Quiver Quill has managed to integrate fairly well into life in Ponyville, having found a place and quite a few friends there. Chaos, however, has found its way to him once more, this time in the form of Discord. Once the two are left to deal with one another without the intervention of a mature mutual friend, the sparks will fly.
Featured on 4/29/2022!
This story references events from the Manehattan Mysteries arc from the IDW comics (Issues 21 to 22, Story by Ted Anderson and Art by Agnes Garbowska and Bill Forster), as well as issues 2 and 6 of the Friends Forever series (Story by Jeremy Whitley and Art by Tony Fleecs and Lauren Perry, and Story by Thomas Zahler and Art by Agnes Garbowska respectively).
Part of the Quiververse
Chapters (1)
Maybe I'm out of the loop, but what's halfway between an Observer and Pinkie Pie?
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Something that will be elaborated upon in a later story, but I already established that Observers like Seventh Moon have the abilities that they have due to their ancestors having been futzed about with by Discord in the past.
Well, to start my review by getting the most important thing out of the way, let me tell you that it is a very good one indeed! :)
I confess that I wasn't too sure of what to expect from the title alone other than Discord's presence, but I certainly am not arguing with the results, because I loved this story!
I have to confess it was initially surprising, for lack of a better term, to see post-reformation Discord being so antagonistic, but I do feel it makes sense he was that way, given how early the Quiververse still is on the path of his reformation. I also do feel not only that you are doing a good job of showing him on the way forward (while still close to the starting line) but that he still has enough 'not jerkish' moments to still show him as better than he was. I'd even say he seems farther along than in canon, given how he helped out more in The Last of the Elements and that even here he was better than 'one note jerk' to ponies other than Fluttershy. I didn't like his plots about Quiver at the end, and I confess I was a bit disappointed in him that he didn't actually tell Fluttershy that he regretted what he did, but that's down to me disliking Discord's actions in themselves, not to me finding they were inappropriate or OOC. I do feel it makes sense that true regret for Discord will only come after another evil from the past shows himself in the Quiververse.
To speak more positively of another former villain, though, it's nice to see Diamond Tiara considerably farther ahead on her path to reformation (and also Silver Spoon, although like the story says she has a shorter way to go). Her not only pulling her own weight but getting capes and scarves for the CMC, even honorary ones, was really sweet to see.
Considerably less sweet (to put it mildly) was Leading Rose's sudden interest on Sour. While it seems a bit of wishful thinking from me, hopefully he'll leave well enough alone and move on. And hopefully Dew Grass won't bring about more trouble either - Quiver already has enough of it, and the other workers at Amazing Booksellers don't need it either...
That said, I loved the inherent realism of Quiver's fighting lesson, both in in that he is genuinely getting better (and I trust Sour to know) but he still just has a long way to go, and Sour, given her line of work, is just going to be better for a very long time at least.
Back on Discord... I found the handling of the incident between him and Quiver simply excellent. Sour felt 'appropriately aggressive' without being antagonistic for the sake of it, Quiver did a good job of assuming responsibility for his own outburst while still not just blindly forgiving Discord, and Fluttershy herself was both her kind and forgiving self but at the same time also aware that what Discord did before was bad. That takes skill, and I give you props for it.
And on the big reveal... I already knew Quiver was a special pony on a non-magical level, but now it seems there are special things about him on other levels too. I wonder what everypony's reaction will be when they learn the truth... although given what Quiver said about Bitterhoof's reaction should he become the first known male alicorn (at least since the days when there was an alicorn population) I think I can already guess at least one of them.
All in all, as I said, I feel this was very much a good entry in the Quiververse, and I loved it!
The wait was well worth it, Echo, rest assured.
I quite liked the Star Trek reference in this.
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I'm glad that you enjoyed it!
In my mind, a tiny part of Discord's behavior is motivated by seeing just how much he can get away with, but also simple jealousy. Quiver has suddenly entered the lives of his only friends (Fluttershy and the original CMCs), and he's clearly made something of an impact. It's sorta like what happened in the series with Tree Hugger...except obviously, Quiver has a very different attitude to Tree Hugger.
That's one way that I think the series failed a bit with Diamond Tiara following her reformation - after it happened, she basically got demoted to background character status. Yes, we saw her and Silver Spoon interacting with others and being nice, but they hardly played a role in any stories going forward. The comics helped to mitigate that somewhat, but I still felt the two got a raw deal. Hence, my continuing to have them be active here, as well as have them be actively nicer to others.
Time will tell with both Leading Rose and Dew Grass. Though so far as the former goes, I can safely assure you that Sour will not return his affections.
Some things take time to learn. Self-defense is one of those things.
Quiver is the closest thing to a brother that Sour has, and she loves him, so she'll stand up for him when she thinks she needs too. Quiver, meanwhile, has a good measure of maturity and awareness of his faults and flaws. Fluttershy, thankfully, is also of similar maturity, and aware that being kind means listening to both sides of the story and taking both parts into account.
Oh, I promise, there will be some surprise once Discord shares what he's realized about Quiver. As for how his father will react, well, Bitterhoof might well have a surprise of his own on that front.
Glad that you enjoyed. Hopefully, you won't have a long wait before the next installment.
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That reference was something that I absolutely had to include in this story. Of all the captains in Star Trek, Quiver is closest in temperament and mood to Ben Sisko.
I honestly don't care if it was because of behind the scenes edicts once Voyager came along, in-story, Q only antagonized the crew of DS9 once. And considering what happened to him on his first visit, it's no surprise.
Overall, an interesting take on things.
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I found that annoying too... but to be fair, it wasn't the writers' fault. According to an interview on Equestria Daily, they did want to do more with them after "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", but "An executive at Hasbro told us after we pitched some stuff for SS and DT, that they felt their story was “over”."
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
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I'm not surprised by that. I get the feeling that a lot of things that people objected to in the final few seasons were the result of directives from on high.
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Indeed. I expect some of it was also because Hasbro wanted to hurry up and end the series with nine seasons; for example, from what I've heard, season 7's plotline with the Pillars of Old Equestria was originally supposed to last through two seasons, with season 8 revolving around using their artifacts to revive each of them in turn. That entire arc got compressed because of the "nine seasons" plan.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
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All very good points. :)
I confess I wasn't thinking of Discord's reaction to Tree Hugger in that context, but it certainly makes sense he'd react similarly to Quiver now that you pointed it out. I confess this made me wonder if his reaction to Tree Hugger will still be the same in the Quiververse now that Discord has a precedent with Quiver and thus more room to learn before he meets Tree Hugger, but given that (as you said) some things take time to learn, and Discord has a long way to go, it wouldn't be unreasonable if it did.
I look forward to seeing whatever else you will do with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. :)
I can't say I'm surprised that Sour Sweet won't return Leading Rose's affections. All I hope is he won't pull a 'stallion scorned' - though given he'd be trying that against a Royal Guard, I'd honestly worry more about him, though one can say that ponies who go there aren't worthy of much concern...
Now I wonder what Bitterhoof may have to reveal, though.
Thanks for the reply! :)
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Time will tell what happens with Tree Hugger. Time will also tell what happens with Leading Rose, and with Bitterhoof.
Quiver pretty much said everything I hated about Discord in the early seasons, so I don't need to go there. Somehow, I'm not at all surprised about Quiv being unaffected by Discord's magic and I don't have a clue why.
Still, Quiver's no-hold-barrels beatdown was really satisfying.
I will say though, if Quiver does actually become the first male Alicorn, then I will be completely fine with it. After all the utter crap he's had to deal with, it would be quite the surprise to him (and likely everypony else).
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I'm honestly surprised that no one's raised a major fuss over Quiver beating down Discord like that. Either I have a lot of like-minded readers, or I did a good job of making it believable.
Time will tell what happens to Quiver, and I think that people will like where things end up going.
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I'd say both, plus Discord was not doing himself any favors by effectually proving Quiver right... especially with this;
This all but proved Quiver right. In a sense, Discord is lucky that Ponies are (mostly) so forgiving. Had he done the things he did on earth... Well we humans do not forget these sort of things. Heck I'm all but sure that Discord's frozen form would have been smashed to pieces then ground into dust, then the dust turned to glass or something.
Either way; we'd make absolutely sure Discord could never be a threat ever again.
Looking forward to it.
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We'd certainly try, at any rate. But yeah, Quiver ain't like most ponies - as much as he's trying to be good and nice and all, life has encouraged him to hold tight to his grudges. And he's nothing compared to his father.
"still giving Bitterhoof the stinkeye"
Now I'm uber curious to see where Quiver's path leads
Excellent story and very introspective on the topic of forgiveness. Discord, what you said to Quiver about Regal was a no-no >_< I hope you understand that one day. Can't wait to see what else you have in store 
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Time will tell on all fronts. And as far as what else I have in store, well, you don't have long to wait. I've got the first chapter to another story ready to go for release next month, and will likely have the second chapter finished and ready by the end of next week.