Xenophilia: The Blank Plague

by SpinelStride

Sequel!

Since requests and inspiration both struck, I went ahead and continued on to the tale of Luna's illness. But I like where this one ended too, so I made it a separate story instead of new chapters here.

Xenophilia: Plague's End

Comments

[Banchoking]

Yay.

[Snowy]

[Zobeid]

I need help understanding this story.

So... It starts out with Lero already well established in Equestria with his own "herd", which is obviously something established in some other HiE story that I haven't read. Maybe it would seem plausible and not obnoxiously Marty Stu-ish if I had read that story?

We also begin with Luna appearing in a dream and delivering a massive info-dump. Luna, you have been replaced by Exposition Bot! And we don't even know how she came about this extremely useful information herself. Wouldn't it have been much more interesting to see how the plague originated, spread, and its characteristics figured out, instead of just being delivered a white paper on the subject?

Then there's Lero's fear of Celestia, which is referring to events in another story that I can't identify or locate. I tried. I found Xenophilia, but that didn't help as it begins with Lero apparently already established in Equestria. I found the Xenophilia HQ group, but that didn't help. It seems there is no way for me to come into this and get the full story of Lero's background.

Can someone throw me a rope?

[Word Play]

3055476 This story is a sequel to one called "Xenophilia". There is no other background material.

[Thibi]

3055476
I'd recommend reading in order Xenophilia and Xenophilia: Side Stories (Both are mature with sex) to better understand this universe. The former explains the situation from the beginning, so I think you may have stumbled upon the latter by accident. To better understand where Lyra's dynamic comes into play, I'd recommend touching upon Xenophilia: Further tales..

As for why this story jumped into the foray and proceeded to leave much to be answered, largely lays in how it's merely a flushed out oneshot for the Xenophilia: Shotglass Oneshots collection. Chapter one was the original totality of it. I'd agree with you on how it could be further flushed out so as to alleviate the issues with the pacing and Common Knowledge though.

I hope this helps you a bit with the understanding!

[Minecraftian Equine]

3055476 Xenophilia, Xenophilia: Side Stories, Xenophilia: Further Tales, in that order.
Xenophilia starts with Lero already kinda established in Equestria, but that is part of what makes it palatable. Do you really want a chapter detailing crap he did before the interesting stuff happened to him? His own background, and backstory are explained along the way.

[Trave]

That was so awesome!

I love this universe. Well I'm off to read the sequel.

[AccidentalGryffindor]

Really? You couldn't have just put this in the description? Or in your journal? It needed its own chapter?

[ArcaneVisions]

Really good, it really helps characterize Lero and Lyra, we really didn't get to see much of lyras courting so this helps. I really like his interaction with the princess's as well.

[SpinelStride]

3808336
Thanks!

[Dawn Darkling]

May I say that this was a fantastic read?
Seriously, for a story about an epidemic and nursing a super-powered leader or three, you have made said almost-laughable concept into one of the best short(ish) stories I've read in recent months.
Bravo.
Now I must move on to the plague's end.

[Silentwoodfire]

Ok.. I have to ask...will there be a tidbit regarding that those three fillies did in town? I barely have a idea and I was laughing so hard from the implications

[SpinelStride]

4259085
A prime characteristic of a Noodle Incident is that it's much funnier in your head than if it's actually explained in detail. ;-)

[Silentwoodfire]

4261146
Like the 'cat' that's talked about briefly before Alyx is teleported in Half-Life 2 then? They never actually show anything about that either

[ssokolow]

Normally, I'd just dismiss this for having a Tragedy tag (I'm not big on tragedies) but, given that it's apparently supposed to be an expansion of a chapter of Xenophilia: Further tales and Further Tales is not a tragedy, I think you might just be misapplying the Tragedy tag.

Does the story meet this definition from the "What do each of the categories mean?" section of the FiMFiction FAQ?

Tragedy: The most confusing category by far, the Tragedy Category is often misunderstood and misused. A Tragedy has, by definition, a sad ending, but it doesn't mean the story is sad until that point; unlike a Sad story, it always, always will have a sad or bittersweet ending.

In a Tragedy, the heroine fights through amazing odds to achieve her objective, and just as she's about to get there, she fails through her own folly, or perhaps because she cannot fight fate in the end after all. Ultimately the hero fails; their friend dies; the world ends... our hero dies. Any outcome, as long as it involves the hero's failure in their struggle and the bitter result of it is what makes a Tragedy... a Tragedy.

(That's the definition that's been with us since at least Ancient Greece. The modern "a bad/sad thing" definition came about within the last century or two because ignorant/sensationalist journalists abused the word until people accepted their new use for it.)

[Bronydragon]

Loved it.
A good side story you got there. The third chapter had me tearing up a bit and laughing. You did a good job.
Liked and faved.

Dragon

[Brony Soprano]

I loved this one almost as much as the one which started this 'verse. My only gripe is that Lyra got off a bit lightly for the binding of Rainbow's wings. That seems like something which would be much more offensive than is shown here. I feel it is honestly not unrealistic for Rainbow to lay that out as a condition for pursuing a relationship.

"If you believe a badge and a belt give you the right to impose your will on me by force, then you have no right to expect intimate relations with me."

[SpinelStride]

4551365
Tying her wings down was to keep her from trying to fly before she had recuperated enough to safely get in the air and not hurt herself. Lyra didn't invoke her badge or her grandmaster rank - she said she would do it outright earlier, and Dash responded by acknowledging that she was not supposed to be flying ("Earth pony Rainbow Dash, here I am."). The only thing she invoked was caring about Dash enough to keep her from hurting herself.

[Brony Soprano]

4553726 I get the reasoning well enough. I simply feel RD is quite an emotional pony and would be likely to be offended by the whole thing.

I'm not saying RD should totally flip her shit, but I would have to imagine it would have more of an impact than just a little irritation, especially with Lyra grinning when she admits to manipulating her conversationally as well. That's just belittling, honestly, and Rainbow Dash is a very proud mare.

At the very least I would expect a pretty awesome prank down the road. It was done with the best intentions, which I'm sure Rainbow realizes, but in the moment I would expect her to be very angry.

[SpinelStride]

7769561 I'm going to blame this on Twilight having a sore throat, and certainly not toward any sort of predilection toward ignoring diacritical marks on the part of the author. ;-) Thanks!

[BlueNinja]

7958939

It involves what the Cutie Mark Crusaders did while they temporarily had Discord for a cutie mark. Everyone refuses to say anything else about it.

Is this from one of the side comics, or another xenophilia spin-off?

[SpinelStride]

7958975 It's called a Noodle Incident. :)

[BlueNinja]

7959478 I am familiar with the trope, but I thought it was a ShoutOut to something I was unfamiliar with.

[SpinelStride]

7959486 Nope! Just a straight-up noodle incident!