Some character notes · 3:58pm Jun 24th, 2018
As a little break between the big events, I'm just gonna start tossing up some little posts for notes about certain characters or minor events from canon (both backstory details and ideas for future stories or character arcs). Mostly because I'm not sure covering any of these alone would be enough to justify being a post of their own, but also for more fun! If there's any details you feel I left out and are curious about, feel free to ask in the comments.
So then:
Twilight
-Twilight had experienced greed growth before. She didn't get anywhere near the size of Canon!Spike but she still considers the event to be horrifically embarrassing because of how she acted. Spike and the rest of his family (the only other ones who know the details) have all been sworn to secrecy about the event, which means when Twilight celebrates her first birthday in Ponyville, Spike has to give their friends a list of "safe" gifts that won't trigger her greed growth and isn't allowed to explain why.
-I wanted Twilight's direction to be slightly different from Canon!Spike's. He's a pony living in a dragon body, she's a dragon living among ponies. A subtle difference that would mean a slightly different approach for Twilight compromising her dragon nature with her life in Ponyville.
-The Flipped Dragon Quest was going to have a totally different spark to send Twilight on the Dragon Migration. Rather than seeking personal identity, Twilight gets amnesia when she blunders into some Poison Joke and the Everfree Dragon brings her along on the migration to try and find her mother. While obviously the situation would return to normal in the end with Twilight getting her memories back and going home, it would have led to her getting to know the Everfree Dragon as well as introducing the likes of Garble, Dragon Lord Torch, Princess Ember, and a pre-molt Smoldur who becomes Twilight's pen pal (though Smoldur is uncomfortable using the word "friend")!
-Speaking of dragon friends for Twilight, this is where the OC I'd had plans for introducing deserves a quick mention: A dragon closer to Twilight's own age named Talon who shows up after the Crystal Empire's big return. I had a lot of cute moments in mind with Talon having an unrequited crush on Twilight (while Twilight still has her crush on Time Turner. Ah, young love.), so I'll probably make a proper post for this kid later.
-Which I suppose leads to Time Turner and Twilight's relationship. Unlike the flirty and playful Rarity (who recognizes Spike's crush in both Canon and Flipverse and finds it endearing), Time Turner is somewhat more oblivious to Twilight's feelings towards him. Doesn't mean that she wouldn't find excuses to come down to Town Hall and help him out, though if I'd someday carried Flipverse to a future with Twilight grown into a full-fledged teen dragon she'd probably have outgrown those feelings considering them a "crush on the teacher" phase of her life.
-Twilight would have had a lot more warning going into her molt, both thanks to the Everfree Forest Dragon and Smoldur. Smoldur actually would've shown up in-person again after her molt, deciding to move to Ponyville since her parents kicked her out and Twilight makes it sound so good whenever she writes. Cue shenanigans of Twilight trying to help Smoldur get along with all her pony friends.
-As consequence of the above I actually considered making Twilight's molt a subplot in a different story. Probably in a Flipped version of Princess Spike, Celestia would be running herself ragged trying to handle the big Equestrian Summit (because without a Princess Twilight around she's the one that has to plan most of it) while dealing with dignitaries complaining about strange smells coming from the "rude little dragon who won't stop scratching herself" (Spike and Twilight would've been at the event to cover it for the paper, and Twilight refused to take time off since Smoldur said the molt doesn't last very long). Extra note, Smoldur forgot to mention all the giant monsters that Twilight's molt-scent would attract. Cue a hungry Roc trying to eat dignitaries along with Twilight an a One-Hundred-and-Ten-Percent-Done-With-these-Horse-Apples Celestia flash-frying it.
-Dragon Twilight adapts to having wings faster than pony Twilight. Though it does lead to her accidentally neglecting to sweep the floor for a while as she's so excited over being able to reach the top shelves without a ladder. Extra note, Twilight's molt could happen a bit sooner than in Canon!Spike's thanks to the scientifically proven "girls mature (physically) faster than boys" argument.
The Three Foals Detective Agency (Flipverse!CMC)
-Membership (at the start at least) would be Rumble, Dinky Doo, and Applebloom
-The founding for this little team would've been based more around solving mysteries than earning their cutie marks. The story in question would have involved Twilight finding her old favorite doll (a stuffed dragon Spike made for her named Smarty Scales), only for it to go missing by the next morning. Since all three consider Twilight a friend, they try to help her find it and eventually arrive at the conclusion somepony stole Smarty Scales. So they borrow a detective guide book from the library and work to solve the case!
-The 3FDA are actually pretty lousy detectives, but they'd usually wind up stirring the pot enough to uncover clues that help one of the grown ups figure out what happened. For example: In their first case they find the missing doll at Rarity's boutique, but Cheerilee is the one that figures out Spike's the one that took the doll out of the library and gave it to Rarity so it could be restored (since it was all ragged and falling apart).
-All three have different ideas for what a detective really is and I could have probably made a short story (or at least a subplot in another story) about the three of them arguing over how to decorate their clubhouse. Rumble wants to go gritty detective-noir with dark blinds and a big desk to wait for customers at, Applebloom wants to go more proper police detective with a dedicated meeting area and a whiteboard to record evidence and suspects on, Dinky Doo wants to cross secret agent with young girl detective and tries to decorate everything with flowers and frilly drapes while putting together a collection of detective gadgets like flip-out magnifying glasses or a hoof-printing kit disguised as a lunchbox.
-Really these three would've been a nice chance to stretch my skill at writing simple mystery stories, with the traditional "I know who the culprit is, but do you?" moment in the penultimate chapter before revealing the answer in the final one.
-Over time the three would have added more members to their little club. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle no doubt, but also Pipsqueak (turns out he's the son of Time Turner's cousin). With these additions things probably would have shifted more to cute little kid adventures in their focus stories with a bit less mystery solving.
-Speaking of "cute kid stories" I had two pretty well cemented ideas for individual stories for some of them. A silly little one-shot for Dinky where she wants Spike to teach her magic so she can help her mom around the house, resulting in Spike discovering Dinky is some kind of magical prodigy who has no idea of her own talent and ending with him hitting the books so he can find something he can actually teach her that she won't master inside of five seconds.
-Rumble's would have been a more involved story with Cheerilee holding a "pet day" at school and Rumble wanting a pet so he doesn't get embarrassed by being the only kid who shows up without one (Applebloom has Winona, Dinky has a goldfish named Bubbles, and Diamond Tiara buys a fancy purebred show cat just to show off). After much cajoling, Thunderlane finally relents and gets Rumble a "test pet" to see if he's really ready for the responsibility. Said pet is Tank the Tortoise, much to Rumble's disappointment as he was hoping for a cool pet and so he tries to subtly (and then not so subtly) ditch Tank somewhere and get a better one. Eventually Rumble would have warmed up to Tank, helped by the tortoise saving him from some mean Diamond Dogs, and even though he passes Thunderlane's test period and gets offered a more impressive pet Rumble would decide to keep Tank.
-Yes, all six would eventually earn their cutie marks but since they'd discover their talents individually rather than all at once I was going to leave off the shield aspect to their designs (let each kid get a focus story to earn their mark in). Sweetie, Scootaloo, and Applebloom's would have been similar to canon but just been the symbols from their shields without the shields themselves (Sweetie's talent being her singing, Scootaloo's her scooter tricks and speed, Applebloom's her dedication to her friends and family). Dinky's would be a paintbrush trailing golden sparkles (indicating not only her prodigious magical strength but also the artistry with which she learns to wield it), Pip gets the traditional fanon compass mark (his talent being finding his way into and then back out of trouble). Rumble gets a cloud with a lightning bolt and some speed-lines much like his brother, only his is arranged so it looks more like an inverted sixteenth-note (because it turns out Rumble has musical talent like Sweetie Belle, she's just more show-tunes and he's rock-and-roll!).
-I also imagined a future story where these six (now teenagers) would wind up inheriting the Elements of Harmony when the Flipped Six get incapacitated by some major villain (originally figured it would Tirek but after he showed up in canon I'd have changed it to someone else). Rumble winds up being Loyalty, Pipsqueak is Laughter, Dinky Doo gets Magic, Sweetie Belle is Kindness, Applebloom Honesty (like her big sister in canon), and Scootaloo Generosity.
Phew, that seems like enough for now. Gonna think over what characters to do for the next one and whether I'll do one of these or the Flipped Equestria Girl's sum up next. Take care all!
I friggin' love the detective agency idea. :D
I always thought from the beginning that the CMC could've been spun-off to star in their own show, and a lot of the ideas you cite here only make me more convinced of that, flipped or not.
If Rumble is the one who gets Tank...then what pet, if any, does Rainbow Dash get?
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Thanks! The idea was they'd be partially inspired by Spike since detective work is part of what he does as an investigative journalist.
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Since Dash was a side-character in the Flipverse she misses out on quite a bit of the growth and development she got in canon. No pet for Dash, but then again the only reason she wanted one at first was to take part with the others' Pony Pet Playdates so she wouldn't feel like she's missing out on much. Besides, she's still friends with Fluttershy and likely get her hooves dirty helping out with her animal friends.
I like that people give Honesty to Bloom; I'm just not one that does. For me, it's either Magic or Loyalty, as I tend to do the oddball switch, and have the CMC be different Bearers than their sisters.
I have to admit, I DO like all these details you mentioned (particularly Dragon-Twi going through the Molt a year or two sooner than Spike did in canon) and, as for the Flipped! Crusaders taking over as the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony, maybe it could happen in the "Where and Back Again" story. But Chrysalis is the one that incapacitates the previous bearers AND the Princesses (she just does it as a "lone wolf commando-style strike discreetly picking them off one-by-one with the aid of the element of surprise" [since her Changelings reformed sooner than in canon {in YOUR version of "A Canterlot Wedding"}]). Apple Bloom and her friends try to head for the rescue and end up braving a series of traps and monsters to get to her lair. Of course, Chrysalis's "anti-magic gear" prevents them from using their natural pony magic when they get there so they have to rely COMPLETELY on their wits and courage. And it can go from there.
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My original plan had actually been Tirek showing up and turning the Flipped Six to stone, but that was well before he ever made an appearance in canon (and thus I came up with a Flipped version of how the team would've dealt with him). Your idea certainly has merit though.
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Yeah. Thanks.
Funny enough, I've been working on my own AU with Twilight as a dragon and that's the same direction I'm going with her. She's a dragon living among ponies... though she's still not sure how to be a dragon and sometimes embracing that causes problems (doubly so as she's still the element of magic in this setting).
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Oooh, that sounds interesting.
Actually, I JUST had an idea that could help with the "Element Bearers turned to stone" plan you were originally thinking of: The movie basically happens a couple of seasons earlier, except that it's in the Crystal Empire DURING "the Crystalling". Namely, Tempest Shadow and the Storm King's army strike while the royals AND the Element Bearers are all gathered in one place, she uses the Obsidian Orb to turn the Princesses and Element Bearers to stone (though Shining Armor manages to use a force field to protect himself, Flurry Heart and MOST of the civilians [INCLUDING Apple Bloom and her friends] and Crystal Guards). From there, Shining Armor places Flurry Heart in trustworthy hooves and joins the rest of the Crystal Guards in fighting off the Storm King's troops long enough for the civilians [including Apple Bloom, Dinky, Rumble, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Pipsqueak] to make it to relative safety.
From there, the youngsters are pretty much promoted to main heroes and embark on an adventure to find a way to save their families and friends, ultimately becoming (at least temporarily) the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
Of course, it would be a four-part episode AT LEAST (if not even possibly quite literally taking the entire first half of Season Six).
How does THAT sound?
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Daaaaaaaaaaamn
That sounds amazing. Wish I'd thought of that and/or seen the movie now