With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[Valint]

My theory is that she was banished because that defiance demonstrated that she wouldn't be what Celestia wanted her to be. Not just in a 'I'm not convinced on the value of friendship' sort of thing, but her whole 'find out through investigation' epistemology.

Click to shrink...

My head-canon for Celestia has always been a "fanon!Dumbledore, but it's a world where--somehow--no one actually seems to die or be seriously hurt by these things, so not evil" kind of thing.

I mean, the entire series starts off with her gaslighting Twilight and then forcing her to relocate, all of which turned out to be for her benefit in the end, but pretty heavy on the puppetmastering. (There's also the aforediscussed Sombra situation, where the discussion afterwards between Celestia and Luna makes it look very much like it was all just part of testing to see if Twilight was ready to be turned into an alicorn.)

My theory is that Sunset was banished before that was part of Celestia's 23-step plan that could have theoretically ended with Sunset an alicorn (in much the same way as Twilight being ordered to move to Ponyville was only a first step), which didn't work because of Celestia just fundamentally not understanding her student's mindset.

Kind of feels like Celestia not being a manipulative mastermind requires her to be very stupid but so incredibly lucky everything just manages to work out for her every single time, which I find even less satisfying.

Sunset's 'investigation epistemology' doesn't seem like much of a sticking point, considering Twilight's defining feature at the start of the series was researching things obsessively. Indeed, when trying to differentiate them in EQ, Twilight is called out as the "research everything first" kind of person, while Sunset is more the "just jump in and figure it out as you go" sort, so Sunset would seem more philosophically amenable to becoming a 'go with your heart' kind of person.

 

[Mr Zoat]

My head-canon for Celestia has always been a "fanon!Dumbledore, but it's a world where--somehow--no one actually seems to die or be seriously hurt by these things, so not evil" kind of thing.

I mean, the entire series starts off with her gaslighting Twilight and then forcing her to relocate, all of which turned out to be for her benefit in the end, but pretty heavy on the puppetmastering. (There's also the aforediscussed Sombra situation, where the discussion afterwards between Celestia and Luna makes it look very much like it was all just part of testing to see if Twilight was ready to be turned into an alicorn.)

My theory is that Sunset was banished before that was part of Celestia's 23-step plan that could have theoretically ended with Sunset an alicorn (in much the same way as Twilight being ordered to move to Ponyville was only a first step), which didn't work because of Celestia just fundamentally not understanding her student's mindset.

Kind of feels like Celestia not being a manipulative mastermind requires her to be very stupid but so incredibly lucky everything just manages to work out for her every single time, which I find even less satisfying.

Sunset's 'investigation epistemology' doesn't seem like much of a sticking point, considering Twilight's defining feature at the start of the series was researching things obsessively. Indeed, when trying to differentiate them in EQ, Twilight is called out as the "research everything first" kind of person, while Sunset is more the "just jump in and figure it out as you go" sort, so Sunset would seem more philosophically amenable to becoming a 'go with your heart' kind of person.

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It seems to me that Twilight is a classicalist. When she does research she reads what research other people have done. The one time we see her trying to do her own original research was when she tried to analyse Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense.

Sunset on the other hand does original research.

 

[Sceptic]

I assume you need a thicker rope and a much larger trapdoor.

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I think the rope might be thick enough? You might need to raise the platform, unless you do the thing of hanging the horse over the edge of a parapet, in which case you need to teach it how to handle stairs.

Click to shrink...

Skip the platform altogether. use a slide at the end of the stairs.

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I'll note that you're thinking hanged like a horse, which is a completely different thing.

 

[Bramble Thorn]

So, I had to reread this twice before realizing I was misreading the antecedent, and Sunset didn't suddenly have wings. Maybe "Sunset spots Luna's wings"?

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I... Think it's okay.

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HELLO THERE, CITIZEN!

Because I read that passage more than once, and the way I read it was Sunset, the pony who have been with Grayven for the past year (and wanted to become an alicorn) came out of the mirror with wings (and since she already had a unicorn horn, was thus a alicorn), the implication that something in her experiences and growth during the past year on Earth had been significant enough to put heer over the edge into alicorn hood when translated back into pony physics.

So she look at her wings, saw she was a alicorn, fulfillment! She did the impossible, she is special, etc etc.

Then she looks over and sees Twilight, and sees her Wings (and horn) noticing she is a Alicorn too. And this is so unfair! And Grayven is having fight with yet another alicorn she has never seen before, like WTF! Celestia is such a bitch, why did she sabotage my efforts to become one and then help these other bozos?

...and that was the gist I got out of that passage. I did no know that maybe Sunset was not supposed to have wings until right now as I am writing this down. So if Sunset wasn't supposed to come out of the mirror with wings, then NO, It is not ok, and you did a shitty job of clearly conveying exactly what you meant.

Just FYI.

 

[Chaoswind]

HELLO THERE, CITIZEN!

Because I read that passage more than once, and the way I read it was Sunset, the pony who have been with Grayven for the past year (and wanted to become an alicorn) came out of the mirror with wings (and since she already had a unicorn horn, was thus a alicorn), the implication that something in her experiences and growth during the past year on Earth had been significant enough to put heer over the edge into alicorn hood when translated back into pony physics.

So she look at her wings, saw she was a alicorn, fulfillment! She did the impossible, she is special, etc etc.

Then she looks over and sees Twilight, and sees her Wings (and horn) noticing she is a Alicorn too. And this is so unfair! And Grayven is having fight with yet another alicorn she has never seen before, like WTF! Celestia is such a bitch, why did she sabotage my efforts to become one and then help these other bozos?

...and that was the gist I got out of that passage. I did no know that maybe Sunset was not supposed to have wings until right now as I am writing this down. So if Sunset wasn't supposed to come out of the mirror with wings, then NO, It is not ok, and you did a shitty job of clearly conveying exactly what you meant.

Just FYI.

Click to shrink...

Maybe its a thing with English? I got the intent perfectly but English is my third language, so maybe there are some nuances I missed that are causing confusion.

 

[Siiracai The Supernal]

HELLO THERE, CITIZEN!

Because I read that passage more than once, and the way I read it was Sunset, the pony who have been with Grayven for the past year (and wanted to become an alicorn) came out of the mirror with wings (and since she already had a unicorn horn, was thus a alicorn), the implication that something in her experiences and growth during the past year on Earth had been significant enough to put heer over the edge into alicorn hood when translated back into pony physics.

So she look at her wings, saw she was a alicorn, fulfillment! She did the impossible, she is special, etc etc.

Then she looks over and sees Twilight, and sees her Wings (and horn) noticing she is a Alicorn too. And this is so unfair! And Grayven is having fight with yet another alicorn she has never seen before, like WTF! Celestia is such a bitch, why did she sabotage my efforts to become one and then help these other bozos?

...and that was the gist I got out of that passage. I did no know that maybe Sunset was not supposed to have wings until right now as I am writing this down. So if Sunset wasn't supposed to come out of the mirror with wings, then NO, It is not ok, and you did a shitty job of clearly conveying exactly what you meant.

Just FYI.

Click to shrink...

Maybe its a thing with English? I got the intent perfectly but English is my third language, so maybe there are some nuances I missed that are causing confusion.

Click to shrink...

I understood it as it was intended the first time around, being that Sunset saw the fact that Luna and Twilight had wings before yelling about alicorns. It appears to have been a personal misunderstanding, and not a language related one, or an issue of Mr Zoat being unclear. English is my first language, so I can say with full confidence that there were no nuances that should have been seen by most people, and thus leaving the confusion to as small a number as possible.

 

[Coda]

The anger powers the engine, it doesn't turn the steering wheel.

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semicolon

 

[Rieverre]

Congratulations ... I'm now reading and apparently enjoying a My Little Pony fanfic ...

... this is a strange eon indeed.

 

[Simonbob]

I can tell Gravyen's not taking this seriously at all.

I wonder if having all this fun might counter the Anti-Life fragment, along with the nature of Pony-verse, even if the Ponys in question can't help directly?

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st April 2012
22:48 GMT -6

"Elements of Harmony."

Sunset and I look down from a near-empty viewing gallery as the late train to Canterlot approaches.

"That's why Celestia was so fixated on me making friends. She wanted me to turn Nightmare Moon back into Luna, like Twilight did. And… Probably end up becoming an alicorn like she did."

"Probably."

"I don't… If she'd just told me, I'd have-."

"You'd never have learned to do it for yourself. You'd just have blundered into it copying someone else's work. Like Twilight has."

"I… Guess."

Hm. Change the topic. I nod towards the tracks.

"Do you know why it's called the Friendship Express?"

"What?" She blinks, and shakes her head. "No..? They were still building it when I left." She turns her head in the direction of the train now pulling into Canterlot Central Station. "Though I can't say that I'm surprised. Celestia clearly thinks that friendship is the solution to everything, including trains."

"I was a little surprised that there's only a single line."

"It's because the city's on a mountain. Creating room for a second track was going to be so expensive that they decided to just merge the tracks at Saddle Lake."

"That's a crash waiting to happen."

"It's probably only temporary. I wasn't really paying attention-" I see the purple dot I know to be Twilight Sparkle appear in a flash of purple and trot over to five other dots. Good. "-because the trains use next to no magic and that's pretty much all I was interested in."

I stare at her, eyes wide. "No. Really?"

She turns her head back toward me and rolls her eyes. I grin, and she gives her mane a toss in irritation. "So? Why do you want to meet them?"

"What's my biggest problem?"

"Darkseid. And…" I see it in her expression as understanding dawns. "He's a big, unfriendly, disharmonious evildoer. Do you.. really think that the Elements of Harmony can defeat h-"

"What have I said about the word 'defeat'?"

"-im?" She sags slightly. "That imprecisely worded descriptions are no one's friend." She frowns in puzzlement. "So what do you actually want?"

"I'm not in any position to be fussy. Apokolips doesn't have a moon, but they can banish him to.. wherever it was Uncle Drax ended up if they like. Or turn him to stone. Or… Make him non-evil. I'd take them killing him, but I don't actually want that specifically."

"I'm.. not sure…" Sunset looks like an atheist who has just learned that angels are real and is now trying to calculate how many could fit on a pinhead. "Going to Apokolips might be a little bit dangerous-."

"Obviously. But there's something eminently Apokoliptian right here that we can test it on!"

"You-? Your Anti-Life fragment. You want them to shoot you?"

I nod. "I was a little worried that the Elements rewrote the target's mind when their purge function was used, but after speaking to Luna I'm prepared to accept that they don't. So… Yeah. I'm the best choice of test subject."

"I suppose that makes sense. And… It… Might work. But I'm not sure that-"

Mother Box, boom tube.

Ping.

"-it works on things that aren't a real-"

BOOM!

"-threat noGrayvenno!"

I stride out onto the station platform, the Element bearer herd just in front of me and staring ponies all around. And I shut down the boom tube even as Sunset lunges for it.

Rainbow Dash has crouched slightly, sizing me up for her forthcoming assault. Pinkie Pie looks more puzzled than anything, her head slowly rotating clockwise and I'm going to stop watching in case it keeps going. Applejack is standing nearly still, but is taking the time to loosen her muscles in case of hostilities. Rarity is blinking in surprise, her gaze already moving to my armour. Twilight is frowning, probably trying to work out why I'm here rather than just waiting for them at the palace.

Wait, wasn't there another one a moment ago? Ring, locate-. Ah, that's where Fluttershy disappeared to, hiding behind the luggage trolley.

Right, can't actually do magic, but if I focus my desire to crush and destroy through my horn… There we go, purple bubbles of evil! I flare my wings, and the rubberneckers either flee or seek cover.

"BAWHAHAHA! I am Grayven, Alicorn of Conquest! I'm going to take over Equestria and when I do, I'm going to ban flying, cakes, apples, clothes, books and-" I jump, misjudge and have to activate my aero-discs to avoid falling on my face. With their help I land next to the cowering Fluttershy, crouching down so that my head is level with hers. "-bunny rabbits."

"Ee!"

She scrambles away from me, wings flaring in an instinctive attempt to make her look bigger than she actually is.

I leap to my hooves! "AND THE ONLY THING THAT CAN STOP ME IS THE ELEMENTS OF-"

Rainbow Dash's forehooves hit me in the chin and I barely feel it. The mare herself wasn't ready for me to remain standing and she grunts in pain as she's knocked off her intended flight path.

"-HARMONY!"

A loop of rope drops over my head and tightens around my neck. Applejack pulls at the far end of the lasso, and slides across the floor towards me as I anchor myself in place.

Wait. They're not wearing their elements, or… Check… Carrying them. Blast.

"BUT THEY ARE IN PONYVILLE, FAR FROM HERE! AND IN THEIR ABSENCE -the absence of the El-e-ments of Har-mon-y- I AM INVIOLATE!"

Rarity's eye widen. "Twilight! We don't have the Elements-!"

"AT ANY TIME WITHIN THE NEXT-" Eyes staring, I check the arrivals and departures blackboard. Alright, only one track so it's the same train that leaves that goes back… "-THREE HOURS-" I turn back to the herd. "-BEFORE MY SPELL IS COMPLETE, THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY CAN STOP ME! AT ANY TIME AT ALL. THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN FOR ME IS SOMEONE GOING RIGHT NOW TO FETCH THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND BLASTING ME WITH THEM!"

Pinkie Pie narrows her eyes at me suspiciously. "Wait a minute. That's exactly how long it would take us to take a train to Ponyville, visit the library and then take a train back to Canterlot!"

"THE ONE FLAW IN MY PLAN!"

She beams. "That's really convenient! I wish all our bad guys were like you!"

"YOU'RE WELCOME! IT'S NICE TO BE APPRECIATED!"

Twilight moves her head from Pinkie to me and back again. "But the Elements of Harmony aren't in the library. We had to put them back in the Tree of Harmony-"

The what?

"-to stop the Plunderseed Vines."

Right… How long would it take to get from Ponyville to… Wherever that 'Tree of Harmony' thing is..? And the next train… Ah… Roughly…

"THREE HOURS AND THE TWO FURTHER HOURS THE SPELL NEEDS TO FULLY TAKE EFFECT!"

"Wait." Rainbow Dash suddenly looks suspicious. "I think you want to be blasted with the Elements! Like it's your big master plan and you need them to make it work!"

"NO! BEING HIT BY THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY -THE ONE THING TO WHICH I AM VULNERABLE- IS NOT PART OF A DIABOLICAL MASTER PLAN AT ALL!"

"That's exactly what a diabolical master planner would say!"

"Then YES, I WANT YOU TO HIT ME WITH THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! TO PROVE THAT I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN HARMONY! I DEMAND THAT YOU BRING THEM HERE!"

She glare at me. "We're not gunna bring them here just because you tell us to!"

"YOU WON'T BRING THEM HERE WHEN I TELL YOU NOT TO AND YOU WON'T BRING THEM HERE WHEN I TELL YOU TO! WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE YOU BRING THEM HERE?!"

Twilight sits on her haunches and gesticulates with her forehooves. "We literally can't bring them here."

What?

"WHY NOT?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

semicolon

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[Cuchulin]

It seems to me that Twilight is a classicalist. When she does research she reads what research other people have done. The one time we see her trying to do her own original research was when she tried to analyse Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense.
Sunset on the other hand does original research.

Click to shrink...

Yes, Twilight does seem to mostly put blind faith in Celestia and what her book tell her rather than investigate anything her self. Which causes trouble from time to time. That said Sunset was in the human world almost all the time and didn't have much or direct access to info on things that needed investigating.

 

[Citizen]

How much fun is he having right now? On a scale of 'yes' to 'very much' I mean.

 

[freakytiki34]

This is the greatest thing I have ever seen, holy shit

 

[Bigking321]

This is very amusing.

Carry on.

 

[Oglymogly]

Grayven really can't win can he?

.... Is this the narrative rules of thus dimension working against him? He is (kinda) evil, and his goal is to get splashed in the face by friendship juices. So of course he shows up when the Harmony Hose is down.

 

[Gromweld]

"What's my biggest problem?"

"Darkseid. And…"

Click to shrink...

When I saw his name as a hyperlink, I immediately understood it was going to be a pony version of him. I still clicked it anyway and was not disappointed.

@MrZoat : How long into writing this story did you begin planning for at least one version of the SI going to Equestria for a scene like this? This definitely feels like a story beat that you've been wanting to do for a very long time, if only by the sheer library of hilarious links you've clearly stockpiled for this episode/chapter.

 

[Darko]

This... was a... thing that... happened.

 

[Flux Casey]

"Darkseid

Click to shrink...

Everyone. If you didn't click this link, click it. You might just have a tenth as much fun as Zoat is having writing this arc. And trust me, that's a lot of fun.

 

[moralrelativity]

has crouches slightly

Click to shrink...

crouches -> crouched

 

[Redhawk]

Rainbow Dash has crouches slightly

Click to shrink...

I think that's crouched.

Also,
this was the funniest fucking thing I've read in a long time.

 

[TheEyes]

Oh, goodness, is Grayven going to be providing snarky commentary while pushing the Mane Six to speedrun through all of Season Four, just to get blasted by the Elements as a test run? That's incredible!

 

[Handlewithcare]

This might be THE. BEST. POSSIBLE. THING! (so far)

Maybe nex time he should add theatrical organ music?

We also continue Grayven's theme of rushing into things unprepared and without asking questions first.

 

[Sceptic]

Grayven attempts to embrace Celestia's strat, and finds he isn't as good at it as she is.

Seriously, shown up by the incompetent, that's got to hurt.

 

[Mr Zoat]

When I saw his name as a hyperlink, I immediately understood it was going to be a pony version of him. I still clicked it anyway and was not disappointed.

@MrZoat : How long into writing this story did you begin planning for at least one version of the SI going to Equestria for a scene like this? This definitely feels like a story beat that you've been wanting to do for a very long time, if only by the sheer library of hilarious links you've clearly stockpiled for this episode/chapter.

Click to shrink...

Oh man, I don't even know. Sometime before I wrote the last 1st of April episode. I've got a bunch of segments written and I'm just discovering that I'm not going to be able to use them as they won't fit the story now.

crouches -> crouched

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[Massgamer]

I normally don't read Renegade at all but as a fan of MLP I am enjoying this.

The only bad guy that wants to be blasted by Elements, I wonder why Twilight didn't interrupt in confusion at all.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

"Elements of Harmony."

Sunset and I look down from a near-empty viewing gallery as the late train to Canterlot approaches.

"That's why Celestia was so fixated on me making friends. She wanted me to turn Nightmare Moon back into Luna, like Twilight did. And… Probably end up becoming an alicorn like she did."

Click to shrink...

Something like that, yes. There's a bit more to it, though, of course, but she doesn't know or care...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Probably."

"I don't… If she'd just told me, I'd have-."

"You'd never have learned to do it for yourself. You'd just have blundered into it copying someone else's work. Like Twilight has."

Click to shrink...

Or simply failed utterly and gotten angry, and bam! Thousand years Moon!

"I… Guess."

Hm. Change the topic. I nod towards the tracks.

"Do you know why it's called the Friendship Express?"

Click to shrink...

"And just how toyetic it is? Seriously, it's like Equestria runs on toy-marketing concept art..."

"What?" She blinks, and shakes her head. "No..? They were still building it when I left." She turns her head in the direction of the train now pulling into Canterlot Central Station. "Though I can't say that I'm surprised. Celestia clearly thinks that friendship is the solution to everything, including trains."

"I was a little surprised that there's only a single line."

Click to shrink...

Honestly, that's just irresponsible. I expect there are plenty of safety posts along the line to avoid poor timing.

"It's because the city's on a mountain. Creating room for a second track was going to be so expensive that they decided to just merge the tracks at Saddle Lake."

"That's a crash waiting to happen."

Click to shrink...

That's what i said! The logistics of running it back and forth must be a nightmare!

"It's probably only temporary. I wasn't really paying attention-" I see the purple dot I know to be Twilight Sparkle appear in a flash of purple and trot over to five other dots. Good. "-because the trains use next to no magic and that's pretty much all I was interest in."

I stare at her, eyes wide. "No. Really?"

Click to shrink...

Ah, Grayven. Fanboying again over the Mane Six?

She turns her head back toward me and rolls her eyes. I grin, and she gives her mane a toss in irritation. "So? Why do you want to meet them?"

"What's my biggest problem?"

"Darkseid. And…" I see it in her expression as understand dawns. "He's a big, unfriendly, disharmonious evildoer. Do you.. really think that the Elements of Harmony can defeat h-"

Click to shrink...

The most adorable tyrant ever!

"What have I said about the word 'defeat'?"

"-im?" She sags slightly. "That imprecisely worded descriptions are no one's friend." She frowns in puzzlement. "So what do you actually want?"

Click to shrink...

"What I want is some privacy so I can geek out over being in a position many fans would kill for, but...

"I'm not in any position to be fussy. Apokolips doesn't have a moon, but they can banish him to.. wherever it was Uncle Drax ended up if they like. Or turn him to stone. Or… Make him non-evil. I'd take them killing him, but I don't actually want that specifically."

"I'm.. not sure…" Sunset looks like an atheist who has just learned that angels are real and is now trying to calculate how many could fit on a pinhead. "Going to Apokolips might be a little bit dangerous-."

Click to shrink...

There are understatements, and then there are understatements!

"Obviously. But there's something eminently Apokoliptian right here that we can test it on!"

"You-? Your Anti-Life fragment. You want them to shoot you?"

Click to shrink...

Let's hope it doesn't come down to pulling a 'Rabbit Season! Duck Season' gag on them...

I nod. "I was a little worried that the Elements rewrote the target's mind when their purge function was used, but after speaking to Luna I'm prepared to accept that they don't. So… Yeah. I'm the best choice of test subject."

"I suppose that makes sense. And… It… Might work. But I'm not sure that-"

Mother Box, boom tube.

Click to shrink...

Yep, Renegade as usual. Leaping in head-first regardless of danger or consequences...

Ping.

"-it works on things that aren't a real-"

Click to shrink...

Try listening, Grayven, this could be important...

BOOM!

"-threat noGrayvenno!"

I stride out onto the station platform, the Element bearer herd just in front of me and staring ponies all around. And I shut down the boom tube even as Sunset lunges for it.

Click to shrink...

"Come back here, you idiot! We need to do more research!"

Rainbow Dash has crouches slightly, sizing me up for her forthcoming assault. Pinkie Pie looks more puzzled than anything, her head slowly rotating clockwise and I'm going to stop watching in case it keeps going. Applejack is standing nearly still, but is taking the time to loosen her muscles in case of hostilities. Rarity is blinking in surprise, her gaze already moving to my armour. Twilight is frowning, probably trying to work out why I'm here rather than just waiting for them at the palace.

Wait, wasn't there another one a moment ago? Ring, locate-. Ah, that's where Fluttershy disappeared to, hiding behind the luggage trolley.

Click to shrink...

Adorable as ever. and yet badass.

Right, can't actually do magic, but if I focus my desire to crush and destroy through my horn… There we go, purple bubbles of evil! I flare my wings, and the rubberneckers either flee or seek cover.

"BAWHAHAHA! I am Grayven, Alicorn of Conquest! I'm going to take over Equestria and when I do, I'm going to ban flying, cakes, apples, clothes, books and-" I jump, misjudge and have to activate my aero-discs to avoid falling on my face. With their help I land next to the cowering Fluttershy, crouching down so that my head is level with hers. "-bunny rabbits."

Click to shrink...

Why can I smell Ham?

"Ee!"

She scrambles away from me, wings flaring in an instinctive attempt to make her look bigger than she actually is.

Click to shrink...

Don't push her too hard, or she'll bust out The Stare!

I leap to my hooves! "AND THE ONLY THING THAT CAN STOP ME IS THE ELEMENTS OF-"

Rainbow Dash's forehooves hit me in the chin and I barely feel it. The mare herself wasn't ready for me to remain standing and she grunts in pain as she's knocked off her intended flight path.

"-HARMONY!"

Click to shrink...

Truly, a good actor. Not even being bucked in the face by a pegasus stops his monologue!

A loop of rope drops over my head and tightens around my neck. Applejack pulls at the far end of the lasso, and slides across the floor towards me as I anchor myself in place.

Wait. They're not wearing their elements, or… Check… Carrying them. Blast.

Click to shrink...

<facepalm> This is what you get for jumping in without looking, Grayven!

"BUT THEY ARE IN PONYVILLE, FAR FROM HERE! AND IN THEIR ABSENCE -the absence of the El-e-ments of Har-mon-y- I AM INVIOLATE!"

Rarity's eye widen. "Twilight! We don't have the Elements-!"

Click to shrink...

...Are they seriously buying this?

"AT ANY TIME WITHIN THE NEXT-" Eyes staring, I check the arrivals and departures blackboard. Alright, only one track so it's the same train that leaves that goes back… "-THREE HOURS-" I turn back to the herd. "-BEFORE MY SPELL IS COMPLETE, THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY CAN STOP ME! AT ANY TIME AT ALL. THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN FOR ME IS SOMEONE GOING RIGHT NOW TO FETCH THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND BLASTING ME WITH THEM!"

Pinkie Pie narrows her eyes at me suspiciously. "Wait a minute. That's exactly how long it would take us to take a train to Ponyville, visit the library and then take a train back to Canterlot!"

Click to shrink...

"Damn your genre-savvy companion!"

"THE ONE FLAW IN MY PLAN!"

She beams. "That's really convenient! I wish all our bad guys were like you!"

Click to shrink...

...Not sure if fooled, or merely playing along because it's funny...

"YOU'RE WELCOME! IT'S NICE TO BE APPRECIATED!"

Twilight moves her head from Pinkie to me and back again. "But the Elements of Harmony aren't in the library. We had to put them back in the Tree of Harmony-"

Click to shrink...

Which Grayven doesn't know about because he hasn't seen Season Four, has he?

The what?

"-to stop the Plunderseed Vines."

Right… How long would it take to get from Ponyville to… Wherever that 'Tree of Harmony' thing is..? And the next train… Ah… Roughly…

Click to shrink...

This is seriously getting embarrassing, Grayven. Stahp, pliss...

"THREE HOURS AND THE TWO FURTHER HOURS THE SPELL NEEDS TO FULLY TAKE EFFECT!"

"Wait." Rainbow Dash suddenly looks suspicious. "I think you want to be blasted with the Elements! Like it's your big master plan and you need them to make it work!"

Click to shrink...

...Seriously, has that ever happened in the series?

"NO! BEING HIT BY THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY -THE ONE THING TO WHICH I AM VULNERABLE- IS NOT PART OF A DIABOLICAL MASTER PLAN AT ALL!"

"That's exactly what a diabolical master planner would say!"

Click to shrink...

Honestly, Grayven, You're already chewing the scenery. No need to go the whole hog.

"Then YES, I WANT YOU TO HIT ME WITH THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! TO PROVE THAT I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN HARMONY! I DEMAND THAT YOU BRING THEM HERE!"

She glare at me. "We're not gunna bring them here just because you tell us to!"

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Curses, foiled by contrary idiots!

"YOU WON'T BRING THEM HERE WHEN I TELL YOU NOT TO AND YOU WON'T BRING THEM HERE WHEN I TELL YOU TO! WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE YOU BRING THEM HERE?!"

Twilight sits on her haunches and gesticulates with her forehooves. "We literally can't bring them here."

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Just make him stop, please. He's embarrassed himself enough already...

What?

"WHY NOT?"

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And cue Sunset fly-kicking him, having spontaneously developed flight abilities to do so.

Well, if anyone was likely to be afraid of him, they aren't now. If anything they'll pity him as a lunatic...
(Dangit, 'This Bites!' updated at the same time this happened? Curse you, internet! How can I focus on two awesome things at once?!)

Correction:

...all I was interest in.

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...all I was interested in.

...expression as understand dawns...

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...expression as understanding dawns...

"YOU'RE WELCOME! IT'S NICE TO BE APPRECIATED!"

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Is this meant to be unbolded, or is he mock-whispering?

 

[Mquz]

Thing is - he is a genuine threat. Once he gets fully anti-lifed he's basically going to potentially be Sombra v2. Explain this is him "containing / being corrupted by an ancient and powerful evil" and that he needs to be blasted with the elements or he's gonna basically do a Nightmare Moon.

 

[Mr Zoat]

(Dangit, 'This Bites!' updated at the same time this happened? Curse you, internet! How can I focus on two awesome things at once?!)

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Link?

Correction:
...all I was interested in.
...expression as understanding dawns...

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Thank you, corrected.

Is this meant to be unbolded, or is he mock-whispering?

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OF COURSE IT'S MEANT TO BE BOLDED!

 

[masterofmadness]

"That's why Celestia was so fixated on me making friends. She wanted me to turn Nightmare Moon back into Luna, like Twilight did. And… Probably end up becoming an alicorn like she did."

"Probably."

"I don't… If she'd just told me, I'd have-."

"You'd never have learned to do it for yourself. You'd just have blundered into it copying someone else's work. Like Twilight has."

"I… Guess."

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This is significantly less Red then I would have thought from Sunset finding out about the elements. Is she just in shock and hasn't had time to process this? Cause I would be surprised if she forgave Celestia at all even with the new information.

Pinkie Pie narrows her eyes at me suspiciously. "Wait a minute. That's exactly how long it would take us to take a train to Ponyville, visit the library and then take a train back to Canterlot!"

"THE ONE FLAW IN MY PLAN!"

She beams. "That's really convenient! I wish all our bad guys were like you!"

"YOU'RE WELCOME! IT'S NICE TO BE APPRECIATED!"

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I can't tell if Pinkie caught on to the fact he was acting and chose to play along with the gag or was genuinely innocuous here and I love it!