Ardi was a young wolf -- not a Diamond Dog -- from the forests outside Stalliongrad stealthily wandering Equestria. Until the day he ripped off a dragon's hoard in the Everfree, got chased into Ponyville, and ended up stuck inside of a enchanted ponysuit.
With only one painfully-shy Pegasus, three little fillies, and a blackmailing baby dragon to cover for him, how long can a wolf hide out in a town full of crazy ponies intent on turning him into a wolfskin rug? Especially when he's forced to pose as not only a well-known local pony, but as one of the Elements of Harmony?
And when fear of Changelings is also ahoof in Equestria?
Thanks to some very kind fans, mainly Jordan1179, this story now has its own Tropes page: Tv Tropes Wolf In Pony's Clothing
Now with a sequel! Queen Vespid joins Rarity, AJ, and Fluttershy on a little trip to Manehattan to model some clothes for Carousel Boutique and search for stray Changelings -- who might not want to be found. Right here at Manehattan Madness
Hi!
Seen your art on deviantart! Glad I recommended you to display your fan fiction here.
Poor Ardi...
Great start, love this already!
seems a little bit sad
2860765 That will change as the story progresses. This is NOT a sad or tragic fic, I promise you.
2860504 Thanks! I hope you like the rest of it as much as the first chapter.
2861300 I think I will. ;)
Just a quick comment for anyone interested - that pulp author Spike mentions is based on Henry Kuttner, a very real and incredibly prolific pulp writer; popular legend has it that occasionally entire issues of horror or fantasy mags were filled with stories under some of his dozens of pseudonyms. If you can find his work it's still worth reading!
By the way, does anyone know just how the heck you upload/link to an image so you can have cover art with your story? I must be dumb. I've tried several times and I can't get a picture uploaded here!
So Aloe/Lotus is MLP-Russian? Huh.
Nice new chapter; Ardi and Flutters just can't get a break, can they?
2867712 Well, I'm going with them as Russian. Or sorta-kinda-Russian; they are magical ponies in Equestria, after all. And thanks for your kinds words on the new chapter. Things are going to start getting even more exciting in the Chinese curse sense for Flutts and Ardi very soon!
In case you're curious about the movie Yellow Jacket/Vespid saw in Canterlot, it's basically a cinematic version of this very fine story right here: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/8316/the-song-of-syhlex
It's very heartily recommended to anyone who wonders about Equestria and Celestia's past. Also, how often do you see someone successfully doing epic poetry with My Little Pony?
This is shaping up nicely!
Poor Ardi, Poor Vespid.... Let's hope at least one of them gets a happy ending. (Preferably both, though).
I like this story. Fav!
2874103 Thank you! I hope the future chapters continue to amuse you.
2873804 All I can say for now is, stick around and you should be happily surprised.
2875550 I'll take that as a good omen. :)
Dammit, Blueblood; what are you up to...
2877968 Oh, you'll find out. ;) Blueblood will be showing up again in a little while, as will a certain Changeling Queen.
2878060 "Blueblood will be showing up again in a little while, as will a certain Changeling Queen."
How delightfully cryptic. I'll take a wild guess and say....Bluey knows about Yellow Jacket/Vespid, and now he's gonna rat her out and play the hero.
The sleaze.
2878594 You'll see. That''s all the more I can say right now. But I think you'll enjoy it when it comes.
2878615 I'll be keeping a lookout; because this is a cracking story so far. :)
Btw, Ardi's story was fantastic stuff--reminded me of Norse mythology.
Wonder what the CMCs made of it, and how the class will react to whatever they wrote down...
Speaking of which, what did Ardi mean by his stories being "written down and killed"? Do wolves have some sort of cultural aversion to writing in general, or just for their ancestral stories?
Good to see a awsome fic with wolf's. Far to few of those. I guess BB is going on a monster hunt.
Also I like the history part about the sisters and Discord. I wonder if that story is heresy, that Ardi told?
2878649 You'll find out tonight what the CMC do with Ardi's stories.
And for "written down and killed', that needs some explanation. Basically it's a belief that can still be found in a few cultures, that spoken words are quite literally living things, and that writing them down 'kills' them, taking some of the power and sacredness from them. The wolves (some of them, anyway) fear that ponies or others could steal the potency from the legends if they learned them. So Ardi took a BIG risk by the standards of his culture.
2879404 Glad you like the use of a wolf as a POV character; and the truth about Ardi's and the wolves' stories will come out in a later chapter.
For those interested; yes, the movie 'The Song of Syhlex' that Ardi, Flutts, and the CMC watch is basically The Descendant's great epic poetry done as a movie in Equestria. Here's a link to the original for those of you who want to read it. I recommend it wholeheartedly as one of the best and most original MLP stories I've ever read.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/8316/the-song-of-syhlex
Hmm...
Sounds like this spell may NOT be the "kill 'em all" that Vespid fears.
But then again, they're casting it over *all of Equestria*. Intrigue, thy name is Canterlot.
Loved the sequence in the griffin diner, hope Slitclaw enjoys being bald, the sleazey perv!
2883024 Glad to hear you liked the scene in the tent.
2883091 Top-shelf comedy, great work!
And Spike defending "Rarity" even when he thinks she's an imposter...quite the chivalrous little guy, isn't he?
I hope the spell is not one of those that make the Changelings to ponys. That would be a boring deus ex machina or what it's calld.
2884245 All I can say right now is that that's not the case. No 'poof-to-pony' spells here.
2883103 Thanks a lot. I really mean that. And yeah, Spike definitely has a bit of the 'knight in shining scales' attitude.
And so we approach the climax...
2886620 That we are; only a few chapters (and one day) left.
By the way, are you the one who recommended me to that 'World-Building Alliance' group?
Well, that isn't good.
Looks like we'll finally find out what this spell will do...
2886235 Given Celestia's "what he (Blueblood) thought we'll do" line, it seems an "instant kill" spell is out as well.
Perhaps it'll shut off their shapeshifting, and mode-lock them in their Changeling forms?
2886630 No that was me. Was it wrong of me?
2889118 No, no, that was perfectly alright. Thank you very much. I wish other folks would pass my work along to groups that might be interested or even just point me towards ones that might be willing to list them.
Well, that went bad quickly.
And so we begin to lower the curtain...
Celestia's story/speech was excellent. I could *hear* the sadness in her voice.
2892014 It certainly did. I hope there was a certain comic feel to it; my inspiration for that part (with all the galloping and chasing) was a lot of old B&W comedy films with scenes like that.
2892160 There's a very little bit left, and then it's done. I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading this far!
2892478 I *did* like it, very much.
Though the main storyline is done, there are still some loose ends to tie off--which I'm itching to see. :)
And I'm hoping we'll see more of Ardi sometime soon--a oneshot about him visiting Ponyville undisguised, perhaps? ;)
And there's always Vespid and her Hive getting formally acquainted with Canterlot... ;)
Fucking awesome!!
I guess we are closing in to the end now.
2893181
I *did* like it, very much.
Thanks, I mean that!
Though the main storyline is done, there are still some loose ends to tie off--which I'm itching to see. :)
And I'm hoping we'll see more of Ardi sometime soon--a oneshot about him visiting Ponyville undisguised, perhaps? ;)
That sounds like a good idea. I'd like seeing him associate with Rarity, AJ, and Dashie without hiding inside of a mare-suit. And you'll find out a little more about him, and the ponies and wolves, in the epilogue(s).
And there's always Vespid and her Hive getting formally acquainted with Canterlot... ;)
Again, good idea. Hmm, now I'm imagining other Changelings that lost their hive queens to Chrysalis searching her out so they can live more traditional (and peaceful) lives, leading to mass Changeling immigration to Canterlot...
Thanks for the comments and likes and everything else!
2894221 There's an epilogue or three left and that's it; they'll all be posted later tonight.
And I hope you liked the reveal on the intention for the 'anti-Changeling ritual'.
2895704 Oh yes I was. Sneaky Tia made us belive the worst, but she only wanted to end the Changelinge paranoia in the kingdom. But I wonder if they will talk about Fenrir. If the story is true. Also, I guess he will be happy to get out of the suit now.
2895704
I actually suspected something like this when Celly heard about Vespid attacking Blueblood--her "what he thought we'll do" line caught my attention pretty fast. Still, until then I was edgy--her attitude and mannerisms seemed to hint at a "kill 'em all" plan, and given how sympathetically Vespid was portrayed, I was worried for quite a bit.
But you subverted that in a big way, well done!
(And the "kill 'em all with the Elements" thing is sort of a pet. Peeve of mine when it comes to the Changelings. I've seen otherwise decent fics brought down by having the Elements just poof Chrysalis and her Changelings out of existence. Just ZAP, FLASH, gone for good. It's anticlimactic as hell, and it's wrecked a lot of otherwise good fics. -_-)
2896282
I actually suspected something like this when Celly heard about Vespid attacking Blueblood--her "what he thought we'll do" line caught my attention pretty fast. Still, until then I was edgy--her attitude and mannerisms seemed to hint at a "kill 'em all" plan, and given how sympathetically Vespid was portrayed, I was worried for quite a bit.
But you subverted that in a big way, well done!
Yeah -- something I wanted to do with this one was to play it up like Celestia was willing to be ruthless to defend her little ponies (and well, she is -- look what she did to Syhlex and his seven sons) and that she'd willingly kill the Changelings. But no; she wants to give them a chance instead.
Celly MIGHT be willing to engage in mass death to defend her little ponies; but it'd need something far, FAR worse than anything shown here.
(And the "kill 'em all with the Elements" thing is sort of a pet. Peeve of mine when it comes to the Changelings. I've seen otherwise decent fics brought down by having the Elements just poof Chrysalis and her Changelings out of existence. Just ZAP, FLASH, gone for good. It's anticlimactic as hell, and it's wrecked a lot of otherwise good fics. -_-)
I mostly recall stories that tried to make the Changelings sympathetic; but yeah, that doesn't sound right. I just don't see the Elements as WORKING like that.
And thanks for reading the story!