• Member Since 11th Mar, 2012
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GaPJaxie


It's fanfiction all the way down.

E

Something can be a secret even if everybody knows.

Written for WandererD for Jinglemas 2022

Based on the prompt: I'd like a feel-good story featuring Silverstream and Ocellus.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 23 )

And as Ocellus’s magic could but inspire the guitar to a handful of notes, so did Silverstream, ponies and their magic, make it burst into song.

Honestly, from a worldbuilding perspective I don't get this part.

imho this story provides, among other things, an interesting perspective on what it's like to be a changeling, what changelings can and can't do, their weaknesses and strengths.

Among your stories I think I've mostly read either comedy (HILARIOUS comedy) or drama about seriously troubled interpersonal relationships. It's interesting to read something that's not predominantly either of those, except maybe a little towards the end. I'm still not sure whether this story is quite exactly "a feel-good story featuring Silverstream and Ocellus," but I know I do like it.

11459703

Magical musical numbers are a pony thing! Pony magic literally makes the instruments play themselves.

11459730
This explains a lot! So when Countess Coloratura aka Rara wants to play the piano with hooves, she just puts her hooves near the keys and induces an emotional experience or other event that will bring on a musical number, and from that point everything else is 'easy!' :twilightsmile::trollestia:

Wanderer D
Moderator

That was a lovely story man, and relatable in many little ways when it comes to dancing and writing. Thank you for a great gift, Jaxie!

this is great!!!!!

love the dialogue and how genuine the awkward moments are, they really contribute to how real the friendship between these two feels

not a bad story, not a bad story at all
excellently realistic, whilst also keeping the characters believably close to canon
also:
>Silverstream's a xenophile
i s m e l l G a l l S t r e a m

Not for the first time Vyvyan wondered what does the bloody hippy do all bloody day?

Because Neal didn't work or study or bathe or do chores--neither did he but he was a punk rocker. That was different.

See? Even my Imp of the Perverse likes your story. Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you too :pinkiehappy:

Wow. This is really good. Manages to explore several pretty deep topics and efortlessly shifts perspective to Silverstream and Ocellus.

That's really not an easy thing to pull off.

Only thing in hindsight is that I would've thought Gallus would've jumped at the chance to be there with Ocellus and Silverstream instead of going back to Gryphonstone but that's a really small thing that doesn't affect the really excellent character piece here.

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To be fair...the story never said Gallus left to specifically go back to Griffonstone for the holidays. How do you know he isn't hanging with another friend somewhere else for the holidays? :raritywink:

11460468
Yeah, quite possible. Like I said, it doesn't detract from the story in any way. It would have taken away from it with anyone else present.

In the old days, before Queen Chrysalis’s defeat, I was trained to kidnap and replace ponies, to seduce their loved ones, to drain the love from their bodies.

What is this, a crossover episode?

Your analysis of changelings continues! I have to know how you approach writing dialogue. The way you chop and screw your way around whatever you're getting at feels, for lack of a better analogy, like a dance. Effortless, but with absolute attention paid to detail. Loved the flow.

“Because you’re too polite to say you think I’m a ditz?” Silverstream giggled, continuing before Ocellus could protest. “I’m happy. I’m a happy creature. I like life and being alive and everything in this beautiful world. I don’t know why everycreature thinks that means I’m dumb, but they do, and I’m used to it.”

"Laugh & the world laughs with you. Cry & they say you're sloshed."

Andy Capp
:pinkiehappy:

"They didn’t even have jobs. They didn’t wear clothes, they didn’t make toys, they didn’t forge iron, or shape clay. To the extent they had any physical possessions, they acquired them through theft or trade from other civilizations."
Well, I think Silverstream pretty much has to have an incomplete/oversimplified view of things here. After all, what do they trade? If their labor, that's a job; if goods, those goods must come from somewhere. And even if they're still stealing from other civilizations and trading the results, that, too, would be a job. Even if their economy were driven by something like giving foreign entities resource extraction rights on their land, they'd need people (soldiers, diplomats, lawyers, etc.) to keep that land theirs and the fees coming.

...Well, actually I suppose they they could just have some kind of species-wide retainer from Equestria as part of one of Celestia's plans or something, and be living entirely off that, but that seems unlikely.

"in whatever way asexual shapeshifters prefer?"
"in whatever way asexual shapeshifters preferred?"?

"blocked what little moonlight their was, casting"
"blocked what little moonlight there was, casting"?

"Because we feel like; you know."
That semicolon feels kind of awkward to me, but that also feels like an excellent thing for it to be doing in that particular context. So no problem, I think, but I thought I'd point it out to you just in case (and if that was deliberate, which given it's you I could see it indeed being, nicely done).

"her mane and tail in an angular cut reminiscent of Commander Tempest"
"Her coat was gray, her mane and tail shock white"
...Soooo I can't help but notice something here...

"judging the others movements"
"judging the other's movements"?

"A tango is the work of intimacy"
"A tango is a work of intimacy"?

"and that hippogriffs eyes said"
"and that hippogriff's eyes said"?

"Ocellus’ eyes drifting"
"Ocellus’s eyes drifting"?

"She thought about being raised her to be able to deal"
"She thought about being raised to be able to deal"?

Nice. :)
Glad I bumped this up the queue; thanks!
And thanks for writing, in general!

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I stand by my implicit claim that silverstream would have complicated romantic feelings for commander tempest if she was gay.

And I'm very glad you enjoyed it!

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...Since you didn't mention it, just the similarity to Tempest, was the color scheme not actually also a consciously deliberate on your part reference to the invasion and implication of complex feelings regarding it on Silverstream's part?

Thanks. :)

11467714

Oh, it totally was. Grey base, white hair? That's the storm king. :D

11467837
Him and his army, yep, that's what I'd thought. :D
So, yes, some complicated feelings there.

It's no wonder Silverstream stank of rotting meat to Ocellus. Imagine the utter self-loathing she must be experiencing. Because, let's all remember, Silverstream thinks her mother is an unbearable lunatic—and that she's the person she takes most after.

“Because you’re too polite to say you think I’m a ditz?” Silverstream giggled, continuing before Ocellus could protest. “I’m happy. I’m a happy creature. I like life and being alive and everything in this beautiful world. I don’t know why everycreature thinks that means I’m dumb, but they do, and I’m used to it.”

Oh, no. Silverstream isn't dumb. But she is a ditz. She's scatterbrained and overlooks things, things that are blatantly obvious to others, and because most creatures know Silverstream doesn't have much in the way of a filter, they know whatever she says is what she's actually thinking. Even if she doesn't notice herself.

Like when she snapped at Ocellus. I believe Silverstream actually was upset and lashed out but didn't do it consciously.

It’s always such a treat to see Silverstream written with depth and complexity. She’s upbeat, not dumb. That’s very important! Thanks for doing my girl justice :)

We never did get the answer to the question of what changelings do all day, sounds like an open follow up to me :ajsmug:

I'm sure you've explored it before but I love the idea that Changelings don't create, and creation is affecting the surrounding world. Ponies and other non-changelings inspire music into existence while Changelings don't even have exports. They don't dance, they imitate. But as for the meat of the story? You did an amazing job describing an intimate conversation between friends because I honestly felt like an intruder. It felt too personal and I regretted hearing it but I'm glad it was shared.

11602804

I'm sure you've explored it before but I love the idea that Changelings don't create, and creation is affecting the surrounding world. Ponies and other non-changelings inspire music into existence while Changelings don't even have exports. They don't dance, they imitate.

They do seem to have a remarkable gift for imitating anything they've seen: faces, voices, actions. Thorax plays back Twilight's speech to her with perfect clarity, like a recording. And the changeling who replaced Rarity must have been able to mimic her ability to create dresses.

Yet, their own civilization is sparse. They have no music of their own, no traditions, no industries, no exports, concerned more or less exclusively with survival.

In some regards, they're like mirrors -- empty when there's nothing to reflect.

But as for the meat of the story? You did an amazing job describing an intimate conversation between friends because I honestly felt like an intruder. It felt too personal and I regretted hearing it but I'm glad it was shared.

Thank you! It was different for me, but that's the vibe I wanted.

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