Magic: The Gathering. Popular, nigh-omnipresent, and like anything of that scale, mired in complaints. Some complaints, like deliberately bad rares, are universal amongst even the most passionate fans, while only a few seem to take umbrage with issues like planeswalker-heavy storylines. However, hidden amongst these complaints is one often unvoiced by fans, not for fear of retaliation but because they secretly believe they are the only ones who take issue with it:
There's just not enough pony in Magic.
In an effort to balance the scales, you are invited to follow along as we attempt to rectify this grievous error. Over the month of October, thirty-one cards will be randomly selected, and used as inspiration for stories that are undeniably pony.
Categories, characters and quality will vary.
Does FanOfMostEverything know about this?
7609329
Does your mother know about this?
7609346
See, I can get that's a 'your mom' joke, but I'm unsure as to the logic behind it.
7609372
Haha, sometimes there is no logic. For example, I was about two fired neurons away from responding with, "Your mother's unsure as to the logic behind it."
Also while I'm here, this is a fine first entry, Moriarty. A fine first entry indeed.
On another note, yes actually. Cadence would be a good source for the Want It Need It. Remember, Equestria is a bit more lackadaisical with mental magic then humanity is.
Oh my. I adore little filly Twilight, though her difficulty with pronunciation comes off as an informed attribute. Still, her tutor is a most charming fellow. Tartarus is good for more than just sealing evil in cans. Definitely looking forward to what else you have in store.
7609329
Know about it? I made the cover art!
Alright, I'm onboard with this.
I decided to recuse myself from One-Shot-Ober this year, but I'm glad to see that someone's giving it a go.
This should be fun.
7609516 It was either that or add in a lisp or weird dashes as she carefully enunciates. I chose the narrative flaw over the eyesore.
7609413 I couldn't think of anything else to put in the author's note. So I put a joke.
I must confess that I know nothing of Magic the Gathering, but I'll be keeping an eye on this if that's okay with you. I don't want to offend through my ignorance. This is an interesting start. A lot of descriptions stood out, giving the story this eerily wicked and mischievous atmosphere throughout while having an intriguing line along Twilight's eduction. I find it interesting how you used the demon in the way you did; it would actually make sense, if the show were a bit darker.
7609770 You do know about spoiler tags, right? Open a comment, and look at the bat at the top. Two icons over from Youtube, there's a black box that says Sp. Press that to this is a secret message and if you can see it you're a nerd. Welcome, nerd. spoil the text, which you can then see by mousing over the black bars.
A little more convenient than that eyesore of giant red text, don't you think?
And don't worry about offending anyone with your ignorance. Just focus your comment on the story and ignore the card and nobody will suspect a thing.
7609911 I was familiar with spoiler tags, but you have a point. It has been removed.
I can tell this will be interesting! Lovely dovely.
The lack of genre tags means I'll be taking a miss, but this is a cool idea and I applaud you for undertaking it.
7611268 Because it's definitely possible for thirty-one stories with randomly chosen prompts to all have the same genres before they've even been written.
Considering the way the bridesmaids went after the bouquet of flowers in A Canterlot Wedding, The domain of said princess, and the fact that Cadance argument-healing spell functions similar to above mentioned spell...Hell yes!!!!!
Amazing...
The Royal Guard actually did something! And SUCCEEDED!
Awesome! ... And this is years before the show or something! It's a companion piece to how Torch became Dragon Lord! ... Initially, I thought Torch was a pony...
I guess the Blueblood in the story is a ancestor of the show's Blueblood...
7612353 He might be.
7611631 And tagging them as you put them up is ever so hard.
7612297 it is nice to see them do something once and awhile without failing miserably, yes.
7612456 The problem with that approach is that (I'm pretty sure that) there's a cap on the number of genre tags you can use, and once October is through, this is liable to have at least one story in literally every genre available. It might be a good idea to note genres for each chapter in their title, but it's simply not going to be possible to give the whole story tags that take every chapter into account.
Quite nicely done. Good blend of concluding the epic quest and the vague sense of emptiness that comes after fulfilling a great deed and seeing the world moving on around you. I assume Stalwart is one of Flash's distant ancestors.
Also, with the the Golden Cathedral of Iroa-Mogis, I have to wonder: centaurs, minotaurs, or both?
7612984 Stalwart Sentry is indeed the badass ancestor who is both the constant inspiration and personal benchmark of accomplishment that Flash Sentry holds himself to. The slaying of Dragon Lord Tenebrous is only one of her many grand adventures.
As for Iroa-Mogis... Come back tomorrow.
You're two-for-two. And damn, one every day? I eagerly anticipate tomorrow's entry.
7612972 I don't see why he doesn't simply put the tags in the story titles themselves, the way most shortfic/drabble collections often do.
Well, that was cool. o.O Did you write that story where Star Swirl goes to Humania for the first time and gets in a fist fight with himself? Because that's what I was reminded of.
7614946 There's a story where Star Swirl gets in a fistfight with himself in Humania?
Enough white mana and enough minotaur wizards can protect anything. Yes, there are much more efficient methods, but it's still impressive to see this in action. I suppose you might say the Child has found Raka Sanctuary.
In any case, wonderful atmosphere and buildup. I especially like the use of Great Mage Meadowbrook, mostly because I'm a sucker for using more obscure characters. Though I'm surprised that even then, the portal led to a place of learning. I suppose some things are eternal, or close to it.
7614946
No, you're thinking of Carabas's Terra Incognita.
7615008
Hurr derp. :B You read 3500 stories and they all start blending together!
Well that was fairly macabre. Well done.
First major downside of One-Shotober: It all comes out a little too fast for the editors to get a once-over. And unfortunately, my usual editor is both otherwise engaged for the next few hours, and fluent enough in Early Modern English that they seem to getting a headache just looking at it.
Apologies. We'll be correcting that at our earliest convenience.
EDIT: And lo, it was so.
The EME looks good to me, though I have been known to gloss over errors at times.
In any case, a wonderful bit of world building, and a great job fleshing out Hurricane beyond the pageant's caricature, to say nothing of the logistics of ivory carving in a world where the elephants likely have an opinion on the matter. I'm finding a lot of fun in trying to guess the card. The stories are engaging, don't get me wrong, but it adds a delightful extra layer.
Stalwart Sentry may have emerged victorious from her battle against the dragon lord, but she didn't tell anypony about the pump spell she used to take down the dragon. She might even have needed to use green mana!
7618087 *she
7618170 Fixed.
7618401 So when I said fixed, I meant the other meaning of fixed?
7618403 Assuming you mean in the sense of 'cut the naughty bits off and stitch on some new ones', yeah, basically.
The beautiful irony here is that Faeries were easily the most devastating tribe back when Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block was Standard legal. Little dream-stealing bastards...
But yeah, it's an easy cognitive leap from this one to Breezies. Though I'm getting the impression that you aren't too impressed with the wee ponies.
(Also, there's actually a canon planar Lilliput: Segovia. Even the leviathans are 3/3s. No word on how they react to visiting planeswalkers.)
7619854 Now, how could you possibly get the impression I'm not particularly impressed by breezies? I only spent over a thousand words waxing factual about how worthless they are as a species.
According to this article, Segovia basically imposes an automatic Shrink on any entering planeswalkers.
How Would Twilight know about Lorwyn?
7619910 By asking for as much information as possible on planeswalkers once she found out they existed.
A shame that Tamiyo is so hard to write. I'd love to see more like this.
7620025 I don't think you would. Most of the Planeswalker's Field Guide reads like an insanely comprehensive, incredibly dry encyclopedia. It's just a massive compilation of information from every single plane, vaguely geared towards planeswalkers of a more tourist bent.
Basically, if you've ever read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... this isn't the titular volume. It's the Encyclopedia Galactica.
Well now I'm wondering if they're related to imps. Chimney Imps, to be exact
7620285 ...
That's one of those meme things, innit?
7620040
Then again, I'm one of those odd people who enjoys reading encyclopedias. Take that as you will.
7620779 You're right, that is odd.
But also, there's just the simple fact that the full Planeswalker's Field Guide would essentially just be a clinically detached exposition dump about each individual plane that's slightly better written than the MtG wiki. It doesn't have much to offer from a creative standpoint.
7620305
Nope! It's a card from Mirrodin that is legendary in how bad it is.
Look it up and be amazed at the badness :-P