My Little Pony XXX: Trixie Treats!

[Fallen Angel]

Urgh, not again.

Uh, quick! Look! Fluttershy's being adorably evil!

http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/vi...sk_dr_adorable

Ha. Ha. Ha.

[Jahkaivah]

It's virtually impossible to each one AND ONLY ONE potato chip

[Athaniar]

More Doctor Adorable!

Spoiler

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[PhantomFox]

Okay, chapter 2 of Piece of Mind FINALLY finished now that I got some time to myself.

Chapter 1

Spoiler

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Piece of Mind

By PhantomFox

A small group of birds whirled overhead as Fluttershy trotted into town. She beamed and took a large sniff of the fresh morning air. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and even Angel had behaved himself this morning. A perfect example of a great Spring day. She started to hum a tune softly to herself as she nodded to a squirrel that chattered a greeting to her. The warm sunny atmosphere was infectious, and her trot became a skip, and her humming grew louder as her good cheer welled up inside. Entering the marketplace and looking at everypony shopping, chatting, or just plain having fun, Fluttershy let the tune grow into a song as she let her sunny attitude overflow. Making her way through the stands, she let her tune crescendo as she watched everypony go about their business and waved to a passing pegasus cavorting through the air. Skipping along blithely, she closed her eyes, reared back and hit a high note in her jubilation before skipping straight into a package laden Pinkie Pie returning from the joke shop.

“Oof! Hiya Flutter- whoa. Whooooah! Whoops!”

Fluttershy clapped her hooves to her mouth in shock as Pinkie tottered around, trying to stabilize the tower of packages balanced on her back. Her efforts were in vain, as her stumbling led her to fall directly into a cart of oranges, scattering produce everywhere and burying herself in her pile of packages. The cart wobbled and proceeded to tip over straight into another, which fell into a third... soon fruits and vegetables of all types littered the market place, sending ponies slipping all across the square on the fallen food. Pinkie Pie tried to extricate herself from under the avalanche of packages sending one rolling down from the top of the pile. She tried to catch it, but it slipped through her hooves and hit the ground, sending a spring-loaded cream pie flying through the air. It hit an unsuspecting colt square in the face, who began stumbled around blindly. Fluttershy looked on in horror, and then cringed at the sound of yet more crashes and carts collapsing.

“Oh dear! This is all... all...”

She cringed as the shadow of a hawk passed overhead with a scream. Fluttershy slunk away out of the market square as Pinkie Pie finally managed to crawl her way out of the packages.

“Oh wow, that was hilarious! Right Fluttershy? ...Fluttershy? Where’d you go?

---

Later on that day, Pinkie Pie bounced up to Fluttershy’s cottage with a tray of sweets balanced on her head and knocked on the door. The top half of the door opened slightly, and Fluttershy peeked out.

“Hi there Fluttershy! I missed you at the market today, ‘cause you ran off so quick! And Then I was wondering why you ran off, and then I realised it was close to lunch time, and you must have been hungry! And what kind of lunch would it be without desert? So I decided I’d make you something and bring it over!”

Fluttershy just stared at the ground, her voice barely a whisper.

“Oh... thank you.”

Fluttershy took the tray of pastries from Pinkie Pie and turned to go back inside when Pinkie stopped her.

“Wait! Are... are you okay Fluttershy? You seem kinda down. Is something wrong? Cause if you’re sad, I have a whole bunch of stuff that might cheer you up! I don’t like my friends to be sad, ‘cause that makes me sad, and who likes to be sad? It’d really silly if somepony liked to be sad. That would mean they’d be sad whenever they were happy! Although, then wouldn’t they be happy that they were sad because they were happy? See? Silly! And I don’t want you to like being sad either!”

Setting down the tray inside, Fluttershy came back to the door and continued her inspection of the ground.

“Oh, I... I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Thank you for the sweets.”

Fluttershy gently shut the door before Pinkie could say another word, leaving the pink pony perplexed. Sitting down, she rubbed at her chin.

“She doesn’t sound fine to me...”

A half hour later, Pinkie bounced back up to the cottage, decked out in full party gear, with several balloons tied to her waist. Looking around, she found Fluttershy in her garden, halfheartedly tending to some of her flowers. She jumped in fright as Pinkie bounded up with a loud greeting.

“Hi there Fluttershy! You seemed sad earlier, and I know just the thing to cheer you up! A PARTY! What says I throw you a super duper party, just for you? It’ll be lots of fun, and it’ll turn that frown of yours upside down! What do you think?”

The color drained from Fluttershy’s face as she took a step or two backwards.

“A...a party? Um... that’s nice but... I... I don’t think you need to do that.”

Pinkie just hopped closer, a broad smile on her face.

“Oh, but I want to! C’mon, it’ll be fun! There will be cake and games and all kinds of fun!”

Fluttershy backed up a tad quicker, her ears pinned back.

“Oh... that’s all right. But I don’t think I-”

“Please? It’ll make you feel better!”

Fluttershy started to sweat before bolting for her cottage door.

“That sounds nice, but I’d really rather not go to a party today. OkayThanksBye.”

With a slam, Pinkie found herself alone outside once more. Wandering back to the bakery, Pinkie mused over these developments.

“She was perfectly fine this morning. Pretty happy too! What’s gotten her so upset?”

---

Later that week, the morning sun found Pinkie Pie pacing back and forth in the library with Twilight.

“And then she didn’t even want a party! It.. it scared her! Did she think there were going to be clowns? Most ponies like clowns, but some find them scary. But she’s not on my no-clown list! I remember checking last time I threw a party for her. It was just two weeks ago! I remember, ‘cause that was the party for-”

“Pinkie, focus!”

Pinkie Pie blinked as Twilight waited impatiently for her to finish her story.

“Oh, right. So that didn’t work. So the next day I tried a song and dance number, but that didn’t work either. Neither did the stand-up routine the day after that, the ninja-tickle attack, random sillyness, and trying to pull her face into a smile with my hooves. I don’t know what else to do to cheer her up! What do I do?”

Twilight scratched her mane.

“Have you tried just asking her what’s bothering her?”

Pinkie looked down.

“Yeah, but she doesn't want to talk about it. Or at all. She just says that she’ll be fine and to not worry about her. It’s really strange!”

Twilight stared off into the distance.

“Yeah, that does sound weird. Are you sure it just isn’t a mood of hers? Maybe she’ll get over it like she says.”

Pinkie Pie started to pace around the library again.

“Well... maybe, but it’s been days now she’s been like this! Usually when I become a big ol’ gloomy-pants, I just go visit you all, and that cheers me up really fast! Because you’re great friends! But this isn’t right! Something is really bothering her, and I want to help! She’s just so quiet, sad, and... and.... joyless! That’s horrible! How can anypony live without joy?”

Twilight bit her lip as she pondered the situation.

“I guess you’re right, but perhaps-”

Her train of thought was interrupted as there was a soft kicking at the door. Opening it, Twilight looked around, but didn’t see anypony until she felt a sharp kick at her shins. Looking down, she saw a rabbit tapping his foot impatiently.

“Oh, hi Angel. Come on in.”

Angel hopped inside and began frantically miming. Pinkie knelt down with a smile.

“Ooh! Charades! I love charades. Um... three words. What’s the category? Book title? No? Um... famous event? Oh, landmark, I bet’s it’s landmark!”

Angel slapped his forehead, walked over, and gave Pinkie’s tail a quick tug, causing a loud hiccough to interrupt her prattling. Angel motioned to Twilight, who knelt down to allow him to jump on her back.

“I think he wants us to follow him.”

The two headed out and Angel led them back to Fluttershy’s cottage. Opening the door, Angel motioned them inside and up the stairs. Quietly hooftipping up the stairs, they two ponies gasped quietly to see Fluttershy in bed, tossing and turning in her sleep with frightened whimpers. Pinkie turned to Angel.

“Nightmares? How long has she been having these nightmares?”

Angel thumped his foot on the floor four times.

“Four days? Geez, that’s a while. Poor thing!”

Twilight walked over to the bed.

“Well, let’s at least wake her up out of it!”

Pinkie Pie sighed and looked at the floor.

“I wish I could see what she was dreaming of. Maybe then I could help her!”

Twilight stopped with a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“Sorry Pinkie, I don’t know a spell like that. Not in traditional magic at least.”

“What about non-traditional?”

“Pinkie, there no such thing as non-traditional... hmm. Actually perhaps there is somepony who might know something in that vein.”

Twilight blinked and thought it over for a sec. Grabbing a scrap of paper, Twilight scribbled a note on it, and then rolled and tied it into a tiny scroll. Walking downstairs, Twilight gave the scroll and whispered some instructions to one of Fluttershy’s birds. It nodded and flew outside carrying the scroll. Returning upstairs, Twilight smiled and Pinkie.

“I might know who can help us with that. We’ll see if she comes. But first...”

Twilight went back over to Fluttershy’s bed and shook her soundly.

“WAKE UP!”

With a loud yelp, Fluttershy bolted upright.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

Pinkie bounded over and gave Fluttershy a hug.

“You were having a nightmare! So we woke you up!”

Fluttershy dropped her gaze.

“Oh. You didn’t have to do that. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Twilight shook her head.

“Angel was worried, so he came and got us. Are you sure you don’t want to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you?”

Fluttershy just whimpered and pulled the covers up to her chin.

“I’d... I’d really rather not. I’ll be fine.”

Twilight sighed and patted her shoulder.

“Fluttershy, it’s going to be okay. We really want to help. This can’t be good for you. But if you’re not comfortable talking about whatever it is that’s bothering you, we might have another way that would be easier for you to handle.”

Pinkie gave Fluttershy a bright smile.

“If this works, you’ll be feeling better in no time!”

“Um... thanks.”

---

An hour later, Pinkie and Twilight looked up upon hearing a knock at the door. Opening it, Twilight sighed in relief to see Zecora standing there, saddlebags laden with supplies.

“Oh, thank goodness you could come. This kind of thing is out of my field of expertise, and I hoped you knew something that might help.”

Zecora smiled and nodded.

“The problem that ails your friend

I can help you with its end.”

Zecora quickly set up shop in Fluttershy’s kitchen, and began mixing ingredients together from her bag. Pinkie Pie led Fluttershy downstairs, and they sat down on the couch while Twilight talked over the details of her plans.

“So Fluttershy, I don’t know what’s bothering you, but from what I get from Angel and Pinkie, it’s making you miserable. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”

Pinkie Pie piped up.

“But we can’t let you stay miserable! What kind of friends would we be if we did that?”

Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Right. So, with your permission, we’re going to give you some tea that will make you sleep for a bit, and then Zecora will help us preform a Spirit Walk.”

Fluttershy looked alarmed for a second.

“S-spirit Walk? What’s that?”

“Well, you’ll be asleep for it, so you won’t feel a thing. But it’ll allow one of us to enter your mind, and hopefully find out and help you deal with whatever is troubling so badly. Don’t worry, from what she tells me, it’ll just be like a dream for you.”

Fluttershy sat in thought for a minute.

“O...okay. If you really think it’ll help.”

Twilight giggled and nodded.

“Right. Let me ask Zecora what I need to do to get ready and-”

Pinkie jumped up.

“Wait! You’re going to do it? I thought I was!”

Twilight blinked in confusion.

“Huh? You want to do the Spirit Walk?”

“Yeah! I’d be really worried just waiting here with nothing to do! And besides, the mind is a strange place. No offense Twilight, but I think I’m more used to weirdness than you are. If her mind is anything like my mind, it’ll be full of weird stuff!”

Twilight shook her head.

“Pinkie, I don’t think anypony’s mind is quite like your mind. But if you really want to, you can do it.”

Pinkie cheered and gave Fluttershy a big hug.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, I’ll have you back to your normal cheery self in no time!”

Finishing her preparations, Zecora handed Fluttershy a mug of tea. After drinking it, a few minutes was all it took before Fluttershy’s eyes drooped and she laid down on the couch fast asleep. Taking a brush and a jar of tribal paint, she drew mysterious symbols on Fluttershy’s face, with three thick lines and a dot forming the shape of a door on her forehead. Moving to Pinkie, she inscribed another set of symbols on Pinkie, who giggled as the brush tickled her nose. Finishing her work, she threw a pouch of incense onto the fireplace, which began to fill the room with a wonderful aroma

“Close your eyes and breath these smells

So into the mind, you now can delve...”

Pinkie closed her eyes as Zecora began to chant a tune in a low rhythmic voice. She breathed the smoke from the incense, and after a minute or two she began to feel weightless, like she was drifting upwards. Opening her eyes, she saw her own body below her on the couch next to Fluttershy. Looking down at the yellow pegasus, her eyes widened as the painted door on Fluttershy’s forehead began to move and open. Feeling a force compelling her, Pinkie swooped down and felt herself shrink as the door loomed large in front of her. Gathering her courage, she flew through the doorway and into the darkness beyond.

Chapter 2

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When Pinkie opened her eyes again, everything was still dark, and she as far as she could tell, she was lying in a field. Looking around, she spotted Fluttershy cowering a short distance away with a group of small woodland creatures all around her. Pinkie ran over and Fluttershy looked up at her from between her hooves.

“Fluttershy, there you are! I’m so glad I found you. Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Fluttershy just trembled and pointed a hoof off into the darkness. Straining her eyes, Pinkie tried to spot what Fluttershy saw. She jumped a little when a pair of red eyes suddenly glowed in the darkness. The one pair was quickly joined by another, and another, until a whole crowd of glaring red eyes surrounded them. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated shadowy figures prowling around them. Growls and whisperes echoed around them as the pack stalked the two ponies. Pinkie stood over Fluttershy protectively until the ring of eyes paused and broke ranks as the ground shook with thundering footsteps echoed closer. A gigantic draconic beast stepped into the circle and all of Fluttershy’s animals ran away before she could stop them, disappearing into the darkness. The pale moonlight glinting off of its razor sharp scales and drops of flame dripped from between its teeth as its white eyes gazed critically at the two ponies. Rearing back, it roared thunderously and raised a long claw high in the air to strike down at them. Until a peal of laughter froze it in midswing, and it looked down to find Pinkie Pie laughing her flank off on the ground.

“Look at you! You’re so silly! You’re drooling FIRE! How do you do that without burning your mouth? Do you have heartburn or something? And look at your claws! How do you scratch yourself with those things? Because I bet you get itchy sometimes, don’t you? Because those scales CAN’T be comfortable! Are they metal? I bet that would sound like hooves on a chalkboard. How do you move around without clanking around?”

The dragon just looked around confused. This wasn’t how this normally went. Pinkie Pie looked back behind her to an equally confused Fluttershy.

“C’mon! You shouldn’t be scared of this guy! You can handle dragons, remember? You stared down a dragon and scolded it until it CRIED!”

The dragon looked away embarrassed, and slunk away into the darkness as Pinkie continued her onslaught of laughter. Soon the crowd of eyes vanished and sky began to lighten a fraction, as Pinkie trotted back over to Fluttershy.

“See? Nothing to be afraid of! You just got to- WHAAA!”

Pinkie shrieked as a fierce shriek split the air, and a pair of giant talons snatched both ponies and flew them high into the air. Pinkie’s screams soon turned into giggles as the ground dropped away beneath them.

“Whee! This is fun! Ooh! Ooh! Now do a flip Mr... uh...”

Pinkie looked up from where she was held and found the steely eyes of a titanic hawk looking back from her, and promptly burst into more giggles..

“Well, THAT doesn’t make any sense. Hawks aren’t big enough to pick up a pony, silly!”

The hawk blinked and squawked as it found itself shrinking. As it dwindled down to normal proportions, the hawk flapped its wings furiously to try and stay aloft with two ponies in tow. Pinkie Pie smiled as the darkness faded another fraction.

“See? It’s just a big bird! Nothing to be scared of unless you’re afraid of hei- oh. Oops!”

The hawk lost its grip on the two ponies, sending them plummeting through the air towards the ground far below. Fluttershy screamed and flailed her hooves as she fell with Pinkie beside her. The ground rushed closer by the second as Pinkie laughed at Fluttershy.

“What are you scared about? Fly Fluttershy! You have wings! Open up your wings and you’ll be fine!”

Fluttershy didn’t respond, but continued to scream and flail hysterically. Pinkie latched onto Fluttershy’s back and tried to pry her wings open, but terror had them glued her sides. Pinkie looked down nervously as the ground raced ever closer.

“You can do it! Spread those wings and fly!”

But Fluttershy was too panicked to listen. Pinkie searched frantically for a solution as they continued to free fall.

“Oh.... what do I do?! Snap out of it Fluttershy! You need to fly, because I can’t! Well, not without my... oh! I know! I just need to...”

Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she concentrated. She had her special bag. She had her special bag. She had her special bag! She just had to believe! With a small pop, Pinkie cheered as she felt the weight of a saddlebag materialize on her back. Wrapping her hooves around Fluttershy’s body, she tore open the flap of her bags with her teeth, releasing hundreds of colorful party balloons into the air. With a sharp jerk, the balloons slowed their decent to a more casual rate as they floated gently to the ground. With her hooves firmly on the earth again, Pinkie fell over laughing.

“Oh wow, that was a lot of fun! I’m going to have to get Rainbow Dash to let me try that again! Ooh! You could help me too Fluttershy! … Fluttershy? Where’d you go?”

Pinkie searched high and low for Fluttershy, but the pegasus had vanished into thin air. The darkness in the sky shrank again, letting some light into the field. But Pinkie rubbed her eyes when it seemed that the darkness wasn’t going away, but... condensing? A sudden wind sprang up, and the blackness converged on one spot to reveal a morning sky covered in thick dark clouds. The remaining patch of night sky flew down and landed in front of Pinkie, forming into a black silhouette of Fluttershy quivering in fear on the ground. It looked up with sky blue eyes as it cringed away from Pinkie.

“Don’t hurt me! Please don’t hurt me? Just... go away. Why didn’t you get scared away? Go away and leave me alone!”

Pinkie Pie took a few steps forward, sending the silhouette scurrying backwards with a frightened squeak.

“Fluttershy... is that you?”

“Well... yes. In a way. We are Fluttershy.”

Pinkie tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“We? Silly, there’s only one Fluttershy that I know!”

The shadow looked down.

“I... I’m sorry. You couldn’t have known, but Fluttershy is a lot of ponies. I-I’m one of them. We have a many facets to us.”

Pinkie’s face broke into smiles as everything clicked in her head.

“Oh, I get it! Silly me, of course your mind wouldn’t have just one part of you! You must be Fluttershy’s fearful side.”

The shadow nodded and cringed.

“Please don’t hurt us. We’ve never had someone in our mind before. You don’t belong here. It’s dangerous. Especially now. What are you doing here.”

Pinkie bounced next to the shadow.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, I’m here to help Fluttershy! Well, I’m here to help you too. I guess you’re a part of you too. Ooh, I know! Can I call you Flutterfear? That’ll make things a lot easier!”

Flutterfear looked up with Fluttershy’s blue eyes into Pinkie’s.

“You’re... here to help? Oh... okay. I guess that’s safe. I’m not sure what you can do... but it’d be nice if you could.”

Pinkie looked around at the meadow they were in and the dark cloudy skies up above.

“Well, what’s with all these clouds? Fluttershy is usually sunny. It’s not like her to be all gray and dreary like this. What’s got her this upset?”

Flutterfear looked around nervously.

“I... I... I really shouldn’t say. She might get mad if I talk about her like that.”

Pinkie threw a hoof around Flutterfear’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry! I can keep a secret! I’m the best secret keeper around! I’ve kept a lot of secrets before! I can’t tell you about them though, ‘cause then they wouldn’t be secrets, now would they?”

Flutterfear cringed back.

“I don’t know if I should...”

Pinkie crouched down and gave Fluttershy a sad puppy stare.

“Pweeese?”

Fluttershy looked around nervously.

“Um... I guess it’s okay if I just show you this...”

Flutterfear held up a hoof and a bluebird flew over to her hoof. She went to hand it to Pinkie unill a lightning bolt struck the ground beside her out of the blue. Pinkie blinked as she thought she heard some words in the thunder. However, Flutterfear shrieked in terror and bolted off in tears.

“I didn’t want to do it! She made me! I’m not a loudmouth! I’d never hurt us! Don’t hurt me, we need me!”

Pinkie tried to call Flutterfear back, but she disappeared before Pinkie could do anything. Looking down, the bird that Flutterfear had called was still there. Pinkie reached down and picked it up.

*flash*

Suddenly Pinkie felt a lot smaller. And younger. And yellow. And did she have wings? She found herself in a clearing near the Everfree Forest, with a colony of rabbits scurrying every direction in a panic. She tried to control them, but they were too scared and running in every direction at once. A shrill cry pierced the air, and she looked up to see a dark avian shape diving at the ground. One lone rabbit stood rooted to the ground, paralyzed in terror. The hawk reached forth its talons, and then-

*flash*

Pinkie Pie shook her head as the scene faded from in front of her eyes. Confused, she tried to figure out what she should do next. Seeing no better option, she set out in the direction Flutterfear had ran off. Perhaps somepony else could be found that she could ask.

[BlasTech]

Do you (or anypony else) mind recommending a few of those? I haven't really read any, outside of Vinyl Scratch Tapes and Allegrezzo. And Cupcakes, but that's neither here nor there. So anyways, I'm jonesing for some good ones. Preferably not terribly sad or grimdark, I'm hoping for something in the same vein as the show, but if they're good I guess I wouldn't mind.

In the same vein as the show? Half the Day Is Night would be my recommendation. (Beyond those mentioned above and below here, Phantom Fox's Sunny Skies All Day Long is also another fave of mine)

Could pass as an MLP movie, although they'd have to rework Luna's personality slightly to fit her canon depiction.

AND OF COURSE RAZ FOX'S MISTED STAGE IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME RAZ!

[Kalinda]

Do you (or anypony else) mind recommending a few of those? I haven't really read any, outside of Vinyl Scratch Tapes and Allegrezzo. And Cupcakes, but that's neither here nor there. So anyways, I'm jonesing for some good ones. Preferably not terribly sad or grimdark, I'm hoping for something in the same vein as the show, but if they're good I guess I wouldn't mind.

Ones that I like, off the top of my head.

Ah aint got no ackcent! is a cute little episodic one about Rarity discovering that Applejack can actually handle herself in high society. Fun ensues.

Dear idiot is a short little letter form piece featuring Celesta tearing prince blueblood a new one over his actions at the gala, very funny.

Joshing, strange but funny, short too.

The old stories. You might recognize the author of this one. If you haven't read it you need to, it''s great.

Tonight I shall be laughter. Winner of the "write a happy Luna fic" contest, and deservedly so, very cute and funny.

Twilight october. And then Twilight sparkle was a submarine. Just read it, it's adorable.

And finally my own attempt at a episode style fic. I think it sagged in places, but it was pretty well received on eqd. Twilight vs Winter.

There are others out there that I'm missing of course, checking the EQD archive for "5 star" and "comedy" will net a lot of good stuff.

[Eakin]

Confound all of you bronies!

You continue to destroy my free time with your collection of high-quality original prose!

Also, "Progress" is quite good, and surprisingly un-Jossed by the Nightmare Night episode, despite it's lack of the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE.

[Rebelhero]

PONIES GOT A DD ON DEVIANT ART!
its a fluttershy plushie.
its only a matter of time....

Spoiler

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IT LOOKS SO SOFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

[MBI]

Confound all of you bronies!

You continue to destroy my free time with your collection of high-quality original prose!

I think It would be best for you to remember that it's not possible to read every fanfic. Read the ones that you think sound interesting first. If you feel like you haven't hit your ponyquota after reading them, then move onto recommendations.

Talking of recommendations...

[Eakin]

it's not possible to read every fanfic.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
Seriously, there's just a huge backlog of excellent work from the past year, but I'm sure there's a happy medium in there somewhere that still allows me to have a life

[Tectonic Robot]

PONIES GOT A DD ON DEVIANT ART!
its a fluttershy plushie.
its only a matter of time....

Spoiler

Show

IT LOOKS SO SOFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

I can only pray that a DD is a Diamond Droog.

Seriously, that would make my day.

[SiuiS]

Gee, thank you all SO MUCH for destroying my LITTLE REMAINING FREE TIME with pony fanfic recommendations. You know, the part of the pony fandom I swore never to get to get sucked into.

not sure yet whether that's sarcasm or not...

You're welcome! We're always happy to help~

Do you (or anypony else) mind recommending a few of those? I haven't really read any, outside of Vinyl Scratch Tapes and Allegrezzo. And Cupcakes, but that's neither here nor there. So anyways, I'm jonesing for some good ones. Preferably not terribly sad or grimdark, I'm hoping for something in the same vein as the show, but if they're good I guess I wouldn't mind.

Same vein as the show?

Sunny skies all day, Fair Feather Friends, Through a Glass Derply, Always Sunny In Filldelphia. I'd suggest Misted Stage and All Hallows (and more of thanqols work) but they are somewhat off from slice-of/life script stuff still excellent. And Semper Fidelis should be a movie. The movie. The pony movie of our generation. I'm not even kidding. It's awesome, thought it takes some time to sink in.

When in doubt, choose happiness.

Profound.

[MBI]

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

You fool! It can't be done! No mortal could survive reading them all!

I can only pray that a DD is a Diamond Droog.

Seriously, that would make my day.

DD stands for Draconequian Dignitary. Sorry.

[Tectonic Robot]

DD stands for Draconequian Dignitary. Sorry.

Is that... Diamonds Droog as a Draconequiis? Because that is also acceptable.

[otakuryoga]

Blessed
Celestia!
Somepony,
Please,
Kill
Me
Now!!

One of the local radio stations I have as a preset on my car radio, as of 12:01 AM today has started their 24/7 Christmas Music Marathon

and this is not the station that has done so the past 2 years...so at some point the other one will be doing the same thing(last year they started the monday of thanksgiving week)

[Eakin]

Blessed
Celestia!
Somepony,
Please,
Kill
Me
Now!!

One of the local radio stations I have as a preset on my car radio, as of 12:01 AM today has started their 24/7 Christmas Music Marathon

and this is not the station that has done so the past 2 years...so at some point the other one will be doing the same thing(last year they started the monday of thanksgiving week)

OBVIOUSLY the answer is pony Christmas music

[Vorpalbob]

Gah, dem fanfics. Why dey gots ta be so good all da time?

[Zevox]

One of the local radio stations I have as a preset on my car radio, as of 12:01 AM today has started their 24/7 Christmas Music Marathon

and this is not the station that has done so the past 2 years...so at some point the other one will be doing the same thing(last year they started the monday of thanksgiving week)

Christmas music marathons in early November? What the heck?

I mean, at least silly things like people putting up lights and decorations this early can be explained by a few individuals being either overly-enthusiastic or wanting to get them up while the weather is still okay; but a radio station starting to play Christmas music mere days after Halloween? That makes no sense.

Zevox

[Gadora]

Christmas music marathons in early November? What the heck?

I mean, at least silly things like people putting up lights and decorations this early can be explained by a few individuals being either overly-enthusiastic or wanting to get them up while the weather is still okay; but a radio station starting to play Christmas music mere days after Halloween? That makes no sense.

Zevox

Yeah, I'm shocked at how late your stations are starting.

We had a station start on Halloween this year.

EDIT: At this point, I've pretty much resigned myself to hearing Christmasy crud for way too long, every single year.

[Topaz]

Fanfic Time! Just in time to get totally lost in the new episode excitement, I have the third part of New Perspectives.

Past One on Google Docs
Part Two on Google Docs
Part Three:

Spoiler

Show

Applejack opened the barn door and trudged inside with the cart. She was weary and looking forward to getting out of the harness, if not what she faced afterwards.

“EEEEEE! IT’S TRUE!”

“GAAH!” Startled, Applejack shot into the air, taking the cart with her briefly before it pulled her back to the ground with a crash. Shaking her head, she staggered back to her hooves and looked for the source of the scream.

“You OK, sis?” rumbled Big Mac from where he and Applebloom stood at the back by the barn’s workbench.

“Oh Ahm just peachy, Mac. Applebloom, what in tarnation possessed you ta scream at me like that?”

Applebloom peered out from behind her big brother. “Scootaloo said that you took Fluttershy’s wings and now she won’t come near me in case it’s catching. I didn’t believe her, but then you came in and,” she pointed, “there they are!”

Applejack pushed several very uncharitable thoughts about Rainbow Dash from her head. “First of all, Ah did not take Fluttershy’s wings, no matter what Scootaloo said. We tangled with some sort of wild magic that swapped the kinda ponies we are, but it was an accident. An Twilight Sparkle did her fancy tests and said it was all used up, so you can just tell everypony that it ain’t catchin’ no how. Now, could someone please help me out of this dang harness?”

Macintosh walked over as Applebloom shot out the barn door. “Hold still, then, an’ I’ll getcha out.” The two siblings pulled open buckles with their teeth, freeing Applejack, who took the opportunity to stretch.

Mac looked his sister over. “You don’t look bad like that, truth to tell. What’s it like?”

“How am Ah suppose to know? It’s not like Ah know how ta work any of this anyhow.”

“For not knowin’ how to work it you took off pretty sprightly back there. Almost got the cart up, too.”

Applejack eyed her brother. “You wouldn’t be wishin’ it was you instead of me, would ya?”

“Maaaybe.”

She shook her head. “Ahm more interested in fixin’ this than playin’ with it. Don’t be forgettin’ that this whole thing grounded Fluttershy, an’ that ain’t right.”

“Commendable. Still don’t mean you can’t take advantage of it while it lasts.”

“Uh huh. Ah can predict just how well that’ll go over. Ah’m in deep enough as it is.”

“You mean like with Fuji? Not the same thing.”

“Close enough. She’s plum set in her ways.” Applejack began removing the block and tackle from the cart and returning it to its usual storage place in the barn. “Now why don’t you be helpful for a change an’ fill me in on what needs doin’, since this little setback has already cost me a day’s work.”

“Well, the northwest orchard’s a bit dry, could use a little drizzle and some cloud cover afterwards.”

“Dangit, Mac, can’t ya please just give it a rest?” Applejack replied with a glare.

“Excuse me, but who is it always does the talkin’ with the weather team, what with bein’ such good friends with it’s head and all?”

Applejack flushed. “Sorry, Mac. Ah guess Ah’m a tad on edge. Ah don’t think Rainbow Dash is in much of a mood to talk to me right now, but Ah’ll get the word to the weather ponies somehow.”

“I’m sure you will. Why don’t you just help me patch up these baskets before dinner time, seein’ as I lost my other partner when you came in?”

“Sounds good.”

***

Rainbow Dash floated on a small cloud. Usually this would mean it was nap time, but sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. Seeing Fluttershy missing her wings had shaken Dash deeply; unlike when Discord had taken the wings from both of them there was no immediate assurance of their return, which Dash knew (though would never admit) was the only thing that had saved her from freaking out completely at the time. Worse, she had lashed out at Applejack in fear and frustration, and she was at a loss for what to do next. Her confrontation with Applejack outside Fluttershy’s cottage had deflated her anger like a burst party balloon; and later, as she had trailed Applejack home from above, the orange pony’s misery had been evident in every step. Now Dash had no idea what to do next; she didn’t know what to say to Applejack, she didn’t really want to see Fluttershy in her current state, and she had the feeling that there was a lot about the situation that she wasn’t aware of. She rolled to her hooves and kicked the cloud, drawing a rumble from it. “I hate this. What the hay am I supposed to do, anyway?”

Over the edge of her perch she saw on the ground below three familiar young fillies; the yellow one with the red bow appeared to be talking earnestly with the orange one, who was hiding behind the confused-looking white one. Rainbow spread her wings and dove off the cloud. “Maybe there’s one mistake I can start fixing, anyway.”

***

Rarity hated being left out of the latest talk around town. Not that she was a gossip, perish the thought! She simply believed in fully participating in her community; she did deal with the public, after all. Still, in her business it was inevitable that there would be times when large orders would keep her busy for long stretches of time, with little opportunity to hear the news until she was done. Sweetie Belle would occasionally come around and run small errands for her, but the schoolfilly, bless her heart, was just too young to be a reliable source; why she had come in the evening before with a wild story about Applejack having stolen Fluttershy’s wings, of all the absurd notions!

“Wait, you’re telling me that it’s true?”

Pinkie Pie set Rarity’s order down on the table in Sugarcube Corner and nodded. “Well, not the part about stealing. Applejack would never steal anything, you know that, but something switched her and Fluttershy around, well, not entirely around, because Fluttershy is still Fluttershy and Applejack is still Applejack but now Applejack has the wings instead of Fluttershy.”

“Oh, my. And nopony knows what to do about it?” The eclair that Rarity had ordered to celebrate completing her order lay on the plate in front of her, forgotten.

“Nope. Twilight tried, and Zecora tried, and Twilight sent a letter to the Princess but I haven’t heard about any reply.”

“Poor Fluttershy! I wonder if there is anything I could do for the dear?”

“That’s a wonderful idea! You finish your ‘celebrate that the dresses are done’ treat and I’ll box some sympathy cookies for Fluttershy.”

“Oh, that would be nice. I take it you’d like to come along?”

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away!”

Rarity decided that ignoring that last statement was the best policy. “That’s fine, Pinkie.”

***

The baskets were patched and stacked and Applejack and Macintosh were cleaning and putting away the tools and supplies when Applebloom burst back into the barn, laughing with delight.

“Yay! Scootaloo and me made up!”

“Good to hear,” commented Big Mac.

“Yeah, I was tryin’ to tell her what you said, sis, and she wasn’t gonna listen but then Rainbow Dash showed up and told her that she should believe me and then she did so it was all OK.”

“Is that a fact? Huh. Wonder what turned Dash around?”

“Guess you can talk to her about that northwest orchard, then.”

“Gonna have to be tomorrow, I reckon.”

“Yeah! It’s dinner time!” Applebloom put in.

Applejack looked at Mac. “I s’pose it is.”

The trio entered the farmhouse to the sounds of Granny Smith in the kitchen. “Hope you fixed for four, Granny, ‘cause Applejack’s home.” rumbled Big Mac as the aged matriarch appeared at the kitchen door, squinted at the arrivals, then slowly shook her head. “Well, I admit that middle one does bear a resemblance to my older granddaughter, but there are no cloudwalkers in the Apple family.”

Applejack shot an I-told-you-so look at Mac. “Fluttershy an Ah got mixed up with some kinda leftover wild magic, Granny, but Twilight Sparkle done wrote a letter to the Princess and Ah’m sure that She’ll get it all sorted out before long.”

“Humph. This is what comes with gallavantin’ around, bein’ a hero an all, instead of stayin’ on the farm like a responsible pony.”

“Granny, Ah was helpin’ a friend pull up an old stump. Nothin’ but bein’ neighborly in that.”

“I reckon.” added Big Mac.

Granny Smith snorted. “Not like it was in the old days. Cloudwalkers lived in the clouds, Hornbearers lived in the city, we lived on the farm. Everypony knew their place.”

Applebloom frowned. Her best friends were a unicorn and a pegasus, and she didn’t think Granny’s stories about the good old days sounded all that good to her. She knew that saying anything about it directly would only get her in trouble; fortunately, another strategy came to mind, or at least to nose. “Granny, I think I smell muffins burning!”

“Land sakes!” Granny hobbled back into the kitchen, muttering under her breath. “Scorched, but we’ll just have to make do.” came a few moments later.

Luckily for Applejack, the clan had never been much for idle chatter while engaged in the serious business of eating, though she noticed that Granny Smith didn’t seem interested in looking at her, while Applebloom was sneaking looks at her wings every time she thought Granny Smith wouldn’t notice.

Finally the meal was finished, the dishes and kitchen cleaned up, and Granny off to her room and to bed. Applejack took the opportunity to stretch her wings, which had started to ache with the effort put into keeping them from moving and drawing unwanted attention. Applebloom was promptly at her sister’s side, poking at the pinions.

“So what’s it like? Can ya feel them? Can ya fly?” she hissed in a clear attempt to keep her voice down.

“Diff’rent, yes and please stop pokin’ them, an I guess so but Ah don’t know how.”

“Know how? Don’t ya just flap?”

“If it were that easy, wouldn’t yer friend Scootaloo be makin’ more progress?”

“Her wings are tiny. Yours are as big as Rainbow Dash’s, easy.”

“Eeyup.”

Applejack looked at her siblings. “The two of you ain’t gonna give me any rest till Ah give this a try, are ya?”

“Nope.”

Applejack swallowed. She’d seen Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fly indoors plenty of times, and the main room was fairly large. Then again, she’d seen Rainbow crash plenty of times, too. Applebloom decided to up the ante, giving her sister a puppy-dog look that would have made Wynona jealous. “Pleeeeease?”

“Ah feel like the rope in a tug ‘o war contest. Fine, fine, just remember when yer pullin’ me out of the wall that it was your idea. Now stand back and gimme room.” She opened her wings, took a deep breath, and tried to remember her dream at Fluttershy’s cottage. Starting slowly, she moved her wings through a full beat, getting a feel for the motions, then once she was confident in her control she began to flap more strongly and quickly. As she increased her pace, first her front hooves then her hind ones left the floor, until she was hovering a few feet in the air.

“Ya... Good goin, big sis.” Applebloom had started a cheer, then clapped her hooves over her mouth, as she remembered that there was a sleeper that shouldn’t be awakened.

For her part, Applejack realized that taking off was one thing, but landing was another. She carefully slowed the pace of her wingbeats, breathing a sigh of relief as her hooves gradually descended back to the floor. “Whew! That’s a mite more work than it looks.”

“Ya don’t say.” drawled Big Mac.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “All right, maybe there’s more to how much time Dash spends restin’ up than I realized. You two happy now?”

Applebloom was jumping up and down. “Do it again!”

Applejack eyed the schoolfilly. “Don’t you have homework tonight?”

Applebloom’s face fell. “Aw, that’s no fair, bringin’ that up.”

“Go on, getcher homework done an Ah’ll tell you a bedtime story.”

“Can it be one with a pegasus in it?”

“We’ll see.”

As Applebloom trotted back to her room, Applejack walked over to the couch and flopped down. “Silly filly, makin’ so much fuss about such puny flyin’.”

Big Mac grinned at her. “Not bad for a first time. How was it?”

Applejack smiled. “It was... kinda amazin’.” She caught herself and frowned at her brother. “Dangit, Mac, this is what I was tryin’ to stop from happenin’. Tomorrow, next week, whenever, it’s gonna go away. Till then it’s a distraction is all, and there’s enough to do without flittin’ about with mah head in the clouds.”

“Things have been goin’ pretty well this summer, I reckon. No need to fret about it nohow.”

“Now you’re just temptin’ fate, Mac. Now let me be, so’s Ah kin figure out what kinda story Ah’m gonna tell Applebloom.”

“Eeyup.”

[SiuiS]

OBVIOUSLY the answer is pony Christmas music

You are a saint.
Or you will be.

HEY EVERYPONY
EAKIN FOR PONYSAINT! YEA? NEIGH?

Christmas music marathons in early November? What the heck?

I mean, at least silly things like people putting up lights and decorations this early can be explained by a few individuals being either overly-enthusiastic or wanting to get them up while the weather is still okay; but a radio station starting to play Christmas music mere days after Halloween? That makes no sense.

Zevox

That always actively insulted me. Any holiday thy gets overshadowed because money bothers me.
Like valentines cards hitting shelves December 20th.

CUTELY IMPOTENT PONY RAGE

[PhantomFox]

You are a saint.
Or you will be.

HEY EVERYPONY
EAKIN FOR PONYSAINT! YEA? NEIGH?



That always actively insulted me. Any holiday thy gets overshadowed because money bothers me.
Like valentines cards hitting shelves December 20th.

CUTELY IMPOTENT PONY RAGE

The store that starts selling that stuff first gets more business than those that sell it later. An unfortunate side effect of retail. And the earlier people are reminded about it, the more likely they are to buy stuff for it. At least that's what the marketers think.

[Neoseanster]

In regards to new episode spoilers in IRC!

We talked this over and agreed to the following, for the time being: please avoid any discussion of spoilers related to the new episode in the #ponythread IRC channel until eighteen hours have passed from the episode's initial airing (until 08:30 GMT). Rather, take new episode discussion to #newponyepisode. You can join this channel by typing "/j #newponyepisode" in your IRC client.

Past the eighteen hour mark, spoilers in in the main channel are fair game, and use of #newponyepisode is optional! If you're worried about spoilers, and you haven't watched the episode within eighteen hours of its airing, enter the main IRC channel at your own risk.

(I know we originally said 12 hours, but someponies asked if it could be extended to 24, so, COMPROMISE POWERS ACTIVATE!)

This policy may change in the future, it's just a temporary measure so that we'll have /some/ policy in place as for how to address the matter for now. Just keep an eye on the IRC channel's topic for updates.

Fanfic Time! Just in time to get totally lost in the new episode excitement, I have the third part of New Perspectives.

Past One on Google Docs
Part Two on Google Docs
Part Three:

Spoiler

Show

Applejack opened the barn door and trudged inside with the cart. She was weary and looking forward to getting out of the harness, if not what she faced afterwards.

“EEEEEE! IT’S TRUE!”

“GAAH!” Startled, Applejack shot into the air, taking the cart with her briefly before it pulled her back to the ground with a crash. Shaking her head, she staggered back to her hooves and looked for the source of the scream.

“You OK, sis?” rumbled Big Mac from where he and Applebloom stood at the back by the barn’s workbench.

“Oh Ahm just peachy, Mac. Applebloom, what in tarnation possessed you ta scream at me like that?”

Applebloom peered out from behind her big brother. “Scootaloo said that you took Fluttershy’s wings and now she won’t come near me in case it’s catching. I didn’t believe her, but then you came in and,” she pointed, “there they are!”

Applejack pushed several very uncharitable thoughts about Rainbow Dash from her head. “First of all, Ah did not take Fluttershy’s wings, no matter what Scootaloo said. We tangled with some sort of wild magic that swapped the kinda ponies we are, but it was an accident. An Twilight Sparkle did her fancy tests and said it was all used up, so you can just tell everypony that it ain’t catchin’ no how. Now, could someone please help me out of this dang harness?”

Macintosh walked over as Applebloom shot out the barn door. “Hold still, then, an’ I’ll getcha out.” The two siblings pulled open buckles with their teeth, freeing Applejack, who took the opportunity to stretch.

Mac looked his sister over. “You don’t look bad like that, truth to tell. What’s it like?”

“How am Ah suppose to know? It’s not like Ah know how ta work any of this anyhow.”

“For not knowin’ how to work it you took off pretty sprightly back there. Almost got the cart up, too.”

Applejack eyed her brother. “You wouldn’t be wishin’ it was you instead of me, would ya?”

“Maaaybe.”

She shook her head. “Ahm more interested in fixin’ this than playin’ with it. Don’t be forgettin’ that this whole thing grounded Fluttershy, an’ that ain’t right.”

“Commendable. Still don’t mean you can’t take advantage of it while it lasts.”

“Uh huh. Ah can predict just how well that’ll go over. Ah’m in deep enough as it is.”

“You mean like with Fuji? Not the same thing.”

“Close enough. She’s plum set in her ways.” Applejack began removing the block and tackle from the cart and returning it to its usual storage place in the barn. “Now why don’t you be helpful for a change an’ fill me in on what needs doin’, since this little setback has already cost me a day’s work.”

“Well, the northwest orchard’s a bit dry, could use a little drizzle and some cloud cover afterwards.”

“Dangit, Mac, can’t ya please just give it a rest?” Applejack replied with a glare.

“Excuse me, but who is it always does the talkin’ with the weather team, what with bein’ such good friends with it’s head and all?”

Applejack flushed. “Sorry, Mac. Ah guess Ah’m a tad on edge. Ah don’t think Rainbow Dash is in much of a mood to talk to me right now, but Ah’ll get the word to the weather ponies somehow.”

“I’m sure you will. Why don’t you just help me patch up these baskets before dinner time, seein’ as I lost my other partner when you came in?”

“Sounds good.”

***

Rainbow Dash floated on a small cloud. Usually this would mean it was nap time, but sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. Seeing Fluttershy missing her wings had shaken Dash deeply; unlike when Discord had taken the wings from both of them there was no immediate assurance of their return, which Dash knew (though would never admit) was the only thing that had saved her from freaking out completely at the time. Worse, she had lashed out at Applejack in fear and frustration, and she was at a loss for what to do next. Her confrontation with Applejack outside Fluttershy’s cottage had deflated her anger like a burst party balloon; and later, as she had trailed Applejack home from above, the orange pony’s misery had been evident in every step. Now Dash had no idea what to do next; she didn’t know what to say to Applejack, she didn’t really want to see Fluttershy in her current state, and she had the feeling that there was a lot about the situation that she wasn’t aware of. She rolled to her hooves and kicked the cloud, drawing a rumble from it. “I hate this. What the hay am I supposed to do, anyway?”

Over the edge of her perch she saw on the ground below three familiar young fillies; the yellow one with the red bow appeared to be talking earnestly with the orange one, who was hiding behind the confused-looking white one. Rainbow spread her wings and dove off the cloud. “Maybe there’s one mistake I can start fixing, anyway.”

***

Rarity hated being left out of the latest talk around town. Not that she was a gossip, perish the thought! She simply believed in fully participating in her community; she did deal with the public, after all. Still, in her business it was inevitable that there would be times when large orders would keep her busy for long stretches of time, with little opportunity to hear the news until she was done. Sweetie Belle would occasionally come around and run small errands for her, but the schoolfilly, bless her heart, was just too young to be a reliable source; why she had come in the evening before with a wild story about Applejack having stolen Fluttershy’s wings, of all the absurd notions!

“Wait, you’re telling me that it’s true?”

Pinkie Pie set Rarity’s order down on the table in Sugarcube Corner and nodded. “Well, not the part about stealing. Applejack would never steal anything, you know that, but something switched her and Fluttershy around, well, not entirely around, because Fluttershy is still Fluttershy and Applejack is still Applejack but now Applejack has the wings instead of Fluttershy.”

“Oh, my. And nopony knows what to do about it?” The eclair that Rarity had ordered to celebrate completing her order lay on the plate in front of her, forgotten.

“Nope. Twilight tried, and Zecora tried, and Twilight sent a letter to the Princess but I haven’t heard about any reply.”

“Poor Fluttershy! I wonder if there is anything I could do for the dear?”

“That’s a wonderful idea! You finish your ‘celebrate that the dresses are done’ treat and I’ll box some sympathy cookies for Fluttershy.”

“Oh, that would be nice. I take it you’d like to come along?”

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away!”

Rarity decided that ignoring that last statement was the best policy. “That’s fine, Pinkie.”

***

The baskets were patched and stacked and Applejack and Macintosh were cleaning and putting away the tools and supplies when Applebloom burst back into the barn, laughing with delight.

“Yay! Scootaloo and me made up!”

“Good to hear,” commented Big Mac.

“Yeah, I was tryin’ to tell her what you said, sis, and she wasn’t gonna listen but then Rainbow Dash showed up and told her that she should believe me and then she did so it was all OK.”

“Is that a fact? Huh. Wonder what turned Dash around?”

“Guess you can talk to her about that northwest orchard, then.”

“Gonna have to be tomorrow, I reckon.”

“Yeah! It’s dinner time!” Applebloom put in.

Applejack looked at Mac. “I s’pose it is.”

The trio entered the farmhouse to the sounds of Granny Smith in the kitchen. “Hope you fixed for four, Granny, ‘cause Applejack’s home.” rumbled Big Mac as the aged matriarch appeared at the kitchen door, squinted at the arrivals, then slowly shook her head. “Well, I admit that middle one does bear a resemblance to my older granddaughter, but there are no cloudwalkers in the Apple family.”

Applejack shot an I-told-you-so look at Mac. “Fluttershy an Ah got mixed up with some kinda leftover wild magic, Granny, but Twilight Sparkle done wrote a letter to the Princess and Ah’m sure that She’ll get it all sorted out before long.”

“Humph. This is what comes with gallavantin’ around, bein’ a hero an all, instead of stayin’ on the farm like a responsible pony.”

“Granny, Ah was helpin’ a friend pull up an old stump. Nothin’ but bein’ neighborly in that.”

“I reckon.” added Big Mac.

Granny Smith snorted. “Not like it was in the old days. Cloudwalkers lived in the clouds, Hornbearers lived in the city, we lived on the farm. Everypony knew their place.”

Applebloom frowned. Her best friends were a unicorn and a pegasus, and she didn’t think Granny’s stories about the good old days sounded all that good to her. She knew that saying anything about it directly would only get her in trouble; fortunately, another strategy came to mind, or at least to nose. “Granny, I think I smell muffins burning!”

“Land sakes!” Granny hobbled back into the kitchen, muttering under her breath. “Scorched, but we’ll just have to make do.” came a few moments later.

Luckily for Applejack, the clan had never been much for idle chatter while engaged in the serious business of eating, though she noticed that Granny Smith didn’t seem interested in looking at her, while Applebloom was sneaking looks at her wings every time she thought Granny Smith wouldn’t notice.

Finally the meal was finished, the dishes and kitchen cleaned up, and Granny off to her room and to bed. Applejack took the opportunity to stretch her wings, which had started to ache with the effort put into keeping them from moving and drawing unwanted attention. Applebloom was promptly at her sister’s side, poking at the pinions.

“So what’s it like? Can ya feel them? Can ya fly?” she hissed in a clear attempt to keep her voice down.

“Diff’rent, yes and please stop pokin’ them, an I guess so but Ah don’t know how.”

“Know how? Don’t ya just flap?”

“If it were that easy, wouldn’t yer friend Scootaloo be makin’ more progress?”

“Her wings are tiny. Yours are as big as Rainbow Dash’s, easy.”

“Eeyup.”

Applejack looked at her siblings. “The two of you ain’t gonna give me any rest till Ah give this a try, are ya?”

“Nope.”

Applejack swallowed. She’d seen Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fly indoors plenty of times, and the main room was fairly large. Then again, she’d seen Rainbow crash plenty of times, too. Applebloom decided to up the ante, giving her sister a puppy-dog look that would have made Wynona jealous. “Pleeeeease?”

“Ah feel like the rope in a tug ‘o war contest. Fine, fine, just remember when yer pullin’ me out of the wall that it was your idea. Now stand back and gimme room.” She opened her wings, took a deep breath, and tried to remember her dream at Fluttershy’s cottage. Starting slowly, she moved her wings through a full beat, getting a feel for the motions, then once she was confident in her control she began to flap more strongly and quickly. As she increased her pace, first her front hooves then her hind ones left the floor, until she was hovering a few feet in the air.

“Ya... Good goin, big sis.” Applebloom had started a cheer, then clapped her hooves over her mouth, as she remembered that there was a sleeper that shouldn’t be awakened.

For her part, Applejack realized that taking off was one thing, but landing was another. She carefully slowed the pace of her wingbeats, breathing a sigh of relief as her hooves gradually descended back to the floor. “Whew! That’s a mite more work than it looks.”

“Ya don’t say.” drawled Big Mac.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “All right, maybe there’s more to how much time Dash spends restin’ up than I realized. You two happy now?”

Applebloom was jumping up and down. “Do it again!”

Applejack eyed the schoolfilly. “Don’t you have homework tonight?”

Applebloom’s face fell. “Aw, that’s no fair, bringin’ that up.”

“Go on, getcher homework done an Ah’ll tell you a bedtime story.”

“Can it be one with a pegasus in it?”

“We’ll see.”

As Applebloom trotted back to her room, Applejack walked over to the couch and flopped down. “Silly filly, makin’ so much fuss about such puny flyin’.”

Big Mac grinned at her. “Not bad for a first time. How was it?”

Applejack smiled. “It was... kinda amazin’.” She caught herself and frowned at her brother. “Dangit, Mac, this is what I was tryin’ to stop from happenin’. Tomorrow, next week, whenever, it’s gonna go away. Till then it’s a distraction is all, and there’s enough to do without flittin’ about with mah head in the clouds.”

“Things have been goin’ pretty well this summer, I reckon. No need to fret about it nohow.”

“Now you’re just temptin’ fate, Mac. Now let me be, so’s Ah kin figure out what kinda story Ah’m gonna tell Applebloom.”

“Eeyup.”

*continues greatly enjoying this*

[Beeskee]

EPPALJECK videos:

1

2

3

4


Eppaljeck and Friends

Eppaljeck: The Documentary



Playlist (I can't vouch for the quality of this, I haven't watched it all)



Reviews from fellow bronies:


<+InkwellTailbrush> Somebody owes me like additional time for the amount of life I lost watching that.

<+Neoseanster> THAT IS MESSED UP.

"The horror, the horror!"

[Grif]

EPPALJECK videos:

1

2

3

4


Eppaljeck and Friends

Eppaljeck: The Documentary



Playlist (I can't vouch for the quality of this, I haven't watched it all)



Reviews from fellow bronies:


<+InkwellTailbrush> Somebody owes me like additional time for the amount of life I lost watching that.

<+Neoseanster> THAT IS MESSED UP.

"The horror, the horror!"

The horror movie of Garry's mod starring MLP. For real.

[Beeskee]

Spoiler

Show

[BlasTech]

Hey Trixie!

Since some others have already found the IRC information for the OP a page or two ago, here's my overdue promise to find the crazy-twilight emotes.

Link to imgur

Second on tonights agenda ...

Post-it War update:

IT IS DONE!

Well, sort of ...

I'll start with the good. We managed to get a rather passable Nyan Cat up across three of our windows, which will annihilate our competition so long as it stays attached to the window (unfortunately, we appear to have been supplied with sub-par munitions and the post its tend to fall off. "Built by the lowest bidder" indeed.

Still, it looked good in the end.

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We finished up, but we had a surplus of some colours, so later that afternoon I took a break from my note writing and did this:

Sorry about the poor quality, I had no 8-bit reference and our windows are rather narrow. Might fix her up a bit and take a better picture come Monday (if i can figure out how to fix it). At least I hope she's recognisable.

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[Athaniar]

EPPALJECK videos:

1

2

3

4


Eppaljeck and Friends

Eppaljeck: The Documentary

Dear Celestia, those are disturbing on... at least 40 levels.

We finished up, but we had a surplus of some colours, so later that afternoon I took a break from my note writing and did this:

Sorry about the poor quality, I had no 8-bit reference and our windows are rather narrow. Might fix her up a bit and take a better picture come Monday (if i can figure out how to fix it). At least I hope she's recognisable.

Spoiler

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Pinkie! Woo!

[Draconi Redfir]

Concept: MLP + MSPA crossover.

Idea: a Shoof game is played by a bunch of ponies

Two Earth ponies
Two Peggisi
Two unicorns
And possibly two Allicorns (Not Luna, Celestia, or any other canon charicters)

It will be he first time in who-knows-how-many years the pony population will actually be 1:1 gender-wise.

I’ll just leave this here and let you people think about it for awhile.

[Deadly]

We have a suggestion, ponythreaders!

Ponythread has been kinda slow lately, with some exceptions. I woke up late today and found only two new pages when before I tended to get at least six. I can't imagine many explanations other than IRC sucking all the life out of it, and I kinda fear that IRC will be the choice of place for many to discuss the new episode too.

I may be wrong on that, but either way, I would suggest perhaps IRC should be reserved for non-pony related chatting, things which don't really belong in ponythread anyway, and keeping pony discussion here.

I think that would be more in line with what I think was the purpose of this IRC anyway: To have a place for ponythreaders to socialize, not a replacement for general pony discussions which is what the thread is for.

Of course we may want to keep the line a little fuzzy, to allow some non-pony discussion here and some pony discussion there, but I think it'd be nice to keep it mostly in the proper places.

Thoughts? Am I being too concerned too early?