Less is Moreby EpicGamer10075ChaptersPanicPatienceBreatheFire & RainTravelAltitudeImitationWastedHeartbeatPeace & ManiaEgo & EffortPanicTwilight wasn’t panicking. Not yet, anyway, but her mind and all the stress were sure to— She shook her head almost violently to try and get rid of those thoughts. It must’ve been only ten minutes before she was supposed to head to class for the test, but her breath kept coming fast and heavily, her hooves unable to keep themselves still as she trotted almost frantically around her bedroom in Canterlot Castle, the stress forcing a tension across her insides and making her feel like she was about to throw up. She had already went into the bathroom twice in preparation to do just that, but she never actually had anything come up; she didn’t actually need to vomit, the stress was just forcing her to think that she did… right? Another heaving, shaky breath came out of Twilight’s throat and she started to feel dizzy, but her antsy hooves kept her from laying down. Instead, the only solace she could find was muttering to herself, “Come on, Twilight, this is ridiculous! You’ve already had tests before and you know this isn’t going to be any different! Why are you so f-fricking stressed?!” Despite her words, her body felt no less assured, and bile still felt like it might come up her throat at any minute. In the back of her mind, she could recall what her babysitter, Cadance, had told her in the past about dealing with this anxiety, but… Twilight suddenly stopped in place and put a hoof on her breast, closed her eyes and just tried to breathe. She took a deep inhale, held it for a second, then let it out in a shaky exhale. Then she did it again, a little slower, and then once more. She tried to keep her conscious thoughts down, but every time seemed just the littlest bit off in her motions, her mental voice popped up again and went on for a bit before Twilight mentally shouted back at it to be quiet. After a short while of trying to do that, she opened her eyes and felt slightly better, with the bile having receded for the time being and her breaths less obnoxiously loud in her mind. Cadance had spoken at length about this ‘mystical’ technique to calm one’s panic, but Twilight already knew stuff like that didn’t work. The only times her panic ever truly faded was when her mind went completely elsewhere, utterly focused on some task like studying or reading books, with no mental real-estate to spare for any nagging reminders of her broader existence or the stress that came with it. She wanted to believe Cadance was right, that Twilight was simply doing something wrong, but she knew from experience and dozens of anecdotes that such an ideal solution to her anxiety simply didn’t exist. She loved Cadance, she really did, but the older, more extroverted mare simply didn’t understand this kind of stress, and any words she said on the matter were biased from not having to deal with it. Sighing in exhaustion, Twilight looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed she only had two minutes remaining before she needed to go. Gulping what little stress she could down, and knowing that all of it would fade during the test, she headed off to class. Author's Note I’ve read a few times before how that technique Cadance taught Twilight about dealing with stress is capable of completely nullifying panic, but I know from personal experience that that isn’t true. I’ve also found it odd that Cadance would be the one teaching it, as she doesn’t seem to have a lick of either introversion (and thus personal experience) or psychotherapy training (and thus external knowledge), so any idea she’d have on deal with stress is liable to be biased. I can’t that I myself have an experience exactly like this story, and I know that others have different types of panic, but I think it’s worth putting something out there about how this can work, and when would be better than right after a quiz I was stressing about? (In actuality I’ve had ideas about making these stories for a few days, but the stress there definitely did give me inspiration for this chapter!) PatienceFluttershy could count on her hooves how many other creatures she’d seen be a patient as she was. So many other ponies, griffons, dragons, changelings, etc. were fast and impressive in their own rights, but when it came to being patient? She sighed in a mixture of relief and annoyance as she closed the door to her home, finally, finally done with all her tasks for the day. She had fed all her animal friends, cleaned up the chickens’ coop, helped repair one of the beavers’ dams, watered all of her inside and outside plants, got all of the groceries from the market at decent prices, hauled them home, dealt with Angel’s angsty antics and fed him, and... it ended up taking a lot longer than she liked. Now, though, she could finally trot out into the fields near her home, though thankfully away from the spooky Everfree Forest, and have some nice time alone with... her. Fluttershy smiled warmly at the thought, though a level of amusement also crept up into her face; she had encountered her fair share of suitors after all, and while some were very easy to toss out, being the entitled and sexist ~~bastards~~ um, stallions that they were, others were a bit more complicated. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were the most common ones she had thought about in that light, for obvious reasons; Rarity was incredibly beautiful and generous, and she’d certainly make her lover feel like a Princess with all her pampering, and the occasional opportunity to hold the unicorn as she bawled and ate her way through two whole tubs of ice-cream would’ve been nice for her closest friend. However, Rainbow Dash also presented an interesting option, as she was very fit and immensely fast--one of the only to ever perform a Sonic Boom, in fact!--though was still able to sit down and have friends she was incredibly loyal to. But, beyond the slightly weird feeling Fluttershy got about going into a relationship with ponies who she felt closer to a sister than a love interest, she knew that neither of them were too patient. Dash was infamous for her inability to sit still and listen for any extended length of time, and Rarity, while much more able to focus on something, still had issues controlling herself when she found something interesting. There were other creatures that could’ve been nice to be in a relationship with, like the excitable Pinkie Pie, her timid and adorable twin sister Marble, that new librarian Twilight Sparkle, her calm acquaintance Tree Hugger, or that angry gryphon, Gilda--who she was sure must have a softer side--but... none of them were patient. None of those options were the type to help her with her animals because they liked to, none of them would sit and talk with her for hours about nothing, none of them could deal with her animals in peaceful ways for any more than a couple days, and none of them could simply stand there and exist in the moment, and all of those qualities were fundamental to Fluttershy as a creature. Looking past all the shyness, reservations, interest in animals, living near a spooky forest, and barely-existing capable of flight that were so often attributed to her, all Fluttershy was at her core was patient. She had always dodged any question about any possible romance she was interested in, not just because it’s rather embarrassing for her, but also because she truly didn’t know how to answer, and she wasn’t about to give up on it just because she hadn’t met somecreature she truly loved yet. Luckily, all of that patience had finally paid off. Fluttershy trotted up a small hill near the outskirts of Ponyville and quickly spotted the creature still sitting there quietly, rump pressed against the ground while her eyes remained closed, simply existing for more than an hour after Fluttershy was supposed to be there by. Fluttershy herself hardly cared what others would say about the creature’s appearance; whatever scared (or likely awed, in Dash’s case) reactions her friends and family got from the creature were irrelevant under the singular piece of knowledge that they waited for her and didn’t look in the least bothered by it. She sighed lovingly as she approached the creature, and barely even noticed the oddly metal picnic basket beside them as she spoke softly, “Hello Tianhuo.” The longma, with her shining spring green scales and the tamed flickering of the light orange flames that made up her mane, opened her eyes at the voice, and her body language had no drama or haste, no slacking and no impatience. “Ah, you’re here, Fluttershy,” She spoke in her slightly growly voice, though it too was as calm and kind as possible. “Sorry I’m late,” Fluttershy replied with a hint of guilt, even when she knew her friend wouldn’t mind. “I hadn’t even noticed,” Tianhuo responded with a completely honest tone, and swiveled her head just a bit and moved her piercing red eyes over see her visitor. There was a small smile on her face, and though bereft of romantic intention, Fluttershy could only think about how she’d love any creature as patient as the longma before her, but this one specifically just ended up being so... beautiful. Author's Note I honestly do really like this ship, and think Tianhuo as a character deserves more attention; while she and Oleander are the only two characters of Them’s Fightin’ Herd’s I’d consider to be truly a threat, Tian possesses a lot more exceptional qualities that Oleander simply doesn’t have, and patience is one of them. I’ve implemented a bit of alternate take on the world here, as I know that Dash is supposed to be the only one who’s ever done a Sonic Rainboom, but from both a in-universe logic angle and a metatextual narrative angle, that’s just stupid. I’m not really the person to care much about keeping continuity with an arbitrary timeline either, so I’d much rather things be a little more interesting here than have a weird and out-of-place connection to the canon. BreatheShe could finally breathe. After more than a millennium, Luna could finally breathe. It was something so many took for granted, but after being imprisoned for so very long, she wouldn’t any more. It was so nice to feel the cool air across her fur, little whispers of wind that made it into the ruined castle she stood in, a small level of moisture in the air with the telltale scent of dew wafting by. All of that stook in stark contrast to the stale an unbreathable surface of where she was just minutes prior, and she truly appreciated this chance to just breathe before the inevitable came... She could already tell they were headed her way, with the creatures of the Everfree Forest crying out about some intruders fending them off as best they could. She didn’t bother asking herself why they might’ve been there, for any answer would be a nuisance upon her mind, not to mention redundant, as she had already poured over endless possibilities in her time... away. So, despite the ruins of her former home scattered and shattered all around her, despite the unruly overgrowth that had writhed across it, despite the army she was sure was coming for her, and despite the entire nation she once ruled over no doubt detesting her very existence, Luna just stood there and breathed. In. Out. In. Out. She could feel her lungs creaking and shifting from the air that was finally allowed to pass into them, their lack of use for so long making them painful to bring back into use. In. Out. In. Out. She could tell the intruders were getting closer, but still she remained there to take it all in, her mind having a hard time truly believing that she was there. In. Out. In. Out. She could barely recall the dreams she had in those first years, with only the more recent, barren grey ones making any sense to her sluggish mind. In. Out. In. She opened her mouth somewhat and let out a slower, longer exhale, and she could feel the damp air rushing in after, and it made her realize how little of such moisture she’d had in her mouth for so long. Almost instinctually, she coughed, which quickly devolved into a coughing fit as her utterly parched throat made its plight known to her. Her head hung further down with each cough, though it luckily didn’t take too long before she could generate some natural saliva in her maw and gulp it down. Multiple more times she did that, feeling the unpleasant and sharp sensation of it going down her throat, and the ensuing creaking as it started to move properly again. “I...” She started to speak, and though it was quiet and broken, it was a word. “I am here... aren’t I..?” Her tone was slow and hesitant, and it spoke of her difficulty truly believing she was back. Her memories of her previous life were faded and difficult to parse through the fog of pain, but she still knew the place around her was far from what it once was. She raised her head back up and looked at the ruins around her, dim though it was in what little amount of light from her Moon that managed to get through the many trees around her. She knew she had traversed this place endless times, and while it was crushed and torn apart by time, she could still tell she was standing in the heart of the castle, where... she had been with her so many times, talking, discussing, arguing, fighting... Why did it have to be this way? They were supposed to be equals, but then she abandoned her... This curse of eternal life was an incredibly heavy burden to bear, but they were supposed to do it together, and now... Luna had cried a lot in her prison, out of hate and anger for so many things gone terribly wrong, but here it felt different... Akin to the air she could now breathe, her tears were less stale and more brisk, and they reminded her that everything she ever knew had been taken from her, leaving her but with a single goal: retribution. She could start to hear the steps of the intruders coming near the ruined castle, and for the first in what felt like forever, she was ready. Author's Note I have a lot of thoughts on Princess Luna, and I know that so many of them cannot be refuted simply due to how little we truly know about her. I personally prefer viewing her as a intelligent and stalwart Warrior-Princess in contrast to the more optimistic and diplomatic Celestia, with so much more potential out of their dynamic than mere fish-out-of-water comedy that appears in so many stories here. Of course, then there’s the mockery of her Moon, being trapped there for a millennium. All that’s really used for in most stories with her is a driving force for conversation between her and others, but very few have ever really dug deep into what it would mean for that to happen to her. This story hardly does either, but it’s a starting point for ones that may, with the endless pain and foggy memories that would plague Luna taking focus here, and I hope that someone may find this concept interesting enough to be inspired by it. Fire & RainIt had been a while since she had seen rain. It must’ve been months since she was far enough from her homeland to actually experience water falling from the sky, and it always felt so strange to her. Tianhuo, as a creature with wings made of flame, was rendered grounded by the precipitation, and while most of her race would find it frightening, she stood her ground and let the water pass over her scales as other races did. Or, at least should have. Being the Champion of Houshan, Tianhuo had been sent to enough nations to know that most races ran for cover from the rain, or carried something with them to protect themselves from it, despite the mere water not having an effect on them. She knew her own race could sometimes get sick from the cold that rain imparted as well as the suppression of flames the water itself caused, and while she had heard of other creatures getting sick as well, it was circumstances far more dire than a typical afternoon rain-shower. Regardless, the longma continued standing amidst the small torched clearing in a forest, watching one of the few creatures she knew of that actually embraced the rain, and who was ironically enough a fire-based creature like herself. Autumn Blaze, from a race of Kirins that lived relatively close to Houshan, had immediately faded in her literally infernal rage when she noticed the rain a few minutes prior, and started prancing around and dancing amongst the small puddles and damp, yet crunchy grass without a care in the world. While Tianhuo was hardly on official business near the Kirins’ home, and thus was at liberty to ‘goof off’--as Autumn lovingly put it--as much as she liked, she preferred remaining calm and simply taking in the world around her. The air was relatively brisk and wet as Tianhuo breathed it in, feeling an odd sort of fresh in comparison to her home’s hot and dry air, and the sensation of her flames getting instantly extinguished by something as mundane (to the world, at least) as rain felt humbling, as if it was to prove she was a creature like all others and her flames were merely a tool or aesthetic, rather than something that put her race above all others. Of course, the sight was something to behold as well; with many shimmering drops all falling everywhere and splashing off of all of the trees, stumps, rocks, and grass filling the space with a calm aesthetic, which the light fog that the rain rolled it gave a pleasant background to. There was no rainbow to be seen amongst the sky, which would’ve certainly somewhat put-out Autumn if she had noticed, but it seemed the rain itself was easily enough to placate her. The soft splattering of water across the landscape was soothing to Tianhuo’s hearing, with the constant white noise of nature itself calming her soul, and any brushes of wind that came out of the fog adding a bit more texture that she could relax into. Tianhuo could hardly stop herself from asking why others avoided this feeling, this sight, and this sound like it was some sort of disease, and while she’d hardly say it to their faces unless they were being particularly rude, she really wasn’t sure if those creatures actually cared for nature in the slightest. Did all of those creatures simply find their place amidst the systems that ruled them and let their souls be whittled away, never going out to see the beauty of the world and truly embrace it? Author's Note I’ve certainly found Longmas interesting as a race, and have wondered before how they’d handle rain. I also am aware that Autumn Blaze certainly loves it, despite her fiery nature. It was a simple combination of those two thoughts that made this story sprout in my mind, and any misgivings I may have seeded in about people seeming to ignore nature have been long pent-up and waiting for something to do with them. TravelTrixie’s life was an odd one. Most creatures found themselves a permanent home and lived there until some impactful event forced them to move to somewhere else, where they’d again settle for as long as they could. Those homes were a place to always retreat to, where after going to work, school, or simply doing whatever they wished outside, they returned to and laid in the unmoving space amongst an unmoving town or city, always knowing what everything would look like when they awoke the next day. Trixie, though, was a traveller. Her home had wheels, and most days she simply pulled it from place to place for hours at a time. Despite her theatrical personality and the strong acts she put on in front of others, she was actually rather reserved and patient, with the physical strength and mental fortitude necessary to make those long treks all by her lonesome. It was rather lonely, she reflected as she sat amongst calm fields in the dimming light of sundown, but it had given her opportunities few others have ever had. She had pulled her home across land, and had it brought across sea and through the sky, allowing her to see new and interesting sights nearly every day. She had hiked across plains and hills, feeling the serenity of nature ever-present around her, trudged through seemingly endless deserts and pushed her home through the deep pits of sand, made her way through blistering mountain valleys and seen her exhausted breath become visible before her amongst the light shower of snow, floated on makeshift ferries across lakes and watched cheerful sea-ponies dance through the water’s surface, ridden cloud-carts to cloud-cities with the ground becoming further and further from her hooves, and been to nearly every nation she could to see their culture and put on a show for them. There had been plenty of pony civilizations, sure, but there were also the feisty Gryphons amongst their wooden towns built on treetops, the cheery yet sleazy Horses living in their bustling markets, the forever-angry Dragons scouring their caves and mountains, the militaristic and honourable Longmas in their dry and heated, yet beautiful empire, the silent yet kind Kirin in a relatively-nearby forest grove, the large and out-of-touch Yaks in a frozen wasteland of a nation, the alchemical masters that were the Zebras in their dense, yet dry settlements, and even some Changeling hives, thankfully none of which were were the sadistic Queen Chrysalis’s, but happened to be quite different from each other. All of that, and so much more, was open to her amongst her lengthy travels that she charted on maps and hiked by hoof, and she could hardly imagine it ever being different now. She always felt constrained and almost claustrophobic any time she was in one place for too long, and kept on the move to continue bringing her magic to others around the world. She smiled to herself, watching the clouds go by and and the stars slowly become visible in the darkening sky, as she recalled the stunned and smiling faces of the many creatures she had performed for. While some nations were more eager to welcome her shows than others, the glee and amazement on the children’s faces as well as the shock and awe on the adults’ filled her with joy and pride in a way that nothing else could, and it always gave her the motivation to keep going, keep showing more people her magic. She often wondered to herself if any of the creatures she met could even imagine a life like that, with no single place to call home, with no single set of people always around them, with little protection from the elements, and especially little to fight against the ever-present loneliness that pervaded these trips between settlements. It could certainly be difficult at times, even to her, but what she found along the way more than made up for it. She found new audiences to stun and amaze, new cultures to see and enjoy, new places and routes to take in the scenery of, and new stories to tell thought up from her time alone, but above all else, she found freedom in this life. Freedom was a strange concept, with so many creatures calling their lives ‘free’ and the world at their disposal, yet never really going beyond their own backyard (relatively speaking, anyway), while even more were kept from it all as a cog in a larger system set up by the rich, powerful, and bigoted, yet still content to live with nothing more. The massive trick they all pulled on themselves to make themselves believe they were free when they were truly just trapped was one that even impressed the travelling magician, but one that disappointed her even more. How could they all live a free life without actually being free? She shook her head and sighed into the cool breeze, and knew she’d never keep herself from this freedom ever again, and that that was why she travelled. Author's Note Trixie’s always been an interesting character to me, with the ‘travelling’ part of her ‘travelling magician’ career being a centerpoint. She’s definitely in a lower echelon of society, and I’d imagine she despises how people with more power than her misuse it in one way or another, and so she really only cares about the lower and middle class being part of her show, and harshly puts down anyone that tries to ruin everyone’s enjoyment for their own selfish or foolish reasons. There’s so much she must have seen in her travels that never get mention in canon or in any fanfics, but seeing so many different places and never being tied down to one spot are critical to her character, so this story is about how that has shaped her worldview, the good things that come with it, and how she sees everyone else. Altitude“Dash, she’s fine.” Those words did little to alleviate Rainbow Dash from the heart-wrenching sight of her closest friend, Fluttershy, lying in a hospital bed with a respirator over her maw. “She clearly isn’t, Dust,” She spat back at her other, less close friend, who was in the room with her. “Else she wouldn’t be...” Lightning Dust sighed and pinched her brow for a moment in irritation, and asked, “You do know why she’s unconscious, right?” Dash scoffed and didn’t take her eyes off Fluttershy, retorting, “Of course not--and I don’t know why the hay you would either!” “It’s not even taught in school where I’m from,” Dust replied, “It’s pretty dang fundamental, so it’s taught by our parents.” Sighing again and looking around the sterile room, and specifically at the large window that pointed out at the white cloudscape of Cloudsdale around the hospital, she continued, “I know you’re a school dropout, but you should at least know that it’s the dang altitude that’s causing her issues.” “What the hay does that have to do with anything?!” Dash yelled back at her, whipping her gaze towards the (somehow) more knowledgeable mare. “Dude, you have noticed it’s a bit harder to breathe up here than on the surface, right?” Rainbow Dash stared angrily at the look her friend was giving her for a few seconds, but did pay more attention to her breathing than normal, and did end up finding it somewhat akin to being partially out of breath, though she previously just attributed that to being actually out of breath from her flight up. Conceding, she calmed her expression and looked back towards Fluttershy, asking, “Sure. And I suppose the genius you just so happen to be here might know about that?” “Well yeah; there’s less air up here, idiot,” Lightning Dust replied, and stretched her wings out, continuing, “There’s a bunch of science stuff behind it that I don’t care for, but it all makes the air thinner up here than down on the surface, making it a bit harder to breathe. And,” She added, flapping her wings a bit, “Me and you are pegasi, and are better at adapting to those different thinness-es of air, and while your friend is also a pegasi, she never really goes high enough to actually be used to those types of changes.” Rainbow Dash’s gaze slowly returned to her with some level of bewilderment in it, and she questioned, “Where the hay are you from if you know all of that? I thought you were from Cloudsdale!” “Nope; Cirracuse,” Dust replied simply, shaking her head. “It is a cloud city, though one way higher than this place. The air here is like, what, eighty percent, I think they said, of surface level. Cirracuse, though, is about ten, so it’s a lot more important to know this stuff up there.” “Huh, never heard of that place...” Dash muttered, somewhat mollified. “I’m not surprised; this, well--” Dust tried, but pivoted to ask, “You know how Cloudsdale keeps moving around, at least? Hay, it took us a while to actually get here ‘cuz of the janky wind hitting this place.” Dash grunted and nodded in assent, letting her continue, “Well, Cirra’s a lot lighter and the wind up there’s stronger, so it goes flying around all over the place, and it’s practically impossible to predict ‘cuz of just how dang touchy it is.” Raising any eyebrow, Dash questioned irately, “Okay, and what does that have to do with anything?” Dust rolled her eyes and casually replied, “It’s way higher, so you ain’t gonna see it from below, and you aren’t gonna reach its altitude normally. Even if you do, it probably isn’t even going to be anywhere near you, so anypony looking to find us is probably gonna come up empty-hooved.” “Oh,” Dash muttered in response, and averted her gaze back toward her closer friend in the bed. “Well, maybe you shoulda told be about that stuff before we came here and she frickin’ passed out,” She retorted, though her anger wasn’t as strong as it had been before. “I didn’t think it’d be that bad,” Dust replied, “Plus you told me before how both of you have been up here multiple times in the past, and this had never happened before.” “Flutters always made us ride one of the cloud-buses up, ‘cuz she was too scared for me to take her there myself, at least until now...” Dash said, her voice turning somber at the end, and continuing to grow stronger with, “And look where that got us...” Dust facehooved at the over-dramatism, and stated again, “Dude, she’s fine.” Author's Note This one’s definitely a bit different, with a couple characters talking to each other rather than just one thinking to themselves. Honestly, I just didn’t have a better way to bring this topic up than that. I really do feel like the difference in air density ought to be more of an issue when creatures go between Cloudsdale and the surface, and I’ve had ideas for other cloud cities laying around, so it made sense to use one here. It’s more of an AU thing than a headcanon, and I don’t even have Dust hailing from Cirracuse in any of my AUs as of now, but it makes enough sense in canon and I thought it made sense as to how this topic would’ve been brought up. Imitation“I truly don’t understand why you do that.” Those words, while containing a hint of sympathy, were far more cutting than Rarity would’ve liked, lying across a café’s booth and covered in make-up smears due to her heavy and dramatic sobbing. The mare looked up as best she could through her blurry eyes at the acquaintance she had invited for tea before she got the results about her dress losing in a fashion show. Octavia Melody sat on the other side of the table, ignoring the concerned/irritated stares she and Rarity were getting from the other ponies in the café, and looked down at the frankly pathetic image of a mare across from her. “This whole routine of eating gallons of ice-cream,” She gestured with her head to the half-dozen empty glasses of ice-cream floats on the table, “Whilst crying yourself to sleep over something as mundane as getting fifth place.” “B-but.!” Rarity cried, pushing herself up a bit higher and trying to lean on the table, “I-it’s fifth! N-not even fourth, and j-just missing the podium; fifth!” She gulped down some of her tears and leaned over the table more, inadvertently knocking over a couple of the glasses, and continued, “I-I put in days of s-sleepless work and nearly h-half a decade of experience to get f-fifth!” “All of the other competitors have also put it a lot of work and multiple years of experience into their dresses, and most of them got a place lower than fifth,” Octavia stated plainly, “And yet here you are, crying about it like a little filly.” She picked up the half-empty glass of wine on her side of the table and took a sip of it, calmly placing it back down before adding, “I’ve seen your younger sister be far more mature in these matters, and for getting treated truly unfairly.” A loud and disgusting sniff escaped Rarity as she laid her head against the table, her body still somewhat laying on the seat while her makeup began to drip down from her face onto the table. “I-I thought you were s-supposed to be my f-friend! W-why are you being so r-rude?!” Octavia rolled her eyes and sighed beleagueredly, and responded deadpan, “I am your acquaintance, Miss Belle, and I feel like treating you like an adult would be far better idea than letting you fall even deeper into this pathetic façade.” “W-what are you--” “Do not speak as if you don’t know what I mean, Miss Belle,” She cut the sobbing mare off, and looking her square in the face, elaborated, “You spend every waking moment putting on a front of being a ‘prim and proper’ mare with the dramatic side of pathetic sobbing and binge-eating that one may find in a soap opera, with nothing beyond your generosity to add to it. “You are not a pony, Miss Belle; you are merely a two-dimensional imitation of one with no substance or personality other than what others make of you.” Rarity went dead silent and slack-jawed at sledgehammer of a statement, and with her mind in such a tizzy for several seconds, she couldn’t help but break out in refusal, “N-no I’m not! I’m a lot more than that..!” Pushing her body into a more proper sitting position, though still leaning heavily over the table, she forcefully explained, “I-I’ll have you know I’ve helped Fluttershy with cleaning her animals and--and am publicly friends with Rainbow Dash of all ponies!” “Those are mere edge-cases, Miss Belle, and they still very well fit the interpretation others have of you,” Octavia refuted casually, and turned up her head in thought for a moment as she lifted her drink to take another sip. “Let me ask you something; is there something you truly like--a secret passion or hobby of sorts--that you’ve never truly indulged in due to how you fear others would see you?” While Rarity didn’t respond with any form of agreement, the immediate and lasting shock in her eyes made it clear the other mare was right on the money, making her adopt a small smirk. “You know...” She mused, looking around the relatively busy room around her, all the ponies averting their gaze as her own approached them, “I’ve noticed how this high-class life has stripped the identity of many ponies, with any true individuality going by the wayside as their images become more and more important to them. They all now fit into a specific portrait that has been painted for them by others, but I can tell they have lives and passions beyond that. You, however...” Her gaze moving back to the mess of a mare across from her, Octavia continued, “You have stripped your true identity from yourself, and have utterly ripped away anything that may possibly detract from it, even in the privacy and comfort of your own home. The weight on your hips speak to those habits,” She added at the end with a trace of humour. “H-hey!” Rarity sputtered and blushed at the accusation, but couldn’t say anything further before the other pony resumed. “I can imagine you have a voice in your head, and whenever something comes up that pertains to your secret passions, that voice immediately squashes them, and,” She paused, letting her knowing gaze linger for a second, “You let it.” Picking up her glass once more, and taking more time to polish it off, then set it back down and sigh as her eyes fell again on her acquaintance, and she said with some intensity, “I’ll give you some advice here, Miss Belle; the next time you hear that voice, buck it in the face and do what you actually want to.” Rarity practically reeled back at the words, with their crassness and passion, letting Octavia again beat her to the punch and continue, “Perhaps you’d like to try your hoof at wrestling or spellcraft; maybe there’s a mare or non-pony that’s caught your eye and you’d like to court them; perchance you’d even like to visit a concert, a strip club, or, Tartatus, even a brothel--I don’t care, just actually bloody do it. “Now,” She spoke as she shimmied out of her seat at the booth and stood up, still looking at other pony, “I have to get going to an orchestra rehearsal. Have a nice day, Miss Belle,” She said behind her as she turned and walked to the building’s exit, and pause before it for a moment, finishing with, “And I mean it.” Opening the door and heading outside, she left the once-sobbing mare in gaping awe, and hopefully with a new desire to find something to free herself from her self-imposed torment. Author's Note Huh, this one ended up longer than usual. I’ve had this idea in my mind for a while, and have never seen it addressed, so I’m interested to see what people think of it. I do know there’s supposed to be more to Rarity than we see or read about, but given the way she’s been depicted, I can’t really imagine her actually having a bunch of other things beyond her fashionista image she actually likes. There’s not much on Octavia here, but hopefully I’ve managed to imply her mild disdain for high society despite being a part of it, and how she never really cares much about what others think of her. Wasted“I can hardly imagine why she put so much faith in your puny little unicorn self.” Twilight shivered even harder at the disgust in that tone, the intimidating voice and broken horn on the mare it was coming from only serving to further her terror. Tempest Shadow looked down at Princess Celestia’s personal student with disappointment, the cage she had trapped the younger mare in forcing at least a short distance the two of them. “I have known for quite some time that you revered ‘Princess’,” Tempest sneered the term out, “Has been far too optimistic and incredibly lazy for her own good, but...” Sighing and looking away from the pony that barely even qualified as an adult, she shook her head. “I can’t say I expected her to be quite this moronic.” Absent-mindedly turning her head to look around the massive and empty room they both were in, she was sure that if she wasn’t there to scare her, Twilight would be more likely to wonder about the logistics of the lava kept below the room, its dry heat and orange light flittering up through grates in the floor, rather than actually be trying to save the Princesses she had been unable to save before. “All those years of schooling and training wasted on such a pitiful creature as yourself...” Tempest spoke, not even bothering to look at the mare she was addressing, “All those times she allowed you to do whatever you wish, and punishing anypony that dare look at you wrong...” Sparing a short glance at Twilight, she saw her tremoring spike again, causing her to scoff in annoyance before looking more fully at her and continuing, “All of those extra chances she gave you, and you never did anything with them. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Twilight looked on the verge of crying at the accusations, but her expressions also held some confusion as she likely struggled to understand why she was even being spoken to in the first place. “I can’t claim to understand the machinations of your foolish teacher, but I do still wish to know...” Tempest said, leaning closer to the cage and the unicorn within, “...As to why, after all of your past failing, she still chose to protect you, of all ponies, amidst our invasion.” Observing the shaking, but silent pony for several seconds, she then tilted her head and stated with force, “Say something, you pathetic fool.” Flinching at the tone, Twilight closed her eyes and tried to breathe for a moment, but didn’t get very far before coughing on the dry air. “I...” She started weakly, but barely had any idea of what to say or how to say it, eventually muttering in defeat, “I-I don’t know...” Sighing heavily in disgust and disappointment, Tempest hung her head and shook it slowly for multiple more seconds, commenting offhandedly, “I really thought if Celestia really cared about you that much, she’d keep you close by rather than let you hide away in some little town.” Looking back up with mostly just her eyes, she asked curiously, “What exactly were you doing there, anyway?” “S-studying friendship...” Twilight muttered weakly in response, embarrassment rolling through her voice. “...Studying... friendship?” Tempest asked, bewildered. Nodding hesitantly and gulping in fear, Twilight explained, “She t-told me to make some f-friends, and I, um, s-send her reports of the t-things I learn about friendship, l-like... the specific facets of trust and... f-forgiveness... and, s-stuff...” Tempest’s expression only grew in disappointment and amusement while she listened, and then she replied with another shake of her head and saying, “I already knew you were naive and foolish, but... you’re hardly even your own mare, are you? Always under the watch of who you so revere, who you knew would protect and teach you for years to come... except,” Sharply raising her head to more fully look into her prisoner’s frightful eyes, she stated, “That clearly didn’t happen. “And what’s even worse,” She added, unamusedly looking around at the room around her, “Those lessons didn’t even stick. That education under the oldest and supposedly most intelligent creature in all the land, wasted on somepony that didn’t even bother to take advantage of it.” Looking back towards her prisoner, she found Twilight unable to even look up at her, her head hung downward in guilt as she shook in horror. “Your friends too were betrayed by yourself, left as easy pickings for my soldiers to capture. “And now, here you are; trapped, with nowhere to go and nothing you can do but watch as your foolishly generous leader’s nation is overtaken and rid of her, standing as a testament to her wastefulness and inability to keep her ‘precious’ ponies safe.” Tempest smirked down at the other mare, finding her inability to even speak fitting for how little she did to stop Equestria’s takeover. “We won’t make the same mistake, so perhaps you can consider this a blessing in disguise, ‘Lady’ Twilight Sparkle,” She spoke, mocking her captive with a bow of her head, smirk remaining on her face as she turned around and started to head out of the room, only to pause after taking a few steps. Looking back to see Twilight openly crying in despair, Tempest added, “I hope you feel like you were worth something; after all, no-one else will.” Looking back in front of her, she then continued to walk and leave the room, her prisoner left with nothing. Author's Note There’s a lot of moments like this in the canon, and I really think they deserve further exploration. So many times, they’re turned into comedic or pornographic parodies, or otherwise completely copy-pasted or tossed aside as the author cares little for them. I think they ought to be seen in different perspectives more, with AUs serving as a prime way to show how the differences in worlds can effect certain events, as well as serving to deepen characters with how they react to what is otherwise familiar to us. I could’ve easily had Twilight be an alicorn here, with Tempest berating her about how she betrayed her friends and is unworthy of her title, but I thought that was stupid. I could’ve turned the event, as seen in canon, into something slightly different with different words spoken, but that always implies that things were about the same to canon leading up to the event, even if things diverge from there, which I find incredibly unrealistic. Instead, I took the event and altered a lot of it, as well as the implications of what happened before, to make something actually different, even if there are similar trappings. This helps flesh out this world and show something unique, rather than an odd and often out-of-character interaction amongst something that’s already so known. I’d argue this type of more creative approach ought to be taken more often when thinking about modifying canon events to fit an AU, as that will actually keep it properly separate from the canon, rather than just acting as a parallel parasite, but I know that a lot of authors here care little for that. The comedy and porn stuff shows that much. At the very least, I do hope some readers actually enjoy thinking about this stuff, even if they don’t do anything with it. HeartbeatHer heartbeat was very fast. It was almost scary how fast it was beating, but... instead she found it rather nice. High Heel leaned her head a bit further into her marefriend’s chest, her ear pressing against it and listening to her heart go berserk, and while some of that may be attributed to a mix of embarrassment and love, she knew it would be beating very fast even without her presence. Opening her eyes and looking up at the purple face above her, a full blush streaked across it as those red and green eyes looked down back at her. Her expression was rather neutral besides that, though, clearly unable to know what to do as the sounds of her heart were listened to, somehow putting a light smile on her marefriend’s face. Of course, putting her head so close to the other mare’s fur could hardly hide Heel from its scent, which was a lovely mix of night-blooming flowers with a slight electric kick underneath. It was impossible to truly describe how it made her feel, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try... “You smell incredible, dear Mane-iac...” She spoke to her beloved, and heard her heart pick up a bit more as her face flushed yet further, eyes glancing away for just a moment as she struggled to digest the feelings those words gave her. “I-um..” Mane-iac tried, but quickly stumbled and had to lick her dry lips to try again, “...T-thank you.” High Heel’s smile widened, and she slowly lifted one of her cream-coated forehooves off the carpet of her bedroom, and moved it over to one of Mane-iac’s, and watched and listened as her breathing hitched for a split-second, before she gulped as her heart beat yet faster. Taking her eyes away from her marefriend’s striking pair (which took a bit of effort in and of itself), Heel gazed across that embarrassed purple face, the many green tendrils of her mane above wiggling in place as they struggled to figure out what to do with themselves. Slowly pushing herself up towards Mane-iac’s eye level, she swiftly leaned forward and pressed her lips to the other mare’s, and wrapped a foreleg around her body to keep her from trying to pull away. “Nn...” Mane-iac murmur as she half-heartedly tried to do just that, eyes closing as she shivered from the emotion pouring through her, while her mane and tail wiggled more vigorously in place, not daring to approach the other mare to either remove her or pull her closer. High Heel giggled softly as she continued kissing her taller marefriend, closing her own eyes and wrapping her other foreleg around her to keep her close, feeling Mane-iac’s chest press against her own, her heartbeat faster than ever as her forelegs slowly rose from off the carpet to faintly rest on her lover’s waist. Grinning at the feeling, Heel took a few more seconds of passionate smooching before she managed to pull away, but kept her snout pressed Mane-iac’s, tilted her head forward to press their foreheads together as well, leaving them nowhere else to look but each other’s eyes as they opened them up. “Heeheehee...” Mane-iac giggled involuntarily as emotion bubbled up through her body, and her forelegs rose and tightened a bit around her marefriend’s barrel, pulling her closer as her laughter continued. Tilting her head down and pushing her maw into Heel’s chest to muffle her growing laughter in her fur, some tendrils of Mane-iac’s mane and tail slithered around the other mare’s body, pulling her closer more forcefully as she kept laughing, “Hahahahaha!” Heel smiled fondly at the display; her lover’s embarrassment at how her burgeoning emotion made itself known was adorable, even moreso give how unique the reaction was, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Author's Note Most of these stories are inspired by artwork I’ve seen in one way or another, whether it be a random concept I’d like to explore in a different manner or a couple otherwise separate characters interacting, but this one in particular is decidedly based off of a particular image. I’m hardly one to write fluff, as I really think there ought to be more to a story than just light feelings, but sometimes a concept can really lend itself to a very fluffy romance, and I tend not to have the time to fully explore that. As such, I’ve made this chapter to show off this romance, but I may in the future make a full story about it, or perhaps someone else may be inspired to do that themselves! Peace & ManiaShe was so peaceful when she slept. The mania that encompassed her when awake was hardly present now, with all her hubristic shouting and vociferous laughter replaced with quiet snoring, her wild flailing mane calmed down with only some lightly wiggling, and those strange, piercing eyes of hers were closed as she rest. High Heel could only sigh in an mix of emotions; she loved those parts of her dear lover, the utter mane-ia making her who she was, with all the jovial laughter, flowing tendrils of mane, and... indescribably unique eyes not present within her for the time being. Of course, what she was left with was quite lovely in its own way, too, as her dear Mane-iac lay bare on their bed, both their outfits having been taken off and set aside for the night, leaving her fluffy purple fur all out in the open, and quite a bit fluffed up from its time spent within that suit as well. Standing near the bed with her gazed trapped upon her marefriend, Heel could only think about how absolutely gorgeous she was. Heel had long known about Mane-iac’s loathing for her own form after.. the accident, but with those long longs, soft and sculpted body, and long, gleaming mane... she knew there was hardly a mare that wouldn’t kill to have a body like that. And that was just the normal stuff! Stepping forward slowly towards her moon-lit love, Heel was enraptured by the mare, feeling every thought in her mind flow through the perfection that was the Mane-iac... though she could hardly saw that was different than any other time of the day. She always smiled hearing that laugh when she was carried across the streets by that incredible mane while they fled from those Power Ponies, she could only laugh when they escaped and was picked up by that mane and surrounded by it and the Mane-iac’s body in the strongest of hugs she’d ever felt, and she adored staring into those shining green and red eyes of hers after everything was said and done, just becoming transfixed with each other for minutes on end, only ending when they closed their eyes to kiss... High Heel couldn’t stop herself from climbing up onto the bed to kiss her marefriend, but there was no way she wanted to, either. Careful to brush her love’s wild mane and tail that took up most of the bed out of the way of her hoofsteps, she moved over to look down at the peaceful dozing of her mane-iacal marefriend, and quickly pressed their lips together. She couldn’t even hold herself back in the slightest, the magnificent beauty of the Mane-iac taking control of her mind, unable to accept that she could be anything other than a goddess with how gorgeous she was. Tears started to trail down Heel’s pale cheeks as she grappled with just how lucky she was to not only be graced with the mere presence of the Mane-iac, but to be with her... She never understood just how anyone else to find her anything but beautiful, with those dumb Power Ponies always finding new ways to insult her, but even with the entire world against them, Heel would make she’d outweigh all of it for her mane-iacal marefriend... And she’d do so for the rest of their lives. Author's Note I love this ship so much. Mane-iac is already an under-appreciated character, and barely anyone knows about High Heel, but shoving the mane-loving madmare and thief with a taste in fashion will always lead to adorable consequences. I’ve been tossing around the idea of a sort of anthology fic of these two, with each chapter being a different event in their lives, from their first meeting, to crime-filled dates ala Harlivy from DC, and even just sleeping in in the morning. There’s quite a few ideas I’ve got, and this chapter here already functions a sort of prototype of a couple of them, so I’d like to hear your input and if you’d like that Heel-iac story! Ego & Effort“Ow...” “For how much you tout yourself at combat, you are quite pathetic at it.” Rainbow Dash scoffed from her position on the ground, bruised and battered as she was after attempting to fight the other creature. “Nah, I’ve beaten practically every other pon--er, creature, I’ve fought before!” Tianhuo looked down at the pegasus laying before her, clearly trying to hide how her ego had been damaged even more than her body after the longma had utterly defeated her. Lips pursed into a small frown, she spoke calmly, “I can imagine that must be quite a lot of creatures, going by how eager you were to spar with one you knew so little about, and for such petty a reason as well.” “What, you expect me to take an insult like that lying down?!” Dash threw back, glaring almost incredulously at the other creature. Tilting her head in restrained confusion, Tianhuo could only note in response, “Do you really believe you are so superior to your coworkers that they are all redundant in place of you?” Dash had to look at her for a moment and think before she could understand what was spoken, but then swiftly continued her tirade, “Most of ‘em, yeah. I don’t care about all the boring stuff that supposedly keeps the place running, but you know I could clear all the clouds myself in ten seconds flat!” Closing her eyes and thinking for a moment, Tianhuo looked back at the mare and spoke, “My nation is hardly one to care for meddling with nature as your kind so often does, but I am still aware of how even the slightest pushes of clouds can dramatically effect how the weather will play out for weeks in advance. I can thus imagine your fast and reckless flying would be unbalancing the dynamics of the sky that your coworkers had so carefully put in place.” Rainbow Dash started to snidely reply, but Tianhuo saw fit to cut her off with, “Have you spoken with them about that?” When the pony hesitated, she smiled slightly and responded, “Exactly.” Dash relaxed her body back into the grass, though it was clear she was still irritated, even before she begun to speak again, “Why the hay do you even care, dude? It’s none of your business.” “Perhaps, but I believe that quite a few other creatures, notably your coworkers on the Ponyville Weather Team, certainly do care, and you should be treating them as more than mere background noise to yourself.” Rolling her eyes and looking at the other creature in annoyance, Dash casually dismissed it; “Look, dude, this stuff isn’t even gonna matter when I get into the Wonderbolts. My applikay--er, -cation, is already in there, and I’m like the fastest pony in the world, so I know I’m gonna get in.” Tianhuo sighed at the sheer arrogance in those words, and tried to respond calmly, “From what I have heard, this ‘Wonderbolts’ team requires that any that try for it are dedicated and can work with others, and you are hardly either of those things. Furthermore,” She continued unimpeded as Dash shook her head and looked away, “I truly doubt that having pure speed will make you all that impressive amongst those that actually have experience performing stunts, who will be far more likely to be recruited.” Scoffing and trying to stretch her somewhat bruised wings out from under her, Dash sneered back, “Yeah, sure, like you’re actually any more impressive. I could already tell how much slower you were when I fought you, and I do actually practice a lot of stunts in my free time, thank you very much.” “I am a warrior, not a flier, pony. And I have already heard about how much you laze around and sleep for the better part of a day, so how much of that free time are you really spending doing stunts?” Tianhuo looked down at the mare, who barely seemed to care about looking up at her as she added, “There are certainly many others that train themselves far more than yourself, and yet you still expect to be seen as better than them?” Still not getting anything more than a scoff in response, Tianhuo was somewhat thankful she had already hurt the pegasus’s wings enough to prevent her from flying away, and paused for a moment before asking, “Do you know who I am, Miss Dash?” “‘Course I don’t, dork,” Rainbow Dash replied with a roll of her eyes, and the longma’s flames flared up a bit at the absolute lack of respect of that statement. Calming herself before looking the mare in the eyes and sighing through her nostrils, she began, “I am Tianhuo of Houshan, Captain under the Revered and Honourable Empress of the strongest and most honourable warriors in the entirety of Equuis!” Seeming to almost laugh at it, Dash simply replied, “Flaunt your stuff all ya want, dork, I don’t care.” “I bring this up, Miss Dash,” Tianhuo stated forcefully, her flames flaring up again, “Because the title and power I hold were something I had to work myself to the bone, day and night, for years to achieve. I do not ‘flaunt’ it, as you so often do with your abilities; I am simply stating an objective truth that humility has no place in.” Continuing to stare at the still-not-caring Dash, she kept going, “The reason I so easily bested you was not due to any natural skill or power that you and your foolish kind find so appealing; no, I beat you because I have trained far more than you, and I put far more effort into my fighting than you ever have. “If you have so little care for this conversation, Miss Dash, then allow me to put this into context;” The longma stated, fed up with the pegasus’s continued ignorance, “These ‘Wonderbolts’ you are so eager to join do not accept those that merely believe they are best; they accept those that actually try to become the best, they are the ones that push through all the pain in the world to do what they believe in, and you are not one of them, and as such, will be disregarded without a second thought.” Turning around swiftly and letting her flames trail behind her, Tianhuo then just trotted away and left Rainbow Dash on the ground to look over at her irately, perhaps now able to actually think about how much (or little) effort she has put into getting into the Wonderbolts, and maybe even push past her ego to truly work for it. Author's Note These just keep getting longer, don’t they? I do feel like you may be able to tell I like Tianhuo a lot. Her honour and respect make her a very interesting character to think about, and the atypical design make even cooler. I’ve certainly heard a lot of instances people have compared her to Rainbow Dash, and while I do think they are relatively similar in some respects, the composed and honour-bound Tianhuo is still a very far cry from the lazy and reckless Rainbow Dash. There is actually something else I wanted to note in this story, but didn’t really know how to implement it, and that’s about how Rainbow Dash is supposedly the only creature to have performed a Sonic Rainboom. That speciality does give credence to the whole situation with the Mane 6 being connected and stuff, but that always feels stupid and contrived, with the Sonic Rainboom being even stupider, and I really feel like it ought to be something that a decent number of flying creatures can perform in some capacity, with Dash, the rest of the Mane 6, and the princess just being an echo chamber for that lie, amongst many others. At this point, I don’t actually care too much for the whole canonicity, and am far more interested in the characters’ potential, with the negatives that the show and movies never bother showing being a particular focus, and something I’m sure to revisit in future stories.
PanicTwilight wasn’t panicking. Not yet, anyway, but her mind and all the stress were sure to— She shook her head almost violently to try and get rid of those thoughts. It must’ve been only ten minutes before she was supposed to head to class for the test, but her breath kept coming fast and heavily, her hooves unable to keep themselves still as she trotted almost frantically around her bedroom in Canterlot Castle, the stress forcing a tension across her insides and making her feel like she was about to throw up. She had already went into the bathroom twice in preparation to do just that, but she never actually had anything come up; she didn’t actually need to vomit, the stress was just forcing her to think that she did… right? Another heaving, shaky breath came out of Twilight’s throat and she started to feel dizzy, but her antsy hooves kept her from laying down. Instead, the only solace she could find was muttering to herself, “Come on, Twilight, this is ridiculous! You’ve already had tests before and you know this isn’t going to be any different! Why are you so f-fricking stressed?!” Despite her words, her body felt no less assured, and bile still felt like it might come up her throat at any minute. In the back of her mind, she could recall what her babysitter, Cadance, had told her in the past about dealing with this anxiety, but… Twilight suddenly stopped in place and put a hoof on her breast, closed her eyes and just tried to breathe. She took a deep inhale, held it for a second, then let it out in a shaky exhale. Then she did it again, a little slower, and then once more. She tried to keep her conscious thoughts down, but every time seemed just the littlest bit off in her motions, her mental voice popped up again and went on for a bit before Twilight mentally shouted back at it to be quiet. After a short while of trying to do that, she opened her eyes and felt slightly better, with the bile having receded for the time being and her breaths less obnoxiously loud in her mind. Cadance had spoken at length about this ‘mystical’ technique to calm one’s panic, but Twilight already knew stuff like that didn’t work. The only times her panic ever truly faded was when her mind went completely elsewhere, utterly focused on some task like studying or reading books, with no mental real-estate to spare for any nagging reminders of her broader existence or the stress that came with it. She wanted to believe Cadance was right, that Twilight was simply doing something wrong, but she knew from experience and dozens of anecdotes that such an ideal solution to her anxiety simply didn’t exist. She loved Cadance, she really did, but the older, more extroverted mare simply didn’t understand this kind of stress, and any words she said on the matter were biased from not having to deal with it. Sighing in exhaustion, Twilight looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed she only had two minutes remaining before she needed to go. Gulping what little stress she could down, and knowing that all of it would fade during the test, she headed off to class. Author's Note I’ve read a few times before how that technique Cadance taught Twilight about dealing with stress is capable of completely nullifying panic, but I know from personal experience that that isn’t true. I’ve also found it odd that Cadance would be the one teaching it, as she doesn’t seem to have a lick of either introversion (and thus personal experience) or psychotherapy training (and thus external knowledge), so any idea she’d have on deal with stress is liable to be biased. I can’t that I myself have an experience exactly like this story, and I know that others have different types of panic, but I think it’s worth putting something out there about how this can work, and when would be better than right after a quiz I was stressing about? (In actuality I’ve had ideas about making these stories for a few days, but the stress there definitely did give me inspiration for this chapter!)
PatienceFluttershy could count on her hooves how many other creatures she’d seen be a patient as she was. So many other ponies, griffons, dragons, changelings, etc. were fast and impressive in their own rights, but when it came to being patient? She sighed in a mixture of relief and annoyance as she closed the door to her home, finally, finally done with all her tasks for the day. She had fed all her animal friends, cleaned up the chickens’ coop, helped repair one of the beavers’ dams, watered all of her inside and outside plants, got all of the groceries from the market at decent prices, hauled them home, dealt with Angel’s angsty antics and fed him, and... it ended up taking a lot longer than she liked. Now, though, she could finally trot out into the fields near her home, though thankfully away from the spooky Everfree Forest, and have some nice time alone with... her. Fluttershy smiled warmly at the thought, though a level of amusement also crept up into her face; she had encountered her fair share of suitors after all, and while some were very easy to toss out, being the entitled and sexist ~~bastards~~ um, stallions that they were, others were a bit more complicated. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were the most common ones she had thought about in that light, for obvious reasons; Rarity was incredibly beautiful and generous, and she’d certainly make her lover feel like a Princess with all her pampering, and the occasional opportunity to hold the unicorn as she bawled and ate her way through two whole tubs of ice-cream would’ve been nice for her closest friend. However, Rainbow Dash also presented an interesting option, as she was very fit and immensely fast--one of the only to ever perform a Sonic Boom, in fact!--though was still able to sit down and have friends she was incredibly loyal to. But, beyond the slightly weird feeling Fluttershy got about going into a relationship with ponies who she felt closer to a sister than a love interest, she knew that neither of them were too patient. Dash was infamous for her inability to sit still and listen for any extended length of time, and Rarity, while much more able to focus on something, still had issues controlling herself when she found something interesting. There were other creatures that could’ve been nice to be in a relationship with, like the excitable Pinkie Pie, her timid and adorable twin sister Marble, that new librarian Twilight Sparkle, her calm acquaintance Tree Hugger, or that angry gryphon, Gilda--who she was sure must have a softer side--but... none of them were patient. None of those options were the type to help her with her animals because they liked to, none of them would sit and talk with her for hours about nothing, none of them could deal with her animals in peaceful ways for any more than a couple days, and none of them could simply stand there and exist in the moment, and all of those qualities were fundamental to Fluttershy as a creature. Looking past all the shyness, reservations, interest in animals, living near a spooky forest, and barely-existing capable of flight that were so often attributed to her, all Fluttershy was at her core was patient. She had always dodged any question about any possible romance she was interested in, not just because it’s rather embarrassing for her, but also because she truly didn’t know how to answer, and she wasn’t about to give up on it just because she hadn’t met somecreature she truly loved yet. Luckily, all of that patience had finally paid off. Fluttershy trotted up a small hill near the outskirts of Ponyville and quickly spotted the creature still sitting there quietly, rump pressed against the ground while her eyes remained closed, simply existing for more than an hour after Fluttershy was supposed to be there by. Fluttershy herself hardly cared what others would say about the creature’s appearance; whatever scared (or likely awed, in Dash’s case) reactions her friends and family got from the creature were irrelevant under the singular piece of knowledge that they waited for her and didn’t look in the least bothered by it. She sighed lovingly as she approached the creature, and barely even noticed the oddly metal picnic basket beside them as she spoke softly, “Hello Tianhuo.” The longma, with her shining spring green scales and the tamed flickering of the light orange flames that made up her mane, opened her eyes at the voice, and her body language had no drama or haste, no slacking and no impatience. “Ah, you’re here, Fluttershy,” She spoke in her slightly growly voice, though it too was as calm and kind as possible. “Sorry I’m late,” Fluttershy replied with a hint of guilt, even when she knew her friend wouldn’t mind. “I hadn’t even noticed,” Tianhuo responded with a completely honest tone, and swiveled her head just a bit and moved her piercing red eyes over see her visitor. There was a small smile on her face, and though bereft of romantic intention, Fluttershy could only think about how she’d love any creature as patient as the longma before her, but this one specifically just ended up being so... beautiful. Author's Note I honestly do really like this ship, and think Tianhuo as a character deserves more attention; while she and Oleander are the only two characters of Them’s Fightin’ Herd’s I’d consider to be truly a threat, Tian possesses a lot more exceptional qualities that Oleander simply doesn’t have, and patience is one of them. I’ve implemented a bit of alternate take on the world here, as I know that Dash is supposed to be the only one who’s ever done a Sonic Rainboom, but from both a in-universe logic angle and a metatextual narrative angle, that’s just stupid. I’m not really the person to care much about keeping continuity with an arbitrary timeline either, so I’d much rather things be a little more interesting here than have a weird and out-of-place connection to the canon.
BreatheShe could finally breathe. After more than a millennium, Luna could finally breathe. It was something so many took for granted, but after being imprisoned for so very long, she wouldn’t any more. It was so nice to feel the cool air across her fur, little whispers of wind that made it into the ruined castle she stood in, a small level of moisture in the air with the telltale scent of dew wafting by. All of that stook in stark contrast to the stale an unbreathable surface of where she was just minutes prior, and she truly appreciated this chance to just breathe before the inevitable came... She could already tell they were headed her way, with the creatures of the Everfree Forest crying out about some intruders fending them off as best they could. She didn’t bother asking herself why they might’ve been there, for any answer would be a nuisance upon her mind, not to mention redundant, as she had already poured over endless possibilities in her time... away. So, despite the ruins of her former home scattered and shattered all around her, despite the unruly overgrowth that had writhed across it, despite the army she was sure was coming for her, and despite the entire nation she once ruled over no doubt detesting her very existence, Luna just stood there and breathed. In. Out. In. Out. She could feel her lungs creaking and shifting from the air that was finally allowed to pass into them, their lack of use for so long making them painful to bring back into use. In. Out. In. Out. She could tell the intruders were getting closer, but still she remained there to take it all in, her mind having a hard time truly believing that she was there. In. Out. In. Out. She could barely recall the dreams she had in those first years, with only the more recent, barren grey ones making any sense to her sluggish mind. In. Out. In. She opened her mouth somewhat and let out a slower, longer exhale, and she could feel the damp air rushing in after, and it made her realize how little of such moisture she’d had in her mouth for so long. Almost instinctually, she coughed, which quickly devolved into a coughing fit as her utterly parched throat made its plight known to her. Her head hung further down with each cough, though it luckily didn’t take too long before she could generate some natural saliva in her maw and gulp it down. Multiple more times she did that, feeling the unpleasant and sharp sensation of it going down her throat, and the ensuing creaking as it started to move properly again. “I...” She started to speak, and though it was quiet and broken, it was a word. “I am here... aren’t I..?” Her tone was slow and hesitant, and it spoke of her difficulty truly believing she was back. Her memories of her previous life were faded and difficult to parse through the fog of pain, but she still knew the place around her was far from what it once was. She raised her head back up and looked at the ruins around her, dim though it was in what little amount of light from her Moon that managed to get through the many trees around her. She knew she had traversed this place endless times, and while it was crushed and torn apart by time, she could still tell she was standing in the heart of the castle, where... she had been with her so many times, talking, discussing, arguing, fighting... Why did it have to be this way? They were supposed to be equals, but then she abandoned her... This curse of eternal life was an incredibly heavy burden to bear, but they were supposed to do it together, and now... Luna had cried a lot in her prison, out of hate and anger for so many things gone terribly wrong, but here it felt different... Akin to the air she could now breathe, her tears were less stale and more brisk, and they reminded her that everything she ever knew had been taken from her, leaving her but with a single goal: retribution. She could start to hear the steps of the intruders coming near the ruined castle, and for the first in what felt like forever, she was ready. Author's Note I have a lot of thoughts on Princess Luna, and I know that so many of them cannot be refuted simply due to how little we truly know about her. I personally prefer viewing her as a intelligent and stalwart Warrior-Princess in contrast to the more optimistic and diplomatic Celestia, with so much more potential out of their dynamic than mere fish-out-of-water comedy that appears in so many stories here. Of course, then there’s the mockery of her Moon, being trapped there for a millennium. All that’s really used for in most stories with her is a driving force for conversation between her and others, but very few have ever really dug deep into what it would mean for that to happen to her. This story hardly does either, but it’s a starting point for ones that may, with the endless pain and foggy memories that would plague Luna taking focus here, and I hope that someone may find this concept interesting enough to be inspired by it.
Fire & RainIt had been a while since she had seen rain. It must’ve been months since she was far enough from her homeland to actually experience water falling from the sky, and it always felt so strange to her. Tianhuo, as a creature with wings made of flame, was rendered grounded by the precipitation, and while most of her race would find it frightening, she stood her ground and let the water pass over her scales as other races did. Or, at least should have. Being the Champion of Houshan, Tianhuo had been sent to enough nations to know that most races ran for cover from the rain, or carried something with them to protect themselves from it, despite the mere water not having an effect on them. She knew her own race could sometimes get sick from the cold that rain imparted as well as the suppression of flames the water itself caused, and while she had heard of other creatures getting sick as well, it was circumstances far more dire than a typical afternoon rain-shower. Regardless, the longma continued standing amidst the small torched clearing in a forest, watching one of the few creatures she knew of that actually embraced the rain, and who was ironically enough a fire-based creature like herself. Autumn Blaze, from a race of Kirins that lived relatively close to Houshan, had immediately faded in her literally infernal rage when she noticed the rain a few minutes prior, and started prancing around and dancing amongst the small puddles and damp, yet crunchy grass without a care in the world. While Tianhuo was hardly on official business near the Kirins’ home, and thus was at liberty to ‘goof off’--as Autumn lovingly put it--as much as she liked, she preferred remaining calm and simply taking in the world around her. The air was relatively brisk and wet as Tianhuo breathed it in, feeling an odd sort of fresh in comparison to her home’s hot and dry air, and the sensation of her flames getting instantly extinguished by something as mundane (to the world, at least) as rain felt humbling, as if it was to prove she was a creature like all others and her flames were merely a tool or aesthetic, rather than something that put her race above all others. Of course, the sight was something to behold as well; with many shimmering drops all falling everywhere and splashing off of all of the trees, stumps, rocks, and grass filling the space with a calm aesthetic, which the light fog that the rain rolled it gave a pleasant background to. There was no rainbow to be seen amongst the sky, which would’ve certainly somewhat put-out Autumn if she had noticed, but it seemed the rain itself was easily enough to placate her. The soft splattering of water across the landscape was soothing to Tianhuo’s hearing, with the constant white noise of nature itself calming her soul, and any brushes of wind that came out of the fog adding a bit more texture that she could relax into. Tianhuo could hardly stop herself from asking why others avoided this feeling, this sight, and this sound like it was some sort of disease, and while she’d hardly say it to their faces unless they were being particularly rude, she really wasn’t sure if those creatures actually cared for nature in the slightest. Did all of those creatures simply find their place amidst the systems that ruled them and let their souls be whittled away, never going out to see the beauty of the world and truly embrace it? Author's Note I’ve certainly found Longmas interesting as a race, and have wondered before how they’d handle rain. I also am aware that Autumn Blaze certainly loves it, despite her fiery nature. It was a simple combination of those two thoughts that made this story sprout in my mind, and any misgivings I may have seeded in about people seeming to ignore nature have been long pent-up and waiting for something to do with them.
TravelTrixie’s life was an odd one. Most creatures found themselves a permanent home and lived there until some impactful event forced them to move to somewhere else, where they’d again settle for as long as they could. Those homes were a place to always retreat to, where after going to work, school, or simply doing whatever they wished outside, they returned to and laid in the unmoving space amongst an unmoving town or city, always knowing what everything would look like when they awoke the next day. Trixie, though, was a traveller. Her home had wheels, and most days she simply pulled it from place to place for hours at a time. Despite her theatrical personality and the strong acts she put on in front of others, she was actually rather reserved and patient, with the physical strength and mental fortitude necessary to make those long treks all by her lonesome. It was rather lonely, she reflected as she sat amongst calm fields in the dimming light of sundown, but it had given her opportunities few others have ever had. She had pulled her home across land, and had it brought across sea and through the sky, allowing her to see new and interesting sights nearly every day. She had hiked across plains and hills, feeling the serenity of nature ever-present around her, trudged through seemingly endless deserts and pushed her home through the deep pits of sand, made her way through blistering mountain valleys and seen her exhausted breath become visible before her amongst the light shower of snow, floated on makeshift ferries across lakes and watched cheerful sea-ponies dance through the water’s surface, ridden cloud-carts to cloud-cities with the ground becoming further and further from her hooves, and been to nearly every nation she could to see their culture and put on a show for them. There had been plenty of pony civilizations, sure, but there were also the feisty Gryphons amongst their wooden towns built on treetops, the cheery yet sleazy Horses living in their bustling markets, the forever-angry Dragons scouring their caves and mountains, the militaristic and honourable Longmas in their dry and heated, yet beautiful empire, the silent yet kind Kirin in a relatively-nearby forest grove, the large and out-of-touch Yaks in a frozen wasteland of a nation, the alchemical masters that were the Zebras in their dense, yet dry settlements, and even some Changeling hives, thankfully none of which were were the sadistic Queen Chrysalis’s, but happened to be quite different from each other. All of that, and so much more, was open to her amongst her lengthy travels that she charted on maps and hiked by hoof, and she could hardly imagine it ever being different now. She always felt constrained and almost claustrophobic any time she was in one place for too long, and kept on the move to continue bringing her magic to others around the world. She smiled to herself, watching the clouds go by and and the stars slowly become visible in the darkening sky, as she recalled the stunned and smiling faces of the many creatures she had performed for. While some nations were more eager to welcome her shows than others, the glee and amazement on the children’s faces as well as the shock and awe on the adults’ filled her with joy and pride in a way that nothing else could, and it always gave her the motivation to keep going, keep showing more people her magic. She often wondered to herself if any of the creatures she met could even imagine a life like that, with no single place to call home, with no single set of people always around them, with little protection from the elements, and especially little to fight against the ever-present loneliness that pervaded these trips between settlements. It could certainly be difficult at times, even to her, but what she found along the way more than made up for it. She found new audiences to stun and amaze, new cultures to see and enjoy, new places and routes to take in the scenery of, and new stories to tell thought up from her time alone, but above all else, she found freedom in this life. Freedom was a strange concept, with so many creatures calling their lives ‘free’ and the world at their disposal, yet never really going beyond their own backyard (relatively speaking, anyway), while even more were kept from it all as a cog in a larger system set up by the rich, powerful, and bigoted, yet still content to live with nothing more. The massive trick they all pulled on themselves to make themselves believe they were free when they were truly just trapped was one that even impressed the travelling magician, but one that disappointed her even more. How could they all live a free life without actually being free? She shook her head and sighed into the cool breeze, and knew she’d never keep herself from this freedom ever again, and that that was why she travelled. Author's Note Trixie’s always been an interesting character to me, with the ‘travelling’ part of her ‘travelling magician’ career being a centerpoint. She’s definitely in a lower echelon of society, and I’d imagine she despises how people with more power than her misuse it in one way or another, and so she really only cares about the lower and middle class being part of her show, and harshly puts down anyone that tries to ruin everyone’s enjoyment for their own selfish or foolish reasons. There’s so much she must have seen in her travels that never get mention in canon or in any fanfics, but seeing so many different places and never being tied down to one spot are critical to her character, so this story is about how that has shaped her worldview, the good things that come with it, and how she sees everyone else.
Altitude“Dash, she’s fine.” Those words did little to alleviate Rainbow Dash from the heart-wrenching sight of her closest friend, Fluttershy, lying in a hospital bed with a respirator over her maw. “She clearly isn’t, Dust,” She spat back at her other, less close friend, who was in the room with her. “Else she wouldn’t be...” Lightning Dust sighed and pinched her brow for a moment in irritation, and asked, “You do know why she’s unconscious, right?” Dash scoffed and didn’t take her eyes off Fluttershy, retorting, “Of course not--and I don’t know why the hay you would either!” “It’s not even taught in school where I’m from,” Dust replied, “It’s pretty dang fundamental, so it’s taught by our parents.” Sighing again and looking around the sterile room, and specifically at the large window that pointed out at the white cloudscape of Cloudsdale around the hospital, she continued, “I know you’re a school dropout, but you should at least know that it’s the dang altitude that’s causing her issues.” “What the hay does that have to do with anything?!” Dash yelled back at her, whipping her gaze towards the (somehow) more knowledgeable mare. “Dude, you have noticed it’s a bit harder to breathe up here than on the surface, right?” Rainbow Dash stared angrily at the look her friend was giving her for a few seconds, but did pay more attention to her breathing than normal, and did end up finding it somewhat akin to being partially out of breath, though she previously just attributed that to being actually out of breath from her flight up. Conceding, she calmed her expression and looked back towards Fluttershy, asking, “Sure. And I suppose the genius you just so happen to be here might know about that?” “Well yeah; there’s less air up here, idiot,” Lightning Dust replied, and stretched her wings out, continuing, “There’s a bunch of science stuff behind it that I don’t care for, but it all makes the air thinner up here than down on the surface, making it a bit harder to breathe. And,” She added, flapping her wings a bit, “Me and you are pegasi, and are better at adapting to those different thinness-es of air, and while your friend is also a pegasi, she never really goes high enough to actually be used to those types of changes.” Rainbow Dash’s gaze slowly returned to her with some level of bewilderment in it, and she questioned, “Where the hay are you from if you know all of that? I thought you were from Cloudsdale!” “Nope; Cirracuse,” Dust replied simply, shaking her head. “It is a cloud city, though one way higher than this place. The air here is like, what, eighty percent, I think they said, of surface level. Cirracuse, though, is about ten, so it’s a lot more important to know this stuff up there.” “Huh, never heard of that place...” Dash muttered, somewhat mollified. “I’m not surprised; this, well--” Dust tried, but pivoted to ask, “You know how Cloudsdale keeps moving around, at least? Hay, it took us a while to actually get here ‘cuz of the janky wind hitting this place.” Dash grunted and nodded in assent, letting her continue, “Well, Cirra’s a lot lighter and the wind up there’s stronger, so it goes flying around all over the place, and it’s practically impossible to predict ‘cuz of just how dang touchy it is.” Raising any eyebrow, Dash questioned irately, “Okay, and what does that have to do with anything?” Dust rolled her eyes and casually replied, “It’s way higher, so you ain’t gonna see it from below, and you aren’t gonna reach its altitude normally. Even if you do, it probably isn’t even going to be anywhere near you, so anypony looking to find us is probably gonna come up empty-hooved.” “Oh,” Dash muttered in response, and averted her gaze back toward her closer friend in the bed. “Well, maybe you shoulda told be about that stuff before we came here and she frickin’ passed out,” She retorted, though her anger wasn’t as strong as it had been before. “I didn’t think it’d be that bad,” Dust replied, “Plus you told me before how both of you have been up here multiple times in the past, and this had never happened before.” “Flutters always made us ride one of the cloud-buses up, ‘cuz she was too scared for me to take her there myself, at least until now...” Dash said, her voice turning somber at the end, and continuing to grow stronger with, “And look where that got us...” Dust facehooved at the over-dramatism, and stated again, “Dude, she’s fine.” Author's Note This one’s definitely a bit different, with a couple characters talking to each other rather than just one thinking to themselves. Honestly, I just didn’t have a better way to bring this topic up than that. I really do feel like the difference in air density ought to be more of an issue when creatures go between Cloudsdale and the surface, and I’ve had ideas for other cloud cities laying around, so it made sense to use one here. It’s more of an AU thing than a headcanon, and I don’t even have Dust hailing from Cirracuse in any of my AUs as of now, but it makes enough sense in canon and I thought it made sense as to how this topic would’ve been brought up.
Imitation“I truly don’t understand why you do that.” Those words, while containing a hint of sympathy, were far more cutting than Rarity would’ve liked, lying across a café’s booth and covered in make-up smears due to her heavy and dramatic sobbing. The mare looked up as best she could through her blurry eyes at the acquaintance she had invited for tea before she got the results about her dress losing in a fashion show. Octavia Melody sat on the other side of the table, ignoring the concerned/irritated stares she and Rarity were getting from the other ponies in the café, and looked down at the frankly pathetic image of a mare across from her. “This whole routine of eating gallons of ice-cream,” She gestured with her head to the half-dozen empty glasses of ice-cream floats on the table, “Whilst crying yourself to sleep over something as mundane as getting fifth place.” “B-but.!” Rarity cried, pushing herself up a bit higher and trying to lean on the table, “I-it’s fifth! N-not even fourth, and j-just missing the podium; fifth!” She gulped down some of her tears and leaned over the table more, inadvertently knocking over a couple of the glasses, and continued, “I-I put in days of s-sleepless work and nearly h-half a decade of experience to get f-fifth!” “All of the other competitors have also put it a lot of work and multiple years of experience into their dresses, and most of them got a place lower than fifth,” Octavia stated plainly, “And yet here you are, crying about it like a little filly.” She picked up the half-empty glass of wine on her side of the table and took a sip of it, calmly placing it back down before adding, “I’ve seen your younger sister be far more mature in these matters, and for getting treated truly unfairly.” A loud and disgusting sniff escaped Rarity as she laid her head against the table, her body still somewhat laying on the seat while her makeup began to drip down from her face onto the table. “I-I thought you were s-supposed to be my f-friend! W-why are you being so r-rude?!” Octavia rolled her eyes and sighed beleagueredly, and responded deadpan, “I am your acquaintance, Miss Belle, and I feel like treating you like an adult would be far better idea than letting you fall even deeper into this pathetic façade.” “W-what are you--” “Do not speak as if you don’t know what I mean, Miss Belle,” She cut the sobbing mare off, and looking her square in the face, elaborated, “You spend every waking moment putting on a front of being a ‘prim and proper’ mare with the dramatic side of pathetic sobbing and binge-eating that one may find in a soap opera, with nothing beyond your generosity to add to it. “You are not a pony, Miss Belle; you are merely a two-dimensional imitation of one with no substance or personality other than what others make of you.” Rarity went dead silent and slack-jawed at sledgehammer of a statement, and with her mind in such a tizzy for several seconds, she couldn’t help but break out in refusal, “N-no I’m not! I’m a lot more than that..!” Pushing her body into a more proper sitting position, though still leaning heavily over the table, she forcefully explained, “I-I’ll have you know I’ve helped Fluttershy with cleaning her animals and--and am publicly friends with Rainbow Dash of all ponies!” “Those are mere edge-cases, Miss Belle, and they still very well fit the interpretation others have of you,” Octavia refuted casually, and turned up her head in thought for a moment as she lifted her drink to take another sip. “Let me ask you something; is there something you truly like--a secret passion or hobby of sorts--that you’ve never truly indulged in due to how you fear others would see you?” While Rarity didn’t respond with any form of agreement, the immediate and lasting shock in her eyes made it clear the other mare was right on the money, making her adopt a small smirk. “You know...” She mused, looking around the relatively busy room around her, all the ponies averting their gaze as her own approached them, “I’ve noticed how this high-class life has stripped the identity of many ponies, with any true individuality going by the wayside as their images become more and more important to them. They all now fit into a specific portrait that has been painted for them by others, but I can tell they have lives and passions beyond that. You, however...” Her gaze moving back to the mess of a mare across from her, Octavia continued, “You have stripped your true identity from yourself, and have utterly ripped away anything that may possibly detract from it, even in the privacy and comfort of your own home. The weight on your hips speak to those habits,” She added at the end with a trace of humour. “H-hey!” Rarity sputtered and blushed at the accusation, but couldn’t say anything further before the other pony resumed. “I can imagine you have a voice in your head, and whenever something comes up that pertains to your secret passions, that voice immediately squashes them, and,” She paused, letting her knowing gaze linger for a second, “You let it.” Picking up her glass once more, and taking more time to polish it off, then set it back down and sigh as her eyes fell again on her acquaintance, and she said with some intensity, “I’ll give you some advice here, Miss Belle; the next time you hear that voice, buck it in the face and do what you actually want to.” Rarity practically reeled back at the words, with their crassness and passion, letting Octavia again beat her to the punch and continue, “Perhaps you’d like to try your hoof at wrestling or spellcraft; maybe there’s a mare or non-pony that’s caught your eye and you’d like to court them; perchance you’d even like to visit a concert, a strip club, or, Tartatus, even a brothel--I don’t care, just actually bloody do it. “Now,” She spoke as she shimmied out of her seat at the booth and stood up, still looking at other pony, “I have to get going to an orchestra rehearsal. Have a nice day, Miss Belle,” She said behind her as she turned and walked to the building’s exit, and pause before it for a moment, finishing with, “And I mean it.” Opening the door and heading outside, she left the once-sobbing mare in gaping awe, and hopefully with a new desire to find something to free herself from her self-imposed torment. Author's Note Huh, this one ended up longer than usual. I’ve had this idea in my mind for a while, and have never seen it addressed, so I’m interested to see what people think of it. I do know there’s supposed to be more to Rarity than we see or read about, but given the way she’s been depicted, I can’t really imagine her actually having a bunch of other things beyond her fashionista image she actually likes. There’s not much on Octavia here, but hopefully I’ve managed to imply her mild disdain for high society despite being a part of it, and how she never really cares much about what others think of her.
Wasted“I can hardly imagine why she put so much faith in your puny little unicorn self.” Twilight shivered even harder at the disgust in that tone, the intimidating voice and broken horn on the mare it was coming from only serving to further her terror. Tempest Shadow looked down at Princess Celestia’s personal student with disappointment, the cage she had trapped the younger mare in forcing at least a short distance the two of them. “I have known for quite some time that you revered ‘Princess’,” Tempest sneered the term out, “Has been far too optimistic and incredibly lazy for her own good, but...” Sighing and looking away from the pony that barely even qualified as an adult, she shook her head. “I can’t say I expected her to be quite this moronic.” Absent-mindedly turning her head to look around the massive and empty room they both were in, she was sure that if she wasn’t there to scare her, Twilight would be more likely to wonder about the logistics of the lava kept below the room, its dry heat and orange light flittering up through grates in the floor, rather than actually be trying to save the Princesses she had been unable to save before. “All those years of schooling and training wasted on such a pitiful creature as yourself...” Tempest spoke, not even bothering to look at the mare she was addressing, “All those times she allowed you to do whatever you wish, and punishing anypony that dare look at you wrong...” Sparing a short glance at Twilight, she saw her tremoring spike again, causing her to scoff in annoyance before looking more fully at her and continuing, “All of those extra chances she gave you, and you never did anything with them. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Twilight looked on the verge of crying at the accusations, but her expressions also held some confusion as she likely struggled to understand why she was even being spoken to in the first place. “I can’t claim to understand the machinations of your foolish teacher, but I do still wish to know...” Tempest said, leaning closer to the cage and the unicorn within, “...As to why, after all of your past failing, she still chose to protect you, of all ponies, amidst our invasion.” Observing the shaking, but silent pony for several seconds, she then tilted her head and stated with force, “Say something, you pathetic fool.” Flinching at the tone, Twilight closed her eyes and tried to breathe for a moment, but didn’t get very far before coughing on the dry air. “I...” She started weakly, but barely had any idea of what to say or how to say it, eventually muttering in defeat, “I-I don’t know...” Sighing heavily in disgust and disappointment, Tempest hung her head and shook it slowly for multiple more seconds, commenting offhandedly, “I really thought if Celestia really cared about you that much, she’d keep you close by rather than let you hide away in some little town.” Looking back up with mostly just her eyes, she asked curiously, “What exactly were you doing there, anyway?” “S-studying friendship...” Twilight muttered weakly in response, embarrassment rolling through her voice. “...Studying... friendship?” Tempest asked, bewildered. Nodding hesitantly and gulping in fear, Twilight explained, “She t-told me to make some f-friends, and I, um, s-send her reports of the t-things I learn about friendship, l-like... the specific facets of trust and... f-forgiveness... and, s-stuff...” Tempest’s expression only grew in disappointment and amusement while she listened, and then she replied with another shake of her head and saying, “I already knew you were naive and foolish, but... you’re hardly even your own mare, are you? Always under the watch of who you so revere, who you knew would protect and teach you for years to come... except,” Sharply raising her head to more fully look into her prisoner’s frightful eyes, she stated, “That clearly didn’t happen. “And what’s even worse,” She added, unamusedly looking around at the room around her, “Those lessons didn’t even stick. That education under the oldest and supposedly most intelligent creature in all the land, wasted on somepony that didn’t even bother to take advantage of it.” Looking back towards her prisoner, she found Twilight unable to even look up at her, her head hung downward in guilt as she shook in horror. “Your friends too were betrayed by yourself, left as easy pickings for my soldiers to capture. “And now, here you are; trapped, with nowhere to go and nothing you can do but watch as your foolishly generous leader’s nation is overtaken and rid of her, standing as a testament to her wastefulness and inability to keep her ‘precious’ ponies safe.” Tempest smirked down at the other mare, finding her inability to even speak fitting for how little she did to stop Equestria’s takeover. “We won’t make the same mistake, so perhaps you can consider this a blessing in disguise, ‘Lady’ Twilight Sparkle,” She spoke, mocking her captive with a bow of her head, smirk remaining on her face as she turned around and started to head out of the room, only to pause after taking a few steps. Looking back to see Twilight openly crying in despair, Tempest added, “I hope you feel like you were worth something; after all, no-one else will.” Looking back in front of her, she then continued to walk and leave the room, her prisoner left with nothing. Author's Note There’s a lot of moments like this in the canon, and I really think they deserve further exploration. So many times, they’re turned into comedic or pornographic parodies, or otherwise completely copy-pasted or tossed aside as the author cares little for them. I think they ought to be seen in different perspectives more, with AUs serving as a prime way to show how the differences in worlds can effect certain events, as well as serving to deepen characters with how they react to what is otherwise familiar to us. I could’ve easily had Twilight be an alicorn here, with Tempest berating her about how she betrayed her friends and is unworthy of her title, but I thought that was stupid. I could’ve turned the event, as seen in canon, into something slightly different with different words spoken, but that always implies that things were about the same to canon leading up to the event, even if things diverge from there, which I find incredibly unrealistic. Instead, I took the event and altered a lot of it, as well as the implications of what happened before, to make something actually different, even if there are similar trappings. This helps flesh out this world and show something unique, rather than an odd and often out-of-character interaction amongst something that’s already so known. I’d argue this type of more creative approach ought to be taken more often when thinking about modifying canon events to fit an AU, as that will actually keep it properly separate from the canon, rather than just acting as a parallel parasite, but I know that a lot of authors here care little for that. The comedy and porn stuff shows that much. At the very least, I do hope some readers actually enjoy thinking about this stuff, even if they don’t do anything with it.
HeartbeatHer heartbeat was very fast. It was almost scary how fast it was beating, but... instead she found it rather nice. High Heel leaned her head a bit further into her marefriend’s chest, her ear pressing against it and listening to her heart go berserk, and while some of that may be attributed to a mix of embarrassment and love, she knew it would be beating very fast even without her presence. Opening her eyes and looking up at the purple face above her, a full blush streaked across it as those red and green eyes looked down back at her. Her expression was rather neutral besides that, though, clearly unable to know what to do as the sounds of her heart were listened to, somehow putting a light smile on her marefriend’s face. Of course, putting her head so close to the other mare’s fur could hardly hide Heel from its scent, which was a lovely mix of night-blooming flowers with a slight electric kick underneath. It was impossible to truly describe how it made her feel, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try... “You smell incredible, dear Mane-iac...” She spoke to her beloved, and heard her heart pick up a bit more as her face flushed yet further, eyes glancing away for just a moment as she struggled to digest the feelings those words gave her. “I-um..” Mane-iac tried, but quickly stumbled and had to lick her dry lips to try again, “...T-thank you.” High Heel’s smile widened, and she slowly lifted one of her cream-coated forehooves off the carpet of her bedroom, and moved it over to one of Mane-iac’s, and watched and listened as her breathing hitched for a split-second, before she gulped as her heart beat yet faster. Taking her eyes away from her marefriend’s striking pair (which took a bit of effort in and of itself), Heel gazed across that embarrassed purple face, the many green tendrils of her mane above wiggling in place as they struggled to figure out what to do with themselves. Slowly pushing herself up towards Mane-iac’s eye level, she swiftly leaned forward and pressed her lips to the other mare’s, and wrapped a foreleg around her body to keep her from trying to pull away. “Nn...” Mane-iac murmur as she half-heartedly tried to do just that, eyes closing as she shivered from the emotion pouring through her, while her mane and tail wiggled more vigorously in place, not daring to approach the other mare to either remove her or pull her closer. High Heel giggled softly as she continued kissing her taller marefriend, closing her own eyes and wrapping her other foreleg around her to keep her close, feeling Mane-iac’s chest press against her own, her heartbeat faster than ever as her forelegs slowly rose from off the carpet to faintly rest on her lover’s waist. Grinning at the feeling, Heel took a few more seconds of passionate smooching before she managed to pull away, but kept her snout pressed Mane-iac’s, tilted her head forward to press their foreheads together as well, leaving them nowhere else to look but each other’s eyes as they opened them up. “Heeheehee...” Mane-iac giggled involuntarily as emotion bubbled up through her body, and her forelegs rose and tightened a bit around her marefriend’s barrel, pulling her closer as her laughter continued. Tilting her head down and pushing her maw into Heel’s chest to muffle her growing laughter in her fur, some tendrils of Mane-iac’s mane and tail slithered around the other mare’s body, pulling her closer more forcefully as she kept laughing, “Hahahahaha!” Heel smiled fondly at the display; her lover’s embarrassment at how her burgeoning emotion made itself known was adorable, even moreso give how unique the reaction was, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Author's Note Most of these stories are inspired by artwork I’ve seen in one way or another, whether it be a random concept I’d like to explore in a different manner or a couple otherwise separate characters interacting, but this one in particular is decidedly based off of a particular image. I’m hardly one to write fluff, as I really think there ought to be more to a story than just light feelings, but sometimes a concept can really lend itself to a very fluffy romance, and I tend not to have the time to fully explore that. As such, I’ve made this chapter to show off this romance, but I may in the future make a full story about it, or perhaps someone else may be inspired to do that themselves!
Peace & ManiaShe was so peaceful when she slept. The mania that encompassed her when awake was hardly present now, with all her hubristic shouting and vociferous laughter replaced with quiet snoring, her wild flailing mane calmed down with only some lightly wiggling, and those strange, piercing eyes of hers were closed as she rest. High Heel could only sigh in an mix of emotions; she loved those parts of her dear lover, the utter mane-ia making her who she was, with all the jovial laughter, flowing tendrils of mane, and... indescribably unique eyes not present within her for the time being. Of course, what she was left with was quite lovely in its own way, too, as her dear Mane-iac lay bare on their bed, both their outfits having been taken off and set aside for the night, leaving her fluffy purple fur all out in the open, and quite a bit fluffed up from its time spent within that suit as well. Standing near the bed with her gazed trapped upon her marefriend, Heel could only think about how absolutely gorgeous she was. Heel had long known about Mane-iac’s loathing for her own form after.. the accident, but with those long longs, soft and sculpted body, and long, gleaming mane... she knew there was hardly a mare that wouldn’t kill to have a body like that. And that was just the normal stuff! Stepping forward slowly towards her moon-lit love, Heel was enraptured by the mare, feeling every thought in her mind flow through the perfection that was the Mane-iac... though she could hardly saw that was different than any other time of the day. She always smiled hearing that laugh when she was carried across the streets by that incredible mane while they fled from those Power Ponies, she could only laugh when they escaped and was picked up by that mane and surrounded by it and the Mane-iac’s body in the strongest of hugs she’d ever felt, and she adored staring into those shining green and red eyes of hers after everything was said and done, just becoming transfixed with each other for minutes on end, only ending when they closed their eyes to kiss... High Heel couldn’t stop herself from climbing up onto the bed to kiss her marefriend, but there was no way she wanted to, either. Careful to brush her love’s wild mane and tail that took up most of the bed out of the way of her hoofsteps, she moved over to look down at the peaceful dozing of her mane-iacal marefriend, and quickly pressed their lips together. She couldn’t even hold herself back in the slightest, the magnificent beauty of the Mane-iac taking control of her mind, unable to accept that she could be anything other than a goddess with how gorgeous she was. Tears started to trail down Heel’s pale cheeks as she grappled with just how lucky she was to not only be graced with the mere presence of the Mane-iac, but to be with her... She never understood just how anyone else to find her anything but beautiful, with those dumb Power Ponies always finding new ways to insult her, but even with the entire world against them, Heel would make she’d outweigh all of it for her mane-iacal marefriend... And she’d do so for the rest of their lives. Author's Note I love this ship so much. Mane-iac is already an under-appreciated character, and barely anyone knows about High Heel, but shoving the mane-loving madmare and thief with a taste in fashion will always lead to adorable consequences. I’ve been tossing around the idea of a sort of anthology fic of these two, with each chapter being a different event in their lives, from their first meeting, to crime-filled dates ala Harlivy from DC, and even just sleeping in in the morning. There’s quite a few ideas I’ve got, and this chapter here already functions a sort of prototype of a couple of them, so I’d like to hear your input and if you’d like that Heel-iac story!
Ego & Effort“Ow...” “For how much you tout yourself at combat, you are quite pathetic at it.” Rainbow Dash scoffed from her position on the ground, bruised and battered as she was after attempting to fight the other creature. “Nah, I’ve beaten practically every other pon--er, creature, I’ve fought before!” Tianhuo looked down at the pegasus laying before her, clearly trying to hide how her ego had been damaged even more than her body after the longma had utterly defeated her. Lips pursed into a small frown, she spoke calmly, “I can imagine that must be quite a lot of creatures, going by how eager you were to spar with one you knew so little about, and for such petty a reason as well.” “What, you expect me to take an insult like that lying down?!” Dash threw back, glaring almost incredulously at the other creature. Tilting her head in restrained confusion, Tianhuo could only note in response, “Do you really believe you are so superior to your coworkers that they are all redundant in place of you?” Dash had to look at her for a moment and think before she could understand what was spoken, but then swiftly continued her tirade, “Most of ‘em, yeah. I don’t care about all the boring stuff that supposedly keeps the place running, but you know I could clear all the clouds myself in ten seconds flat!” Closing her eyes and thinking for a moment, Tianhuo looked back at the mare and spoke, “My nation is hardly one to care for meddling with nature as your kind so often does, but I am still aware of how even the slightest pushes of clouds can dramatically effect how the weather will play out for weeks in advance. I can thus imagine your fast and reckless flying would be unbalancing the dynamics of the sky that your coworkers had so carefully put in place.” Rainbow Dash started to snidely reply, but Tianhuo saw fit to cut her off with, “Have you spoken with them about that?” When the pony hesitated, she smiled slightly and responded, “Exactly.” Dash relaxed her body back into the grass, though it was clear she was still irritated, even before she begun to speak again, “Why the hay do you even care, dude? It’s none of your business.” “Perhaps, but I believe that quite a few other creatures, notably your coworkers on the Ponyville Weather Team, certainly do care, and you should be treating them as more than mere background noise to yourself.” Rolling her eyes and looking at the other creature in annoyance, Dash casually dismissed it; “Look, dude, this stuff isn’t even gonna matter when I get into the Wonderbolts. My applikay--er, -cation, is already in there, and I’m like the fastest pony in the world, so I know I’m gonna get in.” Tianhuo sighed at the sheer arrogance in those words, and tried to respond calmly, “From what I have heard, this ‘Wonderbolts’ team requires that any that try for it are dedicated and can work with others, and you are hardly either of those things. Furthermore,” She continued unimpeded as Dash shook her head and looked away, “I truly doubt that having pure speed will make you all that impressive amongst those that actually have experience performing stunts, who will be far more likely to be recruited.” Scoffing and trying to stretch her somewhat bruised wings out from under her, Dash sneered back, “Yeah, sure, like you’re actually any more impressive. I could already tell how much slower you were when I fought you, and I do actually practice a lot of stunts in my free time, thank you very much.” “I am a warrior, not a flier, pony. And I have already heard about how much you laze around and sleep for the better part of a day, so how much of that free time are you really spending doing stunts?” Tianhuo looked down at the mare, who barely seemed to care about looking up at her as she added, “There are certainly many others that train themselves far more than yourself, and yet you still expect to be seen as better than them?” Still not getting anything more than a scoff in response, Tianhuo was somewhat thankful she had already hurt the pegasus’s wings enough to prevent her from flying away, and paused for a moment before asking, “Do you know who I am, Miss Dash?” “‘Course I don’t, dork,” Rainbow Dash replied with a roll of her eyes, and the longma’s flames flared up a bit at the absolute lack of respect of that statement. Calming herself before looking the mare in the eyes and sighing through her nostrils, she began, “I am Tianhuo of Houshan, Captain under the Revered and Honourable Empress of the strongest and most honourable warriors in the entirety of Equuis!” Seeming to almost laugh at it, Dash simply replied, “Flaunt your stuff all ya want, dork, I don’t care.” “I bring this up, Miss Dash,” Tianhuo stated forcefully, her flames flaring up again, “Because the title and power I hold were something I had to work myself to the bone, day and night, for years to achieve. I do not ‘flaunt’ it, as you so often do with your abilities; I am simply stating an objective truth that humility has no place in.” Continuing to stare at the still-not-caring Dash, she kept going, “The reason I so easily bested you was not due to any natural skill or power that you and your foolish kind find so appealing; no, I beat you because I have trained far more than you, and I put far more effort into my fighting than you ever have. “If you have so little care for this conversation, Miss Dash, then allow me to put this into context;” The longma stated, fed up with the pegasus’s continued ignorance, “These ‘Wonderbolts’ you are so eager to join do not accept those that merely believe they are best; they accept those that actually try to become the best, they are the ones that push through all the pain in the world to do what they believe in, and you are not one of them, and as such, will be disregarded without a second thought.” Turning around swiftly and letting her flames trail behind her, Tianhuo then just trotted away and left Rainbow Dash on the ground to look over at her irately, perhaps now able to actually think about how much (or little) effort she has put into getting into the Wonderbolts, and maybe even push past her ego to truly work for it. Author's Note These just keep getting longer, don’t they? I do feel like you may be able to tell I like Tianhuo a lot. Her honour and respect make her a very interesting character to think about, and the atypical design make even cooler. I’ve certainly heard a lot of instances people have compared her to Rainbow Dash, and while I do think they are relatively similar in some respects, the composed and honour-bound Tianhuo is still a very far cry from the lazy and reckless Rainbow Dash. There is actually something else I wanted to note in this story, but didn’t really know how to implement it, and that’s about how Rainbow Dash is supposedly the only creature to have performed a Sonic Rainboom. That speciality does give credence to the whole situation with the Mane 6 being connected and stuff, but that always feels stupid and contrived, with the Sonic Rainboom being even stupider, and I really feel like it ought to be something that a decent number of flying creatures can perform in some capacity, with Dash, the rest of the Mane 6, and the princess just being an echo chamber for that lie, amongst many others. At this point, I don’t actually care too much for the whole canonicity, and am far more interested in the characters’ potential, with the negatives that the show and movies never bother showing being a particular focus, and something I’m sure to revisit in future stories.
