Chamomile
I'm not sure that confident, outgoing ponies can really understand what it's like to be anxious and shy.
When an outgoing pony becomes friends with a shy pony they always assume that the shy pony just needs encouragement. Lots of encouragement. Sometimes that just means pep talks, other times it means they try to drag you into social events by your tail. Then, when you try to explain that going out in public so much is exhausting, they assume that means you don't like them. After all, nothing makes them happy and energized like hanging out with friends so if it's so tiring for you then you must not consider them a real friend.
Then the shy pony has to try desperately to explain that they really do think they're a friend and they do enjoy being with friends, it just makes them tired and they need time to themselves to rest. If the shy pony manages to convince their outgoing friend, then they get to move on to the next misunderstanding. And the next. And the next.
'Couldn't you see he was smiling?'
Of course I could see he was smiling. But why was he smiling? Was it because he was happy with me? Was he just being polite? Was he just having a nice day? Was he hiding how irritated he actually was? How do other ponies tell?
'Why are you freaking out? They weren't even mad!'
I know they weren't mad. I know it was an accident and no harm was done. Couldn't anypony understand that knowing nothing was wrong and feeling nothing was wrong weren't the same thing?
'Can't you at least try to look happy?'
But I was happy! I was smiling! Wasn't smiling enough to look happy? Couldn't I just be happy without proving it? Was there something wrong with my smile?
'Louder!'
I don't like to get loud. Being loud makes everypony look at me and I don't like it when everypony looks at me. Wasn't it enough that I was trying?
'I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of this!'
Because I'm confused and worried. There's too much happening at once and I don't know what to deal with first and it's just too much! Why are you so mad at me? Why are you making me do all these things that I don't want to do?
On and on and on it goes.
If a shy pony is very lucky she'll make very good friends. Friends who will learn to just let the shy pony be shy sometimes. Friends who will accept that the shy pony needs to just be allowed. Accepted, shyness and all. Sometimes the outgoing pony is right. Sometimes a shy pony needs encouragement, needs a push to overcome her anxiety. Sometimes the shy pony really does need to be pulled to some public event by her tail. But not every day. Not even every month. I am very lucky to have found friends like that.
Friends who can understand that meeting Princess Celestia one-on-one might be just a little terrifying.
“Now, I know you're worried,” Twilight said gently. “But you can trust me on this. She's already talked to all of us so this meeting should be nice and short. She won't need you to recap as much as the rest of us did.”
“Did… did you plan that?” I asked Twilight's fetlocks. Try as I might I couldn't raise my head high enough to say it to her face.
“I thought it might make it easier for you. Does it help?”
“M-maybe a little.”
“Would you like me to go in with you?” I shook my head.
“N-no, I'll be okay.” I ruffled my wings and tried to straighten up. “She just wants to talk, right?”
“That's right.”
“O-okay. I'm ready.”
Twilight lifted her hoof and tapped three times on the ornately gilded door of Princess Celestia's study.
“Please, come in.”
“I'll be right out here if you need me,” Twilight said. Her horn lit up and she pushed the door open with her magic.
Princess Celestia sat on a luxurious, red chair that was sized to fit her tall, regal frame. A round coffee table made of rich mahogany stood between her and the door, laden with a relatively plain, pink tea set and a number of simple teacakes. A number of other, smaller chairs, sized for more ordinary ponies, but no less luxuriant for it, sat clustered around the table in an open semi-circle.
“Good afternoon, Fluttershy. Thank you for joining me.”
My voice caught in my throat, emerging as little more than a nervous squeak. I decided to nod instead.
“Please, come in. Make yourself comfortable.” I looked over at Twilight who nodded encouragingly and motioned with a hoof towards the door. I swallowed hard and stepped into the room. It was less fancy than I had expected. The tapestries were relatively simple designs and soft colors. The desk was sized for the Princess and the wood matched her coffee table, but it was otherwise ordinary. The carpet, on the other hoof, rivaled some of my quilts for softness.
It took me longer than it should have to cross the room and clamber into a chair. I could have flown, of course, but I was so nervous I doubted that my wings would even open. Once seated I tried not to avoid the Princess's eyes too much. I didn't want to be rude.
Celestia's horn shimmered with yellow light and I heard the double doors swing closed, although I didn't hear them latch. Something about that made the tense knot around my heart ease just a little. The focus of her magic shifted to the tea set, lifting the teapot and a teacup.
“Would you care for some chamomile?”
“O-oh! Y-yes of course.” The Princess poured out a steaming cup of fresh tea and sat the cup and saucer at the edge of the table closest to me, easily within reach once my forelegs were a little steadier.
“It's a little hot at the moment, I hope you don't mind letting it cool first. Sugar?”
“N-not at all. And y-yes, please, if it's not too much trouble, I mean.” The Princess simply smiled and levitated a single cube into my tea while she poured herself a cup with two sugars.
“Why don't we start at the beginning?”
“Um. Which? I mean do you mean when the uh, chaos started or, um, when we went into the maze?”
“The maze. Your friends have given me very detailed accounts of most of yesterday's events. I won't ask you to repeat what they've told me.”
“O-okay. Um, is there anything specific you'd like me to focus on?”
“Anything that feels important to you. Especially anything about your first encounter with Discord.”
“Well, after he t-took my wings away and separated us I, um, cowered for a while. Discord was so big and scary and his magic was...” I shuddered. “Terrifying. I, um, didn't get very far through the maze.”
“Considering what Discord was doing to the maze that is not surprising. He was rearranging it constantly while you were in there. No matter how fast or slow you went you would have arrived exactly where he wanted you to, when he wanted you to.”
“Oh.”
“Did anything unusual happen while you were navigating the labyrinth?”
“N-nothing much. It was so quiet in there. I think he scared all the animals away. I didn't see anything until I met the butterflies.”
“Butterflies?”
“Yes. Three of them just like my, um, well, just like my cutie mark now that I think about it.”
“I see. What did you do when you saw them?”
“I chased them. I was so frightened I didn't want to be alone in there. But it was strange...”
“Yes?”
“Well, when I caught up to them it was in a clearing. And they spoke to me. O-oh, I mean they spoke like a pony would speak, not like a butterfly. Not at all. And they all looked a little like Discord.”
“I'm sure they were Discord.”
“Oh. I thought that, um, maybe they were just an illusion?”
“Discord is skilled with illusions but he can just as easily make his games very real. He can become anything at will, even multiple things at once. I have no doubt that those butterflies were Discord himself. What did he say to you?”
“He told me that my friends had abandoned me. That they thought I was weak and helpless. That it must hurt how they always pointed out my flaws.”
Celestia closed her eyes for a moment. She looked sad to hear what he'd told me but not surprised. “I expected as much.”
“W-why?”
“It is one of his favorite techniques. He used it against your friends as well. He turns his victims' strengths against them by telling a painful truth to an honest mare or tempting a generous one with a fantastic gift. All he has to do is open your mind just a crack. Just the sort of thing that gets under your skin for a while, something that plants a seed of doubt. Then he uses his magic to force that seed to grow, turning your personality inside out until you're a puppet for his schemes.”
“Oh.”
“There's no shame in succumbing to his mind games. He is-”
“But I didn't. Oh! I'm sorry!” I gasped when Celestia looked at me in surprise. “I didn't mean to interrupt!”
“It's quite alright, my little pony. But what did you mean? You didn't succumb?”
“Um, I don't think so? I'm not really sure.” Celestia shifted in her seat, focusing on me far more intently than she had before. I shrank back a little more than I should have.
“What exactly happened?”
“O-oh, u-uhm. W-well, he said that my 'so called friends' had abandoned me. I knew my friends would come for me and I knew they were trying their best and I told him so. Next he told me that it must be horrible to know how weak and helpless they thought I was.”
“And this truly didn't bother you?”
“Oh, not at all. I am weak and helpless. It means a lot that my friends know that and are still willing to be my friends and help me when I need them to. I told him that, too.”
“I see. And then?”
“Well, then he said, um, he said that it must 'burn me up' the way that they pointed out my flaws.”
Celestia had a small frown on her face that was starting to worry me. “And this still did not trouble you?”
“Not really. It's not as though they go out of their way to point them out all the time. Usually it's just because they want to help me overcome them. It doesn't always work but I know they just want me to be the best I can be.”
“You told him this as well?”
I nodded. At that moment it struck me that we'd both left our tea untouched. “Oh, I'm sorry, we've been talking so much you haven't gotten to drink your tea.”
“Don't worry about that,” Celestia said kindly. “Please, continue your story. I'm finding it… most interesting.”
“Oh, is it really? I-I mean, yes your Highness. Um, yes. I told him that too and then, um, I think I made him mad,” I whispered. “The butterflies disappeared into thin air and then he appeared.”
“What did he do?”
“I-I'm not sure. I remember him saying 'Oh, for goodness sake!'. Then I think… I think he hit me?”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “You think? You aren't certain?” I shook my head.
“Suddenly he was right in front of me and something hit me just here,” I put the tip of a forehoof to the crown of my head. “Things get fuzzy after that. I think he said… something like 'time to be cruel'? I'm sorry, I really don't remember too well.”
Celestia looked at me very strangely. It was like she was searching my face for something. Heat rose up into my cheeks and I ducked my head a little so that my mane fell across my face. Had I said something wrong?
After several long seconds Celestia broke her gaze and levitated her teacup to her lips. I took the cue to scoop up my own cup and saucer from the table with my forehooves. The tea was still warm and just a little sweet from the sugar cube that had long since dissolved away. It was really rather nice, and I found myself draining the entire cup in a single go. All that talking had made me thirsty.
“Thank you for telling me this, Fluttershy. You've been very brave and very helpful.”
“Oh, I didn't really do much. It was Twilight who really saved the day.” Celestia smiled once more.
“Do not sell yourself short, my little pony. Everypony played their part in yesterday's events. Now,” she poured us both fresh cups of tea. “There's one last thing I would like to ask. After you and your friends parted ways in Ponyville after your failed attempt to use the Elements of Harmony against him, did you encounter Discord again before the final confrontation?”
“I don't think so. Everything after I met him in the maze is a little bit of a blur. It was all like some terrible nightmare that I just couldn't wake up from. It's hard to remember many details.”
“I see. Thank you again. You've been very helpful today. Is there anything you would like to ask me?”
“Oh!” I hadn't expected her to answer any questions. Truth be told I had a few that were bothering me but I wasn't sure if I should ask them. I knew my friends would think they were strange and I didn't want to upset the Princess...
But I had to know.
“Um, yes. The Elements. Do you think they… do they hurt?”
“Hurt? Did using them hurt you?”
“Oh, no, I'm okay. I'm worried about-” I hesitated. No, I had to know. “I'm worried about Discord.”
Celestia's eyebrows shot up high. Whatever she had thought I might ask that certainly hadn't been it.
“You're worried about Discord?”
“Yes?” I said tentatively. “It's just… he looked so frightened. Do you think he'll be okay? Oh, I hope it didn't hurt. I couldn't stand it if we hurt him. I just wish there had been some other way to stop him. I can't imagine how awful it must be to be turned entirely to stone like that. Oh no, do you think he's still awake in there? Oh goodness, that would be so awful! Um, your highness?”
Celestia had turned away from me and looked towards one of the windows. I could tell she was thinking about something. Something serious. Slowly though, a tiny smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth. There was something… strange about it. It wasn't her usual kind, serene smile. This one was almost mischievous. There was a glint in her eye that reminded me of Rainbow Dash right before she tried some daredevil stunt. Then it was gone and she was back to her tranquil self.
“I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I shall be honest with you, I cannot say for certain what Discord is experiencing, if anything. My sister never complained of pain from her encounters with the Elements, although given the difference in their effects on her compared to Discord, I cannot promise you anything. I can tell you that he acted much the same after his imprisonment as he did before it. As for the future, well...” That mischievous glint flickered in her eye again. “We'll just have to wait and see.”
We each took a sip from our tea. It really was very nice. I suppose it's only natural that the Princesses would have the best tea in Equestria. It was so strange to think that I was having tea with Princess Celestia. Doing something so ordinary with somepony so extraordinary was surreal.
“I will not keep you any longer. No doubt you are eager to get some rest. Though I hope you will attend the ceremony honoring you and your friend's triumph?”
“Um, I'll try.”
“That is all I can ask. Although... there is one last thing.”
“Um, yes?”
“Have you told anypony else the details of happened between you and Discord?”
“Not really. I don't think anypony wants to think about it too much.”
“I would like to ask you to keep it between us. I have taken steps to keep what is said here today away from prying ears. Elsewhere, however...” She looked back at the shuttered window again, that distant, thoughtful look back on her face. Then she met my eyes with an expression far more serious than anything I'd seen that day. “May I count on your discretion?”
“O-oh, um, of course, your highness.”
Her smile returned. “Thank you, my little pony.”
When I left Celestia's study a short time later Twilight was waiting for me.
“How did it go?” she asked eagerly as soon as the doors shut behind me.
“I'm… not sure,” I answered. She started off down the hall, leading me back the way she'd brought me in.
“Well, it wasn't bad, right?”
“Oh, no, it wasn't bad. She was very nice and understanding, just like you said. It's just...” I looked back down the long, elegant hall.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight shook me out of my thoughts with a light touch on my foreleg. “Is something bothering you?”
“Oh! U-um, no. I mean, it was a little intimidating, is all.” Twilight laughed softly.
“She intimidated me at first, too. I mean, the Princess Celestia, right?”
With that, Twilight was off on a ramble about her own early meetings with the Princess. Celestia was a topic that she could often go on about in detail. I let Twilight's words wash over me without really taking them in. Celestia's last request was odd, that was true, but there was something else she'd said that bothered me more.
What did she mean by 'We'll just have to wait and see'?
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Shouldn't the title be Royal Tea?
A nice introspective piece to outline just what may have happened to explain later events in the series. Very nicely done.
8672008 I expect it's a pun on the word 'royalty' since Celestia is royalty and likes tea very much. After all, it features heavily in this story too.
8672015
Thanks for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It seemed like a reasonable explanation for what happened later on.
8672008
This is just the first of many tea puns if we go down this path.
Discord cheated with Fluttershy -- she was the only pony who didn't lose in his games.
I wonder if Fluttershy did feel pain, stinging, or perhaps a magic impulse when Discord touched her head.
There is a fanfic where it's revealed that the place he touched her was imbued with a spell, though it takes a while to discover the source.
Congrats on being featured, this was very good.
You have a very good story here, and I'm looking forward to more. I had some sporadic anxiety attacks when I was younger, so I can very much relate to Fluttershy when she talked about how outgoing people just don't 'get it'.
I like it. I especially like the beginning section on shyness. As an introvert myself (though I've gotten better at hiding it when needed), I can identify with Fluttershy here to an extent.
8673264
Wait, this got featured? I... honestly did not expect that. Thanks for reading.
8673691
I'm glad that came across well. Naturally, I've had much more trouble articulating that subject face-to-face when I've run into issues with it. Easier to put into words in a story, I think.
Thanks for reading.
8673842
I'll admit I drew from my own experience with introversion when I wrote that section. I wasn't sure how universal any of those sorts of feelings were but they felt right for Fluttershy. I've found myself identifying with her more than once throughout the show's run.
Thanks for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
This is a strange example of a story that perhaps does one thing a little too well. The bit at the start regarding introversion really did shine and was very relatable, at least to me, but after I read the story I wasn't sure what the point was or how the (admittedly good) expounding of what introversion is like really was needed aside from just setting up that Fluttershy was nervous about meeting Celestia, and while that part, as I stress, was very good, the rest of the story just seemed like a sequence of events that just sorta happened. Less a story and more a chronological report with a little flavor added. I'm not entirely sure what the whole of the story was trying to convey.
8674003
You make a very interesting point I hadn't really considered when writing it. It may be an artifact of the fact that it was, in its earliest drafts, less of a one-shot and more of a "Chapter 1". The first section was meant to establish the sort of mindset and viewpoint I was writing Fluttershy from, not just her nerves about Celestia. Overall I suppose I was just trying to get into the head of the character and, in the second section, to establish a starting point for later events. In that regard, perhaps this story doesn't stand so well on its own as I'd hoped and I've made a mistake in releasing it that way. I'd planned to have this be the first in a series of semi-independent short stories but I might be rethinking the release strategy as you do raise what I feel is some very valid critique. It's definitely something I'll be bearing in mind going forward. This one will probably stay a one-shot as I've already marked it complete and all but future installments might still benefit.
All that being said, I'm glad you thought the first part was good. I've gotten some positive responses on it which is really nice to see (if a little surprising). Thank you for taking the time to read it and to provide such helpful feedback. I really do appreciate it.
Another very nice and interesting character piece. I love the intro, it's rare that you get to see a self-evaluation of Fluttershy like that (usually because she's too shy to give one) and it's right on the nose.
...*flutterboops*
Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, it's a very interesting topic for a story as well. I don't think many people really thought much about Celestia's reasoning for trying to reform Discord like this (I know I didn't), taking it either as more chessmastering, premonition or a flight of fancy from her. This makes a lot of sense, though, and fits the characters a lot better. Fluttershy really got too little credit for nearly foiling the Master of Chaos, not that she'd mind that.
8672091
All the tea puns! Though now I expect Discord to end up subverting them somehow.
I am officially accepting this story as canon to the reason why Celestia chose Fluttershy to redeem Discord.
8674978 It was a logical choice, given that she was the only one completely impervious to his temptations.
Now, one could add another question: since Fluttershy was converted forcefully, why didn't her Element automatically purge her since she didn't make the choice of her own volition?
Man, the EoH are the worst Deus Ex Machinas ever! No Autocorrect function! So lame!
8675506
Their only Autocorrect function was when they rid Luna of the Nightmare.
8675543 And it took six ponies to pull it off! Stupid Deus Ex Machina not solving all the problems instantly.
8674566
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Self-reflection and evaluation was one of the first things that came to mind when I started writing her. In my personal experience that sort of social anxiety and shyness comes with a lot of self-evaluation, most of it critical.
As for Celestia's choice, it struck me as logical right off the bat. Not only had she already had the most success in coping with him, she was also the sort of pony who'd actually give him a fair chance regardless. That's something I plan to get into in future stories as I feel there are other aspects to her character that factor in well.
8674219
No problem. One of the advantages of writing is that good ideas can be salvaged and retooled into other things. I think what really would bring a story like this together is figuring out how getting into Fluttershy's headspace services the questions being asked by the story or the statements being made by it. You established that Fluttershy was nervous very well, and then proceeded to established that Celestia interviewed her about her experiences in Discord's maze, but there wasn't really a link between the two, nor did it seem that the interview itself serviced a greater idea on a meta-narrative level, and it wasn't nearly as thorough as the first section, so thus couldn't really serve as a character study.
A relatively simple example of what I think serves as a solid meta-narrative for it all would go something akin to 'Fluttershy is a very nervous pony, which is illustrated. This nervousness serves as either the catalyst for a series of events, or becomes a personal journey for her to overcome, or serves to help create a mental image of her for the reader which clarifies her actions and state of mind. Finally, Fluttershy comes to a greater understanding about herself, or goes through a transformation, achieving a different state for herself or others.' This is a pretty common mindset in story-writing, but when you break down basic ideas in any art form, ideas become more common the more basic they are.
8676209
Seeing you lay things out like that makes me realize that I've never really thought about that sort of thing before while I'm writing. Most of the time an idea for a scene just comes to me and I sit down and start typing without any sort of real plan. With that in mind, this will probably be a mistake I make many more times since fixing it requires a level of planning and forethought I've never attempted and I don't know where to start. As it stands I'll just try to keep your feedback in mind while I'm editing to see if I can't mitigate it until I get to that point.
8676311
I haven't really written in a long time, but to be honest I was much the same way. I would have an idea for a scene I thought was cool, and my thought process would be 'how do I get my characters there?' I realized later that this wasn't really a wrong though process, I just needed to back up my perspective a little, and also ask why they were going there in the first place. Digging deep into meta-narrative is useful for picking apart a story more than constructing one, in my experience. Really, keeping to simple questions like 'What does my character want?', 'What method would they use to get it?', and 'Why do they want it?', things like that help tremendously.
There's an extra space between "allowed" and the first period.
As for the story itself, it's not bad, although without any real conflict it's really more of a scene than a story.
I'll reflect what others are saying in that this feels incomplete in some way; the opening bit about introversion does feel a bit disconnected from the rest of the story, but given that it was originally part of a larger story, that's not surprising, and I don't think it hurts it very much.
It shows fairly effectively, I think, Fluttershy's overall mindset going into Return of Harmony. Personally, I don't feel her personality or attitude makes her weak or helpless, or is indicative of a flaw, but this is her story and not mine, and this feels like an accurate representation of her opinion of herself at that point in the series.
Curiously, this story has put the thought in my head that maybe Discord is an introvert, and that's part of why Fluttershy was able to connect with him the way she did, and why eventually Twilight was able to as well. Think about it: We don't see him around crowds often at all, we only rarely see him interacting with more than a few others at a time, when he is interacting with others (especially if they aren't Fluttershy) he seems to very quickly reach a point where he can't get away from them fast enough, and even though he did visit chaos upon basically all of Equestria, he's never shown doing it for an audience. Hm.
I think I need to reevaluate a few things.
Congratulations on making it to the Feature Box (and for making it to second place in the SFW Feature Box). You have officially achieved Minor Horse Fame™.
...took me over three years to manage that on this site, friggin prodigy rookies,grumble mumbleI appreciate your portrayal of how Fluttershy's introversion meshes with others.
It's not something I see enough of, so thank you. Also a masterful weave through canon so /)
This has got me hook, line, and sinker. Now I wanna see what you pull with Celestia. Nice start my dude!
Everyone else says this feels incomplete, but I know it's incomplete because it's planned as a series. I'd say marking this as "incomplete" and adding more chapters.
-------
Space between sentences
Space between words
I'd put a comma between "ponies" and "but", but I don't think that it's required...
Weird, I don't think I've seen many opportunities for double appositive phrases before.
Delete the comma
to the crown of my head (???)
Slowly though, a tiny
Discord, I cannot
8676884
Sorry. I honestly don't know how this happened.
8677068
No matter how many times I look there's always something that slips by. Thank you for noting all of these for me. I'll go through and fix them this evening. Thanks for reading!
8676836
Thank you for the feedback. I'm really glad people have pointed out this problem to me. I'm not sure I'd have noticed it on my own. It's exactly the kind of helpful feedback I was hoping for.
As for Discord... I hope to be getting into him in future stories. I feel like there's a lot to be said about him.
8677057
I'm glad you liked it. I enjoy writing these sorts of short stories that fit into the gaps of established canon to fill it out. The unspoken implications left behind are like puzzles to be solved. It's fun to figure out exactly how the blank should be filled in a way that (hopefully) fits not only the demands of the plot but also the traits of the characters.
I really like that first sentence. Says quite a bit very concisely. And I think you did what you were trying to do fairly well here, though I kinda wish this actually was a first chapter instead of a stand-alone story.
Anyway, a couple of stylistic gripes:
This is a little wonky. Usually, if there's no dialogue tag, putting a character's action after dialogue implies that that character's the one speaking. So here, context implies that Twilight's speaking, but that action afterwards makes it sound like Fluttershy's speaking.
There are also times when you slip into long sections of only dialogue, which isn't automatically a bad thing, but it doesn't make for a very dynamic scene. Admittedly, I can kinda see why you would do it that way, since the characters in question are simply sitting together and drinking tea, it's just a little weird to me to have the first section give so much insight into how Fluttershy thinks and then toss most of that out in the second part by almost entirely emphasizing what she does.
Not a serious gripe, by any means. But it bugged me as I was reading it, so I thought I'd mention it. You did do a good job with this one, though. Thanks for writing it
8677071
Hey, be proud of it. I'm looking forward to seeing how far you'll come.
orig00.deviantart.net/d42d/f/2017/208/e/f/scootmatize_chaos_by_hillbe-dbhw2rm.jpg
8677239
It was originally planned at a first chapter and became a first installment later for a couple of reasons. First, I tried doing a multi-chapter story and I found the background worry about not updating it to be stressful. Second, each scene I've thought of doesn't really fit together into being a singular story. Chapters would have large time skips between them and not have a lot of do with each other so I changed to planning a series of short stories.
Also, I see what you mean about that line. I'll think about how to adjust that. The disconnect between the first and second halves is definitely something I've gotten a lot of useful feedback on that I'm hoping to take on-board for future installments. Thank you for reading and thanks for the helpful feedback.
8678015
Might I recommend presenting it as an anthology? It may not be the nicest thing to have an "Incomplete" story in your library, but it will be much nicer for later readers who want to start from the beginning, especially if you are planning to do a lot of sequels. There are plenty of anthology-style, just-characters-talking stories that are basically just collections of unrelated or marginally related scenes, and they usually do quite well. There may be a little pressure to get it "Complete," but most people would understand that it's the kind of story you just update as you see fit. If the individual chapters are more or less independent, you wouldn't have to be worried about leaving readers on a cliffhanger or anything.
Mi-eau's Butterfly comic comes to mind here.
This is so good. If I were you I would look through a bunch of groups and find ones you like or are interested in, or that fit what you write, and join them. Then you can add your stories as they fit.
I've taken the liberty to add it to a few groups I'm part of.
OooooOOoOOoOOh! This looks fun. I look forward to any future developments! This intrigues me.
8678419
That's a good idea. If it hadn't gotten so... noticed I might have done that. But now so many people have read it as a stand alone story and I've gotten notices about people adding to to bookshelves called things like "complete" or "one-shots" so I hesitate to change something like that now. Plus, if I was to put everything into this story I'd want to change the title and the picture and the description and with so many people having read it... I think maybe I'll apply everything I've learned to the sequel and make that the big anthology of all the future stories. Thanks for the suggestion and for reading.
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Well. That's bookmarked now. Thanks for reading and for the link.
8679482
Thank you. I'm finding it hard to add things to groups. If the Fluttershy group hadn't been so completely clear about being anything and everything Fluttershy (at least, I think it was. I'm worrying about that now looking back) I'd never have been able to bring myself to do it. Thank you for reading.
8679949
And you can always tag the anthology as a sequel to this too!
8679949
Good solution! It works well as a pilot story.
You know, I can actually picture this conversation having happened in the show. You've done good work here.
That opening narrative...
Pretty much the mental process underlying Aspergers symptoms.
Just swap social development for analytical development (what Aspergers and Autism Spectrum Disorders do in neural chemistry) so that social behaviors and visual cues require more conscious effort to execute, and you have mental exhaustion in social situations, leading to retreating behavior.
Uh, not to interrupt you, Princess Celestia, but you should also be searching for another type of 'seed' Discord planted, back when you and your sister went up against him.
I mean, you don't want to be foalnapped, do you? You don't want Equestria to be plundered by Discord's divine gardening skills, right?
Just warning you, is all.
8680959
Eh, problem with dissecting anything is you kill it in the process. Social anxiety disorder also fits, for instance.
Regardless, on the the story proper.
It's interesting. I have some thoughts about Fluttershy's encounter that I want to work into a story myself, though I haven't written one where it fits yet. You seem to be thinking along somewhat similar lines, though I've got my own twist.
You know, I've been accused of not meeting people's eyes (...my attention wanders), but then at least once when I did make a conscious effort to look people in the eye, they were visibly uncomfortable with it. Guess it came across as staring. Truly no safe ground here.
I'm amused by Celestia's use of "my little pony" as a form of address. Not seen much in-show, but it's a great title drop.
Nice little story
Good Job
The Monk
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Thanks for the great space stories!