Chapter III: A Different Point Of View
The next few days went by without anything that much out of the ordinary happening. We continued to make our way through the Disney animated movies from Bambi to Cinderella to Lady And The Tramp to The Jungle Book. With each movie that we showed our friends, they could at least find one thing that they liked about any particular movie. Pinkie Pie enjoyed the wackiness of Alice In Wonderland, Rainbow Dash was fascinated by the villainous Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, and Fluttershy really liked several of the movies that involved animals like Lady And The Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and The Sword In The Stone among others.
With that said, we didn’t only introduce them to the animated Disney movies. I took it upon myself to familiarize them with various forms of music. Not just music from nowadays either, but music going all the way back to the 70s and 60s. I had grown up in a household where my dad would play a lot of older music spanning various genres and decades so I grew up as somewhat of a musical connoisseur with my vast tastes in music.
And so I educated our friends with songs from various artists such as The Beatles, KISS, Michael Jackson, Shania Twain, Def Leppard, Journey, U2, Motley Crue, Prince, The Backstreet Boys, Whitney Houston, AC/DC, The Black Eyed Peas, Keith Urban, Miley Cyrus, Jason Derulo, and countless others. I even showed them some of my guilty pleasure songs like Harry Nilsson’s “Coconut”, Psy’s “Gangnam Style”, and Eiffel 65’s “Blue”, just to name a few. The girls were very impressed by my vast knowledge of both artists and genres.
As the days went by, I tried to think of other forms of our culture that I could introduce to these girls. Many ideas came to my mind, but I had to shoot down several of them rather quickly. The movie The Godfather was a definite “no” on account of the infamous scene of that man waking up with a horse’s head on his mattress. I also knew that Game Of Thrones wouldn’t be the best idea either. I had tried starting the show myself less than a year ago, but, part of the way through the first season, I came across one episode where one character (whose name escaped me), in a maniacal fit of rage, decapitated his own horse.
This hit me particularly hard when I thought of my own pony ancestry. Unlike The Godfather, though, I had watched Game Of Thrones after being introduced to Friendship Is Magic and that imagery proved to be incredibly disturbing and traumatizing to me. What if that had been me? Or, even worse, one of my friends? I stopped watching the show entirely shortly after that.
While pondering what I could share with them, the thought occurred to me of showing them some of my favorite Tim Burton movies. O.K. O.K. not everything in his filmography would be a good idea for them. I mean, Sleepy Hollow anyone? Talk about decapitations. Fluttershy had already gotten pretty scared of the Headless Horseman after a viewing of The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad days earlier and as her friend I certainly wasn’t going to subject her to that, but maybe something a little bit lighter like Edward Scissorhands or Big Fish could work. I could already see Rainbow Dash easily becoming fascinated with his Batman movies and The Nightmare Before Christmas, I was certain, would entertain most, if not all, of the girls.
And what about Anime? Somewhat similarly to Tim Burton’s filmography, not everything would be suitable for all of the girls, but I was sure that they would appreciate the animation, characters, and writing of at least some of my favorite Anime shows. Some Anime shows could even have very thought-provoking ideas behind them that I was sure Twilight could definitely appreciate. Maybe certain shows I’d only let some of them see? For example, Attack On Titan might be too much for most of them, but it was possible that Rainbow Dash would enjoy it pretty well.
These thoughts ran through my head as I was walking along the beach with Ariel on my shoulders, Savannah to my right, and the girls to my left. It was somewhat close to high tide as our feet were constantly getting wet from the oncoming ocean. Even then though the cool water against our feet was rather pleasant as we continued along our way.
“So how’d ya enjoy tha WaterFire Saga, Twilight?” I questioned, breaking the silence.
“I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for asking,” she replied, pleasantly. “I particularly liked the details when it came to world-building and some of the differences between various species of Merpeople like part-octopus, part-crab, part-lionfish, and even how some species contained bioluminescence. I also found the villains to be rather interesting as well as the author’s cliffhanger ending that could leave the series open to a possible continuation.”
“That actually makes me think of a popular sayin’ in our world regardin’ any form of entertainment whether it be a performance in a show, a book, or even a movie.”
“What sayin’ is that, Sugarcube?” Applejack puzzled.
“‘Always leave ‘em wantin’ more’. The quote itself was originally coined by a famous showman named P.T. Barnum, a founder o’ tha infamous Ringling Brothers ‘n Barnum ‘n Bailey Circus. Ya see, the ending is one o tha mos important parts of any story or performance as it’s tha las note ya leave yer audience on. A quote like that essentially feeds into a person’s desire fer tension whether it be in a performance or a story, a desire ta see their favorite characters challenged in their attempts to accomplish their end goal. That’s what draws people in ‘n makes ‘em root fer their hero. They want ta see tha protagonist succeed even when tha odds are stacked against ‘em.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Twilight affirmed.
“Ah’m actually reminded of a video Ah saw bout a week ago from a guy Ah follow named Doug Walker where he discussed movie sequels ‘n why tha majority of ‘em wind up bein’ terrible.”
“Wait. Movies have sequels?” Rainbow puzzled.
“Many do, but very few of ‘em are ever that great. One o’ tha problems he stated was that too many sequels focus on repetition. He said that while we do wanna see some familiar elements from previous installments like characters, locations, and themes, we mostly wanna see tha story evolve ‘n continue, not be retold. Tha reason fer this is that many of us see a bit of ourselves in these characters we’ve grown attached to ‘n therefore we don’t want a story ta be repeated with hardly any differences from its predecessor.”
“Makes sense to me,” Rarity stated.
“Sometime while you guys are here, we’ll hafta introduce ya ta some o’ tha actual good sequels.”
“How’re you guys enjoying the Disney movies thus far?” Savannah asked.
“Oh I like them a lot,” Fluttershy answered. “I especially like any of the movies that deal with either animals or princesses.”
“Well if ya like tha princesses, it’s gonna be a little while before we get back ta them again,” I explained. “Sleepin’ Beauty was tha las’ princess movie Disney did fer a while.”
“That’s rather disappointing,” Rarity began, “because I didn’t think that the princess in that movie was all that interesting or memorable when compared to Snow White or Cinderella.”
“She was pretty boring in that movie,” Flutters agreed.
“All I’m saying is that Disney didn’t necessarily stop on a high note with her as far as princesses were concerned.”
“Yup. Princess Aurora ranks pretty low in most people’s minds when it comes to Disney Princesses,” Savannah followed up. “Thankfully, the next Disney Princess movie has a far more interesting protagonist.”
“Which movie is that?” Pinkie piped up.
“The Little Mermaid, one of David’s favorite Disney movies ever.”
“It’s true,” I admitted. “Ah’ve loved it ever since Ah was much younger. Tha main character of Ariel was ma first love.”
“Wait a minute,” Fluttershy began, stopping in her tracks for a second, “isn’t that the same name as your daughter?”
“Yes. Yes it is. Ariel is ma favorite Disney Princess ‘n, seein’ how Ah’m technically an Equestrian Prince, Ah thought it only appropriate that our daughter have a name fittin’ of her title as princess.”
“O.K. twin. Now you’ve got me really curious to check this movie out,” Rainbow Dash stated. “How many more movies do we have to go through before reaching this one?”
“‘Bout seven or eight. We should be able ta get around ta it within a couple o’ days.”
“That’s good ta know,” Applejack answered, “cuz now ya’ve got me curious ‘bout it also.”
“Somethin’ worth notin’ is that tha nex’ several movies came out durin’ a period considered by many ta be tha ‘Dark Age Of Disney Animation’. Ev’ry movie that came out before The Little Mermaid was either panned by critics, financially unsuccessful, or even a combination o’ both. With tha release o’ The Little Mermaid, Disney entered a period known as tha ‘Disney Renaissance’ where they put out some o’ their best movies ever.”
It was in that moment that Ariel let out a soft yawn.
“Looks like it’s time for us to start heading back,” Savannah stated. “Someone sounds like she needs a nap.”
And so we began our way back home as I decided to veer off briefly into another topic of conversation.
“How’ve you guys been enjoyin’ our little Bible discussions?”
“I’ve found them to be rather interesting,” Fluttershy began, “though, I will admit that some of them have been a little hard for me to follow.”
“That’s perfectly understandable, Flutters. All o’ y’all jus heard ‘bout me ‘n Savannah’s beliefs a few short days ago so all o’ this is probably pretty new ta you girls. Somethin’ that Ah wanna make perfectly clear is that Ah’m in no way tryin’ ta force our beliefs on any of ya. Ah’m merely sharin’ tha way that we see things ‘n you guys are free ta do with that what ya will.”
“That’s perfectly fine,” Twilight answered, pleasantly. “I try to be open to the worldviews and opinions of others.”
“Darn straight,” Applejack agreed.
“Something you’d want to be careful of, though, is that some worldviews or religions stem from hatred towards others,” Savannah stated. “I personally believe that any religion founded on either hatred or violence towards others is a lie. God is a God of love who doesn’t want to see people hating or murdering each other because of our differences. Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in today. Thankfully, though, we can bring our concerns to God through prayer and he’ll always answer, one way or another.”
“But if God is as powerful as you say he is, why does he allow stuff like this to happen?” Rainbow puzzled.
“Well, Rainbow,” I began, “oftentimes, it can be hard fer us ta see past these terrible events as they’re happenin’, but God always has a greater plan in the end. One example that comes ta mind is actually tha story Ah shared with ya guys a couple days ago ‘bout Joseph.”
“You mean the guy who had those weird dreams and was sold into slavery by his own brothers?” Pinkie asked.
“Mmhmm. Joseph’s brothers sold him inta slavery out of jealousy towards him because he was his father’s favorite son, but God used Joseph ‘n his skill at interpretin’ dreams ta lead towards tha salvation of countless people durin’ tha long, hard famine that came later. Joseph was even made tha second in command ta tha Pharaoh, ruler o’ most o’ tha known world back then.
"Ah’m even reminded o’ tha first time Ah was brought ta Equestria less than 3 years ago. Ah had no idea how Ah’d gotten there or why Ah was even there ta begin with, but Ah believe that God used me ta save all of y’all from Crystal. Ah even got ta learn tha truth ‘bout ma ancestry. Ah’d never asked fer any of it ta begin with, but, now, after tha fact, Ah can’t imagine ma life without ever havin’ met everypony there, ‘specially you six.”
“Aww! We’re happy to have met you too, Davey.”
“And Savannah,” Fluttershy added.
The girls then hugged me and Savannah tightly before we continued walking. It was then that I decided to change the subject back to Disney movies.
“So you guys know that movie we saw, The Sword In The Stone?” I questioned.
“Yeah? What about it?” Twilight asked back.
“One o’ ma favorite parts in tha movie was tha scene where Merlin ‘n Arthur became squirrels ‘n that girl squirrel started hittin’ on Arthur.”
“We know,” Rainbow remarked. “You wouldn’t stop laughing throughout the entire scene.”
“I thought it was pretty funny too,” Pinkie giggled.
“I enjoyed that scene too,” Flutters began, “though, I felt soo sorry for that poor little girl squirrel after Arthur had been changed back to human. That part was really sad to me.”
“I think it was pretty hard for a lot of younger audiences when they first saw it,” Savannah agreed. “I know I found it heartbreaking on my first viewing.”
“Disney certainly does have a way o’ tuggin’ at tha heartstrings,” I stated.
“That's putting it mildly, darling,” Rarity replied. “From Snow White’s wake to the death of Bambi’s mother to that scene at the dog pound in Lady And The Tramp, I wonder how colts and fillies could come out of those scenes without being emotionally scarred.”
“Well me and David managed to make it out pretty O.K.,” Savannah remarked, “and that wasn’t even all of them.”
“Yup. Jus’ wait til we get ta The Lion King,” I commented. “That movie hit me pretty hard.”
“How so?” Rainbow puzzled.
“You’ll hafta wait ‘n see.”
“If any of you guys were interested,” Savannah began, “I was thinking that maybe we could introduce y’all to your show after we’ve made our way through all the animated Disney movies.”
“Maybe we could even show it ta ya guys sooner as a nice little buffer between movies,” I added.
“I’d certainly be interested in seeing it if it’s as good as you say it is,” Fluttershy answered with a soft smile.
“Me too,” Rainbow agreed.
“Absotively!” Pinkie exclaimed.
A smile crossed my face before I spoke up again.
“There’s soo much fer us ta show you guys ‘n such short time fer us ta do it in.”
“That’s alright Sugarcube,” Applejack replied. “We’ll jus’ take everythin’ as it comes.”
After that, no more words were spoken as we made our way back to our house. In that moment, all was right with my own little world, but, unfortunately, it wouldn’t last.
* * * * * * * *
Later on that day, we were eating dinner in the living room. We had ordered several cheese pizzas earlier and sat around the TV while watching episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic off of Netflix. Our friends’ eyes were fixated on the TV as we watched the episode Dragonshy. They didn’t say much of anything about the show, merely sitting there in silence.
Ariel was playing with some of her toys on the floor, more invested in them than what was on the TV. She crawled over to her teething ring and began chewing on it, contentedly, as the rest of us ate our pizza and drank soda.
Once the episode was over, I decided that we might want to take a break from it for the time being before turning my attention towards the girls.
“So what were yer guys’ thoughts ‘bout yer show?” I questioned.
It took several seconds before Twilight answered.
“It’s a bit unusual,” she began, “seeing all this stuff that went on in our lives from an outsider perspective like this.”
“It is kind of uncanny,” Fluttershy added after swallowing a bite of pizza. “I also found it interesting how they managed to find people who sounded soo much like us when voicing us in the show.”
“Eh. I’ve heard better,” Rainbow Dash remarked.
“What I’m curious about is how they managed to capture these events in our lives as accurately as they did?” Rarity mentioned.
“Well, do ya guys remember tha las’ time Ah was in Equestria when Ah told y’all ‘bout ‘Authors’?” I asked.
All six of them nodded.
“Well, Authors are special people who have tha ‘bility ta see things most others can’t. There have been many countless Authors throughout the ages who have been tasked with chronicling what they witness, both tha wonderful ‘n tha terrible. Some of ‘em chronicled what happened in biblical times, others recounted fairy tales, ‘n still many today tell new stories that only they’ve had revealed ta them.
“Tha task of an Author is an incredible burden ‘n responsibility that should never be abused. One should never alter the events of a story fer their own pleasure or benefit. They’re merely supposed ta keep a record of what they’ve witnessed in these other worlds that they’re given glimpses into.”
“Have there ever been any cases before where someone has abused that power?” Twilight puzzled.
“Well there is one occasion that Ah can think of. Ya know how, a few days ago, Ah told ya guys ‘bout tha Twilight saga?”
“Yes. Why?” Fluttershy questioned. “Was that an example of… ‘power abuse’?”
“Not exactly, but it did give birth to tha mos’ notorious instance o’ power abuse of our time. An author known as E. L. James wrote a trilogy o’ books that originated as Twilight fanfiction ‘n had them published. These books have such terrible writing without any attempts at bein’ even remotely accurate or faithful to its already shady subject matter. She even admitted in an interview that tha books are the outpourin’ of her own personal fantasies.
“Nowadays, these books are considered a joke. Sure they were financially successful, but critical feedback was overwhelmingly negative ‘n still is. Countless people ‘n even celebrities have made fun of ‘em. There’re even movies based off of tha books that people ridicule, hell, tha mos’ recent one came out over a week ago ‘n people are sayin’ it was even worse than tha first one to tha point where it’s not even soo bad it’s good, but jus’ plain unwatchable. Ah’ve heard that Authors who alter stories fer personal satisfaction or gain have some sort o’ retribution that falls upon ‘em. Ma only guess is that her punishment is that she’ll forever be remembered ‘n mocked as one o’ tha worst writers ever.”
“If that’s the case then why even bother publishing anything?” Rainbow asked before taking another bite of pizza.
“The point of writing something should never be solely for financial gain or as a form of wish fulfillment,” Savannah explained. “If one is able to make a living off of their work, that’s fine, but the main purpose of writing is to share the way you see things with others and provide your readers with an enjoyable experience.”
“Precisely,” I added. “As an author maself, Ah’ve done everythin’ within ma power ta make sure that any story that comes ta mind, whether through revelation or experience, is always told like it is, warts ‘n all. Never once have Ah altered a story’s course nor do Ah have any intentions of doin’ so anytime soon.”
“Wow,” Fluttershy remarked. “That sounds like quite an important task.”
“That it is, Flutters. It actually reminds me of another famous sayin’ in our world: ‘With great power there must also come -- great responsibility’. Essentially, anyone who has tha ‘bility ta bring about positive change in tha world, it’s their duty ta bring that change ta pass.”
“Kind of like the responsibility we’ve had as bearers of The Elements Of Harmony,” Twilight stated.
“Exactly like that. So do ya guys wanna watch some more of yer show or another Disney movie?”
“Personally, I’d be more interested in seeing more of our show,” Rarity replied. “You’ve certainly got me hooked.”
“Ah feel pretty similarly,” Applejack agreed.
“Yup,” Pinkie piped up.
“I’d like to see where this goes,” Rainbow affirmed.
“So would I,” Flutters answered.
“Me too,” Twilight finished.
“O.K. then,” I remarked. “Let’s move on ta tha next episode.”
And so, as I put Look Before You Sleep on, we sat back and watched some more of the show, enjoying each others company in this calm, peaceful moment.
* * * * * * * *
A few hours later, after the episode Fall Weather Friends, some of the girls expressed an issue of confusion amongst them regarding a few select episodes we’d just viewed.
“Why was the Running Of The Leaves episode shown after the one dealing with the Winter Wrap-Up?” Rainbow puzzled. “Everypony knows that Fall comes before Winter, not after.”
“It is kind of confusing,” Flutters agreed.
“Ta be honest,” I began, “Ah’m not sure why exactly. Maybe tha writers jus’ made tha episodes when tha stories were first revealed ta them? Who knows?”
It wasn’t until I looked at my watch that I realized how late it had gotten. Time with my friends seemed to fly by much faster as of late.
“Well Ah think we should prob’ly call it a night.”
“I agree,” Twilight yawned. “All of us should.”
“I hope you all sleep well,” Savannah stated as we made our way to our room.
“You too, Sugarcube,” Applejack replied pleasantly.
Me and Savannah made our way quietly into our room so as not to wake up Ariel who had been put down a couple hours earlier. Taking my clothes off and settling into bed, I grabbed a book that I had recently started reading called Battle Of The Ampere by Richard Paul Evans, the third book in a heptalogy (7 book series) about a teenage boy named Michael Vey who had special electrical-based powers.
Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to have the power of Electrical Manipulation because it sounded the coolest to me. My first time in Equestria, I got the chance to use that power when I was defending the ponies from the evil hag, formerly known as Crystal, who had plans to destroy the entire pony race and reform Equestria into her own twisted design. It was hard to believe that it had been such a long time ago and that soo much had happened in that period.
I read a few chapters of my book before my eyelids started to get heavy. Placing the book on my nightstand, I took my glasses off and curled up next to my wife, holding her close in my arms. As I drifted off to sleep, I couldn’t help but wonder what tomorrow would hold.
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8144558 Glad to hear it.
Also, I really appreciate the watch. 
So, any commentary on these Bible and Christian elements in your story here?
(hope I'm not making things awkward for you)
(I do know it's kinda tricky incorporating things like God and religion into Pony world. Attempts I've seen have ranged from good to lame. Also, I believe I noticed you've sworn much less in this story [so far] compared to your previous ones. Any comment on that? It's ok if u don't.)