Perfect Companions is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fan Fic by Godzillawolf and a side story/sequel to Getting Back on Your Hooves. It can be read on Fimfiction.net here
, Fanfiction Dot Net here and DeviantArt here.
Fluttershy is going about her day, taking care of her animals, when she's interrupted by a knock at her door. She's greeted by Applejack and Winona, the latter of which has had a run in with a skunk. While cleaning up the dog, it occurs to Fluttershy that for all the care she gives her friend's pet, she has no idea how Applejack came to own her. The answer she receives not only reveals Hidden Depths about her friend, but makes the pegasus realize just how little she knows about the pets she takes care of.
The story was on hold while the author focused on school, but Pinkie Pie's chapter, 'Alligator Blues' was finally posted followed not long after by Fluttershy's, which served as the finale, though Word of God has hinted at a bonus chapter which ultimately turned out to be about Trixie getting her pet.
Live Reading has been made by Martialartfruituser: Ch. 1-2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, and Ch. 5.
This My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fan Fic contains examples of the following tropes:
- Amicable Exes: Fluttershy's parents. They divorced simply due to growing apart and are still friends. Fluttershy stayed with her mother primarily so she could be happier with the animals that surrounded Posey's cottage and her father had no problem with it. While Fluttershy still finds this sad, she seemed to have a fairly happy childhood.
- Badass Adorable: Rarity was taught martial arts to protect herself from bullies as a filly. Cue a significantly larger bully receiving a judo throw from a small adorable filly.
- Call-Back: Pinkie Pie's theater seats were the ones that Discord used to watch the mane cast fight at the beginning of "Return of Harmony Part 2". Pinkie found them after his defeat and decided to put them to good use.
- Fluttershy's 'Ninja Chicken' still hates Trixie.
- Sally the skunk (who sprayed Trixie in the original story) shows up as one of Trixie's potential pets, and the one she ultimately adopts.
- The Cameo: Trixie makes a short appearance in "Alligator Blues", showing the fic takes place after the conclusion of Getting Back on Your Hooves.
- Cool Old Lady: According to Pinkie, Granny Pie.
- Ending Tropes: Each of the stories ends on a different one, stated to be intentional by
Word of God.- Downer Ending: Applejack's story; Applejack's parents die in a tragic accident, leaving her, Big Macintosh, and Applebloom orphaned.
- Bittersweet Ending: Rarity's story; Rarity gives Opal a good home and her family gets out of poverty, but Rarity never had a cuteceañera as a result.
- Happy Ending: Pinkie Pie's story; Pinkie is accepted in Ponyville and makes friends after getting Gummy as a 'welcome to Ponyville' gift from the Cakes.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Fluttershy's story; Fluttershy works hard for weeks and finally makes enough money to buy Angel and give him a good home.
- Fish out of Water: Pinkie Pie of all ponies is revealed to have been this when she first moved to Ponyville, due to having never left the rock farm or seen outsiders until then. She got Gummy at the party the Cakes threw her to help her get over it.
- Framing Device: Fluttershy taking care of her friend's animals serves as the frame story for the stories about her friends getting their pets.
- Fridge Logic: Occurs in universe when the gang wonders how Trixie got her stage into Fluttershy's backyard.
- Good Feels Good: Rarity states that she enjoys helping those less fortunate than herself and learned that fact taking Opal in.
- Good Parents: Pinkie's parents, who were understanding and embraced her special talent to make the rock farming more enjoyable for the entire family. They sent her to Ponyville because they saw she was miserable on the rock farm and felt she'd be happier there. Word of God said this was intentional, as many fics depict them as either not understanding Pinkie at all or being Abusive Parents towards her and he wanted to avoid it.
- Greater Need Than Mine: Rarity gave up her cuteceañera as a filly so her family could use that money to afford to take in Opal, who was abandoned as a kitten out in the rain in a cardboard box in the middle of a storm, believing the kitten needed a home more than she needed a party every foal got. As a result, she never got a cuteceañera at all.
- Heartbroken Badass: Both this story and the side story "Happy Mother's Day" portray Applejack as this due to the deaths of her parents.
- Hidden Depths: The stories Fluttershy hears about her friend's pets reveal this about them:
- Applejack's parents were rarely home when she was growing up and got her Winona as a birthday present to keep her company on the farm, shortly before they died in a tragic accident.
- Rarity's family was poor when she was growing up and she got Opal by giving up her cuteceañera so her family could afford to take the poor kitten in, which taught her that Good Feels Good. It's also revealed that she was bullied as a filly and learned martial arts to defend herself.
- Pinkie Pie left the rock farm because her parents saw she wasn't happy there and felt she'd do better in Ponyville with the Cakes. And she actually had trouble approaching ponies in Ponyville to befriend them because she was nervous about being a Fish out of Water due to never leaving home before. She got Gummy as a welcome to Ponyville gift and he (and the party she got him for) helped her get over her nerves and start making friends.
- Large Ham: Trixie is still one, but is notably no longer an Attention Whore after her Character Development in the main fic. Some of her ham seems to have rubbed off on Stage Hoof as well.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Just a couple for the main fic.
- Legacy Character: Applejack's mother was also Applejack, and it's stated to be tradition on her side of the family to name the first born daughter Applejack.
- Mythology Gag: Applejack's mother (also named Applejack) is modeled after G1 Applejack and Fluttershy's mother is modeled after G1 Posey (the pony Fluttershy was originally supposed to be).
- Noodle Incident: Pinkie and her grandmother apparently once threw a party of such intensity that it triggered a fault line.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Fluttershy comments on how strong willed Applejack normally is makes it that much harder to see her start crying at remembering how she lost her parents.
- Pass the Popcorn: Pinkie gives Fluttershy some popcorn to enjoy her flashback with.
- Then, when it's Fluttershy's turn to tell a story in the last chapter, Pinkie does it again, this time going so far as to pull out a set of theatre seats for everypony to use.
- People's Republic of Tyranny: Apparently, Discord gave himself the title of 'President of Equestria' or at least that's what the tag on his theater seats says. Twilight naturally lampshades this.
- Self-Made Mare: While mentioned in the main fic, the fact Rarity's family are this is a main element of her story as it's revealed to be the source of both her greed and generosity; she's greedy at times because she had so little as a child, but she's generous because she wants to help those that are less fortunate than herself because she's been there.
- Shared Family Quirks: Fluttershy's mother Posey is every bit as shy as her daughter.
- Slice of Life: As opposed to Getting Back on Your Hooves, this is more about the ponies' individual lives and the Framing Device is simply Fluttershy taking care of her friend's pets.
- Smelly Skunk: Winona getting sprayed by one sets off the plot. Also the pet Trixie ends up with.
- The Sociopath: Checker has now been officially diagnosed as a sociopath, which should surprise no-one who read the original fic.
- Teleporters and Transporters: Trixie is shown to have gotten a good deal better at the teleportation spell she was learning from Twilight at the end of the main fic, now using it just to show off when she originally struggled with it. According to Word of God, this is due to teleportation falling under her special talent of stage magic, making her a natural at it.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Applejack's parents had to travel to help the other Apple Families get their farms started up, and as a result weren't there that often, even missing her birthday several times. They finally made it to give her Winona to help keep her company while they were gone. Sadly they died in an accident shortly thereafter.
- Would Hit a Girl: Some of the colts who bullied Rarity when she was a filly, which was why she learned martial arts in the first place.
