After Arizona's battle with Oleander and FHTNG leaves her unconscious, Paprika carries her away to safety.
Though she at first struggles to understand Paprika, they will form a bond that may change the course of her adventure and of Foenum itself.
Part of the Fight for Foenum continuity, with the rest of my stories here.
A baby step for an attempt at finishing the story we may never see completed.
I can't know or write the story Mane 6 would have told, but I can try to tell my own while respecting their vision: without the limits or opportunities of story mode gameplay.
Not a crossover or a shipping story.
There are two retcons here: that Paprika carried Arizona out of the temple instead of Arizona waking up on her own, and that the RSS Donner/Prancer stayed at port for a few days instead of leaving in the morning.
Since Velvet and Stronghoof appear to understand her, I chalk it up her incomprehensibility to an accent and a speech impediment.
To represent Arizona initially struggling to understand Paprika, I've mimicked the Papdings system used to code what she said: there will be a key alongside a spoilered, plaintext version below.
💋A 🍎B ❗️C 🌸D 🌺E 🌠F 🌀G 💕H 💛I 😊J ☁️K 🐂L 👀M ✨N 🌟O 💞P 💗Q 🍩R 💫S 🧺T ⭐U 💥V ⚡W ❕X ❌Y ➰Z
Does this mean there’s going to be a squeal to this story, with Them’s Fightin’ Herds OCs in it?
11904078
I have ideas on sequels following other playable characters, and eventually Arizona and Paprika again, but no concrete outlines on that yet.
Some time I may add one or two OCs in, since I think there'd be more champions than what we got in game, but developing the actual cast is a much bigger priority.
They were adorable together. Love how they slowly got along together. We may not get an official continuation of the story, but the fans will continue it for sure.
11904813
Thanks!
That's a lot of my motivation for writing: if we're not getting any more official story, then continuing it falls to the fans.
So this is kinda sorta what Paprika's chapter might have been like, or at least 1 or 2 parts out of four.
Anyway, I'm going to PM you some of my more nit-picky remarks, but I'll keep the more general ones here.
I'm afraid I don't understand the "A wagon that lost its way is gone" joke. Am I overthinking it?
Is the ball game they played anything like this? Or ulama?
Paprika introducing the reading lesson with a vowel? I thought they didn't have vowels?
11937298
"A wagon that lost its way is gone" is a bad pun on saying 'wagon' like 'wa-gone'.
They were meant to be intentionally terrible dad jokes.
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I wasn't aware of Ulama as a game: I was trying to think of a game that could be played without much equipment and opted for the much more modern Tetherball.
But I think it'd be best to change it ot Ulama, since it fits the scene perfectly and feels more fitting for the world.
I will PM for feedback.
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You're right that they don't have vowels: I'm not sure whether to present the Foenum writing system accurately or to simplify it into English to not confuse readers.
I would very much like your feedback on which is better, but for now I'll change the reading lesson to 'B' instead of 'A'.
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From the start I said that I can't know or write the story Mane 6 would have told, I can only tell my own while respecting what they established.
What works well in gameplay may not translate well to prose, and vice versa.
It seems obvious that they were going to bring the champions together in some form, but how and where in the story is a mystery.
Regardless Paprika will have more adventures in this continuity.
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It's hard to say what Paprika's chapter would have been without knowing the events of the other chapters.
Velvet's would be next, but Paprika's chapter could possibly happen simultaneously in the timeline.
Since Paprika seemed to be isolated in a holding pattern, I think it'd take some revelationg or someone else making her want to leave for her to go on an adventure.
Maybe wanting to follow a champion, like I wrote.
She'd probably have more segments alone for gameplay.
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I could easily envision Velvet's chapter happening after Arizona's chapter in the game, with Velvet going to the Woodlands, and then Chapter 3 being either Oleander's or Paprika's chapter. Paprika's chapter could easily be a "flashback" of sorts to get us caught up to what's been happening with her during that time, and Pom's and Tianhuo's chapters could also be slight flashbacks to show what was happening simultaneously at first while then jumping forward a bit to advance the timeline.
11937543
That makes sense to me, maybe Velvet would have heard of a clue there somehow.
I wonder if they'd have ended Velvet's chapter on her running into another champion, then had that champion's chapter be next to show how they got there.
Could be a satisfying way to go to a meetup.
Though that kind of thing would feel like it was leading to a final chapter, where you'd play as all of the different champions for different parts as they work together to seal the Hold: but I don't think they were planning that.
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Depends on what Lauren Faust wrote, I suppose.