Bookish Delight 50th Story Special
Mere weeks ago, Juniper Montage was a spiteful girl, a thief, and even—for a short time—a magical menace. However, Starlight Glimmer and the Rainbooms managed to reach her, and extend the hands of forgiveness and friendship. Juniper has been grateful for the second chance ever since, and eager to show that she can be a good friend herself.
While touring Canterlot High School with Twilight Sparkle, she comes across two girls in dire cinematic straits. Juniper knows she can help, so she decides to step in. However, in the midst of her attempt, her past—all of her past—returns to haunt her, and her self-esteem pays the price.
Now Juniper must discover for herself what it truly means to be a friend, while also fighting an angry, fearful voice in the back of her mind that continues to insist that she's not worth anyone's friendship... and keeps getting louder.
A follow-up to 2017's Tales of Canterlot High special.
Part of the Montage Cinematic Universe.
Sweet new story love your work as always time to read
Iron Chef with highschool students? That probably does exist. But sex appeal without Dacascos would fall flat.
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It's a reference!
It was a delight getting to pre-read this, Bookish. For my money you're one of the best authors currently on the site, and I'm grateful you're around.
Some impressive downvote spamming here...
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Yeah, I didn't want to assume the worst but it looks like this is officially twice now. >_<
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Juniper would be perfect for the role of Lady Anne or Queen Margaret in Richard III with her bitter curses. Instead of sending her to work at the cinema, her Unc should have given her a screentest.
https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/richardiii/character/margaret/
https://www.shmoop.com/richard-iii/lady-anne.html
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...okay, I officially like how you think.
Loved it
A pox on Bay.
And now I'm imagining Twilight as Sabrina Skunk.
sabrina-online.com/strips/SabOnline265.GIF
Also, P&SwG episode 7 is a worthier Transformers reboot than Michael Bay's schlock.
Wow, 42,000 words complete, and on upload too. That’s impressive.
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Experience has taught me that uploading completed works is preferred by both myself and my audience!
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Ether way I have always loved your work and hope to see u agin at everfree
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You know it! Just track me down when it rolls around.
Okay, I've been out of the loop on EqD stuff, what do I need to know here? Is Juniper Montage new best pony or something?
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::ahem:: Juniper was the big bad for last year's EQG special (barely, but that's another discussion) which goes by the name Tales of Canterlot High if you've got a Netflix sub, or Magical Movie Night. Long story short, she's no longer bad, but feel free to check out the special for full context.
This story's description and prose recaps enough of it though.
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Ok thanx! Now time to read on~
Roll that beautiful beanie footage.
After all this isolation and bullying, the addition of magic only made Juniper's ultimate and inevitable psychotic episode a bit more destructive.
It was never Twilight's love of science that created Midnight Sparkle, it was Cinch's appeal to using it for selfish purposes and the pressure from others that it was right and proper for her to do so. Similarly, it wasn't Juniper's love of the motion picture arts that created Diva Montage, it was Juniper's selfish desire for fame and the temptation power offered to make things what she wanted them to be.
I'm sure that Juniper will have an... er... interesting time with Photo and Sunny. They both strike me as super-diva personalities who would be hard to work with to say the least!
I'm wondering if Sunset was using her empathic magic there to force Juniper's fears out of her conscious mind.
You've been doing your research, haven't you? The difference in how stage and movie audiences think and react? The necessary differences between the two art forms?
Sunset went through similar depressive feelings and so did Twilight. I'm wondering if Gloriosa is having her own problems too (possibly to the mental background track of a demon shrieking: "I got this!!!")? When you think of it, PTSD is the least you can expect after a traumatic, transformative psychotic episode. It's worse for Juniper because, unlike the others, I don't think that she has any kind of support structure at all.
Just what did Agents of SMILE say about friendship? Come on, Ju, inquiring minds want to know! More importantly, how does this lead into next year's Power Ponies - Harmony War?
Yeah, Juniper definitely seems to be suffering from depression. She needs therapy pretty badly, IMO.
Yeah, Juniper is going to have a breakdown soon and it isn't going to be pretty.
I wonder if she'll consider it par for the course that, at her first sleepover ever, two of the participants are space aliens? I also loved the idea of the Cutie Map reinforcing to Twilight that, yes, Starlight is needed in the human world right now.
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Yeah, had to do a bunch of research for this. Didn't mind, though. Just wish I'd been able to put even more of my findings into the story!
You're kind of saying a bunch of good and right stuff all over the place otherwise.
Also wow what you said would be really good for a Sunset sensual massage fic XD Though I dunno if the geode works in reverse like that?
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Dammit Ben I spent seven months on this book please don't inspire me to create a Marevel Cinematic Universe timeline chart as a supplement to this I mean Juniper probably already has
Princess Twilight groaned and slumped until her chin rested against the map table. "Why couldn't this thing come with a manual?"
"Well," said Spike as he came in, holding a mug of Twilight's favorite calming tea, "it did come from a tree."
"A magical crystalline tree with unfathomable magical powers!"
"But a tree. How would you feel about giving someone a stack of, I don't know, deli meat with words on it?"
Twilight shuddered. Going into that sandwich shop in the human world had not been a wise decision, no matter what her tongue had told her at the time. She tried to wash the memory out of her mouth with tea, with middling success. "Point taken. But that still doesn't address the current problem."
Instead of a map of Equestria with Starlight's cutie mark trying to beat its way inside the castle, now the table just showed two lines of text spinning in place.
Out of Bounds Exception
Please reinstall universe and restart
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Wow good thing Starlight isn't here to see this XD
Hmm. That's familiar.
Also, darn it, why does Sci-Twi ship well with literally everyone?
So, I'm thinking that Transformares will feel like a mix of Bishojou Senshi Serra Mun and My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic. In other words, Sunset and Twilight are going to get a horrible sense of predestination and a sudden habit of remembering bits of the film's background music during the action sequences in their own lives.
Meanwhile, Starlight is going to tell Princess Twilight about this curious coincidence. After that, it is going to be hard to drag her, Starswirl and Stygian out of the libraries for the next month as they feverishly try to understand this 'anomaly'.
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As a reminder--this is before one adds the glasses.
Easily the best Juniper Montage story on the site. (That sadly isn't saying much, but that is why you wrote this in the first place.) An exquisite exploration and expansion of who Juniper was, is, and will be, and that's just the main act! The side bits, from Sunny and Photo's why-didn't-I-think-of-that friendship to Starlight's watch acting as her "Mission Accomplished" signal to Twilight needing to confront the consequences of exploding part of her psyche, all were brilliantly conceived and handled.
Congrats on your fiftieth story, Bookish, and thank you for making it one to remember. This has taken what I saw as an underwhelming character and elevated her to someone I regret not using to her fullest.
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Knowing readers got this much out of what I put out makes this with it. Glad you enjoyed. I'm happy to make it to 50 too!
Thanks FOME.
I'm with Juniper. When Optimus Prime died in Transformers - The Movie, I was beyond devastated. I mean, I was only about 12 and Prime was one of my personal heroes since the first Marvel comic-books were out. So, I think I understand both what Juniper felt and what Twilight is feeling right now.
Uh oh. Nightmare Force creature alert! I did wonder if there was some external malignancy involved here.
So... Starlet Montage is Juniper's alter-ego and a real part of her psyche - the personification of her loneliness and her childhood isolation? Makes sense and Juniper is right to realise that this is not something that she can destroy or ignore: It is something that she must internalise, integrate and heal if she is ever to be whole and truly functional.
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But at least he died so epically. That's how every hero wishes he could go out.
I thought Juniper Montage was unpopular with the fans.
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Would it were that simple.
Alas, to be unpopular, people first have to know who you are.
Honestly, I liked the everything about this fic.
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I rather liked her, but in those shorts, she was overshadowed in bronies' eyes by Starlight's humanform being kawaii as heck and seeing Sunset back in ponyform (albeit briefly). Big fangasms were had.
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(Also, I imagine many people felt guiltily self-conscious for admiring the teen girl's formfitting ninja suit and cloak. Sithis would be proud)
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I'm not a dirty old man for thinking that minor's outfit is so sssssssssss...tylish!
Oh no, Twilight's infectious!
"Don't freak out guys; I've had a drawn out catatonic psychotic episode but I'm fairly sure that I'm 100% stable now and have fully reintegrated all my disassociated identities... I'm doing a really bad job at reassuring you, aren't I?"
Seriously, though, this is basically what Juniper needed to do. It was pretty clear that her earlier traumas had seriously messed her up on a very profound psychological level. She had to go inside and find that part of her that she split off to hold all her pain and all the dreams that she was certain would never be fulfilled. Only if she got that back would she be able to heal properly.
I think that you did a good job here of capturing Twilight's personality and her likely viewpoint from realising that human science has a huge unexplored region that no-one had even allowed themselves to believe really existed prior to her.
Also: CCD digital video cameras can be connected to telescopes for astronomical viewing; meteor hunters use them to record showers but their recordings do look a bit artificial; something to do with the scan cycle exaggerating the scintillations caused Earth's atmosphere.
OOH! Canterlot Cooking Calamity! ref?!
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Mmm.
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The Mark Takes over. Sounds like A Mark Of Appeal... Cool concept in any case!
Equestrian Magic as Expression of Self / Talent, with just a bit of Pony Flavor. Mmm.
Oh Shit. More Magic.
Nice to see Juniper on the path to getting better!
Wonder whose brother her uncle is. Juniper's dad, or mom?
Wut? When did she get knocked out?
Also, didn't expect the others to come, but nice!
WTF. I blame magic shenanigans. Soo much!
TemptingFate!
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OH... The Voice is [Whatever Transformed Juniper's name is]!
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Stealing this knowledge for science. Thanks :D
This was awesome!
... Ship Sunny X Photo soo much!
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Didn't notice this was all posted at once.
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Typo:
minutes.Nothing
Need spacing here.