Chapter 4
Fluttershy opened her back door to face one of her oldest friends, a lean, cyan colored pegasus clad in a blue-grey tunic and polished steel half-barding. The patches on her shoulders, which depicted a lightning bolt superimposed over a dark cloud from behind which the sun was peeking, proclaimed her a member of the Equestrian Sky Rangers.
The uniformed mare raised the shaded visor on her streamlined, airfoil crested helmet and met the butter yellow pony's aquamarine gaze with an indignant maroon glare. "Where have you been? You were due down at Saddle Lake hours ago!"
Her reclusive friend gave a soft huff and rolled her eyes, her general irritation finding its release in her own tone of voice. "Well I couldn't help it. It's just been one thing after another today."
The sky ranger pursed her lips, dubiously studying Fluttershy's face. She then sat down abruptly on her haunches, pulled off her helmet, and tucked it under her wing, revealing a tightly braided, multicolored mane running into her collar.
She heaved a weary, irritated sigh. "You too, huh? I've been busier than an overweight hummingbird at a wing flapping contest since I clocked on at HQ this morning. I'm gonna be hock deep in incident reports when I get back to my desk tonight."
She blinked in dismay and glanced down at her stomach as it growled loudly, and met her old friend's eyes with a flick of an ear. "And to top it all off you made me miss lunch."
Fluttershy cocked an eyebrow at this, letting a slow breath out her nostrils at her fellow pegasus' casual abrasiveness. "Oh? And how exactly is it my fault you missed lunch?"
Dash crossed her forelegs in front of her and tsked. "Well, I knew you'd be coming in today, so I figured we could grab a quick bite at the lunch counter together, but then you didn't show, and I didn't wanna start without you, so I waited. And waited. And then you still didn't show..." Her voice dropped off to a low mutter. "...and I started to worry about you."
A gentle smile tweaked at the corners of the butter yellow pegasus' mouth as she cocked one of her ears. "Hmm? What was that?"
Her rainbow maned friend snorted. "I said I had to get back out on patrol. I only get an hour for lunch, for pony's sake, and like I said it's been totally cyclonic today."
Fluttershy's smile appeared in earnest as she beckoned her old friend and sometimes protector inside. "Well, you're in luck, I was just about to have some lunch here if you'd still like to join me."
A grateful grin appeared on the patrol pony's face as well as her stomach grumbled in chorus to her reply. "Well, that's more like it. Yeah, I think I could technically call this patrol duty since I came up here to find you."
She ruffled her wings and paused to hang her helmet on a peg next to the door in Fluttershy's mud room as the butter yellow pegasus initiated some small talk. "So what's been keeping you so busy today, if you don't mind my asking?"
Dash sighed ruefully as she set about unbuckling the straps on her armor. "An endless parade of strays and kook calls. I spotted somepony's tracks and the remains of a campsite on the outskirts of Area E, and spent a couple fruitless hours buzzing the treetops looking for 'em."
She grunted and arched her back, rolling her withers and cracking her neck after shrugging out of the polished steel shell and setting it carefully on the floor among Fluttershy's feed buckets and gardening tools. "Then I get word from the blinker about this rock farmer north of the Ridge who says this screaming unicorn mare 'skated' across one of his rock patches at an excessive rate of speed. So I spend a couple hours checking that out and listening to the old coot yammer on about how she damaged his crop."
The rainbow maned pegasus unbuttoned her collar and followed her hostess deeper into the cottage. "Then when I touch down at the trading post, of course I wind up talkin' to Pinkie 'cos how does anypony avoid that, and she tells me about another unicorn who set out this morning with a load of camping gear strapped to her back, who was... get this... hunting for the... White... Mare..."
She trailed off as both pegasi walked into the cottage's modest dining area to find Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and a freshly dried off and dressed Applejack setting the table and laying out the soup and sandwiches. The lavender mare's ears perked up as she set down a plate bearing a stack of oat bread topped by a single piece of toast. "What? The white what now?"
Fluttershy pawed at her floor with an expression equal parts wry and sheepish as she met her old friend's flummoxed gaze. "As you can see, I've been kind of busy too."
She turned to her passel of uninvited guests and gestured toward her fellow pegasus. "Ladies, I'd like you to meet Ranger Dash. She's a friend of mine who'll be joining us for lunch before we all go." Her jaw clenched a bit and her left eye twitched a little as she finished her introduction.
The patrol mare started to sputter and jabbed a hoof at Twilight. "Y-you!"
The unicorn froze with a nonplussed expression on her face. "Me?"
The cyan pegasus reached inside the lapel of her tunic, then pulled forth and unfolded a paper place mat bearing the visage of a purple unicorn in a pith helmet with pink streaks in her mane next to a cutie mark pictograph of a magnifying glass over a pink star, crudely drawn in crayon over the black printed word puzzles and connect-the-dots of a foals' activity page.
The patrol mare tapped the center of the picture, making the paper rattle. "Are you or are you not the mare in this picture?"
As one, Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy squinted and cocked their heads sideways, studying the image with bemused looks on their faces. The elegant white unicorn narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "Well, she's more of a lilac or lavender than that... grape color the... ahem... artist used there."
Twilight cocked a wary eyebrow, edging around the table away from Rainbow Dash as the sky ranger crammed the place mat back into her lapel and advanced on her. "Wh-what if I am?"
They circled the table faster as the patrol pony drew herself up with a gimlet gleam in her eye. "Then you're under arrest for aggravating... uh... aggravated trespassing in a protected wilderness zone."
Fluttershy ruffled her wings. "Um... Dash? Twilight? Could you both s-stop... um..."
A note of desperation and fear entered Twilight's voice as she and Dash's pace increased from a fast walk to a trot in tight circles around the table while the others looked on in bemusement. "What? I never even made it to the forest!"
The pegasus mare's wings flared angrily as she and her quarry shifted from a trot to a canter. "Don't lie to me! You're only gonna get yourself in worse trouble! I found your campsite this morning!"
Fluttershy lashed her tail as her frown deepened. "Girls... Could we maybe talk this over calmly?"
Dash let out a grunt of surprise as she collided with Applejack, who was suddenly standing in her way with her green eyes flaring. The blonde earth pony puffed out her chest and hiked her tail as she faced down the angry patrol pegasus. "Back offa th' filly, flathoof. I'm th' one yez lookin' for. That was my campsite."
The cyan mare glared back at her. "Oh yeah?"
Fluttershy pawed at her carpet. "Dash? Miss Apple. Um..."
Twilight spoke up, her ears laid back in shock. "Ap-Applejack. You don't have to..."
The freckled earth pony gave a small shake of her head. "Yeah I do! I ain't gonna sit by and let yez take th' rap fer somethin' I did."
Her eyes narrowed as she leaned into staring down the nonplussed ranger, giving her a little forehead to forehead shove. "But I don't recall seein' no 'No Trespassin'' signs anyplace."
The rainbow maned pegasus shoved back. "It's in the loopty loopin' middle of nowhere. Who's gonna put up signs?"
They both grunted angrily as they pushed harder and harder, with Applejack sneering through gritted teeth. "If it's so friggin' important then th' feds oughta put 'em up. Otherwise it's a bum rap!"
Dash snarled back. "I'll rap YOUR bum, Freckles."
Fluttershy pleaded in a strained voice. "Ladies... will you..."
Rarity chimed in, rapping a hoof on the floor as she spoke up in an arch voice. "Well! I for one will be writing my congresspony about this flagrant display of abusive authority, not to mention the excessive general rudeness."
The fuming pegasus patrol pony reared up and planted a hoof in Applejack's chest, shoving her back as she turned and pointed an accusing hoof at the pale mare. "Pipe down, you! Bits to bagels you're the unicorn that tore up Farmer Pie's geode field this morning."
Rarity cleared her throat as her ears laid back. "Well, I was hardly in control of where I was going at the time."
Dash scowled at her, jostling chest to chest with Applejack as Twilight cowered behind the lanky earth pony. "Well, now you can go and see the judge. In fact, I'm just gonna cut to the chase and run the whole lot of you in for..."
Fluttershy's wings flared, as a look of wild eyed, teeth gnashing rage contorted her mild yellow face. "You... are all.. going... to... SIT DOWN!"
The room fell silent as they all turned to face her, and met with a blazing, aquamarine Stare that reached in through their pupils and yanked the plug right out of their psyches, causing them to deflate like balloons as all around manes, ears, and tails drooped in dismay.
The glaring pegasus mare marched over to one of the seats at her table, pulled it out, and sat down with elaborate poise. In a rapid rustle and scraping of chair legs the others hastily did the same, although their postures were much more abject as they took their places.
Fluttershy's expression softened into a strained smile as she lifted the lid and dipped her ladle in the pot. "So!" She said brightly with only a slight twitch in her left eye. "Who'd like some soup?"
They all held their bowls out with nervous smiles stretching across their faces. The yellow pegasus served them all, and was just about to pour a measure into her own bowl when the doorbell rang with a cheerful DING DONG!
Fluttershy flicked an ear in irritation, then stiffened in her chair, letting a trail of soup dribble across her tablecloth as her eyes went wide in dawning confusion. "Wait a minute... I... I don't have a doorbell."
She got up from the table and trotted to the front of her cottage as the other mares shared uncertain glances. A moment later the yellow pegasus opened her door to see a grinning pink earth pony dressed in a blue and white waitress' uniform.
The newcomer gave a little hop, jostling the stacked bakery boxes balanced on her back. "Hi there, sugarcube! I brought you dessert!"
Fluttershy blinked, taking as step backwards as she ruffled her wings uncertainly. "Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?"
The pink pony rolled her limpid blue eyes as she came in the door, the yellow pegasus receding before her in spite of herself. "I just told you, I brought dessert, although I don't blame you for wanting to hear it twice."
She carefully placed the cake boxes on Fluttershy's couch as she kept talking in her bright, cheerful voice. "Which is pretty funny, because I actually brought two cakes."
She patted the larger one with a hoof. "Here's your order: one extra large chocolate vanilla chocolate layer cake with strawberry buttercream frosting." She nodded toward the smaller box with a smile of satisfaction. "I had so much fun baking it last year I made it a little friend so we could enjoy a slice together when you came in to pick it up. Well, that and my right nostril was twitching a little today, which is Pinkie Sense for 'make extra cake'."
A slight pout furrowed her brow. "But you didn't come in to pick it up, so I figured I'd better bring it out to you 'cos obviously you were running late and running late for a special, once a year cake order, or even worse missing out entirely, is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, and since I don't have any enemies that means I wouldn't wish it on anypony ever, especially a good friend like you!"
Fluttershy blinked, swimming upstream through the vibrant pony's verbal onslaught and reeling at the amount of time that was bound to slip away now that she was in the mix. "Wh... Well, thanks, Pinkie. I really appreciate it, but... um… who's running the lunch counter right now?"
The pink mare gave an airy shrug. "Gummy's covering for me."
***
Many miles away at the Saddle Lake Trading Post, a tiny green alligator wearing a little apron and a paper hat hung by his jaws from the lazily rotating check wheel in the window between the counter and the kitchen area. He blinked his glassy eyes, one after the other, as a gruff voice called out ."Hey, could somepony freshen up my coffee over here?"
***
Before Fluttershy could respond, or even process that answer effectively, Pinkie raised her snout and sniffed intently at the air. "Hey, is that leek and carrot soup I smell? All this schlepping baked goods over treacherous, isolated wilderness paths sure helps me to work up an appetite." She picked up the smaller cake box by it's string and made a beeline for the dining area with a thoroughly boggled yellow pegasus in tow.
As she hove into view in the doorway to Fluttershy's dining room, three of the four mares sitting at the table starting in on soup and sandwiches looked up with a shock of instant recognition in their eyes, and spoke almost in unison. "Pinkie Pie!?"
The aforementioned mare gave them a smile and batted her eyes as she set the cake box down beside the soup pot and plate of sandwiches. "Hiya, everypony!"
Fluttershy came in behind her and walked around the gathering of ponies to take her seat, an expression somewhere between bemused, confused, and disabused of anything making sense working itself out on her soft yellow countenance.
Twilight Sparkle's violet eyes narrowed as a pensive look of her own settled on her face. A moment later they went wide with astonishment as she pointed a hoof at the new arrival. "I know you! You're that loopy waitress from the luncheonette who wouldn't let me just eat my breakfast in peace."
Pinkie gave a small toss of her head as she took a seat, picked up a stray bowl, and started ladling soup into it. "Well duh! Everypony around here knows me. And the minute you sat down at the counter I could tell by the look on your face that you were just dying to tell somepony your story, so I knew I just had to hear it. Never let anypony leave without a full tummy and a smile on their face, that's my motto!"
She met the lavender unicorn's baffled gaze with a gentle smile of her own as she scooped up a slice of oat bread and started to slather it in butter, followed by a generous sprinkling of sugar from the sugar bowl. "And once I finally got enough donuts in you to get you started I thought it was pretty neat, you hiking up to the Everfree Forest to look for the White Mare and all."
She cocked her head inquisitively and batted her eyelashes. "So, did you find her? Is she really eighty hooves tall with golden feathers coming out of her ears?"
Applejack chimed in with a chuckle in her voice. "Wait, seriously? Don't tell me yez buy that booshwah."
Twilight's brow furrowed in a scowl, her soup spoon suddenly bending into a right angle in the glow of her magic. "Are you guys making fun of me?"
The blonde mare's ears levered back in alarm. "Oh, uh... No. I mean, all I ever heard is The White Mare's an old pony tale, like Bighoof or Nightmare Moon. But if yez got info that says otherwise I... I'm willin' t' have an open mind about it."
Rarity rolled her eyes and murmured under her breath. "Oh bravo. Nice save." This earned her a fuming glance from the freckled salespony.
Slightly mollified by Applejack's response, Twilight directed her ire back toward the pink earth pony.
Taken slightly aback by the amateur crypto-hippologist's glare, Pinkie shook her head slowly with a solemn expression on her face. "Oh no! I thought your story was so incredible that I told it to anypony and everypony who sat down at the counter after you left. Most of them thought it was pretty funny for some reason."
She nodded toward Rainbow Dash, who paused midway in lifting a spoonful of soup from the bowl to her lips and flicked her gaze warily between them. "Ranger Dashie here took it seriously, though. She was so impressed she had me draw a picture of you to help her remember it."
Twilight slouched petulantly in her seat her voice brimming with sarcasm. "How... helpful of you." She glanced down at her bent spoon as it clanked on her bowl at an awkward angle. She cast a sheepish glance at Fluttershy and reapplied her magic to straighten it… mostly.
Pinkie set about buttering and sugaring another slice of bread after polishing off the first one. "Well, I do what I can, but if you really want somepony to help you find the White Mare, I'd ask Dashie here. She patrols the edges of the forest all the time to keep all the nasty weather and monsters from getting out. She might have seen her once or twice."
Dash replied with a deadpan expression. "Can't say I have, Pinkie."
The lavender unicorn and cyan pegasus' gaze locked in suspicion as they warily raised spoonfuls of soup to their lips in unison and watched for any funny moves on each other's part.
The pink earth pony bobbed her frizzy maned head toward their unwilling hostess. "Oh, okay. Well you could ask Flutters here too. Actually, she knows way more about the White Mare than anypony in the world."
Fluttershy glanced uncomfortably around the table, practically ducking behind her teacup as she raised it in a slightly shaky grip. "Well, I wouldn't say that."
Pinkie rolled her eyes. "You're too modest, sugarcube. Who else knows what kind of cake the White Mare likes, for example."
She paused as everypony at the table stared at her, tapping a thoughtful hoof on her chin. "Oh, I guess I know what kind of cake she likes, 'cos you have me bake a big one for her every year.
At this, two mouthfuls of soup and a mouthful of tea blew over the table in atomized clouds of mist.
Twilight and both pegasi rounded on Pinkie Pie with wide, staring eyes, mouths agape, and muzzles dripping. Applejack and Rarity traded a bemused look, the earth pony having rapidly pulled her bowl of soup out from under the spray of spittle as it descended gently onto the table. The pale unicorn looked down at her own bowl, wrinkled her nose slightly, and pushed it away with a small huff.
Twilight stood and planted her fore hooves on the table, her voice rising with incredulity. "You buy her cake? Every year?"
Dash wiped her muzzle on the sleeve of her tunic as her face clouded over. "That... that's ridiculous, Pinkie. She gets that cake to celebrate midsummer with all her little critter buddies, don't you Fluttershy?"
The pink mare shook her head. "Nuh uh. She told me herself that chocolate isn't good for a lot of animals when she caught me putting chocolate chips in the bird feeders down by the lake."
Twilight looked as if she were about to launch her horn from her forehead like a rocket. "She likes chocolate?"
Dash banged a hoof on the table. "It's for that bear who hangs around her place all the time."
Pinkie shook her head again. "Noperoonie. Harry's gluten intolerant, and anyway he'd probably prefer something with honey in it like baklava or pineapple upside down cake even if he wasn't."
Applejack glanced at Rarity. "Do yez ever get the feelin' ya ain't completely in th' loop?" She received a puzzled shrug from the alabaster colored mare in reply.
Pinkie crossed her hooves in front of her chest and nodded sagely at the dumbfounded mares around her. "Therefore, by process of elimination, my good Dashie, she must be getting it for a big group of ponies. Of course, present company excepted, there just aren't any groups of ponies of any kind out here in the sticks, so it's probably for one big pony, since she couldn't possibly finish the whole thing herself before it went all stale and crumbly and yuck."
She made a small grimace of distaste before drawing herself up in rhetorical triumph. "Therefore, it simply must be for the White Mare, who the legends say is ninety hooves tall with flippers and a beak for eating marmalade. Q.E.D. Q.uite E.specially D.elicious!'
Her demeanor shifted instantly from smug preening to bubbly glee as she hopped in her chair. "Ooh! And speaking of large groups of ponies and delicious cake... I almost forgot! I baked an extra cake that you all can share with me! Oh, this is fantastic! I haven't had a proper party in a dog's age." With that she turned and lifted the lid off of the cake box she'd brought into the dining area and brought out a scrumptious looking little confection frosted in pink with thick white piping.
Twilight stared reverently across the table at it. "Is... is that the sort of c-cake the... the White Mare likes?"
Applejack rubbed her hooves together and licked her lips. "Well, it's th' kinda cake I like, which is any kind yez got."
Rainbow Dash cast a scathing glance at Twilight and Pinkie Pie, and then abruptly got up and walked around the table to Fluttershy's side. With gritted teeth she whispered in the soft yellow mare's ear. "You and me need to talk. In private. Now."
With that she spun on her hooves and headed for the back door, lashing her tightly braided tail behind her.
Fluttershy took a helpless glance around the room, biting her lip with her ears laid back, and then got up and followed her old friend out of the room as the quartet of mares remaining began to slice up the cake with relish.
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The tension! She's risin' fast! Yarr.
Cake first, talk later.
Wow, Pinkie's insane troll logic is surprisingly logical.
oooh this is going to be good...
Welp, I don't think I can every be genuinely surprised Pinkie knew of "the white mare", hell, Pinkie has probably had dreams of this day since she was 6 or something; or better yet has the not at all oddly specific "find-a-legend-and-reunite-two-ancient-sisters" twitchy tail, itchy scalp, blinking eye combo!
Either way, I really do doubt ol' Celly will show up with a crowd gathered, never watching a pot and all.
I'm not sure cake really goes well with relish...
Wow. Everypony is so... so... DIFFERENT. And that's a good thing for this AU. Everything is believable.
3620094
Don't knock it 'til you try it!
Isolated, timid, and sad Celestia meets Pinkie for the first time.
THAT is going to be interesting. Super anti-social plus super social.
3620127
"Of course, you can slice a cake with wasabi if it's concentrated enough. You can slice weak steel with wasabi if it's concentrated enough. But you have to wear a hasmat suit and fill out all kinds of forms down at the E.E.P.A. and it's generally better to go with the sharpened pickle if you can get away with it."
3620009
With that tune, it really needs more pirates.
OK, Applejack is much better this go through. I think you’re starting to pin it down.
3620197
I went back in to chapter 3 and filed down all the dese's and dem's. I concur that I laid it on a bit thick trying to get the flavor right the first time around.
3620127
Brilliant!
3620218
Accents are like cooking. It’s easy to throw a dish together, but it takes time to get the spices just right.
Rainbow Dash is best Ranger. She's all of the colors.
How could they slice it with relish? Relish is terrible for slicing things! It doesn't even hold its shape well!
3620434
Presumably, Pinkie is the one doing the cutting.
Actually, what you said sounds exactly like something Pinkie would say.
Heh hahahaha...oh, that Pinkie Pie, even in this verse, she's still a lovable and wacky party mare we know. Being a waitress is slightly different, but not really by that much. What is a major difference is that she appeared to have stolen the original Applejack's trademark of calling everyone by 'sugarcube'. And, unfortunately for Fluttershy, it seems that Pinkie has let loose Fluttershy's little secret about Celestia somewhat, and now it got Rainbow Dash (aka Ranger Dash) upset and curious. Wonder how that will play out...
3620484 Nah, Pinkie only defies logic, causality, and/or physics for laughs and/or parties. Relish would kind of ruin whatever it's slicing, and ruining cake is not only not funny (usually), it's counterproductive to partying (usually).
And yes, I could very easily imagine Pinkie saying that.
Well every pony has gathered, now they need some sort of crisis to set them on there quest that they don't know about yet.
No matter what the situation, no matter what the continuity, only two laws remain completely immutable and unchangeable across all the FiM multiverses.
Law One: Pinkie Pie will be Pinkie Pie.
Law Two: Celestia likes her some cake.
Trying to keep a secret with Pinkie Pie around is pretty much a pointless endeavour. I wonder if saying 'sugarcube' means this Pinkie has an Applejack-like country accent?
Poor Dash is in the unaccustomed position of being the token sane one in a house full of borderline lunatics. Still, she's in the military in this world (and her unit badge looks surprisingly like her OTL cutie mark). That might make her more disciplined and focussed which could make her a lot more formidable.
It's interesting that some destinies can't be avoided - Pinkie still left the farm and ended up working with the Cakes - at a wilderness trading post instead of at a cake shop in Ponyville in this reality.
So, the Elements have been gathered, as have their bearers. Now all that remains is for Celestia to see if Luna can yet be saved by six whose hearts are not as jaded and broken as hers has been...
Okay, who in Equestria decided to make Dash a law enforcement pony?
And here I was thinking how you're going to bring Pinkie into this... but of course she brought herself, and cake. Enough cake for everypony!
Glad to see even AU Dash is awesome. Her introduction was great, and it makes sense that she would be the Ranger that was mentioned previously.
And Pinkie is as Pinkie does. I had a feeling that large cake box was going to be for Celestia.
Guess Celestia did teach Fluttershy a few things, like how to master the Stare.
So lets see...
Twilight is a Special Agent
Rarity is a gemologist
Applejack is a salespony
Rainbow is a cop
Pinkie is a dinner waitress
And yet they haven't changed much have they?
Silly Pinkie, the White Mare isn't a llama!
In any case, the gang's all here. Though whether they're going to stay here in time for night eternal remains to be seen. And at this rate, Fluttershy's never going to get lunch. Of course, that appears to be the least of her concerns.
Though I have to wonder, why would a party pony like Pinkie Pie stay in the sticks? You'd think someone like her would gravitate towards somewhere with a multiple-digit population density.
Regardless, looking forward to more.
Silly Pinkie and her plot device cake...
3620052 It's not if the author decides to keep on using that deus ex machina Stare as a easy way to avoid conflicts.
This fic just keeps getting better and better. I love it.
3621525 Twilight is a special agent?
Did I miss an important detail or something?
One thing now comes to mind... if Alicorns are considered a myth then where is Cadence?
3622572
Ok... yeah you're right it was never mentioned. Guess I was going off that she is the "Mulder" of the series.
I guess all we're missing is Spike, unless someone else is going to take his place, Angel maybe.
3621525
I prefer to think of Twilight as a less successful Daring Do
just younger and much less experienced ...
3622615 Cadence is probably still a pegasus.
3622481
Ouch.
3624203 Tis true though. A lot of authors use the Stare as a work around for Fluttershy to get the last say in when she's too timid to actually speak her mind. Never mind the whole thing smacks of mental manipulation which is a whole new can of worms especially when she's using it on her "friends".
Overall the deus ex machina Stare that sits everyone down and ends the matter completely is just lazy writing. I mean you've already given Fluttershy a lot more spine than she has ever shown in the show in instances that don't merit it as much (literally slapping Applejack's demo suitcase from her hooves) but when it could be of most use, you instead break out one of the single most tired plot devices in MLP fiction. I mean the Stare was worn out back when "Scootaloo is a chicken" joke was actually funny!
3623859
Or she ascended, but is still in the cosmic realm.
"Umm... Hello? Anypony? How do I get home from here?"
Also, spotted a typo:
There shouldn't be an apostrophe in 'likes'.
3624299
Well, it seems I've pressed one of your hot buttons.
Honestly, The Stare is a canon component of Fluttershy's character (They didn't title the episode where they introduced the concept "The Stare Master" for nothing.), and I generally tend to interpret it as a concentrated burst of maternal disapproval rather than mind control or anything like that. I think Ms. Faust herself has said something to that effect and it works for me. I see it best used when a pony or other creature is acting up and needs a smack on the wrist to snap them out of it. (Vis a vis the cockatrice, the snoring dragon, or the misbehaving chickens.)
In the series Fluttershy is often shown as being too timid to use it. (
"Oh it's too terrible. I couldn't!") Or not having it be completely under her control. Therefore, I find it handy as a way to demonstrate a stronger or more willful Fluttershy by showing she has control over it and uses it with purpose. This ties in with my favorite personal interpretation of Flutters as a character with a soft, gentle exterior containing a core of solid steel, and The Stare is a way for her to express that strength. Fluttershy, to me, speaks softly, and The Stare is the big stick she carries. (Although I also think when the chips are really down, she also would be able to fight quite effectively. The pegasi were warriors, after all.
)
And I think she had adequate reason to use it in the situation in this chapter. Her uninvited guests (and mostly not-as-yet friends) were on the verge of rioting in her dining room and weren't amenable to de-escalation until Fluttershy grabbed their attention hard with a Flutterrage bellow
, and then used the Stare as the final smack of the ruler on the desk to let them know she'd brook no more abuse of her hospitality after she's put up with so much that day. I saw it as the ultimate culmination of Fluttershy's increasing frustration with the situation that's been brewing since her plans for the day started going out the window with every mare coming in through her door.
I think you might be prone to calling it deus ex machina and lazy because you don't like it as a plot device, which is your prerogative, but a deus ex machina in my mind is something that pops up from completely outside of context to resolve a situation. I think there was justification in this situation due to The Stare's user being pushed a bit too far and using it like a shotgun fired into the ceiling. And I think the only thing it actually "wrapped up" was the near hoof fight that was happening. I don't believe the issues underlying the conflict were tied up at all, as you will see in ensuing chapters if this one gag hasn't completely put you off it like you seem to be implying.
Also, there's a little bit of a typo at the start of your reply. You said "Tis true though." when I believe you meant to say "That's my opinion."
Which is fine, because this is my opinion, which in the end carries just about as much weight as anyone's.
3624527
Well, at least there's all those wide screen TV's for her to watch there. And luckily most of them seem to be tuned to The Hub.
Oh, and I fixed the typo, thanks!
3622642
Actually, I'm not sure what place Spike has in this continuity.
Right now he's pretty much "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film"
3624551
Z does have bit of a point, but it does seem that she used it only as a last resort. And I still like to think that Celestia may have taught her more about it. Lets be honest here, the Princess comes off as a pony that use "The Look" as an expert
3624551
While it's a canon component of Fluttershy's character, having her whip it out for everytime she needs to put her hoof down gets boring real fast. I mean if she can't reign in this bunch without using it, then how does that bode for the rest of the story? I mean it's always used as a solve everything button because, frankly, Flutter's has the spinal fortitude of a wet noodle.
Here that's been changed somewhat and Fluttershy actually can stand up for herself more. But instead of using alternative methods of showing her change, you apparently plan on having her using it more to show she's mastered the art of dominating others through sheer "motherly dissapproval."
That's why I'm annoyed, not because she used it at all (which can be annoying) but because despite the changes to make her a more forward pony, you're having her use something that she's never wanted to use on others before on a group of mares as opposed to a dragon that actually threatens the country or a cockatrice that's actually turning her to stone! That's not control, that is just being trigger happy. Hell, using it like that implies less control. Like using a shotgun, when there's a perfectly good airhorn right next too it.
Seriously why not mix it up and get creative instead of spamming the Stare. I mean I'm pretty sure a bear growling at them would shut those mares up.
I know what I said, and guess what? It is true. If you use the Stare as a means to avoid conflicts this story is going to get real boring real fast. My opinion is that in a story called the white mare, it's kind of annoying said white mare has shown up a maximum of once in five chapters.
3624867
Bored and boring are subjective states. You are bored with The Stare and bridle at its use. I find it an entertaining tool in the Fluttershy toolbox, and an appropriate inclusion in that particular sequence. Even in this tiny sample size of two viewpoints on the thing in question demonstrates that "The Stare is Boring" is not a universal truth but an opinion you hold. There's a difference between a "tired plot device" and a plot device that you, personally, are tired of.
You're clearly unconvinced by my reasoning, and don't share my opinions. So it goes. My inclusion of this particular character element clearly bothers you considerably, and if this means I lose your attention as a reader then that's regrettable. But honestly, I'm not prepared to pursue the matter any further.
Thanks for reading as far as you did.
3625026 Ok, let's put the overly wordy arguments aside and cut to the chase. Are you going to keep using the Stare every time the mares are stuck in an untenable situation?
As it is, I'm now interested in seeing just how many people think the Stare is a boring plot device. Won't bring it back, here, but since you mentioned 2 points of views hardly being a suitable representation, I figure it's worth finding out.
3625078
I'll use whatever plot or character elements I feel appropriate for my story goals.
Your question is like asking "Are you just going to keep turning the steering wheel to the right?", to which my answer is "Only when that's the direction I want to go in." (Plus there's a bit of subtext I'm reading out of you that says "I'm gonna sit in the passenger seat and whack you with a rolled up newspaper and call you a boring, uninspired driver because I'm tired of the car turning right and maybe that will stop you and everybody else on the road from ever doing it again."
)
Honestly, typing out over 10 paragraphs of argument to defend one paragraph of story text is a poor rate of exchange. If it gets your jimmies to stop rustling, then I will humbly take a knee and say:
No, I do not plan on using The Stare every time the girls get in a tricky situation. And I mean that in all honesty. You have mended my ways with your tenacity and deft use of dictionary clippings.
I shall go forth and sin no more. 
3625145 Maybe I should just sit behind the ponies and whack them with the newspaper each time they start arguing over Flutter's conversation. As it is I do admit I was a little too zealous.
Truce? i.imgur.com/JxSRbCp.png
3624756
Well he might have a bit of an existence failure as this version of Twilight probably didn't hatch him (although she might have, I could see her doing that if she found a strange egg lying about) alternatively he might be with his dragon family.