Freshly graduated from West Hoof Academy, 2nd Lieutenant Storm Kicker decides to enjoy what little free time she has left before accepting her commission with the Long Patrol. And what better way to let down her mane than at the millennial celebration of Celestia’s reign, on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration?
Well, there is the pesky little detail of a pesky little sibling who decides to tag along and be a pest. Still, it’s the last chance she’ll have to spend time with Star, so they make the most of it. It’s all fun and games, plus she'll have plenty of chances to needle her little sister along the way.
At least, until the two sisters are asked to look into the disappearance of a family friend; it soon becomes apparent that not all is well in Canterlot.
It's hard to not love the back-and-forth banter between these two. It flows so well, and feels so natural for siblings this close together. For example:
I remember doing this to my brother. Heck, for that matter, I still do it to my sister when she's around.
But as the story goes, you really see the more serious side of their relationship. Yeah, they needle each other and get on each others' nerves (as is the obligation of every sibling), but when it boils down to it, they're there for each other when they need each other the most.
Solid work, and I'm hoping to see more of these two in the future!
Have to love the back and forth banter between Star and Storm. Also the action scene and the stuff with the monster was great. Awesome story as always.
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"Daaaaaaaaad..."
Embarassing, prankster dads aside, Storm and Star make one heck of a team. But now they're going different paths, so how are each of them going to deal with that?
PS: I like both but I prefer Storm 'cause she can fire thunder and has a really nice skunk mane.
Hooray! Let Cloudless month commence! Yep, no big stories about Cloud Kicker this month. We'll barely see her at all.
Moar winningverse. Hell yes.
There are dark things in Equestria, made darker still in contrast with the world's brightness.
Philosophy aside, this an excellent side story and does much to build upon the Winningverse world.
I'll read this after work. Can't wait to see what goes down.
Another addition for this amazing universe. I can't wait to give it a read.
I'm very much looking forward to the day when Shining Armor defeats the entire changeling army and their queen (who defeated Celestia) pretty much single-hoofedly. It's going to be so very satisfying to see the Kickers realize how horribly they've misjudged him. Nyahaha!
This kind of further cements my point that Star is in no danger of being expelled from West Hoof and the Guard. With this kind of track record, it only goes to show that she is a very capable soldier and tracker and an incredibly valuable asset to the Guard. Without her, a dozen ponies or more would've been killed, eaten, or worse. At least one of them a member of the Guard and the other a noble. There would've been all kinds of political backlash if she hadn't been there.
Dammit, why must you upload this right before I have to be in work?! Why do you torment me?!
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I'll freely admit that the Kickers have their biases. Not that it's much of a surprise they think their Dad/Uncle is more qualified than some random unicorn most of them barely know.
3139402 I know, I believe I've stated before that their bias is understandable. That doesn't change the fact that their reactions to Shining's shield and total victory are going to be awesome.
Awww sibling love at it's finest!
Honest display of emotions, loyal to winning and the characters, generous word count for one shot, kind moments, many many laughts and magical actionsequenzes all combined in harmonie. I give it an A+.
I'm totally going to get stoned for this, but someone is bound to say it.
Holy hell, Batman, more Winningverse stories? Where does it end?!
It's like, every week, I see Winningverse something in the box. Who knows, at this rate, it may beat out clop in the box for most seen.
3139732 at least clop has some form of entertainment value
an intresting tale. i shall follow thee.
Cupcake? *offers you a cupcake*
So, a psychologist and a minister of asceticness as parents, and a sibling who is constantly location bugging you. That had to be fun to grow up with.
I keep reading Uncle Tornado as Uncle Tomato, makes it unexpectedly hilarious.
Dat Trixie reference, I was wondering if that was coming considering the description of the street performances.
It's Guyra!
Services to the crown, eh? Maybe we'll see a Heartstrings in the rebellion.
Interesting implications there about what spells a unicorn can learn.
Ahh, so that's who we'll be tracking down. And I'm with Storm, the stored blood idea is definitely creepy.
Caves? The Undermountain? Awesome.
The fight? Even more awesome, especially how it ended.
Interesting. So a Cult of Shadow, one or more Sun Cults, and now a Harmony Cult.
Shadow's armor? Now I'm looking forward even more to more of the rebellion story.
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Same here, man, same here.
Eulalia
A very interesting look at Storm's character, especially if you take her as being representative of the Kickers as a whole. Specifically the "not so different" overtones regarding her sense of superiority regarding nobles. And given her young age, there is a lot of room for character development.
Never enuff sibling rivalry.
Careful, Storm. If Cloud had even suspected you were thinking that ... well, the teasing would be doubled.
"Great set of lines, aren't they?" says the guy who uses them nearly every chapter.
*eyes Storm Kicker's internal monologue*
So, Chengar? Is there a single member of the Kicker family who realizes that Shining Armor got his position based upon merit and power, or does every single one of them believe that Cloud Kicker's walking out screwed Tornado out of the position?
Because that's kinda... super, super myopic...
Unless... You aren't making it canon in your story that that's why Shiny won, are you? Because that would be... really lame actually.
You aren't doing that, right?
Well, one thing's for sure: Those two are definitely related to Cloud. Faust save Equestria, 'cause this job's just too big for Celestia.
And she's a little too close, knowwhutImean, Vern?
3139732 The first moment I read your comment, I thought you intended to read the story while stoned
3140417 While I am obviously not Chengar, there are very good odds Cloud was the deciding factor. The upper levels of the military are very political, so an embarrassment like that could easily tip things in favor of Shiny because both commanders are supposedly talented (I say supposedly because we have never really seen Tornado do anything, and Shiny seems to exist to get screwed over by the baddy of the week in the show) so the competition between them would be close.
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I would say that 3141467 nailed it, to an extent. It wouldn't be right to say that all the blame for Tornado losing out goes on Cloud since Shining Armor is legitimately talented, but a scandal like that didn't help things. Especially since Tornado pulled strings to keep Cloud from getting into trouble.
That said, I expect most of the Kickers have a reasonable opinion of Shining Armor. Cloud and Storm are just biased on account of being so close to Tornado.
3140886
That's not out of the question...
Saw this, and couldn't resist...
Butter Bar!
I can say as an Army veteran, we usually loathed getting a 2LT assigned to our platoon, but we made sure they weren't given any maps or a compass, so it all worked out.
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This just made me snort my drink onto my computer. That's so awesomely hilarious.
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It wasn't all that bad; they were nice guys, and they had their heads on squarely. At least the ones I worked with.
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Sounds in line with what I've heard about military life. Newbie officers have a bit of a rough time of things, until they've proven that they're not idiots.
One of the best parody movies ever right there.
I liked the family dynamics, a thrilling action sequence and some Lyra introspection to boot.
You have my seal of approval.
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So Star is an oops baby.
Reminds me of Mrs. Weasly being a badass.
Wow. I didn't see this coming. I was expecting Storm and Star on a major Changeling hunt following Nimbus' demise. Instead, we get this. Honest to God love it. Enjoyed the chemistry between the siblings and the introduction of the deadly beauty that is the rusalka. Keep up the great work, CQ!
With that said, I can be at peace and get my Cloudless entry done.
Better be careful with that joke, it's an antique.
First my attention is grabbed with 'Winning Pony' and now this! I barely have enough free time as it is and you write this awesome piece?
Ah well...
But what intrigued me most is Shadow's Armour. I don't suppose it will make an appearance? I'd like to know what makes it so special.
3143756 Probably got the most hardcore enchantments imaginable, possibly from Celestia herself. She was very important to the Princess in her time, and she likely took great pains to make sure she stayed safe.
Great little aside from Storm's perspective, I really enjoyed her take on several of the characters we've all come to love. Also enjoyed a small glimpse of Canterlot on the night of NMM's return.
I have the feeling that Code Gold is going to see a lot of use in the next few years...
Ahh, sibling rivalry, ain't it grand?
Speaking of which, I gotta go kick my lil sister's butt outta bed.
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Just to put that argument into perspective concerning Star getting kicked out: I never said it was actually happening, just that Star's convinced that she's messed up badly enough to warrant it. What the future actually holds for Stalkermare the Spotted, well... You'll just have to wait and see.
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Star's not a stalker. She just wants to monitor the location of every single pony she's on good terms with, to make sure she knows where they are if she needs to find them. For reasons. Reasons that have nothing to do with stalking.
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But... but... ;-;
I enjoyed this one more than I expected to, since I'm usually not one for straight-out OC stories. Setting it on the eve of the pilot episode wasnt necessary to the story, but it gave it an added layer of interest that drew me in. From there I enjoyed the characters' interactions and the threat they faced.
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The Shining Armor bashing rubs me the wrong way as well. Aside from presumably Twilight, nobody in these stories seem to think much of him. I suspect its only going to get worse, as Derpy's brother's dislike for him and Twilight's fears upon hearing where Dinky came from make him the prime candidate for knocking up a drunk Derpy and disappearing before she sobered up. While I could handle him being Dinky's father, making him such a cad would be a step too far for me.
But then, as noted I'm not too into OCs, and especially not stories where OCs (even the background pony kind) are portrayed as superior to the canon heroes.
3144340 Derpy's brother didn't like him either? I must have missed that, but that has me concerned too. It's one thing for the Kickers to not like him for family reasons, but if we have non-Kicker guardsponies arbitrarily disliking him as well, that's not a good sign for the eventual treatment of his character.
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--from the latest chapter of The Life and Times of a Winning Pony
At least it's followed by Cloudkicker allowing that he's done "decent enough" at the post, but yes... From what I've read, we've yet to hear anything good about him from someone in the guard, in or out of the Kicker clan.
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I have a few thoughts on this.
First aren't the Kickers suppose to be close with his family? It may be shared bias.
Second and somewhat related to the first point. The badmouthing of Shining Armor may be more revealing of the ponies doing it than Shining Armor himself. Green is their color.
Third Shining Armor is a scumbag in the Winningverse who owes his entire existence to a time traveling Twilight Sparkle visiting Princess Celestia and telling her that unless she makes SA captain she won't save Princess Luna this time around.
Blimey, we've found her! The one straight mare in the entire Winningverse!
How come the cover art remains me of anime artwork from the 90s?
It's not a bad cover art by all means, but... Still
Brilliant. Quick question why is Star a Unicorn, when I dare say pretty well all of the Kickers are Pegasi?
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We did have straight mares before her Granted, aside from Cheerilee I think Storm's the first straight mare to be a PoV character.
Though that's assuming you don't buy Star and Lyra's teasing.
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The Kickers have a decent number of unicorns in the family tree, on account of living in Canterlot. Even in a traditionally pegasus family, a few centuries of living in a mostly unicorn city is going to result in mixing.
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And don't forget, as far as Sparkler has admitted so far, she's straight...