Illuminating Invitation (MLP: FiM AU)
- Thread starter Alivaril
- Start date
- Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Pinkie Pie parties are really amazing.
- Location
- Netherlands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I rather doubt Sunset is going to wind up Alicorn of Magic, which leads to the question "so what will she be the Alicorn of?".
I'd been predicting something along the lines of "Alicorn of Talent/Potential" for a while, with the amount of emphasis we've placed on Sunset being interested in and adept at helping ponies reach their full potential.
But I'm also inclined to think that this "ew gross greasy greed" sense she has now is related to her Alicorn Thing, and I'm not sure how well that connects to the "Alicorn of Talent" theory.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Alicorn of [Blank] is just titles and words. Which I expect is also the case with special talents many ponies use a word to define their talent and then limit themself to that word. Like Sunset Shimmer could have convinced herself that her talent was fire.
- Location
- Finland
According to the comics Sunsets Element is Empathy and that does fit with the description of the paparazzi scene, while before summoning Voice it would seem that its expression was subconscious and as such Sunset could not actualize it. Empathy is also something that helps with Friendship and so could be a similar capstone Element.
To be fair ponies are a herd species. And even humans have a similar tendency to push down people who break the mold. For ponies it should be even worse - either you are a leader and must be exceptional or you are not and must fall in line. At least on the instinct side.
- Location
- Finland
Prodigies are disruptive, demand work from their teachers and draw attention away from their peers.
It is easier to suppress than support them.
It is also a terrible long term strategy on societal level, and potentially incredibly cruel to anyone who does not fit he mold, but for an individual educator who either does not care, or cares but is already overworked, demanding everyone behave the same is often the way to go.
It is easier to suppress than support them.
It is also a terrible long term strategy on societal level, and potentially incredibly cruel to anyone who does not fit he mold, but for an individual educator who either does not care, or cares but is already overworked, demanding everyone behave the same is often the way to go.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Arson is a crime. If Twilight learns her lessons well, she technically won't be committing those.
Don't be ridiculous. Twilight is still too young for blood magic! She doesn't yet have enough blood to do anything worthwhile.
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- Location
- A small blue dot
Plus she discouraged age magic because making a mistake could have long-term consequences! Sunset really is a paragon of responsible teaching.
- Pronouns
- she her
Imo as a irl empath other people's emotions feel almost exactly like mine, to the point it's often hard to sort out witch are actually mine without like… walking away to be alone
Couldn't she always ask for donations?
Just imagining her putting up posters going "please donate your blood, a young mage wishes to learn blood magic, please don't squash her dreams! Every drop helps!"
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You call that a "blooper," but all you did was switch out "autism spectrum" for "Social Maladaptation."
(Either way, thanks for the nomination!)
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Aww so proud of Sunset here. I don't think she's getting enough credit for not taking that as an insult or competition.
On a side note as far as prodigies, based on what Twilight is saying I'm not sure how much this is "squashing the prodigy" and how much is the teacher not understanding why the student isn't understanding a very basic lesson. With something that seems like it should be so simple and might not be able to communicate their issue at that age it could be hard to tell if this is an issue with someone being too smart or frankly too slow.
Trimontar
Weed Dragon
- Location
- Behind You
to fast at learning but to slow or not understanding social.
probably
maybe canterlot is the problem not society at large.
canterlot is the "elite" "i am better than you" city.
other places probably are not as bad when it comes to classroom settings and social interaction.
true social interaction and genuine emotions is actually possible. in other city/towns/villages
probably
maybe canterlot is the problem not society at large.
canterlot is the "elite" "i am better than you" city.
other places probably are not as bad when it comes to classroom settings and social interaction.
true social interaction and genuine emotions is actually possible. in other city/towns/villages
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If we look at Empathy, Friendship, and Love as how they compare to Harmony - which, let's face it, they're the Elements of HARMONY, each of those three things lean more towards 'induces harmony when combined with Honesty, Loyalty, etc. and brings about a way for them to compromise with each other and work together' than being a stand-alone virtue by itself as the others are.
You could argue that Loyalty or Kindness or Honesty can be twisted to something wrong, but most people aren't going to argue against them being virtues unto themselves. Empathy, Friendship, and Love on the other hand? In that respect it's possible 'whatever brings about Harmony' is Magic. Which leads to some bizarre takes on other options to create harmony like an Alicorn of Family.
The Pillars of Equestria, ironically, seem to represent other virtues for the most part - Bravery, Healing, Hope, Strength, Beauty, and Sorcery.
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- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
It's important to note that for all the parallels between them, unlike when Sunset was a child, Twilight does have a primitive support network in her family, Cadence, and (soon to be) Sunset as well. Even if Sunset's influence causes Twilight to avoid making friends (more than in canon at least 
) she's not going to develop the same social/identity issues that Sunset developed. Primarily because she won't be abused/neglected at a key developmental period of her life, but also because she'll have a variety of trustworthy role models to learn her behavior from.
[Minor effortpost analysis assuming that Twilight doesn't deviate much from canon]
Despite Twilight and Sunset both having Special Talents in "All Magic", the reasons why they pursue magic are completely different, and essential to keep in mind when viewing their actions. Sunset has a fundamental need to prove herself worthy of her mother's love, and she believes that the only way to achieve that is to become an Alicorn; something powerful enough to eventually stand beside Celestia as a peer, with a lifespan that means she won't disappear in the relative blink of an eye. Although she enjoys magic, it seems that what she enjoys the most about it is the expression of her power/brilliance over the challenge(s) she overcomes and the other people who couldn't do the same. Because that proves that she's different from everyone else, better than everyone else, something that Celestia has to take notice of.
Now in contrast, Twilight has a fundamental need to know/understand, and magic acts as the primary pathway for interacting with the world around her. It's the undercurrent of reality and driving force of life on the planet, so while greater amounts of knowledge in magic leads to greater amounts of power, that's merely incidental to the greater understanding of how the world works in her view. She enjoys magic just as much as Sunset, but the process of learning/discovery is what is rewarding for her, not any sense of comparison/competition with others. That's why she can become just as enraptured in fiction or non-magical studies as she does with magic, there's no "end goal" she's chasing beyond personal improvement/enrichment.
) she's not going to develop the same social/identity issues that Sunset developed. Primarily because she won't be abused/neglected at a key developmental period of her life, but also because she'll have a variety of trustworthy role models to learn her behavior from.[Minor effortpost analysis assuming that Twilight doesn't deviate much from canon]
Despite Twilight and Sunset both having Special Talents in "All Magic", the reasons why they pursue magic are completely different, and essential to keep in mind when viewing their actions. Sunset has a fundamental need to prove herself worthy of her mother's love, and she believes that the only way to achieve that is to become an Alicorn; something powerful enough to eventually stand beside Celestia as a peer, with a lifespan that means she won't disappear in the relative blink of an eye. Although she enjoys magic, it seems that what she enjoys the most about it is the expression of her power/brilliance over the challenge(s) she overcomes and the other people who couldn't do the same. Because that proves that she's different from everyone else, better than everyone else, something that Celestia has to take notice of.
Now in contrast, Twilight has a fundamental need to know/understand, and magic acts as the primary pathway for interacting with the world around her. It's the undercurrent of reality and driving force of life on the planet, so while greater amounts of knowledge in magic leads to greater amounts of power, that's merely incidental to the greater understanding of how the world works in her view. She enjoys magic just as much as Sunset, but the process of learning/discovery is what is rewarding for her, not any sense of comparison/competition with others. That's why she can become just as enraptured in fiction or non-magical studies as she does with magic, there's no "end goal" she's chasing beyond personal improvement/enrichment.
- Location
- Oregon
How much blood would it really take to make little 'Property of Twilight Sparkle' stickers that she can always locate because they each contain a little bit of her? She would never misplace a book ever again!
LunaMoth
Wings of Kynareth is my comfort song...
- Pronouns
- He/They
Careful that's like a label maker, except significantly more useful, she might start putting one on everything.
Also if the requirement is it has to be a part of her, wouldn't just a bit of fur be safer than blood.
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- Location
- United States
Blood is easier to mix into the paint. Fur clumps horribly.
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I've seen" ponyequin" used before in place of "mannequin" in other MLP fics. Which fits with the other changes to language we see; is "man" even used in MLP canon?
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hey uh, your quote box is mistargeted at the wrong post, and says I said that.
I figured "manne" was close enough to "mane" to keep it, but ponyequin does almost turn into pony-equine, so hmm. I'll need to think on this.
- Location
- Canada
Mannequin is a word that came to English from Dutch via French, so if one wanted to be particularly extra, one could try to feed the word pony'tje through that same process.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Like some other posters, this was particularly well-timed since Sunset goes into a "why magic is my Special Talent" tangent next chapter.
Whoops. Sorry about that, fixed.Hey uh, your quote box is mistargeted at the wrong post, and says I said that.
But yeah, your QA in Equestria snippet sort of fits the mold as a vaguely 'Harmonious' talent. Kinda makes me wonder about Starswirl, but perhaps nearly any Talent could be 'harmonious' under the right circumstances.
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