It is no secret that Pinkie Pie really hopes the Pies and Apples are related, as it gives her an excuse to have the Apples all be friends with her family. But even if the genealogical records are in doubt, there are other ways to tell. For instance, two related earth pony families should respond to the earth in similar ways.
The Pies are known for their abilities with rocks. Finding, sculpting, evaluating - if it can be done with rocks, the Pies can do it.
The Apples grow things, none of them rocks. (Notwithstanding the occasional apple that rots into something hard.)
Pinkie Pie feels her hopes deflating. But Maud does not seem worried, even if she can be hard to read sometimes.
In the popular box on 11/4/15! Thanks for the views and votes!
Explain. Why am I the first person to like this story? It's awesome!
6599292 Because I only just submitted it tonight? Thanks, though!
I'm always happy to find a cute and well-written romance story . My only suggestion would be to change the ALL CAPS to italics when you want to put emphasis on a word. Other than that, super awesome and better than anything I could write XD
Winged Cat, that was a brilliant chapter. Utterly brilliant.
Not enough work has been put into working out and then developing what Earth pony magic would be, but this here is a brilliant take on it.
I myself have been attempting to do much the same thing, and decided upon similar things, but this is genius. Congratulations.
The way you show the differences between the different types of earth magic is very well done, and I like how it takes Limestone off guard that other ponies have different talents and abilities. A masterful piece.
- Shrike
Maud can be a sassy talker.
6600779 I wasn't sure about ALL CAPS, italics, or bold. I usually default to caps in case I want to port a story to other sites that don't support formatting.
6600950 Thanks! I was trying not to stray too far from what's in the show, but the Apples clearly have some talent for farming and the Pies clearly have major talent with rocks. Combine that with the stereotype of one who rarely leaves home getting a limited point of view, as well as Limestone's attitude toward the world, and there you go. I'm considering a follow-up where Limestone finally gives in to Maud and takes a trip, winding up with her mind blown, if I can think of a plot to wrap around that. (Maybe or maybe not combine with a bit of worldbuilding on the nature of bat ponies, which Limestone might not have even heard about, so she could be an audience surrogate to be exposited to.)
6601034 Just because one has difficulty expressing oneself, does not mean there are not complex mental processes going on inside. I wouldn't be surprised if Maud is about as smart as Twilight - just, with far more focused interests.
If I was better at writing battle scenes, especially where most of the action is non-visual (sound, tremors, etc. sensed through the earth), I might try my hand at some diamond dogs attempting to kidnap Maud.
That was so heart-meltingly sweet that I think I gained a few pounds in reading it.
Special props to handling the change in perspective from section to section, cutting back and forth between the characters. That's a mechanism that easily gets on my nerves when it's used poorly. I especially like how you used it to give Marble the panicky run-on paragraphs.
Please thank your prereaders for me; I'm glad they prodded you into this
6602113 I'll pass it along.
I had trouble with the back and forth at first: earlier versions had very short sections for a few of those, only 1 paragraph each. Making sure each section had 2 or more paragraphs, and adding content so there was enough in each paragraph to justify it as a paragraph (even if a single sentence, so long as it was the right sentence), appears to have fixed it.
Your autocorrect might have had a bit of fun with you partway through the chapter - instead of Limestone, you have Limerick once.
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Thanks for catching that. Fixed.
I love this take on earth pony abilities. The rock/soil sense fits my headcanon. And the characterizations are great, especially Maud.
Hurrah; I now have diabetes. You sick little monkey.
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Your story helped me improve my own headcannon for earth pony magic. Thanks!
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6663815 You're welcome!
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6696082 That was part of my inspiration here. With all the other magic about, it seemed the simplest explanation for what we see the Pies do almost casually on screen. I figure other earth ponies have their own takes on it: I'm not sure how many other rockmancers there are, but for instance there's got to be lumberponies somewhere in Equestria.
This was sweet. And nicely written. Good one.