• Member Since 17th Jan, 2012
  • offline last seen 4 hours ago

Skywriter


loves tiaras.

T
Source

In the wake of the events of "Infernal Machines" and the Nightmare's most pathetic assault on Ponyville yet, Applejack is thrown into an existential crisis, despite her not knowing what the word "existential" means. So when a stranger named Stranger arrives in town, teaching a new way of coupling talent to power using complex machinery, she is quickly suckered in, along with everypony else. Now, it falls to the Most Dependable of Ponies to bring the resulting ruckus down to earth, but can even Applejack's legendary pragmatism stand up to the brain-fizzing horror that is... CONTRAPTIONOLOGY?

Now with a Spanish translation by Spaniard Kiwi!

Chapters (25)
Comments ( 1168 )

I can tell this will be funny.

This is a wonderfully creative premise with a unique voice, and I cannot wait to see more.

Nightmare Scoot?

:rainbowderp:

:rainbowkiss:

:rainbowlaugh:

TAKE ALL OF MY MONEY, NOW. Scootaloo is best nightmare.

Can't say I'm too pleased with the whole "villain-of-the-week," one-trick pony you've turned the Nightmare into :ajbemused:

Other than that, this is amusing and I think I'll track you for a bit.

Tracking....Done.
This is going to be hilarious...
Can't wait!

Although, I think Nightmare Tom would be best Nightmare.

Nightmare whatever, the new running joke. I am liking this idea.

However, I must say that the timeshifts were a bit unclear. You need to make it clearer to the reader that a flashback is going on.

Of course, the most important part here is the fact that this is one of few fics written in first person. You did it well and it shows just who the narrator is.

I was half-thinking this was going to be a The Incredible Machine crossover, but then I remembered that that discipline's just "Contrapology". Oh well~

NIGHTMARE DERP:derpyderp1::derpyderp2::derpytongue2:

This is relevant to my interests. And is fantastic

Aww... They should just leave Scoot nightmared. After al it's not like she actually has the ability or power to make a science fair last forever. And who knows if the power boost won't let her wings get stronger?.

(Also, Scoots can fly a bit as shown in several episodes, you NEVER see ANY of the young Ponyville pegasi flying though, only Pound Cake and the Cloudsdale ones.

Nightmare Derp is best pony.

Tracking!!

I am sorely tempted to make a sockpuppet account, just so I can give this a second thumbs up.

Damn. AJ comes alive when you write her. Good show! :ajsmug:

Poor, poor Applejack. :applejackconfused: I can honestly say I'm as confuddled by all that's going on as she is. Filly needs to take a nap. :ajsleepy:
Her perceptions are definitely putting heavy coat of coloration over the events, but the way you write it keeps me reading. Keep it up. :ajsmug:
Also: Pinkie's a horrible secret-keeper. Did Twilight neglect to have her make a Pinkie Pie Swear? :trollestia:

:rainbowlaugh:

I could read your AJ's internal monologue all day.

328399
The story makes a little more sense if you read "Infernal Machines" first; one of the real foundation weaknesses of this piece, at least as far as the presentation on FIMFiction goes, is that it contains an integral prologue that's not even in the same story file. I pondered posting the entirety of "Infernal..." as Chapter 1, but that means changing narrators right out of the gate, which I thought might be more confusing than not. I just couldn't work all the flaws out of this particular concept, but I think I'm gonna run with it anyway.

Unless that's not what you meant at all, in which case, never mind!

328399
Additionally, yes! Twilight appears to have forgotten that step, which would have been handy for her. Pinkie Pie Swears appear to throw Pinkie's otherwise scattered care and attention into stratospherically high gear.

It's the occasional fic like this which makes me think there might be something to the TwiPie ship. For Science! :twilightsheepish:

379015
Apparently, though I don't keep close track to the terminology, this is "Twinkie" or "Twinkie Pie". It's far from the most far-fetched 'ship, although Pinkie here is notably different than canon Pinkie, much as I try to sell the reader otherwise. :trixieshiftright:

Thanks to MandoPony's "Sweet Apple Acres" for getting me in a nice solid Applejack headspace, and as ever to Device Heretic for helping me understand that I'm not wasting my time in doing this. :twilightsmile:

Road trip denied...
I'm still finding the whole Nightmare-of-the-week thing to be real cheesy, and I've got this feeling we're not done with it quite yet.

Asbestos. Safe. :ajbemused: You ponies have GOT to be kidding me. :facehoof:

Keep it up. :pinkiehappy:

:rainbowlaugh:

Thoroughly enjoyed, sir. This story is getting funnier by the minute, and I can't wait for the next chapter. I spotted absolutely no errors, and I just wanted to know, do you proofread your own work? Or do you have a beta you bounce this stuff off of? I only ask because if you do not have a beta, I would gladly volunteer. Not that you're a bad writer or make mistakes, it's just that if you slip up or—not that you're going to slip or anything, I just—I—um—uh—the—

Well, fuck me. I seem to have contracted chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome.

385443

The Nightmare of the week makes sense for the story in that it allows for a crisis in which the elements are required yet not one that will send the entire town into a panic like the widely varied disasters that regularly occur but require a less "Orbital Friendship Cannon" response. It is cheesy though, but Nightmare Scoot has got to me the most adorable thing ever.

384773

I found this chapter funnier than the previous 2. Even though the tone was more or less the same I guess there was more showing with AJ responding and less of AJ just telling (sarcastically bitching). I felt that was a bit overwrought in the first 2 but perfectly balanced here.

385452
Everybody makes mistakes, Akela. I keep finding them and squashing them.

I don't have a beta circle; I'm pretty new to Pony and haven't gathered one yet. Any lack of errors in my stuff can be blamed on faint obsessive-compulsive tendencies that urge me to keep reading my own stuff over and over over again. Additionally, Pony seems to be my outlet for uninhibited writing -- I've found that I work best if I have an prose outlet I don't have to worry too much about, and writing about simple, broad, candy-colored characters with absolutely no pressure to sell the work when I'm done (because I *can't*) seems to be fitting that bill nicely.

That all having been said, I'd be more than happy to have another voice from the web to bounce things off of. PM me?

385443
Oh, we are *so* not done with the Nightmare, but perhaps not in the way one might expect...

Twilight's... "time kitty"? Is depleted? What is this I don't even...

385863
It's slang! A 'kitty' is a pool of spare change; here, Twilight is saying that she's already used up all the time she had scheduled for Unexpected Disturbances.

I've been spreading this story far and wide as documentary proof that you're one of the best writers in the fandom. I am a huge fan of your style of comedy, and your dialogue and characterization are right up there with the best. I will read everything you write, so keep giving us more. :heart:

386736
Thanks, NorsePony. Word-of-mouth is best word.

385549
Glad to hear I've hit balance, at least temporarily. Unfortunately, things start getting off-kilter shortly after this; see if you stick with me. :pinkiecrazy:

I, for one, love the Nightmare of the week idea. The comedy in this fiction is just grand, keep it up!

392066
Thanks, Moose. I only think it gets funnier from here on in, but I'm me. :pinkiehappy:

"Stranger Danger.":fluttershysad: That is a name to run away from VERY fast.

And I think Pinkie needs to reorganize her show notes... :trollestia:

Derpy's grey, not blue. :derpytongue2:

409959
This is basically the dialogue:
Author: Okay, so, Derpy's sort of a periwinkle color.
A.J.: Your mother's a what now?
Author: Periwinkle. Like the flower.
A.J. (thinks): Naah. Too fancy. She's blue.
Author: But --
A.J. LISTEN, YOU FLEA-BITTEN MONKEY, WHOSE STORY IS THIS?
I think I can bargain her down to "gray", but that's not right in my eyes. Maybe I can get her to agree to "blue-gray". Let's see.

UPDATE: Compromise successful.

I need to brush up on my hypercube dance. It's a little rusty.

Loved the chapter, keep up the good work!

410010
I'm sorry, but Derpy looks like a very definite "grey" to my eyes.:derpyderp2:
... Ok, the FiM wiki calls her "blueish-grey"... Still, I think most people would look at at her and think "Grey with yellow mane."

Capsaicin in its pure form? It doesn't just burn, it's toxic.

424474
Oh, perfect. Source, please? :pinkiehappy:

Alrighty, finally finished what you've got published. I like it! This is easily one of the better-written fics on FiMFiction here, and I think you'd get a pretty good reception on Equestria Daily if you choose to continue pursuing that route. I saw this in the queue and while I don't know what exact response you were given, I believe that you may have been referred to Ponychan when the reviewer only meant to suggest a few touchup points.

Can't believe I missed this until today's EqD post. One of the only fics I've read that had me literally laughing out loud.

Only one thing to say Skywriter... 'BRAIN HUG!!!!!!!' I'm loving this, your portrayal of the characters is excellent along with such simple but awesome dialogue as "All right, let's blast her,"

And this chapter's almost-made-me-wet-myself-from-laughing-so hard award goes to... "Ooh! Ooh!" said Pinkie. "Rarity, make a mooing noise!"

306843

that's kind of the point. The fanfic writers HAVE turned her into a one-trick pony.

Somepony has ISSUES....

Parody is a useful ingredient--- but only in small doses. Don't overdo it, or it comes off like a hate-letter to the thing you're writing a fanfic about.

Utterly hilarious opening. I do like the idea that by now Nightmare vanquishing is so utterly commonplace they barely take the Elements off.

So Pinkie's going all Bill Nye on Ponyville's plot? This cannot end well.

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