S1E01 of Kindness Is Magic
June 21st, YOH 1500: When Fluttershy accepted the commission to provide birdsong for Princess Celestia at the Ponyville Equestriad Summer Sun Celebration, she thought she was being pretty brave. Little did she know that soon she would be treading the Everfree Forest in endless night, searching for the lost Elements of Harmony, contending against NIghtmare Moon!
She should have been terrified. And she was frightened. But why did it feel as if she was fulfilling her destiny?
Chapters (1)
I suddenly find myself very curious to find out how Windvane responded to the news that Fluttershy had bonded to the Element of Kindness and used it to defeat Nightmare Moon. I suspect it would be very interesting to see...
Hmm. I wonder how she'd talk down Stupidlight Dimmer.
Let's see where this goes...
"Year of Harmony"? Odd, in "Testing, Testing, 1 2 3", Twilight referred to the period after Nightmare Moon to be called "Year of Celestial Peace".
Or, "Anno Pax Celestia"
Ooh, another story written in Fluttervision. This should be interesting. Not much to it beyond a portrait of the protagonist as a young mare, but I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.
Wait, Fluttershy is a changeling in this fic?
Nothing wrong with that as an idea, but since it's part of the premise I'd have expected a mention in the description and an AU tag.
Right or wrong (because I could have misread, I'm just waiting up from an afternoon nap) I'll be following this story.
6677439
I assume there's more than one chronological system. "Year of Harmony" dates back to the defeat of Discord, and becomes popular again after Luna's return.
6677537
Fluttershy's half-Changeling in the Shadow Wars Story Verse. This not only doesn't contradict anything ever shown in vanilla-canon, but explains several things about Fluttershy, such as her possession of The Stare and her tendency to surround herself with loving animals.
6677545 (I'll ignore the fact Fluttershy being half-changeling already contradicts canon)
Is this story part of that Shadow Wars Story Verse? Because, again, that's something it's usually placed in the description.
6676738 probably they'd be very jealous that she is connected to the most powerful magic known
6677604
Actually, canon never identifies any of Fluttershy's kin. Though her behavior makes it obvious that she's an eccentric aristocrat of some kind. There is also nothing in canon to contradict her being half-Changeling. She doesn't know how to Shift, and her base form is in any case the cute yellow-and-pink pegasus mare you all know and love.
She was raised by Ponies, and her cultural assumptions are entirely Pony -- from her POV, Chrysalis is a terrible monster telling her to look at the Tomato in the Mirror. Fluttershy is about as happy about this as is the typical Cthulhu Mythos narrator who discovers he's won the Secretly a Deep One lottery.
Everything I write in any of the MLP generation fanfic worlds is part of the Shadow Wars Story Verse. Some of it is simply set in secondary worldlines, such as the one Dr. Astrid Lucy Glammer accidentally created by dropping Charlie Yu through an experimental spacetime portal into Equestria.
6677622
The glorious thing here is that technically, Fluttershy has now accomplished everything he believes a great pegasus should: she has shown irrefutable courage, wielded a legendary 'weapon', defeated a great enemy and, through her deeds, bought great honor to her House. Or she would, if he would own up to her kinship. I suspect that, in the spectacularly unlikely event that Ill Wind had wielded an Element in such a manner, he would crow about how it proves the superiority of his kin.
He can't chaim it at all, though, because it's Fluttershy. Fluttershy, who he cast out and rejected, and who would openly laugh at him were she not too shy and polite. Which means he now has to do a lot of mental gymnastics to convince himself and others that she is not at all what the evidence suggests she is: a hero and an example to other pegasi.
He might even try to claim Rainbow, who is, after all, an exemplary specimen of pegasus kind, probably even in his eyes (lack of fantastic racism not withstanding). Rainbow, I suspect, would want nothing to do with him; his rejection of Fluttershy would make him mud in her eyes regardless of any other considerations.
6677635 I guess we'll have to agree to disagree in the AU side (your reply could be a case for something not impossible, but it isn't to make it canon: I'm missing the eexistence of canon-confirmed half-changelings and the existence of canon confirmed (half-)changelings whose natural forms aren't black). And I think it's better to keep the differences that way, because I'm not against your setting (AU for me, not for you) in this story and this first chapter was enjoyable, and it wouldn't do to have the comments section devolve in an "AU or not" discussion only.
How I was supposed to know that?
6677701
Well, the SWSV assumes that Changelings are just modified Flutter Ponies, so there's no particular reason they couldn't interbreed. In fact, that's a secondary reason the Changelings assume the form of the lovers or spouses of other Ponies -- genetic diversity.
6677707 Exactly: your explanation works in your verse, not in canon. Which is fine, as this story is set in your 'verse, where your explanation is valid.
6677740
Real eusocial insects have only one breeder and a variant recombination system so that they are all three-quarter sisters of each other (a degree of kinship unattainable by mammals). I'm guessing that Discord couldn't Twist the Flutter Ponies enough to give the Changelings a fully-insectoid reproductive system, and what they actually do is closer to naked mole rats, only as their Hives are more populous than naked mole rat warrens, there are numerous breeding females with the dominant one being the Queen and the only one who can produce other breeders, the Princesses. Most female Changelings are, however, sterile -- though any Changeling can, with enough love, be "promoted" to Princess, and a Princess-less Hive will select the dominant Princess to become the new Queen. Hence, you can't wipe out a Changeling Hive by assassinating its Royals, though you can hurt it badly.
/skims physicist's name
!
/rereads
!!
Nice.
Great opening there with a somewhat different view of Celly and Luna. Makes me wonder if there are similar versions among equally xenophobic unicorns and Earth ponies. Not to mention how Fluttershy, raised on those stories of the wicked tyrannical Princesses, felt when she heard the lupine Creation Myth from Ardi which paints pegasi as being only slightly less monstrous than the Princesses.
Good piece of work here setting up Fluttershy's background, as well as hinting at what we can expect from the story ahead.
6677767 (I've read it in a review of "The Future is Wild", the part about hive-like burrowing birds.) Right now there are eusocial birds that have only one fertile female in the flock, the rest become barren from the stress. When the queen dies, her replacement becomes fertile. I'm not sure if there are known mammals with similar organization, but it is entirely possible.
7004224
Among my Changelings, the Royals (Queen and Princesses) are fertile, the other castes are not. The Queen can bear members of all castes including Royals, but Princesses can only bear members of non-Royal castes. There are also the possibilities of ultra-high-caste male Royals ("Kings" and "Princes") but they are much less common: most Hives don't have any.
Caste membership is partially genetic and partially epigenetic. A Changeling can in time through diet (both psychic and material) and training be "promoted." This is rarely more than one caste in lifetime. The caste right below the Royals is what might be termed "Professional," but is better known as "Infiltrator" because that's what Ponies encountered them doing before the Reconciliation. This includes not only literal Infiltrators, but also Commanders, Scientists, Engineers, Doctors and the like.
Below the Professionals are the Warriors and Workers. Technically these are more or less equal castes, but Warriors require more resources to raise, and in war are more important.
A typical Age of Hiding Hive has about 85% (or more) Workers, 10% (or less) Warriors, 4% Professionals, and 1% (or less) Royals. Larger elite groups can only be supported by active raiding and conquest, which is dangerous.
A Hive attempting aggresive expansion (like that of Queen Chrysalis) would have a much higher percentage of Warriors and Elites. This is not sustainable save through plunder. Long before the attack on Canterlot, Chrysalis had logistically-committed herself to the attack.
In the Age of Reconciliation, the Changelings became much richer in resources through open trade with other Kinds. Consequently, the ratio of Royals and Professionals to Workers increased greatly. Warrior production also increased for the Shadow Wars, but afterward dropped as Warriors were now needed merely for security purpose, and as a military export (mecenaries). Also, the subcastes of Workers and Warriors bred and trained were much more elite and specialized ones, and enjoyed much higher standards of living, than had the Changelings during the Hiding.
Seems intresting; can't wait for more!