Cinderheart the fire mage likes superheroes. Enough to don a cowl of magic and patrol the night in her hometown of Canterlot. Sadly, her first attempt at crimewatch isn't going so well. Injured and discouraged, she needs a lifeline. A sidekick. A trustworthy civilian with the smarts, skills, and resources to act as competent support.
She gets Lyra Heartstrings instead.
A Christmas gift to my friend Jaded Hearts, co-starring Lyra with one of his OCs. If Cinderheart charms you, sample his uploads that take place in the same AU.
Chapters (1)
new Vylet Pony album, new Casketbase77 story. Damn good haul this Hearthswarming.
Rather 'Dark and Stormy Night' opening, but I suppose it does set the tone as a Christmas story.
Cheesy name aside, this is far more clever than it has any right to be. A real life aristocrat inherently assuming the fictional one is a villain, not aware of the real world similarities she shares with him. I know she'll find out she's wrong by the end- Still, I kinda hope she doesn't.
Then on to your and my favorite trope, non human characters and their biologies. 'Eating' to Cinder is burning things and adding them to her mass, which ties together the inherent themes of devouring and destruction. It also relates to the reader the problems with simply reforming herself.
CINDERSNAKE CAMEO! Here I was worried we'd go an entire story without mentioning my favorite character.
I gotta know how well you planned this. Is Lemon Hearts actually related to Cinder in canon, and did you get to Lyra through a eureka there, or did you always want to pair her with Lyra and reverse engineer a relation to make it happen? Or were both things true, and the last name connection simply came to you in a dream?
On top of that, I do truly wonder what the other cousin's Lemon-based powers must look like.
I reiterate; way too fucking clever.
Simple and clean is the way you make me feel tonight. I expected a tone close to Unbreakable (Or, given the comedy tag, maybe Kickass) if with a relatively-grounded super inspired by comics, and got something much tamer. Cinderheart is a character who fits the idea well not just in her personality and abilities, but design; even within the unlimited constrains of text, her appearing as a normal pony at every moment despite being made entirely of fire has always reminded me greatly of old sci fi shows with little budget, where they'd create a character who was an alien/kitsune/animal person who just happened to look like a normal human 90% of the time.
If not the letter of Christmas, it sure fits the spirit. God bless you and your infinite generosity, Casket.
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Back on Fimfiction after a long New Years away; apologies for the delayed response.
Regarding Cinder's relation to Lyra, it was a bait and switch for the owner of the OC. In his AU, Cinderheart's extended family does include lots of canon unicorns with Heart in their name, Lyra included. For this story, I needed Cinder to be hurt and for Lyra to help her. A telephone wire and a telephone book checked both boxes. I tossed in the Lemon Hearts red herring because its funnier when your heroes are bumbling fools who only end up in the same room through a series of ridiculous contrivances.
Can't take personal credit for the tidbit about Cinder's cigarette addiction though. Like her pet snake, it's part of her backstory to make her antiquated and eccentric. A hundred years ago, she'd be right at home amid the Canterlot elite, chuffing a stogie and owning an exotic pet. In current Equestria though, other nobleponies scoff at a smoker. Especially since she keeps her powers a secret.
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I'll be reading and commenting on your own Christmas upload in due time, so be on the lookout. My story had the common Casket trappings of Hurt/Comfort, kindhearted dimwits, and tons of dramatic irony. Can't wait to see what signature flair awaits in your own work.