The Herd

[Quiver he/him]

Sorry Joe; meant to reply to the music question, never got around to it, and with the movies release, figure I'd just leave it...

US release, of course. No idea when the UK gets it...

But the music is good. I think Rainbow Rocks is a stronger soundtrack on the whole, but there are some songs on Friendship Games -like Unleash the Magic- which are just better.

Seriously. I listened to that song on a loop for ages. So great.

So....I've nearly finished the first episode.....

This could get messy.

You're all mean for inciting my curiousity

>: D Edited September 27, 2015 by Quiver

[A Joe in the Bush]

Sorry Joe; meant to reply to the music question, never got around to it, and with the movies release, figure I'd just leave it...

US release, of course. No idea when the UK gets it...

But the music is good. I think Rainbow Rocks is a stronger soundtrack on the whole, but there are some songs on Friendship Games -like Unleash the Magic- which are just better.

Seriously. I listened to that song on a loop for ages. So great.

>: D

 

Same. I'm still listening to it.

[A Joe in the Bush]

What is the plural version of Draconequus? Is it draconequi? Draconequuses?

[Kaymyth she/her]

What is the plural version of Draconequus? Is it draconequi? Draconequuses?

 

I believe that it's "trouble".

[A Joe in the Bush]

Well, yes, but that's not very helpful. (Though I will be quoting you in my story)

[Kaymyth she/her]

Well, yes, but that's not very helpful. (Though I will be quoting you in my story)

 

 

Honestly, that's about as scientific as you really need to get.  You get a group of them, and you have a "shenanigan".

[Quiver he/him]

Okay, so...

 

I have some pony fic ideas. Specifically, I have some ideas about Sunset Shimmer, because she's awesome.

 

Anyway, I was wondering; is there anyone here who vvolunteers as tribute who wouldn't mind me PMing them about stuff? I'd rather not post stuff until I get a decent amount of it written -I have a bad tendency to talk rather than do, and I really want to do these!- but I tend to work well if I can sound ideas off of people (if for no other reason than to stoke my ego )

 

Any takers?

[Edgedancer he/him]

What is the plural version of Draconequus? Is it draconequi? Draconequuses?

Are there even multiple of them?

 

Okay, so...

 

I have some pony fic ideas. Specifically, I have some ideas about Sunset Shimmer, because she's awesome.

 

Anyway, I was wondering; is there anyone here who vvolunteers as tribute who wouldn't mind me PMing them about stuff? I'd rather not post stuff until I get a decent amount of it written -I have a bad tendency to talk rather than do, and I really want to do these!- but I tend to work well if I can sound ideas off of people (if for no other reason than to stoke my ego )

 

Any takers?

I'm not exactly deep into the fandom, so I'm not sure how much help I would be but if you don't mind that perspective I'd be happy to help.

[A Joe in the Bush]

Okay, so...

 

I have some pony fic ideas. Specifically, I have some ideas about Sunset Shimmer, because she's awesome.

 

Anyway, I was wondering; is there anyone here who vvolunteers as tribute who wouldn't mind me PMing them about stuff? I'd rather not post stuff until I get a decent amount of it written -I have a bad tendency to talk rather than do, and I really want to do these!- but I tend to work well if I can sound ideas off of people (if for no other reason than to stoke my ego )

 

Any takers?

I would be more than happy to volunteer.

 

Are there even multiple of them?

In Fannon there are.

[Quiver he/him]

So...

 

MLP/Stormlight Archive crossover.

 

Thought ya'll might be interested.

[A Joe in the Bush]

Spoilers for Crusaaders of the Lost Mark:

 

This might be the best written Episode so far. We finally get a look at both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She's been struggling under a overbearing Mother who wanted to use her as a tool, and never really had a chance to find another way. This is how Sunset Shimmer's Reform should have gone. DT didn't change instantly, she still struggled with the choice. But she made the right one, when showed the eventualities of her choices, her bitter mother or the CMC.

 

This was also another Musical Episode, which have always been my favorite.

 

And Finally, OHMYGODTHEYGOTTHEIRCUTIEMARKS!!! I actually yelled out loud at that. That honestly surprised me. I didn't expect that until the Season 5 Finale. I'll bet they're going to be a major part of the Finale.

 

Last thoughts:

I want to play on that playground.

Photo Finish, Fancy Pants, Fleur De Lis, Twist and Button Mash all showing up? Wow.

They actually sent a picture to the Princess.

Edited October 10, 2015 by The Only Joe

[Quiver he/him]

My thoughts on the episode:

 

Overall, I liked it. It has a very Magical Mystery Cure vibe to it, which I think it intentional; after all, both stories deal with the ending of characters story arcs (Twilicorn, Cutie Marked Crusaders), so they share a lot of similar elements. The musical numbers are the most obvious example of the comparision , but I also think the way that the CMC recieved their cutie marks is a deliberate call back. After all, we've seen ponies get their cutie marks before, and it has never involved them floating into the air and descending back to the earth Twilicorn style.

 

However, I do have a problem with the episode, namely: Diamond Tiara's redemption.

 

Now, I've said in the Random Stuff thread that I believe Diamond's redemption and the Cutie Mark Crusaders getting their cutie marks are perfect thematic points, that should be worked together. After all, it was Diamond Tiara's bullying that (indirectly) put the CMC together in the first place. Kobold makes a good point that Diamond isn't really the villain of the CMC arc, that it's more about what she represents, which... yeah, that's true. After all, last season Silver Spoon pointed out that the the Cutie Mark Crusaders don't really care about Diamond and her anymore in 'Flight to the Finish', in that they refuse to even rise to the bait of being called blank flanks anymore.

 

I still feel that Diamond Tiara is a thing that needed to be addressed, however. She's been a secondary character of the show for five years now... and frankly, as enjoyable as I found her antics in season two, she was in desperate need of characterisation. Especially after her actions last year where she made fun of Scootaloo for (if you subscribe to the theory) being disabled.

 

(Seriously. Flight to the Finish made me hate Diamond Tiara. Not in a 'love to hate' kind of way, but straight up 'Go Die' way.)

 

I like Kobold's point that Diamond Tiara is just the voice of the real enemies of the CMC -their insecurities, fears and worries abut the future. But I feel like this episode did a great job of tying that role into the character herself, and giving her actual development in the process... because it did so by finally addressing what it is that Diamond's cutie mark means.

 

For a character who set's so much stock on cutie marks, it's strange that we never hear her boasting about what her's means. I'm sure I've read at least one story where people joke that (since it matches the one on her head) it stands for accessorizing. The show more-or-less confirms that it represents Diamond' talent at Leadership (a theory I've followed for a looong time now) ... but this is the first time that Diamond herself has realized it. Her moment in the treeehouse is pretty blunt: she got her cutie mark, and has no idea what it actually means. 

 

(Which definitely fits as an allegory for growing up too soon, but that's a discussion for another day).

 

Diamond realizing what her cutie mark dovetails pretty nicely with the finale, I think. After all, what do the CMC say right before they get their cutie marks? 

 

I don't care if we never get our cutie marks!

 

It's a thing they've been building too for a while; after all, they made nominal comments to the effect of being Cutie Mark Crusader Bounty Hunters in the Troubleshoe's episode, but the CMC haven't had an episode where they pursued their cutie marks since season Two. This season had just been the final push of maturity for them to get past it... which might be why we had an episode with them confronting their shadow's early in the year, but this is the first time we've had them confront Diamond. Their journey was already more-or-less over. This wasn't the climax of their story; it was their Scouring of the Shire.

 

Now, I'm not saying that this episode was perfect, because it wasn't. Frankly, there is one major flaw with the episode.

 

For a story which the fandom (myself included) are calling the Diamond Tiara Redemption Episode... Diamond Tiara isn't redeemed.

 

I feel this, more than anything, is the big problem with the episode; the introduction of Spoilt Rich. 

 

As I've said, after Flight to the Finish, I hated Diamond Tiara. She was, very solidly, an atagonist... and very obviously her own antagonist. We can certainly work backwards and see Spoilt Rich's influence in previous episodes -she comes across like one of those women you see on shows like Dance Moms, pushing their children to ridiculous extremes... but that changes those episodes. In fact, Spoilt's existence changes Diamond Tiara's dynamic so fundamentally that she isn't Diamond Tiara anymore.

 

In the past, everything that Diamond did seemed to come from her. We got glimpses of her home life, after all. Remember the Zap Apple episode? Remember Filthy Rich?

I've always thought that episode did a great job of exploring the 'don't judge by apperances' thing. Yes, it's obvious with Granny Smith... but Filthy Rich plays into that theme as well. When we first see him, he's a slick businessman, father to one of the episodes antagonists, and insists on being called "Mr Rich" rather than Filthy. He comes across as... well, kind of a jerk.

And the episode ends with him forcing Diamond to play with the other kids. In fact, throughout the episode, he expresses nothing but the utmost respect for Granny Smith and the Apples. When I first watched it, I expected him to be a villain... and at the end, I realized that he wasn't. In fact, he seem's like a decent guy. Which means that Diamond didn't get her attitude from him.

 

I liked that. And now we find out that she got the attitude from her mom.

 

That... is annoying. Because it means that Diamond changes from an antagonist to the more stereotypical "bully who bullies because they have a bad home life". That's... frustrating. I don't doubt that there are many -many- examples of it in the real world; look at the cycle of abusive families, for instance. However -aside from being a tired out trope by this point- it has a few corrolary effects I dislike.

 

For one, it re-enforces the "bad people have bad stuff going on in their lives" thing. As well as a stereotype... well, sometimes, that's just not true. Sometimes, people are just jerks. Giving someone a tragic backstory doesn't necessarily make them any deeper, it's just a short cut.

 

More troubling, though, is that it fundamentally alters Diamond's story arc, for the show and for this episode. Her previous actions set her up as an antagonist for the CMC; a redemption story would then be "how do we turn an enemy into a friend". however, because of Diamond's home life, we don't actually get a redemption story. We get a story about a bullied kid standing up to a bully.

 

The family life angle is a stereotype, but it's one that can work; I point to Pacifica Northwest as an example of it. Her story arc in season two is all about overcoming familial pressures and expectations. But Pacifica's first episode was all about her social standing in Gravity Falls (on a personal level), while her second appearance was all about the standing of her family within the town. They were elements of the character from the beginning.

 

By contrast, everythign Diamond Tiara has done has always seemed to be directed by, come from, and bring direct benefit to, Diamond Tiara. The glimpse we got of her home life before this episode simply did not support the "my family puts pressure on me to succeed", because it seemed as if Diamond was the only member of her family who actually cared about the social standing of Ponyville.

 

Introducing Spoilt Rich, then, feels artifical, an attempt for them to back build logic for Diamon'd actions... but it also, in a way, absolves her of them. It wasn't Diamonds fault; it was her families. She had a bad upbringing... and if Diamond doesn't have to make up for her past deeds - if they weren't really her fault- how can she be blamed for them? If she isn't blamed for them, then how does one achieve redemption?

 

Simple. Diamond hasn't been redeemed, because this isn't a Diamond Tiara redemption story. And that's frustrating, because a genuine redemption arc for her would be fascinating. 

 

We've seen Diamond lose to the CMC before; the big difference this time was that Silver Spoon didn't stick with her. Instead of having Diamond walk away in a mope, why not have her break down, the way Rainbow did for Tank? That was one of the strongest moments this year, because it was an expression of pure, rage tragedy. Why not have Diamond do that instead? It would add a lot more weight to the CMC's "Is it weird I feel bad for her" line, and set up why they want to befriend her now.

 

Now... overall, did I like the episode? Yes. I do feel that Diamond and the CMC's arcs make sense in context of one another. But I feel like Spoilt Rich really does drag the story down.

 

...Oh, and the Cutie Marks? They're okay. They are a little small -it's hard to make out the details on them- but that might be, in part, because the character models for the CMC are pretty small. My only real comabout them is tat the solid purple is a pretty boring colour scheme; I think I'd have prefered them if the central image of each -the apple, the music note and the wing- had been picked out in a different color. It would have made them pop a bit more and look more visually distinctive.

 

Still, I don't hate this episode or anything.

[+Slowswift he/him]

Thoughts on Hearthbreakers?

[Kobold King he/him]

Thoughts on Hearthbreakers?

 

 

 As you can see, I'm extremely excited. Best episode ever.

 

 

Well maybe not that, but this is definitely one of my new favorites. I loved the obviously Amish-inspired Pie family, and the humor really rocked.

 

 

Also, MarbleMac is the best ship.

[+Slowswift he/him]

As you can see, I'm extremely excited. Best episode ever.

Well maybe not that, but this is definitely one of my new favorites. I loved the obviously Amish-inspired Pie family, and the humor really rocked.

Also, MarbleMac is the best ship.

I agree wholeheartedly. A new favorite, and a new ship, all in one? Score!

[Kobold King he/him]

I agree wholeheartedly. A new favorite, and a new ship, all in one? Score!

 

 

Also, I think we can all agree that the day Hulder's Boulder begins to crack is the day Equestria's apocalypse begins...

[+Slowswift he/him]

Also, I think we can all agree that the day Hulder's Boulder begins to crack is the day Equestria's apocalypse begins...

That would be interesting...

...I think I just found the backstory for Epic!Limestone.

[A Joe in the Bush]

I was surprisingly meh about it. Really only liked Granny's conversation with the elder pies. The rest just didn't do anything for me.

*shrugs*

[Blaze1616 he/him]

I really enjoyed the episode, and Hulder's Boulder not breaking when it fell truly surprised me. Perhaps we're learning about dragon etymology in Equestria? Such as lack of incubation turning eggs into stone? *shrugs*

 

I hope Marble becomes a more used minor character. She'd make a good friend for Fluttershy.

[Quiver he/him]

So, this is a thing I found. Some awesome artwork, and interesting lore, for a Game of Thrones-style take on My Little Pony.

[Quiver he/him]

Okay, yes, this is a double-post... but to be fair, this is kind of a special occassion! Sort of? After all, you guy's know what tonight is?

 

 

So, yeah! Happy Halloween Nightmare Night! In honor of that, I thought I'd share some creepy brony music, to try and set the mood for today!

 

Rainbow Factory by Wooden Toaster

Yes, that Rainbow Factory. This is the song that inspired the fic of the same name. The violin's are frightening and hard to get out of your head...

There's also an animation someone made using Source Video Make,r but... I was  a bit iffy on whether it counted as "too dark" to post on the forums. So instead, you just get the creepy original.

 

Want it, Need it (cover by Miu)

 

I haven't heard the original, but I love this cover. The vocals have this really dreamlike, demented quality to them, one which sort of remidns me alternatively of a witch and someone who is having a breakdown... both of which pretty perfectly describe Twilight from Lesson Zero.  

 

Hail to the Queen by Navybrony

 

Seriously Twilight, stop being crazy. It makes people write creepy songs about you. Stop it.

Or don't, since the music tends to be pretty awesome. Whatever. Anyway, again, a song I like.

 

For the New Lunar Republic ~ Hymn to the Moon by Miu

Maybe not a 'Halloween' song, per se, but one which is related to Luna, so I figure I might as well add it. Like with Want it, Need it, Miu has these really haunting vocal performances, which I like, so...

 

Confrontation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWVWMC_AmQo

Again, not exactly "Halloween", but Luna related, so what the hay- here it is! And an animation this time. The song is a ponified version of "Confrontation", from the Jekyll/Hyde stage play. And, after the Tantabus episode, the sentiments expressed in the song are even creepier, since... it's not that far from canon...

(And just a link this time, since, for some reason, it won't let me embed it on the site...)

 

So... yeah. The Brony fandom has a lot of awesome music, though I believe that was something we'd already established...? Anyway, enjoy Halloween everyone!

[A Joe in the Bush]

I'm actually watching a livestream of it right now. Pretty good so far.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

All right, no one's brought up anything regarding last weekends Nightmare Night episode, possibly because you all saw it when it got leaked a month ago, but regardless, there was one special, completely uncommented on second of footage that I wanted to make sure everyone caught because of how awesome it was:

 

During the maze chase, did you guys catch Derpy dressed as Twilight? I thought it was hilarious.

 

Overall good episode, and I enjoyed myself. It feels like it's been forever since we've gotten a good Fluttershy episode.

[Kobold King he/him]

At my brother's urging, I wrote a two thousand word story about earth ponies in the days before Equestria's founding, before the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant takes place.

 

I'm considering writing a sequel about the next generation, but I'll just post this here for now.

 

Spring was a time for warm sunlight and blooming flowers, but the winds seemed firmly opposed to the idea. The ice cold breeze almost seemed to howl as it sweeped through the hills, rushing through any ponies in its path and freezing them to the bone.

 

Dirt Poor hadn't been outside more than a few minutes, and he was already wishing his cloak had a few less holes in it. Everywhere the holey fabric showed his brown coat he could feel his warmth sucking away into the air, where it hardly did him any good.

 

Got to remember to haggle some more wool out of those worthless sheep, he thought bitterly, pulling his hood up. He spared a glance at the sky above before continuing his tread, though it told him little. The unicorns had put the sun exactly where it needed to be, and there was nothing blocking its rays. Why, then, was it cold enough to freeze the nipples off a minotaur?

 

"A little nippy, isn't it Pa?"

 

The understatement made Dirt Poor chuckle, as he turned to look at his son. Stiff Neck didn't have so much as a ragged cloak like his father's, but he tread across the dead grass as if completely oblivious of the sharp wind cutting through them. But then, there weren't a lot of things that could get Stiff Neck down.

 

"You could say that," Dirt smiled dryly, a few of his missing teeth showing. "Definitely colder than your grandpappy had to plant in. If we get another frost, you, me, and your ma'll have to take up rock farming."

 

Stiff grimaced, walking alongside his father with a more glum expression. "I wish corn was half as tough as us."

 

The father and son duo stopped on a flat stretch of ground on the border of a beaten dirt road, furrowed into lines of piled soil. Dirt Poor immediately set to walking along the rows, carefully inspecting the sprouting corn plants.

 

He felt a pang at every brown leaf and withered stalk. The sprouts had pushed their way to the surface, urged along by his singing and magic, only to be met with chill air colder than any corn plant had business being exposed to. As it was, the crop would probably just barely feed the family over the winter.

 

A single disaster could wipe the corn, the earth pony family, and their little hovel off the face of the map.

 

Dirt and Stiff met each other's eyes, the younger nodding his head grimly as his own senses told him how much the plants were suffering. Dirt didn't say it, but he knew their quiet dread was shared by all the earth ponies in the country by now. He heard them whispering in the market, fretting over their winter supplies, pointing hooves of blame above, and even spreading mad talk of fleeing the country and heading south en masse. Desperate times made for scared, desperate ponies.

 

"Come along, son," Dirt sighed finally. "Let's go in and tell your ma to start a pot of beans. It'll be good to have something hot in our bellies."

 

While there's still something hot to have is what he didn't say, because Dirt Poor was a sunny and optimistic pony who'd never say anything that grim out loud. Sigh.

 

Besides, the boy'll figure out the situation eventually. No sense in me getting his spirits any further down than they have to be.

 

"Pa?"

 

Dirt had already turned to head back to the hovel, but he stopped at the cold's word and faced back to him. "What is it, boy?"

 

The colt pointed a forehoof into the distance. "I see pegasi."

 

At that Dirt peered anxiously into the wind, to where the colt was pointing. A cold feeling that had nothing to do with the weather stabbed into his gut as he saw massive lumps of gray slowly moving over the hills, heading his way.

 

Ah, horsefeathers.

 

Despite the cold Dirt Poor started galloping in the direction of the clouds, heart beginning to race. Maybe if he got there quick enough, he could talk them into delaying the rain. Maybe he could talk some sense into them.

 

And maybe the clouds'll start raining candies and pies instead of water. But I've gotta try.

 

It didn't take him long to notice Stiff running along beside him, which made him cringe. Last he wanted was for the colt to see his old stallion begging and pleading with the weather patrol.

 

"Get back to your ma, boy!" he called out while galloping. "You're excused for the day."

 

"I wanna help, pa," the colt insisted, keeping perfect with the older stallion. "You might need it."

 

Dirt groaned, but knew that arguing with Stiff Neck was generally more trouble than it was worth. Words bounced off of him and paddling just made him stiffer, and there was no time for either with the storm clouds brewing ahead.

 

Fortunately the earth ponies hadn't been going hungry yet, and with their full strength they were able to gallop underneath the forming clouds fairly quickly. They were on a raise in the landscape, a half of a hill that scooped up towards the sky and into the worst of the wind. Dirt cowered into himself at the feel of the sharp winds, and even Stiff started shivering.

 

All around and up above, the rain makers flew. Around a dozen pegasi, thin ponies with broad feathered wings, soared and collected bits of gray cloud matter to attach to the growing storm cloud in their center. Their coats were in more colors than the earth ponies' usually were, but gray and black were most common. Nearly all of them had images of lightning or tornadoes on their flanks, and there wasn't a pegasus in the flock without the helmets and light armor the creatures always traveled in.

 

"What is this?" a sharp voice cried out in mock surprise. "Earth ponies? Out here in the cold?"

 

A midnight blue pegasus stallion swooped the ground and landed on the dead grass, shooting a smarmy smile towards Dirt and his son. An ashen mare alighted beside him, her face mirthful but cruel.

 

"Take care, Knight Wing," she warned in a dramatic overly-loud whisper. "If they're coming this close, they may be diseased."

The other pegasi laughed as they worked, and the blue pegasus smirked. "Don't you have crops to tend?" he asked, waving a hoof at the cornstalk cutie mark slightly visible on the earth stallion's flank.

 

"Not for long we won't, if you drop this rain on us," Dirt Poor retorted, feeling his temper flaring within him. "It's too cold. You'll freeze their roots."

 

"Have you tried putting blankets over them?" Knight Wing suggested dryly. "You sing them lullabies, so you might as well continue to baby them."

 

Dirt sighed over the other pegasi's guffawing. "Please," he said softly, bowing his head. "Just wait till a warmer day. We'll pay you for your time here. Just wait till it's warm enough for the plants to survive."

 

The gray mare glared at them coldly. "There will be no warmer days, pony of earth. If this cold was going to pass, it would have done so by now."

 

"And whose fault is that?" Dirt snapped, taking a step forward. "The pegasi rule the weather. Why have you done nothing to halt this cold?"

 

"Watch your tone, mud horse," the blue stallion snarled, wings flaring stiffly at his sides. "As we've told your people, this cold is not our work. Either the unicorns are conspiring to kill us all, or the gods have finally tired of your filth and have elected to freeze you out. Whichever which way it is, we have nothing to do with it."

 

The conversation over, the two pegasi fanned their wings and leapt into the air, joining their brethren in forming the storm that would doom the farm. Dirt Poor's nostrils flared, but he bowed his head and began walking back towards home.

 

"Come along, son," he grumbled. "You argue with pigeons, you get pigeon logic. Let's be done with them and try covering up the plants."

 

Stiff Neck stood frozen on the hill, looking anxiously back to his father and to the working pegasi. Something was brewing inside of him; not just his usual determination, but something hotter. He felt... angry.

 

The anger mixing with his determination, Stiff stamped a hoof into the ground and yelled into the wind. "Can you eat clouds, Knight Wing?"

 

The blue stallion paused at hearing his name, swooping back and hovering over the colt's head. "Was that meant to be an insult, earthling?"

 

"Just an honest question," Stiff replied with a straight face. "'Cause nothing grows up where you fly, and I've never seen you planting anything on the ground. You get all your food from us at the harvest festival."

 

The pegasus stared blankly for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed. "The deal stands. We are not violating our side of the bargain. You order rain for the spring, and we have brought rain for the spring."

 

"The deal's changed," Stiff declared, stamping his hoof again and pulling himself to his full tiny height. "Let the rain fall into the ditches and the ponds and the rivers. Fill up the reservoirs, and then we'll heat it up ourselves and pour it on the fields."

 

"I wouldn't presume to tell pegasi how to manage the weather if I were you, child of dirt," Knight Wing sneered, lowering himself to better scowl at the colt.

 

Stiff Neck didn't even falter. "We know the corn like you know clouds, feather head. And I promise you, if you let that rain touch our fields, you'll be chewing the plumes of your helmets come winter, 'cause we won't have a crumb of food to spare. So what'll it be?"

 

The blue stallion shared a glance with the gray mare, before glaring harshly at the earth pony colt scowling defiantly at the both of them. "It will be as you want, earthling," he growled, anger apparent on his face. "Now scramble back to your hut before we add a few lightning bolts to the agreement."

 

With that Knight Wing and his companion rushed away in blue and gray trails, leaving the two earth ponies alone on the ground beneath the storm. Dirt Poor stared at his son with wide eyes and an open mouth, before turning and following the colt back to the house.

 

"Let's get in before it gets wet, pa," Stiff said cheerily. Dirt could only continue to stare in shock.

 

The wet clouds rumbled overhead, lightning bolts flashing menacingly as the water poured out over selected parts of the countryside. The air was wet and freezing cold, but the pegasi above didn't let a single drop of the water land in the fields. It all fell in the ditches and the ponds and the rivers, just as Stiff Neck had demanded.

 

Inside a snug pony hovel, Dirt Poor hung up his cloak and tried to process what had just happened.

 

Did my son just argue down the weather lords?

 

He glanced at his son, who was warming himself by the hot hearth to warm up.

 

We knew he was obstinate, but this is something new altogether...

 

He did a double take at the colt's flank, before his face split into a toothy grin.

 

"Ma!" he called out, gesturing his wife into the room. "Come look at our young stallion."

 

A copper-coated earth pony mare poked her head into the room, looking tired. "What is it, Dirt? Is he hurt?"

 

When she noticed it, her face burst into a smile as wide as Dirt's. "Stiff, dear?"

 

The colt glanced at his mother in confusion. "Yes, ma?"

 

"Have you taken a look at your flank since you came inside?"

 

Stiff Neck frowned. "I don't under--"

 

His eyes widened. Upon his tan flank was now a picture that hadn't been there in the morning—where once there was bare coat, now there was the image of storm clouds rolling away from a firm, unmovable boulder.

 

It took a minute for the impact to sink in, but Stiff Neck's face burst into delighted emotion. "HUZZAH!" he cheered, rearing onto his hind legs and cheering. "I got my cutie mark!"

 

Unable to resist the urge, Stiff ran to the still-open door and shook his hoof at the rain. "Do you hear that, Knight Wing? Today you gave me a lot more than you bargained for!"

 

The storm only rumbled in response, but the hovel was filled with happy whinnies and celebration.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Kobold King

[Quiver he/him]

Seriously? Nobody?

Fine, I'll start:

Kobold? That was awesome, and I hate you. On your first try, you showed up every attempt I have made at MLP fan fiction. 

 

I expect the prospective sequel to be released before years end, as a heartswarming present. 

 

...Also, I found this and thought it was funny:

 

Edited November 19, 2015 by Quiver