Star Spider Day
Twilight Sparkle dreamed of small, sharp things crawling on her.
She tossed and turned beneath her covers. They were soaked with sweat despite the cool spring air, and in her half-fugue state she tugged them away to pool on the floor. Her eyes opened for a moment, took in the darkened room, and she fell back into fitful slumber.
* * *
Some time later – hours, perhaps? – she was no more rested than before. She bobbed on the waves of sleep like a castaway sailor, slipping beneath them for brief moments before some errant sensation, like little needles prickling at her skin, drew her back to the surface. In that liminal plane she hovered, never waking, never sleeping, groaning, turning, rolling, wishing she could embrace the darkness that danced just beyond perception.
In time, not long before the first rays of dawn tinted the eastern sky, she finally drifted away and stirred no more.
* * *
Twilight woke with a yawn and a deep loathing of morning ponies.
Things were still a bit foggy in her head, but enough neurons were firing for her to wonder just how some ponies managed to voluntarily rise with the sun. She worked her gummy mouth and sat up, her thoughts quickly shifting to coffee and a hot shower.
“Yeesh, are you okay, Twilight?” Spike said from the foot of her bed. She couldn’t see him, as her eyes were still blurry with sleep and that crusty stuff that forms in your eyelashes, but he sounded far too chipper for so early in the morning. “You look like a mess.”
“Mmhrmbl."
Spike blinked a few times. “Come again?”
Twilight mentally rewound and tried again. “Um, sorry, Spike. I just couldn’t seem to get to sleep last night.” She paused and recalled the visions that tormented her brief moments of unconsciousness. “I kept dreaming my bed was crawling with spiders.”
“Oh.” A pause. “So, those spiders aren’t yours? I thought you were experimenting again.”
That… made no sense. Twilight sat on the rumpled sheets, attempting to parse his question, when she felt something tugging at her tail. Curious, unthinkingly curious, she rubbed the last of the sleep from her eyes and turned to see what it was.
A dark blue spider, about the size of her hoof, was exploring her tail. Long, spindly legs snagged on her individual hairs like the strands of a web. A large white star decorated its abdomen.
Something moved in the corner of her eye. She glanced over to see another spider on the headboard. Beneath it, several more slowly picked their way across the covers.
Interesting.
Twilight Sparkle’s scream woke up the rest of the town. All except the morning ponies, that is, who were already awake.
* * *
Day 1
“Feeling better?” Spike placed another steaming coffee mug on the table in front of her.
“No.” Twilight picked the mug up with shaking hooves and took a long, deep gulp, not minding the bright sting as it burned her tongue. “No.”
“Well, uh…” Spike scratched the back of his neck and gave the kitchen a quick look. “I think they’re all gone, at least. You scared them away.”
Twilight looked around as well. Technically, she had never stopped looking around since appearing in the center of the kitchen in a burst of panicked magic shortly after discovering the spiders. They seemed to be gone, but she couldn't stop shivering.
Those dreams. She fought off the urge to gag and took another deep swig from her coffee.
“Spike,” she said. “I need books.”
“Uh.” Spike glanced at the door leading from the kitchen into the library proper. “You’re in luck, then. Any particular book?”
“Yes. Everything we have on spiders.”
* * *
'Everything’ turned out to be distressingly little. Aside from a field guide to arachnids, the ‘S’ volume of the encyclopedia, and Four-legs Good, Eight-legs Better: A Book for Foals, the library had little to say on the subject of spiders.
Twilight eyed the books with professional distaste. The foals’ book she set aside immediately. The encyclopedia she had already read. The field guide was battered and worn, its pages stained, its spine broken, its cover frayed. Apparently whoever had checked it out last had taken it into the field with them, and, regardless of the book’s title, that wasn't something Twilight approved of. She grumbled at its condition but opened it and soon found her quarry.
Gasteracantha cancriformis, or the common star spider. A blown-up, full-color sketch filled the entire page beneath the name, apparently drawn by somepony with an unhealthy admiration for every tiny detail of the spider’s anatomy. Twilight closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and started reading.
A few paragraphs in, somepony knocked on the door. Twilight didn't even look up. “Spike, get the door!”
She heard the scratching of his claws on wood, followed by the door opening.
“Hi Spike!” Pinkie Pie’s unmistakable voice sounded from the entry. “Happy Star Spider Day! Is Twilight home?”
Twilight set the book down and rubbed her temples.
It was going to be one of those days.
* * *
“So, we’re invited to what?” Spike peered at the dark blue card in his claws, and then flipped it over to squint at the back.
“The Star Spider Day party! Come on!” Pinkie reached into her saddlebags and flung out a hoofful of blue confetti, which rained down on Twilight’s reading table like depressing snow. “Don’t you have your costume yet?”
“Pinkie, pretend for a moment that Spike and I are new to Ponyville, and may not be familiar with all of its customs,” Twilight said. She set her own card on the table and pushed it away. “Also, pretend we’re not completely insane. Now, what is Star Spider Day?”
“It’s only the most terriferific spider party of the year! None of the others even come close. Sometimes the fuzzy-bobbly spider parties get exciting, but they’re too commercialized nowadays, and I think ponies are starting to lose sight of what—”
“Pinkie, listen to me. Can you tell me why I woke up with a dozen of these”—she held the field guide open to the Star Spider entry and pushed it in Pinkie’s face—“in my bed?”
Pinkie gasped. “They were in your bed?! Oh my gosh, Twilight, I’m so jealous! That’s super good luck!”
“Pinkie, they’re spiders. They are the opposite of good luck. Why were they in my bed?”
Pinkie sat back on her haunches and rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Well… maybe they were cold? Sometimes they like to cuddle.”
Twilight snapped the field guide shut and slammed it on the table. “Pinkie, spiders do not like to cuddle. They are incapable of it. All they do is build webs, eat insects, and terrify ponies. I just want to know why they are here, in my house, in my bed.” She gave the room another quick glance. Most of the spiders from the morning were still unaccounted for.
“Oh, that.” Pinkie smiled. “Don’t you know how star spiders work, Twilight? Every five years, all the star spiders in the world come to Ponyville to find a special somespider, get cozy, lay a few eggs, and then go back home! It’s like a single’s cruise, but with more webs.”
There was a pause.
The pause lengthened.
It became uncomfortable.
Eventually, Twilight picked up the field guide again and flipped forward several pages to the “Behavior” section of the star spider entry.
Once every five years, star spiders migrate to the place of their birth to find a mate. This periodic swarm has engendered local mythologies and celebrations, much as the seventeen-year cicada.
Twilight put the book down. She took another deep breath, held it as long as she could, and slowly let it out.
“Pinkie,” she said. “How many star spiders come to Ponyville?”
“Hm.” Pinkie spent a distressingly long amount of time in thought. “What’s the biggest number?”
* * *
Day 3
“Are you alright, darling? You haven’t touched your tea.”
“I’m fine, Rarity.” Twilight gave the tiny porcelain teacup sitting on its saucer a glum look. “Just feeling a bit stressed the past few days.”
“Ah.” Rarity took a sip from her own cup. It steamed in the cool morning air of the chic outdoor café. “If you don’t mind my saying, you look like you haven’t slept much. Anything you want to talk about?”
“I’m not used to all the spiders, I guess.”
“Yes, I can see how they might be a bit unsettling.” Rarity gently pushed a star spider away from her napkin. “Did one startle you?”
“You could say that. I woke up with several crawling on me the other day.”
“Oh, how lucky!” Rarity beamed at her. “When I was a filly I always went to bed the night before the star spider parties, hoping I’d wake up with one. Finally, one year my parents snuck in while I was asleep and put several under the covers for me. You should have heard me squeal the next morning!” She took another sip from her tea.
“That’s enlightening and disturbing.” Twilight flicked her tail at another spider before it could come too close. “You know, we don’t have things like this in Canterlot.”
“Hm, well, their loss. As much as I love big cities, with their high fashion and cosmopolitan aura, I think I’d really miss the spiders if I ever moved away from Ponyville.”
Away from Ponyville. How alluring those words sounded right then. Twilight shivered at the imagined thought of legs crawling along her coat. All around her, hundreds of the spiders skittered about, across the cobbles, up the tables, across pony's laps, through doors, along the walls and ceilings, and of course into ponies' beds, where they were met with adoring sighs and hugs.
“I’m surprised nopony ever told me about this before, actually,” Twilight said. “A little warning would have been nice. Oh, um, you’ve got one on your shoulder.”
“Ah, thank you. Come here, you.” Rarity used her muzzle to nudge the inquisitive spider onto her hoof and set it down on the cobblestones. “I must apologize, Twilight. I just assumed you knew about them.”
“No. No, I didn’t.”
“Well.” Another sip. “Now you do.”
The two were silent for a while, and they watched the small-town life roll around them. Dozens of ponies trotted down the street, carefully stepping over the countless dark-blue spiders that darted from shadow to shadow beneath them. A small herd of foals jumped around with spiders perched in their manes.
“So, how much longer do you think they’ll be here?” Twilight asked.
“A few days, I suppose. Really, they’re quite friendly, Twilight. Give them a chance?”
“I’ll think about it,” Twilight said. A high-pitched titter caught her ears, and she turned to see a gaggle of teenage fillies staring intently at a pair of spiders on the table between them. The spiders poked at each other a few times, but showed little other interest. Eventually, the eldest of the fillies picked up one of the spiders, set it down, grabbed another, and put it on the table beside the first.
Rarity noticed her gaze. “Ah, matchmaking. My friends and I would spend hours doing that when we were little.” She let out a dreamy sigh and took another sip of tea.
“Rarity, you don’t think there’s something fundamentally wrong about celebrating swarms of huge spiders that enjoy sneaking into ponies’ beds and cuddling with them?”
“Twilight!” Rarity’s sharp tone drew several curious glances from the cafe crowd. “I thought you would be more understanding than that. The star spiders are an important part of Ponyville’s heritage, and they’re quite friendly as well. Just give them a chance, and I’m sure they’ll win your heart.”
Twilight shrank at the rebuke. “Sorry, it’s just… oh come on, they’re spiders! They don’t even have hearts!”
“They can’t help that,” Rarity said. She reached out a hoof to gently push one of the spiders closer to Twilight. Its polished carapace shone in the bright sunlight, and she could see herself reflected in it as it brushed its legs against her coat. “See? He’s saying hello!”
Twilight sighed. It was going to be a long few days.
* * *
Day 4
“Yeah, I never really understood it either,” Rainbow Dash said. She lounged on a small cloud not much larger than herself floating level with Twilight’s balcony. “I mean, I get that they don’t bite and stuff, but they’re still kinda freaky.”
Twilight regarded the cloud with distracted envy. Envy, because it would be nice for a change to sit or stand or recline on something without wondering when the next star spider would suddenly decide to crawl up her leg. Distracted, because there were currently several star spiders sharing the balcony with her and growing bolder with every passing minute. She half-heartedly shooed them away when they strayed too close to her hooves.
“But the worst thing is how crazy everypony gets,” Rainbow Dash continued. “Last week I was doing tricks in the park, and there were, like, a dozen foals all watching me and cheering! Now they’re all playing with the spiders and ignoring me.”
How many days would that cloud-walking spell last? Maybe she could live with Dash until the spiders left. She’d have to come down occasionally for food, of course, but that seemed like a small price to pay to be clear of the spiders and the ponies who loved them.
“And who lets insects just crawl all over them like that?” Dash asked. “That’s just crazy. It’s crazy, Twilight.”
“Arachnids,” Twilight mumbled. She was still staring at the cloud.
“Huh?”
“Spiders are arachnids, not insects.”
“Oh.” Dash peered at one of the spiders. “They look like bugs.”
“‘Bug’ is just a generic term that encompasses a large number of invertebrates,” Twilight said. One of the spiders had crawled up on the railing beside her and was lightly running its legs along her fetlock, as though trying to decide if she were safe to climb. She gave it a gentle nudge.
“So, why don’t you like them? I thought you liked sciency-stuff.”
“Because they’re not what ponies think they are,” Twilight said. “Everypony believes they’re lovable, friendly bugs, but they’re not. They’re just invertebrates. The behaviors they exhibit, which ponies interpret as being friendly, are merely instinct. They’re no more intelligent or loving than a rock.”
“Oh.” Dash was silent for a moment. “That’s, uh… really? Don’t get me wrong, Twi, I don’t like them much either, but they seem friendly. Look at that one! It’s like he’s petting you!”
Twilight looked down at the spider in question. It had managed to crawl along the bannister between her and Rainbow Dash, and was brushing its front legs against the fur of her chest. The sensation was like feathers or a sleeping foal’s breath.
“He’s not, though,” Twilight said. Her voice sounded much like it had since the spiders arrived – flat and detached. “You’re attributing pony-like motives to a creature that is incapable of those motivations. Some uncontrollable instinct in this spider’s brain is telling it to touch me with its legs. That’s all, Dash. There is nothing like love or friendliness in them.”
“Oh,” Dash said again. She lapsed back into silence, and eventually the winds carried her little cloud away.
* * *
Day 5
“So, they really don’t celebrate Star Spider Day in Canterlot?” Applejack asked. She gave Twilight a quizzical look, and then stopped by an apple tree to set down an empty basket.
“Amazingly, no. It’s a sad and empty life, but somehow we survived,” Twilight said. She followed close behind Applejack and kept her eyes up on the branches above them. The star spiders liked to hide in the leaves.
“Well, shoot. Maybe you should bring some home next time you visit. I bet your parents would love ‘em!”
“That’s possible. Alternately, they might scream and burn our home down trying to get rid of them.”
Applejack laughed. “Oh, Twilight. You and your jokes. Seriously, trying to get rid of star spiders…” She chuckled and gave the tree above them an appraising glance. Apparently satisfied, she turned, planted her forehooves, and gave it a mighty kick. Dozens of apples fell perfectly into the basket. Thousands of spiders also fell, but only a few went in the basket – most, it seemed to Twilight, somehow ended up in her mane.
She shook them loose gently. “You know, a week ago I probably would have incinerated everything within a hundred feet if that happened. Funny what you can get used to.”
“Yup, sure is.” Applejack carried the full basket over to the wagon, hitched herself up, and pulled it to the next row of trees. “Did you know Apple Bloom used to be scared of spiders as a filly?”
“Really?” Twilight distinctly recalled seeing Apple Bloom running around with a star spider the size of a dinner plate carefully held in her mouth. “She seems to have overcome her fears.”
“Well, it’s like Granny Smith says. You can let a foal go through life afraid, or you can lock her in a dark room with a thousand spiders until she stops screaming.” Applejack put her basket under another tree and lined up for a kick. “She’s just full of folksy wisdom.”
They were quiet for a while after that, as Applejack worked. Twilight enjoyed her little visits to Sweet Apple Acres, especially when they let her escape from the living carpet of star spiders that had occupied most of Ponyville. At least in the orchards there weren’t so many spiders she had to shuffle her hooves to avoid stepping on them.
Eventually, Twilight stopped trying to shake the spiders out of her mane. Most of them crawled quickly off of her, and the few that remained were as harmless as ever. They felt at her ears and waved their little legs in the air. In time, she stopped noticing them at all.
* * *
Day 7
“I’m glad you could make it today, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. She set a silver tea set on the small table between them and then carefully poured a steaming cup for her guest. “I haven’t seen you much this week.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Twilight levitated the cup up to her lips and gently blew on it before taking a sip. Chamomile, with a hint of cinnamon. “It’s the spiders.”
“What about them? Are you allergic?”
“No, nothing like that.” Twilight took another sip. Dozens of the spiders rubbed up against her legs and flanks beneath the table – she barely even noticed the sensation any more. It was no more consequential than the wind. “I just don’t appreciate them the way everypony else does, I guess.”
“Oh, um, that’s too bad.” Fluttershy seemed genuinely saddened by Twilight’s admission. “Are they ignoring you?”
“No, quite the opposite, in fact. I can’t get them to leave me alone.”
Fluttershy gave her a little frown. “They’re just trying to be friendly, Twilight. What’s so bad about that?”
“I didn’t ask them to be friendly,” Twilight spat. She gave herself a vigorous shake, sending dozens of the spiders scurrying away. They regrouped in a circle and slowly probed their way back toward her, a great mass of legs and chiton and white glowing stars in a sea of dark blue bodies rendered nearly black in the dim light of Fluttershy’s cottage.
“I don’t want them crawling on me,” she continued, louder now. “I don’t want them touching me. I don’t want them sleeping with me. I don’t want to see them or hear them or dream of them. I don’t want them anywhere. I want them gone!” She ended with a stomp of her hoof that shook the little tea set.
Fluttershy gazed at her for a long while after her outburst. She sighed quietly, set down her teacup, and picked up one of the spiders instead. Balancing it carefully on the flat of her hoof, she raised it to her cheek and let it crawl up her mane to perch between her ears.
“Twilight,” she said softly, “I know star spiders are not the most beautiful animal. They are not cuddly or cute. But they are not monsters. They are some of the most friendly and loving creatures you will ever meet—”
“But they’re not!” Twilight shouted. “Everypony keeps saying that, but they’re wrong! Spiders are simple invertebrates with no brains or thoughts to speak of. They are not friendly or loving or kind. The only emotions those spiders have are the ones you attribute to them! Those are your emotions, Fluttershy, not theirs!”
Silence again. Fluttershy stared at her, her cyan eyes wide and shining in the cottage’s perpetual dusk. Only the rustle of thousands of legs and her own hammering heartbeat filled Twilight’s ears.
Twilight licked her lips. “Fluttershy, I’m sorry. I’m—”
“Twilight, we know they can’t love,” Fluttershy said. Her voice was softer than Twilight could ever recall hearing. “We know they aren’t like ponies. We know these are our feelings, projected onto them. What does that say about us?” She paused, and when she spoke again it was barely above a whisper. “What does it say about you?”
Twilight blinked. She looked down at her hooves, where one of the spiders had come to a rest. In its shiny carapace, she could see her own faint reflection, shifting in time as it moved.
Oh.
She closed her eyes to hide the hot well of tears that threatened to break from them. After a few moments, she stood and left.
* * *
Day 8
Twilight woke with the first light of the morning sun. She opened her eyes and carefully checked for any spiders in the covers with her before sitting up. It wouldn’t do to accidentally squish one – bad luck, they all said.
“Twilight!” She heard Spike’s voice echoing from downstairs. “The spiders are gone!”
Hm. She looked around and noticed the room was completely absent of the spiders. Only a few tattered webs remained in the corners. She processed that information silently, until the door opened and Spike poked his head in.
“Hey, uh. Did you hear?” he said. “They’re gone. I think it’s all over.”
“Yeah, I heard.” She stood and made her way to the window. Outside, there seemed to be fewer ponies in the street than normal. Those she saw walked slowly, as if in a daze. They set their hooves carefully on the bare stone. They looked like foals without their mothers. Lost.
Her ear flicked. She reached up and pulled away a string of webbing. The prickle of hundreds of sharp feet on her coat was gone. She glanced back at the empty bed.
“Twilight? You okay?”
“Yeah, Spike.” She turned outside again. “Could you make us some coffee?”
“Uh, sure.” There was a pause, followed by the slow creak of her door closing. It was several seconds before she heard his footsteps moving down the stairs.
Just another week in Ponyville. She shook her head, turned to go about her morning routine, and hoped she might one day dream again of tiny legs keeping her awake.
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Heh. This story made my day.
Yes, I did read it that quickly
This was at once hilarious and devastating, like you seem to have a wonderful talent for writing. Especially once Fluttershy said her piece, in her quiet, insightful way. I always love seeing what strengths and weaknesses Twilight's overly-analytical mind can bring to stories, and without a doubt, you're my favorite author for showing exactly that. I could probably wast five paragraphs on exactly what allegories and lessons and joys and thoughts this little story about spiders left me with, but instead I'd like to say: Thanks for writing another thoughtful and roaringly funny comedy. It made my day.
How did you even come up with this concept? What you did with it was very funny and perfect for Ponyville, but it's so... not obvious.
Nice work, though.
Aaargh mood whiplash!
A house full of phoenixes is intolerable, but everypony goes gooey-eyed over the entire town being covered in thousands upon thousands of spiders.
Ponyville is weird.
Fluttershy wins all the things, and owch, that mood whiplash was physically painful.
This story made me happy and sad at the same time. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry.
Hmm.
I'm imagining the star spiders to have a six pointed star similar to Twilight's cutie mark.
The Apples are terrible ponies. You take little kids and lock them in dark room with thousands of spiders! What's wrong with them?! What's wrong with Ponyville?! How can they possibly stand the spiders?! Spiders are horrible creatures that should not even exist! This left me more annoyed than happy.
Sheesh, Fluttershy, that was a low blow. Other than that, Star Spider Day seems like a fun holiday. Unless you're like me and terrified of any spiders bigger than a penny (and smaller than a tarantula, for some reason).
However, despite the mental image of thousands of spiders crawling about, I really liked this story. It does seem like a holiday that could actually exist in Equestria (or Ponyville, at least). Good read, would read again
Ouch, Fluttershy, that was a little overly harsh.
Came for the spiders, stayed for the laughs. I pretty much died when Pinkie asked what the biggest number was. And I'm with John about Granny's "folksy wisdom", too.
This was awesome all the way through
It's alllll fun and games until
And then you're like
oh.
*look down*
Ooh.
Loved it! The original was hilarious, but I think this is a better story in some ways.
What IS the biggest number, that's the question
Your soul is dead, arachnophobic scum! Feel the magic of friendship, and repent!
I'm sorry, but my ability to identify spiders is somewhat limited. Once they've been turned into a multicolored smear, it's hard to pick out identifying characteristics.
Okay, I don't think I've actually read anything of yours except bits of the short story collection (which, yes, was enough on its own to get me following you), and I could use a bit of a break from writing today, so I'm going to look at this guy while it's still remotely topical.
The intro felt a little dry to me. Too much description but not enough sensory input for me to really capture the scene in my mind. The similes were nice, but didn't have a lot of punch for me because of the aforementioned issue. The bit after she wakes up is exactly what I paid for, though, with some nice Spike voicing and Twilight characterization (cf. "Interesting."), and the first appearance of the star spiders I found genuinely creepy.
Four-legs Good, Eight-legs Better: A Book for Foals is golden.
The thing I wound up really taking note of here was the voicing. Pinkie's voice on Day 1 is enjoyable, if perhaps a touch overly random. No, that's not right. A touch cliche? That's closer. It sounds like show dialogue, but perhaps just a bit too much like show dialogue that's been adapted to the scene rather than natural Pinkie dialogue. I'm harping on something very minor here, though. This is still excellent voicing for Pinkie. Twilight, on the other hand, feels slightly too cynical to me. Again, her voicing is very good, but the lines about "completely insane" and "They are incapable of it" don't fit quite right in my mind. I can basically hear Cathy Wiseluck and Andrea Libman on your Spike and Pinkie dialogue, but Twilight wanders a little for me. That's also true in her scene with Applejack, though elsewhere she feels completely natural. Voicing for all the other mane six ponies is rock solid.
I quite like the twist, and the fact that it's delivered by Fluttershy, and the meta implication that comes along with it. It's also very nicely not overstated and left for the reader to delve into at his or her leisure.
The whole thing doesn't really wind up feeling like much of a comedy to me, though there were a couple incidental laughs. But it's well-voiced and sweet (albeit a little skin-crawling), and I find that I quite like it.
Anyone else feel like there are spiders crawling on them now? Because I can't shake that feeling.
That was not the ending I anticipated. But perhaps it was the ending that was inevitable.
No spiders were harmed in the making of this story... And this saddens me greatly.
Nicely done, for what it is, but far too predictable. Once we hear how everybody else is okay with Star Spider Day versus over-cynical Twilight's take on it, there's zero doubt (especially since the story lacks a Dark tag) how it'll turn out. Much like 3777845 pointed out, Twilight comes off as a little too acerbic here. Maybe she didn't learn her Winter Wrap Up lesson about odd Ponyville traditions after all? Almost feels like a Christmas story published three weeks behind schedule: Twilight says "Bah, Humbug!" but learns an important lesson in the end. Otherwise it's the typically wonderful writing and eminent readability we expect from Gardez.
You know, they should have given the Star Spiders some sort of canon hook in the show. Maybe if we're lucky they'll make a comeback and have some proper importance in the show.
I have no idea what I just read, but I liked it.
Put it in third person. "that forms in one's eyelashes"
This went from humorous to sad disturbingly quickly.
3778418
You know, I went back and forth on that for a while. Eventually I settled with 'your,' since 'one's' seemed too formal for the setting.
Sometimes you have to choose from the least-bad option.
Why couldn't they be scorpions? Scorpions are best arachnids, spiders are just evil little balls of chitin and death.
Did not expect the lesson. Thanks for more thought juice.
3777322
Don't worry, Granny Smith has a nice and effective way to cure you of that arachnophobia of yours, just go along wth her into the nice dark totally not filled with spiders room and you will be all better soon.
I expected some ghastly twist ending, really.
I got nothing.
I hate the feeling of a spider on me, but...
GODDAMNIT MAN. Why must I be so confused?
~Skeeter The Lurker
This was nice.
Also, did you just want to rewrite The Trouble with Phoenixes?
This broke my WTF o' meter but damned if I didn't find it entertaining, liked and fave'd.
3778751
This is more how I wish Phoenixes had gone. Phoenixes was a comedy without any sort of moral development; this story is barely a comedy by the time you get to the end, but ultimately it's not the humor that's important here.
3778471
It was just a bit jarring.
I was laughing my ass off for most of the story, then you went and gave it a moral and stuff.
I don't object to morals in stories on principle or anything, I was just enjoying Ponyville being aggressively weird and Twilight suffering through it. It's one of my favorite FIMFic topics.
Also, this feels relevant.
3777695
“We know they aren’t like ponies. We know these are our feelings, projected onto them. What does that say about us?” She paused, and when she spoke again it was barely above a whisper. “What does it say about you?”
That you are crazy and on the first step to recover from your problem and I am not? No, really, that sounds like gibberish to me. People project because we are made to. It means we are ruining correctly. To ascribe further meaning is odd to me.
What is she trying to say? I did not get it.
PS: town overrun by spiders = me on unplanned vacation.
I don't always laugh out loud when reading, but when I do, it's at lines like this. And the moral was the cake that made the icing more satisfying.
Also, spiders do have hearts.
3779180
Yeah, that was more of a figurative statement.
3779043 Yeah, I mean, that's the biggest asshole thing Fluttershy has ever said. And I'm not excepting the Iron Will episode. "Oh Twilight, I just realized, you're a goddamned robot with no feelings in her heart. Because you don't think spiders are cute."
I do kind of like the half-formed idea I'm working on that they were so cozy with her because she's like them. She's got a star mark, and she only is friendly because she's reflecting back other ponies' friendliness just like the spiders do. I'm working on my handwave for Episode 1: "too silly! I'm not reflecting that! I've got srs bsns." She's a great student? It's cause people keep on teaching her stuff.
Or I could just dumb it down. Twilight Sparkle, reluctant Queen of the Swarm. Only she truly sees them for what they are. The perfect position from which to love them more than anyone!
Comedy with a moral and a lot of potential themes that were brought up slightly but left alone for the reader to think about. I like it.
Very good story. It is quite like how I write—no matter what the story is about, I try to make it have a theme.
if I woke upwith hundredsof spiders in myy house I would burn my house down.. Simple as that. Then would move as far away from said spiders as I could.
Several laugh-out-loud moments, there. Granny Smith's folk-wisdom being one of the loudest! And a very sweet ending... very much in keeping with the tone of the show.
3779205 That is not was I was going for. But it works to I guess.
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Everyone in town is projecting happy feelings onto the spiders. Except for Twilight, who, even though she isn't projecting feelings onto the spiders, spends the entire story being cynical, high strung, and miserable.
I'm not totally sure what point is being driven at. Because Twilight failing to project happy feelings onto the spiders doesn't mean she's unhappy herself, or that she's somehow unbalanced. It just means that she isn't crazy about spiders.
Honestly, I would be concerned about a spider migration on this level. Clearly, some instinct drives them to "cuddle" with ponies. Is there an instinct that might drive them to bite ponies, too? Are they poisonous? What about ponies that are allergic to them? Allowing the spiders the kind of free reign they're given seems irresponsible.
3779205 I kind of have to agree with this, though my take on it is slightly different.
I like this story: It was funny and clever and thoughtful (and as usual extremely well-written).
I was a bit confused when I first read this story, though, because it ascribes some things to Twilight that don't make any sense to me unless you remove certain aspects of her life from the picture: her clear, sincere love of her family, of her friends, of her mentor; her happiness in the fact that they all love her and care about her and respect her for who she is and what she has accomplished.
"You don't like these spiders that everyone else is happy to have inundating the town, because you don't have any love of self." As though the single expression of her emotions against the spiders is the sum total of all that describes her self-worth.
The only thing I can think of to make this conclusion work is to skip over that conclusion and interpret it as that Twilight is devastatingly lonely despite the love of those around her, and is simply displaying her unhappiness as jealousy at the fact that these creatures with no 'heart' so easily win over the affections of every pony in the town. Which still leaves her lonely in her bed at the end of the day.
Sorry Gardez: I always feel like a horsefly when it comes to commenting on your stories, which I have a lot of respect for. I'm totally good with being wrong about my own conclusions. If I'm just "not getting it" I suppose I'll just have to come back and read more commentary, and keep hammering away at it...
3779370 Those are good points as well. That is close, but it still does not quite get me the answer I was hoping for.
Wana' lay it out for me author person?
I don't know why, but this part made me laugh until I nearly fell out of my chair. Probably says something bad about me...
I liked the story. It was short, interesting and I think there was a message?
Not sure.
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And just like that, everything suddenly snapped into focus.
Twilight not projecting her feelings onto the spiders is not intended to demonstrate her inability to leave logic behind for whimsy. It's allegory: Even though Twilight is surrounded by ponies that love her, she feels isolated from them, and feels on some level that she doesn't understand friendship and is only capable of engaging them in ways that are inferior to the ways they engage with each other.
Or, if you prefer an interpretation that is not quite as dark, Twilight still feels like a bit of an outsider in Ponyville, and part of her wants to go back to Canterlot where her family and old friends and Princess Celestia are. I.e. she's homesick, but is afraid to express those feelings out of concern that her friends won't understand.