The Six Pillars have returned to a modern Equestria, and managed to find a place to settle while they rebuilt their lives a thousand years in the future. Well, most of them; while most of the Pillars have made peace with Stygian, for some reason Rockhoof opens each day by commanding Stygian to fight him! Stygian is running out of excuses, and running out of patience! Will these two be able to work out their differences, or will the tiny Stygian have to battle the burly Rockhoof for dominance?!
Rockhoof x Stygian romance, written for the Rare Pairings Pillars Shipping Contest! https://www.fimfiction.net/group/215872/rare-pairings/thread/472953/pillars-shipping-contest
Chapters (1)
Why does Stygian think his friend is the type to not take no for an answer?
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Great question! I think it's one of those classic friendship problems; your friend asks you for a favor, but you feel guilty turning them down, because you don't want to hurt your friend's feelings. So Stygian keeps giving Rockhoof the 'soft no' ("I'm busy today" for example) and Rockhoof is too blunt to realize he's being turned down! Add that in with the fact that I imagine Stygian is very cautious with his friendships post-Shadow (so he doesn't risk losing them again), and you have a perfect storm of miscommunication!
Thanks for the submission! We look forward to reading this piece and wish you best of luck in judging!
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Thank you very much!
Is it bad that I want to see another chapter for this??
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Definitely not!
Creative situation you came up with. Nice work!
Man, this was a really great one! I think that the dynamic between Stygian and Rockhoof was extremly cute and I loved how eager Rockhoof was to "fight" Stygian. I think that the first half of this flowed really well but i think towards the second half starts to move a little too fast and kind of rushes along the shipping part, which sucks because I really want to see these two doofuses be cute and gay. Still, this was a really enjoyable piece and I loved your characterizations. Thank you for participating!
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Thank you very much! I am glad you enjoyed!
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Thank you very much for the feedback! I appreciate you taking the time to leave me such a thoughtful comment!
And thank you for running the contest!
ah, the perfect excuse that is always applicable
haha, i can see where this is going!
phrasing! and good foreshadowing
ah the perfect bit of ambiguity, this is great
ah, i can just imagine the confusing stew of emotions Stygian is in right now
this is a really fantastic bit of cultural worldbuilding that is very fitting for Rockhoof's character! and all in all it feels very much in line with the canon, which is hard to get right. really loved this!
a nice bit of irony there, given Rockhoof in the canon episode we got focusing on him
ah, this is fantastic! great mirror of Stygian's arc in this story being learning about Rockhoof, too
and another great use of Rockhoof's past here, as well as a bit of worldbuilding about stallions continuing to grow in adulthood, if i'm not mistaken. it's easy to forget that his non-magically-enhanced form is the same "scrawny stallion" model they use for Stygian, really says a lot about pony Society
and of course this whole last section was very adorable fluff! this bit of them playing around with the idea of the Heart Battle especially.
amazing work! honestly jealous that this was submitted for Pillars Shipping instead of my M/M contest, but i guess that is how the arrow of time works. really great job here, it was a joy to read
This one is REALLY good. It's no wonder that Bike mentioned to read this one first.
Especially the scene in the middle where Rockhoof gives Stygian a well-needed massage. I could practically feel the tension dissipate as if I was Stygian myself. Then, the endearing scene where Stygian dozes off and Rockhoof carries him to his tent and makes sure he is comfortable for the recovery, the whole scene is
filled to the brimoverflowing with the warm and fuzzies!I have to agree with Red on the part though that the ending seems a bit rushed. I want to see more of, as Red put it, “these two doofuses”. There is plenty of room too, as they come two different cultures! Plus, I take that both of them are not the types to rush things (Rockhoof grew up/experienced change quickly, while Stygian fell into Shadow, which he is naturally cautious about his actions). Take it as you wish, there is a whole lot of avenues you can explore with these two!
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Thank you both very much for the kind reviews!
For some reason, gay romances featuring one of the pillars that also has mentions of old Equestrian traditions makes for really good stories.
Anyways, this was a lovably hilarious story, and you absolutely nailed the characters. I can really hear their accents in the writing, which is a testament to how well done they are. Also all the pillars living together is a great concept.
Rockhoof giving Stygian a massage is fun, because it shows that Rockhoof actually took the time to learn how to properly be a masseuse. I also really like how casually the two just get up from the "fight".
Really cute and fun story, and I'm always glad to see more of Stygian because he's so underrated.
What a great romance!! Honestly, it's super hard to sell a romance in so few words - but you totally did! So props for that!!
I absolutely adore stories that explore these unseen aspects of pony culture. I also adore gay romance. So you really hit the nail on the head with this one. Stygian and Rockhoof were in such great voice - the perfect blend of old-fashioned and modern vocabulary. Their chemistry is great, the plot is adorable, and the little lesson at the end (that warriors come in all shapes and sizes, and that Stygian's strength is clear and beautiful to Rockhoof despite what others see) is icing on the cake. Really wonderful little romance - I'm definitely starting to get hooked on your style!
I love this contrast between them. So adorable.
Aw.
Nice save, Twilight
And, aw. That was really sweet. I like the progression of their friendship, and the clash between their, you know, ideas. I really enjoyed the way you wrote their banter here!
Love it