I am an Open book
Idioms are phrases adapted from silly happenings and used by ponies to describe similar situations. A way to bond with others. To have a knowing laugh with strangers and friends alike.
Black day and spidery. Struggle buggy. You ate my ears. Do the duck. Phrases that invoke strange times from a forgotten town that nopony remembers.
Sometimes, idioms can be personal. An in-joke between friends and family. Between lovers.
I kept an open journal.
It sat on my bedside table from the first day I could write to the day before I left with the Pillars to seal the Pony of Shadows. Hundreds of pages of thick, expensive vellum bought for me as a gift from an aunt that wanted to encourage me to write more.
Inside I would write my feelings. Just small passages about what made me mad or some incident that when remembered gave me a chuckle.
After a long, horrid day of lugging water from the basin, I had returned home to start writing my frustrations down and was surprised to find somepony else had beaten me to it.
There were a few passages from Sky Heart inside.
She had written heartfelt notes and small poems she had come up with throughout the day as she made clay pots at home. I cried reading those words. It was exactly what I had needed.
I started writing back. Pouring my feelings out on the page for her to read. She would reply. Pages and pages were filled with silly love notes, poetry, and sweet nothings.
When anypony would say that I didn’t properly show my emotions or communicate how I felt, I would always reply that it wasn’t true as ‘I am an open book’.
Sky Heart always giggled at the joke.
Then I lost her to that stupid scheme. I missed her. I hated her. I loved her. I was mad, and lonely and wanted to do something, anything, to undo what had happened.
But I had the book.
When the loneliness became unbearable, I would read all those silly words to make it feel like she was close to me again.
It let me move on.
To my surprise, every one of my lovers wrote in that book. Weird facts, questions, philosophical debates, short stories, and anything in between. Page after page filled with the words of those I cared about most.
Sky Heart. She was killed by a dragon on that ill fated heist.
Stratus. He bled out in my hooves when we were ambushed by raiders.
Cumulous. She was lost in a tropical storm out by the sea on a military excursion.
Sparrow Lark. He wasted away to a disease I refuse to even think about.
I loved all of them. I missed all of them. It hurts everytime I think of them. I can still see the last moments I shared with them in my mind’s eye when I think of them.
But their loss never bothered me because I had the book.
I had hoped Sentry didn’t actually feel that way about me. I was hoping I misread everything. That he just wanted a close friend. I was hoping that Twilight Sparkle would whisk him off his hooves so he could be happy instead of miserable with me.
I brought Mistmane with me to Filocuse to search for my book.
I found it. It had been destroyed by neglect and the wear of time. The pages were brittle. The ink had long since become illegible. I was told no magic could save it. I don’t know what I expected.
I can’t give him my heart.
Because when I found my heart again, it was left in tatters on my bedside table.
Magnus caught up with Sentry in the corridor just outside her Majesty’s bed chambers. He flapped his wings harder and cut off Sentry about several gallops from the doors. Sentry managed to stop himself with his snout almost touching Magnus’ snout.
“Mags? What are you doing here?” Sentry asked, surprised.
“Stopping you,” Magnus said through his ragged breaths.
“Why?”
“Because.” Magnus scrambled to find a valid reason. “I want to win the competition, so I’m here to sabotage you.”
Sentry scowled. “That’s not funny, Mags.”
Magnus smirked despite the nervousness he felt. “Not a joke, Sentry. Do I look like a sap?”
Sentry snorted angrily. “Seriously? Of all the competitions to cheat you pick this one?”
“Of course this one.” Magnus snorted derisively. “The biggest prize means I have to bring the heat.”
Sentry crossed his wings in front of him. “Right, so what’s the heat then?”
Magnus’ eyes darted back and forth as he strived to think of a response. “I’ll stop you from entering her Majesty’s bedroom.”
Sentry looked at Magnus unimpressed before smiling. Magnus smiled back. Sentry moved forward. Magnus pushed back. Sentry then reminded Magnus that he was just a few sizes under a draft pony and kept moving forward as Magnus’ hooves skidded across the marble tiles.
“Wait!” Magnus called out.
“Nope. You are not talking your way out of this.”
“What if I bribed you?”
Sentry stopped. “What?!”
“I’ll get you your favourite licorice everyday for a month.”
“Why?” Sentry asked incredulously.
“So, I can ask Her Majesty out first?” Magnus said with a hint of uncertainty.
Sentry leaned back, covered his head with his wings, and shook violently from what Magnus assumed was screaming. He then brought his uncovered head level to Magnus with a furious glare.
“Okay, Magnus. I’ll ask this plainly. What the actual fuck are you trying to do here?”
“Winning,” Magnus said confidently.
Sentry’s left eye twitched. He opened his mouth to presumably continue yelling, but was cut off by Her Majesty’s bedroom doors slamming open.
“WHO DARES DISTURB MY PRIVATE TIME FOR WRITING FANFICTION ABOUT- Oh, it's you two,” Twilight groaned, “I was hoping I wouldn’t need to see either of you anymore today, but evidently this farce is still ongoing.”
Both Flashes stood at attention.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Little late for that, studs. Still competing for my hoof in marriage?”
“It’s just for a date, Your Majesty.” Magnus stated crisply.
“Uh huh, yeah, whatever.” Twilight waved a wing dismissively. “Look this is both irritating and pathetic since I know what one of your intentions actually are in this.” She pointedly looked at Sentry who turned away. “So, let’s make this simple, Flash Sentry?”
“Yes, Your Majesty?” Sentry asked.
“Got anything to say to me?”
“Yes! Would you go on a date with me to the Canterlot Charter bookstore? I’ll pay for any books you want, carry them back to the palace, and then leave you be while remaining silent the entire time.”
“What?” Magnus exclaimed.
“I agree to your date,” Twilight replied, “And to ensure this does not continue, I, as your ruling monarch, declare that Sentry is the winner of your contest.”
Sentry’s tail wagged. “Thank you, Your Majesty!”
“Great,” Twilight her wings up in exasperation. “Now, if this has finally been dealt with there is an all you can eat salad bar in Ponyville and I need to destress with some casual conversation with friends.” Twilight gestured towards her bedroom with a wing. “My bedroom is empty, feel free to use it for whatever - just make sure the maids clean up after both of you before I get back. Later, Anserines.”
Her Majesty then teleported away in a cloud of sparkles.
“What the applesauce was that about?” Magnus shouted.
“Me winning.” Sentry snarked.
“Winning? You agreed to be Her Majesty’s saddlebags for a day.”
“Yep, and Her Majesty also declared that I won.” Sentry smiled maliciously at Magnus. “That means I get to ask one thing of you, no restrictions, and I plan to use it now.”
Magnus stared at Sentry dumbfounded. “Alright, then. I don’t get why you’re so eager for this, but fire away, bo.”
“Go on a date with me.”
Magnus felt his heart stop in his chest. Sentry had his ears pinned back, and was shuffling in place nervously.
“You want to go on a date,” Magnus repeated.
“Yeah.”
“With me?”
“That is what I asked.” Sentry grinned.
Magnus was well known for always having something to say for every occasion, but Sentry had done what was thought to be impossible. He’d left Flash Magnus speechless.
“Was that your goal this entire time?” Magnus asked.
“It’s been my goal since I came to Canterlot.” Sentry admitted.
Magnus felt his breath hitch. “Explain.”
“You're the Flash Magnus. My parents told me bedtime stories about what an amazing hero you were. Are. You were my idol. I had stupid fantasies about going on adventures with you, being best friends, and eventually-” Sentry’s face flushed. “I heard you had joined the Canterlot Royal Guard, and when Shining asked for volunteers to transfer, I was the first in line.”
“You-” Magnus stumbled over his words, “From the start?”
“Yeah. I was awestruck on the first day. The Flash Magnus challenged me to a sparring match. Then he invited me out to lunch. Then he hung out with me. One day turned into a few months and I was really happy.” Sentry frowned. “I don’t have a lot of friends.” Sentry grinned. “But you stayed! My hero wanted to be around me and we were best friends. It was a dream come true and then I kept thinking about what I wanted next, but didn’t have the courage to ask.” Sentry smirked. “Until the bet.”
“To woo Her Majesty?” Magnus was floored, he had not expected this. “You went through all of this to ask me out on a date?”
“I know, but like I said I didn’t have the courage to do so. This was the push I needed.” Sentry rubbed the back of his neck with a wing. “You don’t have to go on a date with me.”
“I lost the bet,” Magnus replied.
“And I just confessed to pining after you for months.” Sentry chuckled weakly. “That probably didn’t shine the best light on me, so if you don’t want to then I won’t force you.”
Magnus studied Sentry’s expression. It was a look on the border of hopeful and devastated. Sentry really did want this. It wasn’t some elaborate joke. He’d laid his heart bare to Magnus and Magnus was struggling under the weight of handling something so fragile.
He didn’t know what to do. He was stuck, unable to act. He wanted Sentry to be close to him, but did he want him that close? Did he care about him in that way?
Did he think of Sentry like he did Sky Heart? Stratus? Cumulous? Sparrow Lark?
Was he willing to bare his heart back? Was he ready to?
Magnus realized his thoughts were spinning in circles so he focused instead on his emotions. He let go and allowed his heart to do what it wanted instead of listening to his confused brain.
Magnus stepped forward.
Sentry was a goofball. He was naive. He couldn’t figure out even the most basic things without Magnus to help him. He pined after a fairytale thinking he had a chance to make it come true.
Magnus kissed Sentry on the lips.
Magnus guessed maybe he could grant him his happily ever after just this once.
“Does that mean… ?” Sentry asked.
“I’m not a fairytale,” Magnus started, “I’m not as well put together as you think and I feel out of place more often than not, but if you can accept those parts of me… I’m yours.”
Sentry laughed happily as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Sentry kissed Magnus back.
They both felt their kiss was something akin to a bang.
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Before I read this, I must know: How did you come up with the chapter titles?
10930447
Black Day and Spidery, You Ate My Ears, Do the Duck, and I Am an Open Book are all legitimate ancient Greek idioms. Struggle Buggy is 1920s slang.
Each chapter opens with an anecdote from Flash Magnus describing the pony version of the sayings or rather the overtop ridiculous story that leads to them. Except for the duck one. The duck one is actually close to real ancient greek ducks who were absolute savages.
less slang in this chapter 0/10 try again next timeFor real though, this was great. I knew I could never do this idea justice, but you took it and ran with it for a country mile. A combination of linguistic worldbuilding, actual emotional depth, and Wacky Gay AnticsTM, with strong characters (Twilight, personally, was my highlight, which probably says something about me) and, of course, amazing slang. My god the slang, it was glorious.
Overall, I give this story nineteen flashbangs exploding right in my face all at once and permanently damaging my vision and hearing out of twenty, I am now mostly blind and deaf in one ear, whoops.
Well now I want to know who and what Twilight is writing fanfics about.
10930806
I can neither confirm nor deny the potential allegations of knowing exactly what Twilight Sparkle may or may not have written in her bedroom and have chosen to be as unhelpful as possible in the upcoming investigation.
Thins had been a fun read, I hope hope you will keep on ritting more stories like this
Well, I did. Didn't you?
The first chapter was an absolute delight to read, and Magnus bringing out all those idioms/metaphors/whatever they are to bamboozle me. I have no idea what happened at the end to cause Twilight to be pinned to a bookshelf, and I don't want to know. Keep my innocence in there, please. Oh, and I'd also like to know why- nevermind. Might be too inappropriate.
Damn...maroon? Whua-
Anyways...the second chapter was much funnier than the first(at least to me, please make them fuck already for god's sake), and you just went all out on the bloody phrases and words, innit?
No, no, no, do NOT show off the sex appeal that is not what Twilight wants-
Too late.
Very wise. You do not want to get involved in whatever shenanigans is happening right now, Twilight.
Oh...I'm a dummy. Sentry has been hitting on Magnus!
IIiiiiiiii am gonna show myself out here. This never ends well.
He called Twilight a what now?! That's it, someone get me a magic portal to Equestria. I'm gonna pull out every tickling equipment I have and stick them up his-
She writes fanfiction? To be honest, I'd read it just for the grammar.
...oh.
Anyways, final verdict. This was a really well written story, and I really loved the small blurbs at the start giving us some Magnus backstory stuff. And it's just hilarious how Twilight was helping Sentry all along to win the contest so he could admit his love to Magnus. Really good stuff there, I'd read it again.
ONTO THE FAVORITES LIST IT GOES
This was fantastic! You touched on so many corners and every single second of this was enjoyable. I was impressed how you managed to tie in incredible worldbuilding ideas while pushing forwards this story of two idiots pining for one another and being oblivious about it. The format of this story really paid off as well, having Flash Magnus clue us in to the terminology was a super creative approach. There was also a section where you used "maroon" to describe someone and I'm wondering if you meant moron? I did feel he sounded a bit Australian at times which was a little odd but hey. This was a great, great story! Thank you for participating!
I am deeply amused.
I expected some great romance, but I wasn't prepared for amazing worldbuilding. Seriously, all the idiom origins were great, and they tied in perfectly with their respective chapters. I'm not going to forget the basin ducks anytime soon.
Great characterizations. The premise of competing for the princess' affection is wonderfully subverted. Twilight's attitude toward the whole thing was refreshing.
And the romance! I felt it in my bones. Flash and Magnus had great chemistry. It's not a pairing I would have thought of, but man am I glad someone did.
The pacing was spot on and kept me hooked the whole way through.
This story was delightful! Thanks for publishing it.
Awww. Such a bittersweet fate.
Hah, GAYYYYYY
What a lovely story. Such incredible worldbuilding woven with riveting characterisation. I wish I had more to say but argh, that was perfect. A well-earned win, alright
First off, what the fuck. Why are you such a good writer? The hook for this is literally perfection. It introduces a major character, a major concept, and ends on a cliffhanger for the rest of the story. Speaking of, the whole idiom theme that permeates the entire story is fun, but also turns Flash Magnus into a giant puzzle. He explains the major idioms, but when it comes to the more casual ones, more often than not they're just thrown out as normal speech. Obviously, you can piece together what he's saying by context clues, but often not even the characters know what he's saying, which is exactly how Magnus communicates. Anecdotes and poems, that's how he connects with people. He is an open book. The story might as well be called Flashslang.
Twilight being completely aware of what's going on is hilarious. You can tell she's annoyed, but once she figures it out, she's annoyed not at them as a duo, but at Magnus for being a colossal idiot. Gives me just buck already vibes. The line where she nonchalantly offers her bed is golden.
I really like how you built up the Flashes also. Magnus as our perspective we get to know through interludes, which bleeds into his character. Sentry we learn about by how he acts, mostly again, from Magnus' perspective, but we can figure out what Sentry is thinking, while Magnus is dumb as a rock. The slow bonding is also lovely, Magnus unknowingly growing closer to Sentry until he starts giving him intimate nicknames and, again, slang.
I will also have to say, the world building on ancient Equestria is fucking fantastic. It's all so alive, and the way you present it is amazing. I don't even know you came up with this stuff, let alone implemented it into the story tangibly. The unique creatures, how the pegasi interacted with each other, Magnus' past lovers, it's all so interesting. I could read a story entirely about the past, it's that good.
Bravo!
Dawwwwwh. So fluffy and utterly adorable.
The build-up to this moment was perfectly on point, and despite it being predictable that it would happen, I enjoyed the ride all the way through. I'll have to see what else of yours I might enjoy because if this is the sample, this is gonna be an all I can read buffet.
what stronger signal could there be that this is the last chapter? that there's nothing left to do but deconstruct the premise? perfectly fitting with the shift in mood at the end of the previous, just great work here.
and the bits of dark in all these stories that were retold in a light-hearted tone before begin to come together.
hauntingly beautiful, all the more resonant to me with the echoes i feel from having written similar themes in my work. i can really appreciate how well you did it here.
otter, i know rationally and logically that all that is going on here is your gift for drawing out fun characterizations for our canon friends and writing their interactions with great skill but i cannot help but feel as if you wrote this Twilight Sparkle with the intent to murder me in particular with how much she appeals to me.
ugh so good
and the salad bar! i totally forgot you incorporated that into this! this is so great! ugh i just love that mental image of twilight eating a salad annoyedly
i do wonder what that feels like, unexpectedly getting to meet your hero from all the stories you read about them, which were supposed to be just stories, and then all of it leading to... this! how wonderful.
and such a great and positive ending, with that spine of realism to give it heft. i am really happy for these two dunderheads, dorks, and doras, though i have no idea if i'm using the last word correctly.
just a very well-crafted and entertaining tale all around otter, showcasing both your gift for worldbuilding and your talents in inventing vivid and fun characters and drawing the interactions between them. the slow buildup of the romance, the obliviousness of the Flashes, Flash Magnus's old-timey speaking style, your version of Twilight, every single bit of ancient Filocuse that you've shown us, i loved all of it.
A review for YOU.
So the judges for the Pillars contest have been telling me to read this since the results came out! Wish in particular has been singing this one's praises, so I definitely had to give it a read!
Absolutely cracking stuff mate. There's far too little mlm on fimfic, and the fics that are here don't get nearly the level of attention and acclaim they often deserve. This was a front to back stunner. The structuring, with each chapter's being an elaboration on a saying from Magnus' early days, was a wonderful addition, adding a lot of really fascinating worldbuilding onto the excellent character interactions.
Sentry and Magnus' romance was cute, humorous and well developed. Sentry was a particularly adorable character. Your Twilight was excellent too, and was applied sparingly enough for her to never lose her comedic, deadpan punch.
Super great stuff overall! Really glad to have read this, you've definitely got another interested follower now! :D
I enjoyed this very much! Brilliant wordplay, an engaging story.
Finally got around to knocking this off my reading list. I have no idea what my expectations were, but I can safely say you blew them out of the water.
Magnus talking like he's from the 1920's was certainly an interesting twist.
I think my favorite part about this story was how Sentry is played as the big dumb himbo, but he was four parallel universes ahead of Magnus the whole time. He knew exactly how to win the bet from the start, but played along anyway because he was having fun with his hero. And I enjoyed watching him have fun.
It's also fun seeing Twilight swear
This one was so much fun!
Gotta give you props to your skills in description and world building. I can tell you've put a lot of effort in crafting each one of these little origin stories if these phrases. I always find crafting the world around characters to be the most tedious part of the writing process, but these have character all of their own. That's worth a thumbs up in my book.
This was absolutely amazing — from the setup, to the characterization , to the exquisitely rendered worldbuilding. I can’t begin to describe how ecstatic it made me feel to see such a dedicated exploration on the development of idioms at the heart of this story. The opening passage of each chapter was so wonderfully crafted. Amazing work inventing and describing all of the mythic creatures Magnus encountered in his foregone time. Each was delightful in its own way! I love how these opening tales of the past went on to connect to each of Magnus and Sentry’s competitions in the present. Also, just to gush further on the brilliant etymological work here, it makes me so excited that the majority of the central phrases used for the chapter titles were based on ancient Greek idioms. It brought in that special bit of authenticity to how you rendered the fantastical origin of these phrases in Equestria. Speaking of which, taking advantage of Equestria’s anachronistic world to pair Magnus’s visibly Greco-Roman cultural heritage from the show with a dialect that borrows slang from 1920s America? That was inspired and gave Magnus all that much more charm!
I was really taken by the shift in mood as the final chapter closed in. Magnus has such a buoyant way about him that when he’s brought to a place where he’s made to reflect on the genuine heartbreak of his past loss it really hits hard. He and Sentry were already so effortlessly likable together and easy to root for, but that added touch of hope for the future coming after a past filled with stabs of grief made the culmination of their budding relationship all the more impactful.
A very worthy winner of the Pillars contest. And also such a good work of mlm romance — more of which I’ve really got to read from you!