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Bitterness

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"I want you to forget about me and leave me alone, until I say otherwise. But I'll never forgive anyone tries to apologize to me one more time. Have fun at the wedding everypony and enjoy your friendship while it still lasts. I know mine did."
Twilight, delivering her ultimatum at the end of Chapter 1.

"Bitterness" is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fan Fic written by PLCTheCd. As for what it's about, consider the following:

Remember how in "A Canterlot Wedding Part 2", the entire "Twilight being dissed" subplot was resolved by only having Applejack apologize to Twilight? And Twilight was willing to accept it?

What if she shot it down?

Despite Chrysalis still being defeated as in canon, Twilight is unwilling to let this go. She is perfectly willing to cut off ties with her friends (and mentor) over this whole ordeal. The question is, will she?

Despite updating sporadically, this fic is yet another interesting take on addressing the problems of "A Cantlerlot Wedding Part 2", and unlike like other well known ones, has Twilight reach her breaking point through Applejack's apology. It really is a fascinating take on things.


This fan fic provides examples of:

  • Accusation Fic: Based off of the first chapter, it appears to be heading this way. At least considering how the majority of Twilight's dialogue consists of calling out her friends, her brother, and Celestia.
  • Adaptational Jerkass:
    • For starters, Twilight in all her newly cynical, hateful glory.
    • Rainbow Dash to a lesser extent, nearly hitting Twilight when the unicorn accuses her of being like Gilda and saying that if Twilight is going to hate them, they should just hate her in return. Especially jarring, considering that she is supposed to be the Element of Loyalty, but gives up on Twilight almost instantly after one callous remark. Fortunately, Fluttershy knocks some sense into her.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Twilight accuses the others of this, due to them not living up to their promise in "Lesson Zero" (which was take one's concerns seriously, no matter how small or trivial).
  • All Take and No Give: Twilight accuses the others of only caring about what they can get out of their relationship with her, claiming she should have recognized this back when they all wanted tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.
  • Armor-Piercing Question:
    • Twilight asks whether or not she would have been allowed back into the wedding if she had been wrong about Cadance being evil, and if they would have actually believed her if she had shown evidence.
    • Cadance asks the Mane Five why they sided with the imposter over their friend. She has to ask a second time when they hesitate to answer at first.
  • Armor-Piercing Response:
    Rainbow Dash: So your pride got damaged, and you were right all along, but what makes you so special from the rest of us? You didn't see me griping about the time you all dressed like Mare-Do-Well, what else you could've lost?!
    Twilight: My life!
  • At Least I Admit It: When Celestia tells Twilight that she's doing exactly what Discord wanted by tearing the group apart, Twilight nastily retorts that at least he was upfront about it.
  • Berserk Button:
  • Bribe Backfire: Pinkie's offer to throw an apology party for Twilight only causes the unicorn to accuse her of bribery, as is Shining Armor's attempt to reinstate her as his best mare at the wedding.
  • Broken Pedestal: Not just Twilight, but everypony else is becoming disillusioned by the actions of Shining Armor, the Mane Five, and Princess Celestia.
  • Call-Back:
    • An unintentional version, but given the tone of the fanfic, this must be pointed out: After Chrysalis inputs her two cents on how Twilight was treated, she (sarcastically) comments "With friends like them, who needs enemies?"
    • And an intentional version. Twilight redirects Shining and Celestia's remarks towards her, just to twist the knife at how badly they screwed up.
    • Twilight claims she should have realized the others were selfish after how they reacted when Celestia first sent her tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.
  • Cutting the Knot: Defied. Spike tries to get Cadance to use her love spell on Twilight to get her to listen to reason, but it doesn't work.
    Cadance: I can't, she's too heartbroken to be fixed by my spell. I can only restore her heart when she wants to be loved by all of you again. I’m afraid at this state, she wants nothing to do with us.
  • Deconstruction Fic: While this was intended to be a Fix Fic, it feels more like the former. Once Applejack delivers the apology, Twilight reflects on what has transpired, and rejects it.
  • Disappointed in You:
    • When Spike explains why he didn't defend her before, Twilight simply looks at him with disappointment rather than anger and tells him to think for himself next time.
    • When Celestia asks Cadance if she is upset with everyone else like Twilight is, Cadance answers no, but she is disappointed in them all.
    • Twilight's parents become disappointed in Shining Armor after finding out what happened at the rehearsal.
  • Disowned Sibling: In a cruel ironic twist where she only thought she had been disowned after her outburst at the wedding rehearsal, Twilight rather explicitly tells Shining Armor he is no longer her brother.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Even Chrysalis thinks Twilight's friends were being cold towards her. Then again, being a creature that feeds on emotions, she would naturally be more sensitive to ponies' emotions towards one another.
  • Hypocrite:
    • Twilight, in her rage, keeps calling the others hypocrites.
    • Her absolute refusal to listen to anything they say in their defense, twisting it around to try and make them come off even worse, doesn't seem all that different than the incident that kickstarted everything in the first place.
  • Ironic Echo: Twilight and Cadance throw Shining Armor's and Celestia's previous harsh words back at them, spoken nearly word-for-word.
  • Not Helping Your Case: Rainbow Dash and Rarity rationalize that they left Twilight alone because they thought she was jealous of Cadance and trying to ruin the wedding for everypony else. This does not improve the situation in any way.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
    • Twilight suddenly turning cold and hostile towards her friends, mentor, and brother is the main premise of the fic.
      Princess Celestia: I’ve known Twilight for years and she's never been the type to hold a grudge. I don't understand how she became so spiteful, so cynical all of the sudden.
    • Fluttershy actually slaps Rainbow Dash to make her get a hold of herself after making a callous remark.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Even though she's already decided her friends are worthless by this point, Twilight still frees Cadance and tells her to go to Shining Armor.
    • A minor example: Twilight is just disappointed in Spike rather than angry at him (although it helps that he explains his actions as not wanting to be in the same boat as her).
  • Point of Divergence: As stated, Twilight refuses to accept an apology for what she was dealt. Also, in this fic, Twilight decides to not come to the actual wedding, even though Shining wants to take back barring her from it. This also includes turning down his offer of being the Best Mare.
  • Precision F-Strike: When Shining grabs Twilight to get her to stop leaving:
    Twilight: GET YOUR HOOVES OFF OF ME YOU PATHETIC GELDING!note 
  • Pyrrhic Victory: Chrysalis is defeated by Shining and Cadance, but Twilight is so angry and hurt over how she was treated before the wedding that she denounces and rejects her friends, her brother, and Celestia. And she's not ready to forgive them any time soon.
  • Rage Against the Mentor: Poor Celestia gets an earful from Twilight.
  • Rage Breaking Point: Applejack's apology sets Twilight off because she decides it was "too little, too late."
  • Rejected Apology: The story starts with Twilight rejecting Applejack's apology.
  • Running Gag: An unintended one brought about due to issues; following the second chapter, every one following after thus far has been posted on New Years Eve since 2014.
  • Then Let Me Be Evil:
    • Or rather, in Twilight's words, "then let me be a nag."
    • Another variation when Rainbow bitterly declares they should just hate Twilight just as she accused them.
  • This Is Unforgivable!: When Twilight explains to them what happened at the wedding rehearsal and that the others didn't try to look for her while she was gone, Twilight Velvet is stunned while Night Light is furious.
    Night Light: Well, that settles it! I will give the others a piece of their minds! Shining Armor may be a grown stallion, but he is still getting disciplined like a colt!
  • Unreliable Narrator: Twilight's view of the others is subtly twisted to comply with her new, darker take on them. For instance, when faced with her brother's tearful apology, she decides he must have mastered crocodile tears rather than acknowledging it might be sincere.
  • Was It All a Lie?: Twilight asks if the others didn't really like her and were just using her to get what they wanted.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Twilight makes it painfully clear she no longer wants anything to do with her others.
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • Twilight aside, Cadance is shocked once she hears from Shining the specifics of Twilight being leaving alone after the rehearsal, as well as nopony bothering to look for her when she turned up missing.
    • Shining Armor and Twilight's parents give the group a small one in chapter 2.
  • Wham Line: In-universe, Twilight delivers the following to Celestia after Chrysalis is banished:
    Now this is over, find someone else to be the Wielder of Magic. Because, I now wish to relinquish my position of the Elements of so-called Harmony.
  • Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Played with: Chrysalis agreeing with what Twilight said early on upsets not her, but her friends.

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