This story is a sequel to Tastes Like Heresy
It's said that time heals all wounds. Sometimes it takes a bit more than that, though.
Amber Spice used to have everything she thought she wanted. She had loving parents, a posh upper crust lifestyle, and her dream job as Royal Chef to the King of Unicornia. Or at least she did before she got herself banished to the Pegasopian Desert on charges of heresy. Now she's been stripped of everything she has ever loved, except for her dream to return home with a feat of culinary mastery so awe-inspiring that they just have to let her back in. Hopefully the legends about the pegasi exaggerated their taste for unicorn flesh...
Horizon, a pegasus vanguard of his caravan, has lost something important as well. Many ponies out in the great desert have. Some ponies lost their sister. Others lost their favorite storyteller. Horizon? He lost his fiancee, and nothing's ever been able to fill that hole in his heart. He can still do his job, but that's about all he finds he can do anymore. Time alone hasn't done enough to heal this stallion, but maybe something completely out of the blue will help. A fresh perspective can work wonders on one's outlook, after all.
The world has broken these ponies, but together they may yet rise again.
Edited most consistently by SirNotAppearingInThisFic, with occasional contributions from Themaskedferret and FanOfMostEverything.
Formerly edited by McWeaksauce.
And there you have it! The first hint of Spicy's forays into the unknown wilds. It's finally here.
Be sure to leave a comment if there's anything that needs fixing, particularly with the story's tags. I've never quite really understood Fimfiction's story tagging system, no matter how many times I browse the FAQ, so any hints there would be great. Also, based on what's here so far, was I right to label this as "teen" instead of "everyone?"
Here's hoping everyone enjoys reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it, and possibly more!
Oh, this is gonna be fun...
3769727
I dunno....do mild alcohol references warrant a teen rating? If not, then there hasn't been anything so far that would require it. But with that romance tag up there, depending on how close she gets to Horizon......it might be warranted for later if things get a little.....suggestive......
Anyway, so far I like the start. I just read the prequel, and it did not disappoint, so I'm expecting big things from this one as well.
3774959
I sure hope so! I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting to write this.
3775505
Thanks for the input. I was mainly worried about the level of violence being a bit strong for an "everyone" rating. Since that seems to be a non-issue so far, I'll bump this story back down forthwith!
Really glad to hear you're enjoying both stories so far, too. I'm not going to disappoint.
Huzzah! More of one of my favorite alternate universes! Eagerly looking forward to more. Especially what provisions the pegasi have for those who can't walk on clouds. Assuming that's an issue, of course...
Eh, I'll find out when the time comes. Until then.
3775696
.......I had totally forgotten that that one guy died...... It was so "clean", and Horizon was so nonchalant about it, that it almost didn't even register as an act of violence. I mean, I've seen more graphic death scenes in Disney movies. With violence in mind, I would say that the rating would depend on what kind of role you want it to have in the story.
If you want the raiders and the violence that they cause to be a fairly important plot point, either throughout the story or even for just a key scene, then it might be worth keeping the teen rating so that you can make it as graphic as it needs to be to have the impact you want. But if it's just kind of one of those things that's there, a part of Horizon's monotony, but not really important to the overall story, then an everyone rating with a few PG references here and there would be fine.
tl;dr - This one scene wouldn't warrant a teen rating to me. but if you plan to have more, or make them more graphic later then you'll probably need it.
3777779
Thanks. I'll try to keep that "Disney Rule" in mind.
3776202
Clouds are a fairly scarce resource in the desert, so she won't be needing to figure out how to walk on them, sadly. She'll have other things to adjust to, though!
Looking on the bright side of things, I like this fellow.
And that went about as well as expected given her upbringing.
Finally, first contact! For her, anyway. Looking forward to the rest of this, it's gonna be fun :)
3783032
Horizon is a bit of an odd duck. "Morbid optimism" isn't a phrase you hear often, but I think it has a home in desert pegasus culture. "Looking on the bright side of the Sun" is an interesting figure of speech they have.
And yes, there is plenty of fun in the sun ahead.
Win. Amber Spice's adventures continue, and she gains a new member for her culinary party.
*Watched, Tracked, Faved, Upvoted. LIKE A BOSS*
3785259
Horizon, Pegasus Vanguard, has joined the party! *Final Fantasy VII victory theme plays*
And thanks for the kind words.
*Grins* Probably not the best choice but still amusing nevertheless.
3786551
Praytell, what are you refering to as not the best choice? I'm glad it's amusing, whatever it is.
Oooh, this is going to be good.
I wonder what she'll blow up this time. Ooh! Spicy rainbow food?
3786626 Proceeding to scream your lungs out and flail around while being carried high in the air but another being.
3792463
Yeah, I can see that being less than perfectly wise.
this will be fun
*sits back for the ride*
Hooray, an update! A very short one, but I'll take what I can get! :D
I am eagerly awaiting the next one. :)
Haha, poor camel :P
I've been waiting for this
It lives! This wonderful story got an update!
I approve wholeheartedly. Go on! I'm liking the first contact sort of thing you have going on.
Thanks, all, for the comments and support! It's one of my favorite parts of writing.
3934225
Alas, poor Carlyle: we knew thee well. At least his life is an eventful one.
3933929
Well, it seemed as natural a place to end a chapter as any other. It was either that, or wait another 2-4 weeks. Glad to see you're hungry for more, though!
3934242
Glad to hear that. Sometimes I forget people actually read this. Hopefully this one month wait thing becomes a trend towards shorter waits between chapters!
3934510
Wonderful story? Oh, you flatterer!
...
I do not recall asking you to stop.
Ah, first contact scenarios. They are such great opportunities for fun and shenanigans. An idea of mine that didn't quite make the cut:
"Are you from the stars?" the awestruck pegasus asked.
"They're more of distant relatives," I mumble incoherently. "Insufferable bunch, really."
Yeah, sugar and alcohol. Wring yourself out like a sponge, why don't you?
Amber, you fail at deserts.
Aside from a certain silly pony not quite grasping the local availability of water, this was a fantastic chapter. Especially Horizon's thought process. Having known only pegasi, of course he'd find a flight-incapable pony unusually massive. And it seems that this caravan hasn't retained any knowledge of the other tribes, which makes me wonder if any pegasi have...
This is why I love your stories. You extrapolate the consequences of continued segregation so well. Eagerly looking forward to more.
3934692
Amber Spice failing at deserts? She'd have you know she baked several excellent specimens last week.
Yeah, I'll admit Spicy has very little knowledge of desert travel. Salt is darned important to have in the desert, though. Losing too much of it from your system via sweating can lead to cramps, dizziness, nausea, and eventually heat stroke. It's why drinks like Gatorade are filled with salts, after all.
Thanks for letting me know my extrapolation engine is working as intended. Firing it up is one of my favorite parts of writing.
3934598
I think that maybe you didn't mean to reply to me with the first one.
Regarding the second, aye, that's tough, the choice between short and frequent chapters or long and distant ones. And either way, they have endings...
3936469
Thanks for the fireworks! I'd been wondering where I'd stashed them all...
And thus did Pegasi quickly learn that while also ponies, Unicorns and Clouds do not mix.
3938722
Dangit, didn't anypony tell you it's totally unfair to read an author's mind?
3939872 Oh, most definitely. But then, I enjoy being unfair. :P
Oh dear...
A skittish unicorn mare who has never had a physical physical examination from her doctor (veterinarian?) about to receive the full rubber-glove treatment from a strange pegasus medic?
What could possibly go wrong?
3950124
What could possibly go wrong? Carlyle sure knows...
Huh, interesting story. Liking the character story from the prequel.
So all this takes place after the original events of Heartswarming Eve, with the tribes still remaining split? Assuming this due to the twisted mockery of the pageant.
The fact that the first response of the pegasus scouts was to aid an unknown puts them leagues above the unicorns. Though it's too early to assume this for them in whole.
So Amber's goal is to come up with a non-unicorn full course meal that surpasses Unicorn standards? This story is now reminding me of the Manga Toriko, minus the buff fighters duking it out against the food and eachother.
Wonder where 'Tia and Lulu are relative to this story. Probably won't feature for quite a while, if at all.
4042667
Glad you're enjoying my work!
This story takes place hundreds of years after Hearth's Warming should have happened. They never did get around to dealing with those windigoes in the old country...
Sadly, noplace was cosmopolitan or harmonic enough for Celestia or Luna to ascend to alicornhood, so they lived out their lives as a powerful earth pony or pegasus, respectively.
As for Horizon's taking in a very strange stranger? I'd pin that down to traditions of xenos (guest-friendship) and honor, combined with utter boredom making it easier for his curiosity to override his sense of self-preservation. Rest assured, though, that it's not all sunshine and rainbows among the pegasi. There's still plenty of sunshine, but they have their own slew of quirks waiting to make Spicy's life more interesting.
Here's hoping you enjoy the rest of what I have planned for these ponies!
4043154
Interesting.
What's your take on Alicornification? From the one canon take, it required the subject to create a new magic. But magic, for what we've seen, has been exclusively studied by unicorns.
4043282
Personally, I think it's an enlightenment thing. Twilight had a revelation about the Magic of Friendship, Cadance (in the Crystal Heart Spell book) discovered something special about the power of love... I'm not sure what Celestia and Luna discovered, but my first guess is they were the first to truly understand how powerful the bonds of family could be.
Also, Cadance was totally a pegasus before she ascended.
so there's gone be Alicorn and the story?
whoops, my bad I mean in. Anyways are the Pegasus merchants? since you know their nomadic.
4104445
No alicorns here. Nopony I'm writing has much chance of ascending, in my opinion. Spicy just doesn't strike me as a particularly enlightened kind of gal, Y'know?
No merchants here, either. At least, not at the present time. These are more of the day-to-day survival nomads than the rich merchant kind. At the moment, they don't have anypony to sell things to. That's not to say this is the permanent state of the world, though...
3939872
To be perfectly honest, that was my first thought too. Namely, some pegasus decided to set her down on a cloud and unicorns can't stand on them.
4107647
Curses! You readers are more cunning than I'd thought.
4110389 hey Bugsy, I know I shouldn't be demanding but, when are you going to update this?
4446738
Sorry, been experiencing a bit of schedule slip. Remember when I said I'd be done soon*? I'd thought I'd hit a patch of smooth sailing in my classes. Turned out to have been the calm before the storm of finals and term papers.
Thankfully, finals are now all wrapped up for the summer, so I should more opportunities to write now. In fact, I have had more opportunities to write, and to go over what I'd already written for revision when bits just didn't feel right. I'm happy with the progress I've been making lately, both in putting words on imaginary electronic paper and in understanding my characters and getting their personalities across.
I'd love to give you an estimate as to when the next chapter will be ready, but I'm afraid that if I do, the universe will contrive some means of disallowing my deadline. I can tell you, though, that this chapter will likely be a little on the short side. Also, I'd finished one-and-a-half of the projected two conversations, but have discovered the need to add an additional conversation and some introspection.
Out of random curiosity, which of my characters in my stories, aside from Amber Spice, is your favorite so far, and why?
4446811 I haven't really thought of it really. ummm, horizon is lot like me; since I'm usually morbid and mellow. I don't know really? I guess I'll have to wait and see. After all you have only two chapters out.
4446971
Fair enough. Hopefully you'll have more to go on soon enough.
FIRST!!!1
Take that, Doc Crowl!
Yay, it's back! Less than five thousand words worth of back, but that's still far better than nothing!
""That said," she says, fixing me with a piercing gaze, "I've never seen anything quite like her. Judging by the looks you two were getting as you flew in, I doubt anyone else has either.
"Where did you find such an unusual mare?""
Hm. This appears to be completely Soothing Balm speaking. I'm not sure why the second line is its own paragraph.
Sigh… and so passes another chapter…
"Next chapter should have a lot more Amber Spice in it, and some culture shock!"
Ooh, I like both of those things! :)
jeebus you update slowly. still, great chapter
4509412
Glad to see you're enjoying my story, though I'm a little sad there isn't more of it to share with you just yet.
As for why there's a paragraph change without a change in speaker there, I wanted to imply a bit of separation between the two sets of words to make things more dramatic. It's not entirely necessary, but I like it.
4509454
Still updates faster than Arrow 18.
And thanks for the compliment!