Rainbow Dash: Movies make a great distraction and all, but sooner or later, things hit home. And there's only so much a pony can take.
Fastest Fall in Equestria
Back To Life
So yeah, the Indiana Jones movies were pretty awesome. I don't see what the big deal about the fourth one was. It was cool! I don't know if you guys are aware, but if I crash into something right when I do a sonic rainboom, it makes a cloud just like that one after the big chase near the beginning, only all rainbow colored and even awesomer! And I'm pretty darn sure a big metal fridge would be protection against that, since AJ and Twilight were just fine in a nearby ditch.
But Dave went all bonkers about it, yelling "OH COME ON" at the screen every few minutes. I mean, he didn't have a problem when that dude with the skull on his head yanked someone's heart out through their ribcage and held it up while the dude he did it to was somehow still alive, but the whole "surviving an explosion in a metal box" thing was too much? And then there was the whole "gods are aliens" thing which makes perfect sense to me. Is there anything more alien than a god? But he flipped out over that, too.
But after the movies were over, it was my turn to flip out.
Because after the movies were over, I realized that the sun had set, and I was still stuck, having spent an entire day in an alien body in an alien world... and who knew when I was getting back?
Dave was pretty cool about it. He caught me staring out the window, but he didn't pressure me.
"You okay?"
I grunted - it was the most I could bring myself to do.
"Want to talk about it?"
I shook my head. All I wanted to do was go home. Talking wouldn't get me home. It would just remind me I wasn't there.
He patted me on the shoulder. "All right," he said. "But if you change your mind, I'm here."
I nodded. He settled down to watch some weird cartoon about baby birds (that's what a chick is, right?) that like robots with trucks for heads or something, I don't know, and I just stared into space for a bit.
"It's just," I said, then trailed off.
"Go on," he said, turning off the sound.
"It's been all day and not only am I still stuck here, still a freaky alien monkey thing, still male which is weirder than heck, but I haven't even heard from the girls! What if they don't know I'm gone? What if your friend... what if he got hurt and has amnesia and they think it's still me only with amnesia, and they never figure out it's not me?"
Dave started to speak, but I kept going.
"What if he doesn't have amnesia, but they think I've gone loco in the coco and have me put away? They have these rooms with clouds stuck to the walls where they stick ponies who might hurt themselves or others, and they use all kinds of magic on them to make them better, but Twilight says the magic they use is really dangerous and if they ever used it on someone who wasn't crazy it might make them crazy, or even worse!"
Dave just stared. I was in full swing now, rattling off worries like Pinkie Pie telling a story.
"And even if they don't think he's crazy, what if they think he's some kind of monster, like a changeling or something, and they lock him up forever and ever? And even if they don't do that, who's to say they'll be able to switch us back, or even find me?"
Dave grinned. "Shall I tackle these one by one?" he asked.
"If you think you're the big expert on my friends," I snapped, "then maybe you should think again!"
He grinned. "Hey, I'm just gonna ask a few questions. You're freaking out. Like big time, like you did at the Best Young Fliers' competition. Dude, your pupils are dilated all to hell and back. So take a few breaths and we'll figure this thing out, okay?"
I clenched my hands into fists - it's not like humans have claws like dragons or gryphons or anything - and took a few breaths. "Okay," I said. "But make it good."
"Okay," he said, "so starting from the beginning: What if Mike has amnesia? I doubt it. The only way he could get amnesia by hitting his head is if he hit it hard enough to get brain damage. And as fast as you can fly, you've taken tons of spills without forgetting a thing, right?"
I didn't want to acknowledge the "tons of spills" part, but he'd seen enough of me in action to know that the crashes are the result of experimenting rather than incompetence, so I let it slide. "I guess... But--"
"So the next option: what if they think he's you only crazy? Well, what did you guys do when you thought Pinkie Pie had gone nuts?"
"We... talked to her."
"Uh-huh," he said.
"And we convinced her that we really did want to be her friends, and we didn't hate her."
"Yeah..."
"And she snapped out of it."
"Right," he said. "Which brings us to your next big what-if: what if they do realize he's not you, but think he's a monster or something?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"That's probably most likely out of all of them," he said, "but that doesn't make it likely. I mean, you and your friends are pretty much the exemplars of what makes a friend a friend. No, strike that 'pretty much', that's what you are. Can you see Twilight Sparkle passing up an opportunity to learn about a whole other world? Or Pinkie Pie missing an opportunity for a party? Or Fluttershy failing to give somepony the benefit of the doubt? Especially after you guys learned your lesson with Zecora?"
I shook my head. "No," I said. "Applejack might be a problem, or she might not. Once that bonehead learns a lesson, it stays learned."
"Bonehead?"
I nodded. "Oh yeah, we're two of a kind that way. Stubborn and kinda dense."
"Okay, so the last one. It's possible," he said, "I have to admit, that your friends will do everything they can to bring you back and just plain fail, but..."
I blinked, looking over at him, not quite daring to hope, but not wanting to give up either. "But?"
"Can you see Twilight Sparkle failing to do something she sets out to do? Something to do with magic? Ever? Like, ever ever?"
I laughed. "Never ever ever ever," I said.
"Right," he said. "So it might take time, but I doubt it. After all, even if Twilight can't figure it out, she can always write a letter, can't she?"
I grinned. "Dear Princess Celestia," I said, "I kind of lost Rainbow Dash. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle. P.S.: Mike is the new Rainbow Dash."
He laughed. "Feel better?" he asked.
"Kind of," I said. "But..."
"But what?"
I frowned. "No," I said. "It's weird."
He put his hands on his hips. "Spit it out, Rainbow," he said.
"I... I kinda need a hug," I said in a quiet voice.
He grinned, and spread his arms. I don't know how long he held me while I got over the shakes. Could have been minutes or more, but it felt like forever before we were interrupted by a sarcastic -- and very familiar -- voice.
First Post Author Commentary
Not much to say here. We're building up to the conclusion, and from this point most of the story is Mike's.
Oooh, it was about damn time!
Let's see what will be the big ending..
Sums up my thoughts on the fourth movie
Just. One. Line. That's all it took to persuade me to remove this story from my favourites.
D'awwww, Dashie got a hug finally. Good chapter (if a bit short) but as setup that's understandable.
1017034
I pretend the fourth movie never happened, just like Star Trek: Nemesis.
1017063
What line ?
"a sarcastic -- and very familiar -- voice."
Argh! Curse your chapter organization! Now I'm going to have to wait two updates before this cliffhanger gets resolved! Curse you!!!
1018337
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra2.png Here I was happily ignorant of that, now: dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra_cry.png
But agreed we are: dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Pinkie_loool.png Curse the author!!!!
1017034
Indeed,
after all we all know how realistic Hollywood is when then make a "serious" movie ...
forget about movies that don't care too much for realism (*cough*Indiana Jones*cough*)
1017483
Never understood any of the Star Trek anythings, sorry
1018529
What's worse is I just found me, making the exact same comment 1 page back. (I R Failure)
1017063
Wait, what did I do wrong?
1017355
Yeah, once again, Rainbow Dash gets a 1200 word chapter.
1017483
Nemesis isn't nearly as bad as The Final Frontier.
1018337
Don't worry. As I said, things are building up to the conclusion, so the wait shouldn't be interminable this time.
1018529
Indeed! Curse the... auth.... um...
My personal problem with the fourth Indiana Jones is one of internal consistency. I think I said this in an earlier comment, but the idea that the Judeo-Christian God is real, and the Hindu gods are real, but the Mayan gods weren't, coupled with the shift in focus from ancient mystic artifacts to an alien conspiracy was just too much of a change from prior Indiana Jones movies. It's great as a stand-alone movie, but I think it would have served better without the aliens.
LOL, and I said all that two chapters ago.
Rainbow Dash: Film Critic!
1018975 Oh, feel free to curse yourself. I find every author does eventually. I know I have.
1018975
It would be, except for one thing, "They killed Data.."
1018975 You referenced A Canterlot Wedding. If anything's gonna stop me from favouriting a story it's that.
1019187
"This movie is awesome and everyone should go see it."
"We're gonna, um... we're gonna need more information than that."
"Okay, this movie is way awesome and everyone should go see it."
/)_<
1019656
Too true, man.
1019693
Well, yeah, they did. I have more of a problem with B-4 taking his place at the end and am glad they didn't continue Next Generation beyond that point. All in all, it wasn't by any stretch of the imagination the best Star Trek movie. I'm just saying that, IMO, The Final Frontier was painful to watch from beginning to end, which is a whole other level of bad.
1022896
Sorry, dude. I try to make my fanfics more like side-stories than reworkings of the established canon. Don't get me wrong, "what if?" stories are great, but they're just not my style. Too much to keep track of.
1023057 I started off like that. Then Dragon Quest came out and I couldn't wrap my head round how the storyline was supposed to work and then, when A Canterlot Wedding came out, the recap was enough to convince me to establish firm Fanon Discontinuity and thusly provided me with a reason to reject Dragon Quest as well. But, with the number of fanfics that seem to accept the 2nd series finale, I've become most upset and terrified that the feedback would result in a majority vote for continuing with the finale's story rather than leaving it as 'all just a nightmare'. It's got to the level where I look upon that two-parter in the way the EU looks upon WWII.
1022896 ........ Why?! Just- just, why?! That doesn't make sense! What's wrong with referencing The Royal Wedding? Honestly, I don't even see the reference, unless you mean the part where she says 'lock me away', which I find more a reference to the episode with Philomena.
I liked the reference to Lesson Zero, though.
1032580 The reference was mention of those creatures that currently (and hopefully always) only occur in that episode.
As to why? By rights only Princess Luna, Discord and the Elements of Harmony should have any chance of even matching Celestia. The alicorns should be representative of the benevolent gods of Equestria only, it makes more sense if Twilight was an only child. Basically, any reference to the finale causes a sense of negativity with regards to Equestria, which is supposed to be superior to the human world. I'm sure there's more to argue about this but it's difficult to convey through typing.
1034226 Hmm... It never once says 'Changeling' though...
1035211 Oh, yes it does. The latest chapter contains said reference: paragraph 18 line 1.
1035223 Hmm. I hit Ctrl+f and could not find a trace. Oh, well... Maybe it's just me.
Edit: Yeah, it was just me. I misspelled it.
1034226
Equestria is a dangerous, dangerous place. Cockatrices, hydras, dragons, windigoes, a portal to Tartarus, and who-knows-what other dangerous things pop up every few episodes. To my mind, changelings fit right in.
With regards to Celestia being defeated by Queen Chrysalis, as you'll recall, even Chrysalis was surprised by that turn of events. It stands to reason though: in a world where the Power of Friendship is one of (if not the) most potent magics out there, the Power of Love would conceivably be more powerful. What is love (baby don't hurt me) if not friendship raised to an even higher level?
As far as the princesses being like gods, that's pretty much just fanon. It's stated in Hearth's Warming Eve that the Unicorn Kingdom used to be responsible for raising and lowering the sun and moon, meaning the power required to do so isn't unfathomable, just greater than a normal unicorn.
Which leads back to the idea of only Luna, Discord, and the Elements being able to match Celestia's power. If you'll recall, it took at least Celestia, Luna, and the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord the first time around (we don't know whether or not they had help, as there are six Elements and only two of them, which is the source of a lot of fics on this very site), so Discord is provably more powerful than either princess alone. We know very little about Celestia herself through canon: most of the things we think we know about her are fanon.
The following list is not directed at Hereward, but to the fandom in general. I have noticed a lot of people refusing to accept interpretations of Celestia that fit with canon, but not with their personal fanon, so I thought I'd list the actual canon knowledge we have, of which there is very little.
Actual facts about Princess Celestia
1) Personally responsible for raising and lowering both the sun and moon for a millennium. (Friendship is Magic, Parts 1 & 2)
2) Has pearly-white fur (white with just a hint of pink if you look closely), a pastel mane and tail with blue, green, and pink stripes that move as though in the wind even when there is no wind, both wings and a horn, and lavender eyes. (Friendship is Magic, Part 2, Sonic Rainboom, A Bird in the Hoof, Swarm of the Century, and, in fact, every episode she physically appears in)
3) Has a playful sense of humor. (A Bird in the Hoof, The Best Night Ever)
4) Regards Twilight Sparkle fondly, as her "most faithful student". (Friendship is Magic, Part 1, The Best Night Ever, Lesson Zero)
5) Plans ahead. (Friendship is Magic, Part 2, Return of Harmony, Part 2)
6) Is widely regarded, not just among ponies, to be a very powerful being. (A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2)
7) Has a younger sister, Princess Luna. (Friendship is Magic, Parts 1 & 2)
8) Personally taught Twilight Sparkle. (The Cutie Mark Chronicles)
9) Delegates authority. (Dragonshy)
10) Does not appear to have aged in at least three generations - nothing is yet known about how long ago she reached maturity, nor what her expected lifespan is. (Family Appreciation Day)
11) Appears to dislike when ponies try too hard to please her. (A Bird in the Hoof)
12) Actually has two eyes, which can be seen simultaneously from directly in front of her, at least. (Friendship is Magic, Part 2)
13) Was not notably present (may have been present, but not mentioned) at the founding of the Kingdom of Equestria. (Hearth's Warming Eve)
14) Definitively not the first ruler/co-ruler of Equestria. (Return of Harmony, Part 1)
Additional information about her from Ms. Faust that has not been used in the show itself (such as the fact that hatching Spike was specifically a test to see if Twilight was the one who would wield the Element of Magic, or that she herself raised Spike after Twilight hatched him) is more reliable than fanon, but not actually canon, as the show could discard that at any time in favor of something else.
A lot of people have more problems with Shining Armor than with the changelings, and although I can see why, I will readily admit that my older sister and I almost never talk about each other to our friends, so it's not really a stretch to have Twilight, whose family has been shown all of once, have an older brother no one knew about. (Although I do have to ask where the hell he was when she was taking her entrance exam? Likely at school himself, so it's an acceptable absence from the story to date.)
1041150 The name Derpy went from fanon to canon, so why not Celestia and Luna almighty? And another thing, it doesn't register that Luna wouldn't actually reside in the Royal Palace. Besides, in the case of certain life forms that can't be talked to death, they should never be so hard to handle that the Elements of Harmony are needed; Discord is the exception but you can get away with that when you think about the LOTR analogies.
I stick to my guns with this matter. I had a clear idea of how Equestria works before the said episode aired, which promptly contradicted it and, if you look in my favourites, one of the earliest I chose immediately connects with the idea of Equestria having its own Valar. That was a prime factor in my deductions, and besides the whole 'unicorns raising the sun and moon' would be more of a legend to promote the concept of friendship rather than a real historical event; afterall it was a pantomime and there's no hard evidence that the nativity is totally real so why should their pantomime be historically accurate.
1041221
The Hearth's Warming pageant being essentially a passion play, you have a very good point there. Regardless, we do know that at the very least Discord ruled Equestria prior to the Princesses. The whole Derpy thing was (until all the hubbub, no pun intended) a very minor concession, as was Doctor Hooves being the timekeeper for the big competition in Super-Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.
My biggest problem with A Canterlot Wedding - I'm not saying I didn't have problems with it, you know, just that it's official - was the way the climax was handled. (I also had a problem with the way everyone assumed Twilight was overreacting to imagined slights, even though they stated early in Part 1 that there was a known threat to Canterlot. Granted, she had very little evidence to present, but she's got a pretty darn good track record when it comes to threats to the Kingdom.)
Also, we don't know that Luna wasn't sleeping in the castle. She may have been returning from raising the moon.
Ugh, I keep editing this post because I forget to say things. Anyway, with regards to the Elements needing to be brought out to combat the changelings, there are a couple of things to be kept in mind:
1) The Elements weren't needed to fight most of the changelings. The Mane Six were doing just dandy until the major Zergling rush.
2) As the changelings feed on love, and Love could trump Friendship as a source of power, it's a justifiable conclusion.
3) Celestia may hold the Elements in reserve in her mind: If I can't handle it personally, drag out the Elements of Harmony. It's worked before!
4) The Elements didn't figure into the defeat of Queen Chrysalis anyway. (I still have a problem with how easily this happened, but I understand time constraints.)
1041265 I think I get what you're saying. And the whole argument puts me in mind of a potential brony phenomenon, factions.
For example: The ones who believed the Princesses should be gods, and the ones who believed the canon should be gospel.
1041288
Factions appear in any group once the group is large enough.
You'll find those who disagree with me on that point, but they're in the "not-all-groups-have-factions" faction, and those people are just evil.
I'd much rather you continued to disagree, and not just privately. (A) You raise some good points, and (II) I enjoy a good debate, and this has been a fun one.
Everyone, all my stories are on hold because this debate is more fun than writing!
1041308 Should we really be continuing this debate in a story's comments section?
This story was linked from First Pony View and I decided to give it a go. It's quite enjoyable I must say! You've hit most characters spot on.
But it was a little short on the culture/species/gender shock, in my opinion. And you should probably replace the story picture. It's a bit misleading and almost made me not want to give this fic a try. I'm glad I did, though.
1212348
I'd love to replace the image, frankly. I simply haven't got anything to replace it with yet. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
I'm with Rainbow Dash on those Indiana Jones movies.... how can you hate a movie just because of aliens?
I'm with Rainbow Dash on those Indiana Jones movies.... how can you hate a movie just because of aliens?
Lol at the chicks and robots with cars for heads... I get the reference.
Hugs are nice. Free hugs here, I don't care from who, they always seem nice. (Unless you're a pedo.)
cdn.planetminecraft.com/files/resource_media/screenshot/1203/Brony_1254637.jpg
1223492
Sadly, while I enjoyed Megas XLR, I never quite figured out the time slot -- it was either on while I was channel-surfing, or it wasn't -- so I rarely got to actually watch it.
As far as the Indiana Jones thing is concerned, I liked the fourth movie as a movie, but it didn't feel like it fit with the rest of the series. As I've said before, possibly in these comments, the idea that the Judeo-Christian God is real, and the Hindu* gods are real, but the Mayan gods were aliens reeks of a sort of ethnocentricism. (Sort of, I say.)
And hugs are awesome.
*Hindu, by the way, is not a religion. It's a geographic area. A better term would be Shiivite, but there are other religions that use the same pantheon as well, so they're all grouped together under Hindu for convenience.
1229694 I watched some episodes of Megas XLR but then it just dissapeared.... can watch it on the computer though I guess.... I do believe that it's considered an anime. (Anime websites may have.) You say ethnocentricism, I say ethnocentri-what?
608037 Humanized ponies.... hissssssss.
Let me guess, Discord?