History Fanfic / PartingWords

A alternate opening to Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' by Creator/RalphHayesJr (writing as [=RealityCheck=]), can be found [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/5510981 here]] or [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10880035/1/Parting-Words here]].

Based off the season 3 opener.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Applejack tells Celestia that she didn't want to encourage the CMC to become bullies, she replies that when she was younger, a bully was someone who picked on those who hadn't done anything, and any consequences they suffered was because they'd brought it on themselves.

* AuthorTract: The entire story was to point out multiple instances of out-of-character behavior in the Season 3 opening and "One Bad Apple".

* SealedEvilInACan: King Sombra's ultimate fate in the alternate timeline.

* IdiotBall: Twilight claims that this is the ''only'' reason that they beat Discord; if he had been ''smart'', he would have tossed them into the ocean or into a volcano, not just hid them inside her own house.

* NeverLiveItDown: InUniverse, Spike still remembers the time Celestia suddenly threw a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faberg%C3%A9_egg Fabergé egg]] at Twilight. [[spoiler: Celestia thought it was a cheap decoration and didn't realize it was the real deal until after she had thrown it to Twilight.]]

* DeconstructionFic: The fic tears into Celestia's TricksterMentor methods, showing the harm they caused, the consequences of them, and the reasons why such a wise, benevolent character would do something so flawed. It does a similar thing with Applejack and the other adults [[AdultsAreUseless failure to address the CMC's bullying]].

* WriterOnBoard: Based on the WordOfGod in the comments on FIMFiction.net before the move to Archive Of Our Own, the disapproval over Applejack's failure to address the bullying of the Cutie Mark Crusaders [[ItsPersonal was driven by the author's own negative experiences with bullying and adults' ignorance of it.]]

The Sequel, ''[[Fanfic/TheGreatAlicornHunt The Great Alicorn Hunt]]'', can be found [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/5445755 here]]

* TheBet: There are two, both involving Twilight and Celestia. '''1)''' Will Twilight continue as Celestia's student? '''2)''' What is Celestia grooming Twilight to be? The latter outcomes involve a combination of 'Alicorn', 'princess', or some other authority figure like 'prime minister' or 'head of the royal library'. [[spoiler:Spike and the rest of the Mane Six bet among themselves on the first of these; those who bet "no" end up winning. The second is a town-wide betting pool, with Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh splitting the pot after Celestia tells Twilight that what she does with her life is up to her.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Celestia's advice about bullies reaping what they sow when their victims fight back becomes a big plot point in ''Fanfic/TheGreatAlicornHunt'' when Babs' own bullies show up.

* ImagineSpot: Cadence has an unnerving one after Twilight points out how [[spoiler:Changelings feed off of love, and the Crystal Heart is powered by Love and Hope]].

* MyGreatestFailure: If anything can match 'banishing my beloved little sister for a thousand years' in Celestia's book of bad decisions, it's 'manipulate my beloved student so much that she severs ties with me.'
** As for Applejack, it would probably be 'refusing to see just how badly my little sister has been hurt by bullying even when it's happening right under my nose.'

* RebuiltPedestal: [[spoiler: In the final chapter, Twilight's relationship (and, to a lesser extent, her faith in) Celestia is restored. The princess explains to Twilight why she kept Nightmare Moon's return a secret from Twilight, the real reason why she sent Twilight to Ponyville, and why she sent the Element Bearers on such dangerous mission. She admits her mistake, apologizes, and the two reconcile.]]

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: As explained [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/60523/1/parting-words/chapter-1#comment/1547004 here]], WordOfGod believes that Celestia is [[TimeAbyss so old]], having taken the long perspective and played the long game for so long, that she can't ''not'' treat other ponies as pawns, feels that anything not planned years in advance is dangerously spur-of-the-moment, and has forgotten how to let go rather than try to secretly interfere.

* WriterOnBoard: Based on the WordOfGod in the comments, the disapproval over Applejack's failure to address the bullying of the Cutie Mark Crusaders [[ItsPersonal was driven by the author's own negative experiences with bullying and adults' ignorance of it.]]

A alternate opening to Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' by Creator/RalphHayesJr (writing as [=RealityCheck=]), can be found [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/60523/parting-words here]]

The Sequel, ''[[Fanfic/TheGreatAlicornHunt The Great Alicorn Hunt]]'', can be found [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/92077/the-great-alicorn-hunt here]]

* OneOfUs: The story uses many, many tropes by name.

* TheBet: There are two, both involving Twilight and Celestia. '''1)''' Will Twilight continue as Celestia's student? '''2)''' What is Celestia grooming Twilight to be? The latter outcomes involve a combination of 'alicorn', 'princess', or some other authority figure like 'prime minister' or 'head of the royal library'. [[spoiler:Spike and the rest of the Mane Six bet among themselves on the first of these; those who bet "no" end up winning. The second is a town-wide betting pool, with Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh splitting the pot after Celestia tells Twilight that what she does with her life is up to her.]]

* TheChessmaster: {{Deconstructed}}; It's shown Twilight put up with being a pawn in Celestia's mysterious schemes because she was afraid of what would happen if she stopped being useful, and shows how much that hurt her and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Celestia's guilt over it]]. [[spoiler:Also, Celestia's attempts to be this failed to have the desired outcomes due to unforeseen events, only working as well as they did through luck and improvisation. When Twilight succeed in spite of this, Celestia chose to continue to use these methods, in spite of how unhelpful they proved, because she played the role so long she had forgotten how to ''not''.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** After Twilight chews her out, Celestia realizes she had just destroyed one of her two most cherished relationships.

* MyGreatestFailure:
** If anything can match 'banishing my beloved little sister for a thousand years' in Celestia's book of bad decisions, it's 'manipulate my beloved student so much that she severs ties with me.'

* NotHelpingYourCase:
** When Celestia tries to help Applejack, she makes the mistake of repeatedly assuming AJ did ''something'' to help with Babs instead of trying to lecture the ''CMC'' after the fact.

* NotSoOmniscientAfterAll: [[spoiler:Celestia is as fallible as anypony else, and she has made more than her fair share of mistakes over the centuries. She admits to Twilight that her shortsightedness has caused many of her most carefully laid out plans to be thwarted by the most trivial (or occasionally not-so-trivial) of things.]]
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: When Sweetie Belle agrees with AJ, saying they can't blame her for not knowing how Bloom was being bullied at school... or in town... or at Sugarcube Corner, or in her very own house...

'''Applejack:''' Layerin' on the sarcasm nice and thick there, aintcha, Sweetie Belle?\\

* PlotParallel: Celestia arrives at the train station just as Applejack and the CMC are seeing Babs Seed off, enabling the Princess to listen in on Applebloom calling her sister out and note the parallels.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Aside from the abovementioned RageAgainstTheMentor, Applejack receives one from the Cutie Mark Crusaders when they point out how, no matter how clear it was that they were being bullied, they never received any help from her.
* RebuiltPedestal: [[spoiler:In the final chapter, Twilight's relationship (and, to a lesser extent, her faith in) Celestia is restored. The princess explains to Twilight why she kept Nightmare Moon's return a secret from Twilight, the real reason why she sent Twilight to Ponyville, and why she sent the Element Bearers on such dangerous mission. She admits her mistake, apologizes, and the two reconcile.]]
* SealedEvilInACan:
** King Sombra's ultimate fate in the alternate timeline.

* SecretTestOfCharacter:
** {{Deconstructed}}: Celestia attempting to use the Crystal Kingdom to test Twilight – and her attempt to defend said decision when called out on it – becomes Twilight's RageBreakingPoint, "because I'm not going to imperil hundreds or even thousands of innocent ponies ''trying to get a gold sticker from you on a TEST!''"

-->Applejack had probably seen plenty of signs that Applebloom was being bullied, but she had a farm to run. So she had convinced herself they weren't that important, just 'one of those things foals go through.' Their teacher had probably seen it too, but she had classes to teach, and so she'd convinced herself that posting a few rules on the blackboard about name-calling or fighting fixed it, or that it was too much trouble to tell the victim and the bully apart in a fight, and that punishing everyone – or ignoring it entirely – were much easier.
* SoProudOfYou: [[spoiler:Part of Celestia and Twilight's reconciliation is Celestia admitting that she was impressed beyond words when Twilight and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon and became more and more proud of Twilight with each passing adventure.]]

* TakeThat: Celestia laughs off the idea that she was going to make Twilight an alicorn. Incidentally, less than a month after the chapter in question was released...

* TranquilFury:
** Twilight's RageAgainstTheMentor is primarily this, though it fluxes into more obvious anger when Celestia pushes her buttons a few more times.

* UndyingLoyalty: Even after the ''vicious'' RageAgainstTheMentor, half of Twilight's friends bet money that she would be back in 'Most Faithful Student' mode in short order. [[spoiler:It is ultimately downplayed; while Twilight is no longer the same adoring fangirl she is still willing to carry out Celestia's assignments and eventually reconciles with her.]]

* WartsAndAll: [[spoiler:Celestia is NOT an all-knowing chessmaster with a far-flung master plan; rather she's fallible like everypony else and prepares for the future as best she can. However, she is still benevolent and truly cares for Twilight. She admits as much to Twilight during their reconciliation.]]

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Twilight lampshades how easily most prior conflicts could have been resolved if Celestia had explained the situation more thoroughly.

* KarmaHoudini: {{Invoked}}. The tendency for bullies to get away with their actions due to a mentality of "Defending yourself makes you just as bad" and ignoring the issue is brought up and discussed.

* {{Mentorship}}[=/=]WifeHusbandry: Part of the spread in TheBet outlined above was 'royal consort'. Both Twilight and Celestia are repulsed.

* UndyingLoyalty: Even after the ''vicious'' RageAgainstTheMentor, half of Twilight's friends bet money that she would be back in 'Most Faithful Student' mode in short order. [[spoiler:It is ultimately a DownplayedTrope; while Twilight is no longer the same adoring fangirl she is still willing to carry out Celestia's assignments and eventually reconciles with her.]]

* WartsAndAll: [[spoiler:[[NotSoOmniscientAfterAll Celestia is NOT an all-knowing]] [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] [[NotSoOmniscientAfterAll with a far-flung master plan]]; rather she's fallible like everypony else and prepares for the future as best she can. However, she is still benevolent and truly cares for Twilight. She admits as much to Twilight during their reconciliation.]]

* YouWereTryingTooHard: Defied; Celestia did not tell Twilight about being a Bearer of the Elements because she was afraid Twilight would end up trying to force friendships and make the other Bearers reveal themselves.
** Notably, it [[RageAgainstTheMentor comes back to bite her]] ''anyways'', as she did not give any explanations for the secrecy after it was no longer needed.

* TheBet: There are two and both involve Twilight and Celestia. '''1)''' Will they reconcile as Teacher and Student? '''2)''' What is Celestia grooming Twilight to be? The latter outcomes involved a combination of 'alicorn', 'princess', or some other authority figure like 'prime minister' or 'head of the royal library'.

* [[spoiler:NotSoOmniscientAfterAll: Celestia is as fallible as anypony else, and she has made more than her fair share of mistakes over the centuries. She admits to Twilight that her shortsightedness has caused many of her most carefully laid out plans to be thwarted by the most trivial (or occasionally not-so-trivial) of things.]]

* [[spoiler: RebuiltPedestal]]: [[spoiler: In the final chapter, Twilight's relationship (and, to a lesser extent, her faith in) Celestia is restored. The princess explains to Twilight why she kept Nightmare Moon's return a secret from Twilight, the real reason why she sent Twilight to Ponyville, and why she sent the Element Bearers on such dangerous mission. She admits her mistake, apologizes, and the two reconcile.]]

** Celestia attempting to use the Crystal Kingdom to test Twilight – and her attempt to defend said decision when called out on it – becomes Twilight's RageBreakingPoint, "because I'm not going to imperil hundreds or even thousands of innocent ponies ''trying to get a gold sticker from you on a TEST!''"

* [[spoiler:SoProudOfYou: Part of Celestia and Twilight's reconciliation is Celestia admitting that she was impressed beyond words when Twilight and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon and became more and more proud of Twilight with each passing adventure.]]

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The Princesses' Not My Problem Spell has this effect, influencing anyone who looks at someone under its effects to decide it's not interesting or worth their time. In fact, it's ''more'' effective, the stranger the target appears; thus, they have a variety of strange clothes and accessories for the sole purpose of enhancing its strength. However it can also [[GoneHorriblyRight go horribly right]]; a footnote mentions a time they went the whole hog and became effectively invisible, which almost caused a carriage to crash into them.
* [[spoiler:WartsAndAll: [[NotSoOmniscientAfterAll Celestia is NOT an all-knowing]] [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] [[NotSoOmniscientAfterAll with a far-flung master plan]]; rather she's fallible like everypony else and prepares for the future as best she can. However, she is still benevolent and truly cares for Twilight. She admits as much to Twilight during their reconciliation.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Twilight aside, the Cutie Mark Crusaders called Applejack out as well.

A alternate opening to Season 3 of [[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]] By Creator/RealityCheck, can be found [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/60523/parting-words here]]

* NeverLiveItDown: InUniverse, Spike still remembers the time Celestia suddenly threw a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faberg%C3%A9_egg Fabergé egg]] at Twilight. [[spoiler: Celestia thought it was a cheap decoration and didn't realize it was the real deal until after she had thrown to Twilight.]]

* NeverLiveItDown: InUniverse, Spike still remembers the time Celestia suddenly threw a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faberg%C3%A9_egg Fabergé egg]] at Twilight. [[spoiler: It was actually a cheap decoration but Celestia didn't know that Twilight didn't know that.]]

* MyGreatestFailure: If anything can match 'banishing my beloved little sister for a thousand years' in Celestia's book of bad decisions, it's 'manipulate my beloved student so much that she severs ties with me.'

* NeverLiveItDown: InUniverse, Spike still remembers the time Celestia suddenly threw a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faberg%C3%A9_egg Fabergé egg]] at Twilight.

* NotHelpingYourCase: When Celestia tries to help Applejack, she makes the mistake of repeatedly assuming AJ did ''something'' to help with Babs instead of trying to lecture the ''CMC'' after the fact.
** Celestia also makes the mistake earlier of referring to the situation in the Crystal Empire as a "test," which Twilight calls her out on, as she believes that the possibility of dooming thousands of innocent ponies to hellish fates is not worth "A gold star on a test."

* SealedEvilInACan: King Sombra's ultimate fate in the alternate timeline.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The Princesses' Not My Problem Spell has this effect, influencing anyone who looks at someone under its effects to decide it's not interesting or worth their time. In fact, it's actually ''more'' effective, the stranger the target appears; thus, they have a variety of strange clothes and accessories for the sole purpose of enhancing its strength. However it can also GoneHorriblyRight; a footnote mentions a time they went the whole hog and became effectively invisible, which almost caused a carriage to crash into them.

* WriterOnBoard: Based on the WordOfGod in the comments, the disapproval over Applejack's failure to address the bullying of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was driven by the author's own negative experiences with bullying and adults' ignorance of it.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped[=/=]WriterOnBoard: Based on the WordOfGod in the comments, the disapproval over Applejack's failure to address the bullying of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was driven by the author's own negative experiences with bullying and adults' ignorance of it.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The Princesses' Not My Problem Spell has this effect, influencing anyone who looks at someone under its effects to decide it's not interesting or worth their time. In fact, it's actually ''more'' effective, the stranger the target appears; thus, they have a variety of strange clothes and accessories for the sole purpose of enhancing its strength.

* WriterOnBoard: Based on the WordOfGod in the comments, the disapproval over Applejack's actions was driven by the author's own negative experiences with bullying and adults' ignorance of it.