Line #17 Fanfic/ALongNightAtTheHippodrome


1	A ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' novella by [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Jordan179 Jordan179]] about Piercing Gaze, a friend of Trixie's mentioned in ''Fanfic/AnExtendedPerformance'', and taking place at the same time as that earlier tale. Piercing Gaze is the owner of the Baltimare Hippodrome, and expects to make a lot of money during the Summer Sun Celebration, the biggest party of the whole year. But when the Sun refuses to rise at dawn, Piercing Gaze may be the one pony who can keep the peace in the tension-torn port town.
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3	Begun in 2014, and possibly dead as of August 2016.
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5	Available [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/165763/a-long-night-at-the-hippodrome here]].
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7	!!This story contains examples of the following tropes.
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9	* MorningRoutine: Piercing wakes up in the afternoon, not the morning, because he does most of his work evenings and nights. The story starts when he wakes up the afternoon before the Summer Sun Celebration.
10	* BenevolentBoss: Piercing, from what we can see of his relationships with his employees.
11	* BlessedWithSuck: Piercing is infertile. Which means he doesn't need to worry about getting any of his marefriends pregnant. Which ''also'' means (he assumes) that he will never know the joy of a wife and foals. So things are great for Piercing, ''provided that he never really falls in love.''
12	* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: Violating this principle is the reason Piercing blames himself for Trixie's leaving him. The seduction worked, but Trixie felt terrible afterwards.
13	* CastingCouch: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], because while Piercing is lonely, he's too honest and kindly to take advantage of aspiring actresses that way, and he knows better than to actually make a mistress out of and then favor one performer over his others. Instead, when Scarlet Sheaf attempts to seduce him, he lectures her on why her approach is unlikely to bring her what she desires -- and then tells her when he's next running auditions.
14	* ChivalrousPervert: Piercing Gaze is definitely lecherous, but he is only interested in mares who are "willing and experienced enough to know what they want." When he broke this rule, once, [[spoiler:he wrecked his growing and deep friendship with Trixie]]. He demonstrates kindness and self-restraint toward Scarlet.
15	* CursedWithAwesome: Superficially, infertility is an ''advantage'' for Piercing, as it means he can be promiscuous without winding up with a pregnant mare showing up on his doorstep. Mildly [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], in that deep down Piercing envies those who have wives and foals.
16	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Numerous ones in-story, many of them named as horse-themed puns, as is common in ''Friendship is Magic''.
17	** The Yehvist Onagers, to the Jews, and the Onagers to Semites in general.
18	** Germaney, to Germany.
19	** Lippans, to Austria.
20	** Baltimare, to Baltimore. There ''really is'' a theatre called the Hippodrome in Baltimore, and it was built by two impresarios, Pierce and Scheck, corresponding to Piercing Gaze and Russe Tinter in-story.
21	* LadykillerInLove: Piercing Gaze is popular, promiscuous -- and obviously obsessed with Trixie.
22	* MyGirlIsNotASlut: Piercing's opinion of Trixie, who was a virgin before (as he sees it) he seduced her. This did ''not'' double his fun, as her post-coital reaction is to [[spoiler:glare at him with loathing and run away. He hasn't seen her since]].
23	* TheOneThatGotAway: Trixie, to Piercing. [[spoiler:The feeling is mutual]].
24	* TheRashomon: We finally get to see what Piercing thinks of Trixie and his accidental seduction of her. Interestingly, [[spoiler:Piercing's opinion of Trixie is almost as high as Trixie's own of herself; and he blames himself for what happened that night far more than Trixie blames him]].
25	* SassySecretary: Golden Quill, who is smart, indispensable to Piercing -- and she knows it.
26	* StupidSexyFriend: One reason why Piercing, breaking his own rules, wound up seducing Trixie. We know from Fanfic/AnExtendedPerformance that Trixie was [[spoiler:completely clueless about how he felt until they wound up falling into bed together. The irony here is that an incredibly arrogant mare, vain about her beauty as about so many things, didn't even ''consider'' that Piercing could have been sexually attracted to her before this]].
27	* TrueLoveIsExceptional: Piercing likes mares who are "willing and experienced enough to know what they want". Trixie was moderately willing (she was drunk at the time) but completely virginal. And now he's carrying a torch for her. Go figure.

Context Fanfic / ALongNightAtTheHippodrome