She isn't free. It's a prison sentence with furloughs, and how is she supposed to enjoy time away from the castle when she always has to go back? There's also wardens watching her on both ends and somehow, the pegasus is the less reasonable of the two. And when she's been doing the same things for as long as she can remember...
It's four a.m. That's when the servant polishes the throne room.
Maybe Misty Brightdawn wouldn't be cleaning. But the unicorn mare still doesn't know who that is.
(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)
Mark interpretation by Sol-R.
Chapters (1)
Zipp has a lot in common with Bruce.
I tell you what, that's a heartbreaking depiction of Misty. Highly approve!
This feels like a fitting way to marry G5's two not-quite-in-sync depictions of Misty -- the nervous abuse victim of Make Your Mark and the resigned-to-Opaline's-idiocy snarker of Tell Your Tale. And I similarly like how it welds together Opaline as both a terrifying figure from Misty's POV (at least in MYM) and a villain of questionable competence. Overall, this is great work with characters I wish the shows themselves were better at writing.
Come on, Zipp! Misty needs a hug, not your contempt!
In regards to the problem mentioned in your patreon post:
G5 are basically facing the same problem that US farmers faced in the late 19th & early 20th century.
Solutions
Pray for a war somewhere & export the surplus food to them. (War means their farmers are busy fighting & can't farm.)
Historically, during the Great Depression food prices dropped so low that it cost more to ship the food to market than it could be sold for. This led to farmers destroying the food rather than trying to sell it.
FDRs solution was to have the government
1) buy & store the surplus food.
2) pay farmers to NOT grow crops.
Post WW2, the School Lunch Program was started. In part, this is because a fair number of draftees were 4F (unfit for military service) because they were the victims of diseases & defects caused by chronic nutritional deficiencies.
Subsidize farmers to leave the land & get factory jobs in the cities.
Encourage farmers to shift to crops like cotton, jute (burlap) & flax (linen + paper) that are more industrial than food producers.
You could also put excess farmers to work on infrastructure. The CCC built a LOT of roads & bridges. Also Rural Electrification (the TVA) & reforestation of mines, etc.
It's hard to break the influence an abuser had on you.
Zipp as Javert? Interesting comparison...
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Plot from the original novel Jean Valjean saves Javert's life & Javert comits suicide rather than arrest Jean (who is facing life imprisonment).
I do love the fact that this verse's Opaline may have actively gone insane due to her isolation and imprisonment. Because it also adds an extra element to interactions with Opaline; Is she lying or is she actually delusional? It's fully possible she doesn't actually know anymore.
Because I could see her thinking that she knew Luna and Celestia back when all of them were kids/teenagers, but the reality being that her mind has simply substituted them for different ponies.
Ah, so you're Misty and your readers are collectively Opaline
...Well, that'd certainly explain why her plans are so poorly made and a mishmash of conflicting ideas
I would argue that bracketing those words are redundant. It's like saying you have no idea where to put them into the story.
But, the issue is that all of them do fit.
Anyways, this is a pretty good oneshot. I've been finally sucked into G5 in that Chapter and was kinda hoping to see more stories after the fact.
You're doing good, Wordsmith.
You'd think Opaline had Evil Shareholder Meetings with how much work she puts into those presentations.
This is a great detail that makes perfect sense, and I'm probably going to incorporate into my own headcanon.
Fascinating detail which raises a number of questions.
Could be both.
Indeed. Bravery, like heroism, isn't something you feel. It's something you do. And Misty may be the bravest character in this entire cast.
Zipp's own life of deception leading to constantly suspecting everypony else makes too much sense. Brilliant work there.
In all, a gold mine of making sense of the often nonsensical landscape of G5, captured as part of a portrait of a mare trying to figure out who she even is. Magnificent work. Thank you for it.
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Seconding this. Misty needs all the hugs, and a redo of her childhood with better ponies. I liked the detail of Misty being taller than most ponies in Maretime Bay; she is Alphabittle's daughter, after all, and he's huge. Between Izzy, Alfie and now Misty, unicorns seem pretty big in G5!
Seeing Zipp being a suspicious, inflexible and pushy horse's ass was frustrating, as I like her, but it unfortunately makes sense for her to be this stupid here. The royal sisters haven't had a very normal, or healthy, upbringing (despite Haven trying her best, I'm sure).
On the other hand, Sunny is really shining here! Compassionate, smart, perceptive, and all-around a cornerstone of friendship. I really want to see more of her.
And finally, the other alicorn in the room... Opaline. Abusive, megalomanic, definitely dangerous... but also kind of incompetent, possibly genuinely insane, and in some ways also genuinely pitiful. She could certainly use a rainbow laser in the face, I think.
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Saw the movie, read the book, seen the musical. Great stuff. Here's hoping Zipp doesn't follow Javert's path completely.
Wow one of the reasons I hated G5 was Sunny gets the hold weird turn on and off Alicornhood but this makes me see it in a hold new light. There was five(which I also think is weird) it started but couldn’t complete cause you needed six. If I was a better writer I would try for a story but I also have not mastered evil so it’s not going anywhere.
Admittedly, she kind of is. Well...there is actual genuine detective skill there, she's demonstrated that much before now, and when she applies it properly, she can get by at the task decently enough, at least for the gang's purposes...but she's really kind of inexperienced at it and very much a novice. She pursued the detective role not because she had previous experience or training at it, but rather because she figured she was already naturally talented at it and would just be an automatic expert at it, so she took it up. But it doesn't work like that. Even when you have a talent for it (and again, she genuinely does--Zipp still has a mind good at forming accurate deductions and she's decent at getting a good bead on one's character and/or intentions, because let's not forget, she was the one who quite accurately suspected Misty was up to something before she swapped sides) that doesn't mean you don't still need to practice at it first before you truly become good at it.
Of course, in this case, it's a bit less about Zipp's inexperience at detective work and a bit more that Misty has not yet won her trust, and given past deceptions on Misty's part, Zipp's reluctant to just give it freely without Misty first proving to her that it's been genuinely earned and it's just not another attempt to trick any of them into letting their guard down. Unfortunately, Zipp's set her standards for that threshold being met so high that it's impossible for Misty to meet them until Zipp wises up and realizes that it's herself that needs to change their approach to the matter, not Misty.
Also, dang, Misty's kinda sassy at four in the morning.
I do actually kind of want to see a follow-up fic to this now where Alphabittle realizes just how much Opaline had, effectively, broken his daughter so to get her into this state. I don't know how he'd react to that, or should react to it, but it'd certainly make for a good fic to read, without doubt.
Of course she did. Posey's not happy unless she has something to complain about.
With Opaline, it seems to be a bit of both. Not that she'd acknowledge either as being a reality--she's really practiced at deflecting blame onto anything that is not herself.
I've had that exact same thought about Opaline repeatedly, especially after we learned what little we have about her past. Opaline's been shown the lessons she needed to learn repeatedly, no doubt, and probably always has been from the very start...she's just chosen not to accept any of them, having decided at some point she already knew what was best for herself, and how dare anyone else say otherwise?
As an English major...this makes me laugh more than it probably should.
It's okay Misty. I think this is one thing you're not going to fail at in the end.
All in all, a wonderful and insightful look at Misty's role in the G5 world. I know some look at G5 and see it as half-baked at a glance...but I argue that the fact this fic fills in some of the gaps pretty easily just shows that G5 has a better understanding of its own world than I think some give it credit for. Particularly when it comes to the subject of Misty.
Really makes me want to try my own hand at writing fics for G5 now...I should really get around to that sometime soon...
As an English Major, I approve this message.
Goddam estee, you know how to stab me in the heart
This is definitely a more intriguing look at the characters than we get in the actual show (no surprise there… that goes for all of your writing, but it certainly stands out with G5). Adding the trauma to Misty’s character, especially as a routine that has been instilled in her, makes a nice focus for the tragedy of her story.
Zipp comes off more harshly here as I took her later abruptness with grilling Misty to be more concern over what’s coming and less lingering distrust, but I quite liked that you had Sunny tie it to her own issues with having had to keep the royal’s secret about flight for all of those years.
I like Misty. She’s my favorite among the Mane Six 2.0 due to her backstory and her trying put her past behind her and starta new live. So this story should be right up my angle.
And I wasn’t disappointed. The story did a great job at giving us an insight into her mind. Really shows what an effect it had to be raised by a Pony who only sees you as tool, belittles you all the time and threats you like a slave. I guess if Misty had woken up earlier and cleaned to room before 4 a.m. Opaline still would’ve chastised her for being to early. Either because she’s control freak or as another way to keep Misty’s self-esteem low. Or maybe both. And Misty knows that Opaline is bad but she still hasn’t overcome the years of mental abuse. The result is a Mare with sever social anxiety who still wakes up at 4 a.m. to do chores because it has been drilled into her brain.
Beside Misty, Zipp and Sunny where the only members of the group whoplayed a role in the story and they couldn’t be any more different. To be blunt: I don’t like how the story portrayed Zipp. She was far to antagonistic. Yes she has a tendency to singlemindedly focusing on one thing and not letting go until she’s satisfied. It’s both a strength and a flaw. We already saw that in the movie when she tried to figure out a way for Pegasi to fly again and eagerly joined Sunny and Izzy on their quest. We also saw it in the show, when she would constantly pester Misty about Opaline. So that’s not the problematic part. The problematic part is how Zipp is outright hostile towards her and tells her to her face that she was against Misty living with them. Which is odd because in the show Zipp seems to have forgiven Misty along with the rest of the group. Imho that makes her look way to bad. And considering that Zipp was willing to steal her mother’s crown to restore magic I doubt that she would “clamp the world's loudest alarm around the filly's foreleg” as Misty put it. Because that would make her a hypocrite.
Now Sunny was great. The story really showed her compassionate side and I like how she’s genuinely worried about Misty working as double agent and insists that she doesn’t have to do this. The whole dialogue between was really heart-warming. And of course, Sunny the idealist would try to find something good in Opaline. I also like how the story gave her little flaws. The way Misty talks about her cooking (or rather Smoothie diet) was pretty funny.
Overall it was a good story. Could’ve been better by making Zipp less hostile but otherwise there isn’t really aynthing to complain about.
I'm really curious what Estee will do with Opaline when the time comes. Evil? Very lonely? Acting up because she doesn't know better?
My, Zipp really hates Misty. i'm surprised she hasn't yelled her into a ptsd flashback.
If you think about it if Opaline the Elements needed 6 ponies to work, and the Elements can beat and Alicorn, what's one way to protect your self, make sure those 6 ponies never become friends.
Had she not abducted Misty then Misty likely would be friends with Izzy and when Izzy went to Marietime bay Misty would have been with her. Taking Misty was about removing the Elements of Harmony from the equation. That way when Ponies got regular magic back she'd still be stronger. And it would explain Sunny not fully becoming an Alicorn, an Element of Harmony was missing when she transformed.
Misty is incredibly brave and heroic here. Its sick going back and re-subjecting herself to abuse over and over. Its like a kid volunteering
for abuse to protect their siblings.
a -> an
I haven't watched any G5 apart from the movie (because I didn't like the movie much), so I can't say how different your versions are from the official media, but you certainly have a knack for making your interpretations feel painfully real. Poor, poor Misty.