Excerpt from My Little Pony G5 · 8:49pm Aug 15th, 2014
G. M. Berrow's publisher, Little, Brown and Company, has released an excerpt from her upcoming novelization of the new show, My Little Pony: Equestrienne Girls, better known as G5. After the bad press that accompanied the release of the novel's preliminary cover art (which has subsequently been nixed), Little, Brown and Company, along with Hasbro, has taken pains to assure fans that the contents of the novels will be in keeping with the contents of the show. Indeed, they say that the earliest volumes in the book series are little more than adaptations of television episodes, though Berrow or other franchise novelists may be allowed to take greater liberties later on.
Here is an excerpt of text from the first book, Stallions and Lovers, which picks up the story where the movie Equestrienne Girls leaves off.
While G1 and G3 fans are likely to rejoice at this revamping of the franchise, it is unclear yet how G4 fans will respond, especially to the reimagining of the personalities of the characters they have come to call the "Mane Six," who in G4 are competent natives of Equestria, but in G5 are ponies originally from Earth who must navigate both an alien culture and their own newfound abilities.
My Little Pony: Equestrienne Girls: Stallions and Lovers
by G. M. Berrow
[Excerpt]
“Public indecency?” Roxy shouted. She lowered the piece of parchment she was holding and stared at the two ponies, who hung their heads and gave her sheepish grins. “What exactly were you two doing? Rainbow Dash, did you poop on the lawn again?”
“No!” Rainbow cried. “Well . . . yes. But that only happened once. This isn’t about that, though.”
Roxy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were standing in the middle of the luxurious living room in Dream Castle that connected the suites the Equestrienne Girls shared with their respective ponies. Large picture windows to the west revealed the colorful banners waving on Canterlot’s many spires, and around the room stood luxurious and comfortable bent willow furniture loaded with samite-covered cushions. A small table in the center of the room held a bowl of fresh fruit and a large vase set with an elaborate bouquet, which the filly de chambre changed daily. The setting was posh, but Roxy was getting used to it.
Amelia, who had been dozing on a sofa on the far side of the room, sat up, pushed her Stetson back from her eyes, and said, “What in tarnation is this about? Applejack?”
Applejack toed at the carpet. “Well, ya see, Rainbow an’ me were just grazin’ in the garden like usual, an’ my shoulder kinda itched, so I started scratchin’ her shoulder, an’ she scratched me back—”
Roxy raised an eyebrow. “So . . . you were grooming each other?”
Amelia chuckled. “Shoot, that ain’t indecent. That’s just what ponies do—”
Roxy rolled up the parchment and tossed it Amelia’s way. “Not around here, apparently.”
Amelia gasped and shot off the sofa. “They want six hundred bits? We can’t pay that! Wait, what is that in dollars—?”
“Eh, who cares?” Roxy threw herself down in the space Amelia had vacated. “We’ll ask Celestia and Sombra to take care of it.”
“Roxy Dodgers,” Amelia answered with arms crossed, “we can’t just run off to the king and princess to deal with all our problems. We’re takin’ advantage o’ their hospitality too much as it is. Maybe it’s time we started pulling our weight around here—”
“Excuse me? I seem to think we just defeated an evil wizard and rescued the Twinkle-Eyed Ponies.” Roxy settled her hands behind her head. “I don’t mind taking advantage of a little hospitality.”
“Well, I do. My granny taught me better. I say, if we got a fine, we oughta pay it our own selves.” Hands on hips, Amelia turned to her pony. “Applejack, I think it’s time you an’ me found us some work to do.”
Applejack’s face brightened.
Roxy sat up. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am serious. Surely a pony and a girl, both with strong backs and a can-do attitude, can find some work in Equestria.” She walked to Applejack and hugged her neck.
“Amelia,” said Roxy, “Applejack is a show pony.”
“So?”
“So, you’ve taught her how to perform in an arena, not how to do a real job. You do trail-riding, right? So you’ve taught her to obey everything you tell her and ignore any distractions so she looks good in front of a crowd. But a real trail pony needs to be aware of her surroundings, to know her footing and be on the lookout for dangers. Riding for show isn’t like riding in real life. In real life, a horse has to run on uneven terrain she doesn’t meet in the arena, and she has to be able to make some of her own decisions.”
“Heck, Roxy, Applejack can make her own decisions. Can’t ya, Applejack?”
Applejack blinked. “Well . . . if you say so, Amelia, I’m sure I can!”
Roxy rolled her eyes. “You’re going to get your pony hurt. How will you feel when she ends up with a broken leg?”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash both winced.
“You’re just too cautious, Rox,” Amelia replied.
“No, I’m sensible. You won’t see me making Rainbow Dash do anything she’s not ready for. She’s a show hunter, and that means she’s not cut out for field hunting or other outdoor work, so unless they pay money in Equestria to watch a pony jump with good form, she won’t be taking any jobs.”
Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck with a hoof. “You know, Roxy, um . . . here in Equestria, they say I’m a pegasus”—she unfolded a large pair of blue wings from her back—“and I was thinking I’d kinda like to try—”
“You can’t fly, Rainbow,” Roxy said. “Pegasus ponies here learn to fly when they’re little, but you only got your wings a few months ago. If you try to use them, you’ll hurt yourself.”
“But—”
“That’s final.”
Rainbow lowered her head, and her wings drooped. Her ears tipped back, and her mouth tensed.
“Let me hear you say it,” said Roxy.
After a minute, Rainbow said, “Okay. I won’t try to fly. Cross my heart.” She made an X across her chest with a hoof, but her words came out as a choked whisper.
“Ooh, Rainbow Dash, you’re gonna get the twitch for this!”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood together in one of Canterlot’s broad plazas. Behind them rose the Thousand Spires of Dream Castle, blazing like fire in the noonday sun. Before them stood a cliff overlooking the sprawling towers of the Lower City. Blocking the edge of the cliff was nothing but a low row of stone flowerpots—an obstacle any show hunter could easily jump.
Rainbow Dash stared out over the cliff as the wind tousled her multicolored mane. She glanced back at Applejack, who was cowering and shaking.
“Twitches?” Rainbow asked. “You’re still afraid of twitches?”
Applejack squeezed her eyes shut and nodded her head.
Rainbow turned from her and looked out over the cliffs again. In the pale blue sky, a string of pegasus ponies diligently assembled a series of cottony clouds. Rainbow’s heart pounded against her ribs.
“No more twitches,” she whispered. “No more whips, no more crops. No more halters, and no more bridles. Not anymore.”
Applejack had tears in her eyes. That was something new; before they had come to Equestria, the ponies hadn’t been able to cry. The sight of the tears made Rainbow’s middle feel hollow; she could remember a time, a year before, when Roxy had come to the stable stricken with grief, streams of tears running down her cheeks. Rainbow hadn’t been able to understand what was wrong, of course; her life then had been nothing but an inchoate succession of wants, aversions, and emotions. But she knew sadness, even if she could not explain or describe it. She had yearned to reach out and nuzzle Roxy the way she would comfort a stablemate, but she hesitated as two desires conflicted within her; she had wanted to offer consolation, but she had also been taught through many discomforts that putting her mouth on her rider was Not Allowed.
She had nuzzled Roxy anyway, and she wasn’t disciplined.
“You’ve always been a willful pony,” Applejack sobbed, “always takin’ the bit in your teeth. That’s what you’re doin’ right now, Rainbow Dash—you’re just takin’ the bit in your teeth.”
“What do you want out of life, Applejack? Anything? Anything at all?”
Applejack paused and wiped a hoof against her face. “I . . . I dunno. Just to be with my stablemates and make Amelia happy and eat good food. I feel good when she feels good, and she gives me apples when I’m really well-behaved.” She wrapped a fetlock around her middle. “Ugh, tummy’s rumblin’. I could really go for an apple right now—”
Rainbow felt tears starting in her own eyes, but a smile came to her mouth. Both were still peculiar sensations. “Do you know where apples come from?”
“From Amelia?”
Rainbow laughed. “No, Applejack, they come from trees. Star Swirl told me. Just think of what it could be like to have an apple tree all your own and to eat apples anytime you want, so nopony has to give them to you.”
Applejack rubbed her neck. “Does sound nice, I reckon—”
“That’s the kind of thing we can have here.”
In the distance, the pegasus ponies still worked, but now they had pushed the cottony clouds together to form a high column. The clouds were no longer pure white, but had begun to turn a deep, threatening gray. They were building a storm bank.
“What I want out of life,” Rainbow Dash whispered, “what I’ve always wanted, is space—space to run. Not a longeing circle, not a paddock, not a pasture, but a huge expanse without a fence in sight. I love to run, and I love to jump, but I don’t want to do those things in an arena just for show. I want to do them for real.”
She opened her wings wide and pointed at the distant clouds and the string of pegasi. “Do you see that? It’s the widest space I could ever want or dream of. I’m not just going to run, Applejack. I’m going to fly!”
“You ain’t thinkin’ o’ runnin’ out on Roxy, are you, Rainbow?”
“The last few times I tested her, she didn’t punish me. She’s not the boss anymore. I’ll find another boss—or I’ll be my own.”
Rainbow Dash took several steps back, faced the cliff, narrowed her eyes, and, ignoring a cry of horror from Applejack, took off at a full gallop. As she drew near to the row of concrete pots, beyond which was empty space, her heart quailed, and something in her mind pounded, Turn aside! Turn aside! Her eyes bulged, and she could feel foam dripping from her lips.
She remembered the first time, years ago, when Roxy had taught her to go over a drop fence into a shallow pool of water. She had made several refusals, but Roxy had been patient, had worked with her day after day and shown her the jump several times. Rainbow could still remember the feel of the crop against her haunch, urging her on. She remembered how she felt the first time she went over, the feel of the water striking and enclosing her hooves.
She brought that memory to the forefront of her mind now. I can do this! I can!
She made a perfect jump just as she’d been taught, with tight legs and proper bascule. She sailed over the flowerpots, unfurled her wings—
And dropped like a stone. There was no shallow pool of water to catch her. There was only empty air. Far below, the spiked towers of the city reached up for her.
She shrieked in panic. At first, she pumped hard with her wings as she plummeted, but then she forgot her wings. The air whistled past her ears. She dropped headfirst, and her eyes and mouth streamed.
Goodbye, Roxy. That was the last coherent thought to pass through her mind before she descended back into wordless, animalistic fear.
In a moment, everything stopped. The sensation of falling ceased, and something like a girth enwrapped her barrel, squeezing her tight and pulling at her shoulder muscles. She continued to snort and whinny, and she kicked out with her back legs.
“Whoa! Whoa!” said a calm voice in her ear. “I’ve got you, but you have to relax or I’ll drop you.”
It took several seconds for the words to assemble themselves in her mind and take on meaning, and it took several more for her to find words of her own. “Don’t drop me!” she gasped.
“I won’t. Just relax now.”
The cliff face was sliding away before her eyes. Whoever held her was carrying her up. At last, she saw the plaza again, and there was Applejack, front hooves on a pair of flowerpots and tear-filled eyes wide with a mixture of terror and relief.
Rainbow’s hooves met solid ground, but her knees and hocks gave way, and she sank. Breathing heavily, she pressed her lips to the ground and then looked up to meet the eyes of her rescuer.
She saw a young stallion with a blue coat a little lighter than her own. His thick, black mane was swept back from his face.
“Hi there,” he said. “I’m Soarin. You’re lucky I was watching when you went over that cliff.” He grinned and held a hoof out toward her. She wasn’t certain what he wanted, so she climbed to her feet and shied from him.
Her heart was pounding, no doubt because of her recent fall. Her face grew strangely warm, but that was a sensation outside her experience, and which she didn’t know how to interpret. Cautiously, she approached this strange stallion to sniff his nose. She blew steadily in his face; if he blew back, she’d know she was on good terms with him.
With a frown, he pulled away from her. “Uh, sorry, Miss, but what—?”
Rainbow quailed. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were boss around here. I’ll . . . I’ll just stay out of your way!”
Rainbow turned and ran. Still weak from the recent excitement, she stumbled, but she kept up a gallop until she arrived at Dream Castle’s high gate.
Wow. This is fascinating. Not just aliens coming to understand a foreign culture, but also those who have been transmuted into the native species and must come to understand both that culture and their own newly acquired sapience. It's a shame you're just doing this as a gag, because this would actually make for a fascinating AU story.
Or maybe you're just setting the stage...
Probably not, but I can dream.
Something about that was... disturbing.
Huh. So this is the world I fell into when I started following you.
I like it.
2373073
Maybe it's the rational animals talking casually about whips and twitches.
Recently, I was reading John C. Wright's Transhuman and Subhuman, which contains an excellent essay on the persistence of talking animals in fiction. I agree with him that probably any horse owner would like to grant his animals the ability to speak. What Wright touches on only briefly, however, is how that would sharply alter the relationship between animal and owner.
Once your dog or cow or horse starts talking, it becomes your moral duty to grant him his freedom lest you become a slaveholder.
I don't know of anything that's really explored this idea seriously. We have talking animal stories that are whimsical or parabolic or even straight-forward adventure stories, but I don't know of any except (sort of) Who Framed Roger Rabbit that takes this idea of animals being granted speech and looks it dead in the eye and teases out the implications in a science-fictional fashion.
2373171
Yeah, like... Rainbow Dash should not be that submissive... but then how else could she be given her life in this little AU?
Rainbow Dash accidently (or purposefully), crapped on someone's lawn....that is weird and so we hat funny at the same time. That's why you don't eat too much spicy food kids.
I am now glad I got out of bed this morning.
I think that's supposed to be Rainbow.
Before you've done adventure and romance with these G5 updates, now you've done character growth and a little slice of life. I truly hope you make a real story out of this DGD Davidson, it would be magnificent.
2373171
If my dog start talking, you can be sure I send the little bastard to get a job. pay half of the bills and clean the house on Sunday.
That was fascinatingly deep, especially compared to the earlier super-silly bit.