Solution Left to the Reader
A. K. Yearling didn't pray as she looked from her class to the laptop containing her lecture notes to the overhead projector. She did, however, silently remind a few deities that they owed her. And when she turned on the projector, it worked exactly as she'd hoped, just as it had for the last two weeks.
That was the easy part. Next was dealing with five rows of disinterested undergrads who were getting their humanities credits out of the way (and, to be fair, A. K. herself was doing the absolute minimum of actual teaching necessary to keep her position.) She thanked whoever was involved, god or registrar, for keeping the class free of Daring Do fans.
"Alright, class, next topic for Introduction to Folklore is the Green Rider." She moved through a few slides as she lectured, working through a wide variety of relics depicting a long-haired, green-skinned woman on a red or golden unicorn. "For whatever reason, the Rider is a recurring visual theme in many cultures throughout the Eastern Hemisphere."
Click. A marble statue, with children gathered around the gentle-looking mare, the Rider smiling. Even with the paint long since worn away, the Rider's bushy hair and the broken stump of the unicorn's horn made her identity undeniable. "Sometimes she was seen as a healer, a granter of blessings, or a guide."
Click. A 14th-century illuminated manuscript, with a warped hag astride a nightmare on hooves, made all the worse by the monk who had drawn it never having heard of a vanishing point. "Sometimes she was remembered as a witch, a monster, or even a lost soul beguiled by the demon she rode."
A few snickers came from the back of the room. A. K. ignored them.
Click. An 19th-century ukiyo-e drawing, the unicorn's mane and Rider's hair streaming behind them like clouds as they galloped to the horizon. "Sometimes she simply was. A mysterious phenomenon just passing through.
"Comparing stories that have survived to the modern day shows some consistencies between the various iterations. The Rider generally responded in kind; kindness was met with kindness, cruelty was met with cruelty. And you did not mess with her unicorn."
Click. Most of the class winced at the resulting mosaic. Two in the back exchanged a fistbump.
A. K. didn't roll her eyes. That was unacceptably unprofessional. "The consistencies suggest she has some roots in actual history, warped across time, different cultures, and oral tradition. Still, given the earliest documented examples, the actual Green Rider would have had to have lived millennia ago. It would be an impressive bit of remembrance if we really kept the same story going for that long, but it's likely that she's been forgotten and rediscovered several times since the first records, the same regions possibly even creating her multiple times as they were inspired by tales earlier cultures inspired in turn."
Click. The 11th-century tapestry showed a variation on the theme, a redhead with sword in hand, astride a green horse with leaves for a mane and tail. "This may explain her counterpart, the Red Rider. Less common, but still a recurring theme across the centuries. It's easy to see how the details can slip and change, though details like the horse having some thematic connection to nature is consistent in its own right.
"It could even be that there's something intrinsic to the human imagination that finds the image of a woman on a horse appealing or indicative of some subconscious truth, but now we're getting outside of my field. Any questions?"
A good half of the class was probably using their laptops to browse MyStable rather than take notes, but if they wanted to tank their GPAs, A. K. certainly wasn't going to stop them. A few hands did rise. One of them was one of the back-row troublemakers. Despite herself, A. K. smiled. She never could resist a good nemesis. "Yes, Sunset?"
The girl leaned back, a crap-eating grin on her face "So, if the Green Rider was real, would the Malt Whinny Company owe her royalties for the movie and all the merch?"
Her girlfriend Wallflower snorted and punched her shoulder. "Stop!"
"Law is also outside of my field. Any serious questions?" Honestly, A. K. thought to herself, they weren't even being subtle...
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Titles working together for laughs! And the Two Body Problem of Academia!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-body_problem_(career)
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/two-body-problem
If I was Sunset, I'd not only ask for royalties, but also sue for defamation, because they so badly twisted and mistold the story that it barely resembled the true version anymore. Heck, I'm sure Hades would love to get in on that suit too.
This was absolutely lovely tale. I loved every sentence and how the characters are so themselves, even after millennia of years. Great job and much thank yous for the shot out!
Now THIS is a headcanon!
Oh! ANOTHER good headcanon about how a canon character 'prays.'
I also think, in the sense of a gymnast sticking the landing, you really stuck the ending there. 👍
Delightful, from start to finish.
Love it, would also love a chapter that was a myriad of snippets of their shenanigans over the millennia, culminating with their mandated three encounters with AK Yerlling. Wouldn't fit the story itself, but it'd be wonderful.
Absolutely delightful, both the great chemistry between Sunset and Wallflower here and the excellent payoff to the whole thing.
Hah! I like this. Clever.
A fun little story, overall.
I’m not a big one for widely removed alternate-universe tales, but this story really resonated with me—likely because it does such a good job of grounding the various mythologies and legends, as well as presenting a delightfully plausible academic “reconstruction” of figures I could imagine really existing in the collective human psyche.
This was a nice little story. Bravo. Also, that cover image is REALLY cute.
Generally believed in only by a Lunatic Fringe, but we all know they're out there.
So wait. Did Wally and Sunset switch places over who got to be the steed or not?
Could Sunset and Wallflower use magic to prove their identity...just to get those sweet royalties. As well as sue for any misrepresentations?
I personally think that would be a great sequel idea.
Thank you for this lovely take on Sunset/Wallflower. It had a fresh setting with an organically grown relationship. (Get it?)
Wallflower? Not louloúdi Toíchou? Or maybe Erysimum?
So, like this but maybe less bling?
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt5474644/mediaviewer/rm1507212544
I'm perplexed by this premise, but intrigued.
11607276
The Green Rider never appeared in Hercules; she had her own film... though it wasn't any more accurate. (From what I hear, the thing that most bothered Hades about the movie was the complete exclusion of Persephone.)
11607305
Happy to provide it! And I have to amused by the serendipity of two "Sunset, friend of Wallygod" stories updating on the same day.
11607310 11607457
I do still prefer the idea of magical pigment proteins explaining EqG's amazing technicolor population, but hey, the chromelanin-coding genes had to get there somehow.
And yes, Dr. Yearling has some... interesting relationships with various gods. She's also meant to serve as a contrast to Celestia.
Glad to hear the ending worked. The original plan was a mocked-up Wikipedia article, but I couldn't strike the right balance between their editorial standards and the dramatic pacing suitable for a brief epilogue. (I thought about having Sunset and Wallflower vandalize the article, but it still didn't feel right.)
11607351
Worth thinking about for a sequel, though I make no guarantees there. (Heck, having them run into the sirens at some point could be fun. Again, not saying it'll happen, but it's food for thought.)
11607383
Given how you edit The Goddess of Empathy, that means more than usual. Thanks.
11607474
"I don't usually like X, but..." comments are some of my favorites. Glad to hear this worked for you as well as it did.
11607592
Sadly, the artist appears to have been inactive for several years now. Still, link to the source is available on mouseover.
11607596
Sadly lost to history is the Red Rider's carbine action, 200-shot, range-model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.
11607794
Hey, after that many centuries of being the steed, can you blame Sunset for wanting to mix things up a little?
11607871
Gaea Everfree was the intended reference, yes. Also, assume all names have been localized for your (and my) convenience. After all, even "Celestia" has Latin roots.
I love this story! Any odds of a sequel or some such? I'd read it to pieces.
liked and favourited, now to read and affirm my choice to do so.
Edit:
And yes, completely warranted, as expected.
Oh my God, this is a straight-up tease to something awesome
You've done it again, my friend. I loved all of it: character interactions, details of the setting, taking a look at Human!Celestia and her relationship with Apollo as his priestess/oracle. This is an amazing piece that I hope you revisit again one day, but I won't force your hand (or muse).
Though I feel the need to ask, why was Sunset's horn broken in one frame?
Sunset and Wallflower as immortal beings from Greek Mythology... YES PLEASE!
Also, having A.K. Yearling as an instructor is hilarious. It would be even more hilarious if, due to some terrible luck on her part, she gets Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Sci-Twi as her students one day. She would not know peace every Mondy-through-Friday.
Man. I wish this was part of a series.
verb is missing here.
The ending was great, but for a moment, I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like had Celestia been the professor instead? Maybe as a reincarnation, or perhaps granted immortality by Apollo. Would she see Sunset and Wallflower, and get just an inkling that she had known them? A sense of deJa'vu?
Wallflower be like:
Yearling be like:
11608712
Almost certainly due to simple aging and the ravages of time. Consider what almost any ancient statuary looks like after centuries or millennia of wear. A relatively long, thin projection like a unicorn’s alicorn would be very likely to break off at some point.
Sunset is trying to make money from her story!!!!! Haha
So they got bored and went to a seminar on their own folklore. Immortals need more hobbies.
This was fun.
As a fan of both Greek history and mythology, I thought you did a great job here. The handling of Wallflower was...interesting. Yes, that's the word I'll use.
OK, so I had a quick thought on the inevitable sequel that the ending encourages:
There's some Ancient Greek artifact that has to be deactivated before it destroys the world. Sunset and Gaia hire Daring to do it, "because if powers got involved it would wake up Zeus. And nobody wants to wake up Zeus." To make things interesting, both Sunset and Gaia decide to play as mortals for the duration of the expedition. And Daring has to put up with their snarking and making passes at each other constantly. Eventually Gaia "dies", which means she is in time out. And Daring and Sunset get to talking. And maybe they tell each other something that changes their perspectives a bit. Like a despairing Daring is told that she has a good chance at immortality, to judge by several other adventurers of old that are still remembered today. And Sunset learns...drat. I forgot that part. Something, something, friendship, probably.