Here and Not Here
Your Faithful Disciple
A My Little Pony fanfic by LysanderasD
It goes something like this.
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria…
Sunny Starscout flopped ungracefully onto her bed.
A light breeze through the open window in her room ruffled the curtain. The air was warm and damp and smelled of the sea, and the muffled sound of distant waves entered with the wind as water broke against land. She heard ponies, distant and indistinct, and the bells of ships in the harbor.
It was late in the day, and Sunny had just finished dinner for herself. The rest of the house was still and silent. Briefly, she wondered if her parents were coming back today.
Her head turned as she sought out something to occupy her attention, and her eyes landed on the figures arranged on her end table. She smiled.
“Rainbow Dash,” she said aloud, largely for the sake of hearing something. “Rarity. Applejack. Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie.” She sat up a little better, bringing a hoof to her chest and taking a deep breath. “Loyalty. Generosity. Honesty. Kindness. Laughter.”
It was a kind of mantra, one that she’d begun when she’d managed to snag the Applejack figurine from the town market a few years back, and expanded every time she’d landed a new figurine. AJ had been the start of her collection, and most definitely the easiest to find. She remembered holding the little amber earth pony figure in her hooves, the earnest and forthright smile on its face, and she swore she could almost hear it speak to her. She'd had to have it, and that was the honest truth.
(Be honest with yourself: Is this how ponykind should be?)
Sunny rolled off the bed and trotted over to the window, moving the curtain out of the way and securing it on the hook next to the sill. She sat and looked out over the bay. The sun was setting over the water, and she gave a small smile as another warm breeze blew some of the sea air into her room.
Pinkie Pie had been next. This one had come from an overland traveler, an earth pony who’d come all the way to Maretime Bay from the Equestrian heartland—right near Ponyville. So much of Equestria had forgotten the Elements—or, at least, had forgotten that the Elements had, at one point, stood for something—but it was said that Ponyville never forgot Pinkie Pie. And the sheer fact that somepony this far out on the coastline still remembered her had put such a smile on the traveler's face.
(When’s the last time you really laughed?)
The others had been harder. There was plenty of trade between earth pony settlements, but there was no call for pegasus or unicorn merchandise in such places. Those who spoke of the Elements in Maretime Bay knew Honesty and Laughter well enough, but the others had been relegated to “the rest of them,” spoken of indirectly and given even less reverence than the lip service the earth pony Elements received.
She turned back to look at the collection. Five figures stood on the end table, proudly smiling back in her direction.
From the earnest pegasus scholar, come to town to try and establish trade relations with Zephyr Heights, she’d received Fluttershy. Sunny’s parents had been kind enough to host her for the one night she’d stayed in town. It was the first time Sunny had ever spoken to a pegasus.
(Wasn’t there a time when everypony would have shown such kindness to a stranger?)
More recently, an elderly pegasus had come all the way from Hope Hollow. Unable to fly the distance, he’d wandered past Sunny’s home, seeking passage to the harbor proper. Sunny had watched from her window as her neighbors stared at the struggling figure rather than help him, and then she’d taken it upon herself to lend a shoulder. Before he’d climbed aboard the boat—headed to Mount Aris, he said, though Sunny had no idea where that was or why anypony would go—he had turned and gently offered the Rainbow Dash figurine.
His family, he’d said, was once trained by Rainbow herself—and such a display of stalwart loyalty, even to a stranger, was worth this sort of reward.
(When did loyalty become just looking out for your own?)
Rarity had come from Sunny’s father. It came with an admission that, well, he really didn’t understand why she was collecting all of this stuff, but it seemed harmless enough. There had been a time, when he was a foal, when there was a lot more reverence afforded these figures—before, he said, Equestria had really… drifted apart, quietly. And it had clearly been good for Sunny’s disposition—she’d been going out of her way to help ponies, and in general had seemed so earnest, so well-meaning.
The time for Equestrian heroes was past, he said; there was no room anypony’s hearts for the Elements of Harmony. Not anymore. But Sunny’s earnestness, he said, was a gift unlike any other—a reminder of what Equestria used to be, even if it was out of reach now. So he’d asked around, cast out some—ha!—nets, and before long the little white unicorn sat primly with her friends on Sunny’s end table.
(What would you give, to bring it all back—if you could?)
Five figurines. Sunny’s ears pinned back and she gave a little half scowl, walking to the end table and raising a hoof in a vain attempt to straighten them out, pristinely placed as they were. She was missing one. The most important one. She’d left a space in the middle of the row, in the center, where she belonged. Twilight Sparkle.
The filly sighed and kicked a hoof on the floor.
Sunny believed the tales. Really believed them, in a way that almost nopony did anymore. About the Elements of Harmony, about Princess Twilight Sparkle. About how six different ponies came together, so different and distinct, and changed Equestria forever. So many threats ended. So many foes redeemed. Equestria had opened its borders to all comers, allowing creatures the world over to embrace Harmony, be they griffons or kirin or even dragons.
The modern Equestria felt so—grey. Tense and stressed. Gripped by paranoia and fear. Only recently, Maretime Bay had instituted a rule—not in the charter, but a rule nonetheless, spoken in hushed tones on docks and in alleyways—banning the other tribes from staying within city limits. Something had changed. But if things had been bright and hopeful once, they could be again. This Sunny believed with all her heart; if she could only get others to believe, too. To believe in something greater than themselves—an Equestria united.
Somehow.
She sighed and closed her eyes.
Twilight Sparkle sighed and closed her eyes.
Not that she had eyes, or even a body per se, in this place—this Elsewhere, the sea of stars, where she’d first ascended. It was more a mental place, a spiritual place, separate from space and time in the conventional sense—it had been a fascinating topic to study, and she’d had, well, plenty of time lately, in a manner of speaking.
But the idea of a body was convenient. She was used to it. So she stood on a path made of stars and looked out into the gentle darkness, images of pasts and futures whirling gently around—or at least all of this was true metaphorically, and it was good enough for her.
She wondered, briefly, if Luna had rubbed off on her more than she’d thought.
The image of the earth filly hung suspended in front of her, one hoof held out to the table, reaching for the empty space between the figurines. Twilight lifted her own hoof, holding it up toward the image, a weak, slightly sardonic smile quirking her lips.
“They’ve turned us into toys,” she said, only a little sourly.
“You’ll get used to it.”
The Princess of the Night’s voice was warm and gently needling, but there was an undertone of resignation to it.
Twilight turned her head. Luna was standing on the starlight path beside her. She had not been there a moment ago, but—such was the nature of Elsewhere. She was taller than Twilight—though perhaps that was because Twilight thought of herself here as she had been when she was younger, still the size of a normal pony.
Twilight looked back at the image suspended in front of her and lowered her hoof. “I guess,” she responded slowly. “But…”
But. She wasn’t sure how to follow up on that, how to put what she was feeling into words. Beside her, Luna shifted slightly. When she spoke next, the elder alicorn’s tone was careful, contemplative.
“Despite our best efforts, ponykind saw fit to think of my sister and I as gods. Or something near enough to them not to matter. And both you and I are rather intimately familiar with the myth I became, and what became of the myth in my absence.”
Unbidden, images of a moonlit Nightmare Night rose to Twilight’s mind, and shimmered into being around her. Luna looked about and smiled. “I am glad to see you still remember that night so clearly. I suppose the Royal Canterlot Voice does make an impression…”
Twilight shook her head. The other images disappeared, and the illusion of Sunny Starscout, hoof outstretched, pulled in closer. “I don’t think this is the same,” she muttered, flicking her tail in vague frustration. “You were revered. We’re being—”
“Merchandised?” Luna smiled. “As if that were so special. Look.” Luna reached out and touched the image with a hoof, dragging across it, changing perspective as though manipulating a film. “See the tapestry above her bed? Ah, if only Celestia could collect on the royalties…”
Twilight let out a small sigh, mouth forming a thin line. Luna’s smile broadened, but she gestured placatively with her hoof.
“But this is different,” Twilight insisted. “We… all of us… changed Equestria. Brought it together. We embodied Harmony, and made Equestria prosper. There was real magic. Real power. And now we’re… that. Toys. Icons. Reduced to our simplest representations—and without a care for what we did or how we did it.”
She took a deep breath. When Luna raised an eyebrow, she shook her head and continued. “I know it’s not like nothing I did meant anything, and I’m not trying to imply that. I mattered. We all mattered. And your faith in us was well-placed. The Council of Friendship accomplished so much, filled Equestria with Harmony and hope… and now we’re plastic figurines on a shelf, sold to the highest bidder. In a way, this is what Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy all wanted. I think I’m allowed to be a little bitter. Not to mention how magically-starved Equestria has become…”
Luna had returned to her distant, contemplative look. “Magic moves like moonlight. It ebbs and flows like the tides; it comes and goes like the fullness of the Moon. We are subject to it as much as we subjugate it. You and I—and Celestia, and Cadance, and Flurry, of course—are all keenly aware that, for all the power we wield, there are forces at work greater than us. Harmony has a will, and it will find a way—and you can see, even in its absence, that it guides ponies still.”
She pointed back to the image, which had focused again on Sunny. The filly’s lips were moving, and Twilight leaned forward, flicking her ears up to listen.
“Dear Princess Twilight…”
“Dear Princess Twilight,” Sunny muttered.
It was said, in the tales, that Twilight Sparkle had had a mentor, an elder Princess, beautiful and serene like the summer day. Celestia—the Sky and the Sun, whose cutie mark adorned the tapestry over her headboard. If Twilight had been the one to spread the light of Harmony, then Celestia had been the very source of that light, and, in the oldest tales, it was said that Twilight often turned to her mentor to tell her what she had learned in letters sent by dragonfire.
Sunny didn’t have a dragon, and it wasn’t like the Princess of Friendship had a cell phone or email address. So she did what she could instead. She prayed.
Twilight watched as Sunny spoke, and the words wrote themselves out in glistening, flickering orange light beside the filly’s image; like her, it was here and not here, but the tenuous reality did not change the sentiment.
Dear Princess Twilight,
I don’t know if you can hear me… I mean, you probably can’t. But I just want you to know… that I believe.
I believe in Loyalty, and that it doesn’t have to only be to your family, or to your tribe, but to anypony… or anycreature. I believe in Generosity, and that we all have something to give each other. I believe in Honesty, and that if we all told each other the truth about how we feel rather than hiding behind lies, we could all come together again.
I believe in Kindness, and that all it takes to make a friend is a smile. I believe in Laughter, and that you can find joy anywhere if you dig hard enough. And… I believe in Magic. I believe in Harmony. I know we’ve cast it all aside—I know that Equestria these days probably looks nothing like what you remember.
And… I bet that saddens you. If even half the stories I’ve heard about you are true, we must have fallen a long way from the days when you were in charge. I can only imagine how much that hurts. Change frightens creatures—I’ve seen that even here and now, in Maretime Bay. But you went through change and came out okay, so…
I guess what I’m trying to get at is… Even if nopony else believes in you and the Elements any more, I do. I believe in Equestria, and I believe in Harmony. And I know the rest of the world could learn to believe again too. I just… need a sign. A push. Anything.
No… I think what I need is… a friend. So… could I ask for your help? In finding and making a friend. You had to start somewhere, once, right? So I can’t think of anypony better to ask.
Your faithful
The words paused, almost visibly hesitating, like a quill suspended over parchment. The image of Sunny furrowed her brow.
Your faithful stu disciple,
Sunny Starscout
Twilight did not have to look to recognize the wide, and widening, grin on Luna’s face.
“You have a disciple,” the Princess of the Moon said in a low voice. It was almost a purr. “How sweet.”
Twilight sighed and ran one hoof along her other foreleg. “I’m not sure I want a disciple…”
Luna’s amusement was unabashed. “Don’t worry, Twilight. This was due to happen eventually.”
“Yes,” Twilight replied, a little wistfully. “But I had a chance to learn to see Celestia’s flaws… even if it took me a few tries,” she added under her breath. “Sunny might never get that chance. We’re… here, now. Not there. And we might never be able to go back.”
“Perhaps so,” said Luna, finally calming, smile turning serene again. “But you had rather more foresight than Celestia and I in establishing a legacy through written word rather than physical presence. We let the scribes write about us. You, on the other hoof, had the temerity to write about yourself…”
“The… Journal,” Twilight murmured, eyes widening.
“I seem to recall that, at the time, you wondered if publishing it was a mistake.” Luna chuckled, a deep, warm sound. “I think you will find that Harmony is, unlike its more erratic counterpart, not in the business of making mistakes.”
Twilight’s mind was already whirling. The space around the alicorns shimmered with the intensity of her thoughts. “She said she needed a friend… I don’t think I can give her one directly, but…” She turned, looking the Princess of the Moon in the eye. “How do we ensure a copy of the Journal ends up in her hooves?”
“I think,” Luna replied, still looking at the image of the earth filly, “that Harmony has already taken care of that.”
Downstairs, Sunny heard the front door open. She sprang back to her hooves, a smile working its way onto her face as she moved to and opened the door to her room. Downstairs, she heard her father’s voice.
“Sunny? We’re back—and you won’t believe what we found. I think you’ll like it…”
What they found was this:
A seafoam-colored bag, emblazoned with the six-pointed starburst.
Two books, and the tiny lavender figure of an alicorn princess. That took its place in the middle of the group, front and center.
(You can show them the magic. I know you can.)
One of the books was well-loved, dog-earned and peppered with bookmarks in six distinct colors. The other was brown, a golden unicorn emblazoned proudly on the front. It had a very distinctive first page. It goes something like this.
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- LysanderasD · 4.2k words · 251 7 · 3.4k views
- LysanderasD · 4.4k words · 185 5 · 2.6k views
- LysanderasD · 4.5k words · 214 2 · 3.7k views
- LysanderasD · 4.4k words · 179 5 · 2.2k views
- Lets Do This · 3.4k words · 599 16 · 12k views
- Boltstrike58 · 2.4k words · 341 11 · 6.8k views
- SuperPinkBrony12 · 3.8k words · 176 11 · 5.7k views
- The 24th Pegasus · 2.8k words · 229 5 · 4.3k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.149 seconds
Total duration
1,106 users online
2,414,516 hits today, 2,921,617 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
A late addition perhaps, but possibly the best one.
I love the concept of Twilight reaching out to Sunny across the gulf of generations. Lovely stuff. Here's hoping the genuine article recaptures some of its predecessor's magic.
Y'know... It's incredibly hard to disassociate this from the feelings I'm sure many other fans have on the subject. From feelings I myself, and you've stated as much, about your own here. I suppose I could cop out and say this fits the end of any era of prosperity. After light, comes darkness. Balance and all that. We need this energy sometimes so we can remember why we care about the other thing. Witnessing such a prosperity that Harmony, and the Magic of Friendship get built...or built upon was a monumental time for us all.
Sunny gets to have that same opportunity. Hopefully.
10792288
Thank you. That's high praise for something that is essentially just me working out my feelings on a topic we know almost nothing about.
10792293
Unfortunately the ultimate fate of Twilight and her friends is, at this point, ambiguous; I wanted to keep that ambiguity intact, which is why Twilight and Luna are somewhere and somewhen, but the important idea is that Sunny and the others are out of reach in a direct sense.
Is it a prophetic dream? Is it some facet of alicorn nature to exist outside of conventional time? I toyed with those ideas, and others, and then decided that I didn't want to give an explicit answer, because it doesn't really matter, so any or none of them could be true.
10792373
Already started a conversation with you elsewhere, but for the sake of acknowledgment here: thank you again.
That was a good story, really hope canon didn't kill off Twilight like so many others are saying.
Well, I haven't even finished season 9, and was not planing on paying much, if any, attention to G5. This may very well have changed that.
I love this. Not offten I add short stories like to to my favorites, but for this ill make an exception.
This is bloody beautiful. No, seriously, words cannot express how much I love this story.
I myself can't wait for the release of G5.
Just imagine all the new fanfiction to nitpick at when we get canonical news from G5 and not just snippets from a leak
A sad-happy ending. So much emotions in one sweet story.
I still blame Celestia for giving over leadership to somebody who wasn't suited for it, wasn't ready for it, and didn't want it.
1000+ years of peace, and Twilight seems to have blown up Equestria within a couple of generations...
I teared up during Sunny's last prayer. A really moving story, and one that really makes me look forward to G5 even more than I already was. In a lot of ways, we live in Sunny's world, after all, and it really doesn't have to be that way.
Thanks a lot for writing this.
10793322
The real big brain move is blaming Luna. Celestia's been running the country for literally a thousand years straight so I can understand her wanting to retire, but Luna? She barely even sat down on her throne before calling it quits!
10793511
Well yeah, but Luna was always Celestias number two, despite Celestia always claiming they were equals.
But yeah, that did strike me as odd at the time...
Okay, that was a lovely read. Go forth, Sunny Starscout, and bring Friendship and Harmony to the land!
10793124
I don't expect we'll be seeing Twilight in G5; certainly not at first. But a pony like Twilight leaves a legacy, and that legacy seems to be landing squarely on Sunny's shoulders.
10793221
I encourage you do to so. Season 9 has a plethora of strong episodes and the ending in particular is one of the most genuine and heartfelt fond farewells to a piece of media I've ever known. As for G5--we shall see, won't we? But I'm willing to give it a try.
10793270
I appreciate that--it's a rare honor.
10793292
As I said in the author's note, I'm cautiously optimistic about G5. I'm not sure anyone could ever capture lightning in a bottle a second time the way Faust and DHX did with FiM, but G5 has a strong, strong foundation, and often that's all writers need to make something great--whether official material or fan.
10793316
Bittersweet is my favorite flavor, and my favorite tone when writing. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
10793322
10793511
I have my own feelings about the sudden and arbitrary decision to hoof Twilight the (ha ha) reins, but for my part I do believe she was as prepared for it as she could be, and The Last Problem showed us that, at least within the next few decades, Equestria under her rule had become more prosperous and multicultural than it ever was under Celestia.
To wit, I do not think Twilight "blew it up." I think that, for one reason or another, her rulership had to come to an end. The why isn't important (not yet, at any rate), hence the fact that I don't address it here; only the fact that it happened is relevant. And we saw what became of Luna, and ponies' memories of Luna, over the thousand years between her banishment and the series premiere.
No; what "killed" Equestria was time, not a failing on Twilight's part. That's what I believe, at least.
10793454
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm hoping G5 starts on a strong note myself.
I had never considered the angle of "our world" being much like Sunny's (at least from what little we've seen of the G5 setting so far); I kind of like that idea, and may hold onto it for another rainy day, perhaps after the premiere. But it does make a lot of sense; G4 ended with an implicit admonishment to us, the audience, to go and spread the magic; G5 is, perhaps, our chance to see it in action.
10793688
I'm glad you enjoyed it; thank you for the comment. I'm certainly looking forward to the premiere: I hope G5 starts strong.
10793322
I agree with your assessment fully. What Celestia did in my book was selfish and irresponsible of her. I even find it almost ooc and the main reason I stopped watching MLP after season 8.
I've grown tired of the same trite moanings of people who hate the later seasons of the show (but are still here complaining about it) or who believe that G5 is the worst thing ever.
It's nice to find a story that feels like a reasonable way of sorting through the plethora of emotions associated with a new generation. To be fair, I'm also cautiously optimistic for G5, but I believe that's a good state to be in for most things that change.
As one book closes, another opens. As it's meant to be.
10793692
I probably will. I have a really hard time starting a story, no matter what story, and not seeing it through to the end. Although I do remember feeling put off enough by the last episode I watched to stop watching it less than half way in. But I do want to see the end, so I'll either sit through it, or just skip that one episode. I'm pretty sure it's a stand alone episode with no real effects on the rest of the season.
10793729
That's what this story set out to be--me exploring how I felt about G5, and how things could have ended up like this.
It is still very hard to let go of FiM; I can only hope that G5 takes the burden well. I'm not expecting it to be quite as good as G4; I honestly don't think anyone could ever repeat that particular feat. But one hopes for a smooth transition, and the best thing to do is to approach it with an open mind.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
10793736
What is life if not a series of stories? Equestria is a setting rich with potential, whether in the past or the future. I've loved my time dwelling in its many stories, and I hope G5 is the impetus for many more.
10793744
For my part, I would encourage you to watch the last three, as the first two of those are the "season finale" and the last is the proper "series finale." But you are correct in that the last episode does stand more or less on its own, and if this is all you wish to see, then far be it from me to discourage you.
Thank you for having an open mind about it, especially since some part of season 9 appears to have turned you away.
10793756
Oh, I want to see all of it, except for maybe one episode.
I love it. This is exactly how I'd wish the new series to start. This one goes straight to my favourites.
10793322
I'll take issue with your "did not want it." Twilight was never ambitious or power-hungry or self-aggrandizing or a social climber to be sure. But that is a good thing, and she was always happy to serve, in whatever role, including, as it turned out, as "first servant of the state."
I take less issue with your "wasn't suited," at least, if we're talking about her character as presented by Seasons 8 and 9. By that point, the events of the show had thoroughly trashed the leadership skills Twilight had had in the earlier seasons, leaving her an indecisive, jumpy, basket case incapable of thought, direction, or poise, whom no one ought to trust to lead, and whom her friends warrantedly did not trust or look to for leadership in The Beginning of the End, the Summer Sun Setback, and Twilight's Seven.
There's little one could do to make such a person "ready" for leadership, as shown by the events of Season 9. Neither Celestia's more structured training (which seems to have been limited to etiquette and deportment as opposed to politics, even though Twilight has literally caused a war and stolen from allies when trying to do diplomacy) nor Discord's scheme with the villains actually prepared her for anything.
I do think she's blameworthy in the fall of Equestria. We're dealing with a fantasy world here, where the fitness of the monarch signifies the health of the realm, and vice versa. We can therefore infer from the realm's collapse that it did not have a good monarch, whether Twilight herself or her immediate successor (if there are more successors in between her and the fall, she gets less blameworthy). Marcus Aurelius was to blame for choosing Commodus as his successor, after all, no matter how healthy the Empire seemed when he ruled himself.
10794009
Yeah, if there were a bunch of successors, Twilight gets off scot-free, but considering from the image we've got, there are literal action figures of the Mane 6, I get the impression their memory is rather recent.
Of course, it could have been something outside of Twilights control, such as the real Grogar or something Lovecraft-esque. It wouldn't matter how great a leader Twilight was, sometimes, you just lose to the villain.
Thank you again to all of the commenters, followers, and favorites. I'm glad I could make a short but, apparently, mostly enjoyable work.
I am currently in the "splitting headache" phase of recovering from the second Pfizer shot, so my ability to track and respond to comments has wavered a fair bit. Still, I appreciate all the comments; I didn't think this would be the piece that got me into the feature box, and I'm grateful to those whose comments have remained on the topic of the work itself.
I am, of course, always happy to inspire discussion, commentary, and theorycrafting. But this story was meant to be hopeful and positive; not necessarily a discussion or observation of the fall of Equestria to its apparent state at the beginning of G5. Which is to say, the why of Equestria's fall, the fault of Twilight Sparkle therein, or her worthiness or unworthiness as a leader is irrelevant and beyond the scope of this work.
I will not ask anyone to cease the discussion, nor am I interested in stifling creativity or trying to dictate whose opinions are right or wrong. Some of the theories I have seen posted here hold water, and could very well be true. But I would request that discussions on the above topics be moved to another channel, and commentary here kept to within the scope of the work. Thanks.
10794128
Seconded.
10794128
Oof, that's rough. It should pass day or so, though.
Well this was a pretty nice story to see there's still somebody out there who believes in friendship and harmony and yeah it can be hard in this generation and Twilight was pretty sad that everything they have accomplished was basically for nothing but she cannot lose hope they're still a chance maybe sunny could be the key Maybe to the Future and probably bringing Harmony together well until the movie comes I really hope that could be the case nice job on the story
The journey begins.
I'm gonna be honest if they started the movie with the epiloge episodes ending part zooming out to show it was sunny star-scout and her dad reading the book....i would be okay with that.
This is nice -- quietly pleasant and suggesting lots of possibilities once Sunny starts finding her own set of friends. I wonder if she'll end up being the "book pony" amongst her friends, or if the new series won't lean into the same strict partitioning of Elements and/or personalities. And also if Sunny will discover friendship is different (for better or worse) than her expectations -- which it usually is.
Here's hoping that the actual G5 lives up to this level of quality.
Nicely done!
The story is really good at being bittersweet. Since that is what I presume your goal for the story is, Imma drop you a 12 out of 10 and a moustache
10794697
I remain optimistic about G5; I think it has a fantastically solid foundation to build upon, and from what little we've seen I'd wager that we won't be playing with the same basic archetypes as the G4 mane six--that is my hope, at least. My vision of Sunny, which inevitably influenced this piece, is that, for instance, she has Twilight's hunger for knowledge (even if only on a specific topic, in this case, the history of Harmony) and some of her naivete, but is a lot more bull-headedly, relentlessly optimistic (whereas Twilight tends to default to sardonic pessimism under stress).
I could, of course, be wrong. I look forward to learning more about who Sunny and her friends really are.
10794901
Bittersweet is apparently my specialty. I shall treasure the moustache forever.
I came, I saw, I fell in love. Have yourself a follow.
10795167
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I am not a particularly prolific writer, but I hope anything I put out from here on is also enjoyable.
I can't even begin to say how amazing this story is. I want more so bad, hell of this was the premise of the new series I'd be all on board. Thank you for writing it. I'd love to see this expanded and maybe even read . Looking forward to more!
10795297
I'm not sure I have any plans to expand on this particular story, though that's not totally off the table (I've been pondering some ideas about, say, Luna and Izzy). I'm just not interested in speculating too much about these characters or their circumstances until we know more about them.
What's presented here is only my theory, and a deliberately vague theory at that. But given how much attention this story has gathered (and that with the truncated ending), there is always the possibility of a follow-up/sequel one-shot.
Right now I am drafting a project unrelated to this, but once that's done, I will give more serious thought to continuing this idea.
I'm still not certain G5 takes place in the future of the Equestria we came to know in FiM, and people acting like FiM was some kind of one-and-done miracle is... well, a heck of a lot better than people whining about the show's later seasons, but still. I'm of the opinion that whatever happens in G5, even if it gets a sub-par start, it's gonna be a worthwhile show because Hasbro, as much as I question some of their decisions (like forcing Fame and Misfortune to happen the way it did or ending FiM at Season 9), has earned my faith and trust by not being dumb. At the very least, Power Rangers has been far better under them than it was in the Neo-Saban era, and Friendship is Magic was great even after Lauren Faust left. Not much reason for doubt, in my opinion.
As for this fic, I like it. I don't have much intelligent to say that others haven't already said, but I'm glad you left Twilight and Luna's situation vague and I like how you wrote Sunny, especially her Harmony... question, thought, monologue...stuff. I especially like the backstories of her acquiring each of her figures, particularly how she got Rainbow's.
For a lot of fics, I would hit Favorite, but I'm really not fond of bittersweet and due my particular viewpoints, the emotions that would drive others to click the star just aren't there for me. I will give you a thumbs-up though, and say that you've certainly got skills.
This was a really fun and interesting idea, nice work
10795356
I don't have sources at the moment, but my limited understanding of G5 does indeed suggest that it takes place in the same Equestria, just an indeterminate amount of time in the future. But I suppose until we have the official source material, anything and everything is just speculation, so anyone's guess is fair game. As for the actual handling of the show, my only hesitation is that, even discounting Ms. Faust, FiM was handled by some pretty big names in the western animation industry--which is not something that holds true for what we know of G5.
But we shall see--like I've said before, I like to remain cautiously optimistic, and I'm going to believe the best of G5 until and unless it proves unworthy of that belief.
For this work, thank you for your comments as well. I didn't particularly feel like exploring the how and the why of the alicorns' situation; it would be massive and wild speculation that would distract from the actual, hopeful message of the work. Whatever happened to Twilight and the others, the important fact is that there is a gulf between them and Sunny and the others--one that can't be crossed physically, but one that the Magic of Friendship can overcome all the same.
Thank you for your honest feedback, and thank you for your explanation. I'm glad you enjoyed the work enough for a thumbs up, and I understand not wanting to favorite a work when your heart's just not in it. While most of the work I tend to produce is of the bittersweet variety, I hope that one day I can produce a work worthy of your favorite.
10795361
Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Even Flurry Hearth eventually got around:
Good story!
I enjoyed reading it.
Also, I had to think of this picture:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2021/2/27/2560057.jpg
Source.
That is actually very interesting to see
I hope the New Generation of MLP will be amazing like the comics or something unexpected
For a one-shot done this well, with the limited premise we have, you deserve a Favourite and a Follow
I like your notes on how Ponyville never forgot Pinkie Pie. Or how it was very easy to find Applejack figurines (poor Applejack...)
10795482
10795729
Thank you for reading, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
10796463
Thank you--I tried to do my best with the limited information we had without presuming too much. I also appreciate the follow, and hope that any future work I put out is also enjoyable.
Hey there gamers it's ya girl, Twilight Sparkle here and today I'm going to be showing you a super special speed run, returning equestria to the pre-hearthwarming days. Now this category has no entries, so this will be an easy world record!
The conversation in the comments made me come up with this.
This is why I'm agnostic and not an atheist: because I truly want to believe that there is meaning and justice to all this and that someone(s) looks down upon us favorably
This was bittersweet and very lovely at the same time. I really enjoyed it and it was very nice to read.
10797148
While I'm prone to agree with you as far as the real world is concerned, it is almost certainly true of Equestria whether or not it's true of our world. While I would be loath to associate Harmony with any singular "deity" (I prefer to think of it as an objectively benevolent fundamental force), it fulfills the narrative role of such in the setting, for which the alicorns, the Elements, and other figures of note are simply agents.
10797290
It seems that bittersweet is what I'm good at, given what I've written and what I continue to write. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for the follow.
Ah I see peeps are startin to make fics about the Gen 5! Noice :)