Line #9 Fanfic/CulturalArtifacts


1	''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/71281/cultural-artifacts Cultural Artifacts]]'' is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction by [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Dan_s+Comments Dan_s Comments]].
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3	A human appears in Equestria, and then goes on to have adventures with the inhabitants.
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5	Only this time, the human's house also comes with them, and still has functioning utilities. The human himself, although fit, is also at the latter end of his life. On top of that, the Equestrians and Human cannot speak the other one's language, nor be understood. The mysteries surrounding his arrival also drive the plot forward, with old and new villains showing up much sooner.
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8	!!This fic contains examples of:
9	* AccusationFic: To a lesser degree than ''FanFic/DrawnWithTheNight'', "Lesson Zero" is not seen in a favorable light, not just for Twilight's actions, but also for both Celestia and Twilight not dealling with the underlying issues.
10	* AchievementsInIgnorance: After being summoned by the army to potentially meet with the Big Guy, Derpy needs a foalsitter. Who does she hire for the job? The Big Guy.
11	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Ponies seem unusually random because they completely lack impulse control.
12	* AlienArtsAreAppreciated: Besides Ponies enjoying Fantasia, Applejack is moved to tears listening to Music/JohnnyCash.
13	* AliensAreBastards: The Big Guy[[spoiler:, Discord, and Nightmare Moon]] all think that anything the Ponies can do to themselves is far worse than anything they can do the ponies.
14	* AlternateUniverse: It splits off sometime in season 2 between Lesson Zero and Mare Do well.
15	* AndThenWhat: Lyra has finally encountered a human. Now she doesn't know what to do, like a dog that actually caught a car.
16	* AntiHumor: The Big Guy likes to do this, and other subversions of classical punchlines, to Discord's horror.
17	-->'''Discord''': Excuse me, do you know how to get to the Albert Hall?
18	-->'''Big Guy''': Play at Carnegie with the queen watching would be a way.
19	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Rarity gives Celestia one about the Big Guy.
20	-->'''Rarity''': So when he's still tried to be a friend or at least a loyal subject, why are you getting ready to fight another bout?
21	* ArmorPiercingResponse: Rarity's response to Celestia asking if she shouldn't fear the Big Guy after he not only manages to [[HorrifyingTheHorror horrify every villain]] and even recruit Discord is a very blunt "No."
22	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Applejack's parents]]
23	* BatmanGambit: The Big Guy pulls one on Nightmare and her servants with Discord's help.
24	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Celestia wants to have friends of her own? The Big Guy makes sure she's surrounded by countless ponies who praise her for banishing the Big Guy.
25	* BewareTheSillyOnes: The fragment of Discord inside the Big Guy is changing towards a more Harmonious slant than his canon counterpart. However, even he has his limits [[spoiler: as Chrysallis found out]].
26	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Human's behavior is odd by pony standards. Which makes Discord's fragment very interested.
27	* CharacterDevelopment: Trixie goes from envying Twilight to becoming proud of herself.
28	* ChekhovsGunman: A guardspony is seen in the dimensional mess [[spoiler: and turns out to be a sterile Changeling Queen.]]
29	* CerebusSyndrome: When the Big Guy is kidnapped by [[spoiler: Tear Twirler and Trixie]], the fic ''really'' gets started. There are plenty of moments of comedy throughout still, though.
30	* CruelToBeKind: In order to keep the Big Guy from completely obliterating the Nightmare, Discord imprisons her in a recreation of a World War 2 concentration camp for a period of time. Sure enough, he's moved to pity and she learns a little bit of empathy.
31	* CuteBruiser: The Ponies may be absolutely tiny compared to Big Guy but he describes them as all being 200 to 400 pounds of solid muscle. Fluttershy flies while carrying him long enough for Big Guy to install gutters on Applejack's barn without straining herself at all.
32	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Humans, Ponies, and Griffins all have some differences.
33	** [[spoiler: When the reclamation of the ancient library is completed, they also bring forward some of the ponies, who have absolutely no problem whatsoever abusing their rescuers -- even using a 'horn twister' on Twilight. The resultant dissonance leaves Celestia forced to grant them their greatest wish: going right back where they came from. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Right back.]] ]]
34	* DontAskJustRun: During a NoodleIncident, Dinky sees the Big Guy running and sensibly follows him instead of asking questions. Every one of the other Crusaders gets covered in sap.
35	* {{Doorstopper}}: 43 chapters -- ranging from 2,000 to 20,000 words apiece, for a total of 652,469 words.
36	* DramaticIrony:
37	** The Big Guy gets imprisoned and tortured by the Ponies... after he saves Equestria from Nightmare and her followers. Better, the ponies seem to be unaware of how crucifixion actually affects humans, and never take the time to find ''out'', so not only are they torturing him for no reason, they aren't even aware they're doing it.
38	** The ponies most comfortable with the Big Guy at the beginning are Derpy and Dinky Hooves, who would normally have been a classical example of TheIngenue. It transpires that their willingness to think in simple terms, and accept what he shows them, is what gets the Big Guy to fully appreciate them in turn.
39	** Sunset Shimmer shows up in the final chapter... after the human vanishes and her knowledge would have been useful.
40	* TheDreaded: Pinkie Pie. A pair of Gryphon spies thought the rumors about her were just propaganda and are horrified to realize she's real.
41	* EarlyBirdCameo: Sunset Shimmer is mentioned by Vladimir Blueblood long before the events of Equestria Girls are supposed to take place. In fact, he wonders why the Princesses haven't told the Big Guy about the multiversal portal. Sunset appears later, after the battle with Molybdenum Blossom.
42	* EpicFail: Discord tries to make Celestia see the Big Guy as a stud muffin but, due to her tastes changing over the centuries, she instead finds him incredibly cute (like a puppy).
43	* EroticDream: Between the Big Guy and [[spoiler: humanized Luna]]. This causes some issues when [[spoiler: the actual Luna enters that dream]].
44	* EntertaininglyWrong: Over the first few weeks, the Big Guy shows the ponies assorted films - from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' to ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' to ''Anime/SailorMoon''. At first they think that these are documentaries, and even when Rarity hypothesizes that they're just stories, Twilight scoffs at the notion.
45	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Discord is many things, but is neither a rapist, nor do the things the Ponies did to themselves before Heartswarming Eve.
46	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Discord laughs off the idea of being afraid of The Big Guy, until he thinks about it.
47	-->'''Discord''': I'm not afeared of this upstart! Who came up with the plan that held those maniacs enthralled. Who thinks the atomic bombs were the lesser of two evils. Who actually read and compared ''Mein Kampf'' and ''Rules for Radicals''. Celestia! Don't go! Don't leave me alone in here! Please.
48	* FantasticRacism: The Canterlot Nobility towards the Big Guy [[spoiler: and Selene Dreamer. Some Ponyville Ponies also feel this way towards The Big Guy. Furthermore several ancient pre-unification Earth ponies feel this way about modern Equestria.]]
49	* ForcedTransformation: Poison Joke turns the Big Guy into an irresistible male Alicorn.
50	* FreakyFridayFlip: The Big Guy and Celestia undergo this. PlayedForDrama, as neither are amused by what happened. The Big Guy, especially, is furious when Luna demands that he not ruin Celestia's reputation, while Celestia is not under similar restrictions.
51	* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: Selene Dreamer [[spoiler:, Luna's foal,]] says "Abomination" after overhearing it from gossiping Canterlot Nobility. [[TranquilFury Celestia, Luna, and many others… didn't take it well]].
52	* GoodIsNotNice: [[spoiler: The Big Guy suggests the plan out of FanFic/TheConversionBureau to Nightmare and her followers. This leads them into thinking they need Discord to deal with the Big Guy rather than vice versa.]]
53	* GreaterScopeVillain: Molybdenum Blossom. Among her deeds are killing Starswirl the Bearded, creating the Wendigos, and creating the plant monster which created the Village of the Blanks.
54	* HorrifyingTheHorror: The Big Guy scares the crap out of the villains, including Discord.
55	* HumansAreFlawed: Leans towards this, along with showing that the ponies aren't purely good either.
56	* HumansAreSpecial: [[spoiler:When talking about her experience of being transformed into a human, Luna notes that a lot of stuff, like how an hydroelectric dam functions, just ''made sense''.]] %%this is paraphrased, it might not be accurate!
57	* HumansThroughAlienEyes: The Ponies don't understand the human either. Among other things, they believe that ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' and ''Anime/SailorMoon'' are real.
58	* HumansAreCthulhu: Some of the Big Guy's actions seem like this to the ponies. [[spoiler: And Nightmare.]]
59	* HumanityIsInfectious: Luna and Celestia admit that [[spoiler:when they were transformed into humans, the world seemed so much more alive.]]
60	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Trixie. She outright states that even though she's being paid and will likely be rewarded afterwards, the best part of looking after the Big Guy is his friendship.
61	* IronicHell: [[spoiler:where the Big Guy thinks he is. And even Discord believes there's a strong case for this being true in-universe.]]
62	* {{Irony}}: While everypony suffers nightmares after hearing the Big Guy's scream, Trixie has sweet dreams instead.
63	* InSeriesNickname: [[spoiler:The filly Celestia and Nightmare Moon from another dimension are called Celly and Nightmare Woon. After using the elements on Nightmare Woon, she is replaced with Woona.]]
64	* InsultToRocks: According to Luna, calling one of her officers a jackass would be an insult to jackasses.
65	* InterspeciesRomance: There are several ponies interested in the Big Guy. [[spoiler: Fluttershy, Derpy, Lyra]]
66	* KarmaHoudini: The ponies which try to rape [[spoiler: Alicorn]] Big Guy suffer no real consequences beyond Celestia's disapproval, similar to ''FanFic/DrawnWithTheNight''.
67	* KnowWhenToFoldThem: One of the Big Guy's tactics in unconventionally dealing with threats.
68	* KudzuPlot: One of the minor complaints about the fic.
69	* LanguageBarrier: The Big Guy is incapable of even creating sounds that the ponies can recognize as their speech, and vice versa. [[spoiler: Later averted with inter-dimensional ponies, and still later averted once the bestowal of Fragrance Rebirth's power onto the main cast comes with a side of Lingua Equestria and English.]]
70	* MercyKill: When Celestia asks what she should do if the Big Guy is right to fear her, Rarity tells her to just let him die then.
71	* MindHive: The Big Guy has company in his head [[spoiler: A shard of Discord, and an entity named Tom.]]
72	* MindRape: The Princesses inadvertently do this to him after Pinkie Pie throws him a surprise party.
73	* NeverFoundTheBody: the Big Guy disappeared in the final battle.
74	* NeverMyFault: The ponies that assault and try to rape [[spoiler: an Alicorn]] Big Guy expressly believe this was only due to Poison Joke. Bon Bon shoots them down, hard. It only made the Big Guy appear attractive. Their decision to assault him was all their own NotBrainwashed.
75	* NoNameGiven: Big Guy.
76	* NotAfraidToDie: The Big Guy thinks he's already dead. Considering his age, this is not so surprising.
77	* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler: Prince Blueblood even has '''Celestia''' fooled!]]
78	* OffingTheOffspring: Molybdenum Blossom did this to her son, Starswirl the bearded.
79	* OldFlame: It seems that Discord and Celestia had a relationship, and Discord is still fond of her. The Big Guy uses this knowledge to {{troll}} Discord.
80	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The TokenHuman is only known as Big Guy.
81	* OppositesAttract: Celestia and Discord, the Big Guy and Derpy, and most notably, Pinkie Pie and Glorious Sunrise. When that lattermost comes to light, it causes Shining and Cadence's minds to simply break for a bit.
82	* OvershadowedByAwesome: [[spoiler: Blueblood]] actually excelled in the school for gifted unicorns, but no one remembers because he was classmates with Twilight who was in a league of her own.
83	* PrinceCharmless: Prince Vladimir BlueBlood says he hated playing this role just because it was the only way Princess Celestia would accept his presence due to her feud with his mother.
84	* PrimalFear: [[spoiler: The other species (Griffins, Dragons, etc) are terrified of the Alicorns, especially considering Nightmare Moon's actions before turning on Equestria.]]
85	* ReassignedToAntarctica: Apparently Celestia once caught a pair of guards having sex on her bed. All she'll say about it is "They should be finished counting the penguins in a few more years."
86	* RedBaron: In addition to what his friends call him, [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname the Big Guy]] is also refereed to as "The Ponyville Monster" by the news media and most of Equestria.
87	* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Celestia lists the Big Guy's accomplishments in Equestria and asks "Shouldn't I be concerned about such a creature?" only to receive a simple "No" from Rarity.
88	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When the Big Guy returns home and finds a surprise party waiting for him, he relocks his house and bolts.
89	* SenseFreak: Ponies find being human intoxicating because humans think more. According to Discord, ponies don't have impulse control because they don't need it. No pony would ever walk up to the edge of a cliff and peer over it when they've already done so a dozen times, nor would they consider jumping off; but humans do. Upon learning this, The Big Guy refers to being human as "the ultimate acid trip for ponies".
90	* ShellShockedVeteran: The Big Guy has lived through the Normandy Invasion and liberating a Concentration Camp.
91	* ShoutOut: The Big Guy shows them videos of G1 ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony''. Considering some villains from G1 showed up earlier, this is cause for concern for the ponies. The [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyG3 G3]] episodes are briefly mentioned as well.
92	** ''FanFic/ConsequencesOfUnoriginality'' after Poison Joke turns The Big Guy into an irresistible male alicorn.
93	** In Chapter 7, Holly Hock says that Rainbow Dash is the fastest pegasus at ground level but "There's a mare a lot faster at altitude," likely a reference to Dainty Dish from ''Fanfic/HigherFlier''.
94	** Another is to VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks, with a Village filled with zombies.
95	** Indirectly to ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn'', when [[spoiler:Luna and Celestia]] are turned into humans and experience things that they never felt as a pony.
96	*** Somewhat more directly later on, as Filly!Celestia watches ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn'' in a loop until Woona convinces her to stop.
97	** There are quite a few shout-outs made throughout, but one of the most notable is from ''Series/BabylonFive'', where Blueblood and Trixie convince a few nobles that their drinks contain one half of a deadly poison. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_sBNX9dP-M The original scene can be witnessed here.]]
98	* SpannerInTheWorks: Luna creates a plan for her and a trio of the "cutest and smallest" ponies under her command to be found by the Big Guy during a storm so they can access his home. Shortly before the storm, the Big Guy returns home to find Pinkie Pie threw him a surprise party and bolts.
99	* StatuesqueStunner: Celestia's humanized form is described as being incredibly beautiful while also being 7'9" without her horn.
100	* SwordOfDamocles: Shining Armor's sergeant describes the Big Guy's situation as having a giant sword (Equestria's military might) hanging above his head by a hair.
101	** When Blueblood is (briefly) given the Regency, he immediately rounds up well over 500 ponies who have 'slighted' him in some way or another, and levied death warrants against them. Well, [[FateWorseThanDeath and an]] ArrangedMarriage or two. Celestia, upon her return, stamps a blanket pardon -- which she can revoke in whole or in part at any time. Considering that they're all stuck-up IdleRich, this cheers her up to no end.
102	* TakeThat: Against ''FanFic/TheConversionBureau''. Not even Celestia thinks it's such a good idea, and later the Big Guy defeats an insane [=XenoCelestia=] by dosing her with Potion and [[PortalCut cutting off]] her horn.
103	* TalkingWithSigns: How the translation barrier is broken with the help of the [[spoiler: Interdimensional Ponies. Even then, there are a [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage few subtle differences]] between their written language.]].
104	* TheBigGuy: The human. Also used to emphasize the difference in scale between objects designed for humans and ponies.
105	* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: [[spoiler: When Celestia and Luna (and later other ponies) become humans, they feel things that being a pony just doesn't afford them.]]
106	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
107	** Trixie gives on to Twilight Sparkle over how she has everything anypony could ever ask for: friends, respect, magical power, and the ear of the princesses but still wallows in fear. Twilight has only ever experienced Celestia's love yet is more afraid of her than Trixie, who's only ever experienced the princess's anger. While Trixie's life has been and still is far harder than Twilight's, she'd never want to trade places with her.
108	** Bon Bon gives one to Twilight Sparkle saying that while she didn't like the Big Guy, at least she didn't be friends with him just to get access to his books.
109	** Bon Bon gives one to the mares that tried to rape [[spoiler: alicorn]] Big Guy, telling them that everything they did came from deep within themselves, just amplified and brought to the surface.
110	** [[spoiler: Blueblood gives a whopper to Celestia.]]
111	* TokenHuman: Big Guy.
112	* TooAwesomeToUse: The reason Big Guy mostly sticks to his bicycle is his truck has a limited amount of fuel and he has no way to get more in Equestria.
113	* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: The Big Guy to [[spoiler: Nightmare, her servants, and to a lessor extent, Discord.]]
114	* TranquilFury: When Pinkie Pie ruins Luna's plan, she speaks quietly and calmly while being described as 90% of the way back to Nightmare Moon.
115	** This might also describe the Big Guy. If you cross him, he will ruin all your plans, set everything you know up on end, and reduce you to a wilting lily, all while smiling, talking gently, and occasionally singing.
116	* {{Unishment}}: When the two soldiers (and one castle chef) are briefed on why they're in Ponyville, Mile Stone chastises them, saying that they could at least ''pretend'' that they're being punished. Their 'sorries' don't sound very sincere, either.
117	* UnwantedHarem: Even though [[spoiler:most of]] the ponies can't understand him, some are still smitten with Big Guy. He himself notes that he's too old to worry about romance.
118	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: [[spoiler: The cutie mark of the Alicorn Big Guy reflected the true nature of a pony's romantic and sexual inclinations -- and brought them to the surface.]]

Context Fanfic / CulturalArtifacts