New York City: capital of the United Nations and as far removed from Ponyville as is equinely possible. For a pony unacquainted with the cities of an interstellar civilisation, getting to travel to and explore New York is a delightful (if somewhat overwhelming) experience. For Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom who are cooped up with their sisters and Princess Twilight Sparkle on a diplomatic mission, it was anything but.
Thankfully, Sweetie knows of a place where she and Apple Bloom can pass the time.
Originally written for the Writing Snippets posts on /r/mylittlepony (this one specifically). Many thanks to Comma Typer for pre-reading this story; I am grateful for their assistance.
Chapters (1)
A-ha! Finally got it posted. Congrats, friendo.
I can sympathize with Flurry here - another item at McDonald's sounds like my name, and I used to get needled about it a lot.
At first, I thought the United Nations was the actual United Nations instead of a world government and I was confused.
How old is everyone supposed to be? Flurry Heart is older, but Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom still act like children.
Flurry Heart's reaction was funny.
Am I missing something? There doesn't seem to be an ending so much as an abrupt stop.
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Thank you. This will mark the start of an interesting journey.
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Glad to hear this story resonated with you. I did not expect my first foray into creative writing to achieve that.
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I should have made that more explicit. If you do not mind, at what point did you find out otherwise?
I meant for the main characters to be a little bit younger than the Mane Six were in the show, but I can see how Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom can come off that way (especially Sweetie).
That is good to hear. Intentional humour is a skill I have been trying to develop.
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Trying to find a suitable ending point was a bit difficult. Going any further than what I currently have felt like I would end up rambling.
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I can't remember the exact point, it just clicked because it kept mentioning that New York was the capital.
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That is fine; thank you for clarifying.
Nice description of UDP (or is it TCP?—been a while since I made memes about those)
I love little touches that remind us that we're reading about horses.
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Thank you. I probably had UDP in mind, since no connection is established between sender and receiver before the message is sent.
Equine details like that are nice to write. I do try to strike a balance, though, since overdoing it will make the reader think the ponies are Terran horses that managed to evolve intelligence and the ability to use magic. That would be fine in some stories, most in fact, but it does not exactly go well with what I have in mind (aliens that happen to look like horses).
Hrm
There's some irony in seeing so many british spellings and terminologies from a story about human Manhattan.
You've got a really unique and detailed AU - I get the sense that, like me, you like to worldbuild. It's a shame that your AU is limited to just this one story.
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I must admit that I only noticed that once you pointed it out. Is all fun, though.
You are right about the world-building. This was something I had been planning almost ever since I started watching the show way back when. I do want to explore it more, but it will come as a mix of short stories, the odd novella, and drawings. Most likely the drawings, because I lean much more towards visual art these days.
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Is that you who drew the cover art? I'm not quite certain, since it seems a little different than your more recent artworks. Whoever made it, it's really well done.
If you couldn't tell by my discord pfp, Sweetie Belle is a favorite of mine.
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I wish I drew it, but this story predates me trying digital art by about a year. The artist is ReiDuran. Unfortunately the original source is dead now, but I have some booru links (Derpibooru, Manebooru). They indeed make some cute pictures.
Sweetie Belle is a fine choice. The Crusaders have been a favourite of mine for quite some time too.