Signal Boost: Some Assembly Required

As y'all know, Jinglemas is a two-way street; not only do we write a story but we're gifted one in return.

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My request was basically the same as it always is: background ponies, any generation; prefer SoL; human okay but no Anon.

And I got Some Assembly Required by Shrinky Frod

ESome Assembly Required

• MLP: FiM
• Slice of Life

Holidays with the family can be difficult. Especially when it needs some repairs.

• Wind Rider
• Quibble Pants
• Wind Sprint
• Clear Sky

Shrinky Frod · 4.6k words  ·  34  0 · 326 views

Starring Clear Sky, Quibble Pants, Wind Sprint, and Wind Sprint father (and Clear Sky's former ex-husband, who are of course one and the same). I won't say who that is, 'cause it's a stroke of pure brilliance.

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Now, if it was just a story about the three of them having Hearth's Warming together that'd be adorable enough, but add the former husband into the mix, and Wind Sprint having to deal with it and you start to wonder if there's gonna be a Hearth's Warming miracle at the end where everypony can get along for at least a day, or if it's gonna turn into a fight.

I'm sure this is a dynamic that'll resonate with some readers. I'm sure some readers have lived this situation before, or maybe still are.

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The characterization is perfect; there's a whole lot of unspoken stuff that comes across, and there's some really brilliant worldbuilding in there as well--one of my favorites is the detail that pegasi can hide in the walls of a cloudhouse. Like, being able to hide in the walls totally makes sense but I've never thought of that.

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Fantastic work, and a lovely Jinglemas present! Thank you, Shrinky

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Incidentally, if you're looking for all the Jinglemas stories, well, there's a folder for that. Currently 139 stories in it, so there's lots of good stuff to read!

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Comments

[Admiral Biscuit]

And as an unexpected Hearth's Warming surprise, AlwaysDressesInStyle sent me a PM with the intro image--yeah, that's Minty in a sleigh, and one of the ponies pulling it is Silver Glow (the other is Snow'el).

There's also this adorable picture of Clear Sky and Wind Spirit I found that I didn't use in the blog post:
derpicdn.net/img/2019/6/8/2060693/large.jpg
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[Herald of Opera]

I won't say who that is, 'cause it's a stroke of pure brilliance.

I mean, I assume it's the fourth tagged character on the story itself? If true, it is indeed brilliant to have the asshole ex-Wonderbolt (in the "Lee Harvey Oswald is the only ex-Marine" sense) be Wind Sprint's father.

[Admiral Biscuit]

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I didn't realize that since I linked the story card, it'd list the tagged characters.

Yes, you're correct that he's the father (and there is fanart which speculates this, although I only discovered that when I was looking for art and typed the wrong character name in the search.

Absolutely brilliant, and a very 'headcanon accepted' choice.

[Emil]

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Oh no, who let Minty drive?!