Chapter 5: Soothing the Savage Beast
Blue iridescence streaked down the canyon.
I need to hit them fast, thought Nightmare Moon. Show them the hostility of this place, inflict losses, don't give them a chance to recover.
She had already laid the trap. A very simple psychic lure had drawn the creature to this spot; a mental suggestion convinced it that this would be a good location from which to defend its territory against interlopers.
She gave it no time to reconsider. The Moon Princess had never had much concern for predators which might threaten her little ponies, and as Nightmare Moon she had even less sympathy for such animals. Quickly she coalesced into a thorn-like spike, jabbed herself deeply into the pad of one paw. The monster roared in rage at the unexpected agony, a roar that swiftly became a confused howl as tendrils of Shadow coiled up his nerve net, almost immediately reaching the spinal column and penetrating his limited psychic defenses, invading his brain.
Nightmare Moon attempted nothing difficult. Her Shadow had no desire to permanently possess the beast: a mere brute monster would have been a pathetic host compared to an Alicorn Princess, and it had no time to grow to a scope capable of controlling both of them. She stabbed with her mind, cruelly stimulating key portions of the limbic system. Ample pain came from her very violation of the creature; a thrust to the amygdala produced anger, a needle-jab to the mammillary body told it that the pain and anger were associated with ponies, finally a few tweaks to the limbic node told it exactly where its enemies were located.
She let manticore nature do the rest, then simply rode her unwilling, unwitting steed, linking her own sensorium into that of the creature, willing to watch as the creature took care of her enemies. The Moon Princess was exhilarated at the sensations of savage, raw rage as the gigantic winged, scorpion-tailed leonine beast, far larger than even an Alicorn, bounded down the canyon toward Celestia's champions.
The six ponies were walking in a rough wedge formation, the lavender unicorn in the lead and Rainbow by her side, the other four trailing. They were caught by complete surprise as the great beast stamped the ground before them, snarling, its simple mind considering them rivals, intruders on its territory, somehow responsible for the anguish coursing through its nerves.
Kill, though Nightmare Moon to her thrall. Kill them, and win free of this pain!
The lavender one gasped in dismay.
"A manticore!" she screamed, instantly recognizing the creature.
The manticore, furious but also instinctively wary at the sight of six members of the dominant species on its planet, reared onto its hind legs, wings beating the air to maintain its balance, making itself look as large as possible and emitting a full-throated roar. Scare foe!, it thought with its limited sapience. They go, pain stop!
The lavender unicorn's eyes narrowed in determination. "We've got to get past him!" she commanded.
Fluttershy took to the air behind her, face contorted in dismay. She seemed afraid of the coming fight.
Coward, thought the Moon Princess. You should follow the example of your leader!
The manticore realized that the ponies were not running. He picked his target, the elegant-maned white unicorn. He leaped, wings stablizing his flight to let him make a most un-feline landing on his hind feet, while swiping with one paw almost as big as his opponent's whole body. A single strike from that great bludgeon would be fatal.
The white unicorn moved with surprising speed -- but not to run! She ducked under the paw's arc, spun around and leaped backwards at the leonine face, both hooves connecting with enough force to break the neck of another pony. Against the huge head of the manticore, even her force could not do serious damage, but the beast rocked backward on its legs, sat down with a surprised expression.
"Take that, you ruffian!" the white unicorn cried, shouting right into a face taller than her entire form..
Challenge, thought the manticore. Must challenge back! Instead of killing her on the spot, the beast emitted a roar of such volume that the unicorn's body shook in its vibrations, foul-smelling carnivore spittle spraying her head and drenching that carefully-coiffured mane.
"My hair!" the white unicorn absurdly wailed, then seemed to for the first time fully grasp the perils of her situation. "Woop!" she cried in an astonishingly high-pitched voice, and ran; the manticore bounding in cautious pursuit.
Skilled, the Moon Princess thought, and brave, for all she's a dandy. She did not fault the unicorn for running at the last: it was what any sane warrior would have done in her situation, retreat from a hopeless battle to continue the fight. Then, I've known dandies to be deadly fighters before!
As she ran past the timid yellow pegasus, that pegasus seemed to say something, but too softly for the Princess to hear even though the cat's ears. The manticore was in any case too concerned with the ponies who were actually fighting him to spare much attention for one who was hanging back.
"Yee-haw!" A solid weight descended upon the back of the manticore's head. It looked up. Applejack was gripping on to the beast's mane with all four hooves, grinning with excitement as if this was naught more than some strange festival game. "Yee-hah!" she shouted again.
The manticore leapt, trying to buck her off. "Git along, lil' doggie!" the Apple mare exhorted, maintaining her hold.
This time the Moon Princess heard what the yellow pegasus was saying. But it made no sense.
"Wait!" the pegasus said with slightly greater volume as Applejack, atop the manticore, bounded past.
The manticore leaped this way and that, finally succeeding in throwing its opponent.
"Whoa!" cried Applejack as she went sailing away from her former steed. Somehow, the Princess was not surprised when, instead of breaking every bone against a tree, the blonde Apple flipped over onto her back and sailed past Rainbow. "All yours, partner," Applejack said calmly, then flipped again to execute a perfect landing.
The Moon Princess could not suppress another surge of admiration at the Apple mare's courage and agility.
"I'm on it!" shouted Rainbow, saluting her comrade's courage, then dived to the attack, flying right past the yellow pegasus.
"Wait!" Fluttershy cried louder, but the brave blue pegasus paid no attention to the counsels of her cowardly friend.
Rainbow flew right up to the beast. Instead of stopping she began to whirl around it in a tight rising spiral, the paramagnetism from her wings drawing the air up into a localized twister. Dust sprang up, stinging the monster's eyes and impeding all its senses.
I see their plan. the Princess thought. They mean to make the manticore exhaust itself by repeated feint and retreat. Not a bad plan, but it depends on continuing to outwit the creature
Unfortunately for them, I am no mindless monster.
She reached in, directly stimulated a reflex cluster at the base of the beast's spine. The tail slapped out. Nightmare Moon was making no attempt to stab Rainbow with the scorpion sting, a blow which -- though surely fatal -- would have been almost impossible to execute against the rapidly-circling pegaus. Instead she simply interposed a barrier roughly at the altitude of her speedy foe. Rainbow smacked into it, lost control, and tumbled away, shrieking in alarm as she turned end over end in her almost-ballistic trajectory.
"Rainbow!" cried the lavender unicorn, obviously afraid that the sting had struck home, or that her friend would shatter herself against the stone of the canyon walls.
At the last moment, the blue pegasus regained enough control to level off, striking hard and scraping painfully along the ground. She raised her head and twitched, then lay at the lavender unicorn's feet, clearly stunned by the force of her impact.
The unicorn glared at the manticore, fury blazing in her eyes. The manticore responded to her challenge, readying his tail to deliver a more deadly attack, clawed the ground menacingly.
The lavender unicorn snorted, stamped the ground. Calculation was being replaced by primal fury, the urge to fight in defense of the herd. She drew her hoof across the dust. Applejack was by her left side, supporting her leader. Rainbow got up, shook off her confusion, and took the right side of the wedge; the white unicorn and the pink earth pony trailing. Five ponies charged, committing themselves to a hoof-to-paw battle.
Perfect, thought the Moon Princess. You've been shaken; now you're abandoning your prior strategy, to instead close with my creature. You may win, but there is no way that you can avoid taking losses in this fight. Now, the battle is truly joined!
The manticore tensed all its muscles, foot-long razor-sharp claws extending ...
Fluttershy leapt up right between the combatants, screaming "WAIT!" at the top of her lungs.
Ponies and manticore alike stopped in confusion.
Her back is to my beast! Nightmare Moon realized. Time to die! She jammed ruthlessly into the manticore's hypothalamus, an action that should have turned the monster into a rampaging berserker, striking without fear or pain, motivated only by the desire to destroy.
Nothing happened. Something was blocking her. Not her own weaknesses this time -- it was something outside herself!
The pink reality warper? But she looked as confused as the others.
Some new power had manifested in the battle.
For the first time in this fight, Nightmare Moon began to doubt her own chances of victory.
Fluttershy turned back to the manticore, smiled at it.
The Moon Princess, who knew something of animal handling, realized that the yellow pegasus was neither showing her teeth nor making any sudden moves. The beast began to calm, with preternatural quickness given the previously combative situation.
She's doing this, the Princess realized. But how?
Nightmare Moon had one more trick left. She let the beast calm a bit, to lull her foe's suspicions, then jammed hard on every center of pain and rage her powers could affect.
The manticore reared, roared, and raised his paw, preparing to kill the yellow pegasus as a housecat might dispatch a mouse.
Fluttershy did not flinch.
How could I have named her coward? the Moon Princess thought with astonishment. This is one of the bravest deeds I've ever seen!
Nightmare Moon chuckled to herself And it will be her last, she promised inwardly. Time for her to die!
The other five pones winced and looked away, afraid that to act would simply trigger the final attack, and unwilling to actually witness the death of their friend.
Once again Nightmare Moon jabbed into the creature's emotional centers, with enough force that the manticore must either attack or collapse from the psychological strain.
This time, nothing happened.
"Shhhh ..." Fluttershy said softly, "It's okay."
Every single emotional index within the manticore's brain instantly returned to normal, then peaked with the opposite affect.
Friend, the beast thought. Friend.
What?!! Nightmare Moon furiously exerted her power, stabbing here, thrusting there within the creature's nervous system. She tried to take direct control of the manticore's muscles.
No use. She sensed the power now, immense and overwhelming, like a thick warm blanket laid between her own psychic abilities and the mind of the manticore. She tasted the power. She remembered the power.
Kindness, she realized, and remembered who wielded it. The Harmony hasn't been completely broken. Somehow, this is the work of Celestia! But how? the Moon Princess asked herself in confusion. The Elements are safely back at my castle, and I don't sense my sister directly. How can she be working it at this distance?
Fluttershy sniffed at one huge, half-upraised paw -- the paw that had been pierced by Nightmare Moon.
The manticore drew back a little. The power continued to radiate out from the yellow pegasus.
Can the power be hers? the Princess wondered. But ... how many of these champions have such abilities?
Friend, thought the manticore, considering the little yellow equine. Sister. Wants to stop pain. Wants to ... groom.
The beast presented its paw, letting Fluttershy get a good look at the thorn.
The Moon Princess kept the thorn's form still, not wishing to let her foes realize what that "thorn" was in truth.
"Oh, you poor, poor little baby," said the yellow pegasus.
"Little?" protested Rainbow in amazement, looking up at the huge hulking mass of fur and muscle.
Yes, thought the manticore. Baby. You -- mama!
Love welled within its soul, forcing Nightmare Moon to sever her contact with the creature's limbic centers lest the toxic emotion actually damage her.
"Now, this might hurt for just a second." Fluttershy leaned forward, took the thorn in her mouth, yanked it free.
The touch seared through Nightmare Moon's soul. It was all her self-control could do to avoid reverting to cold plasma right in front of them all, shrieking in pain. What is this power?
Then, Fluttershy dropped her on the ground.
The manticore howled, scooped up the yellow pegasus in both paws, roared directly at her.
"Fluttershy!" cried her friends, again thinking that she was about to perish.
The Moon Princess knew better. Even with only indirect access to the manticore's brain, its blunt beast thoughts were completely obvious to her.
Thorn bad! Scare thorn -- I'm tough! the creature thought. Then, Mama made pain go! Love mama! Gently cuddling the yellow pegasus, the great leonine horror proceeded to return the favor he had been given, grooming Fluttershy with a tongue almost as long as her whole body.
It began purring like some colossal housecat.
Fluttershy giggled.
"Aw, you're just a little old baby kitty, aren't you?" she cooed. "Yes you are. Yes, you are.
Ponies good, the manticore thought, Ponies friends. No fight.
Her friends quietly walked past the now-totally-friendly monster. Most were trotting, the pink one bouncing with her usual insane glee. The manticore put Fluttershy down and began unconcernedly licking itself, removing dust and smoothing its fur.
The lavender unicorn hung behind for a moment, turned, asked Fluttershy the obvious question.
"How did you know about the thorn?"
"I didn't," Fluttershy replied. "Sometimes, we all just need to be shown a little kindness."
The unicorn thought for a moment, smiled, then followed her friends.
The thorn, unregarded, lifted, whirled, and uncoiled into the glowing mist of Nightmare Moon. She streaked off in pursuit.
Not one dead, the Princess thought, angry at her own failure. Not one wounded. They just defeated an adult manticore and the worst they have to show for it is bruises.
That makes two supernal powers so far. The pink one's a reality warper. The yellow one can tame beasts. And the others -- Applejack is an incredibly skilled athlete, Rainbow is one of the fastest fliers I've ever seen. The white unicorn is a skilled close-in fighter. Who knows what the lavender one can do -- she's obviously been reserving her powers, saving them for me, and her friends are making sure I can't touch her.
I can smell my sister's lifescent on that purple mare. She's Celestia's messenger, her lieutenant -- her -- apprentice? the Moon Princess speculated. Something else about her -- especially when she shows courage -- she reminds me of someone ... someone in particular. But whom?
That one is fey, the Princess decided. That one has some special power over me, which I cannot grasp. I fear that in the end I must duel her. I fear that in the end I must kill her.
But why do I fear?
She could come to no answer here.
Nightmare Moon streaked off to prime her next snare.
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Seeing the other side of the first episode has been great so far, I've been enjoying how Nightmare considers each of her plans though I think I'm more interested in why she considered the next trap a good idea especially since it does not seem as life threateningly dangerous at least compared to the cliff and manticore.
I love how you handled the thought processes of both NMM and the manticore, and Fluttershy's bravery and gentleness. And the bit with Rarity -- it's easy to forget, but she has displayed some fine hand to hand (hoof to hoof?) combat skills through the series. One does wonder where she got them, and why. Surely not to handle overly lecherous stallions? It seems her wits would be more than enough in those circumstances.
3639213
I was really happy when I watched the episode in detail and realized that the fact that Nightmare Moon was embedded in the manticore (and probably linked to it) during the whole of the fight meant that I could legitimately show the manticore's thoughts without abandoning third person limited POV.
While I've of course seen all the season openers and finales several times, I have to look at them much more closely -- motion by motion, word by word, expression by expression -- to redo it well as written narrative without changing what happened. The transcripts alone aren't enough, since they don't show choreography and intonations. So I wind up seeing a lot of details that I missed when merely watching it for pleasure.
Heh, well Nightmare Moon wouldn't be the first person to underestimate Fluttershy. Of course, she is essentially a slightly-immature immortal warrior princess suffering demonic possession, and not in the world's most friendly mood for that reason. Fluttershy's powers are subtle, until you become their target. Nightmare Moon got to actually see them work while in telepathic contact with the target. What's more, they actually hurt the Nightmare Shadow within her.
The great part about Rarity's part of the scene is that she actually in-canon does everything I wrote down -- I didn't have to make her an Adaptational Badass. Complete with not fully paying attention to the dangerousness of her situation until she is shocked out of it by being sprayed by its spittle.
This isn't the only time Rarity does something like this, either. For instance, she chews out Giant Greedy Spike -- before she realizes who he is -- while he's holding her most of the way up a mountainside. Understand, she's just been kidnapped by a kaiju-sized dragon, as far as she knows he means to do something terrible to her -- and her reaction is to confront him. It's scenes like that which make me love Rarity.
Hmm, lecherous stallions? Somehow I don't think that the Pony stallions are that pushy. Though between Rarity's concept of her own beauty and its reality, I could see her worrying enough about precisely that point to justify to herself spending a lot of time learning how to fight.
The best explanation I've heard is that Rarity's dad is really into sports and tried to raise her as the son he never had, which led to her becoming really good at a variety of athletic activities -- including the Pony equivalent of marital arts -- before she finally rebelled and desided to become uncompromisingly feminine. Rarity's concept of "feminine" is a very strong-willed one anyway: she's right up there with Applejack and Rainbow Dash in terms of being extroverted.
3639123
Well, Pinkie Pie's harmlessness is a matter of whether or not she's your enemy. It's not Pinkie's way to flat-out kill you, or even directly harm you (*), but she is a Reality Warper and she can do things to foil your plans without having to do either.
Nightmare Moon is worried because Pinkie Pie can do something that is totally beyond NMM's own capabilities, and she's extrapolating Pinkie's possible actions from NMM's own malignity if it were married to Pinke Pie's own powers. NMM with Pinkie's powers would be something like Freddie Krueger (remember, NMM can dreamwalk). Pinkie can't actually do all that and isn't interested in killing anyone, but NMM doesn't know that.
Nightmare Moon would be more worried if she knew from whence Pinkamena's Pinkie-ness originated, since Pinkie Pie might have a particular grudge against Luna. If she remembered and wouldn't take an apology, that is.
NMM is also worried about Fluttershy because Fluttershy has just demonstrated the ability not only to block the Nightmare's control of victims but -- in close enough contact -- to actually hurt the Nightmare Shadow within her. Also, Fluttershy has just shown herself to be a serious badass, which is worrisome considering just how delicate she seemed. Yamato Nadeshiko, anyone? Or at least Silk Hiding Steel.
Well, NMM's main false assumption is that Celestia explicitly trained the Mane Six together as some sort of elite warrior team. She's actually quite right that they are Celestia's elite champions; and that each of them has powerful capabilities -- they've spent the whole canon series demonstrating precisely this. What she has wrong is how Celestia did this, since the irony about Celestia and Luna is that while Celestia has the showier powers and style, while Luna has illusion and dreamwalking; Luna is actually the more direct personality. Celestia is enormously subtle.
If Luna (any version) wanted to recruit a force of elite champions, she'd outright tell them that this is what she was doing. Celestia has accomplished the same end by throwing them all together in full understanding of how their personalities would mesh in a crisis.
Celly plays a long game.
Oh, and the funny thing?
Nightmare Moon still hasn't realized either of the deeper threats they pose to her. One of which -- their link to the Elements -- she's starting to get. The second one -- just who some of them are to her, she doesn't even yet consciously suspect, though she's getting feelings about it.
===
(*) No, nor Pinkamena's. That was a rock farm, not the home of Leatherface's clan from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
3639009
Hate to disappoint you, but while I'll mention it in the next chapter, Steven Magnet is pretty much just a delaying tactic -- short of stupidly leaping upon the gigantic but otherwise unaggressive creature, which NMM assumes that Twilight is too smart to do, all his presence means is that they can't cross the section of the river where he is located (which includes the ford directly on their road). The enchanted wood and the cut bridge are much more serious obstacles (the more so because of the mechanics of crossing or fixing the cut bridge with NMM on the other side).
3639596
Is Steven Magnet next or were the trees next, I always get those two mixed up order wise.
3639601
Ooh, now I should check to make sure I didn't get it mixed up (*looks*) Oh yes, you're right, I'm wrong.
I would have paced it the other way, though -- put Steven Magnet in for comedy relief before the buildup through the forest and then the gorge to the big climactic confrontation with Nightmare Moon. That explains why my offhand memory got it wrong.
3639612
Ah, regardless I'm still interested in finding out why the trees are labelled as such a threat.
3639601
Well, the enchanted forest is at a minimum under the effects of an illusion and probably also fear spell. Plus given the illusion part of it, one might easily get lost, even if the fear spell didn't lead to them all scattering like foals through the Forest. Which is, mind you, the Everfree Forest, with plenty of other nasties if they stumble into the wrong part of it.
3639123
Nightmare Moon is in part Princess Luna driven by resentment at being slighted for her more charismatic sister, so wooing her might actually work for a time. Of course if it works, you've just won the highly-selfish and destructive love of a Mad Goddess who is probably one of the worst Yanderes in that world. And whose revenge will be terrible if she thinks you're just trying to manipulate her. Oh, and did I mention that she's smart?
See, Luna has some tendencies that way, but the difference is that Luna really cares about ponies. Nightmare Moon doesn't.
3639441 That explanation for why Rarity is both very athletic and so very ladylike works quite well. I may use it myself in a story sometime.
And heh, now I wonder what Rarity must think about Applejack and especially Rainbow Dash disdaining 'frou-frou girly stuff' so they can focus on athletic. Rarity may have something to say to them on that score.
3639555 RE: Pinkamena -- Agreed. Pinkamena is Pinkie's sadder and somewhat depressed side (as was shown so well in Alex Warlorn's long-ago chapter on Pinkie's healing of her fractured personalities), not a serial killer! And I very much doubt that her family were any of the usual horrid stereotypes shown in the meaner-spirited fanon.
3641077
In her flashback from "Cutie Mark Chronicles," Pinkie's family appears to be incredibly dour (but remember that this is from Pinkie's perspective) but otherwise decent -- they aren't actually abusing each other, unless one considers being boring a form of abuse. From a mainstream MLP point of view Pinkie is a Blithe Spirit born into a clan of Fantasy Counterpart Culture "Amish," who left because of the obvious incompatibilities.
From the PonyPOV fanon POV, Pinkie Pie is of course operating according to a wholly different logic: her soul's from a destroyed timeline in which the very laws of physics were subtly different, and she's taken some of that otherness with her. Pinkamena is depressed because the new timeline isn't as much fun and demands compromises with the way she'd really rather be; Pinkie's insanely cheerful in part to compensate and in part how her Reality Warping talent works: namely by Rule of Funny.
It's not surprising that her family didn't understand her. Who does? The fact that so many ponies, who don't understand her all that much better, love her, demonstrates that she's a good pony, albeit a very strange one.
*Nightmare Moon. Show them
*grammatically, should be "We've." I suppose it could be an accent, but this is Twilight Sparkle here.
*needs a space
It amuses me just how paranoid Nightmare Moon is about everything the mane six are doing. Everything is all part of Celestia's ploy to her.
Well, it is, but they don't know that.
I forgot to mention this earlier, but...
I just took Chem 221 (first of the main series for science and engineering majors), and every time you use "paramagnetism" or "paramagnetic" or whatnot it makes my brain hurt.
Basically, a paramagnetic material is one that experiences a (VERY) slight attraction to a magnetic field. That's... not really how you're using it, and it wrecks my immersion every time. So, yeah, you miiight want to find something else to use.
Relevant Wikipedia article: 'Paramagnetism
But other than that (and being kinda verbose in general), I'm really liking this story so far.
[Edit:] Also:
Supernal powers: Typo, or interesting contraction?
Fey? So would Nightmare consider herself UnSeelie, and Twilight Seelie? Or vice-versa?
Jordan, you mean supernatural powers?
Well, I've finally worked up to the definitive story in your series. I'm sorry I've just recently learned about it.
Your writing is so far one of the two best examples of writers who can take a children's series and make of it a masterpiece of adult fantasy and science fiction (I mean "adult" in its prosaic sense, not the one it has unfortunately picked up since the movie ratings system began). Visiden Visidane is the other example, and I followed his stories for a long time but then seem to have forgotten them. I need to go back to them when I've finished yours and the stories on my "watch" list.
Your interpretation of where the ponies fit in in universal history is masterfully done, as are the plots you weave, connecting "Meghan's" ponies to our beloved characters from today. And you display a wealth of knowledge that seems far beyond normal for a single person--mixing the ponies with earth history (the Manehattan Project) and scientific concepts so far beyond me (and probably beyond most people) that I become dizzy headed just reading about them. Over and over two ideas keep suggesting themselves to my mind: "Asperger's," and "scientific pantheism." I supposedly have the former, but I am afraid rather than gifting me with such extraordinary gifts as you possess it has only deprived me of the means of living a normal life.
As an afficianado of Pinkie Pie (please tell me I spelled that correctly!), I am always interested in how various writers interpret Pinkie's "powers"--what I call the "Omnipinkie" phenomenon. Canon Pinkie possesses these "powers" only to delight and amuse the audience at home (she is the show's explicit cartoon character, with the exaggerated characteristics of most cartoon characters in other series). I have long noticed that she can in no way interfere with or advance the plot (which would reduce every episode to a deus ex machina). For example, in "Too Many Pinkie Pies" she has power over the force of gravity, slowing her fall into the pond, while in episodes where she is actually in danger of falling ("Wonderbolt Academy" and "The Lost Treasure of Griffinstone" for example) these powers are nowhere to be found. She is truly my favorite character in the show and, perhaps, my favorite cartoon character of all time (and since I've been watching cartoons since "Tom Terrific" on the old "Captain Kangaroo" series, that's saying something!). I've always had a very strong emotional attachment to cartoon characters, but--and I hope I don't come across as "strange" for saying this--I absolutely love Pinkie.
I have written a couple of fics wherein I posit that Pinkie is the FiM world's equivalent of Pennywise the Clown, only kind and benevolent instead of evil and dangerous. The first of these was written to satirize the "evil Pinkie" meme that was engulfing the fandom at one time (thanks to "Cupcakes"). The second fic is unusual in that it is "serious" instead of comic, but Pinkie's as good and sweet as ever.
Needless to say, I look forward to exploring your own take on Pinkie throughout this series, as well as on the other ponies (Rarity's in particular seems interesting).
Anyway, I'm happy to have discovered such a truly talented writer and look forward to following your series, hopefully to its conclusion.
5377100
Given the powers at play here, the correct definition could go either way.
Fluttershy is best beast master.
7630116
I love Fluttershy. I've written several complete stories about her.
Yeah, the Mane 6 are badass. Luna is right to be impressed.
8237330
They are badass, aren't they? And they were in the very first story FIM ever did. One of the things I love about the Show is that it says that you can be a very girly girl, as is Rarity at least superficially -- and yet a brilliant and brave hero -- as she is most definitely.
Luna, whether under the Nightmare or not, recognizes and respects true courage. I think it's significant that in the timeline where Nightmare Moon won, she made Rarity one of her highest servants.
Marshmallow Unicorn is awesome.
7630116
I know it is many years past but on rereading this story I am reading many of the comments. This one makes me wonder are you also a Norton fan?
Fluttershy is best beast master. Several books by my late friend with this as the premise and title.
10544137
I grew up on Andre Norton and Robert A. Heinlein! And yes, Fluttershy is a classic Beast Master type character.