It had been hard enough, being one of the first. With the walls dropped, leaving her nation, her herd, traveling to Japan and trying to exist among so many strangers... every day had been a challenge. But she'd tried. Day by day, hoofstep by hoofstep, she'd felt she was finding her place in the human world.
But now there are no humans. No other demis or liminals. Nothing to anchor her. She exists among tiny horses and the scent of their fear, or at least what little of it drifts into her cell.
For nopony can look at a centaur and see anything but a monster.
(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages -- and the TVTropes page just went live.)
Cover art by Harwick. Please contact him for commission rates & prints.
Trigger warning: character interpretation.
You did it. You monster
I demand to know why there isn't a Tirek tag.
OK: we have a Manga/Anime character, dropped for no good reason in Equestria, attacked violently by Ponies under mistaken identity, posessing weird powers Ponies don't know how to deal with...it this going to be some sort of deconstruction of a "Displaced" story?
My curiosity is stimulated.
(And the "Equestrian magic can't effect stuff from our world" trope is one I dislike, being a long term pal of overpowered OCs, self-inserts, Anons, and other scum. But I can take a few deep breaths, count to ten, and put up with it, since some sort of extra advantage is required if Centaurea isn't going to be rapidly reduced to Pâté)
Yes. All my yes.
Well now. I'm not familiar with the other half of the source material, but that's what TV Tropes is for. Suffice to say, I'm definitely looking forward to more of this. Especially given the antimagic properties of plastic.
Poor Centorea.
The irony here is the more she would fight, if perhaps she were to break free and try to escape, the more danger she is in. By being captured by a race to whom Corporal Punishment is a rather peculiar name instead of a verb, she is therefore 'Something dangerous we have under control, now who do we tell about it?'
(The ponies are thus in the position of the dog who finally caught the car, and has no idea what comes next.)
9477594
Actually, it seems to just be plastic. WHY plastic cancels magic is another matter, it can't be because of petrochemicals because we know they use coal in this universe, but it's not just any old matter.
Still not 100% on board with the idea that ponies would turn violent without serious provocation, but for a hick town it works better than if it were the Ville of Pones. Looking forward to more of this.
9477579
Maybe Tirek isn't part of this story aside from his rampage being a past event that explains why ponies are so irrationally fearful of centaurs?
Damn, somehow Estee got me invested in the most out-there premise I've seen out of them yet. That's the real mystery here. Edit: should say that I've got no experience or interest in the source material of our protagonist, so I'm as lost as Cerea or perhaps Cereal, given the name of the fic. (Joking...)
For real though, interesting start so far. I'm excited to see her interact with the Princesses. Since we all know she'll be seeing them eventually. Does this one take place in the same continuity as the CDA? Maybe it would be too easy to put her in the human zoo, though.
Plastic have anti-magic properties?! That going to be interesting to watch. Oh man, I wish it was already next month so we could have the next part!
9477655
Is it anti-magic plastic, or spell that repels metal and wasn't made to repel plastic?
9477649
Well Tirek did plenty of provoking...
This is actually pretty interesting.
Mmmm, Centorea in Equestria. Color me intrigued
Well shit
someone mesige me when this has ten chapters.
9477634
It's possible they use coal because coal has just enough antimagic properties to not be useful for anything other than burning it, but not enough for them to usefully apply the antimagic effect to anything.
Interesting move making plastic antimagic, I don't think I've seen that since that one time in Tales of Symphonia where Raine offhandedly mentions that an ancient civilization invented polycarbonate to defend against magic, and then it never comes up ever again.
9477669
Sure, and dragons apparently used to (maybe still do) regularly terrorize pony villages, but nobody attacks Spike on sight. But to appease the folks that downvote as mild a comment as 'not 100% on board', I'm not saying this is bad by any means. Just takes a bit more suspension of disbelief than usual, is all.
9477822
To be fair, when most ponies think dragon, they're likely picturing something giant with big wings, big horns, and constantly belching fire. Not cute, pudgy little gem muncher.
9477634
I wonder where the idea of plastic cancelling magic came from. I haven't seen it very often and the first place I remember seeing it was in the show 'Wizards of Waverly Place'. Honestly was the best show on the Disney Channel
Does anyone know the origin of this idea? (I hesitate to call it a trope as I haven't seen it often enough to think it counts as one)
9477651
I wouldn't call it irrational. The only centaur that seems to be known in their lands basically had the power to take over the world, and abused literally every pony in the country. That's a very rational fear.
9477822
He's easily puntable, a baby, and honestly I'd have a hard time recognizing him as a dragon at first glance (that's one weird ass fat salamander, walkin' around on its back legs...). Even Fluttershy, with a deathly fear of dragons, pointed out she's not afraid of Spike. The big kind that can eat you and your family in one bite, or maybe even the teenagers who can clearly overpower you... yeah. That's worth being afraid of. And in a fantasy setting, if you aren't initially afraid of dragons you're probably some kind of idjit? They're living, flying tanks. Ponies are a species who don't have great tool-use capabilities and no natural weapons/defenses. Even unicorns are said to mostly have just enough magic to perform their cutie mark-talent and basic telekinesis. Meaning that powerful unicorns are extremely rare, so that hardly counts. The equine instinctive reaction is to run away or group up to try and appear larger for protection. Naturally skittish to begin with.
9477904
True. I misspoke. Let's go with paranoid instead.
Although my point was that the fear overrides any rationality and causes the ponies to jump to conclusions and ignore anything that doesn't fit with their initial beliefs. The fear itself is not irrational, but giving in to the fear drives away rational thought.
catch?
9477906
This is true. I just don't blame them for doing so. Now, once she's clearly restrained and apparently not a threat, trying to find out what's going on seems prudent, but ponies are naturally cowardly as per the show's inference, so this tracks. Is it unfair to her? Sure is. But perfectly sensible from the perspective of people trying to protect themselves, and if it went any other way I'd lose all ability to believe that that's what's going on.
9477914
Agreed. It all makes sense, and it is natural for fear and mob/herd mentality to overtake a crowd or population like that.
It sucks, but that's how it works.
My initial comment was telling that other user that Tirek probably doesn't have a tag on this story because the fact the main character is a centaur and Tirek was mentioned does not mean he will actually have a role in the story beyond being used as a past event to justify how the ponies are acting, and I apologize if it sounded like I was criticizing the way the ponies acted or anything due to my poor choice of words.
9477915
Not at all, completely fine. And saved me the trouble of tossing something at the other user for believing any mention of 'centaur' in a story with a picture of a completely different centaur suddenly means Tirek.
9477634
Her sword is also plastic?
projecting
Uh... one minor thing... DRAGGING someone bound in a net for any length of space would quickly mess them up hideously. Even on a relatively smooth surface, not to talk about what you would find in a far away village in a semi medieval place like Equestria. At the end of that trip Centorea would be a bleeding, raw broken pulp...
Okay, the last centaur they heard about was Tirek, but going straight for assault and then almost murdering a bound captive?
I really hope the Princesses rip these jerks a new plot hole.
9477991
Yeah, I would love for Twilight to be involved in the response somehow just so we can get the "It's like the Zecora fiasco all over again... only worse" response.
hmm this sounds off
As a fan of Monster Musume and one that is glad this is not a 'Displaced' story and the actual character, I'm glad to see this story. It breaks my hear to see a beloved Cerea being bound like this. I get that the ponies think she's evil because she's a centaur but this? I hope these hicks get a chewing out by law enforcement or better yet, Celestia for this behavior.
Can't wait to see what happens next.
9477961 Yep, the Interspecies Exchange Laws restrict Centoria to a weighted plastic sword. She could get her hands on a real one, but it would be illegal, and Cerea is usually big on following the rules.
9477996
Monster Musume, or Daily Life With Monster Girls.
Suu is best monster. FACTS.
diysolarpanelsv.com/images/monster-musume-suu-clipart-49.jpg
9478008
Ah, I didn't initially understand. I got from the story that she didn't have an actual metal sword, but I assumed it was bamboo or some other tradition-conscious material.
A thought has occurred to me.
Once the ponies find out that Centorea A) has no magic, B) has equipment that hard counters magic, and C) is fairly well trained at physical combat, they might come to the conclusion that she was sent by the other centaurs to apprehend and/or assassinate Tirek. No magic means she isn't crippled by losing it and Tirek doesn't get a boost from her, anti-magic gear means he can't use other magic against her successfully, and nonmagical combat skill means once she gets into melee with him she can take him out.
Finally! A story where the protagonist (antagonist?) doesn’t speak the language! I get sooo tired of tales where a visitor comes to Equestria and is perfectly understood by all. To me, that makes no sense: it’s a different world, with a different species. Why would they all speak the same language?
I feel like you strayed a little too far into the repition for a bit there, but its pretty damn good so far.
You have to be careful when deciding to use antimagic plastic, in that the waxy coating on apples is naturally occuring thermoplastic polyetheylene, and apparently certain slugs can superglue their attackers to the tree. Still trying to work out if peeing on ants gives thermosetting urea formaldehyde bakelite style material. And Ive forgotton how wood is boiled with caustic, related to paper production, to give cellulose billiard balls etc.
Still I suspect its because Magic is Energy, but its not Real Energy but Imaginary Energy, so is affected by different materials. That, and hooves, feathers and horn are all nonconductors non metal and are very good at conducting magic? Internal molecular structure. Manufactured stuff aims towards similar reasons and gets similar results?
By the time she escapes, the party wil have been on long enough to make recpature by mass unavailable? How quickly can that flyer reach a town with rail telegraph to call for Major Assistance?
Looks interesting. Though I may not give this a read, part of the reason I am actually a fan of Monster Musume and I just love to see Centorea and Kimihito together and I don't know how much I'd like her to see in Equestria among ponies.
But as a fan of MLP and Monster Musume I like your idea anyway. Good job.
9477669 If ponies are half as bad at first contact as they are in HIE then it's no wonder why most of the other species in the show couldn't stand the sight of them.
"almost compulsively protecting light"
"almost compulsively projecting light"?
"buildings had a old-world European"
"buildings had an old-world European"?
Interesting. Plastic from that Earth has an anti-magic effect here?
And also an interesting-looking new story in general. :)
Poor centaur, just another victim of the ponies skittishness. That and horrible timing... And no elements of Harmony to prove her innocence.
Having anti-magic plastic doesn't help either
Hoping for Centorea to get a FAIR chance to communicate with the ponies.
I have no idea where this is going, but I'm buckled in for the ride.