Gabby has spent her whole life in Equestria under the care of Octavia Melody, the Element of Magic. When a chance encounter with a grumpy scone baker leads her to realise that she knows nothing about griffons, she goes on a journey of self-discovery to Griffonstone.
Standalone prequel to Runic Notation; all you need to know to understand this is that Octavia and Gabby are roleswapped with Twilight and Spike, respectively. Takes place in the equivalent of season 2. Edited by SockPuppet, TCC56, and Sledge115. Cover by Cosmic Eclipse.
Chapters (3)
Wait tavi is a Unicorn? I thought she was an earth pony
No matter the continuity and no matter her job, Trixie is always an ambitious loser. This is law.
A foreshadowed plot point, or a simple world building throwaway line? Only time will tell.
I like how Octavia calls Gabby by her full name. Tavi has the hybrid role of Older Sister//Young Mother for Gabby, and word choice is a good organic way of reinforcing that.
That’s the second time “runic magic” has come up in this story. It’s either character building for Octavia, or strong foreshadowing that Gabby herself will be using the technique later on. Hype.
I can tell you really like upbeat protagonists. First Silverstream, now Gabby. It’s a strong contrast to all my emotionally burdened worrywarts and really compliments the fast paced globe-trotting premise of this particular story. Looking forward to more.
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She isn’t. The premise of Runic Notation is that Octavia went to the School for Gifted Unicorns despite being an Earth pony because she was so talented at runic magic.
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It’s this, born from a weird conversation in the Fimfiction Discord server about sapients’ milk.
I can’t elaborate upon anything else without spoiling the rest of this fanfic.
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Oh ok make Sense just like a Mage Meadowbrook and applebloom they both like making potion like magic stuff
10487959 Something just occurred to me... have you read issue 90 of the IDW comics? It turns out that Zecora decided go to Equestria and learn potions because she wanted to be the first zebra to use magic. Since runic magic exists and can be used by anyone in this AU, she’d never have that dilemma.
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Oh yeah I did remember reading that comic it does make a difference for none unicorn Changelings and kirin to perform magic without their horns so yeah there's so much possibility like I said like applebloom and Mage Meadowbrook
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So it kind of reminds me of how Spike wants to travel back to the dragonlands to find out where he comes from ok cool anyway Gabby was delivering mails but suddenly I see met up with glida and she wanted to ask her but she was not in the mood to talk and just like Spike and another universe she really wants to find out where she come from and why she was abandoned so Octavia was worried to let her go but she has to trust that she can do this this is an interesting story can't wait to see how this works
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Yeah, this was inspired by “Dragon Quest”. Also, have you tried using punctuation?
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Yes I did but unfortunately my stupid voice command doesn't understand me so basically I just let it roll to see how it says even though it sounds stupid Excuse i know 😑
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Sorry for making assumptions.
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Thats ok it happened to me a couple of times so its good 😊
Ohh hey I remember that character she was in that comic I run a long time ago cool to see her
Whoa free the pillars so this is during after season 7 ok wow
10569535 No. In this AU, the pillars were freed in the equivalent of season 1.
Holy mackerel what a way to end it with a cliffhanger even though she missed the edges of the cliff lol sorry try to be funny anyway so Gabby finally made it to GriffonStone but it looks like it's not a total dump in this alternate timeline so she was trying to find any information but unfortunately came in empty at the library thinking that she will get some information then a griffon showed up in the library named Gallas collecting some taxes but he was kind enough to show Gabby around and talk about how she been living with the ponies but both Griffons made it to the Abysmal Abyss but unfortunately Gabby fell into the abyss is she going to be okay and will gallus save her I guess we'll find out next time
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Ohh ok and you said in your previous story Octavia and Gabby live in the Golden Oak Library so I was assuming this would take place somewhere in season 1 and 2 what threw me off was the pillars was free and I thought so this is takes place somewhere in season 7 but okay thanks for clearing that up 😅 I got confused a little bit but the story is pretty interesting take on of a alternate timeline
Well this was a pretty nice and short story sort of short but it was good so Gabby fell into the abyss and she can't get out of there with all the high winds blowing but gallus came to the rescue find a couple of ropes and Gabby out of the Abyss so what that Gabby decided to stay at Ponyville it's fine she didn't find any information about her parents but to her she has a family with Octavia and her friends and that's so sweet this was a pretty good story keep the good work
Fun with regional dialect. So did the Griffon kingdom not collapse in this AU? The setting is pretty put-together what with the guards and commence and functioning monarchy. Even so, the Griffons still act like their regular standoffish selves, which is a good anchor to the canon storyline.
At first I wasn’t sure about the modular scenes where Gabby yaps with Gustav and gets turned away from the inn, but upon reevaluation they’re actually important character building. The story’s eventual emotional payoff requires the reader to understand Gabby’s naïveté and optimism.
Oooh, possible nod to this AU’s Scorpan? I can imagine he and Tirek would have made a nasty civilization-toppling team indeed.
Aaaaaand the chapter ends with the crowned Prince’s negligence severely injuring the Element of Magic’s sidekick. In a more cynical fic, this would probably cause a war.
Good thing Gab is the understanding type.
10615470 Since this AU is a roleswap, I decided to give the griffons a reversal of fortune. It's also a modern spin on early griffon fanon.
He didn't cross my mind, but that could be interesting!
A very nice simulacrum of how blasé Griffon mannerisms are compared to our more Pony-ish protagonists. The action scene gives Gallus a chsnce for heroism and reminds us how lucky Gabby was to be raised in safe, caring Equestria. All in service to the aesop about the present mattering more than the past.
And hey, the seamless scene transition from the Griffonstone library to the Ponyville one is some good parallelism. Different places with different characters living in them, but Gabby herself is the same.
Overall, this was a nice medium-weight fic that succeeds in its purpose of hooking the reader’s interest in the Runeverse. It dropped enough hints about the differing continuity while keeping its plot focused and easy to follow. Predictably, the next fic on my reading list is Runic Notation, which I promise I’ll get through much quicker than I did this one. Keep up the good work, and I’ll see you around the site/subreddit!
(P.S., I’m still on board if you plan to go ahead with that Farasian contest idea of yours.)
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I didn't even notice those! The present mattering more than the past seems to be a recurring theme in my works; one of my upcoming fics will be about the everyone trying to make the most of a world-changing event (which I've tried to explore several times before), while another will have a protagonist whose whole philosophy is that she can do whatever she wants because she lives in the moment.