Back to the Mane 6, specifically Applejack, who can't sleep. It had been two days since they left the city, and seems their next destination was to cross a string of volcanoes.... this is going to go good, yeah, seems like a smart move.
AJ gives us a bit of catch up on what's been happening. Seems they lost a good portion of their supplies in the fight at the gate. Okay... this does make sense, figure some of the heavier fighters like RD and AJ ditched their saddlebags before getting into the fight and didn't have time to grab them after they ran for it, while the ones that stayed out of the direct fighting, like Lockwood, Fluttershy, and the unicorns kept there's on. Buuuuut, it would have been nice to have seen this at the time. it just doesn't feel right with this being the first time it's mentioned. If the fight scene had mentioned them leaving some things behind, given even a hint that something was happening, that would be something. As is, it does make sense that something like that happened, but the way it's executed feels sloppy.
On the plus side, most of their food made it, what they lost mostly being camping gear and clothing.
Okay, first off, glad to see it addressed how not even Pinkie Physics could really make keeping the roller skates make sense for much longer. Second.... so take them off! Like AJ just said, none of the Mane 6 is used to it, none of them should really see a need to keep them on. I can get not wanting to make the native ponies uncomfortable but... it only goes so far. Why keep wearing the things now? Take them off, keep them stashed safely to only use when you get closer to a town, and be a lot less miserable while you travel. Problem solved.
AJ figures that since she can't sleep anyway, she might as well give Flathoof a break, offering to take her shift as the watchpony for the camp early so he can get some sleep. He tries to tell her he isn't stopping till his shift is up, but his constant yawning makes it clear he does need to sleep. A bit of pestering from AJ and he reveals it's more he simply doesn't want to sleep, that he'd been having bad dreams the last few days.
She rightly guess that they were about Snapshot, telling him she's here if he wanted to talk. But instead of her, he startes talking about magmaberries. AJ (and odds are the reader) is a bit confused at first, but eventually it makes sense why. Flathoof had a cousin that sent his family a small supply of them every year for the holidays. The first time he had brought Snapshot over to meet his family had been around then. And a few weeks ago, she had asked him if they were doing it again this year, asking for one specific treat she'd wanted. And getting closer to the one pace in Equestria where magmaberries grow is triggering his feelings, his sense of loss, since they had been such a memorable part of his relationship with her.
This... this is such a well done part here, sad, yet kinda of bittersweet. Just, a little bit, not in anyway vital to the plot yet... adds so so much. So much emotion, so much character development... this really is an amazing scene. It doesn't drag things out, doesn't beat you over the head with the feels. It simply is. It makes the characters feel that much more real, nuanced. It's powerful, while still being subdued. Lovely.
AJ asks why he didn't mention this when Tick Tock first told them the plan to cross these mountains, saying she would have fought for another way if she knew how much this would hurt him.
There's really nothing I can add, Flathoof is just such a great pony. It's easy to see why AJ feels the way she does about him.
He turns the table on her slightly, asking her about her parents. The story dodges having to answer this quite well and believably. AJ simply says they aren't with her anymore, that she's never told the full details to anypony, even the other Mane 6. That she simply doesn't like talking about it. Flathoof telling her it's alright, he won't press her on it, before taking her offer to take the watch early, heading back to the rest to get some sleep.
Though as he leaves.
“Eeyup, pretty sure. Thanks again, Applejack.”
Once he's out of earshot AJ start musing to herself about what he just said. Seems it was unsettling her for some reason that she can't figure out. It bothered her, but she couldn't understand why... Her inner monologue being interrupted by Twilight coming over to join her.
Twi comments on AJ looking a bit off, but AJ just brushes it of as her thinking about stuff, redirecting the conversation to what Twi was doing still awake. Seems she was busy talking to Tick Tock, getting information about their route, what to expect up ahead, etc...
Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed. “I wouldn’t go that far yet, Applejack. I like certain aspects of her, to be sure. She’s certainly intelligent and really knows her stuff about this world and all, so I’m learning a lot that might come in handy. But, there are a few things I think she’s gravely misinformed about.”
not to mention she can be quite the Insufferable Genius, and rather brash and abrupt at times. She means well, she's just not good at dealing with other ponies.
AJ asks if Twi wants to talk about, admitting she has no clue what the two are talking about most of the time when they are arguing, but she's a good listener. I also like this. Sometimes all you need is someone to listen, even if you know they don't quite get what you are saying. Simply having someone there willing to listen, just talking about it can help. And also, that AJ didn't need to say that bit, simply leaving it plain, but unsaid that's what she meant.
Twi's main complaint is Tick Tock insisting that they, the Mane 6, represent the forces of Law Magic, and are opposed by Chaos Magic, represented in their world by Discord. That they all represent a force of Law, of stability, order. Which runs into one pretty major flaw.
[[qouteblock]]Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, think about that for a second. She’s asking us to believe that Pinkie Pie represents a force of Law, not Chaos. Our Pinkie Pie. The same Pinkie Pie that operates a Party Cannon, randomly bursts into song, eats her weight in sugar every day, and keeps rubber balls hidden all over Ponyville in case of a ‘Ball Emergency’.”[[/qouteblock]]
AJ sees Twi's point, commenting to her that while she agrees, she doesn't see why Twi has to argue with Tick Tock about it. Twi saying it was less about her being wrong, and more the simple fact that she refused to even consider that she was wrong. And that her attitude didn't help.. and oh hey there Tick Tock, guess they didn't see you getting within earshot and hearing all that.
Tick Tock just sullenly snarks at Twi, proving just how much of a twat she can be at times, and why I actually don't have much of a problem with there being a good deal of antagonism between her the some of the Mane 6. She tells AJ she can head to bed if she wants, the the two of them had things to talk about, but AJ declines, not being able to sleep anyway. Twi saying it's better if she stays anyway, since she knows more about dealing with mountain climbing then the rest of them.... wait... why? how? When would AJ ever go mountain climbing?
In any case we get introduced to Tick Tock's epically awesome map. It's basically the map that heroes in video games use. that shows you stuff in such detail that there is no way you could have seen. Magically tracks where you are, even has zoom in and out functions and lets you set way points and such. And yet I'm sure if you gave it to a stallion, he would still get lost and refuse to stop and ask for directions. How she got such an amazing artifact is simply brushed off as it being an ancient, ancient relic that she got from her Chronomancer mentor, which has been passed down among the Equestria V Chronomancers for ages.
And Twi proceeds to geek out about it, trying to figure out how many spells would need to be used just to start making something like this, how it still works.. your basic Twi gone uber-nerd stuff. Tick Tock trying to snap her out of it so they can start working on mapping out their route for the morning. After which we jump over to Pinkie and RD who were watching the three.
RD... is being CEQ RD and pointlessly complaining. Okay to be fair, it is still better then it was, though still comes across as being overly paranoid. Complaining about how dangerous this was, what a dumb idea it was, etc... with Pinkie pointing out that Tick Tock said if anypony objected to crossing this way they would go the longer route. RD simply brushing it off as she didn't realize it was this many volcanoes that were this active. So basically it's your own damn fault for making and then acting on faulty assumptions, but you want to blame Tick Tock for your own goof-up. Yeah that's probably the part here that most annoys me about her. That plus her paranoia.
“I still don’t trust that we’re not being led into some sort of trap, or something. I don’t know. I’m just still really suspicious of her motives.”
Seriously? I can totally get not liking her, she does come across as rather bitchy at times and can completely understand Twi's issues with her. Or even not trusting that she knows as much as she does, that she actually CAN do what she claims, that she is capable of backing up her words. Those I could get, but doubting her motives... I mean a bit of skepticism, maybe, there is always that chance, but if she was simply leading you into a trap, why the hell did she get all of you out of that last trap and get you out of the city?
Pinkie tries to change the subject, all while giving RD a back massage. And.... why do I think that if she hadn't had to ditch the skates, she would be trying to do his with them still on, and make it work.
“Well at least you’ve moved on from not liking Mister Lockwood,” Pinkie said, kneading her hoof into Rainbow’s shoulder.
Good, let's hope that's true and her even MORE pointless issues with him have been killed. Tick Tock I can understand her having issues with.. just not the one particular one she mentioned. Lockwood... yeah that came off as her being way beyond suspicious, and into out right paranoid.
Though we get some pretty amazing insight into just why RD is so on edge... also Pinkie proving her randomness, includes randomly knowing things you wouldn't expect.
“Exactly.”
Pinkie blinked. “I was joking, you weren’t supposed to—"
“It’s like this,” Rainbow continued, “I’ve read enough Daring Do books to know that sooner or later something really, really bad is going to happen that just totally ruins everything.” She pointed incredulously at Pinkie. “If it wasn’t for you and Twilight, that explosion could’ve been it! Then, there was that whole thing at the Gate! We’re just barely making it through by the skin of our teeth here, Pinks, and now we’re storming into a whole mess of volcanoes.”
Pinkie giggled and bopped Rainbow’s nose. “Dashie, this is real life, not one of your story books.”
So much great there. Using Finagle's Law... and even using the right term, rather then Murphy's Law, which is similar but different. (If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those will lead to disastrous consequences. Someone will do it that way.) Then.. and this is definitely a HUGE bonus from the edits, being able to add Daring Do as for why RD is so sure things are going to go wrong. It.. actually makes a lot of sense that she would think that way now, versus during the first draft. She thinks she's being Genre Savvy. Very VERY good addition here. And finally Pinkie... Pinkie Pie!... basically telling Dash to be more realistic. Oh the irony.
Dash just tells her she simply doesn't like trusting the other three so easily.. something I really just don't get. It.. just goes so counter to everything we've seen in the show, where trust seems to be given much easier. Mostly defaulting to trusting others until they prove otherwise, versus them having to earn that trust. Look at just how fast the other Mane 6 trusted Twilight when she came to Ponyville. It just runs so counter to what we've seen from the show.
In any case, Pinkie mentions Flathoof, and how RD seems fine with him. Dash saying that yeah, he's cool. That he reminds her of Shining Armor, even if he looks more like Big Mac. Hmmm, yeah I can see it.
And reading this, I think I just realized what one of the biggest issues I have with the whole inane bit with RD and Lockwood. One phrase, guys like that . The show portrays Equestria as quite possibly one of the most gender neutral places there could be. We've never seen even a hint that gender matters in anyway. Stallions and mares are treated exactly the same. Sure everything tends to focus more on the mares, but that's mostly just due to there seemingly being a much larger imbalance in the male to female ratio, heavily favoring mares. Which makes sense given equines and all. But we've seen nothing to even hint at one gender having assumed roles, or types, or anything that would make the phrase "Guys like that" exist. It's introducing issues that have never been shown or even hinted at in the setting. Especially singling out 'guys' as being the ones you had to watch. If it was simply 'ponies like that' and she was equally suspicious of mares who acted like that, I wouldn't have as much a problem. But as is.. it just runs counter to so much about how the show portrays things, I can't accept it.
RD even gripes about him being willing to do illegal things, something Pinkie instantly turns right around on her, pointing out that the one illegal thing he did, was 1. to help them, and 2. getting them fake ID's. Something RD herself admitted to doing before. (Though still a bit WTH on WHY she would need one in Equestria Prime in the first palce.) Dash just brushing that off as "that's different." *cough*Hypocritical bitch *cough* yeah the hypocrisy is not helping her case.
Though the scene ends on a rather touching note.
“Sorry, Pinks. I just worry about all of you...” Rainbow leaned into Pinkie and tucked a wing more tightly around her. “You most of all.”
D'awwwwwww. The first time through, I was alright with the Pinkie/RD stuff, but, I didn't really love it either, it was there, good for a few jokes, but that was about it. This time through.. it really does feel much more real, it's much sweeter, it's clear they really do care for each other like that. First pass, it was possible to see them simply more like friends with benefits then an actual couple.
Cut to Fluttershy, tossing and turning, not able to get to sleep. We find out that she hasn't actually had a full, decent night's sleep since they got to this place, and it's not hard to see her being to nervous, to scared to be able to relax enough. Now it was even worse, being out in the wilderness, volcanoes in the distance...
She needed somepony to talk to, somepony to tell her everything was going to be okay.
I... can really empathize.. I've been there, middle of the night.. everyone else asleep but just needing to talk to someone......
Well, look's like Rarity gets to be woken up. Granted at first Fluttershy wasn't to sure she should.. then Rarity starts talking in her sleep, and Fluttershy REALLY wants her to wake up, simply so nopony else overhears her, thinking just how embarrassed Rarity would be. (It seems to be quite the.. passionate.. dream)
“Oh?” Rarity yawned. “I don’t suppose this could wait until morning, could it? I was having the most amazing dream.”
Fluttershy blushed. “I know. I... um... heard.”
Rarity smiled. “Oh, you did?” She paused, then turned bright red. “Oh... you did.” She chuckled. “Eh heh... yes. Well. Um...”
“It sounded like a nice dream,” Fluttershy said, grinning. “D-do you want to t-talk about—"
Rarity coughed into her hoof. “Er... w-what did you want to talk about darling?”
Okay, I laughed, that was pretty good.
Fluttershy was worried, well duh, but more so that it seems when they were having an argument over whether to take the shorter, more dangerous route through the volcanoes, or the longer, but safer route, it was Fluttershy that tilted things towards the shorter route, wanting to get home as fast as she could.
Okay this is mostly a slight issue with the editing, it took out the scene that was there were this argument took place.. mostly for it being one of the "Why are the mane 6 so bitchy with each other" scenes. So we're not quite seeing everything, but enough to have a general idea of what happened.
Other then that, it's basically just Fluttershy being Fluttershy, scared, nervous, wanting to go home.
“Well... I suppose that makes me feel a little better,” Fluttershy said. “Miss Tock does seem to know—"
Rarity chuckled. “I was referring to Mister Lockwood, of course.” She winked. “He has been a most gracious traveling companion, has he not?”
-*faceplam*-
Yeah you all know my thoughts on this. Damnit Rarity, NO!, That's a bad bad pony! Bad pony, no shipping!
And we get a few pages of Rarity shilling Lockwood, doing everything short of physically tossing the two at each other. Uh... even without the utter stupidity of trying to hook them up when, you know, in a few weeks they'll never see each other again... just how freaking hard she pushes, how much she twists things... and just how much she outright pulls out of her ass to try and get Fluttershy to make a move......... Well...... as utterly stupid, horrible, and inane as it is.. still makes more sense then anything involving Flash Sentry at least... though it's edging close to that levels at this point...
And now we look in on the Mean 6. The six of them walking through the wastes, Havoc bitching about why they haven't caught up yet, Insipid fan girling over Curacao, the other mare just barely tolerating it, letting out quite a few snarky comments about it which Insipid just plain doesn't get, and Starlight trying to stay sane while dealing with all this and keeping them all moving. Really this is just a great scene that's really hard to describe since it's all dialog mostly, it's just little, perfect touches fleshing out the Mean 6. We had a good showing of their overall personalities, as well as hints about how they played off each other, but now we're getting more, seeing them together, how they interact in a group without Silvertongue there.
Starlight is self assured and cocky, sure that they are going the right way.. and yeah they are... though ignoring her sisters comments that they should have caught up to the Mane 6 by now, or at least seen SOME sign of them. Her comment about maybe they were taking a slightly longer or more careful route to avoid the animals getting the expected response that that simply makes it even MORE odd they haven't caught up to them yet.
Oh and this.
Starlight stopped walking again. Her mouth curled in a scowl, her eyes narrowed, and her gaze shifted to Havocwing. “Havoc, correct me if I am mistaken, but are you questioning my sense of direction? Because it certainly sounds as though you are questioning my sense of direction.”
Havocwing gulped and shied away from Starlight’s intense glare. “Uh... n-no way boss. I was just repeating something... Grayscale said! Yeah! That bucking traitor.”
Starlight huffed, then turned her gaze upwards to the great-winged vulture that circled above them. “Grayscale Force! Present!”
Grayscale drifted to the ground like a feather caught in stagnant air. She yawned when she landed. “You called, boss?”
“Grayscale, have you been questioning my sense of direction?” Starlight asked, though her furious eyes were still directly fixed upon Havocwing.
Grayscale shrugged. “However you want to get where we’re going is fine with me, boss.”
“I presumed as much. That will be all, Grayscale. You may return to your duties.”
Grayscale stared at Starlight for a moment, then shrugged again. “Whatever you say, boss. I guess I’ll just get back to floating around, or whatever.” She flapped her great wings once, knocking Havocwing slightly off-balance, before taking flight and twisting back up into the sky.
“Now, what was it you expressed about Grayscale detesting my itinerary?” Starlight asked, stepping towards Havocwing until she and her were eye-to-eye.
Havocwing shuffled her hooves. “Uh... I... er...”
Starlight tilted her head and put her hoof to her ear. “Hmm? Please, enunciate more clearly. Once more?”
That is just so freaking hilarious. Just, everything about it is perfect.
Havoc quikly back tracks and says no, she didn't mean Starlight was wrong, but, yeah what if THEY are going the right way, it's the others who aren't. Curacao even pointing out that they could have gone exactly the way they were going.
Starlight raised an eyebrow. “They would be exceeding the thresholds of stupidity and lunacy to travel via the Redblade Mountains. No, they are moving for Goldridge Pass and the ancient Gryphon Territories beyond the mountains. It is the only logical choice. I am aware of their rampant stupidity, but father maintains that their guide, the Chronomancer, is superbly experienced. At least she would not be so dense as to direct them along that route.”
Ohhhhhh boy. Tick Tock... what are you doing? Don't let RD be right about her, Don't let RD be right about her.
And then we get a bunch of bickering and fighting, mostly between Insipid and Havoc, and we see that Insipid still has the electrical powers she stole from that robot. And unlike the Mane 6, seeing this group fight is great, and actually fits them. Plus.. it's just plain hilarious at times. Right up until Red Velvet shows up in the middle of the group, scaring some of them... and just generally creeping everyone, reader included, the fuck out. Covered in gore, busily cleaning herself off by eating it... lamenting that gargantuan blood isn't quite as tasty as pony blood.... GAAAAAAHAHHHHHH!!!!
Eh, I miss Mister Jetstream already.” She sighed and rubbed her stomach. “I should’ve rationed him a little more, huh? But pegasi wings are just so good!”
Okay.... this stuff... Red's is even freaking CREEPIER now then the first pass. Before she was odd, and a bit creepy. Now? She's just plain freaking terrifying. though that's quickly diffused by Insipid being Insipid, along with a few rather bored lines from Greyscale.
Starlight simply standing around exasperated by her traveling companions predilection for delay and inability to remain focused upon the most prestigious and important task upon which they had been proceeding. Finally just gives up and tells them they'll set up camp here for a few hours. Telling Greyscale to take watch.
Grayscale shrugged. “I’m honored that I get to stand here motionless for a few hours while everypony else sleeps. Thanks boss. I guess.”
And yet.. they don't stop, Red and Havoc going at it till finally Starlight's had enough.
Starlight flared her horn and grabbed the two ponies by the neck, dragging them over to her and glowering at both of them. “Enough! I grow impatient with your constant quarreling! If I am required to repeat myself again, I will forcibly separate the both of you - atom by atom. Am I clear?”
And with that, they settle down.
Once more, this entire scene was just freaking amazing. It gave some great showings into the characters, how they interacted, further fleshed out their characters, and was just so so awesomely hilarious. Well other then the Red Velvet bits.. those were just plain terrifying and/or creepy.
Thoughts-Not really much to talk about, nothing happens plot wise, this entire chapter was just a short bit of character developments. Giving a look into how the ponies are dealing with things, how they think, and it is damn good. A nice little Breather Episode after the last few action oriented ones, and before the Mane 6 gets the fun of crossing an active volcano chain..
As to the title, well yet another very apt one. It's what this chapter is, just a small interjection between the more plot heavily parts of the story. And it was glorious.
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