The Pony Everypony Thinks They Know
Lyra Heartstrings
We are the pony, the gracious and harmonious pony, equum sapiens nobilis, stood astride the earth, athwart the mountain, atop the sky. We are the fountain builders, the planters, the raisers of the sun and moon. We are the pinnacle, the core of harmony, the life of the world, the providers, the healers, the philosophers, the singers, the poets, the travellers, the ponies everypony wants to be.
All these things are we, and none at all.
Ponies are not, by their nature, particularly good at humility. Though we are a naturally social species, we are very good at excluding others based on the simple belief that we are better than they are in some way. This is not a flaw in and of itself. We are a herd. We keep out predators. Ponies survived for most of our time on this earth through the formation of tightly knit groups that excluded anything perceived as a threat to the well-being of that group. This can become a great strength, or a great weakness.
In some ways we are better than others; everypony has a special talent, a special part of their identity, proudly borne upon their flank, that few can truthfully claim to share with them. In that one single endeavour, that pony is better than nearly any other pony she may meet.
The first and greatest thing a practitioner of the Still Way must learn is to accept this, with humility and thankfulness; we are better in that one, single, special way. To hide or deny it is to hide from our own self. This is not to say we should be prideful, but rather be humble, for true humility acknowledges strength and weakness, and does not seek to minimise either state.
The second, and equally greatest thing we learn is to know our true self in every way, and to be truly humbled by it. We seek to know our flaws, to understand our weaknesses, and to turn them to our advantage; to know our strengths and how they can be turned against us; to know our extent and our limitations, and to know where we begin and where we end. Only when the pony knows herself inside and out can she practice the Still Way.
This is truth: most ponies do not know themselves. We think we do. We believe that we know how others see us, and we think we know how we see them, but we walk though our days with our eyes closed, both to the deep and terrible flaws we carry, and the true strengths we share.
Well I was warned of a flood, and there it is... thanks everyone! Here's another bit to be going along with. After this I think I'll be posting one or two chapters once a week to be sure I don't run out of material.
And now you see how I'll be switching styles around.
And now for something different. Lyra is the wise mare on the hill that decided to come back down because it was boring.
Will Rainbow have an entry?
what thats it i waited 5 whole minutes for this little bit i demand more.... that is if you want to
This story certainly deserves the Feature Box, and I hope to see it up there soon
If only I could give it more thumbs up and favorites, but I'll just have to live with being the first
1494067 First and most honoured, my good man. Or woman. Or horse.
... cat?
1494001
Twilight presumably worked out a system of points based on who acted first and how long they took to do it. Possibly also the day, time, location, relative position to one another, emotional state and elevation... she's rather thorough, non?
1494098
hehe, I love my avatar, I've had it since long before ponies, but it works rather well here too. It's too bad that the avatars don't really work with .gif or you'd get to see it lick the 4th wall
Well this appears to be relevant to my interests! Faved for later.
I'll be watching this.
"M.Frnd"
Huh. Not only was Twilight studying friendship, she got a Master's in it.
In any case, always happy to see something building upon the best world-building I've ever seen in a clopfic. Tracked, up-thumbed, and looking forward to more. Especially if Lero gets a chapter or two.
Pretty good! Definitely not gonna have as many feels as the original, but the direction you are taking is very relevant in the context of the story.
Although methinks Twilight may be a bit biased...
Congrats on the Feature!
Well here's to you and good luck I'm going to be watching this
very cute
This looks like a good start to a wonderful story.
As much as I loved "Xeno." I'm reasonably certain that I will enjoy this just as much.
Oh Lyra, stop overthinking reality! One would think you'd been cursed by Nightmare Moon to have nopony remember you and to engage on a possibly hopeless quest to solve a mystical musical mystery before you forget who you are and become a broken moaning spirit locked in chains for all eternity!
Sheesh! Such a drama princess!
You're doing a great job.
So just out of curiosity, who is the second unicorn in the cover image? Is it Lyra? Did she end up joining Lero's herd?
I'm so bloody excited right now! Keep up the good work Mr./Mrs./Ms./It/That/Thing/Animal Person!
I love it!
KEEP WRITING!
a xenophila based story???! Instafaved and upvote I think I'll really enjoy this cuz i absolutly loved the world building in xenophilia :D now to dive in on the chapters :D
1495000
I choose to interpret it as Magister of Friendship, Magister of Scrying, Doctor of Thaumaturgy, myself. Just because I like the word "Magister."
As someone who loved Xenophilia from day 1, I had to give this a shot and it did not disappoint one bit. I was always curious about the other points of view in the story. In other words, what was their story during the entire ordeal. It looks like this fic will answer that. Definitely tracking.
Getting off topic a bit, we have seen the human man x Equestrian mare romance many times and the original Xenophilia really helped to see it in a different light. Something I often think about though is the reverse scenario: human woman x Equestrian stallion. Now that Lero has introduced the pony race to a new species, and successfully integrated into their society, I've begun to wonder: how would a human woman and an Equestrian stallion go about a relationship?
Okay you got my fave.
Anyway is it kind of ironic that I'm watching a Walkthough of Persona 4 right now and what the third chapter is stating here is pretty much the main theme of this entire game? ^^;
Well, I just finished reading the story to this point, and I have to say I'm impressed! I like the overall layout, from the introduction, to Luna's background shenanigans. I followed AnonponyDASHIE's story from the moment I discovered it, and I'm getting the feeling that this story will help expand their universe even farther. Take my Fav and Like! You deserve it! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra.png
looks like I'll finally get my Lyra fix...woooo
:0)
As someone who adored Xenophilia, I'm going to be faving this hard enough to break my mouse.
I think Lyra's full name is Miss Lyra Miyagi Heartstrings. (Moustache to those who get that reference )
Great work. I loved the world building in Xenophilia, and this is looking like it will be even more of that interspersed with interesting anecdotes so I am very much looking forwards to seeing more of this.
Also, did Lyra wind up in the herd before this was published? It seemed obvious she was going to and the fact that she has pieces in this would seem to indicate that, but I figured I should check.
1496076
It's an outside context problem. Rainbow Dash is to a normal pony as you are to a chimpanzee. Bestiality doesn't involve two thinking, consenting adults. Obviously, xenophilia doesn't exist yet. There's really no real life similarities, so it comes off on the wrong vibe to a lot of people.
Lyra, yay!
1496273>>1496392 Let's just say I don't believe interspecies coupling is morally right, and leave it there... *sigh*
As I said before, though, I do look forward to the rest of Twi's "report," especially the recipes!
Lyra the wise!
Oh Lyra, your words speak to us humans too. I think humans don't know themselves very well either.
Great story so far. Question though... Are you studying anthropology or some other such science? That scientific stuff was pretty accurate.
This looks like its going to be alot of fun, I've enjoyed everything so far, the letters were amusing and Lyra's part was nicely done ^^; all in all I look forward to more of this
1495144 Now that's an experiment worth, um, experimenting with.
1496495 No. I studied some media-studies-related things when I did my Masters so I picked up a lot of the language but most of my knowledge comes from what I've read in my spare time - so it should be taken with a few pinches of salt.
1494483 What you did there. I see it. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra_dealwithit.png
1494805 1496089 Yes. Lyra gets everywhere.
1496076 Chestnuts. I do love chestnuts.
It will be glorious! And I thought we were gonna be out of Xenophilia forever. You make me happy.
i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/050/504/came.jpg
1497316
(it what i say to people i give image to )
Any story based on Xenophilia [NSFW] should be read instantly, hoping that it will manage to come close to the excellence of the original. This one is close enough :).
MOAR!!! (+Fav, +Thumbs up, +Watch).
1497682 Or Spike longing after Rarity I don't think it's worth making an issue out of anyone's opinions on the subject though, as long as they're enjoying the story.
1497738 Demmycrats?
Yes, he's in a polygamous relationship. In Xenophilia's continuity that's the norm due to the huge gender imbalance (I think it was something like 10:1) and Lero had a hard time adapting to it for a little while.
1497738 Yes
Also Lero's herd got into trouble with some ponies having problem with a human relationship.
I gave this a try when I saw it in the featured box. It definitely deserves to be there. My favorite part of the original was the world building(but only by a small margin to the rest) and this does so rather well. liked and faved, looking forward to more.
I'm always wary of when an author makes an attempt to continue another's story. But this has already proven my fears groundless.
By the way, excellent example of writing in different voices!
more please!
1498483 - hehe... just try the story that started all this - Xenophilia [NSFW] .
OH FUCK YES! Side-stories FOR THE WIN! :D:D:D:D:D:D
1497738 I know of which Ideology that you speak of, I hail from a form of it, and I approve inter-species relationships; (not with animals, with other sentient life-forms) just like I approve homosexuality. Not everyone is so closed-minded as all that.