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Originally posted with >>600412, second part of image wasn’t posted alongside.
“I really like the idea that Sunset is just really bad at making world-domination plans.”
“I really like the idea that Sunset is just really bad at making world-domination plans.”
That I can buy. Swirly seems to be the poneverse’s Namedropped Supergenius(C) whenever more than one spellbook gets cracked.
There may or may not have been other cases when ownership of an Element was successfully changed by taking it into the humanverse and then coming back. It’s possible it was all theoretical. Some wizard of Star Swirl’s caliber who knew about the mirror might have written a bunch of conjectural stuff about how the Elements and portal usage interact, and Sunset just took it all at face value.
Thing is, how likely is it to stay ‘tricked,’ especially when/if Sunny tries to actively tap it against other Bearers? Her whole cult-of-personality schtick indicates a dangerous underestimation of how persnickety the companionship-based power source might be. Anyhow, it’d be interesting to know whether other, less dimension-hoppy Element-subversion plots (if any) were any more successful.
Well, to continue the programming lingo from earlier, perhaps one could say that as long as the Element is in the human world, it is to an extent “open source”, or up for grabs, to any Equestrian who happens to be there. But in Equestria, the magic of the crown is proprietary. I’m imagining that traveling through the portal while wearing the crown tricks it into behaving like its proprietary ownership is that of its current wearer in that instance, so the new owner becomes locked in. It’s just a theory, but it kind of looked like that was the idea.
If dimension-hopping changes species both ways without any lingering physical effects (well, besides pones working out how to human), I have my doubts about the crown still running on Humanverse rules once back in Equestria. And since Twiley had precisely zero luck trying to brute-force the Elements’ use with everypone else de-attuned, dare we contemplate the migraine a blatant thief might be in for?
What I’m thinking is that Sunset’s reprogramming of the crown may have only been completed if she managed to retain possession of it while traveling back through the portal. Somehow or other, dimension hopping seemed to be the key to the whole process.
I could see the brainwashing spell being sustainable (or at least renewable if the mirror-switch disrupted it), but if Sunset’s use ‘rewired’ the EoM, you’d think there would be some kinda visible change akin to the rocks-bling shift all six underwent when first activated by the new Bearers.
@FanOfMostEverything
Good point-if an Element’s that open to reclamation from its ‘true’ Bearer in the open-source humanverse, what sort of interference might a usurper be in for once back in Equestria & faced with the other five…even assuming Sunny made sure Twi wouldn’t be following her home? Not sure we’re playing with Highlander(C) rules here.
I think the transformations definitely would have stuck. Aside from that, the brainwashing would continue to work because Sunset knows how to use her unicorn magic for that. And as for the crown, it could be that traveling through the mirror while in possession of the Element might have “rewired” it, in a manner of speaking. Even without the Element of Magic’s help, however, she would still basically be “Nightmare Sunset”, potentially too much for the others to handle.
And then there’s the matter of Twilight effectively pulling some wireless hacking on the tiara with the power of her day-old friendships with the human analogues of her friends. As far as I can tell, the Element of Magic was totally unsecured in the human world—anypony and everypony could use it, so long as they were actually ponies.
I’ve been under the impression Elements depended far more on personal attunement & Friendship Connections(C) than a user’s raw mojo, which was why Celly taking up all six against her sister shut ‘em off for a millennium…and Shimmy’s subverting the EoM for her own selfish goals might have had something to do with her Satanification(R) in the first place, so who knows how much extra fuss the crown would’ve kicked up once it had ambient pone-magick to react with again? For that matter, does the forcible theft & activation of one Element really nullify the other six if none of the original Bearers were somehow de-attuned prior?
…and here I’d almost forgotten how ‘fun’ toon metaphysics can be.
That’s the biggest question mark in Sunset’s plan. She seemed confident that the crown would continue to work for her in Equestria, but I’m not so sure. Then again, it’s possible that her own unicorn magic would have been enough to keep the spell going once she was back home. Her power level is comparable to pre-MMC Twilight’s, after all.
Well, we saw Celly banish NMM with the Elements…whether she could’ve done her in without ‘em (or even been psychologically capable of it) is an open question. As to whether a brainwashed pone-army with Nightmared-up unicorn prodigy, powered by one-sixth of the Friendship Rainbow, would be enough? I still dunno: Twue Wuv(C) cold-cocked an alicorn who probably would’ve won that beam-contest otherwise (heck, it took a second for Chryssie to realize she wasn’t losing it), and smacked an army over the horizon. Brainwashing & Final Form Transformation(C) aside, not sure anything Sunset did with that crown demonstrated comparable punch. Come to think of it, are we even sure the EoM’s effects on Sunset Satan & her slaves would’ve applied on both sides of the mirror?
Well yeah, that’s the thing, Chrysalis got a boost from Shining Armor, and Sunset was trying for something similar with the Element of Magic. Almost worked too, but Twilight’s presence sort of gumballed everything in unexpected ways.
To be fair, Chrysalis was powered up by Shinning.
@Background Pony #74E7
With that logic in mind she may have at least made a dent into Equestria. But I’m still rooting for the Bug Horse Queen and the King of Darkness.
Celestia wasn’t able to defeat Chrysalis, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility.
Considering those teenagers would turn into ponies (including unicorns and pegasi) when crossing over into Equestria, Sunset Shimmer would have had a magical pony army under her complete control. Which still probably wouldn’t have been enough for her to actually overthrow Celestia (and Luna) and take over all the land, but at least it’s not Doofenshmirtz-level ludicrous.
I call it Team Rocket Syndrome: wherein a villain has far greater aptitude for being good than evil.
Granted, Sunset was able to consolidate her rule over the high school to a terrifying degree, dividing and conquering the student body and ruling it through fear. Then she took a rainbow to the face.
I miss the good old days when villains had good plans. How could she possibly think that was a good idea?
Steal the Element of Magic, take it to a world where she could use it, brainwash the student body of a high school, and use her new teenage army to conquer Equestria. Yes, really. The demonic transformation may or may not have been part of the plan.