Story Idea 08: Ripples + Bonus Art

This is for story ideas anyone can use and modify however they wish, just be creative and thoughtful I guess.

It's been a year since I joined this site, so I figured I should add another of these. This one comes in one of two ways and is more of a general idea then a let's-get-into-specifics one.

One way is to have a fairly normal story, have a few small stories, some general slice-of-life, and just have it all be very normal. Then, slowly show hints of how things are different. You start off just like any other fic, then slowly reveal this to be AU, where something is different. The main idea that came to my mind is one of the mane six is not there, whether replaced or there are only five spots. You can steer this idea to be a what-if of how the series would be with this minor change or you could turn it into an adventure all about returning things to how they should be. Second one comes with the bonus of them slowly realizing something is off, not unlike how the reader would.

The second, is more focused. MLP without Spike. Sure, sure, some of you may just be cheering, but you could do a lot with what that could effect. Twilight could pass or fail her entrance exam, but the object she tests with not being Spike could throw things around a slight bit to make her miss the Rainboom, Celestia's attention, and/or her cutie mark. Twilight from there might become a normal student and move into a normal life alone or could be forced to become a librarian only and never get further with her magic. She could never come to Ponyville or maybe she could have arrived a lot earlier, wanting to get away from her past (like a number of the other mane six have done) and became the librarian in Ponyville in her teen(?) years. You could start this from the pilot, or you could set it further down the road where either a different set of bearers exist or everyone lives under the rule of Nightmare Moon (who would eventually swap day/night to keep everything alive but make night much longer), which does not need to be a tyrannical rule at all. This one would need no focus on Spike, just showcasing how things would be different without ever bringing him up directly or letting anyone know he could have existed. Heck, could go the route of that old Kim Possible movie and have one of the villains remove Spike from the equation early on to lead to a more favorable for them outcome because, for whatever reason, Spike is necessary and has been like a good luck charm.

Oh, and one extra idea is a fic where the filly mane six have to find each other and work together to set up events to fix the timeline after the Rainboom never happens or something along that sort. Didn't think into it too much. Mainly just inspiration from The World God Only Knows manga.

So pick up one of these ideas (or any of the others posted) if you want, just link me up if you finish it.

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As for the bonus art:

This is a little gift I threw together for Azu for his birthday this month, loosely based on my interpretation of Colors of the Heart.