This story is a sequel to Little Steppes in the Magic Shoes
Note: To newcomers to my writing, this story is set approximately 100 years before the events of the MLP:FiM show start. I'm saying this now, so people don't ask why I'm writing a story about the Apple Family Reunion that has neither Applejack nor Big Mac in it. They literally haven't been born yet.
Five years have passed since the events of Little Steppes in the Magic Shoes. Little Steppes, now a 16 year old mare, has been regularly writing to her best friend Apple Cart, who has been her pen pal since she was 11 years old. Each year he and his mother, Apple Seed, have visited Ponyville in time for the Apple Family Reunion. This year, he's invited Little Steppes to join him at the party...
This is basically a nice little short for me to bridge the gap between Lilly the 11 year old filly, and Lilly the grown mare I plan to write in my next big story involving her. I'd been planning on writing a bridging story between her as an 11 year old and now with a series of short letters between her and AC, but unless you actually want me to write that, I'm scrapping it, since I'm worried I can't keep it interesting for a 5 year long period.
How do you pronounce Steppes?
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Literally it's pronounces in the same way as steps. The word Steppes I'm using is a wide expanse of unforested grassland, specifically the un-forested grassland of Eastern Europe and West Asia; the kind which are really, really good for ancient horse-riding nomads to ride upon, like the Mongols. ;)
So, strange curiosity, what if somepony else wears the shoes now?
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In short? Pretty much exactly what happened to Lilly when she first found them, except Lilly's the one holding the puppet strings, rather than being the one dangling from them. As such, though she can take them off almost whenever she likes with almost no problem, she's still kinda stuck with them.
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I’m guessing she can release them at any time however
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Absolutely. Technically whoever wore the shoes could still use them to do magic and what have you, but only if Lilly lets them. It's the mantra you must always remember when dealing with them: the shoes have one owner, and they will only do what their owner wants them to do, and will only go where their owner wants them to go. If anypony else wears them, then they will too.