This story is a sequel to A Robust Solution
When Rainbow Dash finally agrees to come along with Fluttershy and see a butterfly migration, the blue speedster expects a relaxing, even boring camping trip, not a journey of discovery regarding the true natures of herself and her foalhood friend.
Takes place around the 15th of October, YOH 1500, right after "Call of the Cutie" in the TV series.
This is a sequel to "A Robust Solution" in the Flutterarc, but you don't have to have read the other story first.
Now has a TV Tropes page!
Chapters (4)
I honestly want to see the changeling invasion of Canterlot with this Fluttershy. I can just see her being the only one defying Chrysalis at one point.
3788215
Also remember something else about eusocial creatures -- Chrysalis and Fluttershy are almost certainly close kin, if her sire came from Hive Chrysalis. For that matter, considering what Changelings can do, there's no guarantee that her father isn't ...
3788215 just how many 'Flutter Shy' are there?
I was looking at the bat version ..
I like how you're picking up on the community antics there, 'foalhood' ..
3790051
I was actually inspired by that -- Fluttershy's transformation seemed to be a bit too easy, as if it was not so much being imposed on her as activating a latent ability.
3790110 there is something more to her, then meets the eye.
she seems to be shy a moment, only to stare down the dragon the next?
3790155
She is shy. Painfully, horribly shy with a shyness which is believable only if you know someone well who has Social Anxiety Disorder. (My wife does).
She also, even in canon, has what amount to mind control powers and an unbreakable will. The whole humor in the assertiveness training episode is that she was stronger-willed than Iron Will from the very beginning, and neither of them knew it.
I speculate in this story that her shyness and self-undervaluation come from having had a terrible young fillyhood, which makes sense if you consider the clues in canon that her family is upper-class, and when you consider what aristocratic Pegasi would probably expect of their offspring. I then add to it her hybrid nature -- remember, the standard Changeling mode of operation is stealth.
3790178 from what I recall, she basically grounded herself. flew barely better then scootallo?
how her parrents took it, when they realised her tallent was not a pegasi talent?
her 'Freinds' were tormenting her for the lacking in flying, as I recall.
no wonder she adored Dash, when she stood up for her? who wouldn't?
3790245
She is a weak flier by Pegasi standards, and what's worse having been taunted about this has made her an even weaker flier. She loves Rainbow Dash, obvious in canon, though I don't think that love is sexual. Her other best friend in canon is Rarity, who is extremely nice to her and tries to make her feel socially-comfortable.
3790285 there is a nice contradiction, if Rarity is this nice?
There's the next in Shy?
now, in 'Huricane Flutter Shy', she flew by most of the Ponyville pegasi, just before the huricane had been dissengaged?
3790301
Rarity is in fact nice. She's also an ambitious social manipulator, but the two are not necessarily contradictory. Twilight is ambitious, and Celestia could write books on social manipulation, and yet both of them are nice ponies. She very obviously likes Fluttershy and is trying to help her come out of her shell.
Fluttershy is a stronger flier than she gives herself credit for being. Her main problem has always been that she associates flying with being mocked. This story takes place well before "Hurricane Fluttershy."
Note what she does at the end of Chapter 3: "Chrysalis." :She's a faster flier than anyling in that Hive. And she's only 14 at the time .
3790312 that's back to her core contradiction. she's constantly holding herself back
what more could she do, if put to the test? what other dragons ask her to stare them down?
Just push her up against the wall, but don't come back crying?
I guess shy is perfect for Rarity to be nice to. it is after all Shys element?
I'm not quite up on the refferences on the ages. maybe in part, because they rarely if ever state actual ages? it's as if they move from state to state, fillie to mare, to elderly in exact, measured steps? is there some kind of ritual, giving 'ascention'?
3790340
I think that if Fluttershy ever realized her full power potential, even if we ignore this little exercise in fanon, she would be capable of controlling the minds of other sapients at will, and possibly without even having to make eye contact -- which is a power with considerable Power Perversion Potential, so it's a fortunate thing that she's Kindness. She also has immense quantities of what D&D would term Magic Resistance, to the point where she can "No Sell" a Petrification gaze power.
In the context of her being half-Changeling (which I doubt is meant to be true in canon)? She could -- eventually -- probably do something on the order of taking over a Changeling Hive from its rightful Queen. Especially if she Ascends to become an Alicorn.
It should be noted, though, that in the context of my overall Shadows arc, Chrysalis is at least a bit more powerful than a normal Changeling Queen. Which is half of the reason why she could defeat Celestia one-on-one in "A Canterlot Wedding" (the other reason of course being that she was channeling a very powerful love -- Shining's for Cadance's).
I'm assuming here that the Ponies have a lifespan and cycle roughly equivalent to humans, which makes sense because neoteny (and thus extended life) often goes with intelligence in mammals. We ourselves live about twice as long as most other great apes, who in turn live about twice as long as most other primates. The Ponies are to real horses as we are to prosimians.
So, Fluttershy at 14 would have been just old enough to be sexually fertile, which put her in a very obvious peril from the Changelings, one she maybe should have realized from her mother's story, which she realizes now in retrospect. Fluttershy was more innocent then: in many ways she's still pretty innocent now, but she's much less naive now regarding serious danger.
3790367 Innocence and kindness does go well together.
staying true, she had to be less then naive?
if you go by the conceptual, kindness/friendship being the strongest?
there is more to it, but we have to guess and second guess.
if there is a semi hive/changeling in her?
there seems to be a bat in her as well. I'm using this aspect of her, when shipping her to dash.
making any sense?
3790396
Well -- see, Fluttershy is neither stupid nor ignorant of life (though given her hermetic nature I doubt she's sexually experienced). She knows some of the harsher realities of Nature -- she studies biology and lives right next to the Everfree, so she has no choice but to know this. She doesn't have a very good understanding of conscious evil, though.
In my story, what I'm postulating is that she's half-Changeling. Which means she inherited some Changeling abilities, and the main Changeling weakness (Dependent on Love, in Champions terms). It helps a lot that she can tap a little love from a lot of individuals (thus not exhausting any one host), and that she can do this from non-sapient animals.
What she did with Rainbow Dash, where she actually drained enough to make her tired, was an accident. She normally doesn't do this to anyone. She directly apologized to Rainbow for this, too, but Rainbow didn't grasp the significance of what she was saying. To be fair to Rainbow, who despite her emotional obliviousness is not an idiot, nopony would have before "A Canterlot Wedding."
She's basically living as a symbiont with her animals. And to some extent her friends. And doing them far more good than harm, which is the point of symbiosis.
3790396
Shipping her with Rainbow makes sense, as she probably trusts and loves Rainbow more than any other pony, so if they were both lesbian or bisexual, they probably would be lovers. You may have noticed that on both sides in this story, their friendship is pretty intense, especially when they're alone so that Rainbow doesn't have to pretend to have no softer emotions and Fluttershy isn't as embarrassed by revealing her own feelings.
3790426 speaking of which, I was just remainded, Dash did say that bats are cool/awesome in an old ep, goes well with the Flutter Bat?
now, I did not leave dash with nothing, the gift does go well with the general outlook of her both in persona, and menatality, go figure?
the 'Softer side' doesn't go well with her persona? not if she is to admit it openly among others.
she seems a bit on the masho side?
socialising with flutter wasn't a problem with Dash, back before the mark, why now?
being the show supposedly for small girls, they never show much of affection in the show. We just know they have families. there was some signes of affection in the older generations, though.
maybe this should be a challenge?
if you're curious as to the story, it's open to read ..
3790448
Rainbow Dash is very much obsessed with proving that she's the bravest, coolest, fastest, toughest Pegasus around.
It's not that she keeps secret that she hangs out with Fluttershy. Their friendship is fairly obvious in the show. It's that Fluttershy is one of the only ponies whom she feels even slightly comfortable expressing her softer side around. She definitely doesn't around her other best friend, Applejack, with whom she has more of a Vitriolic Best Buds type of relationship. (This is at least in part because Rainbow Dash and Applejack are competing for the same sort of role (athletic excellence), while Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's spheres don't really overlap.
Actually, in my story I mostly have Rainbow Dash show affection only by doing the equine equivalent of punching Fluttershy gently in the arm, which is a male way of expressing physical affection to another male (a greatly-restrained version of what would otherwise be an attack). Even when they're alone together, RD feels restrained from displaying her softer side. The reader only knows it exists because I'm telling those parts from Rainbow's point of view.
If you watch the show carefully you'll see that most characters, including most definitely the Mane Six, engage in physical displays of affection toward their friends. They do so by nuzzling each other, rubbing against each other, and sometimes hugging each other. They actually do this on less provocation than is the norm in our own society, even between women. This fits in with the overall Equestrian theme of idealizing love and friendship.
Even Rainbow Dash will do this when everybody else is doing so, because then it can't be taken as being girly weakness from her. Though the very concept of "girly weakness" is probably not the same in a matriarchy as it is in our societies -- it's probably more accurate to say that Rainbow's trying to live up to a Spartan warrior code, and gushing all over her friends would not fit this ideal. (Which is why Rainbow Dash is so adorable when she goes all "squee" over things).
3791160 maybe you could go as far as to say they're the outer extreams f mares in Equestria?
shipping them together almost is as if they were Mare and Stallion, short of the one small detail?
now, if dash do express it like that, I guess that only put validity to what I ust said?
just for the sake of oposites, is there any shy Stallion in the cast, but who act in a more Mae manner of ways?
That makes me wish I had the season boxes that series usually do give out for sale. just hanging out with the ponies, and enjoy the show.
hmm, 'a Spartan Code', doesn't include emotions, more then reading, but she did both, when put to the test.
3792413
Between the two, Rainbow is "butch," Fluttershy "femme."
just for the sake of oposites, is there any shy Stallion in the cast, but who act in a more Mae manner of ways?
Well yes -- Big Mac. He often gets paired with Fluttershy, I've noticed.
A "Spartan code" in that Rainbow basically lives for excellence in athletics, which substitutes in part for excellence in battle given the fact that Equestria's mostly been at peace for centuries. But, of course, with the Shadows massing, that's starting to change.
3792531 I may have a few more ships to explore, just that I doubt McFlutter would be among the first.
if you're tying different, how'd McDash look?
had to be peace, for the theme to be likable and cute.
even though I guess I still do like how the story went, as far as to the ep 4 of the fourth season.
not sure about the derpy, or what ever they like to cal her, just should be fun playing a ship from?
3792722
I don't know ... there's nothing especially compatible about BigMac and Rainbow Dash, but they wouldn't be obviously incompatible either. The main problem I could see is that Rainbow likes to boast and fantasize about her future glory, while Mac is very down-to-earth. It's obvious, by the way, that Mac is shy rather than weak-willed: he is perfectly willing to talk to ponies he really trusts (most obviously his family) and when he opens up reveals a will as strong as that of his sister Applejack's. (Which led to some funny moments on "Apple Pie" when they quarreled, neither willing to yield an inch).
There's a backstory to Derpy Hooves that we're probably going to never see on the show. To take the obvious questions: is she mentally retarded? Or does she just have messed up eyes and a clumsy streak a mile wide? Also, she has a child -- who is the father, and what happened to him? Alas, I don't see any of this ever being addressed in canon, given how insane some people get whenever she's referenced even to the tiny extent they've done so far.
I rather like the notion of her being a Companion of the Doctor, though for obvious copyright reasons they can't go there. This still doesn't address the issue of the origin of her child, given that the Doctor's relationships with his Companions were usually platonic.
OTOH, Rainbow will probably mature as she grows older and becomes more secure. A lot of Rainbow Dash's bluster comes from the feeling that she hasn't achieved enough yet, which is a basic insecurity, given how awesome she truly is.
3793077 sounds like a Middle-Griound ship? if the boasting gets out of hend, I guess mac would turn sour, though? he seems to be all honesty, just like sis Apple Jack. goes along with the hard days work.
Apple/Pie? *giggles* amusin name for this ship, if it is the point?
if we go by 'Ditzy', which seems to be more popular as of late, it would explin a few things? she's a happy goaround mother. we need more like this, considering her situation? I guess the copyright would explain why they can't show him, but his character could have a ood fit to it. the doctor may need a mare like Ditzy in his life? leavin the foal with her would still leave her with something, even if/when he couldn't be there?
sounds as if Rarity has some growing up to do. even if her busyness may play a role here? who ever were her parents? there are rarely mentioned in the show. even if there are stories touching the issue? what if she was originally from Manehattan? does it explain anything?
3793140
Rarity's parents appear in Sisterhooves Social. Her father's name is Magnum (given from another semi-official source) and his talent seems to involve (American-style) football, implying a serious interest in sports at least at one time in his life -- if he tried to raise Rarity to be an athlete, this would explain her considerable fighting skills. Her mother's name is never given, but her cutie-mark shows three cookies, one with a bite taken out of them, so she may be good at baking. They're both unicorns, as one would expect from their two daughters, Rarity and Sweetie Belle.
What's interesting about them is that they are very solidly middle-class, quite at odds with Rarity's aristocratic, social-climbing inclinations. It's possible that much of Rarity's outward persona started as an act of rebellion against which she considered mediocrity, and stuck because of her genuine artistic talents and personal drive. Sweetie Belle seems to idolize her older sister.
3793140
Big Mac is both sweet, shy and protective, and uncompromisingly honest (the last being a common Apple trait, or at least a trait of Granny Smith's branch of the family). It's very obvious that he acted as a surrogate father to both his sisters when their parents died. Though they sometimes butt heads, Applejack and Apple Bloom both adore him, a fact made obvious in multiple episodes.
He returns this love, especially for Applejack -- he was devastated (openly crying) when he thought he'd never see her again in "The Last Roundup." It's tough love, though -- he is brutally honest to his sisters when he thinks they've done wrong. Several fanfic writers have pointed out that he would have been the obvious backup Element of Honesty had Applejack not been available.
The main incompatibility between him and Rainbow Dash would be that he doesn't like boasting. He even accused Applejack of this flaw in "Apple Buck Season," when she overestimated her own capabilities. His brutal honesty would also be a problem: Rainbow Dash, for all that she claims to be emotionally tough, is actually quite sensitive to criticism, especially from someone she loves. What's worse, she'd be likely to react to such criticism by attempting to prove that she really could do whatever she boasted to do, even if it was suicidally dangerous!!!
By contrast, Applejack isn't all that sensitive. Oh, she has feelings, and you can hurt them, but she's fundamentally much more secure than is Rainbow Dash, and if she thinks you're wrong she'll prove it; if she thinks you're right, she'll (eventually) admit it. This is relevant because Applejack is Big Mac's model for "slightly younger female." If he were in a romantic relationship with a mare, he would be very likely to treat her in a sexualized version of "how Applejack would want to be treated," and this is a dangerous model because very few mares have Applejack's combination of honesty and stubborness.
3793367 would be fun, if there were more easily accessable materials, preferably Canon.
sounds odd, if they call it'foot-ball', since the more pony style would be hoof-ball?
both Rarity and Sweetie Belle being unicorns, still do make sense.
pondering if Manehattan still is middle class, how ever stuck up some seems, in the ep when apple Jack went there? still, they can never compare with Canterlot, where the actual Elite live, and it isn't a farm village, like Ponyville, at least started out as?
in a sense, I guess Ponyville is just right for Rarity, since it seems to climb on the social too.
possibly thanks to her, and the Mane Six in general?
I doubd "Filthy Rich" is doing much for the community, other then hoarding treasures, in a draggonstuyle manner of speaking? it's his tallent, by the looks?
could only speculate, as to why Celestia had the place settled in the first place?
a barrier towards the Everfree, a test to the faith-full or? (the list could go on)
3793430
Well, they wouldn't call it "American" either.
This is all presumably translation from whatever sort of (probably unpronounceable or barely-pronounceable by humans language, in the manner of Jonathan Swift's Houyhnhnms, they are actually speaking).
Rarity didn't come from Manehattan. Based on the evidence, she originated either from Ponyville or from some other nearby town. Remember, when she first meets Twilight Sparkle she is thrilled to meet someone from the (more prestigious) capital city of Canterlot (whom she can probably tell is of the gentry by her bearing and speech patterns). And in "Rarity Takes Manehattan," she's excited to come to the big city. Rarity is a rural or at best suburban girl, who aspires to urbanity.
Manehattan is a pun on "Manhattan" (the central part of New York City) and is obviously a commercial port similar in general importance, architecture and layout to late 19th - early 20th century Manhattan, New York. Ponies of all degrees of wealth and social standing would live there, though I would imagine the poorer ones would have crowded apartments. I know whereof I speak here -- I grew up in the Bronx, New York City (the northern part of the city) and often had jobs or went shopping in Manhattan, until I moved to the San Francisco Bay region over a decade ago. Again, "Manehattan" probably isn't what the Ponies would "really" call the place.
Actually the evidence is that Filthy Rich (whose family is fond of obnoxious pun type names, to his distress) greatly benefits Ponyville by providing them with a means of exporting their agricultural and other surpluses. He owns a nationwide chain of stores which buys a lot of Ponyville's products and resells them in other cities. This is mentioned in the episode in which Granny Smith tells the story of Ponyville's founding.
Ponyville was IMHO founded as a garrison town to watch over the Everfree Forest. Note that Princess Celestia gave the original land grant to a Badass Family (the Apples) who wound up farming property as deep into the Everfree as was survivable. It is not obvious whether or not Celestia told them that this was her purpose, but I think that she did it in part to have forces in place to deal with Nightmare Moon's return, and possibly also future crises involving the Tree of Harmony. Yes, it's perfectly plausible that Celestia did this almost a century in advance of the expected trouble: long-term planning seems to be her modus operandi.
3793423 honesty could be a family trait, on this farm, never saw enough of any other, even if oncle and aunt Orange were featured in an episode, but apple Jack left them in haste, even leaving all she carried there.
is this a reason to have Ponyville settled by the apples? breeding honesty, as it were?
as far as honesty goes, I guess it is a firm ground for emotional security? or is it the apple family too? as opposed to Dashs Loyalty, but who stands behind her on this ground?
do I sense a similiarity with Trixie here? she'd set out on such a quest, hooves down, without batting an eyes?
it is always the closest that hurt your emotions the deepest, just because they're closer?
she couldn't be honest, if she had no feelings. just that if she trust you, she is hurt when you betray her. pondering if there is intended or unintended psycologuy for the Middle foal here?
I demand a Canterlot Wedding fic with this version of Fluttershy. This makes so much sense!
3793509
I think the Apples are the kind of ponies whom you know you can count on in a crisis. They're hard-working, honest, self-reliant, courageous, intelligent and extremely tough. In Alex Warlorn's PonyPOV series they are one of the lineages descended from Sweetheart and in my own fanon, the Apple Clan was one of the families which Luna traditionally-recruited her Guards from.
Both Big Mac and Applejack strike me as ponies who would fall in love cautiously and take their loves extremely seriously, as in "eternal fidelity" and "would die for you if need be." Ponies like that would be devastated by romantic betrayal, to the point of possibly being unable to forgive it.
In general, they're "frontier" or "marcher" type personalities. They're the kind of ponies who settle dangerous or disputed lands and then are willing to defend their steadings and their family and friends to the death. Ponies like that often do better in time of war than in time of peace, when their virtues are more greatly appreciated.
Consider this: I didn't make up any of Applejack's deeds in Nightmares Are Tragic. She directly saved her friends' lives at least twice (when she kept Rainbow from attacking Nightmare Moon and again when she kept Twilight from falling off that cliff). She also led the charge to rescue Twilight when Nightmare Moon teleported Twilight into the tower. The only thing I made up was Luna's admiring reaction to this, and based on the respect Luna showed for her in "Luna Eclipsed," I don't think I was extrapolating too much in that regard.
Applejack's continued to be awesome in this fashion all through the series. If the character of Twilight Sparkle didn't exist, she'd be the hero of a series called Applejack and Friends, in my opinion.
(Rainbow Dash disagrees as to the proposed title!)
Trixie is like Applejack in that both are stubborn. She however lacks Applejack's code of honor, including most especially honesty. Trixie is not evil, but she is morally far weaker than Applejack. She's also less emotionally secure.
Applejack would probably be hurt more by betrayal from someone close than by anything else in the world. Especially if that someone was family.
3793591
I'm rather likely to write it -- since I wrote this, I've been speculating myself about the exact nature of the kinship between Chrysalis and Fluttershy, and also what the purpose of Chrysalis was in choosing to create such hybrids.
3793591 my only pony wedding is at the Empire, sadly, no flutter anythign, she's watching her friends, though.
3793626
Yeah, I kind of got the feeling it was intentional from Chrysalis' dialogue in the third chapter, but It would be nice to learn the truth.
Heck, what if you wrote it as a reverse of the usual Canterlot Wedding scenario, where you have a clueless Twilight and a Fluttershy who not only distrusts Cadence but keeps hearing strange voices in her head and is worried about her sanity.
3793617 sounds like the kind of pony you'd love to have close by in thick and thin! even if you need to kick their butts to keep them not hurting themselves, if the effort overwhealms them, which came up in the show.
To the Apples, the domestic hurt more then forein, since it is the domestic you trst to be there.
I was to put it like that, but if you testd it, the limit may be cut shour, since if you really tried it, would they stop that short? I wouldn't bet on it if I had tried.
Theres a good reason why the apples settled this place? allowing them to prosper, where none other expected to even stay? it isn't that the other lands were too valuable for them, it is that they were not making the most use of it?
basing a story on actual 'true fact' over extrapolation, where possible is always preferable. even if a point of extrapolation is good for a story, but not so much in a fan-fic.
The show wouldn't work without the apples. it's not just the ellement, even if she isn't in tre apple episodes by the standards? then again, the archtype is hard to devellop?
Dash being Dash, everything revolves around her, sun and moon included? or that's the limit, since she is the typical "Air-Bender", and the best there ever was. being the first, 'known' to perform the RainBoom, even as yound as it was?
she had to be stuborn, it goes with both honesty and the frontiers?
a mere Century or three isn't more then a Decade to us. the Everfree may have been a Nexus of Chaos even before the sisters entered the scene? nothing is mentioned on this.
Certainly she know Luna was bound to return, this was the obvious lace for her at this.
begs the question, how much of the forest is because of it, or it was luna going there because of the forest?
Naturally, it is brilliant tactics, putting the apples there. both the forest itself, and luna. furhtermore, it proved to be a good point later yet again.
seems to be a focal point for something more, between all things importat?
if she told or instructed them this close? probbaly not? we'll never know, unless it is made canon in a later ep? as if it will happen? too close to the haos, can't know of it?
speaking of which, wouldn't Equestria be very deeply hurt, if the Apples turned coats? as it were.
the apples seems to be a firm 'Clan', as it were, sticking together, even when spread thin.
3793656 sounds like a challenge, but it may be possible.
who ever hear the voices would question sanity. isn't that the norm?
hearing voices is never good, it has been stated all over and over?
3793498 if I'm not mistaken, there is a sport that looks similiar, from the outside.
Jonathan 'Swift' ??
I guess Equestian would be a good name for the language?
by some standards, it sounds like english and is pretty easily understood(by obsoliete canon)
I'd need to see this part, in order to know it, still, where she is from, as in grew up, doen't have to be the same as where her parents or family was from, if they moved either just before or after she was born?
Canterlot is more like London, as opposed to just a Metropolis?
the pun is still hillarious, but I uess it was rather obvious .. this do make sense, from the scne in the episode when AJ was there? (less then convenint to go to NY for shoping if you live in that region, HuH ??
ah, but this should be considerably less important to the village, after the Mane Six started to contribute, Rarity doesn't rely on him, for her busyness, for all I could see.
the farming would also enjoy Dash just as much, since she keeps the weather better then anyone else? shown or not?
It was mentioned/stated, Celestia 'Granted' this land to a small group of settlers, which by the looks of it would have the Apples included?
3794287
Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels. One of the parts of the novel describes Gulliver's stay amongst a race of sapient horses, the Houyhnhnm. Their language is very difficult for humans to vocalize. They are highly-rational, to the point of coldness, and dislike humans (a brutal and nasty chimpanzee-like race, the Yahoos, also dwell in their lands, and they see Gulliver as a somewhat-smarter and more polite Yahoo) -- but at least one of the sapient horses is kindly enough that she and Gulliver become good friends. The inspiration here for My Little Pony should be obvious -- I would not be surprised if the original series' Wind Whistler was based on this concept, as she's coldly rational (yet has real feelings which she suppresses in times of crisis).
I always assumed that the Rainbow Bridge acted as a magical translator for Megan and her siblings.
Canterlot doesn't really correspond to any human city. The name is a pun on "Camelot," and like Camelot it is the capital for an idealistic monarch who has magical powers.
We don't really know if Rarity was born in Ponyville, but in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" she's living there at an age which would correspond to the tweens for a human. So she's at least grown up to marehood there.
Rarity has been building her fashion business to the point where she's now getting orders from all over Equestria -- we've seen this explicitly developed in several episodes (which by the way is almost unique in Western animation -- showing a business growing and developing -- one of the reasons I love the show in general and Rarity in particular as a character).
You should really read GT someday -- it's a classic work of proto- science fiction. It was meant primarily as social satire, but it's not inconsistent with the (limited) understanding of science of the day. For instance, we now know why Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians are biologically improbable, but they didn't know this in the early 18th century.
Yes, I could see an emotionally more mature Rainbow Dash marrying into the Apple family. I don't see it working unless she got more mature, though. Big Mac is nice, but he's not a pushover. Shy does not mean the same thing as weak-willed, as Fluttershy demonstrates.
3794287
Yeah, the Apples were the leaders of the party that settled Ponyville. It has occurred to me (having played Civilization and Civ-like games a lot) that they may not have been the first to try. The Everfree is not a safe place, nor are its environs.
3793766
Notice how Big Mac reacted when he discovered that Apple Bloom had been saying hurtful things about their family just to write stories as part of "Gabby Gums." He very obviously felt betrayed and was angry about it. It's also one of the only times he is willing to speak at length about something.
I'm guessing that Celestia granted them the land for free if they were willing to improve it, because she knew how dangerous are the borders of the Everfree and that nobody would do it without such an incentive. The Apples, being stubborn, tough, smart and industrious, would be ideal to lead such a venture.
Notice that Sweet Apple Acres is directly between the Everfree and the town proper? Most of the time that something awful comes out of the forest, it probably comes to Sweet Apple Acres first. And most of the time that happens, the town probably never sees it because the Apples drive it off.
3793656
You've given me a good idea, though I want to write it so it's outwardly with canon. Keep in mind that Fluttershy would not be willing to betray her friends and her whole realm just to keep her secret: if she knew that Chrysalis had replaced Cadance, she'd tell other ponies. Fluttershy is a poor communicator, but she's not mute, and she's not cripplingly shy with her friends.
3796940 that beg to question, just how many poor families have been trashed in this region?
I've been playing the civ too, it's quite enjoyable.(I just don't feel I have the time for the games, and civ do take days)
3796959 that'd be the 'Incident', where the entire village chunned the CMC?
they really went overboard with that story. No wonder big mac was mad?
you could say just riskin your neck is price enough for such a place?
that'd explain why they lost the parrents too? the Apples is the Garnison towards the forest?
then having the village as garnison for the Equestria?
the the Apples truely do more then anyone for the village, mere economics can't compare. even if certain ponies like to make it look as if they were the most important once in town?
3796966 sticking with canon, for as far as possible is always the good thing
she's just shy, up to a point, before she stare down the Dragon, so to speak.
She is Kindnes, it wouldn't be true to herself, or the kindness, betraying them?
3796966
That's just it though; she wouldn't necessarily make the connection between her suspicion and the voices right away. I agree Fluttershy would tell people if she knew for a fact that Cadence had been replaced, but with only vague suspicions and no proof things would probably play out similarly to how they player out for Twilight.
3797419
Oh absolutely, which is why the external plot will stick with canon. Remember also that Fluttershy's ability to tap into the Changeling communication channel is not the same thing as a "Changeling detector" -- as Without A Hive argues, one Changeling cannot reliably recognize another who is trying to hide. And Fluttershy is only half-Changeling, and she is far less familiar with normal Changelings than was Nictis in Phoenix_Dragon's story.
At most, Fluttershy would get a weird feeling around "Cadance," perhaps feeling drawn to her, or uncomfortable around her, but there's no obvious reason she would realize that she was actually in the presence of Chrysalis. Unless, of course, Chrysalis wanted to communicate to her -- but why should she do that? Chrysalis figured that after she seized Canterlot, she would have plenty of time to do whatever she intended to do with Fluttershy.
And Fluttershy probably feels uncomfortable around a lot of people she doesn't know, and would chalk it up to "Gee, I must be nervous around Twilight's future sister-in-law because I'm afraid she won't like me." Wouldn't you?
3797292
Probably enough that it bothers Celestia when she thinks too long about it. One of the prices of ruling a realm is that you have to be willing to risk your subjects from time to time, to avoid worse losses down the line.
3797323
Fluttershy is not a coward. Part of her problem is that her concept of "courage" comes from a rather militaristic culture which has endured a long time of peace: such cultures often romanticize showy displays of bravado.
3797309
Yes, pretty much -- Ponyville is a first line of defense for Canterlot, and Sweet Apple Acres is a first line of defense for Ponyville. And the Apples are the family who -- if this were still Equestria's "medieval" period -- would be the local barons, charged with defense of their fief. And yeah, I think the town would be screwed seven different ways without them.
3797549
that IS the price of leadership, particularly, if you're a good leader, or better.
3797555
this would curse her to an exiictance flippin coins between th pushover, and the beast, if you ould put it quite that way?
3797562
all the fancy-pants would galop out first chance, if he apples left *giggles*
even if I guess you could hope that Dash could be scout? even if it ties back to the previous point of the military situation?
No wonder she made everything in her power to gather the Mane Six here?
3797542 there is something like in 'Star Gate - Atlantice' and the Wraith?
there is a character with such characteristics in that story line.
may have some interest in this?
even if you don't like 'Star Gate' in general?