Mask of Flaws and Grace

I saw this picture almost a week ago, and I'm simply too occupied to give it the time it deserves to properly percolate into a story idea. As such, I'm rebroadcasting it in the hopes that someone else can work with it.

Comments

[PresentPerfect]

oh

OH

There's one more pony for her to make friends with. :3

[Oliver]

Properly percolating pictures promote pony partying, please partygoers, prevent profligates pushing…

derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/4/9/1703662__safe_artist-colon-splinterstar_stellar+eclipse_trade+ya_black+background_male_pegasus_pony_raised+hoof_simple+background_solo_spread+wings_sta.png
Speaking of other disabled ponies to make friends with, there’s also this guy…

No, seriously, they could have a support group.

[Neece]

That's way too cute

[Blissey1]

hmm, you know the source comes with its own short story idea, yeah?

[Wise Cracker]

He walked up to her, slowly, calmly, while she writhed on the floor.

"You did this to yourself, Starlight Glimmer," he said. "You struck first."

"Please," she whimpered, eyes wide open, breath coming in ragged shocks. "No more."

He shook his head. "Honestly, what were you thinking? You, of all ponies, tried to blast spells at a mind mage? You, with all those awful, painful memories just waiting for someone to pluck at them? You're lucky you didn't short-circuit; you could have burned yourself, you silly mare."

She sobbed as the traumas of childhood came to her, fresh as if they happened mere seconds ago. The shock of reliving them had given her a brief dysphoria; her limbs felt too long for her age. She couldn't even keep track of her age now. Her stomach churned. She tasted apple juice, birthday cakes of five consecutive bithdays, rationed bland equality wafers, all at the same time. And that's when he was out of her head. She realised, to her horror, he'd only scratched her mind. He didn't even look winded.

There was more to come. So much more... "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Of course you are: you lost. But I'm not one to hold a grudge." He leaned in closer. "It's only an honest mistake. I'm not here to attack you, quite the opposite. I just wanted to tell you you have nothing to fear from me, regardless of what anypony might say. I have no quarrel with you, never have. In fact, I wanted to offer my help."

"What?"

"I can make it go away, Starlight. All of it. You don't have to remember the pain. I won't do it without your approval, of course; I'm not a monster."

The remark made her cringe, another one of her misdeeds playing out before her. She could taste the desert sand in her mouth, feel the blazing sun even though she was indoors.

"Just ask and I'll do for you what I do for all those who are hurt. I'll take the pain away, put a neat little bandage over the scars so no one has to know, and you can live on, happily. You've seen my work. You saw how happy they were, enjoying themselves without the burdens of their past weighing them down. Surely someone with your experience can appreciate what I'm trying to do?"

Been tinkering with the idea of a mind mage on a revenge mission for a while now, but it's easy enough to adapt to the pic. The original idea was... too self-insert political, let's say.

[FanOfMostEverything]

4858085
Does it? I can't access the Tumblr page.

[Ultra-the-HedgeToaster]

4858069
Yeah, I was wondering about that. Though contrary to Tempest, he didn't decide to help some evil tyrant to take over Equestria, did he?

[Oliver]

4858098

Derpy didn’t either, unless Doctor counts.

[Ultra-the-HedgeToaster]

4858097
It's in the description on derpibooru. Apparently the artist posted it there instead of the tumblr-post itself for some reason.
https://derpibooru.org/1725470

[FanOfMostEverything]

4858124
Oh. Right. Thought it might be, but I wasn't in a good position to check at the moment. Thanks for the refresher.

[Moosetasm]

So... are they red-faced from drink or passion?

Derps doesn’t have a visible drink, but that muffin could be spiked. (Not that kind of Spiked)

That would greatly impact what kind of fic this is to be.

[nemryn]

4858165
That redness is actually the glow of Ponyville burning.

[Moosetasm]

4858168
That makes for an interesting fic idea: Fizzlepop and Derpy burn down Ponyville and revel in the aftermath...

[FanOfMostEverything]

4858168 4858222
"I just don't know what went wrong."
"I do. It's pillage, then burn. I must be more drunk than I thought."

[Moosetasm]

4858226
“You gave me a list, but I couldn't read it with this disguise on.”
“I’m not entirely sure that they worked anyways since they draw attention to our defining physical characteristics...”
“You don’t like the horn I made you?”
“It is a fine horn... where did you learn to make artificial horns anyway?”
“I practiced a lot for nightmare night. Glow stick?”

[BlazzingInferno]

That's all sorts of genius and adorable

[Shakespearicles]

4858069 4858062
Don't forget Scootaloo.

[Oliver]

4858682

Only if she finally fesses up about being actually disabled. Even her description in the antique show bible consisted primarily of weasel words, and nothing really changed since, we still don’t know if this is a temporary state or a permanent condition.

We also know that wing size itself has no bearing on the ability to fly as such – Bulk Biceps is good enough to make the Equestria Games team and his wings are about the same size, with much larger mass. He is not the only example of that body type either, there’s that lady from the opposing team in Buckball Season, who has the same wing size.