Luna's still settling back into her full duties, and finding out she's somehow responsible for overseeing Equestria's annual freedom festival came as something of a shock. All she really knows about the holiday is that ponies like to celebrate it with explosions. Fireworks, cannonfire... somehow, her citizens have linked 'freedom' with 'stuff blowing up.' So if there's a citizen willing to blow herself up as part of the festivities -- well, what could possibly be more appropriate?
...it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.
Chapters (1)
Author's Very Public Note:
Chapter title suggested by FanOfMostEverything.
Story based on the life, career, and legend of Captain Dynamite.
How this man doesn't have a Wikipedia page, the world will never know.
Much like everything to do with Trixie, this sort of thing is a lot more impressive when magic doesn't exist.
Is this meant to say something different?
that
One of her own what, I wonder? Could she be a descendant?
Magnificent.
So mighty an explosion that it got Torque to manifest!
The issue, of course, is that history doesn't have to make sense.
Guy Fawkes Day, the Trojan Horse, and the Reichstag fire. Impressive historical mashup.
You know, I'd never considered how pony pitchers actually threw the ball. I hadn't factored in even the possibility of slings.
I approve of the aversion therapy approach to Trixie's compulsive illeism.
Uh, Luna, maybe don't encourage upping the yield?
At least, not without proper testing.
A shame. I'm sure Twilight would've loved to have been here for it. And I don't doubt some of the others would love to see whatever goes horribly awry.
Truly a consummate professional. I'm always a sucker for the "Oh good, I can pass out now" bit.
Magnificent stuff. Trixie and Luna get along like a house on fire, with all the property damage that that entails. Thank you for a delightful burst of entertainment.
Okay, now I'm seeing this truly perverse buddy-cop movie concept where Discord, Luna, and Trixie have to work together to solve a problem and there's the round of slapping when Discord tries to humble-brag, Luna tries to go loud, and Trixie tries to speak in the third person. And, it all has to be done in one night.
The title?
Midnight Run.
I am very glad Trixie career is going very well, and more importantly her hearing is not permantly damged. Though it begs the question. Is there a cure for all deafness or deafness due to loud sound, or a degree of hearing loss due to loud sound?
Standing in front of the crowd after a successful act, drinking in their acclamation, cheers and wonder: that's the Prestige. Something an artist like Trixie live for.
And that big influx of money is certainly something she could use.
This is a Trixie story by Estee so it automatically gets my upvote but a Luna and Trixie story? Now you have my interest.
This was great and we all knew where this was going Trixie being Trixie but the interaction between Luna and the Trixie gave me something I never knew I needed. I wish for more and I hope we will get it someday because your Luna and your Trixie got some great potential together.
With how inventive Trixie is with her magic and her act, having Luna as a mentor or patreon to develop all the theories in her notebooks, it feels like they are made for each others.
Always felt that if Twilight was Celestia pupils, Trixie should have been Luna own.
I seem to remember in the 80s there were *several* guys who blew himself up for events, like Evil Knievel without the motorcycle. I'll have to go look.
10640399
Captain Dynamite, the inspiration for this story.
10640406 Google searching. I've found *three* different ones so far. There's got to be an entry in the DSM-5 for "Likes to blow self up"
Captain Dynamite, Captain Explosion, Dennis Hopper (for some crazy reason)... Apparently, there used to be a 'Dynamite Death Chair' stunt that traveling circuses put on back in the 1980s, and I *vaguely* remember something like this from the general era, perhaps the Kansas State Fair. Of course I was in my early teens, and have the memory of a... What are we talking about again?
Interestingly enough, the first "dynamite" was actually a mare...I mean a miss!
This is one of her successors.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2001-05-28-0105250648-story.html
10640463
10640399
It reminded me of Super Dave Osbourne on the old Smother's Brothers Show
Kids looking for bases to improvise a ball field.
"There's dog crap on this one. Keep looking."
"There's Super Dave Osbourne on this one."
"We're better off with the dog crap."
Put in the Triptych Continuum Rebooted "noncanon" file
Extraordinary writing and characterization
"and spells and techniques and everyone else required to keep"
"and spells and techniques and everything else required to keep"?
Thank you for writing. :)
10640316
Huh. Wow. :D
And thanks for sharing how this was, astonishingly, based on a real person and act.
Sounds rather like Guy Fawkes day.
And now things go sideways ...
Oh, bugger
Okay, this was a blast!
I'm loving the interaction between Luna and Trixie here, and the spectacular, death-defying, deafness-inducing daredevilry of the G&P herself.
Fun story — have a mustache!
And I’d love to see Trixie and Luna together again sometime.
10640560
Certainly she could have gone to fourteen!
Once.
10640316
I tried to read about Captain Dynamite
Seems the Iron Curtain still exists
Also, this reminds me of one of The Who shows where Keith Moon filled his drum kit with fireworks. Apparently two band members ended up with permanent hearing damage when the drums went boom.
That means so much to both of them. Also interesting that Luna went to ruffle Trixie's hair with a hoof, I don't think I've seen a pony do that before.
Also I can't help but notice that Luna has spent more time describing Trixie as pretty than anyone else in her stories, and was more complimentary and patient with her than in general. I will not be letting this go
10640488
I really wish it didn't have that "non-canon" attached to it.
10640790
An artist, blessed by the moon is rare enough, finding one as confident and slightly unhinged like herself is rarer still.
Heheheh. Oh thank you. Needed the smile.
10640373
Considering the meta cheat that is known as Magic, I would be quite surprised there wasn't some magic based method of repair for the delicate tissues in one's head. Potions of healing and regeneration are almost required fare in any fantasy setting so why would Equestria be any different?
Yup, this is definitely a Trixie story. And a very fun Trixie story at that. I definitely need more Lula/Moonbutt action.
10640373
Noise-induced hearing loss is usually caused by damage to, and eventual death of, the sensitive hairs inside the cochlea. In cases like this, with such a sudden and intense pressure wave from the explosion, there is likely also damage to the eardrum and the bones of the middle ear. Without magic, such damage is permanent and irreversible. Given the delicate nature of these structures, a month or so of magical potions sounds about right.
...alright, I didn't expect an actual stag to be involved in Rightsstag. I was expecting that the name was a corruption of the original Germane name for the holiday...
...it could still have been, I guess, with the stag having been added later in the process, as a kind of reverse justification. But that seems a good deal less likely.
10640373
10641059
10641166
Estee infers from the tooth repair potion Zecora gave to Apple Bloom in The Cutie Pox that a regeneration potion exists for almost any body part. Presumably given the existence of wheelchair bound and amputee ponies in canon they have limits though.
10641194
Manes are an exception if you count that. (Personally, I count it mostly to turn the Mane-iac into a legitimate team-level threat, but comic book supervillains are themselves victim to the Triptychverse having a tighter focus on coherence.)
I do adore the way you write Luna, Estee. I think I’ve said before that the Luna who exists in my head is by now far closes to your version than the canonical one. But I’m okay with that! And any excuse to see Trixie strut her stuff and show exactly how good she is at her job? I approve.
The ending makes me wonder. Minotaurs were a slave race, it’s a huge part of their culture and rising above that is important beyond anything to them. But... slaves have masters. It’s kind of required. So I wonder, who enslaved the entire Minotaur race? And while the existence of Mazein implies that most of those former masters aren’t around anymore — and we can imagine what the Minotaurs did to ensure that — I wonder if any still survive?
10641221
Estee only takes ideas from post season 3 selectively and often adds her own spin on them.
For example her Starlight Glimmer had to be more evil than the show’s because her version of cutie marks are intrinsically tied to a pony’s soul and messing with them is far, far more damaging than in canon.
“They love it Trixie! They love it! They want an encore!”
“Trixie knows... but I can only do it once!”
Magnificently heartwarming and funny!
10641409
I'm aware.
10641194
I would assume the only limit is skill and cost... just like real life. You want brain surgery and the highest skilled surgeon? It'll cost more money than you'll ever see in your lifetime, short of winning the Powereball Lottery.
Oh, goody. She's using Trixie as a means of propulsion AND a weapon.
Fun stuff! Trixie and explosives always lead to a good time. I was a bit surprised that Luna was so casual about increasing the amount of explosives used, but then it was also her first direct experience with Trixie.
Also, I watched the entire video about Captain Dynamite, only to be annoyed that the news station covered up the actual trick in the end with their overly large banner across the bottom of the screen.
God, I miss the Metrodome.
I wonder now, what Trixies life will become now that Luna has found one of hers? Will Luna keep an eye upon her? Will Luna want her close? Will Luna seek her own student in Trixie to teach her, her ways? Will Luna and Trixie become friends? One of the few she truly has?
10641896
A gifted speaker and performer who knows how to play a crowd, deal with hecklers, and win over an incredulous audience. Who also just so happens to be one of the greatest living minds on the subject of magical experimentation and innovation. Who also is already privy to multiple state secrets, such as the existence and nature of the Alicorn Amulet and the private lives of the Element Bearers. And who has proven herself to be so uniquely non-malicious that not even the Equestrian version of the One Ring could turn her into a killer.
...have we met the next Lunar Seneschal?
10640363
Loved it. It's too bad the mashup couldn't also have included the Hanshin Tigers fight song and the Curse of Colonel Sanders.
Also, it's too bad the explosions likely required a symmetric rig. Or it could've been eleven sticks.
Adored Trixie and Luna's interactions in this. They really do get along great and would be very fun to see together in another Continuum fic.
10641928
There's another point for Trixie:
You do that to this Trixie and she'd not only survive, she would derail all of history.
10642260
Absolutely right. And if Luna's biggest weakness is that she doesn't quite understand the way modern Equestria works, and how modern ponies live their everyday, normal lives... I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anypony who has a better understanding of that psychology than Trixie, who's seen more of the countryside and the common herd than Trixie, who can fill the gaps in Luna's knowledge better than Trixie. She's everything Luna would look for.
10640373
When she asked if the audience could still see her I was afraid she had blinded herself as well as deafened herself and still might die. I was certain the next scene would be a hospital or funeral or grave. I was afraid it would end with Luna beating herself up for killing Trixie. Poor Trixie!
I'm just glad Trixie finally got the renown and validation she's been craving.
Was expecting something silly but got something really good.
10641928
Luna was considering Rarity for the position. And there is also Diamond Tiara.
Remember this...???
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2lNMBGJLHeE
Yeah...that...
With your stories, Estee, sometimes I have to re-read them to get the nuance. I read extremely fast, and sometimes, the flow of dialog is lost in the rush...
Not this one...
I can HEAR Tabby and Kathleen TALKING in my head while reading this. With all the nuances of the spoken word. The way BOTH of them can mold their voices not only to a character, but all the little dialect and inflection changes, just so, to make them live and breathe...
And the minute I finished it, I immediately searched for "BEHOLD! The Pate and Growerful Triskee", because I hear her doing that EXACT SAME THING in the tunnel...