Another Idea For The Idea Pile: "The Ungulate Six" · 5:17pm Mar 26th, 2018
Credit goes to Eruantalon for this one.
Six creatures, who seem to have nothing in common, slowly meet and become friends. They are:
- Jane Doe, a deer fashion designer from the city of Thicket, who is deeply offended by Rarity's continued and casual use of her anti-cervid slurs ("Not just another Jane Doe...")
- Geoff the giraffe, who like to laugh and play jokes, but who is so gangly and clumsy that he ends up tripping over himself more often than not
- Boris, a short-tempered boar accountant, who is determined to make something of himself while the rest of his family lazes in the mud. He has little patience for those who break the rules. (Geoff points out that he's a literal "piggy banker")
- Zecora, a wise zebra shaman, sensitive to the world of nature and its inherent magics.
- An unnamed/undeveloped cow.
- An unnamed/undeveloped sheep.
These six unlikely friends are summoned to the court of Princess Fluttershy of the Wildlands for an important task--though what, exactly, that task is remains to be determined. Thus begins the adventures of the alt-species Mane 6!
Perhaps: Fluttershy is still a normal pony, not an alicorn, who has claimed unofficial control over the woods where these characters live. By this time, Fluttershy is quite old, and reveals to the characters why she called them together: Twilight Sparkle, driven mad by the gradual deaths of her mortal friends, has snapped. She has conquered great swaths of Equestria, using magics too complicated and powerful for any pony (including the other princesses) to fight. However, her magic might not affect non-ponies--so Fluttershy assigns them to go and seek out the Elements of Harmony to try and set things right. (If so, I would update the characters to match the timeline--e.g., it would be Zecora's daughter, not Zecora herself, who joins the group.)
Alternate ideas:
- One of the ungulates is a mule, who has been low-key persecuted for his/her half-breed status her whole life. He/She is very quiet and withdrawn as a result--though their experience as a non-pony inspires Fluttershy to assemble the rest of the Six.
- One of the six is Angel Bunny? Or maybe he/one of his descendants is the Nick Fury to everyone else's Avengers?
- The antagonist is Princess Cadance, driven mad by the loss of her husband and/or daughter to old age. Perhaps she has accessed Sombra's old magics?
Hmm... If we're saying this Princess Fluttershy in the future instead of in an AU, one big question here is what Discord's doing. Perhaps he's the villain, but it'd be so much more fun if he's the one who inspired Fluttershy to gather this unlikely group of heroes!
Hugh Ewe, perhaps?
I've always wanted to use this name too! Such a great pun!
I wouldn't go along the lines of the 'went mad out of grief' stuff for the other characters, but an Alicorn or elderly Fluttershy sounds really cool!
4826066 Agreed; "going mad out of grief" has been overdone.
Plus, a villainous Cadance would quickly bump things up to an "M" rating.
4826467
A villain Cadance would? I've seen it done in SFW stuff.
4826066
4826467
Any suggestions for an alternate plot? I'm becoming increasingly fond of Elderly Fluttershy, as well as a villainous Twilight (but, after all, I just ran a Ponyfinder campaign where she was the antagonist). And I feel that the show hasn't really dealt with the implications of Twilight's immortality--I thought it might be fun for her to delay talking about it until it gets too late.
Another thought: perhaps Zecora, Jr., only speaks in rhyme when she's trying to be formal or impressive. In everyday conversation with friends, she speaks normally. She feels guilty about ignoring her family traditions, though. Any feedback?
4826780
There's other motives you could give an immortal villain other than 'my loved one died' so it's not character that's stopping you, just find a different motive for antagonist Twi (which is often a fun idea) and you'll be set.
No ideas here though.