• Member Since 4th May, 2013
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Estee


On the Sliding Scale Of Cynicism Vs. Idealism, I like to think of myself as being idyllically cynical. (Patreon, Ko-Fi.)

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It might seem like a simple spell. A truly basic working. All it does is change the color of something without altering a single other detail, and somepony just pranked Twilight with it. A minor joke, one with no real consequence. But it's still new magic, and so Twilight and Spike venture out to track the spell and caster across Ponyville.

You'd think a spell which merely changed colors wouldn't create so much trouble.

You'd really like to think that.


(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)

Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.

Dedicated to John M. Ford.

Chapters (6)
Comments ( 236 )

Is this supposed to be incomplete? You seem to be very fond of "long-shots" (stories not quite of the novella length)

The concept is certainly amusing, so I'm tracking it for future viewing. :eeyup:

Very curious. I'm definitely staying tuned to this.

Aside from the dopey waking ritual of our esteemed Mary Sue Sparkle princess, I was particularly curious for Spike and Twilight recognising each other as brother and sister. I don't read too many stories that go against the canon norm, electing that the pair don't share any sort of special relationship, so that in itself was particularly refreshing for me.

Bravo on the beginning of what should be a scrumptious bit of titillating comedy disaster. I look forward to the rest!

Shouldn't it be "Blue is the new Orange"?

Twilight needs a standing executive order allowing her to gag the Flower Trio in the event of an emergency. They spread panic as reliably as the CMC spread tree sap. I literally groaned, "Oh, no" at the end of this chapter.

:raritycry:

"Oh, this was a fad for a time, Twilight. Ponies all over the western coast were dying themselves into nearly these exact shades, only not so intense, with some earth ponies and unicorns even trying to create the color-based illusion of wings along their sides while others added hollowed paper-mache horns, it lasted for three foolish moons and it was all I could do not to laugh as I read through trade magazines with near-identical covers, but now the joke is on me and none of my wardrobe may ever coordinate again..."

This. This so much. Years of red/black alicorn OCs, all explained at last.

"But maybe the caster wasn't aware of it. If they got around differentiation without even trying --"

And maybe Princess Celestia is playing hopscotch. with the diamond dogs. In Tartarus.

Wait, I always thought "wake-up juice" was a slang term for coffee. What does it mean, if not that?

One thought per chapter thus far:

Yellow diamonds as a draconic stimulant? I can't help but draw parallels with Exam Crystal. Though the diamonds are probably less potent and more reliable. Then again, the same could be said of nitroglycerin.

What might appear to others as ridiculously basic was actually more complex than most ponies would ever care to think about.

Indeed. It's curious to see just which physical, chemical, and biological laws magic has to follow and which it can ignore in this setting.

And as for this chapter... :facehoof: Dammit, Daisy. This is why we can't have nice things.

Looking forward to more. The game is afoot! Hoof. Something. :derpytongue2:

4209345

A potent and terrifying brew born of Twilight's discussions with Zecora as well as her own independent research in the Royal Archives and on various specimens retrieved from the Everfree.

That's what I figured, anyway.

>InfraBread

My sides! Oh fate, ye cruel mistress, that I must wait to read this!

4209345 Possible Back to the Future 3 reference?

Yes. Okay. Your headcanon is that Spike and Twilight see each other as brother and sister. I get it.

You're kind of whacking us over the head with it to the detriment of the story.

Otherwise, very cool story. Will be interesting to see where this goes.

4209345
It usually refers to coffee, yes, but it looks like here it's some kind of actual wake-up juice, like an Alertness Potion or something.

Oh boy...

This will not go well at all.

~Skeeter The Lurker

Pft. Red and Black Rarity.

Perfect.

~Skeeter The Lurker

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4209414
Read Total Eclipse of the Fun there is a decent bit on exactly what Wake Up Juice is and where it comes from

Earlier than I usually reply, but I have free time before the hideous destruction of all things music begins.

4208752

'tis not yet complete. However, I am going to do something very rare here and set myself a deadline: I intend to have it finished before the end of the month.


4208795
4209481

Local 'verse/continuum/whatever-this-is has it as a sibling relationship and treats things accordingly, sadly complete with the right to dismiss advice from your younger sibling strictly due to the source. If the terms were too frequent... I wouldn't be surprised.

4208808

:raritywink:

4209115

dying

*groan* That one might have gotten past me until Arbor Day. Fixed to 'dyeing'.

But dear sweet pony gawds, someone had to say something.

4209251

It's the theory that you're more likely to do the impossible if you don't know it's impossible before you do it. Sort of like how the most likely unicorns to self-levitate are Surging infants. It's not just the small amount of mass they need to move -- they haven't been taught that projecting a field backwards is wrong.

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4209486

This has shown up in bits and pieces across the stories. Wake-up juice is an actual juice, typically creamy yellow. Coffee is... coffee, and unless you can find an earth pony willing to work on it and a pegasus to assist with the necessary climate control, it's typically imported from zebra lands. (Zecora is Ponyville's main supplier.) It's an uncommon taste to find in a pony, and only Cadance has been noted as drinking it regularly, along with cultivating her own beans. For her part, she generally drinks for three. For nearly everypony else, it's a desperation drink. Wake-up juice is typically about as strong and doesn't make you want to scrape your own taste buds off.

For those who haven't seen A Total Eclipse Of The Fun, the Exam Crystal mentioned by FOME is a drug harvested from wake-up juice plants which grow in strong magic areas within wild zones. It makes you awake. Very awake. Duration both variable and unpredictable. And when it wears off, you're either more tired or catching up on every bit of rest you missed, with no way to wake up until the books are balanced. Which kind did you get? The only way to find out is by taking it...

4209364

Yellow diamonds as a draconic stimulant? I can't help but draw parallels with Exam Crystal.

*nods* Maybe it's just something about yellow...

4209603
I haven't the slightest what that means...
Of course that could be the point...
Did I stumble upon some future plot point? Or do you just want me to think that to confound me? Is it something to do with Rarity specifically? Or is Rainbow the next victim? Damn it ambiguous emoticons!


(Also: I just realized that it is as likely a playoff Netflix's "Orange is the New Black")

So we have a serial colour...er.

And one that is, typical to the pattern, escalating...

4209603

Right, it's been a while since I read TEotF. Remembered the crystals, forgot the juice.

Still, the invention of a terrifying brew to stay awake sounds like something Twilight would do. Or at least try to do...

Interesting. Now, I gotta half-agree with 4209481 in that the whole "her brother" thing is a little blunt, but detrimental? Nahh. I mean, Spike is his own character. It's not a trouble to describe him as such (using Spike instead of some other tag), but I have no qualms about it either way.

Interesting idea scaled excellently, and I can't wait to see how it ends.

4209949

Yeah I have to ask about that too. Is the AU this is apart of not have color changing magic? I mean that's the one thing about the story's description that was odd to me. Also I've yet to read this although I'm going to get to it. Is it part of the Tryptic timeline or no?

I am reminded of Crystal Pepsi for some reason. :twilightoops:

4209795 >>>Still, the invention of a terrifying brew to stay awake sounds like something Twilight would do. >>>

Twilight invents 5-Hour Energy. :fluttershbad:

Very well written, interesting idea, and it's nice to see a comedy piece that doesn't appear to be going completely off the rails. Feels like the sort of casual weirdness that might actually happen in Ponyville. Plus, I like your characterization of Spike.

My one issue is that you have... well, frankly a somewhat odd way of expressing things, and there were a couple of parts in this story where I plain didn't understand what you meant.

Comment posted by Estee deleted Apr 10th, 2014

For the record:

This is currently #2 in the Featured Box.
i.imgur.com/5GQwmeZ.png

Okay, Twilight, I think the appropriate solution is to put the whole town in stasis... for the time being.

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4209949

Cosmetic spells (strictly short-term and surface only) exist, as do dyes. Illusions substitute and sometimes combine: a telekinetic twist to a mane with a false color change on top of it. However, nopony designs workings to target orange juice.

For Twilight, there are a couple of factors creating her fascination. It seems to be an all-purpose working which targets everything (except marks), may be permanent for objects, and changes the light absorption of the target while altering no other property. Chemically, this is known as 'a nightmare'. (Ask anyone who's gone through extensive hair coloring about side effects.) The working seems to be an advancement on all which has come before. The method is new -- and therefore interesting.

Timeline: call it about a month before the change.

(Deletion was a transmission hiccup. Sorry about any double notifications.)

4210474

Awesome. Are you going to be adding this to the Timeline blog? BTW. thanks. I'm going to be reading this now right after I finish reading Evil Belle and it's sequel. Thank you.

4210436

Would you believe that's my first look at the Feature box with the Mature setting turned on?

The titles seem so innocent. :pinkiecrazy:

i.imgur.com/O23ULSu.png
Discord is pleased by these developments. :pinkiehappy:

101 upthumbs?

What a lovely number. It would be a shame if someone were to...

RUIN IT. :pinkiecrazy:

4209486

Something that makes you more awake than coffee?

Some sort of potion that's 115% caffeine? Some sort of... coffeejack? :applejackunsure:

The more paranoid tended to set up emergency barriers in front of the toy store while slamming an emergency curtain over the doll display.

:twilightblush: You drive a town insane with desire one time...

Oh dear.

I would not want to be that caster right now.

The little dragon was in the middle of making himself a typical early summer breakfast, which in this case seemed to largely center around imported turquoise with some sprinkles of crumbled amethyst.

No peppermint milkshakes, though. Those are not part of this complete breakfast. :trixieshiftleft::trixieshiftright:

Twilight's orange juice.
Rarity's coat, mane and store.
The Cake's entire inventory.

I dread to think of what will happen to Rainbow Dash and Sweet Apple Acres.

Are you setting up a "pink Celestia" gag? That would be something. In the canon of the show, she responds quite well to pranks...

4208764 Having now read the first chapter, I can say that yes, this does indeed look quite interesting. And apparently others think similarly. :moustache:

Also, Spike's a boss.

It's number one now...in the featured bar....

4210343

My one issue is that you have... well, frankly a somewhat odd way of expressing things, and there were a couple of parts in this story where I plain didn't understand what you meant.

Welcome to Club Estee, where the prose is sometimes so purple it escapes the visible spectrum.

If you head to the bar at the corner, and order a glass of 500LM, you'll forever be coming back for more.
Just don't try the Triptych before the other stuff has become easily digestible

4212108

Purple isn't exactly how I would describe it. It's not overwrought, it's just... kinda unintuitive? Honestly, I'm not even sure what color this prose is supposed to be.

...And yes, I do appreciate the irony of that statement. :pinkiehappy:

4212108

...okay, the title of the next chapter is now Purple Prose.

Seriously.

Remind me, if you would: why is Twilight missing the pink stripe in her mane? And will it be coming back? :fluttercry:

4212367

Accident during the previous night's experiments. It'll grow back.

4209345
It's a thing in estee's Equestria, something that Twilight drinks to reboot her brain in the mornings, and probably contains caffeine. Beyond that, I don't think he's ever defined it, except that we know it's neither tea nor coffee.

Also, love that you're putting emphasis on Twi and Spike being siblings. It's something that a lot of authors miss or ignore!

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