A Lovely Night
It was a graceful early morning in Aaaaaaaappleooosa! (Cough,cough)
Across the long stretches of the low early morning frontier sky, gentle breezes rolled across plains and stone as dawn broke into day. The coldness of the arid land’s night was slowly heated away by way of the rising sun rays that drowned all in view below. In a region of temperature extremes, this was a middle ground time; surpassing the darkness’ chill and preceding the high noon heat resulted in a temperate neutrality that was arguably the best time of day to be out and about. And someone took their chance to be out in this neutrality, going so far as being a few kilometers out of town. She was a bit of an outlier amongst Appleloosa, both on account of being a pegasus and because of her only slightly restrained pink fur paired with braided, reddish-pink hair that would contrast heavily with the largely rustic hues of the predominantly earth pony town. Still, born there or not, she was an Appleloosan through and through. Phoenix was her name and she was speeding back towards town across the pleasantly warm desert flats.
Or at least she was, until her eyes caught sight of a blur popping out from behind a passing boulder when it was too late to swerve out of the way, resulting in her heading right for it even after trying to put the airbrakes on.
One could virtually hear the skidding Phoenix ripped out of the air as she flailed and tried to kick to stop herself, only managing to yelp out-
“WoooaaaAH! GANG WAY!”
-before she crashed into the passerby. Phoenix tumbled and rolled across the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and dust, able to tell from the reflexive-
“OOF!”
-that she had definitely managed to crash into somepony. After they finally skid to a halt, it was Phoenix who was the first to try and rise. Managing to unhook her legs and wings from each other, the pegasus didn’t even bother trying to dust herself off just yet and instead turned around to try and help the poor pony she’d smashed into up to their hooves. She held her hoof out to her accidental victim of aeronautical happenstance, snorting out some dust from her nose and squinting to try and get a better look at the pony through the sandy cloud kicked up by their impact.
“Here-” she coughed to clear her throat.
“-lemme help you up. I am so sorry about that! I didn-’t see you coming!”
However, that designation of “pony” was soon shot down when the individual taking her hoof resulted in a set of taloned fingers gently grasping her hoof and a noticeable weight tugging on her as the owner of a chipper, energetic male voice helped himself to his paws and feet.
“Not a problem, I wasn’t looking either.”
Seeing the outline of a beak and the clawed fingers, and knowing the individual was some distance off the ground, Phoenix’s mind was quick to shift gears. Thankfully there wasn’t any panic in her mind, just bemusement.
-Huh, gryphon. First one I see out here and I manage to crash into him, weird.-
Shaking her head a bit to clear it, Phoenix set about swiping her hoof over the gryphon’s form while fanning her wings rapidly to help blow the dust off the two of them.
“Here lemme help yooooooooooooooooou!?-”
Her last syllable got drawn out upon getting a good look at the form that retained the featherless wings and scales her eyes were trained upon. Her confusion only grew when what she presumed had been crest feathers on the back of the gryphon’s head turned out to be crest feathers minus the feathers. Her head shot back in a mild startle, blinking five times to make sure the impact hadn’t knocked her or her vision silly.
-Well, this is new.-
The gryphon shook himself off some, staggering back to his feet with a bit of noticeable difficulty. Despite his issues, he was quick to throw a happy chirp towards the pegasus.
“Thanks, what’s your name?”
Phoenix took a few moments to realize she was staring, though for excusable and unorthodox reasons. She shook her head and now slightly redder face to force herself back into reality.
“Oh! Um, so uh, my name’s Phoenix Flamez!”
The gryphon tilted his head a bit like a confused bird. Had he had them, Phoenix was pretty sure he’d be raising an ear like a puppy trying to listen closer.
“Phoenix?”
He quipped, clicking his beak while doing so. The pegasus shrugged her shoulders some and waved her free hoof, as if trying to blow some notion off.
“Yeeah. I know it's weird for a pony to be named after a flaming bird, heheheh."
She said with a chuckle. Though she loved her name, she’d heard that sort of questioning inquiry dozens of times from intrigued or confused ponies enough to not harp on it. To her surprise however, what looked like a grin crossed the gryphon’s muzzle and he beamed with a snicker.
“Oh no no, I think it’s great! Haven’t heard a name relating to something like that in a loooong time!”
The redness on Phoenix’s muzzle returned and she scratched at the back of her head for a moment to ebb away some awkwardness. Still she couldn’t help but cast a goofy grin, both from the earnest compliment and the infectiously happy attitude that seemed to come for this stranger.
“Awww, thank you! What’s your title?”
She quipped, raising an ear and blinking her eyes at the gryphon who had finally let go of her limb. Curiously, her eye scanned him over and took note of how wobbly his legs seemed to be at times. The subtle flexing on the wing and arm muscles showed how disjointed he was. Still, he managed to hold his footing and give her a bow-like nod.
“I tend to gust the word ‘Rodan’ at people.”
Phoenix muffled her muzzle a bit to dampen a giggle. True, the reason this very random gryphon had scales, horns, and less feathers than she did was puzzling; but his happy demeanor was certainly a calm to any worry. Not wanting to greet placidness with rudeness, she mentally blew it off and opted to just think it was a case of unorthodox ancestry or some spellwork athoof she’d never heard of. His lack of a local accent and odd manner pegged him as a foreigner anyways.
“Nifty name you got there.”
Phoenix snickered with a smile, doing the motions of a curtsey styled bow.
“Thanks. So what brings a pon- you, out here? I haven’t been around this place long, but I don’t see too many ponies randomly out here in the desert. You from out of town or an Appleloosan?”
“Appleloosan. And yeah, I’m from there. Recent move in, but it’s home! I was out on a morning trip to find some cactus ears and blossoms-”
Phoenix quipped, drawing up her saddlebags that had miraculously stayed on through her and Rodan’s tumble. Even more miraculous was the fact the contents in the bag hadn’t been smashed from all the action. She popped open the bag and held it in such a way Rodan could peek at the contents inside, seeing many types of greenery, flower bulbs; and thick leaves.
“-Thalia said this stuff makes a good salve for wounds and even better eats after cooking, two things the town needs both of. What brings you so far out of town by the way?”
Rodan was about to say something, holding up a paw and opening his beak. Except whatever it was quickly quashed as he shut his trap and grumbled after wobbling a bit.
“Grnnnnnr…”
Phoenix tilted her head, clearing her throat to ensure she was audible.
“Uh, Rodan was it? I said what brings you out this ways? I take it you came in on the train earlier since you’re not from around here, or else I’d recognize you. So why are you so far from town?”
Rodan only grumbled again. If Phoenix wasn’t thinking it was effect of his reddish coloration in the morning sun, she’d think he was blushing. And considering his demeanor, about something embarrassing. Rodan seemed to notice her look and quickly turned his head away from her, all but confirming that last assumption she had about embarrassment. Phoenix fluttered her wings and lifted off the ground, hovering around and following Rodan’s field of vision with a curious expression on her otherwise deadpanning face. Unable to turn his head any further to avoid her, Rodan got up and took some steps to get around her.
Or at least he tried to before his wings moved in tandem with his arms, whacking himself in the face with one wing’s forward portion and flailing his arm on the opposite side like he was flapping it. He lost his footing, rapidly scrambling in a mass of limbs like some cartoon character running in the air to gain traction. He quickly wound up on his back, finally stopping his flailing and going slack. The gryphon sucked in a deep breath, intending to shrug it out. However when he attempted to cover his face with a paw, his wing acted out instead and thwacked him on the side of the head hard enough for Rodan to knock himself half silly, causing him to see stars for a few moments.
“Graaaaaaouch!”
Rodan snarled, trying to grasp at his wing with his paws but the jumble of limbs kept fidgeting around and he succeeded in thumping himself in the head several more times until a pair of hooves grabbed him by the wings.
“Here, lemme help you that.”
Phoenix muttered with an embarrassed snicker. Rodan shrugged, just stopping his motion all together.
“Thanks… Had this stuff under control until...”
“Until what?”
“You crashed into me and my body forgot how-to-motion.”
The gryphon muttered in a deadpan tone, spurring Phoenix to rub the back of her head and look off to the side in awkwardness.
“Eeeeeeeehheh, sorry about that. Mind kinda drifted while speeding back to town and I wasn’t expecting any other fliers to be out and about.”
“Not your fault. Just seems like my wings and arms only work together when they want to if I’m not flying.”
Suddenly her wings shot out and her eyes widened suddenly. An idea crossed the mare’s mind, cuing a confident smirk as she let go of Rodan’s wings and put one hoof on her hips and one over her chest while standing on her hind legs.
“Well, you’re lucky on who you crashed into today then!”
Rodan could only tilt his head.
“Hm?”
Phoenix glanced over the gryphon’s form.
“Your problem is getting six limbs to work in tandem right?”
“At least nailing it down enough to the point it sticks. I can fly but anything with my arms gets confusing.”
“Well, I do so happen to have moving as my hobby!”
Phoenix chirped, closing her eyes and lifting her head up with a happy smile. She shifted her hip to demonstrate her posing as she swayed her wings. Rodan figured she was trying to show him the symbol on her flank, as by now the kaiju had figured out whatever these ponies had their tended to relate to their talents, directly or metaphorically. He looked at hers, seeing what looked like a bow and a red ribbon.
“Archery and embroidery?”
He grunted incredulously, a bit confused by this. Phoenix snickered, opening and rolling her eyes.
“Well, one of my talents-”
She leaned in towards Rodan and elbowed him, a cheeky grin on the pegasus’ face that left Rodan wondering if he should be worried.
“-I’m a stage dancer back in Appleloosa!”
=================
A Short Time Later
=================
Rodan should have worried more.
“You sure you said you were a dancer?”
“Why do you ask?”
Rodan was wondering how exactly to respond as he did the next motion. Phoenix had had him doing push-ups and “wing-ups”, spreading one’s wings straight upwards, for the last ten minutes while she lay on top of said wings. Rodan wasn’t tiring out, Amaterasu built him to fly across oceans so strength and stamina wasn’t an issue, he was just confused again as to why they were doing this. He swallowed back the bizarreness and agreed to a lesson, didn’t expect drill runs.
“Just curiosity.”
He grunted, flexing out again. Phoenix, laying on her back across Rodan’s wings, just patted him on the head crests.
“Less talk, more practice. I did this all the time. Gotta get your muscle groups down to be a good stagemare. You got tandem nailed down, so try a staggered pace now. Lower down and I want you to push out with your wings, and have them fully extended after your arms are bent in.”
Rodan grumbled through his beak, but nevertheless followed through and tried it. He squat down on his arms, the same action causing his wings to lower. He was starting to shake all over, nerves twitching and tingling at his joints as contradictory orders between his limbs threatened to reduce him back down to a flailing mass. His wings rattled, jostling Phoenix to a degree. The mare held fast to the leathery wings, her breath bated.
“Come on. Breathe, breaaaathe and focus! One set of limbs at time. You can do it!”
The gryphon was snorting out his nostrils and gritting his beak. His wings started to extend upwards some, but every inch upwards meant several more inches of wobbling. It felt like trying to convince one’s arm to be in two places at once while doing two different things. Phoenix tried to pull in and steady Rodan’s wings best she could, keeping a positive tone even as she was getting shook around.
“Straighten out! Straighten out!”
Rodan felt the pressure growing until it popped. On one level, he did succeed, the gryphon’s wings snapped out straight while he kept his arms bent. On the other level, having a surprisingly strong gryphon throw his wings up while a lighter mare was on top of said wings resulted in Phoenix getting sent flying up in a blur. Rodan and Phoenix’s reactions contrasted heavily. Rodan was quick to beat his wings and launch into the air after her. Phoenix did not share his startelement or fret, instead throwing her limbs outwards in glee while pin wheeling through the air, reacting like she just got launched off a trampoline.
“By Tanaka! Hang on!”
“WEEEEE!”
===============================
Several minutes more of alternating practice and no less than five more launches, the next sight would have just been outright surreal to any Terrans watching. The Wind element incarnate, the Omega Guardian Beast and arguably chief of the Terran skies… was having to dance by swinging his arms up and down while step-kicking with his legs in emulation of the pegasus doing the same. Phoenix kept a chipper, jovial tone as she effortlessly demonstrated the simple part of a stage dance; belting reassurance and orders in the manner of an instructor.
“Alright, now with the wings!”
She yelped before bringing her third set of limbs into play, smoothly flapping her wings up and down as well as upwards and downwards in a circle while extending and tilting her arms up and down during the step-kicks.
“Keep them rotating around steadily while moving your arms up and down at different paces!”
Phoenix nailed the motions like a professional. Her impromptu student wasn’t having as much luck, but to the gryphon’s delight he knew he had to be doing something right, even in this weird method; if he hadn’t tumbled over yet. Still while he was managing to copy her, mimic was a far cry. His movements were precariously balanced, more rigid than loose and mobile; and he opted to not even dare try the hip rocks and rolls Phoenix was laying out. If the mare was a feather or leaf dancing in the breeze, Rodan was a squid thrashing about on a beach. Every time he moved his arm, the corresponding wing would momentarily flinch and shake in jittering unease born of seemingly twisted and confused nerves accounting for the imbalance. The effect was so noticeable and the emulation so bad it was hilarious enough for both Phoenix and Rodan to try and resist bursting out in laughter. He looked ridiculous, but being Rodan he couldn’t care much more as he mentally lamented another ever present fact.
-Besides, I look like some human nestling’s toy right now; I already look ridiculous.-
Gradually though, even if he almost ended up face-planting when trying to mimic a long jump dance move Phoenix used; he was getting the hang of it. He had just tried struggling through a spin when he felt the side of his foot catch on a rock embedded in the dusty ground and his sense of balance was too thrown off from the dance motions to correct it. Rodan squawked and began to tumble, only for a snickering Phoenix to intervene. With as much flair and grace as one would expect of one bearing her primary talent, the pegasus weaved around and forward; catching Rodan by his arm and using her spinning momentum to twirl the gryphon around and upwards. Back up on his feet, Rodan stumbled through the spin but managed to get his bearings again. Taking a pause, the gryphon puffed out a sigh.
“Thanks! Guess I wasn’t made-er, born with this sort of thing in mind!”
Phoenix slowly wound down her spin, balancing on one of her hind hooves with a silly salute and smile on her face; seemingly ignoring the odd wording.
“No problem! And look!”
Her spinning slowed down enough she could point her hoof at Rodan, tracking her limb in his direction while she rotated. Rodan followed her point of view and saw what she was pointing at. His wings were slowly beating to keep him upright, his legs perfectly stable, and his forelimbs were individually articulating independently of his wings; one on the side of his head and the other down beside him. All without any muscle twitches or nerve confusion.
“You got it- Woaaaoh!”
Phoenix was cut off and Rodan looked back up at her. As silly as it looked, he recognized what the backwards leaning, frantic wing beats, and spinning arms meant to alter balance meant. The gryphon kicked off the ground and dove forward, grabbing the mare and shooting up into the air in a coordinated effort across all six of his limbs.
“I gotcha!”
Phoenix shook her head to clear the post-spinning dizziness, looked at Rodan, at the ground, and back to the gryphon. Her lips curled into a chipper grin and she patted him across the shoulders.
========================
Another block of hours practicing, running errands for Applejack and Thalia, and helping hoist up a house roof, and Rodan found himself back to his usual spot after dark; covered in blankets and perched atop the homestead of the ever hospitable Thalia and Dallas. The night was near dead quiet, save the occasional echoes of coyote song coming from the mesa. Rodan nevertheless stood in attention, using the high vantage to keep watch over both the town and the nearby ranches and plains. Amaterasu told him from the moment he was conscious that he, as the Guardian Beast of Air, was meant to safeguard those beneath the sky. In the modern day when he woke up without a fae in sight, he decided that that oath of protection applied to humans as descendents of his creators; even if some of his family like Anguirus or Varan didn’t see it that way. Now, as far as he could tell in this new world, the Equestrians were the human equivalents and Applejack told him he was welcome in their herd. That meant his flock was bigger than it had ever been before, a welcome change even if that meant there were more to look after.
-Hey, you are a Guardian Beast after all, not a monster.-
He shrugged, being as loud and mobile as a stone gargoyle for quite some time. When he saw something flying about amongst the houses however, he nearly shot up into the air and tackled it for fear of it being a returning gyaos. He calmed down considerably and lamented how ironic it'd be if he ended up doing that as soon as he recognized the shape now flying past him.
“Hey Phoenix.”
“YIIPE!”
The pegasus mare barked, shooting up a few meters from the startle. She quickly looked around for the source and soon spotted the familiar pair of lime green eyes and red, scaly paws waving at her. She jokingly scowled at the gryphon for flustering her, hooves upon her hips with pursed lips on her growling muzzle. Rodan stifled a chuckle. While an Equestrian might see the body language as clear signs of anger, Rodan couldn’t help but still find it adorable.
“Careful or you’ll wake up the town!”
His hushed snickers earned an eyeroll and gentle whap on the head. The gryphon grumbled and rubbed his crest as Phoenix took a seat next to his roost.
“Heh, sorry. Here, you’re shivering.”
Before Phoenix could speak otherwise, despite the fact the desert night chill really was numbing her wings, she found several quilts and blankets getting shifted onto her. Squirming for a time, the pegasus wormed her way under them to adjust the coverings into giving her a bit of heat before she got airborne again.
“Thanks, sorry about the tap.”
She muttered with lowered ears and quivering eyes that caused Rodan to feel like he was going to have a toothache despite being toothless.
-Arrrrrrrg! Cuuuuuuuute!-
Ignoring the question of whether or not a manavore could become diabetic, he gave her a friendly nudge.
“So you seem to be just about the only pony up, what’s keeping you?”
“Eh, minds kinda wanderin’. Sorry I don’t want to impose-!”
She had gotten up some to try and get ready for takeoff, but Rodan’s broader wing hooked around her back and gently held her down. Phoenix looked up to see the gryphon giving her a bemused look and a raised brow.
“Well then, roost for a spell and let your mind catch up to you.”
Phoenix pondered it for a short time, eyes twitching back and forth with inner thoughts; but soon enough she gave a subtle nod and relented. She folded her wings back in and let comfort take hold as she sat beside her companion.
They were dead quiet for a time, listening to the wind and distant howls and yips of the fauna. Rodan finished a visual scan of the viewable terrain to confirm once again that there was no sign of any gyaos. He took a glance at the quiet pegasus and initially was a bit confused and worried when he saw a wet glinting underneath her star gazing eyes. He waited for a time, the urge to inquire forcing up but being held in his throat, then being forced back down before he could gag on it. If something was bothering her, which it seemed to be the case, and she didn’t feel like getting vocal about it; he knew well enough to not poke a quiet cat. Something had her focus after all and verbal disruption would likely cause more anger than anything else, even if he was confused as all get-out right now.
Phoenix's mind wandered and sunk, slipping into a cold numbness so much it was less she was thinking about one thought in particular and more like it was a myriad of them. Grief was like that for a lot of folks. You have to have loved something to mourn its passing, and that mindset tended to pop up when doing things that reminded one of what they’d lost.
She felt a gentle heat and pressure move to her shoulder, making her conscious of Rodan apparently noticing how she was and moving in closer. The gryphon muttered a low clicking sound, which was both very alien yet also comforting to the mare. Signs of platonic affection amongst pterosaurs tended to sound more like them just clacking their beaks together, but it still gave Phoenix a smile and a chuckle.
Phoenix sighed, looking downwards and outwards at the vast, seemingly barren plains.
“Not too many ponies enjoy a night view like this. With everypony turning in early, especially after that gyaos attack; it’s gotten lonely out here.”
“Take it you don’t do this kind of thing alone much, huh?”
“No… Not here or before when I moved here.”
“Done with family?”
Phoenix’s tone dropped to a degree.
“Did.”
Rodan wasn’t a brainy sort, that was Varan or Lea’s jet stream, but he was smart enough to put two and two together. He sighed quietly, putting his wing around the mare a bit more. He'd definitely just hit a nerve.
“Oh, I see.. I see…”
“Wasn’t the gyaos, before you worry. It was my grandmother who stargazed with me a lot since I was a filly.... She’d lived a long life.”
Phoenix curled herself inwards some more, letting her position droop.
"Used to look forward to times like this. Now it's just a reminder."
Rodan could feel the mood dropping like a diving hawk after that memo, causing him to elect not to prod further. Regardless of if it was fact, Equestrians seemed to be pretty open folks for her to be telling him this or he'd just caught her at a confused time, he knew he had to do something to change pace soon. That was when a stray thought crossed his mind. Sucking in breath through his nose, the kaiju shrugged and shifted his gaze to not focus one specific star but rather to behold the vast of the night sky.
“You know, the world's always full of connections. Being alone can be just a perception if you wish it. Have a look.”
He grunted, gently putting his paw under Phoenix’s jaw. Thankfully not whacking himself or her in the head with a twitching wing this time, he pivoted her face up to the sky above.
Without any bright lights for miles, the entirety of the galaxy and Milky Way was in full view. It was as awe-inspiring as it was humbling. And it wasn’t ever just a feature that caused the enormity, but the collection of the whole. Hundreds of thousands of stars, light years of dark spans; and streaming, celestial glimmering painted the picture of infinity. Such a sight could make even a kaiju feel small. Rodan removed his paw from her snout and waved it in the direction of the sight.
“Think any of them think they’re alone?”
Hundreds of radiances glinted in Phoenix’s eyes. The awesome sight, happiness of nostalgia, and warmth of memory took their toll on her dour mood. In time, it slowly began to lift. After a half hour, Phoenix’s muzzle again bore a tiny smile and Rodan felt the brush of feathers across his back as she gave her answer.
“No."
"That's because no matter where someone is, no one is ever alone. Trust me, I've been places and flock I call kin is all around.”
The edges of the gryphon’s maw curled into a toothless grin.
“So, welcome to the flock; Phoenix Flamez.”
Phoenix crinkled her nose and let her smile grow, hugging Rodan across the back with her wing.
==================================
After an hour of star gazing, pointing out every odd shape they could in the celestials above; the two were chuckling and laughing over Rodan’s misidentification of Pisces as a 'limp noodle stuck on a spoon'. Phoenix rolled her eyes and play-punched Rodan in the shoulder.
“Hehe, hey, something else I remember now.”
“Hm?”
“Something odd from earlier you did that’s been confusing me.”
Phoenix raised an eyebrow and tilted her craned-back head to listen in.
“Well, we both managed to trip within a minute of each other during the training. I stumbled over a rock, no surprise there given I’m a horrible dancer even with a good teacher. But I didn’t see anything you could have tripped on or why.Heck, you were on perfectly flat ground and are more graceful than I could ever be soooo; how exactly did you manage to stumble?”
Phoenix snickered, putting a hoof over her muzzle to muffle her laughter and earning a more suspicious look from Rodan. She rolled her eyes in retort, waving her hoof.
“Oooh you know, even masters can falter.”
“Oh really? Some sort of six limbed secret I need to be aware of?”
Phoenix's laughing swelled sharply, causing her to snort out of her nose and honk. She tried to say something but kept having to choke back her laughing so much she couldn’t get a word out. Rodan narrowed his eyes.
“.... You fell on purpose to see if I could catch you, didn’t you?”
Phoenix sucked in a gasp, still chuckling under her breath as she bat her eyes playfully.
“Weeeell, every teacher has their final test. That was your semi-final.”
“Knew it- wait, semi-final? What’s the final?!”
==============
The Next Night
==============
Phoenix skipped and pranced onto stage to the cheering lot of townsponies, aid workers, and visiting bison. Clad in a red and white dancing skirt, curled feather hat, and frilled sleeves; she spun around a hind leg before winding to a stop and dramatically motioning to the stage curtain. Applejack gave an impressed nod while sipping a mug of cider Thalia hoofed over to her, half-wondering where Rodan had disappeared to after letting the fillies, colts, and calves dog pile him.
The next four ponies and two bison in front of her got sprayed with cider when she saw the gryphon step out on stage next to Phoenix, eliciting another roar of laughter and cheers from the crowd. The wide brimmed stage hat wouldn’t have fit on his crested head if he tried, so the gryphon kicked it off his head and just let it hang across his back, the attire finalized by the red bandana and white long sleeve he managed to fit into despite his wings. Thalia put her hooves to her lips and gave a cheering whistle as the kaiju, a bit awkwardly, struck a ready pose mimicking Phoenix.
It was the oddest partner dance Phoenix had ever done and probably the most surreal or embarrassing thing Rodan had ever done, but both were more than happy to join in with the cheering cries of laughter after the celebration and act was done. After all, through it Rodan only managed to whack himself in the head as they were taking a bow and not before it.
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That was awesome!!!
Very very cute.
Loved it and is it me or am I detecting a future shipping in the future?
Cute
Nice short story. It covers a hanging plot point (how Rodan learned to control his new body) in an entertaining way.
That said, I have a slight issue, not with the story, but with the comments.
Getting on soapbox now...
7673719
What's with the shipping? Can't a couple of purely platonic cross gender friends have a meet and greet story? Why is it that some people jump on the shipping so quickly? Really, when you think about it, the Kaiju are in a separate Class from just about all the other characters; you have to get to the level of Subphylum to have any commonality on even a genetic level. I know their sapient, but really, shipping these characters is like shipping an Iguana with a House Cat.
At least with the ones with a Pony form share, in their current body, the species of their hosts. In their case, it at least sort of makes sense for them to start to form connections. With Spike, being raised by Ponies has clearly affected his standards of beauty; hence his one sided crush on at least one pony. With Rodan, the only way he might have biology-driven romantic feelings for someone would be if , say, Gilda or some other female griffon shows up. Even then, it would be a stretch.
Sorry, but all this shipping, especially with what clearly is, for the purpose of the story, a one off throw away character, really gets to me. Can we please, for once, let friends just stay friends?
Getting off the soapbox now....
Could you consider making another chapter or 20 more? Irys seems to be enjoying your stories along with Megalon (unsurprising)
7673836 Okay first off I only mean shipping as a joke unless the author says otherwise
. Well now I feel bad....
7673850
Sorry. It's not you specifically. It's that I see this happening all the freaking time, and not just with crossovers. Having the third comment on a story be shipping where the story was just about friendship was a slightly larger then average piece of straw added to a massively overloaded camels back. In other words, the one broke said back.
Again, sorry about the rant.
7673836
Jacen, buddy, I'm gonna level with you: Have you SEEN This fandom?!
Who HASN'T been shipped with someone? I think it's safe to say that nearly ALL of the mane six have been shipped with each other at least more than once in the fandom.
And even our Big-G has been SHIPPED.
Overall though, this was an especially cute story Tarb. Angel is lucky to have you as a good friend. Twilight Sparkle would be proud.
It's so nice of you to go out of your way to write a story for a friend.
Gotta say that the interaction between Phoenix and Rodan was absolutely adorable. I really liked the stargazing segment and the training part made me laugh. It was a wonderful short story for the holidays.
Why must you mess with our feels?! WWWWWWWWHYYYYYYY?!
Hahahaha! Dude, You made my day with this cute little story! I love how Phoenix is portrayed in this, she's both adorable and Funny!! Thank you for this! You are a really great friend!
Prereading, half-drunk comment: go Rodan! Hope this come out enertaining. Full review to follow, I will possibly be sober.
BRILLIANT!
Dance Off!
Phoenix Wins
FRIENDSHIP!
This was wonderful Tarb, daily interactions between friends is always good reading material for me.
So this was a cute little story, and I really appreciate what Tarb did for his friend. I had seen that first picture before I believe, and I think the story that Tarb cooked-up to around it was well done.
I like that Rodan was having trouble mastering the use of six limbs. I mean we have four, (five of you consider the neck) extremities that we tend to manipulate simultaneously. It's hard for me to fathom having to deal with an extra set of arms like Goro, let alone wings.
And it's funny, and I'm not sure Tarb meant it like this, but I think dancing would actually be a very effective method of helping someone in this condition, coordinating different body parts into rhythmic motion.
Phoenix being a stage dancer in a old-west style town is a pretty entertaining gimmic, she seems like an endearing character.
So the picture that we absolutely must get, is one of Rodan dancing! Either in the desert or on stage.
7673836 thats-normal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/seinfeld-serenity-now.gif
Not to dogpile, but I would like to say that "shipping" extends to platonic friends. I mentioned some time ago that I shipped Rarity and Anguirus, but as friends. I thought they had some interesting chemistry together, with Anguirus playing the straight man to her whimsical self.
Destoroyah also got shipped in a protective-mama relationship with the CMC.
I know we tend to only think of shipping in a romantic sense, but that is only one facet of the concept.
[nice soapbox by the way
]
I think you have the wrong color there. It looks like Rodan is talking, not Phoenix. Also, I hope Phoenix pops into the main story. She is a delight and Rodan and her make a great ship. Plus, she's single, as far as I can tell lol
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7673916
Allow me to present exhibit a:
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The following contains material that may not be appropriate for all ages. Reader discretion is advised.
Yet again, even more f
ing romantic shipping. What's f
ing next? The Plunder Vines with a F
ing H
i R
Demon? Twilight's f
ing library with Biolante? Canterlot Castle with The f
ing Shatterdome?
F
. I just gave the shippers ideas, didn't I? Very well, a Curse upon the Shippers: may the first to try to ship the Plunder Vines with a F
ing H
i R
do so in person. The X-rated results should be quite entertaining.
Considering my reaction to this forum, my feelings on shippers should be clear. They are also not likely to be exclusively mine based on other entries to the forum. So, please, can we give the f
ing shipping a break?
The preceding contains material not suitable for all ages. Look under the bars at your own risk.
Frankly, I think everyone can agree a rant like that is better then acting like a Scottish Reviewer who's hat got dirty.
7683197 I can appreciate your frustration, since the shipping occupies so much of the audience reaction. It can get a bit annoying, I get it. Especially since it's mostly dudes in here, gabbing about match-making like a couple 'MLP target demographics' when they play house.
But it's mostly a subjective thing. I personally haven't really felt the chemistry between Anguirus and Ki Seong, despite it being the planned ship.
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Thank you.
When the author spends time to build a relationship and shows the various interactions leading to said feelings developing, then I have no problem with it. Junior's interaction and growing connection with Luna? Wonderful. Destroyah's growing maternal relationship with the CMC? Fantastic. Rodan and Mothra's friendly demeanors leading to easy positive interactions with those they meet? Understandable. X and Aria? Nicely done.
Anguirus and Ki Seong feels a bit forced, mostly due to how rushed it seems; there simply isn't enough on screen interaction to explain the strength of their reactions to each other. I do feel the general interactions between Anguirus and the rest of the MLP cast feel natural, mostly because his awkward reactions to their various eccentricies feels natural. Then again, the behaviors of the regular cast are well known to us, so we only have to fill in one part of the equation.
What gets to me, though, is when someone, either as a lazy writer or an armchair commentator, decides to jump from casual acquaintance at best strait to "the babies would be adorable" with no time spent building any romantic interaction between the characters; doubly so when at least one of the characters is unlikely to be capable of romantic feelings with the other. Not to beat a dead horse (pun not intended), but none of the Kaiju were even mammals before arriving, much less ponies. Heck, one was an insect that reproduces asexually, and another is evolved from an anaerobic micro organism and is debatably not even a member of the animal kingdom. There is no good reason for these characters to be attracted in any romantic way to any pony. That is not to say they cannot become friends or easy acquaintances, but there is a huge difference between friends and a romantic couple.
I admit, there are parts of the fandom that are a lot worse; I only wish you would be surprised with the number of people that want an orange unicorn turned human to be in a lesbian relationship with a human girl just because they would look cute together. At least some of the EQ girl stories admit to the fact that Sunset would feel zero physical attraction to humans (though a few do go on to build a closer then friendship relationship based on mental and emotional interactions,) but more then a few cast Sunset as secretly in love with one (or more) of the other girls with zero interaction to justify the attraction.
I admit, a lot of my reaction has been primed by stumbling upon a group dedicated to "Anon-A-Miss" stories, some of which are very well done, but not a few are filled to the brim with bad shipping for shipping's own sake. Like I said before, a lot of straw piled onto an overloaded camel; sooner or later one straw will break it's back.
Please don't take my reaction personally, but it would be nice, just once, to not have a well done story be used as shipping fodder, especially for a fundamentally unrealistic ship. I swear, at times I wish I had a few hundred metaphorical Harpoon ASMs to bring to the comment sections of these stories. Since many of these "ships" are barely rowboats, even one Harpoon would be overkill, but even so, it would be oh so satisfying....
Something tells me that Rodan is going to be doing a few jigs when the Gala gets underway.
7684343
hahaha
hahahahaahah
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
well, you are quite welcome good sir. [adjusts monocle]
I would say that the relationship between Anguirus and Ki Seong probably feels forced, because it's the original intended ship for the story. To mean, Tarb designed them to develop feelings for each other as part of the plot, and that's whether you or I feel the chemistry or not. So if one does not, then it's logical to perceive it as being contrived. Now I'm not aware of anyone having an issue with the ship, it just perhaps does not connect to us as organically as the others. And in that way I feel a bit sorry for Tarb.
When you talk about the unsubstantiated shipping, I think you're talking about fans really think/hope that there's something to go on. Which can be delineated from those who are just taking a swing at fantasy pairing. I mean, how much of the MLP fandom ships members of the Mane 6 together? Why? Because "Friendship is Lesbians" for some ungodly reason.
So I think your speaking to those who are a bit more adamant in their pairing. And I can see one getting irritated at the height of the shipping, which I think was a bit back during the Xenilla/Sombra arc when he had all that tension with Blade Dancer, and Junior was having his awkward interactions with Luna.
To address your point about their being attracted to ponies, I've talked about this a few times in my reviews. It's my theory, that being transformed into Equestrian bodies has altered their physiology, and thus, everything that effects. They now have hormone glands reacting to stimuli as biology would dictate them to, and subconscious emotional processes. In short, they're not Kaiju in pony costumes, they really are experiencing love, and desire, and remorse. Xenilla is not a space-reptile bonding with a pony, he's a pony, bonding to another pony. Their newly acquired biology is responding in a perfectly natural way.
So while I see your point about their conscious mind telling them not to develop romantic feelings, I submit to you, that their biology is telling them: "Nigga, you betta get up on that shit".
And I would say the same for Sunset in the Human world. Her unconscious biology should respond to the appropriate stimuli, for example, human males. This may perhaps create a conflict with her conscious experience and what she is used to feeling. Though, as some of our colleagues on Derpibooru theorize, she may yet retain more of her *traditional* romantic inclinations, despite her human physiology.
I tend to take any shipping a la carte, and I enjoy some more than others. Regards any shipping I do, I have a general rule against any homosexual shipping, and I try to keep the ships I do validate, to a utilitarian minimum.
Though sometimes the shipping is a part of the story. For example in mine, there are ships that are essential to the premise, and serve as motivating forces behind multiple characters. A few other minor ships serve purposes for the plot, and one very small one in fact, is of tremendous importance. So as far as story writing goes, I'd class it as just as much a device as anything else.
Of course I don't take any of this personally, I think we're having a rather enjoyable, high-brow discussion here. And don't worry. If you need any missile firepower, you might say I've got a few in hand...
7684343
Something you were very keen on with this comment chain was how it makes no sense physical attraction to occur between beings with vastly different true forms. The answer I gotta give to that is.... What physical attractions? Yes I'm aware this is a factor in a lot of crossover and shipping stories but honestly I don't really see it here. Of all the attractions or interactions I've done that people have taken as romantic, none of the lasting or serious ones were based off physical appearance. The only ones who were like this was Mane-iac getting the hots for Gigan (sorta) and Blade Dancer eyeing up Godzilla Junior. This isn't to say the other potential pairings thought the other was ugly, but there was a clear difference.
Mane-iac to Gigan was written as just lust and as a parody of shipping tropes as the set up was intentionally extremely fast and over weird circumstances. As for Blade Dancer and Junior, it isn't to bash on BD for having some lust of her own for being attracted to Junior's unicorn body; but when she saw him in his true form and was thrown out of the loop it was showing she clearly didn't know what she was getting into. Thus when BD eventually starts feeling some attraction to Xenilla despite having a very good idea of what he actually looked like, it was based off an emotional and intellectual connection between two parties whom had come to respect one another. The same could be said off Luna's interactions with Junior, which only really kicked off after they'd grown past their mistrust of one another and saw how similar they actually were (and I note this is after Luna also saw his true form). Heck, with Aria and X's hook up I made a point for Aria to mentally note he wasn't anything exceptional, they grew in attraction while both out of their natural forms; and for a vast majority of the time they interacted X was covering most of his face.
I might not have been intentionally writing romance for good chunks of this and it just kinda spun off that way for some, but when they were taken for such regardless of if that was my intent or not; I can see them at least making sense because a vast majority of them are on the mental level. Basically while I didn't set out to write a lot of shipping or romance, I didn't think it was too off the wall when it got taken for such since I kept it asexual.
7695775
Let me assure you, every ship in your stories proper are ones I have no issue with. Every lasting relationship was built up over time and developed in what feels like a very natural progression. The only ship that feels off to me is one that seems rushed due to lack of screen time.
Now, the out-of-nowhere ships in the commentaries, on the other hand....
7696412 So I am aware and glad to know. I was just bringing it up to assure you I was aware of the usual pitfall in writing romance and I sought to step around them. More importantly however, I was bringing it up as a point of development. In my original plan, I thought I couldn't write romance worth a damn. I had no faith in my ability to do it so I avoided the idea entirely. Then people started noticing and interpreting two characters as potential romantic couples and I took notice. Eventually it got to the point I decided "What the hay? Might as well give it a go.", and the result seems pretty good so far.
So this is just a remind to try not and get to worked up over the comments. Most of them are just all in good fun and harmless at work, or maybe giving some folks some ideas at best
PS: And I plan to fix the lack of screen time shortly
So what's the point of this fucking story? Just a tons of fucking OCS no one give a shit! I wasted my time reading this!
So the great storyteller downfall is making tons of random shit that no one don't know what the fuck is going on! Which shit is cannon and which is not? And it's too many fucking hints in this story! Cut that shit out already!
The first few read of the bridge is good until it gets "the hell is going on?"
7910860
... I made this as a gift to a friend who lost a close family member you fool. It's called being a decent human being and friend, which you'd have easily known about if you bothered reading the description.
For the hint element, I actually have cut it out but you seem to hate mysteries a lot for someone who has the word mystery in your name.
7684343 If fanfic interspecies stuff upsets you, then I can imagine that King Kong is worse. Or Iris x Ayana, for that matter. Or Komodithrax x Zilla. Kaiju crossing the species boundary is nothing new. Forced ships are no fun, but the whole species thing is relatively minor issue given the history involved.
7916309
King Kong's attraction to humans was a product of the time and beliefs when the original story and movie were produced. It says more about the time then anything else, and was one way.
Iris x Ayana was a parasitic relationship disguised as a symbiotic one. Contrary to what some perverted humans might think, there was nothing sexual about that pairing.
As for Komodithrax x Zilla, that a case of two nominally unique animals (NOT sapient in the context of the show) that were apparently genetically close enough to mate with each other. This happens nature. They would need to be part of the same family t the least, preferably the same Genus if not Species, but it happens.
7916395 Iris and Ayana's relationship isn't romantic, but it smacks of sexual imagery. Regardless of it being an abusive and nasty bond, it's pretty hard to deny that Iris's character has some depraved sexual references. Looking past the obvious part where Iris makes Ayana heat up and take off some clothes before embracing her, there's also Iris's chest piece which is rather yonic, the fact that Iris is presented in context of the plot as a rival to the temple kid who has a crush on Ayana, that Iris's little coupling with her is presented as an exchange of genetic material(causing Iris to evolve), and that Iris spends most of the movie just lusting after Ayana and wanting her to get inside of its chest piece lends itself to a lot of sexual ideas. I would think it harder to argue that Iris doesn't have a kind of abusive and controlling sexual outlook as opposed to the opposite, it's practically a theme of the film for Iris to be a depraved sexual predator preying on her.
Komodithrax and Zilla didn't mate, they just adopted her egg. In essence the opposite of Iris's situation, it's all romantic and non-sexual as opposed to Iris who is all sexual and non-romantic. I would think it to require some kind of romantic sentience for them to make the decision to raise a hatchling together despite Zilla having no responsibility to do so.
50 Likes!
This small story is quite interesting and there is so much potential for it to grow.
Also, a bit of romance would definitely be great!
That was a fun read!
Just the mental image of the last scene made me snicker and gigle for hours
Before I read,
I have a feeling that by the end of this little tale I'll be shouting 'I ship it'.
I SHIP IT!
Can I translate this story into Russian?
8693582
You may, just cite this as the original and credit the people involved (like me as author as Phoenix as owned by FallenAngel).
Say that again and I'll have to put someone in an Aaaaaaaappenooosa!
I hate it when that happens!
This was just so damn sweet. Not much more to say beyond that, just really adorable, and so sweet of her to help Rodan out like that right away.
Very cute. Hope to see more Phoenix in the future.