Pinkie Pie has been invited to Cheese Sandwich's family's strange, monster-filled ancestral home of Cavallocade in the Eponine Mountains, to help him plan the legendary FESTIVAL OF THE BADALISC. During this festival, a monster that comes down from the hills will reveal the town's secrets, and the ponies of Cavallocade join together for a celebration of togetherness, honesty, and being open with your feelings.
But dark things are ahoof within this town. A sinister conspiracy hopes to drive a wedge between Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie! The two ponies are alone with nothing but their feelings... and Cheese's eccentric relatives, the entirety of the town all egging them on towards a relationship. Oh, and Rainbow Dash is there - and Pinkie has unaddressed issues with how they've grown apart over the years.
Will they resolve their feelings? Will they defeat the sinister conspiracy that threatens to tear part not just the two of them but the friendship that binds the Elements of Harmony? Can they? FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA, CAN THEY??!
Probably. But it's all about the journey.
Cover art by me! I was going to try and photoshoop it, but then I was all like "I've been sitting on this too long. Might as well."
Glad to see this up at last
10820508
Gotta say. It's nice not seeing it get immediate dislikes lol
10820877
That was exactly what you think it was.
https://dethklop.tumblr.com/
I think this is off to a good start. Hopefully it will bring you more joy than light despondent! I eagerly want to see what comes next!
10821217
tbh toward the end of Light Despondent... it was less that it was causing pain and more that I had an absence of feeling. I just couldn't make myself feel anything.
I love how lovecraft lite this town is! I am really looking forward to what do you do next in this story!
10855911
Nah, I'm not mad at you for bringing it up. I don't have any hard feelings towards Light, towards anyone who worked on Spectrum except for Red. I don't have any shame or knee-jerk reactions from Light. I just couldn't make myself feel anything, positive or negative, with enough intensity to make myself do it.
As for spleens, well... that's a common rule of comedy. The word "spleen" is funny, and having people yell "MY SPLEEN!" when they get hurt is a time-honored tradition. Also, I should probably mention that this isn't the only reference to Light that's been in this story so far...
10851361
Well, the next chapter is going to be mostly character-based. Pinkie, Cheese, and some others off skiing, talking among each other, trying to overcome their insecurities... that's not everything, I still have other stuff planned. Then the chapter after that will be sort of the honeymoon period of Cheese and Pinkie's relationship.
And the romance continues! Finally read this! Work has been hard and I wanted a good long uninterrupted time to enjoy the chapter! Thanks for the update!
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Yeah bwoy! Thanks so much for actual feedback!
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It's also worth mentioning that I am... putting a lot of effort into the comedy. Not all of the jokes are derived from romantic tension, but I just really wanted to do something besides body horror.
All honesty, the horror elements are sort of a joke on the fact that much like Doug Walker, I am unable to put my entire oeuvre behind me.
I thought I knew what I was getting myself into but then the description of the Badallistic hit me like a bag of bricks. I think that now that I do more or less know, this promises to be really interesting, me being such a Nightvale fan.
So far the conversation with Rarity was my favorite part, especially when they talk about the changes their friendship's been through, not necessarily meaning they're no longer friends, pretty meaningful to be honest. And the part where they're not sure what the lesson to be learned was is simply hilarious.
Gods I love how this story is constructed, it's taking me a bit of effort to keep up (in the good way) and I'm totally loving the Nightvale/lovecraftian vibes in this. Also everyone just assuming pinkie and cheese were already dating? Pure gold.
There's so many fun moments here and there, I cant list them all, but I got to say I love the sense of humor in this.
I'm super curious to see where you're taking this, especially since it all seems just so unpredictable right now, at least to me.
Everything about this is just so... Blunt.
The humour is raw and the character interactions feel so honest and direct, but in a really homogenous way, like it all belongs together, and it does.
I like the idea that it was so difficult for them (pinkie and Cheese) to advance their relationship. In most fanfics (and in canon) it only requires one of them to admit their feelings for the other to do so as well and boom! They're together. Although adorable, it's refreshing to see a more realistic, complicated approach to the relationship, especially the whole "We know we like each other, what now?" situation.
11198501
I'm glad you liked it! I... Look, I haven't been good at giving this fic 100%, so to see this praise means a lot.
It's the one-year anniversary of when this story's first chapter went up and I thought that I should comment, having not done so at the time. I'm afraid my mind was on plenty of other matters in early Summer 2021, and frankly it is again now, but I can spare the moment.
You know, that line makes perfect sense to me. It's a creed I've sought to live by for nigh-on a decade, and it's good to find it stated in a ponyfic set a few years after the canonical ending of the series.
Ironically, Pinkie Pie does seem like one of the Mane Cast who'd have the hardest time moving forward, doesn't she? This despite her tendency to live for the moment. Maybe it's the downside of her childlike nature. In that light, given that Pinkie is the only Element Bearer confirmed by canon to have had a kid, maybe it really is the best thing for her to find her kindred soul in Weird Al Pony so they can move forward together.
P.S.
I noticed the Sun is described as still getting moved by Celestia.
I'm not familiar with podcasts like Welcome To Nightvale so I cannot comment from that perspective. All I know is that, if anything, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie's reaction to the weirdness of the town seems understated - even after all the odd things they've seen that Equestria has to offer, this place looks more like something Discord left lying around.
Pinkie herself was weirded out by the Everfree Forest, which is our "normal".
I like how twice-shy the main couple are.
The continuous teases about Rainbow Dash are quite amusing as well. For the longest time, I was a shipper for Dash and Pinkie. Nowadays I can see why they might be better as friends. However, it's an unexpectedly mature touch for the story to suggest they may have become something more back when they were prank-buddies, only that window of opportunity passed them by as they grew up.
After reading three chapters of this, I feel as if I know two more things about you, Doc. You like skiing, and you like Italy. Ach, right... I knew those before.
I do wish in retrospect that I'd thought about consulting you for the "pony" version of Italy which appears in a chapter I wrote for Spectrum and in Sledge115's The Rose of Florentina, but at least we still got the Badalisc.
Even if some of the presentation is over-the-top, like the welcome party gone awry or the non-fatal skiing mishap, there is a lot of believability in how the two party ponies feel a crippling doubt about whether they'd be able to keep each other smiling for life. I appreciate Cheese Sandwich's hidden guilt at how he unintentionally upstaged Pinkie Pie when he first came to Ponyville.
11243421
Well, that's part of the joke of Night Vale - they're surrounded by all this weirdness and it's all treated as pretty normal, and nobody comments on it.
As for why some of the presentation is cartoonish, well... stuff's based on a cartoon, I was watching s1 of MLP Fim, and I think a lot of the slapstick elements got transferred in here.
11243434
Can I please get a link?
Nice to see this back after so much time! It nice to see pinkie and cheese’s relationship developing so well. Also I am intrigued by the villains. Thank you for the update!
Smooth, Cheese, real smooth.
Also, I know not if this be coincidence, but the presence of a character named "Vic" in this, who carries the distinction of a false-looking smile, evokes the memory of older work of yours, Doc.
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Because you asked for it, The Rose of Florentina.
11380854
I just finally had time to read this and loved it to pieces. I keep telling my friends about this fic everytime I remember it. I love the way it's written, it feels chaotic and keeps me on the verge of my seat. Another really enjoyable thing os the way the relationship is developing, slow and messy and confusing, it's not often I find fics (or even published works) with this dynamic, but I like it a lot considering it's a thing I've been through and am going through. It makes me feel a little less alone, and gives me hope that, although not common, messy love is still love nonetheless.
11483595
It's written chaotically cause I keep forgetting to write it then having to play mad catch up while also improvising.
Also if it helps, it's not dead! :P I do have another chapter I'm working on, it's still extant. And thank you so much! This is some of the best praise I've ever gotten on a story.
11483595
I UPDORTED
It was tempting to reiterate my query about Vic, especially with his line about Pinkie killing his family, but instead;
I appreciate that even the biggest Pinkie Pie fan can take her warts and all.
And it's cute to see that channelled through Cheese Sandwich.
11560623
Come on. I don't even need to tell you lol. I'm not even making it subtle.
Obviously, it's him. I was tempted to have it be Victory there but 1, that felt kinda grimdark, and 2, having him potentially turn into Victory was something I mostly did because i was horny. It's... this story is his end, because I never got to make that real final scene of reconciliation between the two of them.
I'm a fan, sure, but I'm not a fanatic.
Also, funny story - the line about the ponytones was inspired by RK-striker's rewatch! He mentioned he was gonna be real mad at her come that and A Friend In Deed, and I was like "
I feel like I missed a lot of things, or maybe i'm just dumb. Either way, this one was a fun read, kept me on the verge of my seat.
Also, a love confession during the most action packed scene? YES PLEASE.
11583025
Don't worry, it's probably my fault. I never explained everyone's backstories fully.