Some of the Bearers of Harmony were born in Ponyville. Some moved there. Twilight Sparkle was the last to arrive, uniting five unlikely mares into a team of heroes who would define an age.
Emphasis on "uniting." The relationships between the other Bearers before that Summer Sun Celebration ranged from "childhood friends" to "might be able to pick each other out of a police lineup." And yet, fate had its ways of preparing for what was to come. Some more subtle than others.
Written for Shakespearicles as a part of Jinglemas 2023.
Chapters (1)
Oh. Prelude to Teeth-Clenched Teamwork. The five need a unifying force to turn them into the friends they ended up being: having to drag somepony else kicking and screaming into the real world.
I feel Applejack got the raw deal in this exchange, but at least she got some catharsis.
Leave it to you to weave a yarn both figuratively and literally to connect ponies together. My favorite part was Opalescence. Letting the cat out of the room is like opening the gates of Tataurus themselves.
Happy Hearth's Warming!
Oh god...
"'EY LADY, THIS GONNA TAKE LONG?!"
What is that supposed to mean?
Gasp?!
It was a fun little story, all though, Rainbow Dash's part could be a bit longer. The characterisation of the ponies is good, with Rainbow's signature... cool, and Pinkie's energy all without any narcissism or sugar high flanderisation, this gets an AWESOME from me!
A nice story and very fitting that Pinkie Pie recognized Celestia immediately.
And part of the offense is that Opal is willing to choke down the offered "food" while Rarity refuses to reciprocate.
(What did you think your cat was doing?)
Thank you so much for writing this!
The magic of their bond in a shared gift being how they were discovered by Celestia is exactly the kind of world-building I was hoping to see come from this prompt!
Merry Jinglemas, and Happy Hearth's Warming!
And to think it all started with an apple in the eye. Nice work!
Nicely woven, and a better job representing their pre–episode one relationships than the quick scene in the episode the cover art comes from. (I get the impression that the original plan for the series was that not only would Twilight make five new friends, her arrival would be responsible for bringing some of the main cast together as friends, too. As evidenced by "Griffon the Brush-Off" and "Look Before You Sleep.")
Friendship is both magic and destiny. It's also what got Rainbow Dash to start thinking about ponies other than herself.
Here I thought a shamble had to contain something living.
In all, this one fell flat for me. A passable attempt at Mane 6 banter, but overall this just felt like random flailing in the hopes that friendship would somehow happen. I regret to inform you that for the most part, it did not. Not for Twily anyway; such is the peril of such a subjective experience.
Sweet and funny! What a lovely combination. I do feel bad for Applejack and Fluttershy, for having to deal with untempered-by-friendship-lessons Rainbow.
A lovely chain of connecting events, with butterflies at the center, as is only proper. Nicely done.
It takes one to know one, that's all I'm saying.
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Nothing builds friendships like trying to wrangle a overpowered, poorly socialized, night-themed archmage. (Twilight or Nightmare Moon? Yes.)
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Writing Opal was a delight, yes. Credit to my sister's cats for confirming that the cat behavioral axis has endpoints at "evil" and "stupid." And Opal definitely isn't stupid.
As for Applejack's raw deal, I cut the scene with her gift since I felt that undercut the ending, but I've posted it elsewhere since you looked at the story.
Sorry, AJ.
11782692
Prolonged exposure to Pinkie Pie during a high-intensity sales period is not recommended for vulnerable materials.
Dash racing through her section felt appropriate, but I could have balanced it a bit better against the other scenes. Still, glad you enjoyed it. I always try to hit a good balance with Pinkie.
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Opal strikes me as very much an indoor cat, but if there were ever any rodents in the Boutique, there certainly aren't now.
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Glad you enjoyed it and that I hit your expectations for the prompt. Thank you again for managing the massive cat-herding exercise that is Jinglemas.
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An excerpt from Applejack's wedding vows:
"Sugarcube, from the day I met you, you've been the apple of my eye. For a while, that meant wantin' to hit you in the eye with an apple. Which I did once. But ya grew on me. Like apple blight."
Cadenzan scholars agree that it was one of the five least romantic speeches in the history of Equestria. By the time Applejack was finished, it took every other bridesmaid to keep Rarity from throttling her.
11782900
Yeah, putting the "Celestial Advice" clip front and center with what amounts to "Disclaimer: I know this scene happened in the show. I'm still disregarding it" felt like a good way to cut off those objections at the pass. We saw the Mane Six get to know each other over Season 1. And even Celestia isn't immune to the warping tendencies of nostalgia.
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)
What is magic if not the living expression of friendship? (And if you don't accept that, assume some of Pinkie's eyebrow mites wandered onto the yarn at some point.
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Hey, somepony's got to deal with rough-around-the-edges Dash in order to smooth her down. Plus, she's more aerodynamic that way!
... I may have lost track of this metaphor.
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It is fitting that the gift's most extreme transformation was at the hooves of the future chaos arch-cultist. Credit to Fluttershy for building the Ship of Theseus in a bottle.
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Everypony in that town is crazy. Twilight is no exception.
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Someone came up with the theory that the first supervillain that got reformed WAS Book Horse. My reaction? To quote Shego.....Doy!
This was the loveliest Christmas and Hearth’s Warming present! Thank you!
It's the Gift That Keeps On Giving
Epic as always, FOME! And super heartwarming (Rainbow Dash aside), perfect for everypony
Huh. I wasn't aware that non-Euclidean geometry was contagious. Only Pinkie Pie, only in Ponyville.
Merry Christmas, FoME.
This might just be one of the best references to another role of a voice actor's I've seen. Completely and utterly unintentional, of course -- I don't expect anyone else to get it; it is very niche -- but it got a smile out of me all the same.
Well, of course! I mean, what kind of winter festival would commemorate a story that had farm animals present? Next you'll be telling me it all took place in a stable and the main character spends most of it lying in a trough of hay!
Fun little story. I'm not usually that fond of the whole Pinkie-as-eldritch/superequine-being thing, but this made it work. Particularly since it was kept at least a little ambiguous due to applying to crochet - a craft about which what is and isn't spacially possible can be a little... open to interpretation, at least to the naked eye.
11782942
Hey, does fimfic allow posting someone else's writing under your own name?
Myself, I found these (hypothetical, pre-s1e1) versions of the characters unappealing. I didn't find the story's other elements so fascinating as to make up for that.
See, it's possible to write your own negative words, based on your own reading experience, if you really want to!
That was a fun little slice of life.
I do love me some pre-canon content!
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Interestingly enough, I think the plagiarism rules only cover stories. (Explaining is not condoning, and the fact that there isn't a rule against it doesn't make it a good idea)
It took me until Celestia's part that i understood what was going on but this was just lovely
I knew I wanted a story like this =D