Queen Novo does not forgive or forget easily. When her niece seemed to prefer a school in the middle of a continent run by a would-be thief to Mount Aris, that didn't sit well with her.
The good news is that Twilight's managed to resolve that situation already.
The bad news is that there's another coming down the pike.
An entry in Bicyclette's Crackship Contest. Rated Teen for strong language and the love that dare not speak its name on a TV-Y series.
I guess they'd get better.
There's an "e" missing there.
This story came out of nowhere and I love it.
I was just thinking “FoME hasn’t done a story in a while” earlier. Nice to see.
Glorious.
Now that’s a crackship if I’ve ever seen one. Makes me wonder what would’ve happened if Steven had been a recurring character. Sea Serpent adventures sound pretty cool
This is simultaneously the most insane story I've ever seen and one of the stories I've read that's made the most sense.
This is brilliant absurdity. Best of luck in the contest.
Sly use of the "Other" tag. It took me until the second horizontal rule to figure out where the story was going.
I infer this takes place before season nine. I wonder whether Queen Novo's attitude toward Twilight changed even a little bit after the events of "The Ending of the End." (And not necessarily for the better. "I see you have Celestia's throne now. Which of your cronies distracted her while you took it?")
Today, tourists flock to O'erlando to visit the theme park whose attractions include a ride based on the book based on that adventure.
It is, but I'm wrong right there with you, Twilight.
Pure unfiltered insanity.
Have an upvote, I really enjoyed it.
And this is why Skystar is the superior ruler to her mother. You will never convince me otherwise. Does make me wonder if Novo ever did forgive Twilight or not. Mount Aris seemed pretty damned happy to see her in Season 8.
I love how Twilight immediately proclaims she's going to be the intermediary, only to get so thoroughly antagonized that she starts a yelling match with one of the two creatures she's supposed to be intermediating between. Point being, I didn't expect to find your dysfunctional interpretation of Twilight and Novo's relationship so goshdarn hilarious. (Granted, I loved this story as a whole too, but that back-and-forth they got into was a particular highlight for me.)
Kudos!
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Yeah, that's worth consideration too. At the very least, I'm surprised I can't recall another fanfic that's tackled them from this perspective. (Feel free to tell me if you know of any.)
Married, of course, to the lovely Queen Angelica.
Come on Cranky, you HAVE to have recent photos of you and Matilda. I know you say you've no dignity to lose, but for your wife'e sake don't Novo's think you're a loser with an imaginary girlfriend.
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Maybe they just ignore their queen on these things...
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Mount Aris, yes. ...remind me, did we ever actually see Twilight interact with the Queen then?
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Now there's material for a sequel to this
And you, FoME, are a genius. This is so awesome and random and actually sounds like it could happen I LOVE IT
11166586
Look up A Queen Sized Apology. It's the best one and without bias.
This is so good!
You know, that is one advantage to being a donkey--that particular insult looses some of its effectiveness.
I mean...you can't exactly deny that one, Novo. It was a little needlessly cruel, that.
To be honest, giving him the chance to regale tales of his many adventures might be one of the few things he'd not be cranky about. Honestly, I don't know why more haven't tried already (particularly Pinkie, considering she's utterly oblivious to his crankiness).
All in all, this was cute.
Does it count as a crackship if it somehow makes total sense? Regardless, this certainly brightened my day.
This story took my expectations and threw them out the window. The cat wasn't too happy when it landed in the dumpster.
In the fanfic multiverse a lot of Novo’s forgive Twilight after they think the situation through and conclude that if the circumstances had been reversed they would have done the exact same thing for the good of their kingdom. And that if they’ll never like Twilight they’ll at least respect her.
That bears the question, is this Novo less introspective than most? Or does she enjoy the opportunity for verbal sniping too much to give it up?
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Typo fixed. Thanks.
They almost certainly wouldn't have. The Pearl of Transmutation is heavier than a duck.
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I'm trying to do at least one release a month. My job consumes a lot of creative energy, but this cadence—I hesitate to call it something as ambitious as a "schedule"—is a good way to encourage a healthy work-life balance.
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Right? A donkey and a sea serpent wandering the world and righting wrongs sounds like a fantastic concept to me. (One that I may not ever write myself, but still.)
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Thank you for flawlessly describing the experience I strive for with every story.
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Yeah, the Other tag's great for when one or more major players are walking (or slithering) spoilers.
Excellent point, and I could definitely see Novo thinking that. Possibly even saying it, depending on just how these two were interacting up until that meeting.
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Mount Aris was excited to see Twilight, yes, but Novo was notably absent from "Surf and/or Turf." (Yes, that was the usual issues with celebrity voice actors, but still.)
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Twilight had been dealing with Novo all day. Something had to give eventually. And Twilight will only achieve her mental image of the wise, all-knowing, and flawless Princess of Friendship when she learns to abandon it. (I estimate that happens about midway through the timeskip.)
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Naturally.
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Oh, Novo sees some of the wedding photos shortly after her accusation. Note how she never apologizes. She is a capable ruler, but no one said she was a nice person.
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As noted in the previous comment, Cranky really does represent a gold mine of potential stories. It's just a matter of figuring out what they are.
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If a crackship doesn't make total sense by the end of the story, then they haven't adequately pulled off the "ship" part of it.
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Going by you putting the story in your favorites, I'm going to assume this was meant as a compliment and accept it as such.
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This is mostly a matter of personal interpretation. I see Novo as incredibly stubborn and willing to hold a grudge until the end of time. (There must have been some reason why she never asked Celestia for help with the whole Storm King situation.) She's capable of introspection, certainly. It's just that pressing one of her buttons means she refuses to introspect with regards to you. You are a Liar and a Thief and Not To Be Trusted, and this is absolutely a woman who can think in capital letters.
Based on her actions in the movie, she just doesn't strike me as an especially forgiving person.
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If you accept the prequel book to the movie as canon, Novo didn't really have a chance to call for help and also had reason to be *extra prickly* about ponies taking advantage of her hospitality to steal the pearl, because Tempest Shadow had *literally just done that* and the seapony thing was basically Novo's last-ditch gambit to save her people.
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Yeah but how long do you hide from those who want to hurt you. The rest of your life? Till the end of time? If she had bothered to even trying to do something she might have won . Twilight and friends tried and won because they didn't quit even when seem hopeless.
"Twilight"
"Cranky Doodle Donkey"
"Queen Novo"
"Other"
...Well. You don't see tags like that every day.
Guess I know what I'm loading on my Kindle next.
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That's not even remotely accurate. Novo actively fought back against the Storm King's invasion with relative success and ultimately chose to activate a last-ditch contingency that saved most of her people. In doing so, she actually accomplished vastly more than Celestia, Luna, and Cadance put together, who despite having vastly greater power at their hooves didn't actually save any of their subjects. Twilight and friends "tried" by running away in search of someone else to solve their problems for them, didn't even *try* to do anything to help common ponies along the way, only came back to Equestria when they were captured, and pretty much won by act of plot.
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In fairness to the ponies, at some point, you have to blame the writers for the plot contrivances that got them into that mess as well as the ones that got them out. (See also the marked lack of dragons, yaks, draconequi, et al. at the Festival of Friendship.)
Speaking personally, I haven't read the prequel book. Going solely by the movie, all we have to go on is Skystar's extremely abridged history:
Yeah. They kind of glossed over that part.
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Yes but the fact is she is still hiding and she won't quit till he dies. Meanwhile anyone who might actually want to be free to enjoy the world can't.
this opening feels very British somehow, and i love it
now this is how you do in medias res!
aww, an injection of pathos! i want to give this horse a hug and she only has three lines in the fic so far
ahaha, i am loving this already
gottem
haha, gottem!
he knows what he did!
hehe, love the phrase "pegarazzi", as well as Cranky's insistence here
aww, poor Twilight having to be the adult in the room, despite being at least two decades than either of them!
commentary!
dangit, every single one of these exchanges is upping my anticipation for this story here, FoME!
ooh, now there's an idea to explore in a story! love it already
gottem!
hahahaha i hope Queen Novo never stops rubbing that in! it's just too hilarious every time
ooh, love this retort. and yes, the ponies are in a very interesting position relative to the other species, aren't they? as Twilight's mention of the day-night cycle reminds us!
agh, love how this works both on the dramatic and comedic level simultaneously! a nice bridge from the dip into Twilight getting Real For A Minute
ooh, Stephen Magnet! calling it!
you and me both, Twily!
so true!
aww, i love the lovely word choice here in describing her magic. i don't think it's ridiculous at all, Twilight!
hehehe nice
aww the twitches
ah, love this guy!
hehe, this is just too believable for the two of them
oof! though that does neatly explain why Terramar's parents were so set on living permanently apart from each other
hahaha, Queen Novo is so great!
haha, very nice and so true
hehehe, augh, i can just picture this so perfectly
i love all of these
ooh! ambiguous!
and augh, a perfectly watertight fic as always, FoME! full of delightful character interactions and webs of backstories that seamlessly connect up all the bits of canon in its view to make this world feel just that much more full and real. these two flamboyant, larger-than-life characters with interesting yet completely untold backstories were a great pick for the crackship, and i just can't say enough about how much i love Novo's wit and energy here, and how she bounced off of every other character in the story in a way that made me root for her the whole time, just yass queen, you know? and yes, this is my Twilight bias focusing on her but augh, i just loved her portrayal here! balancing royal dignity and duty with being a mare that has is a pony just like anypony else.
just an absolute delight to read from start to finish. thank you so much for it!
An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!
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This does make me wonder how much if at all, anygriff actually cares what Novo thinks. In the credits, there is a thing showing Twilight and Novo together. So something did happen between them after the movie.
We'll never know for sure I guess.