"Crystal Synergy used to be a middle-aged brony before she abruptly appeared as a young filly at the spot where lightning had struck the ground out of the clear blue sky, roughly two years before the Sonic Rainboom. She only wants to help. What could possibly go wrong?" 
"I can't believe you just said that, Pinkie..." 
Crystal has lived ten years with fading memories about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic canon and fanon, the first two of which were spent unable to make any but the most illegible notes as she tried to keep them separated in her head. Not helping matters is the fact that while things mostly seem to be lining up with what she thinks is canon, there is a difference between events as presented in the thirty-minute blocks of a show aimed at a younger demographic (and intended to help sell toys) and living in that setting as a real world with a dynamic history. And she's not quite sure which version of Equestria she's actually in, but things seem to be just enough like what Crystal Synergy believes to be canon that she thinks she has a fair idea of what may happen, and how to help navigate or circumvent some of the more worrying problems looming on the horizon.
A little foreknowledge couldn't hurt, right?
A little foreknowledge can prove to be a very dangerous thing indeed. Especially when you aren't sure which bits of foreknowledge are actually true. And just ignoring the foreknowledge doesn't help either, because some of it is true...
A bit of a grab bag of categories: AU and Human should be self explanatory, but Random was selected because the story fluctuates between serious and silly, adventure and slice-of-life, and black-and-white values vs. blue-and-orange values.
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I was pleasantly surprised by this story. The induction is quite strong and gets to the meat of the prologue rather quick. I'm a fan of the narrative style.
That said, I felt it could have been a bit longer, and I'm not sure why the was a switch from first person to this person halfway through.
As for the protagonist herself, I feel her coloring is a bit too close to Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Makes me wonder if Rarity's family are color elitists.
She went on about how she didn't want to mess with things yet she couldn't help herself from making those paintings (and it sounds like she has developed quite a skill with them too) for Celestia.
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Thank you for your appreciation.
The tense shift from first to third person about a third of the way through the prologue happened more or less because it had originally been three parts of a story introduction, and while first person is nice for some scenes, I find it personally draining to invest myself so fully into a character for extended periods. Well, that, and I find it a bit awkward to include other points of view when focusing so strongly on just the one. So I experimented a little.
I may experiment with first/third transitions in later chapters as well, but if it becomes too much of an issue, then I'll probably return to edit them out. And while the prologue is short, hopefully, the actual chapters will end up longer.
Crystal is the color she is because that's how she ended up when I experimented with Ponylumen's 3D Pony Creator. Mostly because FFFFFF is an easy color code to remember and apply if I want to go back and do different poses. she was originally was going to be really really really pale blue, but I could never get quite the same number between images as I hadn't done them all on the same day, and by the time I figured it out, I had done several pics of Crystal as she currently is and ended up liking her this way instead.
And then I thought it would be funny if ponies that didn't know them kept mistaking Crystal and Rarity for twins when they not only aren't really related, but the only feature they truly share is the color of their coat. I tried to accentuate other differences as well, such as a short, somewhat messy blue mane instead and intense green eyes (all of the colors on Crystal are hues that can be found in actual crystals by the way, which is how she ended up with her name).
And I should probably make Crystal's struggle with her indecision on whether or not to try to stay out of events or help out a bit clearer. It's mostly an issue of Crystal believing that nopony would believe her warnings (the Cassandra dilemma) vs. her becoming more and more invested in the ponies as people and in Equestria as her home. Some of the potential future events Crystal knows about are not only pretty bad, they could have easily ended up a whole lot worse, so she feels that she has to try to warn somepony about the some of the most dangerous threats looming on the horizon. Thus the anonymous letters to Celestia.
And showing significant artistic improvement over a period of several years shouldn't be that surprising, even if Crystal decided to stick to using crayons.
This was the literal best possible way to get adapted into equestria!!!
Nice start, Tangent, but I'm getting flashbacks to the rash of SI fics from earlier fandoms. Tough road to ride, so I hope it goes well...
...And now I'm picturing Gremlin Princess Tangent in Equestria and her reactions to the place (steam trains? That's it for tech?)
6816831 I knew somebody would get the color scheme of my FimFiction avatar!
6816877 Why do I get the feeling her taste in cupcakes would put Pinkie's Tabasco frosting to shame?
6816889 I eat jalapeño chips and drink hot sauce in real life! My SI Avatar, Crystal, probably does the same in story. My FimFiction avatar, Tangent, taunts me by drinking rainbows...
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http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/192
I know people like this...
ARGH!!!
I can't figure out how to get rid of the double post in the prologue's Author's note! When I go into edit mode, the second post doesn't appear, so I can't eliminate it...
I love this precept!
I NEED MORE!!!
The developmental process you propose is very interesting! I just wish you explained which memories she did retain more.
YUYYYYEESSZDZZZZZZZSSSSS!!!!
It updated!
I MUST CONSUME THIS EXCELLENCE!!!!
Oh i have read it and i can FEEL the buzzing electricity building between Crystal and Equestria!!!!!
And... Foreshadowing! Little Crystal now has foundationally enamored herself with Celestia and Luna! How will she develop this relationship, especially when she has two more alicorns to go!
Go Crystal Go! Show these ninnies how to really abuse Unicorn magic!!!
Now, i reread, and understand why Crystal went on a bender.
Crystal is your hypothetical self insert, who discovered one of her own bits of world-building MLP fan fiction existed for real.
That's existential nightmare fuel!
Poor Crystal!
I am in love with this story. The humor, the small existential horror which I feel is being downplayed a bit (something you wrote appearing as part of the background setting? Wow. Hope she never wrote anything dark!), and just the world building itself, which I'm interested in seeing more of, when applicable.
Bubbles!
I can't help but wonder what Crystal does for a job, since the rest of the mane six appear to have them.
I hope to read more. I was saddened after the prologue that this story may not be continued, but now I'm looking forward to more.
If Twilight is more friends with Moondancer and company in this instance of reality, then Twilight might try to return to Canterlot instead of staying in Ponyville!!!
I see high levels of cartoon-magic logic is in play in this instance of Equestria.
Does this mean that Crystal has suffered spontaneous musicals? I can only imagine Crystal's relief across the years when her handicapped state resulted in Crystal being repeatedly spared from compulsory participation!
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Yes, Crystal has experienced the Heartsong phenomenon before. Mind you, it was during her one and only drunken stupor as she wandered about Ponyville after drinking that half-bottle of Zapapple Whisky, and it has given several ponies a mistaken impression about the past Crystal Synergy never talks about.
In case you were wondering, the song she ended up singing was Dreamchan's version of Gypsy Bard from Friendship is Witchcraft
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How did Heartsong events play out nearby Crystal during her "wobbly legs" years?
Do the local medical professionals react to Heartsong events nearby patients?
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Having listened to that song i now understand just how insanely mistaken everypony is about Crystal's past!
Another update! I got to read but im busy and i will return !!!!
Ha! I am happy with how the girls handled the situation!
You wrote this in the span of one night?
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Actually, I wrote it in the morning...
Not the song, of course. I had to look that up. But I wrote everything else in the morning, did a quick spot-check edit for mistakes, and then promptly posted it.
And then I went back and edited all the errors that I missed before posting it...
And then I went back and edited all the errors I missed during the previous sweep for errors...
While I am absurdly patient about some things, when it comes to posting chapters that I think are ready I tend to be far too impatient instead.
It's the little things like this that make me love this story. That it shows that nopony, not the protagonist, not even the natives are in control of the situation. It really helps give the impression that Crystal is just as much as part of the world as they are, for sure.
The humor also is great.
Drunk...Heartsong...
Let's see if this story will continue to live.
So are Crystal and Pinkie going to be a Couple, because I think that would be great!
6845580 If it happens, it happens.
I sort of let the characters write themselves when I can
At the moment, we're besties. You know, like Lyra and Bon Bon!
Way to clear things up, Pinkie...
6845824 Oh Pinkie Pie you are so Random, I love that about you, you are just too cute for words, also I wish you and Twilight in the cartoon were Marefriends with each other, same way how they should make A.J. and Rarity as a couple along with Fluttershy with Discord and Rainbow Dash with Spitfire.
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That seems to be a very drunken Heartsong indeed.
I counter with Crystal's very first (accidentally triggered) Thaumic Beam!
img08.deviantart.net/5537/i/2016/004/7/6/origin_of_the_thaumic_beam_cannon_by_reiko_foxx-d9mt8bp.png
EDIT: I wonder if there's any way to reduce the size these pics show up in chat...
6845910 I have no idea how to reduce the size...
and i counter with a walk through Ponyville.
Hmm...trial for element of common sense or honesty?
Orrr. Canon test for someone without being forced into being a "TV-Y, e/i" show...
Whelp, all bets are off. Giving the picture to Nightmare Moon may have been an act of good faith, but that just led to her changing the trials, as she is actually fond of at least one of them, and doesn't want to resort to dangerous methods yet.
So...Satyr is the Trial of Honesty?
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This is more of a random encounter approach than a walk-through tutorial. Remember, Nightmare Moon decided to set up a more spread out general spell effect since she thought they were experienced enough to be able to handle a few moderate hazards.
The premise behind this is that, at least in this particular version of Equestria, both Luna and Celestia love their little ponies. But Luna's is more of a tough love, and she's willing to let her subjects experience the thrill of adventure, just so long as things don't get too out of hoof. The problem is that the Everfree Forest is much larger and far more dangerous than it had been a thousand years ago, and some of the dangers currently in it are of varieties that Luna would be horrified to know she exposed her little ponies to.
A pack of timber wolves? Those can be fought off or run away from. Anypony encountering them would at least have a fair chance at handling the situation somehow.
A satyr? Nightmare Moon would have hunted him down and eliminated any threat he represented to her little ponies before they had ever encountered him had she known he was there.
6871101 That does clear up some stuff...
So if I'm reading this correctly, Nightmare Moon just sent an impulse to the denizens of the forest rather than custom tailor each challenge? I wonder how Luna will feel about that later, considering the horrors within the forest that she didn't expect.
Assuming Luna is freed and isn't banished again or killed.
Also I'm getting the impression that those paintings inspired Celestia to teach Twilight about friendship, but the problem with that, is she already has a group of friends she is bonded with, just not (to our knowledge) the same group that was affected by the Sonic Rainboom.
It gets all confused.
'hand'?
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"Hand" because minotaurs, centaurs, and satyrs have hands instead of forehooves. Applejack knows the correct terminology because minitaurs at least travel through Equestria occasionally. Frequently enough that a whole crowd of the more timid residents of Ponyville, who had a xenophobic reaction to a zebra of all things (although, thinking back on it, that may have been an Uncanny Valley reaction instead) went to a local seminar hosted by one.
Satyrs as they appear in this world are now described in the Authors note of chapter three. Centaurs (if any show up) may get a spot in their own Authors note later on.
And now: Why Twilight already has friends.
Actually, while I have yet to describe how it happened in the story itself (because it's supposed to be yet another surprise to give Crystal twitchy eye twitches), Twilight having friends early is purely a result of unintended consequences. Li'l Twily saw Princess Celestia admiring a small gallery of anonymous crayon drawings sent to her from Ponyville. This resulted in Li'l Twily deciding to make some crayon drawings of her own to give to give to her mentor. Li'l Twily made some of these crayon drawings during her free time with her study partners, who witnessed this and decided to make their own crayon drawings. This lead to them actually having a group bonding experience, resulting in Li'l Twily and Li'l Moony becoming more socially active and friendlier. Without Princess Celestia ever having to do anything different.
In fact, while Princess Celestia is aware of the members of her student's study group, she's unsure if they are actually friends because Twilight, being the conscientious scholar that she is, doesn't want to waste her mentor's time by talking about her social life.
6873039 Disney and various media outlet potray these mythological cretures and those so called gods in a very misleading light...
I barely know what the all really are growing up...and when i did learn a bit about them...my childhood is kinda crushed.
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If it helps, a lot of the "kid friendly" versions of old Greek mythology seems to be based on the much less objectionable Roman myths. The most obvious example: Hercules is a Roman mythological figure, based on the older Greek hero Heracles.
When you consider the fact that in Greek mythology, Heracles was in a homosexual relationship with his own very much younger cousin...
6878014 True, I suppose...
We loves us our Big Mama. So much nicer than that silly so-and-so at Thebes.
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Well, to be fair to the Sphinx of Thebes, it was actually her task to punish the people in the region for an ancient offence their ancestors had committed against the gods. Granted, she apparently specifically targeted and ate the youths of Thebes until Kreon, Regent of Thebes, hired Oidipous to deal with her, so she was not a nice sphinx by any measure...
Big Mama likes to think that she is much more pleasant company to be around.
Normally, that means "Teen." And what I've seen so far indicates that's not inaccurate.
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Thank you. I will apply that tag now.
... Why do I get the feeling that Big Mama knows a LOT more about Crystal then she should? At least two of those "questions" should not have answers knowable to any being from Gaia.
Also, I loved the Discworld shoutout.
This feel like the calm before the next storm...
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No worries, Sphinxes are natural soothsayers and truth-seers. They are larger than life, and larger than four dimensions. They are self-appointed keepers of mystery, so to gain knowledge of some alien existence is no cause for concern to a sphinx, unless said knowledge attempted to delete itself from the Sphinx's mind.
The more concerning question is, did Crystal have a huge breast fetish in her human life, and how did that manage to survive her pony instincts?
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Modest to large, but preferably within a reasonable proportion range for the female involved.
And forty-odd years of previous preferences from a prior life are not exactly something that can easily be trumped by a mere ten years without while living as another species and gender. Desensitizing via total cultural emersion only works if there are local examples to become desensitized to, and while clothing is pretty much optional on Gaia, not a whole lot of races on that world even have human style breasts - and none of them normally live in or around Ponyville.
Also, their libido was still heightened from the lingering effects of the satyr's Allure and the drugged food and alcohol. Crystal was just hit extra hard because she remembers being fond of those features.
Now she's no longer likely to react anywhere near as awkwardly to them if she encounters female minotaurs or centaurs.