4. I'll See You Soon
Space and time twisted and roiled. With a pop, Dinky Doo appeared back in her own time, wedding veil and mostly-intact bottle of bourbon in tow, as well as a magically-contained necklace that she conjured from the pocket dimension she had stored it in. Specifically, she appeared in her apartment in Canterlot, where she had been trying on her wedding dress when her crisis of confidence had struck her suddenly and overwhelmingly. She didn’t, in hindsight, know why traveling back in time to that day twenty years ago had seemed like a good idea, but it had. And things had worked out well enough…certainly, at least, she had restored confidence in her decision to marry her paramour.
Dinky set the bourbon and necklace on a nearby table, then slid her veil back onto her head. Taking a deep breath, she trotted over to a mirror, intent on looking at herself again, this time with confidence rather than trepidation. Glancing into the mirror, however, revealed that she was not as alone in her apartment as she had been when she left. She yelped in surprise and spun quickly at the sight of a shape behind her –
“Did you enjoy your sojourn through time?” the interloper asked.
Dinky’s eyes widened when she recognized her, and she bowed low out of instinct. “Princess Celestia!”
Celestia smiled beatifically. “Dinky, you don’t have to bow to me, I thought I made that clear years ago,” she said as she trotted over to a set of sitting cushions, then settled down and shook her mane. It was pink, normal hair, as was her tail, not the rainbow pattern that she had worn them as before her exile into the sun, nor the flames that she had preferred during her madness. In point of fact, the pink hair was its natural form, the animate rainbow and her sister’s flowing star-stuff merely cantrips that they had gotten into the habit of ‘wearing’ over the millennia; Celestia, on having her sanity restored, had decided to leave it ‘off’ as a sign of humility, a decision she hadn’t yet gone back upon.
Dinky shifted slightly, trotting over to another set of cushions and carefully sitting down herself. “Sorry,” she said. “I just, um – wait. How did you know I time-travelled, Princess?”
“As the passage of the Sun marks the progression of time, so too can I mark its passage – and its passengers,” Celestia said mysteriously. She smiled after a moment. “I could sense the disturbance in the progression of time.”
“Disturbance?” Dinky asked, putting her hooves to her mouth. “Oh…oh no, did I change the past?”
“Yes,” Celestia said casually.
Dinky’s eyes widened further. “Oh no!” she repeated. “Oh, what happened? Is Momma okay? Big Mac? Trixie? Twilight? Spike? Did I erase anypony from – ”
Celestia chuckled, shaking her mane again. Her horn glowed, and a golden stream began to wind through the room, tracing its way around herself, Dinky, and flowing out of sight past a door. “Time flows like a river,” she explained. “Stepping into the past is like throwing a stone into that river.” The golden illusion had a silvery stone thrown at it, disappearing beneath its surface. The river rippled, but within moments had settled back into place. “Once thrown, the stone is in the river, always, unless you go and take it out. But…?”
Dinky blinked a few times, willing herself not to panic. She took in a deep breath, and let it out, thinking the problem through like Twilight had shown her. “The river keeps flowing around the stone,” she said. “So…so what you’re saying is that there’s no such thing as the butterfly effect?”
“I’m saying that butterflies can only flap their wings so hard,” Celestia responded. “You can change the past in small ways, but it tends to flow back together and proceed as it was going to. It is perfectly possible to make large changes – to alter the flow of time itself, create new outcomes, change the river’s course – but that requires considerable effort, and there are beings - not just myself, but others - that would oppose you.” She smiled. “But it would certainly require more than a single mare going around a small town and asking about marriage.”
Dinky giggled slightly, as much from relief as amusement, head tilting to the side. “So what did I change?”
“Well, for one thing, your mother and the nascent viscountess had magnificent hangovers the following day,” Celestia said with a wry grin. “I don’t believe they recalled your revelation to them, which is probably for the best. Sparkler and Bon Bon were a little richer than they might have been due to your purchases.” She frowned. “I spent the next week incensed, but that describes most of my life at that time. More importantly, I have spent the past several years, ever since I connected you to the ‘Dazzler’ that appeared in my lair, waiting for today so that I could ask you: what is wrong with my mane?”
Dinky blinked a few times at that, before bursting out laughing. Celestia chuckled as well. She still had difficulty, Dinky knew, reconciling with her years of madness as Corona – so the opportunity to laugh about a very strange day as the would-be Queen of Equestria probably did her a world of good.
Celestia stood after a moment, as did Dinky. “Now, I must be going,” she said. “The first daylight convening of the Royal Court in more than a millennium is in a week, and the preparations are keeping my sister and I quite busy…and the fact that a certain somepony decided to get married the day before and invite us both certainly does not help matters.”
Dinky offered a guilty grin as she followed Celestia to the door, opening it for her. “I’d invite you to the bachelorette party, too, but I don’t think it’s the kind of thing you’d enjoy.”
“I’m afraid not,” Celestia said as she stepped outside. She inclined her head to Dinky. “Congratulations once again, Dinky. You two make a perfect couple.”
“Thanks,” Dinky said, leaning forward and touching horns with the princess respectfully. “See you in a few days.”
Celestia nodded, trotting away. She paused after a few steps, however, then turned around. “Oh, one more thing,” she said. “All of time and space laid out before you…why that day in particular?”
Dinky smiled softly, but tapped a hoof to her muzzle. “I get to be mysterious sometimes too,” she insisted. “Let’s just say that it was a really good day.”
---
Twenty years ago…
Last week, it had been an ancient castle dating from before the founding of Equestria, with noble defenders within holding off a horde of griffins and minotaurs and diamond dogs. A few days ago, it had instead been a great mountain, with a fabulous prize said to lay at its top for any brave enough to scale it. And today, it was a fortress in the Southern Sea, set next to a vital trading port that, rumor said, was about to come under attack by Barbaneigh pirates.
In fact, it was none of those things; it was just a tall, easy-to-climb tree in the Whitetail Wood with branches that had grown in such a way as to create a kind of natural fort. To the foals of Ponyville, it was known as the Castle Tree.
“Alright you maggots, listen up!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she trotted imperiously before the line of foals that had arranged themselves on the ground inside of the Castle Tree's boughs. “We’re here to – ”
“I don’t think ponies talked like that back during the Barbarneigh days,” Dinky interrupted.
“Yeah,” Snips said. “It was a hundred and fifty years ago…”
Scootaloo pointed at Dinky and Snips both. “Sedition!” she exclaimed. “Sweetie Belle, clap them both in irons!”
“We don’t have those,” Sweetie Bell pointed out.
“Well…fine. Snails! Flog them!”
“Huh?” Snails asked, looking up. He had one hoof raised, as crawling across it was something small and white and possessed of too many legs for most ponies to be comfortable with. “Sorry. I found an albino woodlouse!”
“Snails!” Scootaloo cried. “This is no time to be playing with bugs!”
“Woodlice are crustaceans,” Snails objected indignantly. “They’re not even insects. And only insects in the hermiptera order are ‘bugs’ anyway.”
Scootaloo stared a moment before sighing, covering her eyes with one hoof. “This fortress is gonna fall to the Barbarneigh pirates,” she predicted.
Dinky puffed up her chest a little. “No it won’t!” she declared, stepping out of line and looking over the dozen other foals. “Everypony to your battle stations! Get the water balloons ready! Scootaloo, you can climb the best, so you can go and keep a look-out!”
Scootaloo frowned as everypony else burst into action. “I wanted to be in charge…”
“Sorry,” Dinky apologized. “Next time you can be. I won’t say anything. What’s flogging, anyway?”
“I dunno,” Scootaloo admitted as she scampered over to the Castle Tree’s main trunk and climbed it. Dinky followed, though not as high, instead making her way over to a natural gap in the branches that let her look out from the tree. The Castle Tree was situated on the edge of the Whitetail; the forest to their back was the ‘town,’ while the broad, hilly field in the front was the ‘ocean.’
“Make sure to save your water balloons!” Dinky called out. “We need to make every throw count!”
There was several long, tense minutes, before Scootaloo finally called out a warning. And there, across the open ocean/grassy field, they appeared, the war-galleys and carracks of the Barbarneigh corsairs, sailing north from Zebrica and Tapira and intent on raiding the Equestrian coast for treasure and slaves. There were pirates of every variety: zebras, antelope, and tapirs mostly, but with some ponies, camels, horses, and even a few griffins and buffalo, all dressed and painted for war and armed to the teeth. They were a scurvy bunch of sea-dogs as any Dinky had ever laid eyes upon
Everypony in the Castle Tree pointedly ignored that it was actually a few wagons or scooters, that most of the pirates were on foot, and that they were all just normal pony foals.
Dinky’s eyes, though, were immediately drawn to the pony/pirate leading them. He was a splotched-coated earth pony wearing a bandana and jerkin with a cutlass at his side and directing the the villainous band of cutthroats. His mane and tail billowed in a breeze that came from nowhere as he drew his sword.
Dinky blushed at the sight. She didn’t know why.
“Avast!” the blackguard exclaimed, his accent Trottinghamish. “I’ve put together this flotilla and I mean to sack this port! Surrender now!”
“Never!” almost everypony within the Castle Tree called, readying to throw their balloons.
“Hey, wait!” Dinky called before the pitched battle could begin. “Who are you?”
The pirate grinned widely as he spotted Dinky amidst the branches. “I’m the King of the Pirates, I am I am! Scourge of the Seas and – ”
“No, I mean, I’ve never seen you around town,” Dinky interrupted.
“Oh,” the foal responded, lowering his wooden sword. “I’m Pipsqueak. I just moved here from Trottingham the other day.”
“He’s cool!” One of the other pirate foals, Applebloom, said as she lifted up her eyepatch to get a better look at Dinky. “He had all these pirate toys already an’ even came up with the plan to outflank y’all by – ”
“Oi! Shut it!” Pipsqueak interrupted quickly. “Don’t tell them!”
Applebloom blushed in embarrassment, putting her eyepatch back on. Dinky giggled as she looked back to Pipsqueak. “Hi!” she said. “I’m Dinky Doo!”
Pipsqueak waved, then slipped back into character. “Be ye the master of this fort?”
“Huh?” Dinky asked, blinking. She suddenly remembered that she was in the Castle Tree, trying to fend off a Barbarneigh Coast attack. “Oh! Um…yeah, I guess. Yeah! Captain Dinky of the Royal Equestrian Army!”
“Then I’ll give you one chance! Surrender now or I’ll sack the fort and sack the town!”
Dinky weighed carefully the pros and cons of letting Pipsqueak into the Castle Tree. She couldn’t actually think of any pros, however…
“Dinky!” Scootaloo called down at her after several moments. “What’s taking so long?”
Dinky blinked a few times, then steeled herself. “No!” she called down to Pipsqueak. “I have a duty to my ponies and to Equestria!” She threw her water balloon. Pipsqueak yelped as it sailed at him, quickly taking his wooden sword into his mouth and swiping. He managed to deflect the balloon, making it land at his hooves before it popped, barely even getting wet. Dinky was suitably impressed.
“Alright then, lads and lasses!” Pipsqueak said after spitting out his sword, as his scurvy band of miscreants readied their own water balloons. “We do this the hard way! Attack!”
The Barbarneigh pirates charged, Pipsqueak retrieving his sword and joining at the front. Many of them fell on their way to the fort, their first attack repulsed after long minutes of intense fighting with both sides getting soaked, Dinky in particular managed to peg Pipsqueak a number of times. The second attack came later, unexpectedly, from a hidden force lead by Twist. Coming in from the Whitetail Wood behind the Castle Tree, it was quickly reinforced by the main body of corsairs – apparently this had been Pipsqueak’s master plan that Applebloom had accidentally almost spoiled. A time-out was called to determine if that was fair or not; by the time the issue was resolved, the surprise was ruined anyway, the pirates withdrew in disarray, and Pipsqueak had been given a black spot and had to defend himself from Rumble’s attempts to take over leadership of the band. The Castle Tree’s defenders, however, were perilously low on water balloons, and couldn’t exploit the weakness.
The final attack came not long after Pipsqueak managed to get enough votes to remain the Pirate King, with only a precious fifteen minutes before everypony had to go home for dinner. Exhausted, demoralized, and low on ammunition, the defenders of the Castle Tree were at last overwhelmed, the Barbarneigh corsairs penetrating their outer defenses and getting behind the boughs of the tree itself. A pitched battle followed, the remaining water balloons flying, but in the end, Dinky, Scootaloo, and Snails stood alone and side-by-side against Pipsqueak and his ragged band.
“Surrender!” Pipsqueak demanded.
Dinky lifted the last water balloon over her head telekinetically. “Never!” she exclaimed heatedly. Unfortunately, her concentration slipped, she squeezed the balloon just a little too hard, and the balloon popped.
“Wagh!” Dinky cried out at the unexpected fall of water onto her head. She didn’t have time to be embarrassed, though, as at the sight, everypony around burst out laughing, Dinky joining in wholeheartedly. It was several long minutes before she calmed down. “Aww…” she observed. “We lost…”
“Haha!” Pipsqueak exclaimed, holding his cutlass over his head again. “The Barbarneigh corsairs win! You lot will all be shipped back to Tapira, and to Swala and Ngamia in Zebrica, to be sold in the slave markets!”
“I don’t want to be a slave!” Snails objected. Dinky wholeheartedly agreed.
“Too bad!” Pipsqueak laughed, turning with his band and trotting triumphantly from the Castle Tree. He stopped on his way out, though, turning back to Dinky. “That was fun, though!”
“Yeah!” Dinky said, trotting forward as she shook her mane. She was soaked, but so was everypony, and it was hot enough that by the time they got back to town, they’d all be dry. She looked at Pipsqueak. “We get together like this every weekend. It’s not always attack-the-fortress, though. Sometimes we play hoofball, or go on treasure hunts…”
“That sounds like fun!” Pipsqueak said. Up close, Dinky realized he was shorter than her, though he seemed a year or two younger, anyway, so that made sense. “I can’t wait! Gotta go home for dinner now, though.” He waved at Dinky as he turned around. “Bye! I'll see you soon!”
“Bye! I’ll see you soon too!” Dinky called, smiling brightly. She may have failed to protect the Castle Tree, but for some reason she couldn’t stop smiling anyway. Probably because even though she had lost, she’d still had a lot of fun, and had even made a new friend.
“Today was a really good day,” she decided as she hurried home.
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Oh, in case anyone's curious, the things I implied to be true by Future Dinky's time throughout this story:
- Ditzy is married to, or at least in a serious relationship with, Big Mac (you have to look carefully for this and read into a few lines, though). I also originally wanted to imply she dated/was companions with the Doctor for a little bit, but couldn't work it in.
- Trixie is a viscountess.
- Twilight and Trixie together mentored Dinky at least until she went to Luna's Magic Academy.
- Twilight also learned some breathing exercises at some point, as well as learned to think problems through before acting on them.
- Scootaloo will continue to be an extreme pony and will be able to fly, though her cutie mark will apparently be something of a surprise (I always assumed her special talent is dancing).
- Lyra & Bon Bon are married.
- Celestia has been reinstated as a full diarch by this time, and the government of Equestria is apparently getting somewhat re-structured to accommodate this. She also has a close relationship with Dinky, though she isn't one of her tutors.
- Dinky is apparently close friends with Spike, if he's one of the first people that she's worried about.
- And, of course, Dinky is going to marry Pipsqueak.
Remember that this story is non-canon, though, so some or potentially all of this is subject to change, depending on how the Lunaverse plays out.
Oddly enough, this might be my favorite thing you've ever written. I couldn't stop smiling the whole way through this.
This story is so much win!
Upbeat? Sirrah, this is dangerously close to chipper!
Well done, this was very good fun.
Celestia reverted to her original mane. I wonder when Mia Amora Cadenza and Twilight Sparkle will get fancy manes. The Princessipality Equestria will become a Diarchy again and PipSqueak and Dinky Doo will marry with each other.
Ditzy Doo certainly is the companion of the Doctor, but marries with Big MacIntosh. She certainly could not marry with the Doctor because his 2 wives are the Tardis and River Song. The spell Dinky uses for timetravel probably is the 1 StarSwirl the Bearded created, but modified with temporal knowledge from the TimeLords.
Aww... This was heartwarming!
Dinky was lucky that Equestria hasn't minted bits with both Princesses on them in the last two decades. It would have been much more difficult to explain than her golden coins.
FINISHED
So like I said back in Ch2, I really, REALLY like this fic, and overall I'd advocate for it being at least semi-canon. Granted, liking it alone isn't really a good reason to make that kind of declaration, but I also really do think it represents a very good future for us to work towards, while at the same time being so much mere implication that we retain pretty much all the same freedoms we always had. The only thing it really spoils is that Coron/Celestia attains redemption, but that was always meant to be a given anyway... oh, and I guess that Twilight gets caught and made to serve a community service sentence as Ponyville librarian, but then again that was pretty much a given already too.
Also, I think this is about as good introduction for Pipsqueak as we could hope for, so even ignoring Dinkie's time-traveling exploits, I think that part should be 100% fully canon. Although I also kind of wish that Pip had made an exception to his declaration about ALL the ponies being sold as slaves, and that he intended to take Dinkie as his personal cabin wench (not that any of the foals would know what that means).
Oh, and on a note about Ch3...
I really like this part was included. I like that it's legal in most of Equestria (well, maybe not implication that it is therefore illegal in some parts, but I can think of ways around that niggle, mostly involving the specifics of whether ALL ponies involved have to be married to each other or whether polygyny/polyandry are acceptable). Mostly I just like the idea that it further reinforces that ponies don't have our particular cultural hang-ups about how love supposedly works and that they are thusly open to a far wider variety of relationship types.
Sorry, if I seem overly preoccupied by such seemingly innocuous things like the word "gay" or the legality of polygamy and sub-varieties thereof.
Anyway, I also love the fact that Trixie is going into such exhaustively hilarious detail in trying to figure out what kind of advice to give this apparent stranger that just showed up randomly in her home. The fact that her response has an almost Twilight like flavor to it is also just plain fun; I like it when there are subtle implication that those two are more alike than either would ever want to admit to.
...
I could go on and gush at length about ALL my favorite scenes and moments, but like I said before, such would probably rival the length of the fic itself. So unless you're in desperate need of such explicit ego-stroking, I guess I'll just leave off here.
It's about time we had a time travel episode!
This is adorable! I don't actually think Dinky's choices of ponies to ask about marriage were the best ones (seriously, Trixie?
), but it seems to have helped in the end. And her first meeting with Pipsqueak was very sweet.
I like how Celestia turned out. She's obviously still rather distressed about the whole Corona thing, but she's moving on and is being a responsible princess.
You were right, this is an exceptionally upbeat piece, full of hope for the future! Although... did Dinky spur Corona into starting her next offensive against Luna early? Nice job breaking it, hero...
why is this incomplete?
The opening was a little awkward but not much. Interesting idea behind the manes, I can't exactly say I agree with it, (one of the flashbacks showed Celestia with a green mane and another with animate mane at the "Same time" as NMM) but it's your fic. I really like the idea of Celestia being aware of time travel and the like; though i'm not as much for the river idea as it's sort of implies pre-determinism. But enough about me as you said the mechanics are none canon)
There were a few awkwardly placed commas in the sentences that broke the flow a little bit, but not much and I do feel a great description of the surrounding scenery would not have hurt. But besides that very interesting and well executed scene, I rather liked seeing this calmer future Celestia as well.
Fantastic intro to the next scene, it really captured the childlike imagination. Amusing interaction between the foals, the Scootaloo bit was highly amusing and everyone felt in character. I find it a bit hard to believe that Dinky would actually debate messing up the game like that though, it just seems a bit odd for her.
This scene was a bit awkwardly broken up and a little hard to read, but maybe that's just me. Also it is a bit hard for me to believe Pipsqueak, or any child, pulling that off, but amusing mental image regardless. The surprise attack and mutiny was great. Shouldn't pipsqueak have more of an accent? Or was that put on for his NMM night disguise? That was a rather heartwarming ending.
I realized what one of my issues with Dazzler was, in chapter 1 she uses the Dinky cute face, which within L!verse essentially gets her what ever she wants, while it's likely still possible to be used as an adult it seems a bit manipulative for Dinky to use it knowing how/that it works and being rather... cocky about it I guess. Sorry if that was out of place or rude.
2561624
On an overall level this was a very well written fic; I do have some issues/disagreements but as it is none canon I see no reason to overly taint this with debate, so i'll leave them. Congrats, you got another like.
My sincerest apologies if any of this was rude or inflammatory, that was not my intent.
2575977
Not exactly...there is free will, after all, if there wasn't free will, then you couldn't change the past. But, if we abandon the concept of a static "present" (that is, the idea that the time we live in now is special in any way compared to every other point in time), then there must be some kind of constant flow of time from beginning to end.
Basically...today you choose to go left instead of right. That choice wasn't pre-determined, it was free will. But if someone travelled back in time and observed you, he'd be able to predict with 100% accuracy that you will choose left instead of right. The free will is there, it's just bound by the human limitations on the perception of time, namely, that we can only travel through it at a rate of one second experienced per one second observed.
As for the idea that the river tends to flow back together, that's not predetermination, either, so much as an acknowledgment that most of the choices we make in our lives are little things that don't really effect the whole in any perceptible way. If I go to Wal-Mart today instead of Target, that's not going to create a dystopian future wherein Wal-Mart rules all, unless that was already going to happen.
That doesn't mean the choice isn't made freely. It just means that it doesn't really matter in the long run, or probably even in the short term. As Celestia said, "butterflies can only flap their wings so hard."
2576055
I can see what you are saying and sort of agree with some of it, but while I feel I could also debate it; this isn't really the time or place. I should have edited that part of my review out, sorry. Thanks for the response regardless, it was very interesting reading.
Oh! Before I forget!
The Castle Tree is based off of a real tree in Lough Key forest park in County Roscommon, Ireland. Pretty sure this is a picture of it:
douglaslane.ie/imgs/gallery/15598/15598_2876646634e33351246a80.jpg
I dunno what's going on with it, but basically I think a few trees grew up right on top of each other, and at one point one of them was knocked over but kept growing somehow, or something, I dunno. The point being that the branches of the tree all kind of curve downwards, meaning that the central trunk is completely, almost down to ground level, surrounded by its branches, but there's wide-open space between the branches and the trunk, making a kind of natural fort with the branches as a wall. It's also, as mentioned, extremely easy to climb.
2575731
Debated it with Pip, but I didn't want to ruin the innocence of the moment.
Yup, mentioning cabin wenches ruins the innocence, but mentioning slavery doesn't.
Fun fact: polygamy actually refers to one spouse with multiple other spouses who are not themselves married to each other, regardless of the genders of the persons involved. One husband, multiple wives is actually polygyny. But I guess that's far too many Ys in a word for anyone to take seriously.
I actually just wanted some kind of potential hot-button marriage issue. Obviously homosexuality isn't gonna be a problem, and I didn't want to get potentially X-rated (and neither would Trixie), so I settled on polygamy. Obviously there's probably no real reason to translate this over into the main continuity, though I think it'd be funny if it did come up at some point anyway, perhaps with Cheerilee.
2575750
Funny you should mention that...even though this story isn't canon, don't be surprised if perhaps one or two scenes or implications from it do show up in the main continuity...
i34.photobucket.com/albums/d120/clavdivs/kaorin-bliss.jpg
I am so far behind on ponyfic it's not even funny, but I just saw this in my feed and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! You even used the line about half-sisters! I cannot even describe the warm fuzzies I have right now.
2576256
That's what this entire fic is supposed to be: a big warm fuzzy feeling spread out amongst ~14K words.
2576192
Actually, from what I've read on it polygamy (meaning literally "many married") can refer to ANY type of marriage involving more than two spouses. Polygyny is indeed a sub-category where one man has multiple wives who are not married to each other, while polyandry is the sub-category where one woman has multiple husbands who are not married to each other. All other combinations, from a simplistic tri-marriage to --heaven forbid-- some kind of Marige Dodecahedron fall under the blanket sub-category of group marriage.
Anyway, like I said, any problems I had with the implication of illegality, are largely nominal. The norm so far as what is socially acceptable is clearly that each "couple" decides for themselves how many ponies are involved, and any legal technicalities are just that –technicalities-- and might no more relevant than laws prohibiting fishing in central park while riding a giraffe on Tuesdays.
Simply put I more than expect that the default norm is that ponies practice monogamy, just like the default norm is that ponies are heterosexual. I just really like the idea that there's little to no social stigma against those that engage in non-normative relations (provided of course that all parties involved are fine with the arrangement), and thusly that there exist very few laws to restrict such variance, and what few laws might exist are rarely enforced. I prefer to think that when Trixie says polygamy is "legal" in most provinces, the implication is that those provinces have laws that specifically guarantee a pony's right to practice such, not that the other provinces have laws that explicitly forbid it.
However, I'm quite willing to let a lot of things slide for well-crafted gag. Though to emphasize the absurdity while avoiding real world hot button issues, I find any such gags best served by reversing standard expectation. A fic I once saw where some Canterlot nobles tried to block Twilight's princess coronation by envoking outdated (but still technically on the books) laws mandating that a princess must maintain an active harem comes to mind.
2576263
And it succeded at being such with flying colors.
The non-canon adventures of Archmage Best Filly. I loved every moment. Of course, I'm a bit biased when it comes to stories that portray future Dinky as a magical heavyweight.
In any case, thank you for this. It was a most enjoyable read.
D'awww. This story was a great, fuzzy pick-me-up.
Dinky + Pipsqueak = Love at first pillage.
2561624 I think I managed to catch most of those. The list of ponies/dragons she was immediately concerned about plus the order of that list was a pretty big hint.
Very fun story.
2561624
But did Trixie ever fess up and take her lumps for all the mind-bending she's doing in CoTE?
2575711
Wait a minute... those gold bits were presumably from after Celestia's reformation, right? So why didn't Lyra say anything about the date on them?
2575731
But on another hoof, the more alike they are, the more clear it becomes that Twilight isn't really a villain here, she just got dealt a bad hand by Fate.
2576844
Well, yeah, but so far as I'm concerned that's ALWAYS been pretty blatantly obvious. L!Twi has been somewhat of an antagonist, but NEVER a villain.
2576884
The Equestrian justice system is sure treating her like one, though.
2576844
Re: Coins
I assumed that Dinky was telling the truth and golden coins were really an export version of Equestrian bit. However, after Celestia's reformation, the law was changed to allow their circulation within the borders of Equestria. Golden and silver bits being traded and interchanged freely sounds like something Luna would do to reintegrate her sister into society.
Re: Mint date
Metal coins can easily last for decades without the need to be replaced, unlike paper money. That said, ponies could easily create coins without mint dates at all.
... why am I even writing something like this, when I could have enjoyed a heartwarming story for what it is?
2576918
This. Though I had also imagined that "Dazzler" had initially tried paying with newly-minted coins, then disappeared them, then when Lyra asked, conjured up some of the actual coins she talked about.
Though your version's better.
2576902
She's not a villain, but she still committed criminal actions by using illegal magic to bring a dangerous wild animal into Ponyville and in so doing endangered the lives of the its citizens and also cause a not insubstantial amount of property damage. I don't think being required to do some community service equates to being treated like a villain.
SO AWESOME!!!
I loved, loved, LOVED this story! This is awesome. The characters were hilarious, the premise great, and I loved the little nods to other Dinky stories: like loving Sparkler twice as much to make up for it from Clavdis Caesar's "Dinky Doo Debates Dexterity, Destiny, Dinner" and the castle tree from DawnFade's "Pirates for a Day!"
And the ending, that was just....eeee! I adore Dinky x Pip!
This was a truly awesome thing to read today.
Also, here's a plug for a Raindrops story that is heavily...well, totally, based on your interpretation of her (though not taking place in Lunaverse) "The Incredibly Grumpy Life of a Weather Pony" http://www.fimfiction.net/story/103558/the-incredibly-grumpy-life-of-a-weather-pony
2577003
Actually I read that earlier; it was quite good. I rather like the idea that Raindrops' personality may be spreading from the Lunaverse and into the general fanon.
2577016
Seems to be the case. I used your interpretation of her when I have to write for her.
Ahh... Time Travel... How I love you and your shenanigahns no matter how small.
That scene with Corona was amazing. It's one of those things where I wonder if it helped in some unseen way (even if it's not technically canon it's interesting to wonder if it helped put Corona on the road to recovery considering someponies treating her like a normal pony for once.)
2575731
The idea of polygamy being legal was interesting. I like the idea that Equestrian culture is just more naturally open-minded and tolerant, but at the same time no culture would be perfectly tolerant of everything. The way I see it, the idea of legalizing an issue like this shows that Equestria needed to establish that everypony should be tolerant, even if most of them already are. If the majority already tolerate ideas like that, the law is more of a statement and reminder that ponies should be tolerant in all things and a safeguard of rights in case society takes a turn for the worst. The image that comes to my head is Luna just sneaking it through as a small bill and everypony wondering why she bothers when it's accepted for the most part. It's because at some point somepony somewhere might decide to convince others to be intolerant of it.
Really loved this RDD! It was simple and just plane adorable.
2576962
Which is fine, as long as Trixie faces similar criminal charges for the forcible implantation of false memories that she does in 'Crisis on Two Equestrias'.
(I feel like I'm a little at risk of dropping a dramabomb here, and I don't want it to muck up the comments to this d'aawww story. But, I probably do need to talk about my issues with the Lunaverse somewhere, rather than letting them fester. Let me know if I'm going too far, RDD.)
This was an excellent fic! I'm really happy you took part in one of my little half-baked writing event, this was pretty fantastic!
Really touching and I so hope you include the first meeting of Pip and Dinky into canon!!
2577291 Don't you know Knights of Equestria have diplomatic immunity while travelling to another dimension?
2577636
That's what I'm talking about, really. Twilight goofs up and has to face justice for it, but Trixie does something similar and gets away with it.
2577692 The fic's not over yet. Wait until the story is done before claiming she got away with it.
2577692
Except that Twilight screwed up while engaging in a reckless abuse of magic motivated solely by a need to prove herself (and then running away because she refused to admit she was wrong), while Trixie screwed up trying to save te world. The actions aren't comparable and so there isn't any double standard at play.
What L!Trixie did was hardly all that different than what M!Twilight did in MMC: She woke in a world where destiny seemed to have been artificially altered (by the Tyrant Sun no less) and so like ine proper hero set about trying set everything to right again. Trixie was simply unaware that she was no longer actually in her own world. Also, despite apperances, she didn't actually brainwash anypony; all she did was share her own 100% true memories with the counterparts to her friends, but it was still by their own free will that they chose to belive in those memories over their own.
This was amazing. Completely forgot this month's theme until the end there, which tied it up brilliantly. Very well done
Awesome!!
And don't say this isn't canon just yet. I think this would make a great little webisode for season two.
2577813
Yeah, that's fair. (And I was mostly talking in the context of your 'diplomatic immunity' thing.)
2578033
Well, the narration does refer to them as 'brainwashed'. And Trixie refused to listen when Twilight tried to reason with her. And if it was truly a free choice, I would expect at least one of them to choose to not side with Trixie.
2578794
Fair points, but at the same time we know that's not how the memory spell works. It's not mind control (not explicitly at least), all it does is allow two ponies to share memories... and not just the sights & sounds, but the emotions tied to those memories as well. This is why it had such a profound effect on the L!M6, because the memories Trixie shared where both the truth (even if not the right truth for the world she found herself in) and carried all of the genuine affection Trixie has for her actual friends. To top it all what she was showing them was something that the wanted to be able to believe in, a glimpse of a world where they are all extraordinary individuals that have accomplished great things.
Think of it this way, if someone showed up on your doorstep one day, claiming to be your forgotten friend, said that you were both heroes, and then showed you video footage of the two of you doing those heroic deeds, even though your own memories say none of those things ever happened, wouldn't you want to believe it too? I mean, sure they could just be a very talented conman, but where's the scam? They aren't begging for money or anything of the sort, but pleading with you to help them save the world and set everything to right again.
As for refusing to listen to Twilight, just try putting yourself in Trixie's shoes. You wake up one day finding yourself in a world where you and all your friends have been replaced and then you also find out that the greatest villain you have ever known is now the sovereign ruler of the land. Sure maybe these people are telling the truth when they say that you're just delusional for thinking this world is WRONG, but would you really be so willing to believe them, especially if you thought you had a way to "fix" things and thereby prove your memories were real.
...
TLDR: Basically everything that Trixie did "wrong" in CO2E was actually right; it's just that she was in wrong world and didn't know it leading to a snowballing escapade of confusion and mistaken identities on the part of everypony involved.
2575568
2577291 Well, she was expelled from that dimension, and most probably given the equivalent of a restraining order by Luna. "No dimension hopping for the next two years, Dame Lulumoon! Or I shall be forced to drastic action."
Trixie: (gasp) "You wouldn't dare!"
Luna: "Rule 63. I'd be willing to bet Prince Artemis would be willing to send Presto over for a few weeks."
Yes Yes Yes, oh my word YES!
This story was great not only as a sweet stand alone piece but also as an almost "epilogue" of the Lunaverse. It was heart warming and just a lot of fun to read.
I know you changed it but I just wanted to say that I found Bon bon's line of " Noponies that gay" frikking hilarius
I understand why you made the change but I still felt it needed to be said.
Though it seems to be the universal law of Equestria "No matter what your orientation; you fantisis about Big Mac"
Also the fact Dinky was slightly gaging at the idea of ponies gushing over Big Mac was a nice touch.
The only part I found slightly strange was Dinky heading to Corona for maritial advice but I went with it. The bit with the reformed Celestia was really nice.
Though that ending was brillant
2561624
Yes I could really get behind this. I personally like the pairing but in terms of the Lunaverse it self I think it could really work. Both lead really busy lives so they wouldn't be full on dating at first but just a casual getting together once in a while and enjoying each others company. Its definitly not something I'd be pushing as a main focus but I like the idea of Ditzy getting someone special in her life.
No arguments here.
Definitely the way I want the Trixie/Twilight Saga to be concluded
Yeah I can see this
No surprise there.
BUCK YES!! THIS IS CANON! And nothing anyone says will change my opinion on this.
I will just end on saying well done.
Damn it. Wish it was a canon story. This was just so cute and so appropriately and fun done. I do think you missed on the whole 'gold jewelry'. Thought she was going to give something to Corona. Still, this was very nicely written. I think you're best as an author when you write something light, fun, and enjoyable rather then darker stuff. That's not by any means to say that your darker stuff isn't well written there's just another element in these happier shorter stories that seems to be missing in your darker ones. I just think you enjoy what you're doing more and inject more of your soul and enjoyment into them and it simply comes across. Anyway, masterfully done and I really loved this. Added to my favorites and my Kindle. Thanks so much for sharing.
Overall, I loved this. Chapter three... yeah. But again, overall this was warm and fuzzy. And yeah, PipDink for the win!
As much as I love your main Lunaveerse stories, I always seem to like the little side-stories and non-canon events better.
Maybe it's because there is just less restricting you when writing them.
Also
for L!Celestia for being good again. That part was really satisfying to read actually.
2583761
Remember that Dinky is basically the next Starswirl the Bearded, only instead of ignoring friendship, her special talent is friendship. She's pretty much the most powerful unicorn to have ever lived (in this story). This does not mean that she can go hoof-to-hoof with an alicorn. It does mean that, provided she can get the drop on one, she is fully capable of overcoming any single spell as long as the alicorn isn't actively putting power behind that spell, which Corona wasn't, and as long as she has time to analyze the spell, which she had.
Corona wasn't expecting a stupid powerful unicorn. If she had been, she'd have killed her on the spot, or tried to forcefully recruit her. But this was a pony peacefully approaching her as a sovereign ruler and who, while afraid of her, was also showing due deference and was acting out of respect as much as fear. Corona isn't going to incinerate that. It's what she's been hopeing for from ponies.
I've never intended alicorns to be these big giant things that can't ever be overcome without godly power backing you, at least certainly not if your intent is to run away.
As for Solrath...eh. He'd just eaten, apparently, so maybe he was in a good mood. DagaYemar, the guy who created him, thought that he was in-character.
Very entertaining read. Dinky should learn how to handle spoilers better if she time-travels again, though. Maybe Brook Melody can give her some pointers.
Obviously, the future canon is not set in stone, but Dinky seems to come from an ideal future. (Cheerilee may be in trouble, though.) I hope having Twilight ending up at the Ponyville library is a thing that will happen, because it'd be fun. Most fics where Twilight teaches Trixie in the ways of friendship (and other ships...) are rather heartfelt and sappy - with the roles reversed it would be much more touch-and-go, which I find entertaining.
And the tree gave me nostaglia. We used to have a tree like that where I grew up, a big one you could climb. Never played make-believe games, though.
2587395
Nah, Cheerilee's fine, I just couldn't think of any way to bring her in to the story (Carrot Top and Raindrops are also unmentioned, but they're fine too, I imagine).