This story is a sequel to On the Courtship Behavior of Swamp-Dwelling Chimeras
Learning to read is rather challenging under normal circumstances, but it doesn't help when your other two heads would rather be courting or hunting. So far, though, Agatha has risen to the challenge admirably under the tutelage of Twilight Sparkle herself—or at least she did before the day she and her sisters walked into Ponyville to discover the burnt-out husk of the library tree. Worst of all, though, was that even though few of the books survived, the bastard who committed this unspeakable crime is still alive....
For now.
Artwork by Page Turner
Chapters (1)
Something satisfying about changing the counters at the top from 0-0-0 to 1-1-1.
I got the Calvin and Hobbes ref right away. The Dark Tower ref took a bit longer. Wasn't that Blaine the Mono's favorite book, too?
5826204 - No, I believe that Charlie the Choo-Choo is about an alternate version of Blaine the Mono. I'm not quite sure, since I only started reading The Dark Tower after my search over the internet for fictional children's books to reference in this story piqued my interest in it. I haven't actually gotten to the third book in the series yet.
(If you're wondering how I managed to squeeze in references to a book series I haven't finished, you can chalk it up to a combination of wikis and the fact that I have never, ever given a shit about spoilers. That, and Stephen King rewrote the first book to include a lot more foreshadowing to events later in the series.)
Incidentally, the third children's book mentioned is from the TV spy comedy Get Smart.
Just wait until the next Iron Will rally. I am certain she could find a billy roadie that will treat her special.
I now have this barmy picture in my mind of Eleanor working hard on a crayon sketch involving a massive Heath Robinson contraption and the standard "1. Capture pony, 2. ???, 3. Profit" 3 step set of instructions
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Big Mac is a farmer, he is certainly red, and he probably gets tired. Maybe they could ask him what it means?
Another great story.
I had hoped to finish reading it before it was posted, but no such luck. Oh well.
Nice chapter.
Aww. I was really kinda hoping that they'd kill Tirek, but oh well. Still, does raise the question of what chimera magic is like. Have a like.
I like trains! - Agatha
An excellent conclusion to the trilogy. Romance, action, suspense, humor... Rather appropriate that a chimera story has a little bit of everything. Thank you for it.
Commence read.
Glad to see the trio still getting along, as they do, in their own way.
Now to see if something develops for Agatha and Twilight.
Wonder if Spike would find that weird?
If Eleanor gets shipped with Gilda in the next installment, I would not be surprised.
"Actually, if you had been able to free him with that jewel, it would have meant that you have enough magic for him to consume and begin growing powerful again."
A paragraph or two later, the jewel is described as a security measure. This confuses me.
Did you intend to write things this way?
The jewel as it is currently written is a security liability, it ensures that anybody who uses it to open the cage will deliver a guaranteed meal of magic, making Tirek stronger. That is the *opposite* of security, and it destroys my suspension of disbelief that Twilight would have knowingly set up a containment system with a key that automatically buffs the prisoner it is meant to contain.
Unless, of course, there was some kind of extenuating circumstance which was accidentally edited out of the final draft.
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Aw yissss
5827487 The jewel is a security measure to keep Tirek in. They probably didn't anticipate Tirek getting outside assistance.
5827487 - I am presuming that if Tirek is officially released, there will be a large contingent of ponies present to return him to his cage if needed, likely including all members of the Mane 6, who are adept with the magic of friendship that vexes him so. Remember, he had to build up his strength before he could take on the big guns. Also note that his new arrangements were established only a few days ago; it's not surprising that there might be kinks in the system.
Curse you Twilight Sparkle, and your little dog too.
But, Spikes a dragon.
Yesss, he is, isnt he.
you know, from a distance the goats head kinda looks like a shoulder pauldron
Childe Roland to the dark tower went.
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No offense intended, but I honestly believe that Twilight would be smart enough to plan for that.
Just having a jewel be a key would have been fine on it's own. That's a form of security.
But it is written that the key jewel is set up so that the key can only be used by sapients possessing enough magic that Tirek can feed off them. This is not very smart, nor secure.
So...does Charlie the Choo-Choo end with Charlie murdering all the other trains, then?
Wonder what the next tale will involve.
I was kinda expecting a "Let's Kill Hitler" thing with Breezies piloting a Tirek-bot and Sunset Shimmer really being Derpy and Flash Sentry's daughter, who regenerates from Lyra and is compelled by Madam Crysalisavarian to kill him by using the Smoozelence to prevent anypony from remembering her.
5826320 Is Blaine the Mono a cousin of Midvalley the Hornfreak?
*oh god, Alondro's gona otaku again..*
Hmm... you're in Pennsylvania... I'm in New Jersey... WE MUST DO BATTLE!!
5827648 HOLY SHIT IS THAT A REAL THING?
FFFFUUUUUUU -
Hiss! Advertisement!
5828238 - Well, Blaine, in addition to being a pain, is also a train, or rather the AI who's controlling one, so he's considerably different from Vash's enemies. That said, there are enough similarities, superficial though they may be, between The Dark Tower and Trigun that I'm surprised that the two series aren't crossed over all that often.
5828134 - I don't believe Stephen King ever wrote out the entire text of the book. Here's what he did write (along with some context from the larger novel):
5828631 And then we cross the results of that crossover with Pony!
And then cross THAT over with Barney the Dinosaur or Teletubbies just to melt the mind of anyone who'd resisted the madness up to that point.
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This is very good. I do have one criticism, though, and it's that the whole last conversation takes place in front of an angry Tirek, who remains entirely silent and ignored throughout the whole long sappy spiel. You'd yhin he'd at least complain a little or something.
They are really air headed aren't they? I don't really blame them for wanting to kill Tirek though.
I'm pretty sure my own reaction when I was learning to read would have been similar to Agatha's. All those books lost, like tears in the rain...
Really, though, despite the focus on murder, in some ways this felt like an episode of the show, with wacky hijinks that end with a friendship speech by Twilight and a moral for children (and it's not like the show shies away from depicting cross-species crushes that don't go anywhere).
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I think the jewel being a key that can only be had by taking it from Cerebus is the security measure, the fact the key requires magic to use might just be a design of the Tarturus cages in general, rather than something that's set up for Tirek in particular, he's noted to be far from the only prisoner in there and it's possible not being able to be let out by creatures with no magic is advantageous for some of the other prisoners. It's not like this set up is a a security flaw per se (in that it makes him no more likely to be able to escape) but it is a weird, counter-intuitive feature to have on Tirek's prison.
I think it would have made more sense if Twilight just knew that Chimaera have magic from her studies, rather than having the jewel be a way of measuring it. Then the readers wouldn't be distracted by the extraneous feature of the security set up.
I called it during On the Courtship! I knew we'd get to christen the Good Ship TwAgatha.
Nicely done, Special K. Here's hoping for a few more entries in this series!
Poor little chimera
MAOR
please
You classy bastard you.
I love Diamond Tiara as a bloviating columnist of the foal free press, constantly railing against the new princess.
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I loved that reference... That's one of my favorite things he's ever written....
I am kind of sad that this trilogy is done now.
Being able to take put Cerberus? Wow that Chimera is badass! And yay for friendship! It was touching what the Chimeras were willing to do for Twilight.
I love the Terintino reference in the cover. It's the right mix of subtle and obvious enough to be seen. That kind of thing really can add to a story, even if it isn't part of the story proper.
5836922 - Thank Page Turner for that. The Kill Bill parody was entirely his idea.
The Chimera continues to be a delightfully bizarre character, and I get far more amusement out of her ludicrous shipping possibilities than I clearly should. Still, I find her endearing in her various affections, and I hope we get to see more of her.
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Needing to have magic to open Tirek's cage could be a practical security feature, if it was assumed that it was unlikely that someone clueless (like the chimera) would ever be in a position to do it. No one with magic is likely to want to open it and be Tirek's meal, but more importantly no-one with nothing to fear from Tirek is capable of letting him go. That last bit would be important if Equestria happens to have any non-magical enemies that might think letting Tirek loose would be a good strategic move.
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I always thought she was at her absolute best as an editor. Because then she had a motivation beyond petty spite and she was almost likable in a horrible way, like a (far) less amusing J. Jonah Jameson.
5837835 They should definitely have given her a lolly pop or something, so it looks like she's smoking a cigar. th05.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2012/091/4/c/spider_colt_by_mysticalpha-d4ummym.jpg
I like to imagine Tirek simply shrugged and rolled over to take another nap after his last outburst. I mean, they were being all sappy right in front of his cage. How annoying must that be?
The subtlety in this story is a refreshing change from the obvious hints at attraction that I read in many other stories here.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the obvious ones! But, as the saying goes, a change is as good as a holiday :).
Oh, Agatha XD.
Perfect match ^^.
Agatha gone full Unikitty mode XD.
Aha! XD
Good old Pinkie! :D
Haha :).
Great story.
This needs to be a story. Badly.
I will now fall in love with you.
You know, she kinda has a point...
I Just, love this! All of these stories are wonderful. I love the chimera, and the relationships between the various heads and the other characters, and each other.
Please keep writing, I'll keep reading!
These three need more screen time... or at least more stories!