Sightings of a mountaintop phantom line up with a few too many worrisome legends for Sunny Starscout's comfort. Short on time and even shorter on adventuring companions, she heads out to confront it.
By herself, but not alone.
This is an entry in the Snippet Series, an anthology of old oneshots that I (and my good buddy Str8aura) wrote based around interesting pics I found. New ones will be posted every other Thursday for the foreseeable future.
The sketch got me ;-;
Aww, poor Vinyl, she deserves a hug.
Heartbreaking and beautiful.
Oh, this was outstanding. I'd love to see more of Sunny literally facing the ghosts of the past, and the glimpses of the magical apocalypse offered a perfect balance of answered questions and lingering mysteries. Thank you for this.
(For future reference, Zipp's last name is "Storm." Frickin' pony names, how do they work?)
Okay, that's kind of a bummer ending. But that certainly was quite a good read !
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Heck. I’ve fixed Zipp’s name.
Adding character tags to this Snippet was a hard decision, because doing that spoiled the identity of the mysterious mountain pony. Eventually I went through with it and crossed my fingers that emotion would make up for the lack of mystery.
Pleased to see it did.
Poor vinyl.
Poor Vinyl got screwed by the Mean 3 even after they got sealed in stone.
"S-s-sunny... I feel... gooooood..."
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Transformations, characters living for hundreds of generations, and predatory magic are tropes we both like, which is good because of how rarely they're used. A character being thrown through the hoops and hurdles of different bodies, different forms, and different times is a good way to test what parts of them are immortal and what parts if them chip away over time. Eloquent speech dies. Cell phone signals survive everywhere, including the tops of mountains. Or something like that.
And you've already made clear how much you like your scrapbook of g4 survivors idea. Good to see you doing something with that where I wont. Borrow any of my ideas if that's what you want to make; I always encourage you in your endeavors.
Nice story. Although it has the horrendous implication that things went pear-shaped not long after the show finale. (No thousand years of peace and prosperity for Equestria for you, Twilight "K-T boundary" Sparkle!)
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Sometimes I loot the table scraps from our brainstorming sessions. Sunny being a naive archaeologist is fertile ground for fanservicey stories, and I might retread this scenario if I find another Gen 4 pony who feels appropriate to revisit. Still letting Trixtown simmer on my creative backburner.
Vinyl held onto the part of herself that mattered. The human spirit is strong enough to move mountains. The pony spirit is even stronger.
Changing gears, do you think dear departed Octavia might have been Very Large For No Discernible Reason in this story? Or is that nugget a little too nostalgic even for a Sunny Starscout adventure?
Whoa dang that is pretty dangerous to go up in the mountain by yourself especially if you don't know what you're doing and I wonder who could that be up there
Ohh she's talkin about Octavia 😢
Oh man that is kind of sad basically Vinyl Scratch try to find the bell and everything just to bring Magic back but they couldn't find it but somehow she probably died in the mountain and her spirit was basically trapped and she became lost and alone but until sunny and the other has brought back the magic and somehow bringing peace to vinyl that she can finally can rest in peace and reunited with her best friend Octavia this was a pretty Bittersweet but good story keep up the good work
This was short, but really cute! Though it tugged a little at my heartstrings; I wasn't expecting a somber ending like that just based off the description (I should really learn to read tags).
Short and sweet, gets the point across, does what it wants to do well and wraps up nicely.
All in all, a very nice shortfic
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Friendo, if you wish to inherit Indiscernibly Large Octavia, you can have her. She can be the G5 equivalent to the city of Pym Falls.
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Which I'm not saying would be a really cool idea with someone who made more sense, thinking about it now, but...
Wow that is something else man and the ending kind of reminds me of Hocus Pocus ending
Kind of makes you wonder about the bell Argyle had in his collection, and if it was the real one...
So, she went up after the bewitching bell? What a clever and unexpected way to link the two generations. Bravo for that. And the story certainly has all the feelz magic it needs to be a really enjoyable read. Thanks for posting.
Brilliant characterization.
And that ending part with Sunny recalling the good out from everypony who couldn't come in order to muster the strength to repel the ghoul, nicely done as well!
What a nice short story! Bravo!
I would call her 'Snowwhite' (ignoring the fairytale
(Friend of mine instantly was reminded of Snowdrop) :)
I think I got a small glimpse of what Vinyl Scratch was experiencing when I read those lyrics in your author's notes and had a feeling that I've heard these lyrics some time ago but couldn't pinpoint the song. Of course, it had to be someone I now sporadically and very occasionally listen to.
That aside, I like the parallel made across the two chapters: as Falkenlied pointed out, Sunny holds onto what her friends did for her in their, well, friendship to hold out against the cold at the end of the first chapter; however, Vinyl also ends up doing the same... though I'm not really sure how it directly affects her other than a vague hint that it may or may not have helped her stay herself despite the circumstances.
All in all, this is a nice piece! Thanks for the unexpected duo of Sunny and Vinyl.
Yep, this is Sprout alright.
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Yep. Sunny has a bad habit of embracing her ideals while throwing caution to the wind.
Man, this is bone-chilling...in more ways than one.
Not just Vinyl's fate, but the implication that things got so desperate in Equestria, a mare as smooth as Vinyl was driven to such lengths as scaling a dangerous mountain to save her dying civilization.
I can only imagine how horrible she would feel if she saw how depressed Bridlewood was.
her alicorn gimmick appears when she's in danger? that seems like something hasbro would do
Good read
Reminds me a little of Last trumpets call 👍
That's one of the weirdest puns I've encountered. In part because it almost isn't even a pun! Real-world yaks don't live in real-world Yakutia, but MLP yaks sure would find its slightly adjusted version a nice place to live!
Hmmm. Not bad.
ooooh... RIGHT IN THE FEELS
The paragraphs where Sunny encourages Vinyl to move on and leave Equestria remind me of one of the more touching moments in House of Leaves. In that scene-within-a-scene-within-a-scene, there is an enormous chamber filled with people. Some of the men have been there for thousands of years, judging by the lengths of their beards. In the center of the room is a large well. Rarely, someone jumps into the well. If they had lived a good life before entering the chamber, they were magically transported elsewhere as soon as they were fully submerged. If their life was lived unjustly, they enjoyed an eternity of drowning. Those who knew they were bad or are indecisive could choose to remain in the antechamber forever. Pages 398–9 in case you own a copy of the House
I dunno... there is giving villains a second chance, and then there is betting the future of Equestria that the reformation is strong enough to resist what I seem to recall was PARTIALLY a magical compulsion towards anger. Emperor!Sprout would have been a four-course meal with all the trimmings all by himself (his followers don't count for this purpose).
But yeah, Sunny needs to learn to... or... hmmm... well, I'm seeing shades of "Lesson Zero" here except with a more valid emergency and hypothermia instead of a town-wide brawl. Although only Hitch didn't have a valid reason. Maybe Sunny needs to be better at explaining herself, or be at least a LITTLE patient in gathering reinforcements. That or trade on her authority to get back-up. One of the common fanon powers of Pegasi is cold resistance. Also, they could have abilities related to not getting lost in white-out conditions. To say it in plainer language, requisitioning Thunder and/or Zoom (or any of their coworkers) could have been a good idea.
Actually, now that I think of it, just thinking to acquire a parka before going high-altitude Windigo-Hunting would have been a good tactical step... oh, well, she is neither millennia old, nor a hyper-organized genius capable of picking up a new field of study in an afternoon.
It seems we agree on this point then.
An excellent "surprising yet inevitable"... or at least Chekhov's Gun.
Of course Izzy may have a touch of the same sort of power of precognition that Pinkie Pie had, although if so it take a different form.
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Probably more like when she focuses on Friendship (and maybe is doing something heroic)?
I... suppose I shall fav and upvote this. It is well written and emotional, and true to the characters. My objections to its morals are almost certainly just me overthinking it.
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Weird word to spoil... why?
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It’s a gimmick in the book. Every time the word house is used, it is colored blue as well as any mention of the minotaur being struckthrough and red.
Just felt appropriate.
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