Life of the Party
Sunset sat back in her desk, struggling to pay attention in her latest class. This was the last of the specialty accelerated courses she had elected to take, Cultural Interchange. This was specifically to train potential ambassadors in interpreting cultural mores and understanding the details of the various cultures of the Lylat system and how that influenced individual and group behavior, as well as how it could be applied to analyzing a brand new culture, should such be discovered. After her Immersive History lessons with Uncle Birdy, she'd thought this would be an excellent class to take and get her involved. Unfortunately, a few things were getting in the way of this.
First, a couple hours before class she'd indulged herself in a three-way sparring session with Pris and Jackie. While exhilarating and intense, exactly the sort of workout she'd hoped for in a free-for-all with fighters of their skill...it had also been physically taxing and exhausting. Even all of Faris' medical treatment couldn't cure the enervation without the use of stimulants, which Faris was unwilling to use on Sunset without a prescription or pressing emergency as her inner biology still wasn't fully understood.
Second, rather than the immersive approach Uncle Birdy had taken with her once he realized she was bored with book learning for History, the class was starting out with a series of lectures. While she was certain lectures could be enthralling - the ones in the Field Medicine class certainly were, as they were always accompanied by visual or tactile immersion on the discussed subject - the teacher seemed to be going out of his way to make it as dull and sleep inducing as possible. She really wanted to lean on the part of intentional for some reason, as anything else felt like inappropriate speciest profiling. Then again, he was a Slothian...
Third, the cultures being covered in the first few lectures - in the vein of understanding new cultures - were those of Dinosaur Planet as their influence was finally expanding beyond their home planet. Apparently, the leaders of that world were now considering sending their children to learn at the Academy, and 'there was already an Ambassador in attendance'. Now, she could easily push herself to be interested in what someone else had to say about Dinosaur Planet's culture just for a new point of view...but the lecture material was being drawn straight from the report she filed to denote her understanding of the planet's cultures to prove she was qualified to act as their Ambassador in a political standing, rather than just having Diplomatic Immunity without real reason.
Fourth, the poodle girl behind and to the left of her was groaning quite loudly, which was really distracting. To try and overcome at least one of these distractions, she turned her attention to her to see what her problem was. The girl was a very bright pink in coat, hair, and tail, and both hair and tail were so thickly curled that the only reason they couldn't be dubbed an afro was they seemed to move as though they had a life of their own. Someone had obviously made some attempt to tame them, as Sunset could see a few broken comb teeth...being actively devoured by the hair around them. She wished that was an exaggeration, but one tooth was being subsumed and absorbed even as she watched. Shuddering, she turned her attention lower.
Like everyone else she'd seen at the Academy in the accelerated courses, she was wearing a flight suit that had been personalized into a style. Hers was a bright blue top, yellow skirt and gloves, and weighted boots. She could tell they were weighted because they audibly clunked when she tapped one against the other when she sighed. She had bright blue eyes and pure white teeth, and her overall face seemed far more expressive than musculature and physics should allow, as it was currently drawn into an almost cartoonishly exaggerated expression of boredom and frustration. However, the moment she noticed Sunset looking at her, she sprang up into a happy smile that seemed wider than her whole face and gave Sunset a friendly wave.
"Is there something you want to share with the class, Miss Rocksalt?" the teacher spoke up, slowly and concisely.
"Ugh!" the poodle girl snapped. "I've asked for everyone to call me Diane! And this class isn't at all what I thought it was. I was expecting immersion! Understanding! Intrigue! But this is borrrrrring, bee oh sextuple arr ing!"
"That is not how you spell boring-"
"It is with the way you teach!" Diane barked out, setting a few titters around the class. Sunset struggled not to let out a laugh herself.
The teacher frowned. "Diane Rocksalt, General's granddaughter or no, you need to behave yourself in class, especially when we're discussing the Ambassador's adoptive culture when she's in class with us."
"She looks just as bored as I am!" Diane pointed out, gesturing to Sunset.
Sunset squirmed a bit as attention turned to her. "To be fair," she explained a trifle sheepishly, "I wrote the report you're teaching from, and I was required to make it as dryly anthropological as possible...I think just to prove I could."
"...I see," the teacher observed flatly. "Would you say it is still accurate?"
Sunset shrugged. "As...accurate as a report like that can be?"
"I knooooowwww!" Diane groaned out expressively as she threw her hands up in despair. "The only people those super sciency reports interest are the super sciency people who like to pick apart meanings they don't actually understand in someone else's culture to point out just how 'backward' they are compared to themselves so they can feel smarter and superior! How is that supposed to teach us to be diplomatic?"
"Well, you're certainly off to a great start," the teacher deadpanned, which set Diane - and much of the rest of the class, Sunset included - into fits of laughter.
"I don't want to hear what some Doc says other Docs should think about another culture!" Diane pointed out despairingly. "I want to hear from someone who's lived it how it feels to be a part of it! If we're gonna talk to someone who isn't us, how are we supposed to communicate what we need to say if we don't know what it's like to be them? Isn't that what diplomacy is about? Getting in each others' shoes so you can communicate properly and solve problems?"
The teacher stared at Diane for a time, then glanced away. "...ideally..." he allowed ruefully.
"So let's do that instead!" Diane spoke up eagerly, spinning in her desk to face Sunset...from in front of her, somehow. The student who had been sitting there blinked a few times, then shrugged it off in their new seat. "Come on, Sunny!" Diane pleaded hopefully. "We were just going into that Solstice Celebration with all the dancing...what's it like to be there? What's it feel like? What's it really mean?"
Sunset swallowed nervously before glancing at the teacher.
The teacher shrugged. "By all means, Ambassador Shimmer," he allowed. "If we are studying your material anyway, we may as well hear it straight from you."
Smiling, Sunset stood up and moved to the front of the class so she could face everyone, Diane's energy seeming to be infectious as she - and the whole class - got a bit more energized. She was somehow unsurprised to find Diane having relocated herself to the front row without standing up. She'd have to ask General Pepper about his granddaughter and her...odd abilities. She didn't sense any active magic, or any spiritual energy like she had with Jackie, but one never knew.
Facing the class, she glanced through what she'd written of the celebration...and frowned in distaste. "Okay, first off...forget what I wrote here." She tossed the papers aside. "I had to write it to satisfy stuffy anthropologists and politicos, and despite the documented evidence of etheric fields, the slightest mention of 'magic' makes them shrug whatever you're saying off as 'primitive superstition'." Frowning, she snapped her fingers and conjured a fire portal in the air, linking to the fires of Solaar and letting Volca stick his head through briefly to see what she was up to before pulling back as it was too cold and he started to harden, instead just looking through from the other side. "Does this look like superstition to any of you?" she demanded a bit more intensely than she'd intended, reaching through to pet Volca to calm herself, her own magic shielding her instantly from the intense heat and his molten nature.
"I don't know about stishy, but it sure looks super!" Diane exclaimed happily as she reached through to pet Volca as well, much to Sunset and Volca's shock. Her yellow glove seemed to glow as she pet the creature, and when she pulled back there was no heat.
Sunset blinked at that before pointing at the glove. "Is that...Raquel's work?" she asked curiously.
"Yupper!" Diane said happily. "The reflective properties she was working on with Diffusion Weave are new, but environmental protections are old news."
At that level, and it's 'old news', Sunset mused to herself as she waved to Volca as the portal closed. She then turned back to the class. "Anyway, what you need to keep in mind is that every planet has an etheric - or magical - field, as does every living creature, just from how the living energy impacts the magical. In most cases, it isn't strong enough to manifest, so it goes unnoticed. The field of Dinosaur Planet, however, is quite strong on that scale...so every living creature native to the planet is able to manifest some level of magical energy...and the festivals are about the tribes pooling their magic together with that of the planet.
"That's why the dances might look clumsy from an outside perspective," she continued, glad to see everyone hanging on her words. "While each tribe has a specific base dance pattern for the festival, each individual is expected to interpret the pattern in their own way, however it best expresses their individual magic to link it to that of the planet.
"For example, the Earthwalker dance pattern involves a lot of heavy steps, and even a few jumps to shake the earth beneath," she continued, demonstrating a few of the steps as best she could, stomping her hooves as she thrust down with her arms. "This is to 'wake' the earth to draw out its magic. The Cloudrunners, on the other hand, have more swooping gestures..." She made a few sweeping gestures of her arms as though striking at the wind. "...since they link to the Air magic. I participated a few times, but since my magic was strongest with Fire, I had to improvise a bit..."
She began demonstrating what she meant, stomping heavily with her hooves to wake the earth as she swept her arms down and up rhythmically, twirling about as she called the flames beneath. To her surprise, she felt the weak magic of Corneria responding immediately to her call, the energies of the planet's inner fire flowing up through her hooves and out her hands. Caught up in the flow, she continued her dance all the way through as her stomps shifted to light leaps as she called the fire higher.
She became dimly aware she wasn't the only one dancing, as she felt a different elemental energy flowing beside her. It wasn't Fire, wasn't Earth, wasn't Air...and wasn't Water. It was definitely elemental magic...but she couldn't recognize it. As she let her eyes open, she saw Diane dancing beside her, her dance a mix of shuffles, spins, swoops, stomps, and shimmies as energy flowed around her before dispersing into the ether.
As the energy subsided, Sunset came to herself and realized she'd just danced in front of the entire class...an entire class that - from the stares she was getting - had seen the images of her in her focus outfit and was imagining the dance in that garb. She struggled to suppress a growing blush-
"Wowie-zowie, you really do feel it!" Diane piped up excitedly as she glomped onto Sunset without warning. "You gotta tell me more about this, Sunny!"
"...please take your seats and behave yourselves," the teacher instructed dryly, staring flat-eyed at the pair.
Sunset smiled sheepishly...but seeing Diane's exuberance, she couldn't really find true contrition in herself.
Diane has joined Team Shimmer
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And there's the pinkie pie. Question, will the Starlink game be involved in this since Fox is actually in the story?(kinda)
I can only hear Ben Stein talking when the teacher is. Is that a problem?
And there is the Pinkiest of the piest
So Pinkie is also a canine. A poodle is interesting as I didn't think about it. Although it makes sense as most dogs are friendly if properly socialized.
Well dangit, I was wrong about Pinkie's species. I have no clue what Twilight will be, then.
Still, fun chapter! The Ponk shines through without being overwhelming.
I'm sure many others were Diane to know how our pink friend would fit in to Team Shimmer. She's certainly shown that she has a fire in her which should practically be elemntaly fundamental for someone like her eh?
i think sunset is the avatar. she controlled fire, earth, air, and water just then. well, without showing them anyway.
Never thought of comparing classical elements to harmonious ones before.
You might say... straight from the- OW!
"NO. None of that. SHAME. ON. YOU."
Okay, fine. Withdrawn.
9275592
To be fair, I've seen the picture of the Twilight analogue and am still not 100% sure what she is.
if you are curious enough to check
Edit:
This was not an open invitation to tell me, mind you...
9275583
Nope! Ben Stein has the heart and soul of a wonderful comedic sloth. Therefore, all is right with the world!
9275632
Looks like a mouse to me. Or a quite literal lab rat.
9275632
I'd say she's a lab rat.
9275594
And seriously, even summoning a two-way door to a planet pretty much of fire was less stuffy than that document. I'm sure that the students were glad to ,learn the lesson.... can iI say it now?
"Yeah, sure, sure."
straight from the horse's mouth.
Pinkie Pie as a Poodle? That's unexpected, yet fits her character well!
9275632
I'd say mouse or squirrel. please be a squirrel.
9275668
tails wrong for squirrel
Sunset demonstrating the dances reminded me of Aang doing the same thing to the Fire Nation students in A:TLA
Diane looks adorable.
9275583 Not at all
9275632
Mouse, rat or opossum.
...so we have an eldritch abomination in the form of a pink poodle...
Sweet Sunbutt!
Flash?
9275594
....how do you always have a pun ready for a new chapter? Do you have to think on it, or does it just come naturally?
9275682
Looks more like a ferret to me. Would fit her with how it is impossible to keep them out of things. Just like her and libraries.
One to go.
Yeah, an energetic dog makes sense for Pinkie.
9275578
Please let the answer to that be yes
Here’s Pinkie.
9275856
I read that in a here's Jonny voice.
cute chapter keep up the great work!!
Pinkie as a poodle.........
Hello Pinkie Poodle!
Well, this is better than my guessing she'd be a pink Aligator. Aside from Dash, all the rest of the group seems to have been merged with their respective pets in a way, so I honestly thought a Pinkie/Gummy fusion was coming. Now will there be a Twilight or not????
9275757
I pun on the chapter content so it's a combination of both really.
9275632
I have a reasonable guess. That look reminds me of a character known as Gadget from an OLD cartoon
9275632
10/10 hidden spoiler text.
9275668 A mouse, named Gadget. Golly, I think I know who that is. A super-genius who gets bred easily? Once built an Orion drive spacecraft out of a garbage can and some stcks of dynamite? Works with a team of small animal adventurers out of Stone city, an American city that can't decide whether it's a Los Angeles expy or a New York expy.
Anyway, so much for my idea the Pinkie Pie equivalent would be a feline. I was barking up the wrong tree there.
9276114
Wait, it wasn't New York?
Bill Stein. All I could think of when the professor's talking was being described was Bill Stein.
9275904 Didn't most of us that read that comment?
9275795
I'm with Fresnor
A poodle huh? Oh, I can dig it.
There won't be a Flash Sentry, will there?
9276910
Oh I hope not, but you never can tell. On the whole, Tatsurou does an able job with otherwise weak characters.
Then again, it doesn't take much to write that Milky Toast better than what the show's writers did.
That leaves Spike
9275578
I actually asked him that before and he said no unfortunately, which makes sense since it takes place after Zero and (presumably) before Adventures.
9279513
Well that sucks, but I suppose it's understandable. Though for timeline clarification, when was Star Wolf introduced? Cause I do not remember, and that was the reason Star Fox came to Atlas. I'm not pushing for it, just curious.
9275720
Hah what the matter are you sacred of pinkie pie or dogs? Sorry.
Ok. Now all we need is that worlds Twilight Sparkle and Spike and we'll have a whole team. LoL.
9289062
Nothing against dogs. Pinkie, on the other hoof... Best Earth Pony, but also scariest pony. Think about that power in the hooves of Pinkamina...
9289088
Yeah too true. Could be worse though . At least she doesn't have a to get from her dimension to ours and vise versa. Yet. I think I will just shut up for now.