Can Chestnut survive the trials of the Canterlot Elite? Only time will tell!
In some circles Fancy Pants and his lovely wife Fleur are considered to be the most heroic duet of Canterlot. They have conquered countless social events, faced hundreds of snobbish ponies and emerged victorious from the most dire of faux pas. Truly, ballads shall be sung in honor of their bravery for generations!
However, these very heroes have recently discovered that there is something missing from their lives. Something that can't be obtained by wielding a keen edge of exquisite mannerism or showing deft expertise in charming smiles. Something that cannot be gained or achieved, but must be earned. Something that came to them in the form of a brash, growing up filly from beyond Equestria.
This story is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic written by Prane
. You can read it here. Now complete.
This Fanfic shows examples of:
- Culture Clash: Chestnut is an orphan thestral who came from a seemingly poor country and grew up in the Orphanarium and is very behind in education curriculum. Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis are very rich couple counted among the ranks of the Canterlot Elite. Naturally, their lifestyles create some friction.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Fleur begins to suspect that Chestnut has one, although Chestnut usually acts far too cheery to give any indication.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Fleur at the start towards Chestnut, initially planning send her back to the Orphinarium once the one-week trial concludes. Chestnut's cheery attitude and willingness to adapt to Fleur's lifestyle won her over in short order, however.
- Discriminate and Switch: When Fleur first sees a thestral as the prime adoption candidate, she pulls Fancy Pants aside to discuss how adopting her is the last thing she wants to do. Later on, her negative attitude proves not of reflex over Chestnut's race (Fleur got over that quickly), but rather Fleur abhors the idea of bringing in an excitable and uncouth teenager into their public life with no previous parenting experience and their reputations on the line.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Regardless of the mix-up when a noble mistook Chestnut for "stealing" her necklace, it was definitely overkill by sending several large, angry Royal Guards after a terrified teenage thestral half their size.
- Expy: Hyacinth is the pony version of Mrs. Hyacinth Bucket and Rich Card of Richard Bucket, both characters from a Brit Com Keeping Up Appearances.
- Fantastic Racism: Inkblot, an old ink shopkeeper, warns Fancy Pants of this from the Canterlot Elite towards Chestnut.
- Foregone Conclusion: The cover image of the fic has a photo of a dancing Chestnut with the words 'Adopted' and 'Love you Chestnut - Mom' written on it. Everyone will know by then that it will be a happy ending.
- Happily Adopted: Chestnut is a teenaged orphaned thestral from a foreign land called Tramplevania. She's on track towards this trope as Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis and evaluate life with Chestnut by their side. By the end of chapter 8, she calls Fleur her mom.
- Happily Married: Fleur and Fancy Pants. When Fancy learns that Fleur is infertile, his first act is to comfort her in her despair for a few hours and suggest adopting a foal so Fleur can salvage a glimpse of her dream, and Fleur adores her husband in return.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Totally Chestnut. She may be a bit brash, impulsive, and clumsy, but she wins over Fancy immediately and Fleur shortly after, and they both hope this attitude will save her from the judging eyes of Canterlot nobles.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Fleur De Lis and an interesting example at that. While she was assumed she is good pony at heart, she was very mindful of the norms of Canterlot aristocracy and appears cold at the beginning of the story. Meeting Chestnut has drawn out her more caring side, a side she usually reserves for Fancy Pants.
- Innocent Bigot: Originally Fleur. First, she didn't know that her calling Chestnut a 'batpony' was insulting. Second, she had thought that the reason Chestnut was behind in education for her age is because of her race. She grows out of these tendencies quickly, however.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Fleur De Lis' dream is to take a break from the demanding life as a model in Canterlot's upper class by having a little filly of her own, imagining every detail down to her foal's first word to her first ball to her university. Because there's a rule against life being easy, Fleur is infertile, so Fancy Pants suggests adopting somepony after a night of comforting her.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Chestnut observes a noble drop an expensive necklace, so picks it up and attempts to return it. Naturally, the noble sees Chestnut with the missing accessory and assumes Chestnut stole it, and the young thestral is chased by angry Royal Guards for her trouble.
- N-Word Privileges: "Bat Pony" is a term for thestrals considered only acceptable when used from one thestral to another, like another racially-charged word in real life. These privileges confuse Fleur to no end when Chestnut gifts Fleur a "Totally Legit Guide to Batponys[sic]" but acts offended when she refers to Chestnut how the guide's title does.
- Older and Wiser: Rarity when compared to the main series' portrayal, as the story is set a few years in the future. She shows Fleur the proper method for parenting children and gets Fleur to admit that she's grown fond of Chestnut, all while keeping the calmest attitude around.
- Pretender Diss: Both Fleur De Lis and Rarity, actual members of the social elite, express disdain for Hyacinth, a mare trying to join the elites' ranks. It's more of her overzealous attitude towards whatever is fancy and the constant invites or attempts to get into social gathers that elicit this reaction, rather than being an outsider.
- "Reason You Suck" Speech: Fleur chews out "Lady Buckethead" ( AKA Upper Crust) for her Fantastic Racism toward thestrels.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: After a makeover and a crash course in proper etiquette, Chestnut proves that she can look and act as sophisticated as a member of the Canterlot Elite. She ends up as one of the most refined-looking mares present at the ball Fancy Pants hosts.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Chestnut and "Lady Bucket Head," the noble whom she tried to return a necklace to and had a bucket dropped on her in a scuffle as the noble accused Chestnut of thievery. Causes a lot of trouble as Bucket Head is revealed as Upper Crust when she recognizes Chestnut, which occurs during a party which is a make-or-break period for securing Chestnut's good reputation.
- Slobs Versus Snobs: With Chestnut as the slob and Fleur and Fancy pants as the snobs. Chestnut is a rowdy and excitable teenage thestral who has replaced Fleur's alarm clock due to blasting loud music in the wee hours of the morning, while Fleur and her husband rank among the social elite of Canterlot and have an etiquette to match. Fleur deigns to teach Chestnut how to act sophisticated, and eventually the two meet halfway.
- Spell My Name With An S: Discussed on a meta level. Fleur's full name is Fleur-de-lis, her
Fan Nickname for over a year. A common symbol like that is impossible to copyright, so Hasbro's official name for her ended up as Fleur Dis Lee, which appears as the Equestrian spelling for Fleur's name. - Upper-Class Twit: Hyacinth, though it's more of a wannabe Upper Class Twit than a actual one.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Lampshaded by Chestnut in regards to her cutie mark. Chestnut's special talent makes her great at matters involving Tramplevanian chestnuts (planting, growing, collecting, cooking, eating). Unfortunately, they can't grow in Equestria due to differences in the climates of the two different regions, so her talent isn't much use there. Fleur reassures her that her talent doesn't have to control her.
