Missions are dangerous, and sometimes the Bearers get hurt. But this time, treating Pinkie's injuries only took about an hour. No sealant to constantly reapply and lingering deep aches from the wound: just a simple, magical regrowing of her left forehoof's keratin. Really, it's a pity the procedure isn't available to the public yet.
And because it isn't available to the public yet, there's just one little thing which the inventing company's representative wants Pinkie to do. One little thing that leads into a full swarm of not-so-little things.
It's okay. It's for science!
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Ha! I was gonna swear it was Flim-Flam, but nope! Red herringed!
The pains of medical procedure... You understand them much more than I do.
...I now have this hilarious image of Chrystalis and the Flim-Flam Brothers getting together to try something and it fails.
Terribly.
Horribly.
Hilariously.
On the scale of even Twilight Sparkle going, "I'm pretty sure I never did anything that stupid. And I tried to enchant my childhood doll."
When the Bearer of Laughter is angry enough to flying-kick you full-force in the face, the only question is what to do with the leftovers.
Ohmygosh, Pinkie is high. Know fear.
Pinkie Pie remains Best Pony.
Right up until the next time she got hurt.
Possibly you mean "valuing"?
Hah, Changeling hijinks and Chrysalis shoddy planning. Always good for a laugh.
That's always been my answer as well.
Well now, Kerfuffle's here!
So to speak...
We're rather out of order then, no?
I knew Pinkie couldn’t keep up with it but man did Chrysislis make the wrong choice. I hope this means that she will not be able to be around when Discord grabs his try at friendship lessons.
https://www.fimfiction.net/group/214857/triptych-continuum-rebooted
I've added this story to The Triptych Continuum Rebooted in the "non canon" folder
Hoofboot to the head!
This was a Wonderful little story, and very fun to read! I love the world you've created here!
Just a quick question, though... Pinkie mentioned a character named "Allie." Who's that? She sounds kinda imprortant...
Ah, the wonders of medical devices without foresight.
The bracelet (before the plot twist) probably would work just fine if the sparks could be stored inside and released when convenient. Incidentally, that is exactly how the rectum works.
10450323
No, "vaulting" as in "avoiding".
I dunno why but I found this to be just amazing.
BTW, did you know you have a spine?
Chrysalis? You're just...too dumb.
It's changeling goop, isn't it? It'd probably make a great medical adhesive.
Shifting colors into a more sickly green? Sounds like changelings.
Called it.
...
Nice continuity with (or at least nod to) "Pinkie Pie Has Infiltrated The Changelings' Secret Base!"
I have to admit, I kind of guessed the direction things were going when you mentioned what color the adhesive was and the list of threats currently facing Equestria.
I will say, I was surprised that the rogue hive was run by Chrystalis... and that the bracelet was solely to let her know where Pinkie was. Personally, I thought it was to quietly drain our happy, loving pink pony of her positive emotions over a long period of time. Even more so if you also had a few other trial ponies wearing the bracelets as well. An attempt to develop a brand new method of gathering food in a more subtle, less dangerous way.
10450278
The Bearers wouldn't even need to be involved. Both parties would stab each other in the back simultaneously, and the entire plot would simply collapse there and then.
This is absolutely fascinating and while I saw the twist coming a bit aways from where it was revealed... this was a delightful story. Made my night. Thank you very much for cheering me up today.
10450323
Vaulting - jumping over. Bypassing.
So, Pinkie metaphorically kicked somepony in the face? Theoretically? Philosophically? Symbolically?
Oooh, that's pretty damn clever!
The big boss buggo is getting better at this sneaky stuff!
10450323
Nah, it's vaulting. As in jumping past the bureaucracy.
Pinkie being Pinkie, I shouldn't be surprised she could see the daydream for herself.
A warning sign on par with multiple exclamation points.
That does at least acknowledge one question. Namely, "Why does this set of Bearers have to do so much more for the crown than so many others?" Of course, it then leads into another: "Why are they living in such interesting times?" I suppose some of it can be pinned on Luna cannonballing her way into global politics, but that doesn't explain the monster attacks...
I do appreciate how Scootaloo has become both an adjective and a verb.
Ah, the Starfleet method. Divert power to rear actuators! We'll access the controls from the replicator in Ensign Ricky's quarters.
I was not expecting a reference to Kerfuffle of all ponies. Nice touch. The talk of renegade changelings has some interesting implications as well.
I knew who was behind it when the colors flickered, but the details eluded me until the big reveal. Brilliant stuff. And given the circumstances that inspired this story, it's no wonder you used one of your most consistently stupid villains. Thank you for a lovely bit of catharsis; I hope it helped.
10450458
Allie Way, A fairly tall cream-coated unicorn who hangs out at the bowling alley frequently. Locally, she has an on-again, off-again relationship with the fairly short stallion who helps Rachette, among other things, fabricate her Telekinesis-replacement rig. I can't remember his name off the top of my head.
I do so love the way you write Pinkie Pie. It's... really saying something that she's honestly probably the least insane of the Six Bearers, if only because she's fully aware of the ways in which she is insane and takes appropriate steps to deal with it. A glorious inversion of what you'd expect on the surface.
Chrysalis, though, is always a delight to read in the Triptych-Verse for another reason entirely. I kept trying to place it in my head, who she sounds like to me -- vain, stuck up, arrogant, all of the things we might expect, but with a streak of immaturity a mile wide, and then it hit me.
She's the supervillain bug-horse version of Angelica Pickles from Rugrats.
And I love that.
10450744
Oh, gotcha. I've always known the character as Pinny Lane.
For what it's worth, the only other meaning of the name that I could come up with was "Allie Corn," which made me think that she was someone's nextgen Princess OC.
Thanks for the clarification!
10450591
Both parties would attempt to stab each other in the back, before realizing they stabbed themselves in the abdomen and begin to bleed out.
10450821
I think they would be so aware that they would stab each other in the back. but that they need each other until the time they don't.
And, like all villains, they get the timing wrong, they commit one of the classic "evil bad-guy" screwup in that case-"you're so busy trying not to get stabbed in the back that you don't expect to be stabbed in the front."
Odd glue was give away for me
Chrysalis deserved a bap with giant newspaper roll
"charcoal unicorn mare"
"emerald corona"
"You seldom got unicorns that tall"
"Her tail was just sort of... hanging there"
"bare fur seemed to ripple oddly along her sides"
...Hmmmmm... :)
"She had take the monitoring process"
"She had to take the monitoring process"?
""Medically," the third time decided, "is freezing the"
""Medical," the third time decided, "is freezing the"?
"her hind hoof trapped under a trestle"
"How did the one pony get her hoof under a trestle? They're really really flush against the ground"
When you say "trestle", there, do you mean "tie"?
"somepony from the distance survey team and"
"somepony from the distant survey team and"?
"potentially be warped: from"
"potentially be warped, from"?
"force them look in the"
"force them to look in the"?
Thank you for writing, and I hope it helped. :)
10450323
"Vaulting" is correct, here. Bureaucracy is the obstacle is this metaphor; the palace chooses at times to leap over it.
10450319
Chronic pain sufferers know the blessed Nirvana that is a total absence of pain.
(Given, in my case that takes prescription level opiates for that, so not happening often.)
10450744
10450820
The short one's name is Stile. As a reference to the "Apprentice Adept" series.
If only Chryssi had managed to tune out her need for sadism just long enough to make the bracelet and its enchantment something innocuous. Something you forget you're even wearing.
10451014
Or make that the actual effect of the enchantment, to cause them to forget they're wearing it. We already know she's good enough at mind magic to make a net positive off of ensorcelling Shining Armor, after all.
10450516
10450595
10450665
10450913
Well, it seems the weight of public opinion is greatly against me. However,
A man convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion still
I like changeling-related stories. I'd like to see Pinkie make friends with a normal changeling.
edit: oh, "renegade hive"? that implies official hives...
oh, "the usual chaos" is Discord.
10450846
oh, there's a scene in one of my favorites, "shifting melodies" where an older changeling ACTUALLY spanks her with a newspaper!
and...his nickname is Massive Balls! Celestia falls off her throne laughing when he says that!
So Luna was using the magical equivalent of this?
Another delightful confection. I would have expected Pinkie to make some use of her reality-bending powers for a workaround, but perhaps it only works when it's for parties or funny, and it's funnier when the FAIL is uninterrupted.
10451414
I thought it was a circular saw blade.
Changelings are always fun to see. Thoroughly cathartic ending.
10451107
...It's not "opinion", it's just a fact, you were wrong.
Fairly similar to my experience with a wrist brace where it has a metal rod running the length of it. Jackets wouldn’t fit over it, all manner of tasks became not impossible but at least way too difficult, and best of all was the ongoing knowledge that I was going to be wearing if for a staggeringly long bit of time.
Honestly its actually a good plan. It was just the fact that its operation required a constant stream of updates. It had to be always online. It might have worked if the updates only went out a few times a day and wasnt a constant annoyance.
10450734
Same here. I expected her to actually his question at the end of the daydream.
10451004
Ooo, I missed that reference because the term would be an appropriate equine-related term anyhow.
10451537
I don't think you can dig tunnels with one of those?
10451702
Ordinarily, no. On the other hand, magic. It's not clear what it is.