#Mlp's baby unicorn logic?

[samadhifired]

Call it denial or whatever, but there is still a chance for Red Son to gain the Samadhi Fire.

After all, the wording Iron Fan used in "The First Ring" was

"the Samadhi Fire was created… by our own son."

Not born from. Not part of.

Created by

So what is stopping Red Son from creating it again?

[crappy-homestuck-confessions]

Last night I had a dream that the trolls from Homestuck lived on Earth, where humans had the hemospectrum too and we shared an empress. Some stuff happened, but probably the highlight was that Feferi was second-in-line for the throne, and then the current empress died (I think anyways) and the first-in-line (who I think was unicorn-themed for some reason and also had a TV show or something similar) didn’t want the job and passed it along to Feferi. Then Feferi instated universal basic income for her first act as empress (I’m pretty sure the dream logic here is that she was bringing something like the Alternian stipend system over here, because she thought it would help?) (Also, there was a weird amount of MLP running throughout this whole dream, I have no idea why.)

Anyways, the dream ended with me (who was an oliveblooded human) and my mom (who was a jadeblooded human) discussing the new UBI while I played Minecraft, and I was really happy that we wouldn’t have to worry about money anymore. (At this point I think I realized I was dreaming, but I didn’t really want to wake up and end it.) Then my brain decided to segue into something about a horror game based on those baby dolls that was a little scary but mostly really annoying, and then I woke up.

So yeah, I am such a Homestuck that it made its’ way into my dreams. I’m not complaining though, it was a nice dream.

.

[t4tharuspex]

house of mirrors

2.5k word mlp fanfic. dont judge me >.>

summary: rarity and twilights visit to the crystal empire is more eventful then either had hoped. somethings wrong with the castle, and more importantly, somethings wrong with shining armor...

content warnings: fear of transphobia (no actual rtansphobia bc this is the colorful horses show)

Rarity held back a whinny of delight as she trotted off the train and into the crystal empire station. Everywhere she looked she was dazzled by gleaming crystals of every color refracting rainbows on every surface while somehow remaining the farthest thing from gaudy. Starting to feel faint from excitement, she leaned on twilight's shoulder as her eyes fluttered.

“Rarity come on!” The alicorn laughed as she helped her friend upright. “We’ve hardly been in the empire for a minute! Save your fainting for the ceremony.”

The white horse perked up immediately at the reminder of what she had come here for: she was to assist Cadence and Shining Armor in the preparations for the newborn princesses presentation to the public! She cantered in place with excitement, lifting twilight's luggage with her magic and running off to their suite in the castle with twilight hot on her heels.

The suite was spacious with generous decor in simple light colors. the main focal point of the suite was the giant bay windows which cast giant swathes of warm light across the room. upon closer inspection rarity was amazed to discover that the windows were made entirely of cut crystal rather than glass. the faint color of the gemstone created a slight cast on the light coming in, giving a view of the city below that was ever so slightly tinted. this realization recontextualized the furnishing in rarities mind: it wasn't dull and plain, but simply a blank canvas for whatever the crystal windows brought in. a strange method of decor indeed. or was it a response to the material conditions of living in a house of crystal?

When the two had almost settled into their apartment, they were startled from their rest by a brisk knock at the door.

“A summons for princess twilight sparkle,” a booming voice called from behind the door. “You are needed urgently by princess mi amore cadenza for matters concerning his highness the prince.”

Worry flooded the purple alicorns features. “Urgent? Then I guess I had better go now.” She magically gathered a few items into her saddlebag and gave a parting smile to her friend as she was rushed away by royal guards.

Shocked by the suddenness of it all, rarity let out a chuff and sat squarely on her quarters. Was shining armor alright? she wanted to put her anxieties to rest, but it was plainly obvious that she hadn't been invited. would the entire trip to the empire consist of her sitting alone in her room while twilight attended to all matters of actual importance?

Trying to shake the thought from her head, rarity got up and left her room to explore the castle. It truly was extravagant, with pillars of crystal stretching to the high vaulted ceilings spreading refractions of glittering iridescence that made the whole space seem somehow both extraordinary glamorous and warm and homey. Inspiration flooded her mind as she trotted the decadently decorated halls. She just couldn’t wait to get back to her studio and put this inspiration to good use.

She was halted in her exploration when her ears picked up familiar voices talking from behind an ajar door. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help but listen in...

"-i don't know what to do twilight, he hadn't seemed this off for years, and now flurry is here and hes completely absent!"

"i don't know cadence, he hasn't said anything in his letters-"

“- all I’m saying is maybe you could get through to him! He won’t talk to me, or anypony else here. you're my last hope. maybe hell listen to his best friend”

“i've never been able to help him in one of these episodes before. if he’s not ready to talk then confronting him will only make him more defensive.”

“That’s a risk we’ll have to take. I’m worried for my husband twilight.” Rarity leaned on the door to hear better as the princesses voice dropped, “please, if not for shining armor, or for me, then for flurry heart. She deserves to have a father who can dedicate himself to her, not one who’s so preoccupied that he can hardly look after her.”

There was a sigh, then rarity heard twilight speak “very well. I’ll do this for her. Maybe that will get through to my brother.”

Sudden approaching hoofsteps started rarity out of her reverie. She stumbled backwards just in time to miss the swinging door as twilight entered the hall. “Rarity? I thought you were still in the room? Oh well, I need your help anyway." She looked over her shoulder as if to make sure they were alone. "I think somethings wrong with my brother. It's possible that one of the unreformed changelings has taken his place to try too take advantage of the upcoming love boom from flurry hearts royal presentation."

Rarity was taken aback by her friends leap of logic. "Doesn't that seem like an extreme suspicion? Having a baby is stressful enough for normal ponies, I cant imagine what kind of pressure would be on a royal prince."

"I don't know rarity, after what happened at the wedding we can't be too careful. I hope its just nerves and parental stress, but we have to expect the worse if we want to be prepared to handle it."

rarity nodded. "alright, then let's find your brother."

The two ponies galloped down the halls in search of the princes chambers. the crystal walls seemed to burn with energy, the warm cast of light from earlier having turned harsh and almost too bright. rarity wondered absently if this was a product of the changing time of day or a trick of the mind. could the walls of a castle really know how somepony felt, and shine it back at them like a diamond mirror?

a distant commotion pricked the two mares ears. "this way!" twilight called as she rounded a corner, dashing after the sound with rarity at her side.

the two skidded to a stop when they reached an open doorway from which the sound seemed to emit. with a flick of her ear twilight motioned for rarity to follow her and the two cautiously made their way into the room. twilight emitted a small light from her horn, then lit the rooms lamp once she could find it on the wall. with the room lit rarity immediately got an impression of drabness and depression, the tightly draped windows letting in no light and the gemstone walls shining the same dim echo back and forth across the space, almost seeming to beg for the light to go out again.

twilight gestured with her chin to the curtained bed at the center of the room, grabbing one edge of the curtain with her magic and indicating for rarity to take hold of the other. once the unicorn had secured the curtain, twilight gave a sharp nod and both ponies tugged their curtain aside, revealing a stallion-sized lump that spectacularly failed to live up to either mares fearful imagination.

the blue-maned unicorn sat up at once, alarmed by the sudden intrusion. he seemed to calm down slightly when he recognized his sister, but he remained guarded. "twily? rarity? what are you two doing in my private chambers?"

"well to be fair," rarity gestured back at the entrance, "you did leave your door open."

"cadence must have done that when she left." shining armor gruffed. "that doesn't answer my question though: what are you doing here?"

twilight stepped forward with a cautious expression, ready to fight if this really was a changeling. "were just here to check up on you, see how youre handling the upcoming princess presentation" it was clear that twilight was being reserved with her supposed brother.

then, shining armors eyes met hers, and her suspicion evaporated. that peculiar sadness that had haunted her brother in her young filliehood, then she had thought he'd escaped when he found happiness in cadences arms, was burning hot tears from shining armors eyes. she had never seen a pain like that before or since. if there was anything twilight was certain of, it was that this pony was the same one she had known her whole life. but the question still lingered, was he the real shining?

completely without her permission, tears began to well in twilight's eyes. "oh shinning, whats happened to you?"

her brother choked on a sob. "I'm sorry twily, you were never supposed to see me like this. no one was. i should be able to hold it together for you... for cadence... for my daughter..."

"shining nopony wants you to hide any part of you! we want to know when you're hurting so we can help. i had thought you'd healed from whatever's causing this pain but it seems to be back and i wont let you hide it from me this time!" the purple alicorn sniffled as tears streaked down her muzzle. "please shining, tell me whats wrong."

The stallion nervously rubbed his hooves together and cast his gaze to the ground. "i don't even know where to start."

"the beginning," twilight proposed. "i want to know everything. you cant heal until you let your wounds be seen."

shining nodded and took a deep breath, "its just that, when you were a fillie, everyone expected me to be the perfect big brother, and i never measured up to that expectation. it was like being thrown into the ocean with no idea how to swim, and everypony kept insisting that i was a fish and i should know how, but i didn't. then in the royal guard it didn't matter how i felt as long as i followed orders and played the role, so that's what i did. i don't know if it actually quieted the pain or just forced me to ignore it, but for a few years i thought maybe i could live with it. cadence was the only pony i've ever met who could make that noise in my brain silent; with her it didn't matter if I wasn't brother enough fro you or stallion enough for the military. i was always enough for her, no questions asked. i was so happy when we got married that i could almost forget about that feeling, telling myself it was a phase i'd outgrown. but now with flurry heart, all that anxiety is back. its like no matter what i do ill never be able to be a good father for her. i love her more than anything, id do anything for her, but it isn't enough. i'm not enough." the white unicorns neck gave way as he succumbed to quiet sobs, his once proud chin quivering and brushing his chest.

"shining... i..." twilight was speechless. what could be said? her brothers pain went far beyond anything she knew how to mend. at that moment being the princess of friendship meant nothing; she couldn't even move herself to speak in the face of her first best friends deep sorrow.

"i hope im not overstepping here," a timid voice chimed in, startling both siblings as rarity cleared her throat. "but i think i may have an idea as to the source and solution of your distress."

"rarity?" shining choked, "how could you possibly know how i feel?"

the mare nervously flicked her mane with an idle hoof. "there's a lot you don't know about me." turning to twilight, she asked "would it be alright if the prince and i could have a moment alone?"

Twilight nodded and bowed out of the room, and the two remaining ponies listened to her hoofbeats echo down and again further down the labyrinthine crystal hallway, which now seemed to glitter coldly like a sterile knife where it once had gleamed so warmly. rarity shivered at the thought of living in a place like this, which could transform before your eyes depending only on ones own emotion. that was, she mused, the property of crystal. it created nothing, only reflecting what was cast onto it. in a dimly lit cave the finest diamond was often mistaken by novices for a common quartz, but at the heart of a kingdom built on a foundation of admiration it gleamed on every surface like the morning dew on a freshly budded rose. this castle wasn't a cold cage or a warm embrace, it was an endless hall of mirrors, each perfectly angled to show you the deepest darkest crevice of your heart.

"i understand why it tortures you to live here." rarity whispered. "each surface gleams to a pristine chrome finish, yet the face it reflects is fundamentally and inconceivably wrong."

shining armor appeared startled, "that's exactly how it feels. how do you know? is it that obvious how miserable i am?

the mare shook her head, "only to those who have felt the same misery. shining armor, i once lived the same life as you, albeit in a much more drab estate. I felt that at every turn i failed at the very task of existing as myself, my relationships suffered because it pained me to view myself as a part of them. mirrors became my enemy because i couldn't face the pony looking back at me. the stallion looking back at me."

a small gasp escaped the taller unicorns lips "what-"

"think about it shining," rarity pleaded shakily, " everything you cant stand to be: brother, father, soldier, prince. they all have one thing in common." tears welled in her eyes and choked her throat "you cant run from it shining. it never stops. you only make yourself more and more miserable. you can cover as many mirrors as you like but eventually you're going to look around and realize that you're still the same pony you hated, standing alone in complete darkness."

something clicked behind the other ponys eyes. "no, it cant be... what about cadence? flurry? twilight? i cant throw all of them away because i have some twisted dream of living as a-"

"-you're not sick shining. maybe a bit different, but there's nothing wrong with you. you'll find that the friends worth keeping don't care at all. they're suffering by watching you suffer; freeing yourself will only free them too."

"i have no idea where to even start though. aren't i a bit too old for this?" shinings eyes were wide and scared.

"i would love to personally see to all the aesthetic changes you wish for, if you'll have me. you really couldn't ask for a more qualified personal stylist. and as for the social shift, you've got the princesses of love and friendship in your corner."

"but that's just it: they're not in my corner. they may as well be on the other side of equestria, or a gaping cavern. how can i even know that they'll still see me as me?"

"i know how scary it is, especially in the early days, but i can personally account for twilights acceptance. and as for cadence, i'm pretty sure they don't go around giving titles like the princess of love to ponies who cant accept others for something so harmless as gender." her smile faded and her face grew a bit serious "i can be there with you if you want. like i said, i know how scary it is." she placed a hoof on top of the other mares own.

She smiled. "I think id like that."

[princess-of-the-corner]

So I’m doing this 100% for fun but like

Remember I mentioned a dream I had after reading to many of those salty “AU where Marinette’s sort of adopted and her bio parent(s) is rich/famous/powerful” of an mlp crossover where Mari’s bio moms are Twilight and Rarity from mlp? Yeah let’s expand on that a little!

Also, while this is kinda salty and has salty origins, this ends up being pretty sugary because that’s the nature of mlp stuff. 

So like there’s some interdimensional fuckery.

A little over 10 years prior to Canon the Equestria and the ML world kinda connected.

Twilight Sparkle, as Princess of Friendship, was sent as an ambassador to the new dimension.

Of course Earth sent someone to Equestria but whatever they’re not important.

Also involved is Twilights wife, Rarity, and lil baby Marinette pony.

Side note: while in Equestria they’re ponies, but interdimensional travel turns them Human in the ML world. Kinda like EQG but they have normal human skin tones.

Anyway! Mari is a lil pink Unicorn, but in the Human world she looks Human. She ends up wearing a lot of pink clothes because she misses her pony coat.

Because of several things, like wanting Mari to have a normal childhood and also some political stuff that her moms want to protect her from, she ends up being taken care of by Tom and Sabine.

I’m gonna say that Twi and Rares met Tom and Sabine through Pinkie, who has a habit of getting low-key adopted by bakers, and had met them through wanting to learn about Earth cuisine (and T&S wanted to learn Equestria cuisine, so it was a win-win).

When Twi and Rares are thinking about this plan, T&S are trying for a kid and haven’t had much luck.

Mari lives with Tom and Sabine for the day-to-day, but Twilight and Rarity visit as often as they can, spending plenty of weekends with their daughter, even if it’s low-key to keep her safe.

As far as Mari is concerned, she has four parents. Twilight=Mom, Rarity=Mommy, Sabine=Maman, and Tom=Papa.

Other than visits with her moms and trips to Equestria, there’s only a couple differences to Mari’s childhood.

First is that she gets visits from other mlp characters too. They don’t cause too many issues because

1.) they know how to not blow her cover and

2.) the ones who would do it accidentally can be reined in.

By that I mean that if Discord starts to act up Mari just says “I’ll tell Auntie Fluttershy” and he nopes the fuck out.

Mari’s classmates think she just has a lot of aunts and uncles with weird names and haircolors, not connecting them to the Pony stuff.

The other thing is that Marinette is a little more confident and somehow even more forgiving. Like, this is shown best in her interaction with Chloé.

Marinette stands up to Chloé from day 1 and doesn’t take her shit. She protects others and shuts down any of her petty schemes. Etc.

But she also doesn’t write Chloé off entirely. Marinette constantly offers her friendship, because she’s grown up with stories about her various aunts and uncles who were like Chloé or far worse, and that they eventually reformed. When she sees Chloé try to change, Marinette welcomes her with open arms and works with her to help her be a better person.

Anyway one more thing for Mari’s childhood before Ladybug: her Cutie Mark!

Marinette’s special talent is her eye for detail. Mostly she uses this to be a designer just like mommy(Rares is so proud!!), but it helps her be an expert at planning and organizing like her mom(Twi is also very proud!!).

Her actual Cutie Mark is an image of a Ladybug threading a needle.

Onto the Canon Timeline!!

Okay! So! Origins happens and Marinette gets the Ladybug Miraculous.

Mari is paranoid that it was given to her because someone found out about her being a Unicorn Princess. So she interrogated the hell out of Tikki.

Tikki’s like “okay I didn’t know that. I knew you had powerful Magic and that explains it but no. You were chosen for general compatibility with it!��

Ladybug’s secret identity lasts until Twi and Rares visit because they’re like “honey why are your earrings a powerful magic artifact???”

“Our little girl is all grown up and using Magic jewelry to save the world! Just like her moms!!”

So the whole family knows. Tikki does say that it breaks the rules, but there’s not much that can be done because of the circumstances.

Mari’s parents all kinda debate on whether or not she should try and figure out Chat Noir’s identity.

Twilight and Sabine argue that they would feel better if they knew who the boy was so that they could trust him. Twi’s reasoning is more “while you trust him now, your teamwork will grow stronger as you learn more about each other!” while Sabine’s is more “I want to make sure he’s not some creep/entitled dudebro.”

Rarity and Tom are okay with the mystery. Tom because obviously whoever chose Chat Noir to be a hero saw the same things in him that they saw in Marinette when making her Ladybug, so of course he must be a good guy. Rares just loves the drama of the whole thing! Secret identities! Romance! Etc.

Tikki is the deciding vote on that, saying it’s supposed to be secret.

That also doesn’t last long. Because Mari tells Rares about the crush on Adrien. And naturally Rares has to meet the boy! And they notice his ring and yeah…

She tries to keep the secret but as much as she loves the drama, the fact that her daughter is actually sad thinking Adrien isn’t interested in her when he absolutely is just breaks her heart.

Whoops the lovesquare is solved real early! Like, ‘sometime in Season 1 early’.

Of course they bring Adrien into the whole ‘secret royal horse family’ thing.

Mari’s a little scared on that because species difference.

Like, in Equestria interspecies relationship isn’t an issue because it goes by the basic ‘Harkness Test’ rules. So her interest in Adrien is normal to her.

But some Humans get weirded out by the idea so she didn’t know how Adrien would react.

It throws him for a loop but he’s cool with it!

This also involves telling Gabriel about the horse girlfriend.

Lucky for him, he decided to leave the Butterfly Miraculous upstairs during dinner or else he would’ve been found out too.

Anyway, the whole ‘royal horse princess’ thing is definitely enough to make Marinette a good candidate for dating Adrien. So Gabriel is okay with the relationship.

It also helps that Gabriel and Rarity actually somehow get along. She’s used to stuck up rich people so she can play his games without getting frustrated, and she can discuss fashion with him!

They get into a long discussion about Equestria fashion vs. Earth fashion, and Mari is sitting there taking notes because her goal is to make a fashion line that incorporates both dimensions!

Gabriel is kinda low-key thinking about how they’d make powerful Akumas, but tbh… magic horses are things he doesn’t want to risk messing with. Yeah they’d be powerful, but if they go rogue or have issues with merging the different types of Magic… it could be a bad time.

That said, he does try to low-key find out if Twilight and Rarity know of any Magics that might help him save Emilie other than the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous. He doesn’t ask outright as he doesn’t want to tip his hand, but he feigns curiosity in some subjects.

They don’t tell Gabriel about the superhero thing because Adrien begs them not to, knowing that he’d try to stop him if he found out.

One more thing that changes is Mari and Adrien’s relationship with Master Fu as a mentor!

Because of Twilight’s experience with Celestia as her mentor, Marinette is encourage to question Fu’s decisions. 

They quickly realize that yeah, Fu’s not always right. In fact, he’s fucking up a lot. 

Fu and Twilight can get along as ‘protectors of Magical Artifacts that could either save the world or cause doomsday’. They debate about methods, and while Twilight agrees with Fu’s logic, she can also to get him to see the flaws in it. 

So. Outside of occasional pony stuff and various shenanigans involving the ‘aunts and uncles’, and the fact that Adrienette is canon, not much changes. I’ve written outlines for other AUs where Adrienette was Canon early on, so y’all can go dig those up. And I can’t think of specific instances where weird Pony stuff happens outside of like, Marinette’s birthday or something.

But this did start from a salty dream so we gotta get to Lila being a fuck.

Lila comes in and does her usual shit.

She lies about knowing Ladybug and various other celebrities. Of course.

She tries to flirt with Adrien. He turns her down as soon as he realizes because he’s in love with Mari. This gets Mari on her radar.

Between that, and Mari calling her out on her lies, Lila decides to try an ruin her.

So, Mari and Adrien’s responses to this are a little different than Canon.  

Marinette feels comfortable telling Adrien that Lila threatened her. So he’s not going to sit by and be quiet since he knows this is a threat, not just a girl lying for attention.

Despite the threats, both are too soft and sweet to write off Lila completely. Especially Mari, oddly enough. As I said. She grew up with stories about her aunts and uncles that changed for the better. So the two of them think that they might be able to be friends with Lila.

That said, they don’t put up with her shit. They call her out when she lies, and don’t tolerate her lying and manipulating people. It doesn’t usually work because Lila is good at thinking up more lies and turning it around, but they try.

The idea that Marinette hates Lila out of jealousy over Adrien is slightly more believable, because the classmates never saw Marinette be jealous before.

Chloé stopped ‘flirting’ with Adrien as soon as he and Mari got together because she respects Adrien as a friend. She makes it clear that they’re just friends and her flirting is mostly joking/possessiveness, and the relationship itself is the first thing that helps Chloé want to change so she can not lose Adrien over being mean to Mari.

Kagami was a little interested in Adrien, but shut it down as soon as she found out that he was dating Marinette, so she and Mari never got off on the wrong foot with jealousy, becoming friends rather quickly. (Mari might have tried to set her up with Luka after she rejected him but you know.)

Mari is usually nice to Adrien’s fangirls, barring any creepy actions.

So this is the first time the class is seeing her react to a ‘legitimate threat’ to the relationship.  

Now, while I like salt stuff, I don’t go full ‘the classmates durn into worse bullies than Chloé ever was because they’re convinced Mari is bullying Lila and believe Lila’s word like gospel’ thing.

I could go on a hell of a rant about how that’s a lot of victim blaming but that’s for another time.

Anyway, the classmates are still friendly with Marinette, but they are frustrated at her fighting with Lila. And Lila is lying, manipulating, orchestrating events to make it look like Mari attacked her, etc. It would take a decent amount of manipulation and gaslighting the class to get them to think Mari’s actually horrible, so this is a long-term plan.

One of the biggest things she does in the meantime, is try to isolate Marinette. If she sees someone talking to her, suddenly Lila needs their help with something! She tries to schedule hanging out with the class on days that Mari’s busy. Or just says she’s uncomfortable with Mari being at a hang out, so don’t invite her to this one(it works on smaller hangouts and ones where they’re at someone’s home, but big groups don’t work.). If she is forced to interact with Marinette directly, she starts a fight and blames Mari.

There’s a lot of tension. But Marinette learned from the Princess of Friendship herself. This can be mended, once they figure it out.

This all comes to a head when it comes time for the Class Trip.

The class gets permission to go out of the country, and Marinette suggests Equestria!

Her thought process is

1.) they can help mend things by learning about Equestria’s history and importance of Friendship.

2.) Despite the recent hiccups in their friendship, Marinette loves and trusts most of the class enough to tell them about the ‘I’m secretly a Pony Princess’ thing. And taking them to see Equestria is a good idea to help hammer it in and really wow them!

The school board is hesitant at first, because Equestria is technically another Dimension and all. But they tell her ‘if you send a letter to the Equestrian Government and they say yes, then okay’.

So Mari just calls up her mom and asks. Twilight is immediately planning the trip’s itinerary!

When Marinette announces it to the class, they’re all estatic.

Lila, of course, lies about stuff.

She claims that she went to Equestria before and when turned into a Pony by dimensional Magic stuff, she was totally an Alicorn!

Mari calls so much bullshit on that.

Because the only ways to be an Alicorn are either being born one, which means she’d have to be related to the Royal Family and that’s impossible, or Ascending, which is so goddamn rare.

Not to mention that even if a Human who crossed over became an Alicorn legitimately, that would’ve been major news.

Thankfully most of the stuff Lila lies about regarding culture/celebrities in Equestria/etc are either things Mari can spin as ‘actually that’s a misconception’ and redirect the class to real facts, or something that is coincidentally true, just fuckin buck wild.

When it comes time for the actual trip, Twilight and Rarity show up personally! Partly because they have to, as the link between Earth and Equestria, but also to see Mari and dote on her, glad to formally meet all her friends!!

The class begins to notice things when they are actually transported to Equestria.

First, they notice that Mari seems way too friendly with Twi and Rares. Like, yeah she’s a friendly person, but this is excessive.

They also notice that Marinette is a bit… too used to walking around as a Pony and using Magic, while everyone else is like ‘fuck how do hooves work???’.

There’s, like, a half second after they first go through the portal and are transformed where it seems like Lila wasn’t lying, as she looks like an Alicorn.

But then Twilight recognizes ‘Oh. You’re not an Alicorn. You’re a Changeling. I understand the disguise, as some Ponies are still a bit wary of Changelings, but you shouldn’t go around as an Alicorn as that will get you some unwanted attention and cause a lot of issues!’.

Everyone asks about that, and Twi happily explains that Changelings are shapeshifters!

So like, the excuse here is that Lila didn’t lie about going to Equestria before. She did once a few years ago with her mom. But she was a Changeling, not an Alicorn. She’d hoped that she’d be able to trick the classmates, and possibly even Twilight, but didn’t count on being called out so soon!

Unfortunately, everyone believes the reason Twilight accidently gave instead of the ‘Lila’s a dick’ thing. Mari’s frustrated because ‘damn it mom!’ but you know.

Side notes: What kind of Pony everyone is and their Cutie Marks!

Marinette: Pink Unicorn. Cutie Mark is a Ladybug threading a needle.

Adrien: pastel green Pegasus. Cutie Mark is a fencing saber with a neon green pawprint behind it.

Chloé: Black with white markings Crystal Pony. Cutie Mark is a golden crown, but with honeycomb shapes. (Basically imagine Diamond Tiara’s Cutie Mark, but gold and with hexagons instead of circles on the ends)

Alya: orange Unicorn, Cutie Mark is a Wifi signal with a foxtail

Nino: Deep green Earth Pony, Cutie Mark is headphones with a turtle shell

Juleka: Purpleish-black Unicorn, Cutie Mark is a mirror with claw marks behind it/

Rose: pink Earth Pony, Cutie Mark is a rose but the stem is real curly

Nathaniel: lavender Earth Pony, Cutie Mark is a tablet pen and a feather quill (Ya boi has so much trouble attempting to draw!!)

Alix: light blue Pegasus, Cutie Mark is a pocketwatch with wings

Mylene: tan Pegasus, Cutie Mark is a mouse-like theatre mask

Ivan: dark blue Earth Pony, Cutie Mark crossed drumsticks with a pair of ox horns above it.

Kim: red Pegasus, Cutie Mark is a star with a staff weapon in front of it.

Max: brown Unicorn, Cutie Mark is a computer screen in a horseshoe.

Sabrina: Turquoise  Earth Pony, Cutie Mark is a dark turquoise notebook with a purple diamond on it.

Lila: orange Changeling. No Cutie Mark. Uses a foxtail design when transformed to look like a regular pony.

So, as I said, the class is realizing that Marinette is a little too comfortable in Equestria. They eventually ask.

Marinette explains the whole ‘Okay, so didn’t tell you because I didn’t know to trust you guys, and then after I did trust you I wasn’t sure how to tell you but actually…’.

She goes over the whole ‘Twi and Rares are the bio moms, Tom and Sabine are her sort-of-adoptive parents but all four are parents to her’ thing.

Everyone’s like ‘Wait… you’re actually a Pony???’ then they’re like ‘HOLD HE FUCK UP YOU’RE A PRINCESS???’

Lila does kinda try and spin the whole ‘oh she didn’t tell you guys’ thing, but Twi and Rares explain the whole thing was about keeping Mari safe. And if certain people found out about her, it’d be bad.

Time for a little bit of the trip itinerary!

The first few days are spent in Ponyville, with the class staying in Twilight’s Castle.

I feel like I should mention that the last couple seasons of mlp aren’t canon to this timeline but whatever.

While they’re enjoying the sights and learning about Equestria, a chunk of the time is spent learning about how to be Ponies. How to walk on four legs and function with hooves, and how to use their various Magics. Nothing too wild. Just flight lessons for Pegasai, controlling strength for Earth Ponies, and basic spell casting for the Unicorns (along with control so they don’t blast something.).

Lila already knows how to use her Changeling spell stuff, unfortunately.

Marinette does discuss Lila with Twi and Rares.

They go into mom mode and are ready to throw down, but don’t.

Twilight asks them to just keep an eye on what Lila says, correct her if she lies, and maybe also ban her from shapeshifting?

Thankfully, Twilight is smart. She knows that banning Lila from shapeshifting altogether might end badly because there’s have to be questions of why. But she can subtly tag Lila with a specific ban.

Basically, Lila’s Magic will malfunction if she tries to shapeshift into Marinette, any of the classmates, or some of the more important Ponies. Lila won’t know about it unless she tries to do that specifically and finds she can’t.

Lila does, of course, try exactly that. She attempted to change into Marinette and be a jerk, but didn’t even get that far.

When she complains, Twilight just handles it by saying that it’s standard that Changelings nearby Royals and such have that ban.

Other highlights of the trip:

They hit some major cities in Equestria. Like the Crystal Empire, Manehattan(Which annoys Chloé a little because ‘I got to go to Manehattan before Manhattan fuck you mom!), Cloudsdale. And eventually, Canterlot!

Meeting various Royals is a trip in itself. I mean, this is Magic Pony Royalty!! But they’re also absolute dorks.

Adrien gets heckled by all of Marinette’s Aunts and Uncles and he’s a little terrified but loves her.

Diamon Tiara attempts to adopt Chloé somehow. Spike reminds her that Chloé does technically have parents back home, but Diamond’s like ‘no! she reminds me of me so much!!!’.

They get to see a Wonderbolts show in Cloudsdale, and a play on Bridleway.

As usual with me and ML fics, Chloé figures out that Mari and Adrien are LB and Chat. She had some strong suspicions before the trip, but after seeing the Cutie Marks of both them and other suspected Heroes, she’s like ‘you motherfuckers!!’.

Later on once they’ve gotten used to being Ponies, they get to go to the old Castle in the Everfree Forest, which is currently half archeological study, and half ‘training for all those bullshit Indiana Jones-like traps that Pony Archeologists have to deal with’. Which means it’s basically an obstacle course!

The final MANE event is an invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala!! With Rarity making all their outfits because she’s GENEROUS like that!!

Last plot point: Lila.

Of course Lila’s lies will be revealed somehow. But tbh…. Since this is a mlp crossover, I sort of want to try giving her some kinda redemption.

I think the best way to do that is to be able to feel the emotions. I mean, Changelings are empaths, basically. She can now physically feel what others feel about one another.

I mentioned in TMOLR that Lila’s lies are part of a cycle. She lies to make people love her, but they don’t love her, just the lies. So she continues the lie to keep the love.

With her empathy powers, she can feel that the love aimed at her is no different than the love they aim at each other. And at first, she brushes it off as her fooling them too well.

It’s actually only once the lies are exposed that she begins to realize that, despite the anger and betrayal her classmates feel, they still care. They still, on some basic level, love her.

She’s not going to be free of consequences, but she might be able to turn it around.

Legit though, I think a mlp crossover is the only time I can genuinely think of having a Lila Redemption because of the kind of bullshit the Ponies have done with redemptions.

[allysartstuff]

Note: This has been drawn as a reference guide which is free to use if you wish to draw this character. However, please do not repost or claim as your own, thank you.

The tenth born in my MLP Next Gen.

WARNING! Below has some sad stuff including a fan favourite canon character. Don't say I didn't warn you and please keep your tears and pitchforks at the door thank you.

Berry Bubblegum

Personality: Emotional, high-strung, mindful, passionate, fun loving.

Likes: Making others happy, factoids about royalty, parties with Cheese Sandwich, goof offs with Pinkie Pie, helping out even the smallest of ways.

Dislikes: Arguing with Bright Eyes, bugs, criticism, teasing, feeling useless.

Story;

Berry Bubblegum is the youngest daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. Like her older sister Bright Eyes, she is the result of Alicorn Magic combining the love of two ponies of the same gender and third party reproduction. This means she is related to both Pinkie and Twilight and has both their DNA. By Pinkie’s request, Bright’s biological father is Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie carried her, on equal ground with Twilight who carried Bright Eyes.

At a very early age, all Berry ever wanted to be was a princess, just like her Mama Twilight. She dedicated herself to finding everything out about princesshood, constantly bothering Twilight and any other royalty about it. She insisted on going to every event Twilight was invited to, never leaving her side and proudly proclaiming she was the princess’s daughter. However, this ego inflation caught the attention of a few green eyed bullies. Many of them pointed out that she was just an earth pony and there was no chance of her becoming a princess. Berry pretended to ignore those comments, not showing how much they chipped away at her confidence. She was still determined to become a princess and anyone can become a princess!

Right?

Those dreams and obsessions, however, began to break when Berry was ten. An eighteen-year-old Bright Eyes, who was more than a tad clumsy with her magic, accidentally invented a groundbreaking new spell. Her reward from Princess Celestia herself was to be turned into an Alicorn Princess, much to everyone’s surprise and Berry’s horror. She was utterly crushed that her sister became a princess and not her. Bright, who in fact did not want to be a princess, saw how upset Berry was so she literally demanded Celestia turn her back into a non Royal Unicorn, which she did. Berry really appreciated the gesture from Bright and it brought them together closer as sisters. However, Berry slowly began to realise that the likelihood of her becoming a Princess were very, very slim. She tried every extraordinary thing that she could be capable of doing but nothing worked.

Berry also had another problem. She was now a teenager and still didn’t have her cutie mark. Because she was so set on becoming a princess, she didn’t think to consider other options. This was the cause of more bullying, led to depression and more insecurities. Eventually, she just stopped trying at anything. Her parents noticed soon that her grades were low and she stopped coming to Twilight’s Princess outings. One day, Pinkie Pie decided to have a heart to heart with her about it. This was where Berry expressed her feelings and insecurities, saying that because she was not a unicorn or a pegasus and couldn’t perform magic, she wasn’t special or good enough to become a princess. She was just a dumb, stupid, useless earth pony. Trying not to sound hurt by Berry’s words, Pinkie asked her what was so bad about being ordinary? After all, ordinary earth ponies are still capable of doing extraordinary things. Berry didn’t believe her, though she did feel guilty when she overheard Twilight comforting a weeping Pinkie Pie.

When Berry was sixteen, Cheese Sandwich made a surprise trip to Ponyville and Berry was delighted at seeing her dad again. But he was not there on a happy occasion. He revealed to the TwiPie family that he was very sick with cancer and, while treatable at this stage, it very close to being terminal. Everyone was devastated, most especially Berry, who is the most emotional out of her and Bright. Everyone dealt with the news differently. Since the Ponyville hospital had a good cancer treatment department, Twilight allowed Cheese to stay in the castle during his treatment while Pinkie took him to all of his appointments. Berry tried to be strong and spend as much time with her father as possible, even attending all his appointments with him, but she desperately wanted to help him and felt even more useless than usual. It also didn’t help that Bright had locked herself in her room and buried herself in her studies, not wanting to address Cheese’s illness. Berry was furious, accusing her sister of not caring about their father’s sickness.

After that fight, Berry stormed off, running to the hospital where Cheese was on an overnight stay. She found him entertaining foals, still smiling and making ponies laugh despite being in incredible pain. Touched, Berry knew what she could do to help. She asked Pinkie if she’d be willing to teach her how to make others laugh, much to an already emotional Pinkie’s delight. While being taught and improving her skills, Berry gathered her friends Lucky Bug, Lickety-Split, Opal and Forelle to put on a performance for all the ponies at the hospital. It was a huge success and Berry finally felt she had helped not just her father, but the kids and her sister, who finally came out of the castle to see it and opened up about her emotions about Cheese’s illness. This was when she finally received her cutie mark, several blue bubbles.

In the current timeline, Berry is eighteen and still in school. She is much more confident now, still continuing to entertain for sick ponies and plans to create a charity based around that with help from Twilight. Both Pinkie and Cheese (who is still very ill but is making progress) train her in the ways of entertainment. Berry also goes by her unofficial title as ‘The Princess of Parties’.

Bits and Pieces;

Ever since getting her cutie mark, Berry’s confidence improved. She even challenges Pinkie to a Goof Off every now and again. There’s yet to be a decided winner.

Pinkie’s baby name for Berry is ‘Berry Baby’. Berry isn’t entirely found of it but Cheese gets away with calling her that.

Berry’s full name is Raspberry Bubblegum Sparkle Pie.

Berry’s nickname among friends is ‘Bubs’.

Berry’s best friend is Forelle. Berry is one of the few ponies who doesn’t act awkward over Forelle’s blindness and is the only one who gets away with joking about it.

Berry is the only one out of the whole next gen to have different coloured eyes. The left is pink and the right is purple.

Despite being high strung, Berry care very deeply for her friends and family. She loves to make them happy, even just a little and keeps a little scrap book of everyone’s favourite things called ‘The Happy Book’.

Just like Pinkie, Berry has appalling table manners.

When Berry got her cutie mark, she screamed excitedly for a while, joined by Bright when she showed it off to her.

Bright and Berry often squabble as sisters do. Bright is more logically thinking while Berry is more emotional driven. However, they bond over planning parties and charity events. Before Cheese became ill, their favourite time of the year was summer when they would attend Cheese’s party expeditions.

Berry gained her father’s height and is significantly taller than Bright as a teen. Her body type is similar to Luna or Fleur de Lis.

Since they have two mothers, Bright and Berry call Pinkie ‘Mom’ and Twilight ‘Mama’.

Berry is deathly afraid of any kind of bugs and insects. This was due to a childhood prank on her from Lickety-Split, who dumped Lucky Bug’s collection of bugs on top of her. Since then, she cannot even look at a pretty butterfly without screaming blue murder. Bright often has to ‘rescue’ Berry from bugs since their castle is full of them.

Berry Bubblegum © Me

My Little Pony © Hasbro

[happypastelponies]

Are the Alicorn race originally Extraterrestrials?

The question of where the entire race of Alicorns are in modern day Equestria has been raised many times throughout the show’s history. However, I think the question as to how Alicorns originated, is brought up, possibly for the first time,  with the birth of Flurry Heart. Ponies don’t really seem to know much about alicorns, in spite of Celestia and Luna- two living alicorns- having ruled for over a thousand years, Princess Cadance being in power ever since the re-emergence of the Crystal Empire, and Twilight Sparkle having magically transformed herself into an alicorn for a few years now. This is backed by Rarity’s confusion upon seeing baby Flurry Heart and thinking that becoming an alicorn had to be accomplished by performing some great Princess-worthy deed (at least to get a pair of wings on a unicorn). Why had no one bothered to question Celestia and Luna on where they might’ve come from in the whole 1,111 years that she had been ruling? Or the years before that where they might’ve been getting antiquated with the other tribes of pre-Equestria’s founding, and all the history of 3 tribes, rules and etiquette that would later be brought into their own rule upon their coronation day and Equestria’s founding? Could the information of the alicorn race’s wherabouts and origins have been classified? I don’t know, but considering “The Journal of the Two Sisters” and Starswirl seeming to know about their race, where they could be found (in order for him to travel there and acquire the celestial sisters from them), along with various books having been written by the lesser tribes on Alicorns, I highly doubt that was the case.

I’m not going to say I know the answer, as to how Alicorns originated or where they came from in the past, but I have a theory…..

In the episode of “A Flurry of Emotions”, while in Cheerilee’s school, the title of a book called “Alien Alicorns and Space Pirates” is briefly given mention. While Twilight immediately claims that the science of that book is “preposterous”, she HAS been wrong before.  

Let’s decide that for ourselves, shall we? While we don’t really know the context of the book, all we can really do is judge it by its cover. Starting with the title- “Alien Alicorns vs Space Pirates”. Whoever wrote this book could be implying that Alicorns are, in fact, extraterrestrials who battled other alien races who held the occupation of space pirates, at some point in time. Though Twilight claims the book to have a preposterous presentation of scientific reasoning, could mean that it is, in fact, science-based?

Let’s look at the cover- in the episode, the cover picture of said book is seen to have a cluster of planets on it, long with- what seems like each planets visible orbit.  If this were a work of fiction as the book’s title seems to imply, I don’t think that the orbits of the celestial bodies themselves would be taken into account on the cover art, though given the setting of deep space, which houses “aliens” and “space pirates”, the planets might be.

In addition- and perhaps this is merely coincidental, but in the background, right before Cheerilee mentions the book, there is a scene that focuses on Twilight, and in the background, there exists a very odd combination of items- the first one being a telescope that is nearby the classroom window. Then beside that, there is a framed painting/ photo of a pony with a purple background- the color purple typically represents royalty. And lastly, there’s a globe directly beneath the photo/ painting, which are both near the telescope.

Could it be that the alicorns are, in fact, an alien race from beyond the planet? Is there a logical explanation as to why one of the closest stained glass windows by Celestia’s throne in Canterlot Castle (as seen in the series opening song) is of a bird’s eye view of the earth, with a nearby, ringed planet?

Does it mean anything that the first appearance of an alicorn in the history of the MLP franchise, was in gen 1 “My Little Pony Tales” episode of “Up, Up and Away”, where a pony identifies mysteriously appearing ponies (one with a unicorn horn and pegasus wings) as literal aliens? Who knows?

[marvelandponder]

You Might Wanna Stop That, Glim Glam

Or maybe not? 

Dark magic in Equestria is a subject I’ve been pretty interested in since its first appearance in The Crystal Empire Parts 1& 2. Especially seeing how our introduction to it involved this:

And, what’s scary about all that is that it’s pretty easy to pick up. Just based on that very vague description about hatred and fear and the demonstration, Twilight was able to replicate the spell later in the episode (keeping in mind she’s still a unicorn, so it doesn’t even take alicorn power levels).

So, not only is Princess Celestia able to cast some dark magic, our main character has been capable of casting dark magic spells for 3 going on 4 seasons now. A fact which has never been questioned once.

Dark magic, as the name so helpfully suggests, usually has some morality issues attached to it. Or at least some grey areas. As opposed to white magic (which Wikipedia tells me is what it’s actually called), dark or black magic is often depicted as some kind of ritualistic practice usually used for sinister and/or selfish gain.

Hell, just look... pretty much anywhere else in pop culture. In the Harry Potter series, the dark arts are practiced by Voledemort and his sordid crew, it’s something to be defended against if you’re a good wizard. In Lord of the Rings, dark magic is used to forge the One Ring---’nuff said there.

And yet, there seems to be some grey areas when using dark magic in the land of Equestria.

Often, enchanted objects like the Alicorn Amulet or the cursed spell book use some form of dark magic to corrupt the user. I mean, at one point Trixie wanted Rainbow Dash to “writhe in agony.”

And yet using dark magic in small doses like Celestia and Twilight do in The Crystal Empire doesn’t seem to have consequences. It also takes a while to be addictive, like it is for Rarity, because Twilight uses it at least twice in the episode, and then again a season later to use Zecora’s memory potion in Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1.

So with that established, it seems to be a powerful, non-alicorn could learn to use dark magic in small doses and not feel the effects Trixie, Rarity, or even, to use an extreme, King Sombra did.

And who do we know that can justify the use most any kind of magic, if put under enough pressure?

Starlight Doesn’t Play Well with Others--- Just Magic

I think in particular there’s three aspects of Starlight’s character I personally like most and that’s:

1) The snarky and even cynical sense of humour she manages to sneak into the most optimistic show I know (without taking away from the light-heartedness), 2) The anxiety she has about socializing in general despite being a Friendship student (this, as Gamelink Reviews so awesomely pointed out, makes the most sense as Social Anxiety Disorder)--- which kinda helps explain the whole never tried visiting Sunburst thing, by the way. and 3) Her fun interpretation of morality when it comes to magic.

Every Little Thing She Does was a lot of fun for me because of how it incorporated all three. She’s very obviously in the wrong, but as the episode shows you instead of just telling you, she’s still extremely dependent on her natural aptitude towards magic, so that’s the solution that makes the most sense to her.

Especially when she’s anxious about disappointing her teacher and new friends (seriously, go watch Gamelink’s theory, it makes so much sense). She means surprisingly well for someone who can justify actual mind control to get a task done.

And, by the way, that habit of combining spells seems to be something she and Sunburst share. If you remember, Sunburst’s solution to the problem in The Crystalling was to combine the relic reconstitution spell with a whole whack of other spells and the Crystalling itself. Plus, Starlight never would’ve been able to do all that time-travel magic if she hadn’t combined Starswirl’s time-travel spell with the map’s Harmony magic!

This, by the way, makes me wonder if Starlight was ever really as powerful as Twilight. Like, it kinda makes you scratch your head when you see an alicorn and a unicorn reach a stalemate in a magic duel--- Twilight should be more powerful than Starlight, right?

But perhaps Starlight’s natural abilities in magic are actually just about the same as Twilight’s were when she was unicorn---except, when Starlight uses strategies like combing spells to make them more powerful, she can match wits with her.

That would certainly make more sense to me (you would have to be a very masterful spell caster to do that, so she’s still quite a powerful unicorn and it’s not something just anyone could do---in fact, in the Crystalling, Sunburst gives all those different spells to a number of different magic users).

Combining spells is a simple yet awesome concept, but that does bring me back on topic, at long, long last: Are any of the spells Starlight has used so far dark magic? And if so, are there any implications to that?

[Light spoilery sentence ahead] I might need to update this post when season 7 comes out judging by those spectacular teasers, but for now, how’s about we go for a spin on Glim Glam’s wild ride?

Starlight, Starbright

Let’s start back at the most logical place to start: the beginning, and Starlight’s Cutie Mark Stealing spell.

By the way, should any of the spells she uses be dark magic, it might explain why she’s able to perform them. Like I alluded to earlier, as naturally gifted a magic user as she is, she’s still just a unicorn. Dark magic spells, on the other hand, seem to give the user access to a greater amount of power that they wouldn’t have previously been able to use on their own. Just look at Trixie.

It’s sort of like the Dark Side of the The Force from Star Wars, except it’s used a lot less frequently in MLP.

So, the Cutie Mark Stealing spell.

Watch this scene again and tell me if you notice any out of place details.

Wow, you already caught it? Geez, you guys are smart, what am I even here for?

Well, I’m still going to ramble on, just so I can hear myself type! As you remember from watching the episode, the Staff of Sameness there is just an old piece of driftwood Starlight found in the desert, just a lightning rod for her magic---meaning, all magic used in this scene comes from her.

But not all magic she uses in this scene is the same colour.

We can see that the light from the Cutie Mark vault is thrown over everything, so it might be easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, but when Starlight levitates the staff of sameness, the magic she’s using is her own light teal.

However, when she uses the Staff of Sameness as a conduit for the Cutie Mark Stealing spell, the magic is an entirely different colour and comes out in a powerful blast. It’s more... baby green, if you will. Kinda sickly looking.

Kinda exactly like the magic Rarity used in Inspiration Manifestation, or at least the parts around her eyes.

Sure, they’re different spells, and dark magic has come in a few different fashionable colours, but that’s a pretty dead on match in my books.

But... the eyes have it, don’t they?

Whenever dark magic has been used by someone in this series, there’s usually a pretty easy tell, but Starlight’s eyes are clear. Welp, that’s my theory busted. Go home, everybody!

But, then again, this isn’t the Alicorn Amulet, Rarity’s book of curses, or the hate and fear thing. It’s not coming from an external source, and it’s not coming from emotions deep within. This is a specific spell with a specific purpose.

In the same way that Friendship and Love magic turns the users’ eyes white, it might be true that there are some spells more powerful than others on either side of the spectrum, and those are the ones more likely to have an effect on your physical appearance.

There’s also the fact that Starlight’s very methodical about how she presents herself to the ponies in her village. Every night, she uses make-up to cover up her cutie mark.

Starlight’s magic being in two different colours is a small detail, but if her eyes were to glow green or something of that nature, don’t you think that would make it harder for her villagers to buy into her beliefs? Oh, we’ll definitely trust the pony with the sinister glowing eyes!

... Unless there’s an added bonus to using that piece of driftwood. Some way to hide the effects so if she is using dark magic, ponies can’t see it in her eyes.

Maybe the only reason Starlight is levitating that stick is so she has something to levitate. As in, maybe she’s using a levitation spell to cover up the fact that she’s using dark magic.

Come to think of it, Starlight’s now famous for combining spells, so we know she can cast more than one at once. If a simple levitation spell keeps the magic around her horn bluish teal, maybe it can also keep her eyes clear.

When she had it, Rarity used her dark magic for everything, including levitation, but Starlight has reason to hide it. So, she’s really just levitating the staff to appear as if the dark magic in the Cutie Mark Stealing spell isn’t effecting her. Both hiding the fact the she’s not all that equal to the others and that she’s using something far more sinister to take away their cutie marks.

So, the first spell we’ve examined and already we found our answer: Starlight has used dark magic. We’ll talk about what that means in a sec.

For now the question becomes, does she still use it, even after being reformed?

We already mentioned how the time-travel spell she uses is really just a combination of two powerful types of magic (hence how she could do it and not another great wizard like Starswirl the Bearded), and both of those are on the up and up, I think. The map’s Harmony magic doesn’t need our scrutiny, and Starswirl’s time travel spell originally didn’t do any harm---it’s supposed to be a paradox-correcting time-spell.

But that’s not the last time Starlight dabbles in powerful magic, and here’s where things get even more interesting.

You would think the spells Starlight’s using in Every Little Thing She Does would qualify as dark magic. Together, they make a mind control spell, and even on their own they sound pretty sketchy. Fiducio Compellus? Persaudari? Those sound like the kinds of spells some evil royal adviser would use in a Disney movie.

But, even when those spells are combined, Starlight’s magic doesn’t change appearance in any way. And in fact, when Starlight completes the spell, her eyes go white.

Now we’ve definitely seen that before:

But hang on, that doesn’t mean Starlight’s spells are necessarily good---this just in, mind control: still evil, free will: kinda important.

Instead it seems to indicate “white” or Harmony magic we would normally classify as good, and the dark magic we know corrupts most every user it comes in contact with after prelonged exposure, aren’t necessarily coded as Good magic and Evil magic.

One tends to be righteous and good and the other not so much, but there can be grey areas. Less powerful spells here and there that fall under the categories of either white or dark magic, but can be used in ways other than they were intended to be used, if the magician is resourceful like Starlight. 

This is important because, this sort of gives us some context as to why Starlight would try to combine these spells. They’re not inherently bad---none of them are dark magic spells. It’s just, the way she uses them that makes them a wee bit evil.

That makes a ton of sense, given her experience. Back when Starlight was a dictator, she used a dark magic spell to get what she wanted, but, she felt, in small enough doses or infrequently enough that it wouldn’t effect her too much.

We can’t know how much it actually affected her but even if it did, Starlight’s always been good at justifying morally questionable things for a good cause. And especially if there are smaller less powerful dark magic spells that don’t corrupt the user---meaning, it’d be easy to justify using Evil/dark magic if you can use it in a good way. 

... She’d kick ass in debate club, let me tell you.

In my recent Top 10 Reformed Villains list, I suggested Starlight might have developed this debate-winning ability because of the cycle she trapped herself in after Sunburst left---which was a catalyst, to be sure, but not the actual reason she was alone. With Gamelink’s helpful diagnosis of Social Anxiety, I would wager Starlight developed that reasoning the more she isolated herself.

After all, even in real life the more you isolate yourself, the more insecure you get that if you did try to reach out, you’d only be rejected. Which means you go into social situations looking for that rejection, and that in turn makes social situations a much more nerve-wracking process.

But, knowing Starlight, I suggested in those lonely years she’d be looking for something to blame other than herself or Sunburst, who she still thought fondly of, it seems. And that’s where the cutie mark thing slowly developed---as a way to push the blame anywhere but on herself.

It’s why Twilight’s line at the end of the Cutie Remark is so effective in getting Starlight to reform:

Twi: “So try again! Make new friends! And if something happens that you can’t control changes things, work through it together. That’s what friendship is! ... Just imagine all the friendships waiting for you if you just give them a chance.” Star: “How do I know they won’t all end the same way?” Twi: “I guess it’s up to you to make sure they don’t.”

And at that point, Starlight decides to take responsibility for her relationships, for everything. Even though she ended up getting off too easily in the punishment department (probably), she wasn’t going to blame anyone or anything else for her failures.

No more going after Twilight in a twisted, sadistic way to get back at her for ruining her perfect village (eye for an eye justice; how Babylonian of you, Starlight)---she knew she was a dictator/cult leader, and the ponies took their marks back by choice because they wanted to.

And even though she’s had to deal with her fair share of anxieties going forward into season six, she’s still living by that motto. 

She reunited with Sunburst. She made a new friend in Trixie decided to followup after their first fight. She, uh, tried to follow Twilight’s instructions and not let her down (even if she still misses the point sometimes). And in the end, assumed the responsibility of a leader again without the crutches of magic or throwing the blame elsewhere if something were to go awry.

So, knowing that, it’s easy to see why she could justify some messed up spells.

First and foremost, like we said, they probably aren’t dark magic, if for no other reason than the fact that I think after taking responsibility for her usage last time, she’d probably want to avoid it. At least, so long as the situation isn’t truly desperate. 

Second, justification should really be her special talent. She can convince herself of anything.

Third, she obviously shouldn’t have used magic at all, but that’s the point: we know her anxiety (whether you agree that it’s actual Social Anxiety Disorder or not) clouded her ability to see what Twilight actually expected of her was just to spend some time with them. 

Starlight’s anxieties and doubts can still make normal social situations into pressure cookers, if she worries enough. It really does make her a regular Crazy Twi.

You know, season 2 Twilight, who famously decided to make a friendship problem by... using a ‘Want it Need it” spell which... in hindsight seems a bit close to mind control in and of itself.

And that time she was so stressed about and impending disaster she wanted to stop time itself forever?

On Equestria Daily, (correct me if I’m wrong) but I believe it was Sethisto who explained that Starlight’s appeal to him was that she reminded him of the mad scientist aspect of Twilight’s character from the old days. I, for one, definitely agree.

Starlight’s unique in other ways (for instance, a constant fear of rejection that Twilight never really had), but in that respect she really does take after her teacher. An anxiety-prone lunatic with god-like powers and the intellect to work around their own limitations.

That’s what makes this snarky maniac so interesting to me. She’s certainly complex. Despite the fact she means well and genuinely does want to make friendships, she’s our gateway into some really dark, questionable areas. Or, depending on how she uses magic and why, maybe just grey areas. It’s what makes her redemption worthwhile to me.

Well, that, and the cute friendships she’s made along the way, of course.

And with that said, here’s to a new season! May we see her wrestling match with morality and friendship develop new and interesting ways.

MLP editorials? You want them? I’ve got loads! In fact, this post marks the 20th MLP editorial I’ve written (I just get a kick out of the fact that it’s releasing on March 20th), and you can find them all right here! Or if you’d rather, here are the most recent three, right here for the clicking:

IDW Comics, Derpy Editorial, and Top 10 Redeemed Villains

Year of the Pony

Header Image Wouldn’t be Possible Without...

Magic Circle by BlackPaperMoon-95 Canterlot Background by EStories Starlight Vector by Osipush

All the part of that image were edited to fit together, as usual, but these are the people who made them beautiful to begin with! Go check out those talented artists!

Transmutation and Summoning Circles Only Ever End Well, Obviously