Ornate Garden sipped at a glass of water, eyes flicking to the clock periodically to count the minutes. Yesterday, when Stepping Star brought Pureblood home, she had told Ornate about what had happened at the little diner, and at the time, it had infuriated her. She knew about the harassment her daughter put up with at school from Buttercup, but Pure seemed able to shrug it off well enough, and Ornate had discussed it with the teacher besides.
But for that bullying to extend outside of school, and nearly ruin her daughter's first sleepover? Well, Ornate was a bit upset to hear that Star and her husband merely decided to leave without causing a fuss. Ornate was about ready to march down to that diner herself and issue a complaint, but it was already getting late by then, and so she waited. Lying awake in bed, with the angry storm beginning to settle in her mind, she was able to think more clearly on the whole situation.
She had no doubt that at least some of the green filly's animosity towards Pure was being passed down from her mother. A mare who had worked in this very home not too long ago before a careless slip of the tongue had the patriarch of the family tossing her out. Even after all this time, it still irked Ornate some to think about, that somepony would dare speak ill of her precious angel, but she knew that anger would only exacerbate the issue, just as getting Daisy fired from her new job would no doubt escalate things.
Instead, as soon as the twins were in school, she sent for a messenger to deliver a simple letter. It was a request for Daisy Care's presence at the estate at her soonest convenience. The response was quick, and the meeting set for noon.
And so Ornate Garden waited, rehearsing what she wanted to say to the other mother when she finally arrived. "Madam, there's a Daisy Care at the door to see you," one of the staff said from the entryway, snapping his employer from her thoughts.
"Oh, yes, I was expecting her, thank you," she said, getting up trotting the long way to the front of the house. The trip wasn't long enough to prepare her for the familiar face bearing an unfamiliar scowl.
"Well, are you going to invite me in?" Daisy asked, annoyance clear in her voice. "This is my only day off this week, and I'd rather not waste it standing around."
"Sorry, yes, please come in," Ornate answered, stepping aside. "The kitchen is-"
"I know where it is," Daisy cut off. "I used to work here, remember?"
"I remember..." With a sigh, Ornate followed her guest. She knew this wouldn't be easy, but keeping her temper was going to prove near impossible if the other mare continued to act so rudely towards her in her own home. She reminded herself that this was for Pure's sake, and entered the kitchen.
"If you'd like, you can sit while I make us some tea," offered Ornate, moving passed her guest to reach the stove. "Do you have any preference?"
Caught off guard, Daisy answered uncertainly, "Uh... Anything with caffeine in it will be fine, thank you."
Black tea then. Ornate busied herself, filling the kettle and setting it on the burner, before going to sit across from Daisy. An awkward silence filled the air between them, and Ornate used it to observe the earth pony mare. She looked quite different then she remembered, and not simply because of the missing maid outfit. She looked tired, green coat unkempt and strands of her black mane falling from a messy bun into her haggard eyes. Motherhood was hard, Ornate knew, but it had never been such an all-consuming endeavor as to prevent her from properly grooming herself.
"Well, this is certainly a novel experience," Daisy suddenly drawled.
"Um, excuse me?"
"Getting served tea by you, instead of the other way around," she clarified. "I never thought it'd happen, though I shouldn't be surprised, this isn't the first time you ponies threw me for a loop. I never thought I'd be fired after nearly three years of loyal service either."
Ornate flinched minutely, but maintained her composure. "Yes, well, life tends to be unpredictable at times, like what occurred yesterday with our fillies. What a coincidence that was."
"And we finally get to what this is all about. What do you want, Garden, an apology?" asked Daisy with narrowed eyes.
"It certainly wouldn't hurt, though, not from you, or to me. No, it will have to be from your daughter to mine." The kettle went off, and Ornate stood. It was quick work with her horn, moving the kettle, cups, and teabags onto a serving tray before levitating them over to the table.
"Good luck with that," Daisy commented with a tired smile lacking any humor. "Buttercup isn't the sort to apologize unless she means it no matter who tells her to do so."
Ornate set the cups out and placed the bags into them before pouring steaming hot water over them. "That's a... respectable quality, I suppose. Honesty is one of the pillars our country was founded on, after all."
Some of the tension left Daisy's frame at the small compliment, but it quickly returned with a scowl. "If you understand, then you know this little meeting is pointless. I might as well just go home and stop wasting both of our time. I could be sleeping right now."
"The apology was more a suggestion, something I hope happens someday. No, I called you here so that we could settle things between us," Ornate explained, bobbing her teabag up and down to quicken the steeping process.
Daisy narrowed her eyes. "What's there to settle? The two of us were never friends, and I'm not under your employ anymore."
"That's true," the unicorn conceded. "Though that doesn't mean I don't regret losing your services. You were Bluey's favorite nanny, after all. He missed you those first few weeks after you left."
Expression softening, Daisy chuckled. "And I him. He was quite the hoofful, much like my own little one. It was exhausting to leave for work after dealing with a surging foal all night, only to come in to deal with another, but he was a sweet, if not wild colt. I had actually looked forward to introducing them... before being let go. I'm sure he and Buttercup would have gotten along well."
Ornate bit the inside of her cheek. "That's right, you had only foaled a couple months before me. I'd nearly forgotten, with how quickly your maternity leave ended."
"Yes, well, we can't all afford a life of leisure, and raising a foal is expensive. With my husband in between jobs at the time, there really wasn't much choice but for him to stay home with Buttercup while I worked." Ignoring the guilt that flashed across her host's face, Daisy picked up her cup between two hooves and took a sip. Smacking her lips in deliberation, she said, "Needs some sugar."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot the cream and sugar," Ornate said, getting up, eager for an escape from the uncomfortable topic. She didn't want to think about the situation she put the mare before her in by not challenging her husband's decision. She may not have been the one to fire her, but she didn't try to bring her back in either, and by not doing so, she may have put a young mother out on the street with her family.
Returning quicker than she would have liked, Ornate set the glass jar down along side a pitcher from the fridge before sitting. She watched the other mare in silence as she pulled the jar towards her and flipped the lid up, pulling a single sugar cube out and dropping it in her drink. After another sip, she nodded in satisfaction.
"Good?" Ornate asked, pouring a bit of cream into her own cup and plopping in two cubes after removing the bag. She was a bit surprised Daisy took her own tea so plain, especially such a strong blend as this.
"It's fine," she answered, sipping gingerly at the steaming beverage. A hush descended over the two, only interrupted by the occasional slurp or sigh.
"...You mentioned your husband," Ornate finally said, trying to broach a new topic. "Perhaps it's silly to say, what with the nature of our relationship back then, but I've never met him. It's as you said though, you were with us for three years, and I've seen the spouses of most every other pony working at this estate at least once for some reason or another."
Daisy shrugged. "He worked odd hours doing whatever he could to bring in bits, having to travel all over the city on hoof to find jobs. Needless to say, if he wasn't working, he was sleeping, and certainly didn't have time to visit or bring me lunch while I was working."
"He has trouble finding steady employment?" Ornate asked, only to immediately regret it when she received a vicious glare.
"It's not his fault, It's these damn Canterlot ponies. Bunch of tribalists; the so-called elites see a unicorn with a "mud pony" cutie mark and suddenly he's an outcast. Then the few earth ponies who can actually stand to live in this city won't hire him because surely a unicorn could never know as much about plants as one of them. Never mind that he's read every herbology book there is in the Canterlot library twice over or that he's worked hard and studied his whole life to help ponies-"
"Daisy, please! I didn't mean it like that, I was only curious!" Ornate interrupted, panicky eyes darting down to the cracking cup between the other mare's hooves. Any more pressure, and she'd be picking porcelain shards from her frogs.
Looking down, the green mare realized what she was doing, and her hooves shot down below the table. Taking a few calming breaths through her nose, she spoke. "Sorry, it's just... Glow Seed is a good, honest, intelligent stallion, and it upsets me that so few others can see that."
"No, it's alright, that was insensitive of me, even if it was an accident," Ornate replied, before something sparked in her mind. "You mentioned he's read up a lot on herbology?"
Daisy gave a breathy laugh, looking even more tired after her outburst. "To put it mildly, yes. It's been his passion ever since he got his mark."
"And he's a unicorn..."
Another glare, though this one lacked the same bite as before. "Yes, does that seem strange to you?"
It was Ornate's turn to laugh lightly. "Daisy, I'm a unicorn named Garden from a family of florists on my mother's side. A unicorn being interested in flora is hardly strange to me."
At this, the other mare actually blushed and looked away. "Yes, well, you're also from a notable family and married to the Princess' nephew. I doubt you've ever had to deal with biting remarks from other unicorns; they'd be too afraid to say anything. Glow doesn't have those protections, however."
That wiped Ornate's smile away. The accusation, at least that's what it felt like, might have actually been true; her family may not have been nobles, but they had carved out their place in Canterlot over generations, and had at least a grudging respect from its populace. Add onto that her father, another notable figure in Canterlot, and she could see other ponies keeping their opinions to themselves around her.
Noticing her tea cup was nearly empty, Ornate finished it and went to work preparing another, using the time to think. "... So, Glow Seed's a herbalist, hmm?" the unicorn said just as much to herself as her guest, putting her thoughts into words. "You know, my brother, Sunlight Shine, is actually a botanist working at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns; being a unicorn with a talent for plant life, he's become somewhat of a pioneer in the field of chloromancy."
"Isn't every pony in your family just blessed," grumbled Daisy.
Ignoring her, Ornate continued, "Perhaps I can talk to him about giving your husband a job."
It was probably a good thing the other mare hadn't been drinking anything at that moment, or else the coughing fit that followed would have been far more messy. "W-what? A job? At Celestia's school?"
"Maybe," Ornate said. "He has been talking about how he wished to have another unicorn with a botanical cutie mark. The earth ponies he works with are useful, but he wants a unicorn to help him progress the spell work side of things. Maybe your husband can be the assistant he's looking for, and if not, well, I'm sure he can still find a place for him."
"Yes! I mean," she coughed into her hoof again, this time trying to regain her composure instead of clearing her airways. "Yes, I'm sure Glow would be thrilled by the prospect. A steady job in his field..."
The last bit was said almost wistfully, and Ornate couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her lips. This certainly wasn't where she expected today's visit to end up, but she was happy nonetheless to help these ponies. It helped ease some of the guilt she felt by knowing the situation she had let them fall into.
"I'll talk to my brother later. I'm sure he'll want to meet Glow Seed right away, so be expecting a messenger in a couple days." Daisy nodded in agreement, and lifted her teacup for another drink, her hooves noticeably shaking.
The silence began to stretch again, though this time it was less oppressive. "... I envied you back then. You, and ponies like you."
"What?" Ornate asked, tilting her head.
"I envied you," Daisy repeated, eyes downcast. "I still do, in fact. Growing up, we never had much, my parents only just scraping by, and I used to see ponies like you, ponies with everything they could ever want. Beautiful dresses, perfectly styled manes, I wanted to be like that too, so I copied them, the way they talked, their walks, all in foalish hope that it would suddenly change things, that if I pretended hard enough, I could be an elite as well.
"It never worked of course, I was just a no-name earth pony destined to follow in my parents' hoofsteps. To either be a servant, or a street sweeper. The only thing I had pride in was the adoration of my younger siblings; knowing that I took care of them, that mother and father trusted me to watch them while they toiled the day away. I was good at it, too. It's my special talent, after all, caring for others... serving them. It's what I grew up to do.
"Isn't that just perfect? Not only did I have to see it on the streets then, I could go into work every day and see what I'd never have. Cleaning the big homes, and serving the fancy meals I dreamed of as a filly. It faded some as I grew out of my teenage years, and after meeting Glow, I almost didn't care at all. Love provides it's own riches, and Buttercup is my treasure.
"I remember seeing her and thinking how beautiful she was. How perfect. My perfect little filly. I'm ashamed to admit, but I put her in competition against your daughter. Horrible, I know, but I couldn't help but feel that, for once, I had something definitively better than you. She had taken her first steps before Pureblood, a small victory. Buttercup was rambunctious and full of energy where your daughter was quiet. And the magic, of course...
"How pathetic, tearing down a foal just to feel better about myself. Perhaps I deserved to be fired, though I didn't see it that way at the time. I hated you and your husband. How many times did Glow have to tell me to calm down? To not rant and rave in front of our foal like a lunatic? Too many by far. Every day I came home from a failed job hunt. No pony would hire me as a maid once they found out I had been fired from the Blueblood household. No noble wanted another's castoff in their home. Even after I finally found employment, I'd still seethe whenever I returned from a stressful shift at the diner.
"And when I saw you that first day at the kindergarten, of course, just as I last saw you, happy, content, completely unaware of how my life had changed for the worse. I was angry then, I told Buttercup to stay away from your foals, that they were spoiled, stuck up snobs..."
Ornate watched on, stunned as Daisy spoke, face blank save for the tears running down her cheeks. "... I don't deserve your kindness, but I can't turn it down either. As awful as I am, Glow Seed deserves this. Buttercup deserves this." She took a deep breath and looked up to meet Ornate's eyes. "So thank you, and... I'm sorry. Sorry for being so ugly to you. For being so wrong."
"Daisy..." Ornate's words failed her. "I..."
"You don't have to say anything," Daisy interrupted. "I'm sure it would be too kind if you did. I've been a horrible guest while you've remained a civil host. I suppose it shows which of us is the true noble, and which is still playing make-believe. I'm such a foal." She finished the statement with a jaded sigh.
"You're not a foal," Ornate argued, getting a wry smile.
"I'm afraid we'll have to disagree on that, Mrs. Garden," the earth mare said as she rose from her seat. "Now, I'm sure I've taken up more than enough of your time for the day, and made a big enough spectacle of myself, so I think it'd be for the best if I leave now."
"Wait-!"
"I'll talk to Buttercup about her behavior, though I can't promise anything. She really is a strong-willed filly. And I'll tell my husband about Sunshine." She reached the entrance before halting. "... I pick Buttercup up from the kindergarten every Monday and Friday, if you need to talk to me again, we can meet up then."
With a final goodbye, Daisy showed herself out, leaving Ornate alone in her kitchen with nothing but her thoughts and a half-full kettle of lukewarm water.
Well, that was an anticlimax. Not in a bad way, but more in a "huh, I was expecting a more traditional conflict to arise from this and drag on for a bit longer, rather than having the adults talk things out sensibly." I guess I should have expected it after Pauly, but it's still a nice surprise. I imagine Buttercup still has some spite left in her though.
An interesting tragedy. Honestly even if what she did was rotten and wrong, one can understand it. She was fired just like that, without a single warning given beforehand. Normally if one works for three years you won't simply throw them out. What she did wasn't that extreme (she only badmouthed about Pure's magical skills I believe). That was definitely wrong from the Blueblood household. But things are already mending. And I actually hope Daisy will work for them again, and continue where they left off. She would deserve it. Just alone her accepting what she did wrong shows that!
(ahem) That's... exacerbate.
Yeah. I'll stop being a grammar nazi now.
well im glad they didnt turn a mole hill into a mountin
Damn...
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What exactly do you mean by tradiational? This is sort of how I hoped it would go down, a discussion from Ornate settings things.
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Not everybody is reasonable all the time, especially in fiction. The outcome of this meeting could have been very different if Daisy was was more prideful, or simply spiteful.
How things ended up is fine, but I didn't expect things to get wrapped up so cordially and so quickly.
I enjoyed this chapter, nothing to complain here. Maybe Ornate should write her a letter to recomend her to somebody else?
This will change things.
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I mean, the premise is that a working mother in poverty and with an unemployed husband got fired into worse poverty. It kind of started as a mountain.
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yea but it easily could of turned into a volcano
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Well, I think there were hints in the chapter indicating that Butter Cup wouldn't apologize to Pure right away. So there could still be issues there
8565030
I did note that. We'll just have to see.
To fire a newly made mother is wrong, but to keep such a corrosive element around your children is not a good option.
Yesssssss! Ornate finally helps her out.
8561869 Eh, have somebody in Japan write it.
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Pretty sure Headless_Rainbow is way ahead of you there
Most likely Buttercup will think that Pure's mother did it purely so she can have leverage over her family, and that Daisy is too afraid that her husband will be fired to talk back.
8565170
will there be plenty of tentacles?
You got your effect/affect mixed up in your author's note
"This medicine will have an effect"
"The adventurer was affected by poison"
The 'e' one is caused by the subject of the sentence, while the 'a' one happens to the subject.
Huh. It's a rare novelty to see characters in fiction actually talk things out like reasonable adults. I'm so used to watching these kinds of petty feuds spiral out of control.
Garden, you gotta take her back.
Ornate is a good mom. I can't help but feel that we'll see scenes like this when the twins are teens. Touching heart to heart conversations and the like.
And this chapter resolved something that has been coming for a long time - a heart-to-heart between two affected parties which haven't really spoken ever since the incident.
And what wonders that did! It wasn't an easy talk, but Daisy has finally seen the error of her ways. That's the first step to getting better.
Wouldn't it be fun if she gained employment for the Bluebloods again? Probably wishful thinking, but then again, this is Equestria - redemption is what the virtuous believe, and Ornate certainly seems like the one to give second chances.
And hey, her husband has a shot at a good job as well!
Buttercup... that'd be a different issue. Seems like Daisy has some explaining to do. That'll be fun.
This would be a good argument for Buttercup's behavior, if not for the fact that the only reason that Pureblood initially talked to Buttercup was because the latter was picking on Twilight. Clearly Daisy didn't limit her vitriol to purely the Blueblood family... Probably some mix of "hate all nobles" and "be prideful of your strong magic, despite your poverty". Daisy has a lot to sort out with her daughter, not just, "get her to not hate Pure, specifically".
8564817
Ponies acting like adults? Preposterous! Heh...
A nice change of pace around here, actually.
It's funny how this confict being resolved by talking out sensibly caught so many people by surprise (myself included)
This isent over. This is only the beginning.
8566480
Indeed. Thought I want to point out that the incident hasn't been solved yet. Sure the main instigator now has stopped, but her filly, who she admit is extremely willful, may not heed her mother's words and keep up the bullying.
Nice chapter, good work.
I must say I have enjoyed your story, and hope you'll continue with it for some time to come.
Wait, did Glow Seed make errors in the back orders he did or did he get for doing well? Having some semi-personal experience with similar it angers me to see another person (even a fictional one) get their life screwed up taking care of other people's job they didn't manage to do. I guess some people just feel threatened when their subordinates manage to do something better than they are supposed to.
8567712
He made the orders correctly, but was fired because he wasn't authorized to do so. He was just suppose to be cleaning and locking up after, but he stayed the whole night to make orders in the hopes of impressing his boss and being given the job he wanted. The problem, from the bosses perspective, was that Glow Seed didn't know what he was doing, and the medicine he created was unusable, which meant he had wasted a bunch of the store's supplies.
And really, he was right to do so. The boss didn't believe in Glow Seed's skills, and thus, couldn't risk giving out potentially poisonous medicine. Plus, there was no way he could safely test them to see if Glow did do a good job.
It was an over-eager, misguided, but well-intentioned act that he got fired for.
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8565379
Yeah, she's getting pretty far along in developing an inferiority complex from, among other things, her poverty, and thus tries to assure herself by bringing others down. She just has a special hatred for Pure because, even though she believes she's better by having magic where the other filly doesn't, Pure is still more well-liked by their peers and even their teacher. This aligns itself with what her mother said about Pure being spoiled; even though she's a defunk unicorn, she's still treated like she's perfect.
She's the second best in the class behind Blueblood, so why doesn't anypony like her? Why isn't she being praised? These sorts of questions go through her mind a lot.
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I don't think Ornate plans on bringing her back, even if the thought did cross her mind. After all, one of the things Daisy revealed during her speech was that it secretly ate away at her to be a servant in a rich home because it was a constant reminder of what she would never have and her station in life. It's like a vegan working in a slaughter house; not good for ones sanity.
Doesn't mean Ornate still won't try to raise Daisy's station in life some how.
8567940
With that explanation i can't help but agree. It sucks that it played out that way, but it seems like it was probably the safest decision. Along with being fired, was he charged for the materials used? They weren't free after all, and i can see a business owner wanting to at least get back the material costs so that they could be replaced.
Hmm..... funny. i ask more about the details on a character's past in the author's note than i do when it's actually relevant in the story. Character bios hold a special sort of interest for me i guess.
That was resolved faster than I thought.
To be honest, I hated how Garden did in the end discussion. I mean c'mon, not even a full sentence in?
Had a quick laugh with that.
past*
Just finished binging through this story up to this chapter. So good. Keep going!
I assume that this Equestria has already become an Elseworld, seeing as how Pureblood's presence has already changed the lives and destinies of several background ponies we know? Blueblood will grow up to become a better stallion, and so may have a real relationship (romantic or platonic) with Rarity? Moondancer will no longer fixate on an unreceptive Twilight, and so won't spend the next 10 years of her life in scorned bitterness?
As for Twilight, I think her destiny is too entertwined with Harmony to change at all. Which means she ain't gonna fall for Pure's charms and friendly gestures.
I sure hope Sunset shows up in this story. I wouldn't mind if her destiny is radically changed from Pure's interference. But her worldline will probably be unaffected, just like Twilight.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/10/17/1563969__safe_screencap_pinkie+pie_not+asking+for+trouble_spoiler-colon-s07e11_pony_raised+eyebrow_snow_solo.png
That some instantly dissolving sugar or what?
Nooooooooo! Why are there no more chapters left to read!? T_______________________________T
This was a great chapter that humanizes our two villains in this story. It certainly shows how our actions can affect others, even unintentionally. Hopefully though, some good will come out of this.
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Specially enchanted for your convenience. Only the best in the Blueblood home.
8569738
Eh, my problem with Sunset is that I'm not really sure how to fit her in, because her story is too bizarre for me. I mean, according to the EQG canon, she was already significantly older than Twilight, yet, for some reason, the mirror still made their ages the same, which means it de-aged Sunset the first time she went through, but not Twilight later.
Then there's the EQG-verse in general, which again, doesn't make sense. How can a world of humans have human-copies of all the ponies? Like the principles; if they have normal human lifespans, than it stands to reason that that world will quickly lose it's Celestia and Luna. Heck, these two's existence had such a significant impact on Equestrian History for thousands of years, it should mean that it'd be impossible for an alternate history to share any similarities without the pair being there for millennia and being in a position of power.
I don't know, it's pretty much the same reason I'm not looking forward to putting Glimmer into the story; for as interesting as the character is in other regards, her villainous origin story is just aweful. I feel that the further you go along in the seasons of the show, the more convoluted everything starts to become, and as a writer, you have to decide where the cutoff is; how much ridiculous show canon you want to let seep into your own stories' head canons.
The show writers really like to make things difficult for fanfiction writers these days.
Though in regards to Glimmer, I'll probably have her as more of a cameo in that we'll see Sunburst at Celestia's school later. After all, it's a big city, not everypony will run into everypony else, and it's very likely that Pure and a depressed GlimGlam will completely miss each other growing up.
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Oh I don't mind if Sunset, Starlight, or whoever ends up in the story or not. Just a thought. I had figured that the reason you placed the setting in pre-NMM Canterlot is because so many of the show's non-Mane6 characters started their formative years right there during that brief time period. It's like writing Smallville, except you don't have to contort yourself to cram every single character in the comics into an obscure country town.
But Sunset's story is not bizarre. It's all down to the workings of magic:
As long as I got seapony royalty.
8570267
Why, thank you!
Pass my compliments on to the manufacturer.
8571405
The Secret Of NIMH is the much, much, much better 1980's mice movie. It's also how I learned how to draw the Don Bluth way as a tween. It's like Harry Potter in scope and gravitas and whimsy, but with mice.
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Hate to be that guy, but I liked the book better for that one. No magic, for one, which just seemed to go better with the whole, genetically-enhanced lab rats/mice.
8570303
Well, that's an interesting head canon, though it suggests that the further from the mirror you go, the less simalarities you'll see. Does that mean there's a point where humans start having normal names and skin colors? Might make an interesting story if Sunset started wondering about the world at whole, only to discover all records stating the city and surrounding woodlands was all there is.
Then upon going out to see for herself, hits a barrier where beyond is nothing but a wasteland.
"Sir, one of the mutants is at the perimeter."
"Is it doing anything?"
"Just seems to be inspecting it, as if not knowing what to make of it."
"Keep an eye on it, the last few drones we sent out brought back some pretty weird images. The higher-up think the unknown radiation might be mutating them further, so we don't know what to expect."
The general shudders at the image of the orange and red creature. "Freaks, lets hope if they ever break containment that they still die in the buffer zone. thirty square miles of landmine ridden wastelands should stop them."
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"Sir? The mutants are pulling the landmines out of the ground with freaky mind powers! And we've gotte word that The Pink One's in the Oval Office talking at the Presdent!"
"My god...." *pulls off sunglasses*
8572619
The book was nice, but after reading it I decided that the movie is still better. The book was very... plain. The movie was much more evocative. I didn't have a problem with the rats being genetic experiments, and then all of a sudden magic gets mixed in. AFAIC, Don Bluth was ahead of his time in using steampunk... for Disney-esque animals!
It is headcanon, but there is no alternative explanation and likely there will never be any. So you can either throw your hands up and say "This setting makes no sense at all!" Or, you can say "Oh, this setting totally makes sense. I just won't ever have explicit confirmation from the studio!"
This is correct, but by the 4th movie you can see that the affected radius is huge.
In my own headcanon story there is, but that is not necessary for EQG. However, due to the natural effect of ambient magic, the unaffected portion of the world cannot perceive the EQG-portion of the world as "wrong/ unnatural". Sort of like a glamour, but a natural phenomenon.
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Royal families in King Arthur stories are even more messed up. (I had a class in Arthurian Legends, where we had to trace the family trees. Aside from the normal royal family shenanigans like marrying sisters, there were the magic shenanigans as well, like temporary gender swaps, the guy getting pregnant, etc.
Maybe I should write a story like that.
When I don't have about five I'm working on.
8573726
I loved the movie, and then I loved the book when I read it.
They really seemed like two separate stories with a similar setup to me. The book was less "exciting," but more interesting to me.
Just wanted tell you i've been reading this story from beginning. pure is adorbs as a character & so beautifully written fic. mine's gonna take a long time to get on here...for many reasons!
8576965
Yes she probably will.
Until the chapter before this one, I was starting to think that Pure forgot she was from another world, it's had so little bearing on the story. I mean, I like the story, it just seems like the premise is entirely superfluous to it thus far. It could have easily just been about a precocious but sickly pony noble foal without any of the other world stuff.