have these three.
9894675
No, because although I’m is a shortened form of two separate words it still counts as only a single word.
Yep, saw that coming. Honestly, Chrysalis probably wouldn't say it if you straight-up told her to her face that she would be granted the lesser sentence. Tirek… Might say it just so he wouldn't get statued again, or perhaps to see if that's really all it took. Cozy Glow, on the other hoof... She'd say it just to get the chance at Tartarus, and then try to talk her way out of that. I mean, maybe it'd work, and maybe it wouldn't, but she'd try.
...I wonder what would happen if a petrified Chrysalis was placed in a Tartarus cell right beside an unpetrified Cozy Glow, I reckon she'd say "I'm sorry" just for the chance to request a cell change. Probably far prefer Tirek to Cozy...
Wow, everyone! I didn't expect this story to get such a buzz, let alone trend. Thank you very much!
9894286
Well said!
Very good story.
The first post-finale story involving the Tyrant Three that I have read.
9894840
Not quite sure where you're going with that one
I think Tirek might actually be the least evil of them. I do believe he wouldn’t ever enter equestria again, or he wouldn’t try to rule it again if he were freed.
9895122
I'd only beleive that if there was some other race besides ponies out there with easily devorable magic. And sicing him on them is hardly much better.
9895116
- None of the three will be able to help themselves on their own because they’re lunatics.
- None of the three will be able to help each other, because they’re all lunatics.
- Twilight won’t be able to help the three, because she’s got a lunatic expectation of what constitutes “help”, and the three have a lunatic interpretation of that help - although even they can see that it’s not actually help.
Twilight is the one who’s outside the asylum shining a light across a gap and trying to convince the lunatics still in the asylum that it’s really a bridge. Her “parole hearings” are as helpful as the flashlight, and any competent mental health expert would be able to tell her that.
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So, in an extremely roundabout way, you're agreeing with Spike as well?