Twilight and Sunset race against the clock to save Canterlot from a foe of unimaginable power… a romantic narrative.
Entry in Aragon's Comedy (is Serious Business) Contest with the prompt Today We Learned Something "Subtle."
Cover Design by Novel Idea
Twilight Sparkle Cutie Mark By Intbrony
Cover based on screenshot from Black Mesa
Beta Reader & Editor Credits
Cursori: Reader of Many a Pony Word
Little Tinker: Master of Systems at Poniverse & Scripting Engineer on The Manehattan Project
Ladrian: Resident Snarky Mistborn
Heartshine: Smol Pegsus, BIg Heart
Oroboro: Assassin of Extra Spa ces
Word Count: 12,000
Version: 3.1
Chapters (5)
This looks like its going to be fun.
This story is awesome, and I am so screwed.
I am so screwed.
8702268
Thank you for the first part. As for the second, to be honest, considering some of the other authors who have said they're going to enter, I'm not holding my breath on even getting close to placing!
"Prepare for unforeseen consequences."
Sorry could not resist.
Edit: This is off to a great start, Ill have to read the rest later however because I need to head to Uni for the day. Why must Life be so cruel?
8702307
I couldn't not have that. It would be unforgivable.
Okay, so I know this probably wasn't intentional, but...
The title of the song at the end shares a title with a Phantom of the Opera song, which happens to be highly romantically charged. And here I was hoping to forget Phantom forever. Gosh-darn-it!
8702312
That was totally planned. Completely and totally.
Not even slightly.
8702355
Wow, I think that's the strongest reaction I've ever gotten from you! It's crossed my mind! Then again, I might just come back to the idea in a totally new way where I can just go totally wild!
OK. I know Half-Life and Back to the Future, and have a familiarity of Pratchett and the Secret Shipfic Folder, and I still want to go, what the hell did I just read?
It was a fun ride though. Have another thumb up to add to your collection.
This was really funny and great.
The only sad thing is that there was no Rarijack shipping!!!
8702525
What happens when they're all put together... and the characters know about it.
8702552
I'm delighted you enjoyed it! But we only got to see Pinkie and Twi from the Mane 6! Who knows who might have been in Canterlot when things went down...
8702624
Still it would have been funny to see Applejack and Rarity make out! But I do love Sunlight a lot so you get a pass red!!!
Sun Sage looks up from the fic, concerned. "Malt, what does the scouter say about its Meta level?!"
Malt Witty, looking quite worried, crushes the scouter in dismay. "It's over 9000!"
Sun grins. "Thought so... this is gonna be good."
"You're... happy about this?!"
"Malt, my friend, the world is for more than just dreamers. But sometimes... a dream comes along that simply MUST be dreamed. I shouldn't have to explain more than that, right?"
Malt blinked in surprise... and his lips slowly curved into a matching grin. "Great plot, indeed."
Sun snickered. "Indeed so, good sir, indeed so..."
...Don't ask me what that was. I think perhaps the story is so meta I just couldn't respond as a human. That, in case it's not clear, is no complaint. Onward with a anticipatory chuckle.
Dr. Freepony?
Are they about to do the experiment at the beginning of Half Life? That seems bad.
No alien invasions so far and just some romance related items. Could be worse.
Now that was clearly just destiny.
This was silly. You're silly.
Thank you.
Lol. You’re cutting it real close to that hard cap of 12k words. Looking forward to reading this, though. Good luck in the contest!
This was a delightfully silly adventure poking fun at so many tropes and romance in general. I enjoyed every chapter, and your humor was generally spot on.
That being said, why did you post every chapter on the 22? You would have gotten a lot more people to view it if you'd posted it sequentially, once every day or couple of days. I understand wanting to upload it quickly, but with the way the site works the story will eventually fall out of recent stories/updates and people won't see it, despite the quality.
8702882
During testing of the Arcane Spectrometer, Doctor Fly found a readout on the Metameter reading 81,000,000. Sadly, he forgot to mention this to Doctor Brown. which could have prevented this whole mess. He forgot because he couldn't stop snickering about the "great plot."
8702894
You believed an unleashed romantic narrative is WORSE than an alien invasion?! Good golly! What horrors have you been forced to endure?!
8702960
You're silly for reading it! You're welcome!
8703007
Seriously. When you're done reading, go through the author's note. I had a REALLY had time trimming this down!
8703010
Thank you! Honestly, I could have gone on for another few thousand words. DAMN THAT WORD COUNT LIMIT!
As for the 22nd, it actually all went live today, I simply hit publish on each chapter on the 22nd so I could track my FimFiction word count (it counts a little differently than Scrivener or Google Docs). As for publishing all in one go or not, the story was finished the evening on January 29 and was due on February 2nd. I've had mixed results on how effective the multi-day posting is for reader counts. My most popular story to date was three chapters released all in one go, while ones that have gone out over the course of days didn't do nearly as well.
It's always a gamble and with each new story, I usually try a slightly different method. In this case, I really just wanted it done and out!
8703031
I suppose there is a point to that.
One of my most popular stories, "A friendly Letter from Chrysalis", was strangely the least effort story I've written for this site and among the shorter ones I've written, yet it soared in popularity compared to my others.
It's odd, really. I guess I don't understand how this site works all that well.
8703053
Trust me. I don't think anyone really understands how it works.
Heh. This was good— No! Amazing! I was chuckling for most of the ride. It has both great use of meta humor and fantastic timing for the most part.
8703181
Thank you kindly! It was a blast to write and I definitely want to try this style of writing again sometime soon!
Resist the romance, Twilight! Be as unromantic as you are naturally talented to be!
8703314
She's giving 'er all she's got, captain!
Brown narrativium is for OOC behavior... heh, I get it. You know, this may be the first time I've come across a comedy where the feces joke was the most subtle humor present. Remarkable.
Funny aside, and it was, I'm not sure I can handle shipping of this magnitude. Standard romance, sure, no problem. Little depressed? Maybe, but I got decades of experience, so whatever. This? Overload, so ronery... I need ice cream, and maybe bourbon. I have one of those... Ah well, it was still a complete blast to read, and I do love seeing these characters happy... no matter the cost. Good luck with the contest!
Step Three: Remember to lift with your knees, not your back.
This was ridiculous in all the good ways.
That's fair.
Good thing Sunset still has her eyes on the ball.
8703603
Agreeed
Cadance? For some reason I was expecting Robocadance.
Ooooo.
Dang.
Hahaha! Maybe Moondancer and Minuette will count?
That works too.
Nice.
s2.quickmeme.com/img/ff/ffe4b4a93afe050134c6146144d7fca43d1c8f6cb2da2862f81db9976c94528b.jpg
8703597
Wings are also acceptable, when available.
8704070
pre00.deviantart.net/1a2e/th/pre/f/2014/161/b/3/ship_how_to_pick_up_maresa_reference_guide_by_pixel_prism-d7luwvn.png
(Shamelessly stolen from TSSSF)
8703814
More or less.
8703944
Hey, even Wavelengths Sunset thinks he's good looking!
Cadenza's such a b$%#%.
Pffft. They're busy! Anyway, the plot wouldn't let that happen.
Dang skippy.
8703534
Welcome to the inside of my head. Get your straightjacket from the corner.
8703603, 8703848
Thank you! Exactly what I was going for!
8704199
*Spins in a circle, desperately seeking the corner of the round, padded room.* Heh...hehe....ehehehehh... AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH*collapses, twitching*
8704205
If you manage to get to Level 6, you can find a transdimensional corner on the second level of the Gobblegook house that appears from 3:25 AM to 5:49 AM on alternating Tuesdays as long as the Moon is waxing.
Yeah, no kidding.
That was fun.
8704950
Glad you enjoyed it! (Also I just realized how fitting that line is considering the story co-stars Moon Dancer and Minuette)
Well that was glorious! What happens when all the characters are dangerously genre savvy and are still powerless before it!
8705894
! That's what happens!
You get a hell of a lot of
This is amazing. This is the pinnacle of all shipping stories and meta comedy stories. After finishing it I had to put on a pair of sunglasses just so I could slowly remove them in shock.
8707341
Eeeeee! Hehehehehe. I'm pretty much just giggling nonstop now.
I guess you could say it was a... eye-opening experience?
<Insert Meme Here>
Pinkie ex machina to the rescue!
You're enjoying writing this clichefest, aren't you?