History Fanfic / PartingWords

-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' '''''[[SuddenlyShouting No danger?!]] [[RealityEnsues That dragon nearly had hickory-smoked unicorn for a bedtime snack!]]''''' (''{{Beat}}'') So I decided it would probably would be proper if, when I’m going out on a dangerous mission in the name of the Crown – like, say, now – that my friends and I have some backup. Just a few someponies under my direction with more combat training and experience than a ''party planner'', a ''dressmaker'', a ''weather-pony'', a ''veterinarian'' and a ''farmer.'' Not that it's particularly important. I mean, my friends and I are only [[TheChosenOne the Bearers of the Elements]], [[SarcasmMode it's not like it would be a national catastrophe if we were stomped by a dragon, or eaten by an Ursa Major, or pincushioned with arrows by highwayponies, or kidnapped by buffalo, or –]]

A alternate opening to Season Three 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]].

* AttackAttackAttack: Sombra's ''plan'' for dealing with the Elements of Harmony [[TooDumbToLive along with their reinforcements]] was to simply [[LeeroyJenkins charge right at them]]... ''[[WhatAnIdiot as an ominous black cloud]].''

-->'''Spike:''' Twilight, calm down. It's just a test.
-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Just. A test? '''[[SuddenlyShouting JUST A TEST?!]]''' Princess Celestia is trying to give me some kind of exam, and you're trying to get me to calm down because it is just, '''A TEST?!'''
-->'''Celestia:''' '''You have been told all you need to know! I told you, this was to be a test-'''\\

* MentorShip: Part of the spread in TheBet outlined above was 'royal consort'. Both Twilight and Celestia are repulsed.
* 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."
** 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."

* 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 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."

* 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.
-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' I don’t ''care'' what it is you’re ‘testing’ me for. Forget it, I don’t care! The welfare of other ponies is supposed to come first for a ruler, no matter what. So either tell me ''everything'' I need to know, or find somepony else to do this, '''''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!'''''

-->'''Celestia:''' This test was to be such an important step...
-->'''Luna:''' Fie on thy test. From what I did see, Twilight did pass the ''real'' test with flying colors. Will thou do as well on thy portion of the exam, I wonder?

-->It was true; Twilight the Loyal Student would have dithered and double-guessed herself; Twilight on her own had taken charge, moved in and got the task completed – and didn't apologize for using what she needed to do it, or how she did it.

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

* 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 in his childhood and the adults' refusal to take the problem seriously and how that ultimately led to a horrible (but entirely preventable) tragedy.]] See the YMMV page for further elaboration.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Sombra himself qualifies as this InUniverse [[ForWantOfANail after Twilight]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech chews out]] [[CallingTheOldManOut Princess Celestia]] [[TheChessmaster for all her tendencies]] [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test Twilight]] [[WithAHerring and leave her with virtually nothing to help her faithful student out on the more important missions]]. After getting substantially supplied and prepared, Twilight wastes absolutely no time in defeating Sombra ''the very moment'' she and her friends stepped foot off the train.
-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': [[CurbStompBattle The whole thing took maybe thirty seconds.]]
-->''For all the ominous buildup, King Sombra had turned out to be a pathetic magic hack, as well as a pushover in combat, and his terrible "curse" had popped like a soap bubble the instant the fair got underway. What kind of Evil Overlord relied on a mind-control spell that could be undone by a flugelhorn and a funnel cake?''

* NeverLiveItDown: InUniverse, Spike still remembers the time Celestia suddenly threw a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabergé_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.]]

* ParanoiaFuel: Most of Twilight's OCD tendencies came from Celestia constantly throwing tests at her over the years. Spike summarizes it best in Chapter 2 with Cadence.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Sombra himself 100% qualifies as this [[ForWantOfANail after Twilight]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech chews out]] [[CallingTheOldManOut Princess Celestia]] [[TheChessmaster for all her tendencies]] [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test Twilight]] [[WithAHerring and leave her with virtually nothing to help her faithful student out on the more important missions]]. After getting substantially supplied and prepared: Twilight wastes absolutely no time in defeating Sombra ''the very moment'' she and her friends stepped foot off the train.
-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': “[[CurbStompBattle The whole thing took maybe thirty seconds.]]”
-->''For all the ominous buildup, King Sombra had turned out to be a pathetic magic hack, as well as a pushover in combat, and his terrible “curse” had popped like a soap bubble the instant the fair got underway. What kind of Evil Overlord relied on a mind-control spell that could be undone by a flugelhorn and a funnel cake?''

-->'''Celestia:''' "Have things really changed so that just standing up to somepony who's hurting you gets ''you'' called a bully?"

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: One of the many gripes that Twilight has towards Celestia is that in nearly every single mission that she and her friends are sent out on; it is into situations where they are absolutely unprepared or have no experience being part of due to their professions and line of work without any backup or support.
-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' having a few soldiers along for a dangerous mission ''might'' be a good idea, I mean. At least since, you know, that one time you sent me and five other ''teenage mares'' up a mountain to ''evict a giant fire-breathing dragon.'' Or when you sent us out alone to face Discord. Or that time –

-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' '''''[[SuddenlyShouting No danger?!]] [[RealityEnsues That dragon nearly had hickory-smoked unicorn for a bedtime snack!]]''''' (''{{Beat}}'') So I decided it would probably would be proper if, when I’m going out on a dangerous mission in the name of the Crown – like, say, now – that my friends and I have some backup. Just a few someponies under my direction with more combat training and experience than a ''party planner'', a ''dressmaker'', a ''weather-pony'', a ''veterinarian'' and a ''farmer.'' Not that it’s particularly important. I mean, my friends and I are only [[TheChosenOne the Bearers of the Elements]], [[SarcasmMode it’s not like it would be a national catastrophe if we were stomped by a dragon, or eaten by an Ursa Major, or pincushioned with arrows by highwayponies, or kidnapped by buffalo, or –]]

* MeaningfulEcho: The climactic end of Twilight's RageAgainstTheMentor where she screams at Celestia when she says that saving the Crystal Empire was supposed to be a Test is almost an echo of what Spike was asking in the episode that the fic is based off of:

** For Applejack, it's more like, "My God, What Have I NOT Done?", as she realizes that her inaction caused Apple Bloom to completely lose faith in her.

** Celestia 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."

* ParanoiaFuel: Most of Twilights' OCD Tendencies came from Celestia constantly throwing tests at her over the years. With Spike summarizing it best in Chapter 2 with Cadence.
-->'''Spike:''' ''Day in, day out. Big tests, little tests, surprise tests, trick tests she wasn’t supposed to pass... every single day since Twilight became Celestia’s student, Celestia has been testing her. She’s never known when the next test or trial or challenge was gonna come, or if she was being tested in some way right that very minute. Why do you think she studies all the time? Why she makes all those checklists? Why she flips out if everything doesn’t go exactly to schedule? The stress has made her completely bonkers.''

** Also {{Deconstructed}} when Spike outlines how Celestia's frequent use of these has actually made Twilight ''less'' confident about her own abilities. Without the pressure of viewing her trip to the Crystal Empire as yet another test, Twilight manages to get FAR more prepared and accomplished.
-->It was true; Twilight the Loyal Student would have dithered and double-guessed herself; Twilight on her own had taken charge, moved in and got the task completed – and didn’t apologize for using what she needed to do it, or how she did it.

-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': “[[LeeroyJenkins Sombra attacked us almost the moment we got off the train.]] Not much of a [[AttackAttackAttack strategist]]; he attacked [[AmazonBrigade the Elements of Harmony]], [[EliteArmy a dozen of Celestia’s finest]], [[MilitaryMage three of the University’s most powerful unicorn mages]], and [[BarrierWarrior Shining Armor]] as a ''[[WhatAnIdiot giant cloud]]''. Hmph. Never mind the mages; with all the armored pegasi in our party that was like attacking Pinkie Pie with a tray of cupcakes. [[ShockAndAwe The airborne Guard bucked the rain and lightning out of him]], then Shining Armor and the unicorn scholars held him in place with a magic barrier long enough for us to power up the Elements and, well... [[WaveMotionGun Rainbow of Friendship]], point blank to the face... Granted, [[MoreDakka the volley of cannon fire]] from the train didn’t do him any favors either.” ''Rolling artillery, what a concept.''

-->'''Twilight''': "A few heads-up notes someplace might have been appreciated! [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon ‘If you are reading this, Twilight, my demigod sister has returned from the moon,]] she can be defeated with the Elements of Harmony, here’s a map!’ [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 ‘Dear Twilight, that ugly statue in the garden is an evil avatar of Chaos, be careful, don’t let him reverse your brain!]] Here are a few dozen ''armed guards'' for when you face down a ''mad demigod of chaos!''’, 'Hey Twilight, guess what, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 my niece is marrying your brother!]] But be on your guard, we’ve been threatened by the Changeling Kingdom!’ ‘Twilight, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess dragons can grow really really fast, keep an eye on Spike!’]] ‘Oh by the way, Twilight, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E22ABirdInTheHoof my pet bird is a phoenix,]] no need to worry if it looks sick or '''''bursts into flame!'''''’ And now '''''this''''' time it’s ‘Dear Twilight, the Crystal Kingdom, previously ruled by an evil unicorn, has reappeared after a thousand years, it has a curse on it, go save it!’ ''What'' crystal kingdom? ''What'' curse? ''Where’s'' the evil leader, and ''how'' in Equestria am I supposed to save it? I could get more information off the back of a hoofball bubblegum card!”

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Twilight believed that Celestia would choose to abandon Twilight after using her and her newfound friends to free Luna from Nightmare Moon after Celestia (according to Twilight) manipulated her students' entire life to reach this particular goal, and that this outcome was part of the reason why Twilight chose to bottle up her emotions and keep doing all of Celestias' Tests and Missions before she reached her breaking point with the Crystal Empire.
-->'''Twilight''': "Every time some ‘crisis’ came up and you gave it to me, instead of to your generals or your archmages, or your thousands of other ponies who were supposed to be handling that sort of thing. I guess I bottled it all up because... because I was grateful for that. Grateful that once you got Luna back, you didn’t just wad me up and throw me over your shoulder. At least it meant you still had some use for me.”
* 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. It [[RageAgainstTheMentor comes back to bite her]] ''anyways'', as she did not give any explanations for the secrecy after it was no longer needed.

-->'''Spike:''' ''Day in, day out. Big tests, little tests, surprise tests, trick tests she wasn’t supposed to pass... every single day since she became Celestia’s student, Celestia has been testing her. Ever since Twilight was a filly, it’s been like this. She’s never known when the next test or trial or challenge was gonna come, or if she was being tested in some way right that very minute. Why do you think she studies all the time? Why she makes all those checklists? Why she flips out if everything doesn’t go exactly to schedule? The stress has made her completely bonkers.''

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Twilight believed that Celestia would choose to abandon Twilight after using her and her newfound friends to free Luna from Nightmare Moon after (according to Twilight) manipulated her students' entire life to reach this particular goal, and that this outcome was part of the reason why Twilight chose to bottle up her emotions and keep doing all of Celestias' Tests and Missions before she reached her breaking point with the Crystal Empire.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Invoked by Twilight Sparkle in her "debriefing" with Cadence on how they managed to [[CurbStompBattle defeat]] [[AntiClimaxBoss Sombra]], with what little there was left of him afterwards being gathered up and [[SealedEvilInACan put inside of a jar]] that itself was [[CrazyPrepared hermetically sealed]].
-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': “[[LeeroyJenkins Sombra attacked us almost the moment we got off the train.]] Not much of a [[AttackAttackAttack strategist]]; he attacked [[AmazonBrigade the Elements of Harmony]], [[EliteArmy a dozen of Celestia’s finest]], [[MilitaryMage three of the University’s most powerful unicorn mages]], and [[BarrierWarrior Shining Armor]] as a ''[[WhatAnIdiot giant cloud]]''. Hmph. Never mind the mages; with all the armored pegasi in our party that was like attacking Pinkie Pie with a tray of cupcakes. [[ShockAndAwe The airborne Guard bucked the rain and lightning out of him]], then Shining Armor and the unicorn scholars held him in place with a magic barrier long enough for us to power up the Elements and, well... [[WaveMotionGun Rainbow of Friendship]], point blank to the face... Granted, [[MoreDakka the volley of cannon fire]] from the train didn’t do him any favors either.” ''Rolling artillery, what a concept.''

* RebuiltPedestal: [[spoiler: In the final chapter, Twilight's relationship with (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.]]

* 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!''"
** After Twilight leaves, Luna plays with this by stating that the unicorn passed "the ''real'' test with flying colors" by calling her out... and wonders how Celestia will fare with her own test of character.
** Also {{Deconstructed}} when Spike outlines how Celestia's frequent use of these has actually made Twilight ''less'' confident about her own abilities. Without the pressure of viewing her trip to the Crystal Kingdom as yet another test, Twilight manages to get FAR more prepared and accomplished.

-->'''Spike''': Twilight, calm down. It's just a test.
-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': Just. A test? '''[[SuddenlyShouting JUST A TEST?!]]''' Princess Celestia is trying to give me some kind of exam, and you're trying to get me to calm down because it is just, '''A TEST?!'''

-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': “[[LeeroyJenkins Sombra attacked us almost the moment we got off the train.]] Not much of a [[AttackAttackAttack strategist]]; he attacked [[WhatAnIdiot the Elements of Harmony, a dozen of Celestia’s finest, three of the University’s most powerful unicorn mages, and Shining Armor as a]] ''[[WhatAnIdiot giant cloud]]''. Hmph. Never mind the mages; with all the armored pegasi in our party that was like attacking Pinkie Pie with a tray of cupcakes. [[ShockAndAwe The airborne Guard bucked the rain and lightning out of him]], then Shining Armor and the unicorn scholars held him in place with a magic barrier long enough for us to power up the Elements and, well... [[WaveMotionGun Rainbow of Friendship]], point blank to the face... Granted, [[MoreDakka the volley of cannon fire]] from the train didn’t do him any favors either.” ''Rolling artillery, what a concept.''

* AntiClimaxBoss: Sombra himself 100% qualifies as this [[ForWantOfANail after Twilight]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech chews out]] [[CallingTheOldManOut Princess Celestia]] [[TheChessmaster for all her tendencies]] [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test Twilight]] [[WithAHerring and leave her with virtually nothing to help her faithful student out on the more important missions]]. After getting substantially supplied and prepared: Twilight wastes absolutely no time in defeating Sombra the moment she and her friends stepped foot off the train.

* AttackAttackAttack: Sombra's ''plan'' for dealing with the Elements of Harmony [[TooDumbToLive along with their reinforcements]] was to simply [[LeeroyJenkins charge right at them]]... ''[[WhatAnIdiot as an ominous black cloud]]''

* AntiClimaxBoss: Sombra himself 100% qualifies as this after Twilight [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech chews out]] [[CallingTheOldManOut Princess Celestia]] [[TheChessmaster for all her tendencies]] [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test Twilight]] [[WithAHerring and leave her with virtually nothing to help her faithful student out on the more important missions]]. After getting substantially supplied and prepared, Twilight wastes absolutely no time in defeating Sombra the moment she and her friends stepped foot off the train.

-->'''Celestia:''' Have things really changed so that just standing up to somepony who's hurting you gets you called a bully?
* AttackAttackAttack: Sombra's ''[[WhatAnIdiot plan]]'' for [[LeeroyJenkins dealing with the Elements of Harmony]], [[TooDumbToLive along with their reinforcements]].

* AttackAttackAttack: Sombra's [[WhatAnIdiot plan]] for dealing with the Elements of Harmony, [[TooDumbToLive along with their reinforcements]].

-->'''Twilight''': "A few heads-up notes someplace might have been appreciated! [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon ‘If you are reading this, Twilight, my demigod sister has returned from the moon,]] she can be defeated with the Elements of Harmony, here’s a map!’ [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 ‘Dear Twilight, that ugly statue in the garden is an evil avatar of Chaos, be careful, don’t let him reverse your brain!]] Here are a few dozen ''armed guards'' for when you face down a ''mad demigod of chaos!''’, 'Hey Twilight, guess what, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 my niece is marrying your brother!]] But be on your guard, we’ve been threatened by the Changeling Kingdom!’ ‘Twilight, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess dragons can grow really really fast, keep an eye on Spike!’]] ‘Oh by the way, Twilight, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E22ABirdInTheHoof my pet bird is a phoenix, no need to worry if it looks sick or '''''bursts into flame!'''''’]] And now '''''this''''' time it’s ‘Dear Twilight, the Crystal Kingdom, previously ruled by an evil unicorn, has reappeared after a thousand years, it has a curse on it, go save it!’ ''What'' crystal kingdom? ''What'' curse? ''Where’s'' the evil leader, and ''how'' in Equestria am I supposed to save it? I could get more information off the back of a hoofball bubblegum card!”

-->Twilight: "A few heads-up notes someplace might have been appreciated! [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon ‘If you are reading this, Twilight, my demigod sister has returned from the moon,]] she can be defeated with the Elements of Harmony, here’s a map!’ [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 ‘Dear Twilight, that ugly statue in the garden is an evil avatar of Chaos, be careful, don’t let him reverse your brain!]] Here are a few dozen ''armed guards'' for when you face down a ''mad demigod of chaos!''’, 'Hey Twilight, guess what, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 my niece is marrying your brother!]] But be on your guard, we’ve been threatened by the Changeling Kingdom!’ ‘Twilight, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess dragons can grow really really fast, keep an eye on Spike!’]] ‘Oh by the way, Twilight, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E22ABirdInTheHoof my pet bird is a phoenix, no need to worry if it looks sick or '''''bursts into flame!'''''’]] And now '''''this''''' time it’s ‘Dear Twilight, the Crystal Kingdom, previously ruled by an evil unicorn, has reappeared after a thousand years, it has a curse on it, go save it!’ ''What'' crystal kingdom? ''What'' curse? ''Where’s'' the evil leader, and ''how'' in Equestria am I supposed to save it? I could get more information off the back of a hoofball bubblegum card!”

** After Twilight leaves, Luna plays with this by stating that the unicorn passed "the 'real' test with flying colors" by calling her out... and wonders how Celestia will fare with her own test of character.

** After Twilight leaves, Luna plays with this by stating that the unicorn passed a "true test" by calling her out... and wonders how Celestia will fare with her own test of character.

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

* FixFic: Primarily {{Deconstruct|ed Trope}}s Celestia's TricksterMentor tendencies by revealing how badly this has hurt her Faithful Student. Also turns a baleful eye on how the CMC-getting-bullied issue has been handled.

* GambitRoulette: DiscussedTrope. Celestia is well aware of how much her plan to redeem her sister depended on the precise interlocking of far-flung events, and she hated it. [[spoiler: If she had had her way, she would have found all the Element Bearers years before Nightmare Moon had returned, mentored them in the use of the Elements, fostered a friendship between them, and then directed them to blast Nightmare Moon the instant she returned. Alas, it didn't happen that way.]]

* 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]].
* KarmaHoudini: {{Discussed}}. 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.

** After Twilight leaves, Luna plays with this by stating that the unicorn passed a "true test" by calling her out... and wonders how Celestia will fare with her OWN test of character.

* SelectiveObliviousness: Celestia realizes that the reason why the Cutie Mark Crusaders have received such inadequate help in response to bullying can be summed up by this trope.

* 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.]]

* 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.]]

* AlternateUniverse: It diverges from canon due to Twilight's RageAgainstTheMentor and ripples outward.