Chapter 90 - Raconteur
The sky held an amusing duality. Right above the forest hung dark ominous rainclouds, while the sky above the rolling grasslands and lake the two had set up their picnic was crystal blue, dotted only by a few bright white shapes far off in the distance.
Resting on her back, Trixie drew out a long, slow yawn as she watched the clouds lazily drift by overhead. She shifted to get a little more comfortable on the checkered blanket, which in reality meant she scooted closer to the snoozing Rainbow Dash.
Lunch had been, for lack of a better word, ‘awesome’. Sadly, the picnic basket had not been stuffed full of Trixie’s favorite treat, but two and a half peanut butter chocolate muffins had been enough to temporarily satisfy her craving, allowing for lesser foods to get a fair chance afterwards.
In the time it had taken for Trixie to wolf down two muffins, Rainbow Dash was barely half way through the one Trixie had so graciously allowed her to have for the sake of experiencing true delight. Apparently Dash did not much care for divinity molded into solid form, as she declined to eat any more of it, favoring a plain old chocolate cupcake instead.
Heretic!
However, it was not as though Trixie could complain too much. Dash had been right to praise that sugarcube store. After all, they both ended up eating way too much, it was simply hard to stop. Though, the best part came afterwards. Drowsy from their meal, and knowing they had the whole day free, a nap was an obvious follow up.
Unlike Rainbow Dash, Trixie was not used to taking naps in broad daylight. Even if the past few weeks she had slept nearly entire days, she’d always been in a darkened room. Fortunately, that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the moment’s peace while Dash slept.
Shifting closer to Dash, Trixie sighed. But, it is a little boring now.
To entertain herself, Trixie went over the date so far. It was still weird to think that Dash had the presence of mind to avoid the town, and set up a walk through the forest, and a picnic. Granted, apparently Dash was not as good of a planner as she had made herself out to be, since ‘the captain of the Weather Team’ got caught by surprise when it started raining. Even though it went very differently than Trixie had expected, she still really enjoyed herself, despite, or perhaps because of, all their arguing. Though Dash also said something that, looking back on it, was pretty confusing. Apparently Fluttershy was scary? Perhaps she’d have to ask about it later.
Trixie scooted a bit closer to Dash again, and glanced over to her. Still so far away? Ugh, forget this.
Trixie rolled onto her hooves, got up, and quickly trotted over to Dash. Dropping down, She rested her head on Dash’s chest with a contented sigh. The sun-warmed fur felt even better than Trixie thought it would. Maybe she would be able to get a little sleep after all.
“Subtle.”
Trixie froze. Dash definitely should have been asleep, shouldn’t she? Clearly she wasn’t. There was no way Trixie could deny she’d done anything, so that just left one logical option in her mind: double down. “Silence. We’ve been over this. Trixie does what Trixie pleases.” As she spoke, she hugged Dash tightly to drive the point home.
Dash wrapped one hoof around Trixie, but otherwise remained in the same ‘snoozing’ pose she was in. “So this is what ‘pleases Trixie’ then?” Dash chuckled, causing her chest to shake below Trixie as she did. She stretched out her free limbs with a yawn, getting more comfortable. “Suits me. I don’t wanna get up yet anyway.”
“Y-yes, Trixie supposes so, even though you are hard and lumpy.” Blushing, Trixie looked for something to change the topic to. Fortunately, she had one prepared. “H-hey, uhm, what did you mean before? About Fluttershy?”
Dash groaned. “I am not—Huh? Uhm, when? I said a lot of stuff.”
“You said Fluttershy scared ponies, didn’t you? Trixie is pretty sure.” Trixie paused briefly as she realized how silly it sounded. “Actually, you probably said Fluttershy is scared of ponies, right?”
“Oh, that…” Dash stayed quiet for a moment, leaving Trixie wondering. Just as Trixie was about to ask if Dash had dozed off again, she spoke up. “Did Fluttershy say anything about that to you?” she asked while she lifted her head off the blanket, looking at Trixie with an unusual expression. She almost looked sad.
“Uh, no. Trixie thinks she would have remembered if she had.” Trixie had not actually expected Dash to react so seriously to a silly misunderstanding. Maybe it wasn’t a mistake? A second later, a different reason occurred to her that made her chest tighten. She just wanted to kick herself for doing the same thing she’d done on ‘screeching mare’ night. That’s twice Trixie ruined the mood by bringing up Fluttershy! Think of something better, Trixie!
“Hey, Trixie, you’re, among other things, a storyteller, right?” She gave Trixie a questioning look. “Does that mean you know lots of stories?”
That didn’t have anything to do with anything. Caught off guard, it took Trixie a minute to fully register the question. “What? Erm, yes?”
Dash laid her head back down, depriving Trixie of a view of her face. “There was this story my grand mare used to tell me, but I don’t remember it so well. Do you know the old mare’s tale of Hen Sell and Grey Tell?”
Of course, Trixie knew it. The story was old, but a classic. One of the many that still made the rounds now and then among other famous ponytales like: Red Hoof, The Princess and the Poor Pony, and The Gingerbread Pony
While the entire thing still utterly confused Trixie, she supposed it was as good a topic change as any and gratefully latched on. “Sure, Trixie knows the whole thing! The Eloquent and Captivating Trixie could tell the ponytale right now if you wanted. Oh! Or maybe you’d like to hear something a little more adventurous like—”
“Yes.” Dash interrupted, giving Trixie a squeeze to hush her. “Tell the story, the first one.”
It surprised Trixie that Dash actually wanted to hear the story, but she was not about to argue with her on it. Telling tales was pretty high up on her list of favorites after all. More importantly than that though, this was the first thing Dash had ever asked of her. Realizing she finally had an opportunity to do something for Dash for a change, her enthusiasm skyrocketed. “Trixie will!”
“Thanks.”
Trixie cleared her throat. “Well, first of all, it is important to understand that this story has been around for quite a while. Which means that some of the details may differ between regions, but more than that, it means Trixie has to tell you that this story takes place during the Great Famine. Most ponies today cannot imagine how awful it is not to know when you will have your next meal, or even if you will get one at all.” Trixie shivered, nuzzling into Dash’s fur for a moment before she recalled what she was supposed to be doing. “A-as Trixie was saying. It is a terrifying thing that has driven many a pony to desperate acts, and that, is where our story begins…” Her horn lit up, drawing the figures of two ponies into the air above them.
The harvests had failed, food was scarce, and winter was coming.
In the house of Ell, Chiming Bell, and her husband Wood Fell had what was possibly the hardest conversation they had ever had: How to survive the winter. There was simply not enough food for their family to make it through the cold months. At best there was food for two.
Though they loved their foals, these were difficult, different times. Even if they sacrificed themselves, their foals would starve the moment the food ran out. An even harder decision, of which foal to save in exchange for either of them, also proved fruitless, as single pony simply could not provide enough in these trying times.
Which finally led them to the hardest choice of all, to sacrifice their own foals so they could make it through the winter. We’ll never know who first came up with it, but they fought over it in turns, yet it was inevitably the only chance they could think of. Perhaps, in a few years, they could try to start a family again, during better times.
But even with the choice made, neither could bring themselves to do such a horrible deed. Finally what they decided on, was for Wood Fell to take the foals with him on his next logging trip into the forest, and leave them there. Perhaps if fortune smiled on the foals they would survive, but neither Chiming Bell nor Wood Fell could fool themselves into believing that comforting lie.
Unbeknownst to either of them however, was that one of the foals, Hen Sell, had awoken, and was listening in on his parents plans to abandon him and his little sister, Grey Tell, in the woods to fend for themselves. After waiting for his parents to fall asleep, Hen Sell snuck out of the house in the dead of night to gather bright white stones by the moonlight.
The following day, Wood Fell took the foals with him into the forest as agreed, and disappeared once they were far from home. With a heavy heart he took a detour, and returned to tell Chiming Bell the deed was done. But when he arrived home, he found the foals were already there.
Hen Sell had used the white stones to mark the path they had taken into the forest. Once his father disappeared, he’d taken Grey Tell by the hoof, and followed the markers back home, arriving in time for dinner, which was ‘curiously’ decked for two, but quickly corrected.
That night they fought, Wood Fell absolutely refused to attempt to take the foals with him a second time, feeling horrendously guilty for the act. Finally, Chiming Bell agreed to do it herself, and take the foals with her early the next morning, on a foraging excursion, even though it was long past the season to do so.
Of course, Hen Sell had stayed up to listen in this time, but when he tried to sneak out, the door had been locked.
In the morning, Chiming Bell woke her foals bright and early, sparing only some dry bread for breakfast, and they headed out almost immediately. Without a chance to gather pebbles, Chiming Bell thought Hen Sell had nothing to make a trail with. Yet again, once they were far from home, Hen Sell and Grey Tell found themselves all alone in the cold woods.
Grey Tell was upset, this was the second time her parents had ‘lost’ them, and she didn’t know how they were going to find their way home this time. Hen Sell proudly announced he had skipped breakfast, and used the bread to make a trail of crumbs to find their way back home.
Unfortunately, after they’d followed the trail for just a few paces, it came to a sudden halt. A group of birds were pecking up the crumbs, unconcerned with Hen Sell’s outrage as they fluttered past him to eat the last remaining crumbs before flying off to the safety of the trees.
They were lost.
Though they tried their best to find their way home on their own, even a full afternoon of sunlight was not enough time to get anywhere that they recognized. Tired and hungry, they sat down against the trunk of a tree for shelter. As the twilight set in, Grey Tell cried, no matter what Hen Sell tried to tell her.
Just as they thought all hope was lost, the flock of birds that had eaten the crumbs descended nearby. They seemed ashamed of their careless actions now that they understood how much trouble they’d caused, and brought in a small hoofful of nuts and berries that they’d found.
It was a meager meal, and hardly made up for even the bread that the birds had eaten, let alone the life line it represented, but they still thanked the birds for their kindness. As the last of the day light faded, the birds took to the sky again and vanished.
When the morning returned, so did the birds, but this time they did not bring anything. Instead, a large sparrow hopped onto Grey Tell’s shoulder, and stole one of her ribbons. Flying off a few feet with it, the sparrow dropped the ribbon to the ground, but when Hen Sell and Grey Tell tried to take the ribbon, the sparrow snatched it up and set it down a bit further away.
Hen Sell yelled at the sparrow, but kept trying to get the ribbon, until Grey Tell realized the sparrow was not taunting them, but leading them. Sure enough, after the sparrow ‘stole’ the ribbon many more times, it finally dropped the ribbon on the edge of a clearing within the forest.
As the pair of starving foals approached, they saw the most amazing thing: in the middle of the clearing, stood the most delicious looking house they had ever seen. The walls were made from gingerbread, the roof of candy canes, the windows of crystal clear sugar with sills of cake, and all of it held together with pink frosting.
Without a second thought, they broke off pieces of the house to still their hunger. Halfway through the meal, they heard a gentle voice calling from inside the house. “Gnaw, nibble, chew, swallow… Who’s eating my home hollow?”
The foals were startled, and tried to explain away the sound, as only silly foals would think to do. “It is just a gust of wind, that enjoys the taste of mint!”
The inhabitant was not fooled for a minute, and soon the door opened as an elderly mare slowly stepped over the threshold of her home to get a closer look at this ‘wind.’ Her eyes were not what they used to be, she could barely make out the two small shapes of the foals, but she quickly understood. She spoke in a kind tone. “Oh my, oh poor dear. Why are you all the way out here? Come, come inside. You do not need to hide.”
Once the foals entered the candy house, the mare was ever so kind to the poor lost foals. She brought them glasses of milk, pancakes with syrup, cupcakes, nuts and fruits, as much as they could eat. While they enjoyed their meal the kindly old mare talked with them about what had happened, and she soon learned of the famine, and their parents plan.
“Oh dear, that is simply too cruel I fear. Please, won’t you consider staying here?” She offered Hen Sell and Grey Tell the warmest of beds with pristine white sheets to rest their tired, drowsy heads.
The foals were overjoyed with the offer to stay with the sweet old mare, and gratefully accepted. However, what they did not know was that it was all an act. The caring mare was in fact an evil witch that enjoyed tricking and eating ponies that came to her home. As soon as the foals fell asleep she set her evil plan in motion.
When Grey Tell woke up, she discovered that Hen Sell was locked in a cage, and the kind old mare was cackling as she threatened to hex them both if Grey Tell did not do everything she told her to do.
The evil witch was not kind at all anymore, and demanded Grey Tell do all of her chores every day. Cooking, cleaning, rubbing the old witches knobby back, and shining her collection of golden bits till they shone brightly enough that even the witch could enjoy seeing them again.
Meanwhile, Hen Sell was given more and more food to fatten him up for the witch to cook and eat him once he was nice and meaty.
Because the witch could not see very well, every day she would demand Hen Sell stick his foreleg out through the bars of the cage so she could feel if he was nice and fat yet. But, Grey Tell gave her brother a branch she’d found outside while raking up leaves, which Hen Sell held out instead of his leg, fooling the nearly blind witch.
This ruse held for a couple of weeks, but then the witch grew frustrated that Hen Sell never gained weight. She was hungry and growing impatient, finally she decided she would just have to eat both Hen Sell and Grey Tell to satisfy her appetite.
The evil witch hatched her scheme. Grey Tell was ordered to heat up the witch’s large stove, and then check if it had the right temperature yet. The witch planned to push Grey Tell into the stove the moment she was knelt down before it to check the temperature gauge. But, Grey Tell knew what the witch was up to, and pretended she did not understand what the cruel witch wanted her to do.
Grumbling with annoyance at Grey Tell’s idiocy, the witch pushed her out of the way, demanding Grey Tell pay attention while she demonstrated how to do it properly.
To the witch's surprise, the moment she knelt down to show Grey Tell how, she was pushed hard from behind and tumbled into the stove herself! Grey Tell quickly latched the door to the stove shut and ran to Hen Sell’s cage while the witch… Trixie will just say she ‘melted.’
Once Hell Sell was free they quickly grabbed the witch’s gold, and as much food as they could carry, then ran away into the woods. After all, one can never be sure that a witch is truly defeated, they always could find some way to hex a pony, even after death if they linger.
After a few days in the forest, Hen Sell and Grey Tell were found by Wood Fell and Chiming Bell, who had been searching the woods ever since the first night that their foals had not found their way back home, deeply regretting ever abandoning them.
“With all the food and gold they would ever need, the Ell’s lived happily ever after.” Trixie let the image of the four ponies embracing among two rudimentary trees linger in the air for a moment before it slowly faded away. She drew her gaze towards Dash, smiling as she found Dash's muzzle was pointed towards the fading images. “What did you think?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much how I remember it, I don’t think my grandmare ever told me about the witch ‘melting’ though, is that really part of the story?” Dash looked at Trixie with a smirk.
“Well, it depends on how foal friendly you want the story to be. Like Trixie said, it is an old tale, and ponies were pretty graphic back in the day. You really don’t want to hear some of the older variants of that scene, or you’ll never want to be alone at night again.” Trixie paused a moment as that sunk in, then gave Dash her best seductive look, complete with bedroom eyes. “On second thought… maybe Trixie will tell you after all.”
Laughing, Dash shook her head. “Oh please, as if you could say anything that would spook the master of spooky ponytales!” She let her head fall back onto the blanket again and sighed, staring up at the sky. “So, do you know why I asked about that story? Remind you of anypony?”
Trixie had to give it a bit of thought, folding her ears flat. “Uhm, well… maybe… but… why don’t you give Trixie a hint?”
Dash groaned. “Ugh, come on, it’s obvious. The kind old mare. She lives all alone in the middle of the forest. The animals lead the foals to her. She is really, unnaturally sweet and offers them shelter, doesn’t even scold them for the damage they did. You know?”
“What? You mean the evil witch?” Trixie raised a brow. She didn’t think she knew anypony that could pass for the villain of the story, though she supposed that technically she was caught earlier today with a muffin and a small foal. Would that count? Is Trixie a witch now? Wait, those are not the traits that Dash hinted at… “…Fluttershy?”
“Hah, I was starting to think I had to actually tell you. Yeah, Fluttershy.”
Trixie rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on! You are not suggesting Fluttershy is the wicked witch of the forest, are you?” She laughed at the very idea.
Dash stayed suspiciously quiet while Trixie’s laughter slowly died off.
“Wait. Are you?” Trixie sat up straight, staring down at Dash. “Tell Trixie you are kidding.”
Looking up at Trixie, Dash averted her gaze. “Not me, but there’s ponies that feel that way. I mean, think about it… You know Fluttershy’s pretty different from other ponies. She’s not very social, hay, I’d be surprised if she even knows the names of ten ponies in this whole town. She does her best to be nice, but she is so shy she ends up just squeeking if she meets somepony new. ”
“Well that hardly makes her a witch now does it?” Trixie couldn’t believe she had to defend Fluttershy, the kindest mare in Equestria, from such a silly accusation.
Dash shook her head. “Of course it doesn’t. I’m just saying, Fluttershy is really kind, but she’s awkward around ponies she doesn’t know, acts way too nice compared to everypony else, and just comes off as faking it. She lives all the way out on the edge of the forest with a bunch of animals that she talks to! Almost never comes to the town unless she needs something. Ponies start talking, you should know.”
“Wait, but, no. That’s ridiculous!” Trixie simply couldn’t take it seriously. Dash had to be pulling her leg, but the look on her face as she spoke, it betrayed so much sadness and anger. Glancing down, Trixie noticed Dash’s hoof shake.
“When we first got here, what do you suppose ponies thought? Some weird pegasus mare that prefers not to fly just moved right in just out of town and started collecting animals, dangerous ones. Freaking ponies out with over the top acts of kindness, never getting angry, never confronting anypony and just giving a creepy smile whenever she manages to look anypony in the eye.” Dash looked Trixie in the eye suddenly. “Even you. When you first met her you thought she was manipulating you all the way. It wasn’t until you actually got to know her a little that you realized that wasn’t true. Which was after what? A whole week of actually living with her?”
Trixie blushed, ashamed. It was true. “O-oh, she told you about that?” Fortunately, Dash did not seem at all upset with her. When Trixie thought about it, perhaps that was because she’d figured out Fluttershy was just that naturally kind on her own, unlike the towns folk apparently. When Dash put it like that, Trixie had to admit it made Fluttershy look worse. “Is it really that bad? Trixie knew Ponyville was a stupid place, but they can’t all be awful?”
“Sure, it’s not like the whole town is convinced she’s evil. Plenty of ponies just think she’s a bit odd, but there’s still plenty that don’t like her at all, or suspect she’s some kind of candy housed forest witch! Hay, I’ve seen her go into town alone, and some ponies treat her well, but others are total jerks to her! Over pricing her food, cutting in line, it happens all the time!” She slammed her hoof down on the blanket.
The helpless frustration was clear on Dash’s face. Obviously she had tried whatever she could think of to make things work out, but it hadn’t gotten her results. Suddenly, Dash yelling at ponies on their way through Ponyville took on a different light. Maybe, they weren’t in Dash’s way. But Fluttershy’s?
Sighing, Dash relaxed a little. “Still… I guess I owe Twilight. It’s not much, but things have been getting better since she got here. Though, hooking Fluttershy’s name to Nightmare Moon didn’t help her any. It just made ponies wonder why the ‘supposedly shy scared pony’ was out there fighting Nightmare Moon. Can you believe it? It just made them more suspicious! As if rumors that Fluttershy is a friend of that freaky Zecora weren’t enough!”
Trixie blinked, that was a new name. “Zecora?”
Dash waved her hoof dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. Just, ugh. Look I’m sorry. I’m just running my big mouth, ruining everything. It’s just, it makes me so, so mad! If Fluttershy wasn’t such a scaredy-pony, or if they’d just spent some time with her they’d—sorry, never mind.” Dash sighed, looking dejected.
Remaining silent while she thought it over, Trixie finally decided to lay back down and pulled Dash into a hug that allowed for no protest. “Dash? Trixie is glad you told her about this… if you ever feel like running that big mouth of yours again, Trixie’s here.”
Putting up token resistance, Dash soon wrapped her hooves around Trixie while she listened, chuckling weakly. “Thanks, Trixie.”
Smiling, Trixie pulled in to kiss Dash on the nose. “Besides…. Trixie knows a sure fire way to convince even the worst of ponies, a way she discovered through personal experience."
Blushing, Dash perked up her ears. “Oh? What’s that?”
Showing an impish grin, Trixie laughed. “Buck em right in the face!”
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed.
My goodness, this chapter ran much longer than I anticipated.
Mostly, it is the fault of Trixie's story telling, but even if I delete the whole thing it's still 2.5k.
Besides, I kinda needed that story to have the rest make sense.
I considered the option of relying on everyone to know to the fairy tale, but that seemed unwise, especially with how many versions there are. On top of that, any excuse to have Trixie actually tell a story is a good one. She was at real risk of falling into the Informed Ability Trope
Funny thing, I absolutely loved fairy tales as a kid and knew tons of them. Who would have thought some of that knowledge was going to come in handy later in life? 
I actually wanted to use a more obscure fairytale, but this one just hit too many notes perfectly to be denied the spot.
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Fluttershy is a witch. Headcanon accepted, even if that's the opposite of the point.
Some people take their desserts way to seriously. I never knew that story was so messed up. I never really liked fairy tales much, so I don't think I've read it.
Fairy tales are some of the darkest stories, ever told to children. Some get turned kid friendly, some stay true to the original. Just like nursery rhymes. A lot of those are pretty sad.
Eh, don't know what to comment : 3
5065952
I guess it could count as Ponyville headcanon.
Though I admit I do like that idea.
5066014
Hah, yes it's horrible.
You know what's even more horrifying? This is nothing compared to the older versions of Sleeping Beauty or Little Red Riding Hood.
Seriously it's like: (Do not reveal these spoilers if you want to ever think of fairytales as innocent again.)
Sleeping Beauty is not kissed awake, instead prince charming just rapes her while she is still asleep, and she and bears his kids, by the time she actually wakes up she is like on her 7th kid.
Little Red Riding Hood is tricked into eating her own grandmother, and is then ordered to strip naked, which she does, and get into bed with the wolf who eats/rapes her.
5066425
Definitely. Though I only know Fairy Tales, so I'm not familiar with any nursery rhymes. Do you have any examples?
The only one I know of is the one they showed in the Simpsons where Marge sings one to Maggy and she imagines herself at the top of a tree in a crib and falling down to the ground.
5067308
I don't know how to respond to that.
Still, I like it more than no comment, so good call.
5068410 Ring Around the Rosie. One of the most common nursery rhymes sung by kids, is about the black death a.k.a. bubonic plague.
5068410
Ok... I haven't heard those versions before
5069211
Oh, my. I wonder how on earth anyone ever thought it was a good idea to make kids sing that.
5069266
Yeah, they evolved over time.
Like a bit later on Red Hood could escape the wolf, and did so on her own though, erm, lets call it 'cunning'. Later versions introduced the woodsman to rescue her. If I recall right.
Actually, the popular fairy tales generally did, but less popular ones don't always get their kid friendly updates unless Disney picks it up. Apparently, there are some fairy tales that are actually forbidden in germany for instance because they were thought to contribute to the character of Hitler.
5069309
That's got to be one bad fairy tale. As for ring around the Rosie, stuff like that just pops up. It's not well known, but there's a little playground chant (like for pump rope) that's about the 1918 influenza epidemic.
5069372
Mostly just very racist agaist jews, as you would expect.
Huh, interesting. The songs keep their dark meaning, but the tales get changed.
5069449
The influenza one isn't popular today (at the very least, I've never heard it outside of history class). probably because the event it's referring to is a lot more recent.
5069309 I guess anything that can hold a childs attention, was probably what gave them the idea to teach it. Maybe as a means to keep what happened, fresh in the minds of the future generations. A lot of people who sang or heard the song, didn't know the true meaning of it. I learned the true meaning, probably around seven years ago.
Anywho, there's a lot of nursery rhymes with a hidden message, or a blunt message. Only thing that make them seem harmless, would be the children singing them.
5068410 But I did enjoy the chapter : 3 jut nothing memoriable. No drama.... or chances. Just an extending of the date really.
5068410 o0 Luna's Tits thats dark as fuck.
Hansel And Gretel REALLY
: Hen Sell and Grey Tail REALLY!!!!!!!
OW!!!!!!! Who Threw this Fountain Pen at Me?
5080820
Hah.
I swear I tried to come up with better names. You do not want to see the earlier drafts.
HEY CROWS! Finally getting round to reading the chapters I fell behind on, and as per my punishment I shall comment on every chapter, before I get started on the real comment, figured I'd point out a few tiny mistakes (making up, in a small way, for the things you've done for me):
I suppose that's Hen Sell (must of just got it mixed up with his dad's name)
them
That's all, now on to the real stuff.
Firstly, Hen Sell and Grey Tell? Awesome
Being a big fan of the Grimm brothers and the classic (darker) fairy tales, this chapter was really enjoyable. It's always interesting thinking of tales and nursery rhymes. Kind of a coincidence that just the other day I was thinking of the old nursery rhyme 'it's raining, it's pouring' and how that's actually about death, there are actually a fair few children's tales and rhymes about death
Maybe you could actually write pony stories based upon other fairy tales, exploring the interesting and dark meaning behind them and whatnot .
The Hen Sell and Grey Tell tale was actually made a little weirder by the fact I was listening to a cheery song called 'Smile'
(not the mlp one, the Sheppard one 
)
Overall a damn good chapter mate, can't wait to read the other chapters
5181434
Hey Fim! Good to have you back.
Thanks for pointing those out, I've fixed them up right away.
Yeah I probably got him mixed up with his dad. Besides that, I used to play WoW, so Fell is a more familiar word to me than Sell.
Glad you liked it.
I absolutely love fairy tales. Though many of them are really F'd up. For example the tale of how the fox got it's red eyes.
Way back when, the fox had special eyes. He could do a trick where he shoots his eyes out of his head, they fly around, bounce of a tree then pop back into his skull. Two ravens ask him to show them again, and when he does they fly into the path of his eyes and eat them. The Fox is confused why his eyes aren't coming back, so he goes looking for them. He stumbles upon two red berries, and mistakes them for his eyes. He does note that his eyes must have gotten dusty while they were on the ground, cause he can't see as well as he used too.
Interesting coincidence indeed. I learned that from the comments on this very chapter. I wonder if we even have nursery rhymes in this country cause I never heard of them before.
I definitely think that would work. Probably immerse them a bit more in the pony world while converting them. On the other hand, I wonder if just ponyfying existing fairytales is too lazy. You could probably use them as a base, like have a pony have an adventure in the setting of the fairytale, but not have all events the same aside from key points. What do you think?
Glad to hear. Have fun.
5181857 Good to be back
No prob mate, they're a lot more minor then some of my mistakes
Fairy Tales are indeed awesome... and f*cked up
Interesting fox tale, I'm unsure if I've heard that one 
Perhaps for the Fairy tale story, you could have characters kind of crossed over and all living together in Equestria, for example, Applebloom could be red riding hood, Rarity could be Snow White and so on. This way you could have people guessing what character is what character, plus you could always add your own twists, like the wolf from RRH is actually a good guy or girl if you go that route (the girl mlp characters are generally more interesting anyway
)
5183570
That's funny, I just recently learned there's a tv series that has a premise like that, Once Upon a Time. I don't watch it myself, but I've been told it involves all the fairytale characters living normal human lives, unaware of who they are, due to a spell cast by one of the evil characters that wanted to stop all happy endings.
5184869 Yeah I know that show, it's ok. I prefer this other show called Grimm, it's about a detective who is descended from the Grimm brother's bloodline, and he discovers he has the ability to see certain creatures disguised as humans. Just like the Grimm tales, it's a very dark take on the various stories and creatures of the classic tales.
Captain of the Weather Team
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Capitalize those.
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Awesome chapter.
Trixie's description of her muffins is hilarious.
As for the idea of Ponyville considering Fluttershy a 'candy housed forest witch;'
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Corrections;
'It was not as though Trixie' should be 'it was not as though Trixie'
'Shifting nearer to Dash' should be 'Shifting closer to Dash'
'“Subtle”' should be '“Subtle.”'
I think you meant 'with an unusual expression.' not 'with an usual expression.'
I'd add an 'and' before 'they headed out almost immediately.'
'Fooling the nearly blind witch.' should be 'fooling the nearly blind witch.'
'To the witches surprise' should be 'To the witch's surprise'
'Smiling as she found' should be 'smiling as she found'
'Laughing Dash shook her head.' should be 'Laughing, Dash shook her head.'
and
'Trixie blushed ashamed.' should be 'Trixie, blushed ashamed.'
Comments;
Somepony is an addict.
SUFFER NOT THE UNCLEAN TO LIVE.
Rainbow Dash, a pot and kettle want to see you.
and whom as well.
"So, how do you do a wingjob anyway?"
Something tells me Trixie can imagine that very well.
Context, Trixie, context.
Ain't that the truth.
5810699
As if Trixie would ever settle for anything less than that for her favorite food.
It's weird how I never really noticed that she has a little something in common with one of her victims.
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Not that Trixie would ever share them.
Hah, I'm glad you liked that bit. That picture though.
It fits her surprisingly well, and she even ends up with a trio of fillies in her home at some point. Context.
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In desperate times.
Pff who needs it.
To be Fair Trixie would probably have behaved the same way to anypony being that kind or even being half that kind she had no friends since she was foal at that point.