It’s never particularly easy being at the top of the food chain, even under normal circumstances, but Eleanor’s circumstances are hardly normal: as one-third of the chimera who prowls the fire geyser swamp south of Ponyville, the tigress must deal with all of the usual stresses that come with being an apex predator, and she has to manage two bickering sisters who simply refuse to shut up and do as they’re told. However, she and her sisters face an unexpected challenge when they come across evidence that a new predator is trying to push into their territory.
(For anyone who's concerned about the gore tag, the violence in this story is of the sort that is typical of a nature documentary. If you can handle the stuff on the Discovery Channel, you shouldn't have too much trouble with this.)
Artwork by Page Turner.
I have been waiting since I saw that episode for someone to bring up the, Rodents of Unusual Size. Now all we need is a giant. Minotaur maybe?
It looks even better on fimfic.
That was quite an entertaining little read.
Awesome little story. Didn't really think much about the chimera except how I would kill it when it was attacking Apple Bloom. Very fun little read, and I loved the three sisters. (Still can't figure out how the goat is carnivorous)
I wonder how dumb the Chimera would have to be, before Pavlovian traning of Applejack, as shown by her extensive preparations, would make it so that it would avoid ponies in general because carts have ponies and ponies beat it up every time?
And to think, this is the less dangerous route.
Heh... I assumed that the four species were tiger, goat, snake, and chimera until I read the note at the end. This was neat. Nothing amazing, but a nice read.
Totes throwing this on my read-later list.
4473985
You better. I edited it.
I wouldn't have expected the tree to provide enough concealment. The cragodile seemed too big for that. It kind of reminds me of one of these scenes:
static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spiteflight-152.jpg
Huh. I was expecting the last one to be chimeras.
So Cupcakes, ROUSes, the trials and tribulations of having your third conjoined triplet be both a lesbian and an herbivore, and your other triplet hitting on the enemy. Poor Eleanor.
4473597
4474991
Same here.
4476252 - Well, technically, Agatha is an omnivore, since her love of ricotta cheese demonstrates that she doesn't have much trouble with animal proteins.
I like Irene ^^
4476861
Eh, I can't agree with that. While most mammals may only drink milk as babies, I can't see how them continuing consuming milk products into adulthood makes them an omnivore.
4477236 - Okay, then how about the fact that she seems pretty enthusiastic about filly filet, and the fact that she has a lot of really sharp teeth that aren't really necessary for the consumption of plant life?
Eleanor = Tigress
Agatha = Goat
Irene = Viper/Snake
....I LOVE IT!
I've been waiting for more stories about the chimera since the episode aired.
I am not disappointed.
4477943
Lots of herbivores have sharp teeth for cutting tough plant matter. I'll give you that she was enthusiastic about eating AB, but your own story has an out with Eleanor eating her and all benefiting. Technically, on the whole, a chimera would be an omnivore anyway due to the inherent hybridness.
4479627
I would love to see an example of a herbivore (as in an animal that only eats plants) that has sharp teeth. By design, that is the exact opposite of what sharp teeth are used for. Herbivores have flat teeth to better crush their food for digestion, as most herbivores have long digestion times.
So, please, give me an example of an animal that exclusively eats plants that has sharp teeth.
4479668
For two great examples that prove my earlier point: fruit bats and pandas. Fruit bats have sharp teeth so they can puncture fruit and suck out the juice (makes the vampire in those vampire fruit bats seem awfully redundant, doesn't it?). Pandas famously only eat bamboo but have extremely sharp teeth as bamboo is very, very tough and requires a nice set of mouth blades to eat.
Not a perfect list, but they do have some other good examples: http://listverse.com/2010/01/10/top-10-herbivores-you-probably-want-to-avoid/
4479708
Ahh. Well, I have no idea where I was going with me asking you that. XD I just got off work, so excuse my craziness.
So...
Is it just me or is there an overload of sass with this trio?
4478487 - Thanks. Coming up with the names took me quite a while.
So thats how chimera mating works.
4479718
No problem.
I really wanted somebody to use the chimera as a character!
This seems familiar.
Also, good job developing the personalities of the 'sisters'. Their bickering carried the story.
Your author's note diverged from my deduction, namely that the four species for this chimaera were: tiger, goat, snake, other chimaera.
4484752
4474991
4473597
- Well, as I see it, chimera consist of some combination of those four species, so as far as Eleanor's concerned, a single chimera counts as an example of each of its component species.
Ah the amazing and diverse fire swamp. No fantasy land is complete without one.
Bet the place is just lousy with delightful alchemical components to go along with the horrifically dangerous creatures.
Nice! i always wanted to see more story of the chimera and now i have it! thanks!!
4479708 Not necessarily. if were going by plant type, fruit bat, are probably the regular kind of fruit bat, while there more vampiric cousin are more like weeds.
4489857
Something can be a pest to one and a cute pet to another. The point was how they eat.
Yeah, the dyanmic between these three is great. I'd love to see more of the relationship perspective as well - it'd give the term 'love triangle' a whole new meaning.
Tigers and lions can actually mate. Anyhoo, I thought the fourth viable species for them to mate with would be actual chimeras. Is that possible? Or is your interpretation of the chimera more unnatural, and requires really specific circumstance for a birth to happen, like with a basilisk?
4509582 - See my previous comment on the matter below.
It's the little details, like the Irene being able to hold the cragodile's jaw shut (because crocodilains have very weak opening jaw muscles) that make this.
4510016
Is this one the comment that you were talking about?
4532929 - Yes.
Very awesome! Loved the dialogue and the portrayal of the world, as well as the combat. Really the whole thing was great, as per usual!
Please keep writing, I'll keep reading!
Dat cupcakes reference.
Cool story, brony. Have a star
um, this is a great story and all, but in truth a Chimera and a Cragadile could easily co-exist because it's cold-blooded and don't need a lot of food, and because it's leg's are splayed it can't move that fast, so that a large chimera could easily sneak up on it grip the neck from the back and immobilize or even KILL it because the Armour around an an alligator's neck is reduced, and if Cragadile were efficient hunter's they would need to move their neck's side-to-side and to do that it would need limited or no armor on the neck., So yeah just sneak up on it and bite it's neck and, well, that's Dinner. And if you don't belive me here a real life example with two similar animals :http://natgeotv.com/uk/jaguar-vs-caiman/videos/big-cats-catch
4989878 - I am assuming that a cragadile's armor, even where it's weak, is made of rocks. If the chimera was to bite its neck, it would chip a tooth.
As for the rest, that sort of pragmatic thinking is the sort of approach Agatha would take. For Eleanor, all that stuff about food is simply the justification she uses to get the others to go along with her. She wants to be the unquestioned apex predator of the swamp, so one could almost say that the real threat the cragadile poses is to her ego, not her food supply.
4990935 Okay, good point but still even if she needed to take back her territory couldn't she have ambushed it from behind and then use enough bite fore to grip on the cragidile, then game over just drag it away flip it voer and tear apart it's soft under-belly.
4991132 because it's a tiger and tiger's have a respectable bite force ( more so than a lion's) so bite it grip it and drag it away, in fact a tiger has a bite force of 1050 POUNDS!
that's enough to cut through bone! and a cragidile's neck Armour can't be that strong or it wouldn't be able to move it's neck and thus, wouldn't be a very efficient preaditor.
Excellent world building. Interesting characters. Have a like and a ribbon:
i.imgur.com/6MrWqNZ.png
4990935 Don't get me wrong, I love this story but I thought that I should just point that out.
LOL
4991161
It is a magic monster made of living rock. It's neck armor can be any strength it wants, because 'magic' and 'living rock'.
5426251 Fair enough.
I really, really like this. All of the heads were wonderful characters and sorta reminded me of the Dazzlings in personality. The cragodile's scared of them now as well. Onto the sequel!
The exception that proves the rule uses "prove" in the somewhat archaic sense of testing the rule. And, because that exception exists, the rule is found wanting. Point to Agatha.
Of course R.O.U.S.s exist. Every self-respecting fire swamp has them.
Nice use of snake senses. The vomeronasal organ is a wondrous thing.
Wow. I can only imagine how confusing it would be to have multiple sexual orientations in the same body.
In all, a great villain spotlight story. Definitely going to read the sequel.