Since the rediscovery of the Elements, the reputation of the Bearers has been slow to spread -- but it has spread. And so some ponies are now aware that if they ever truly want to know what an animal is thinking, all they need to do is go to Ponyville, approach the cottage on the settled zone's border, and request a consultation -- whereupon the pegasus who lives there will typically do everything she can to turn them away.
After all, most ponies really don't want to know that their favorite companions are, at heart, complete morons.
(A stand-alone, no-prior-reading-necessary part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group: new members and trope edits are welcome.)
Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.
Ya know, I saw the front page and noticed the title in the New Stories section. (I didn't even notice my notifications as quickly.)
My brain immediately said "That's an Estee story, isn't it?"
You've trained us too well, my friend.
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I can believe it. I can think of one author whose work I can just about always identify just through the way he tends to compose titles, so having someone do it to me doesn't come as much of a shock.
However, it does create the question of what a typical Estee title looks like.
i'm guessing that "sharp indentation" is from a time where Twilight crash-landed in front of the house...
This is gold! I have no idea how you would do it, but I would really like to see more along this line. Perhaps with Audu of house Orni ( good name that.) And Flutters together again over another rare bird. Perhaps a Dodo with a mind somewhere in the neighborhood of Jeff Dunham's Bubba.
Again well done !!
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It's where the piano landed.
And here we go again!
Featured before the 10 rating threshold. What.
I bet Pen-Pen would provide an interesting conversation, at least.
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Oh, that's nothing. The day Knighty put the code revamp into place? I saw a story make the non-Mature box with a total view count of... two.
There may be a few minor issues left with the system.
What is "/hr"? I've seen it on a few of your stories recently.
Also, you forgot to close a bold tag.
So, males see Fluttershy as a potential mate. Would females see her as the competition? I'll bet that exerting her dominance gets tiring after a while...
I can just imagine Applejack trying to omit telling the others, "During spring, we've all gotta visit the cottage as often as we can. Don't ask why, just do it. Don't take Spike. Or the Crusaders. Especially the Crusaders. Don't ask me why, just do it! And don't ask Fluttershy neither..."
... and a never-completely-filled sharp indentation in the ground, just a few body lengths away from the trunk....
There will be eighty-eight seconds of silence for the dearly departed.
*sniff* That poor piano.
Oh, and by the way, Fluttershy? You know, if you ever talked to stallions, you'd find they sound almost exactly like your little furry friends, when translated. "Mate? Mate?"
Very good slice of life, plus we get to see a bit more of Fluttershy as well as see her be self-assertive.
But, was that section in the middle meant to be bold? The part starting at "shaking up" and ending at "has to answer."
This was a nice sentence, I like this sentence.
I'm also now wondering what griffon music would sound like.
I'm thinking loud.
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It means that when Knighty redid the coding, he made it so that a single line break code creates that line, without needing closing HMTL. It also means that every story which uses the closing code now has it show up by itself. And that I'll probably use a full July day doing nothing except fixing that on every single story.
*sigh*
Don't ask me about losing every last paragraph tab indent. Just -- don't.
Oh, and fixed. Thankee.
This was, overall, a good story. But I can't quite upvote it. I feel that I owe you an explanation, Mr (Ms? Dr?) Estee. This has been a recurring problem I've had with your stories, and I need to explain it somewhere. Your stories are, from what I've seen, well written. However, in every story of yours I've read, I find my personal beliefs about the show, my headcanons, in disagreement with yours. This makes it difficult for me to fully enjoy your stories. Something always feels not quite right. This story didn't have anything egregious, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way. I realize this isn't particularly useful criticism, and I'm not sure it even is criticism. I just felt like you were owed an explanation. Best of luck in your future endeavors.
Oh my goodness, this is why Fluttershy's "puzzle" in Anchor Foal is white, isn't it? That and the early puberty thing. How is THAT going to be fixed?
Huh. This makes sense. It also makes me wonder how this sort of thing would play out with Fleur in "Anchor Foal..."
Hueh.
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The bowl of petunias breathed a sigh of relief.
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I get that. I get that reference...
Fluttershy darling, you ain't as bad as you used to be but most times you still play the Queen like somepony else already played the Ace.
Also, if Angel Bunny considers you to be dominant then I fear for the life of those he does NOT consider dominant
And, like, now, she can, like, totally wear birdsong! (Or a dress inspired thereby, anyway,)
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I am now thoroughly impressed by griffon music for, somehow, being MORE crude than birdsong.
Fluttershy has infectious intelligence? That's somewhat alarming.
When I read the description I expected a rather low brow comedy story. I am very glad I was wrong. This is a lot more like a character study, and an interesting one at that.
Fluttershy brings all the birds to the yard.
Lovely little story; a beautiful mix of character interaction, worldbuilding, and fun. Also, Audu is a great new addition to the 'verse, and it's nice to see that AJ is ready to admit it when she gets it wrong about nobles.
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Check out Maybe Tomorrow by Baal Bunny. You might like it.
not bad. But considering the story with the geese, this makes it seem like she was expecting a bit much when she tried to talk to them
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It me.
(SpaceCowboy has a personal vendetta against my titles and deletes any of my new stories with titles anywhere near the title character limit.)
Yeah, nature red in tooth, claw, and other bits doesn't encourage scintillating conversationalists. At least Fluttershy can soften the disappointment for those asking for the translation.
Most enjoyable story, with some great and unexpected Applejack depth on top of the continuing struggle that is Fluttershy's life. And Audu is quite the society mare, even if she doesn't flock with ponies most of the time.
Oh, and I'm going to join in the chorus praising the griffon teen line. Excellent touch.
Estee, I love your stories. The characters are quite human, their hangups and interactions, how they don't just skill everything at the drop of a hat...
But goddammit is frustrating as a reader not to know what they're thinking. I'm some four or five chapters late in tryptich because it is simply infuriating!
Still got my like, though. One day I shall read all your universe' stories. Today is not that day, though
And thus I adopt more headcanons.
... I would really like to see this Fluttershy have a conversation with Gummy. I believe it would be a pleasant surprise and change of pace for her.
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No!!!
It's how the rockegater lures in its victims!
Haven't you read any stories about crocodiles and ponies, like "How the Elephant Got its Nose"?
Don't you remember? First full grown rockegater we've seen went right after Twilight!
...legs and wing, you know.
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Headcanon ninjas deployed.
Nice bits on all the psychology-ish, callbacks, and call forwards with the "Marks We Might Want to Swap"!
Infectious Intelligence reminds of Tamora Pierce and her Wild-mage with the same effect!
So I tried cage fighting the other day. Let me tell you - those budgies are bloody vicious fighters.
This is much closer to my original guess than I expected.
Does the awk sound like Funnybot when it speaks?
Because that would be...
tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.UmLQfr9DS2tdLcoBsLp4aQEsD1&pid=15.1&P=0&w=228&h=187
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You didn't insist that Estee 'correct' everything in order to suit your needs, so that puts in front of a lot of people.
Another enjoyable read. Applejack was good in this story, exactly the pony needed to push for Fluttershy, even if in this case she walked all over her instead. I'm glad they worked it out, and the ending was just gold.
I liked the exploration of Fluttershy's talent from the inside, and what that means for her daily life. Dealing with a barrage of sexual interest from her charges every spring must be awkward to deal with.
Oh. That's what the title is about. Duh.
Still, this makes Fluttershy into an even more interesting parallel to Fleur from Anchor Foal, they both have dealt with similar issues. I'm interested if this will come up there since that's non-canon.
I snorted tea out my nose several times reading this.
Partially because I realised i was reading the auk's lines in the "LEMME SMASH" voice.
y'know i consider myself mostly a casual browser of fimfiction; there's really not even any authors i particularly follow, and these days i tend to avoid the real novels for the one-shots, too. and i never pay attention to the author before i start reading - if i like the story, i'll see who wrote it after the fact. so with all that in mind, know that when i'm partway through the story and suddenly say, 'Oh, it's an Estee story, isn't it!' (and turn out to be right), it is among the highest praise i can give an author. barely able to remember the names of authors with stories i actively follow, i pin a new story to you solely through reading it.
god, i'm actually going to have to read the triptych stuff now, aren't i
i'll find time... somewhere
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If you're going to be heading into the Triptych continuum, I'd recommend any of the following stories:
Five Hundred Little Murders
The Hypocrisy of Tolerance (sequel to the above)
Blessing
Twilight Sparkle vs The Equestrian Cutie Mark Constellation Registry (a sequel to Blessing)
Naked Lunch
A Confederacy of Dunce Caps
This Platinum Cape from the Elements of Elements (they're stand-alone short stories)
Good For Nearly All Princess Labor, Public And Private
Tricks of the Trade Show
This is a very good character study.
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Bad puns?
Incidentally, Estee, out of curiousity:
Your verse repeatedly emphasizes that most animals are animals, not people, not really anywhere near the sapience level thereof.
But I've also noticed that Harry and Angel seem to be... well, more than mere animals in many ways.
I remember Fluttershy insisting that Angel wasn't sapient in one of the older stories... while he was behaving in a way that seemed to imply otherwise. Is Fluttershy underestimating those two? Or does she know full well that they're smarter than dumb animals?
8260709 - 'Cause you brought up the story I'm discussing:
I wonder how she'd react to Trixie, as seen in This Platinum Cape?
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How smart animals are seems a little inconsistent, Angel Bunny seems to be magnitudes smarter than a normal bunny. Owlowishus clearly is amazingly smart for and owl. Winona, Opalescence and Tank seem to be as smart as normal animals. But in a world of magic I guess it's possible that some animals gain superior intelligence compared to the rest of their kind though magic.
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TBH I always kind of assumed it was a familiar-like deal. Angel and Owlowicious are kind of like Fluttershy and Twilight's familiars. Familiars of witches often were depicted as being unusually intelligent compared to normal animals. Same sort of trope, really.
Well, that and it is funny.
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Estee's Applejack is a bit stuck in her ways. She'd probably not want to admit she was wrong until she had to.
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Might be literal with Owlowisus since Twilight is a powerful magic user. Angel is like a druid's animal companion, witch is only slightly different I know. The show seems to actually have a lot of characters who are essentially RPG classes. Shining Armor's career is basically being a Paladin,so in Equestrian Role Playing games can be job training, wonder if Equestrian job applications ask for your class levels 😂 "Sorry but you need more levels in Wizard to be an accountant."