"We walk down our long roads of life, but what of the roads not taken? Twilight and Applejack are carried along a different path, where their fates were bound in new ways. Fresh sorrows and avoided crisis gives friendship's flower a new shape."
Slice of Velvet and Pear is an ongoing Alternate Universe My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic. Diverging from canon during Twilight Sparkle's early years, before she attended Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns. When her mother, Twilight Velvet, takes her young daughter on an outing to Ponyville to try out some of the local cuisine she had heard of. Resulting in them meeting Pear Butter and her young daughter, Applejack and becoming close friends of The Apple Family. And Twilight and Applejack becoming best friends, years before they would have met as adults in canon.
This change causes a butterfly effect that leads to Twilight discovering the joys of friendship as a filly, Pear Butter surviving into the events of the series' present, Moon Dancer taking Twilight's place as Princess Celestia's student and Spike's primary caretaker, and Twilight moving to Ponyville and befriending it's residents on her own accord. And that's before the events of canon even get started.
The story was created by David Silver
and can be found here.
Slice of Velvet and Pear provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adapted Out: This story's version of "The Last Roundup" excises Dodge Junction and Cherry Jubilee and her cherry farm from the episode. Instead, Applejack goes to Canterlot and gets a job in the palace kitchens to raise money.
- Affectionate Nickname: Ponies occasionally call Moondancer "Moonie". She's also often called just "Moon" for short by both others and in the text.
- Ascended Extra: Moondancer becomes a mane character in this fic's universe.
- Cold Open: Chapter Nine opens with a short scene of Twilight Velvet dragging a nervous Pear Butter along on a skydiving trip. This has nothing to do with anything else in the chapter.
- Commonality Connection: Fluttershy and Moondancer bond over their social anxiety, after the latter comes to apologize for her role the ticket incident.
- Cool Crown: Diamond Tiara takes Spike out shopping around for a crown to match her tiara. Later during "Secret of My Excess", Diamond reveals that she did buy him one for his birthday, while trying to snap him back to his senses.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: This is lampshaded by Twilight, who feels guilty that she didn't just take Spike's spare ticket to The Grand Galloping Gala when he offered it to her, as that would have prevented things from getting out of hand like they did.
- Covers Always Lie: The cover and title imply Twilight Velvet and Pear Butter are going to be main characters. While both are important characters, they are not the main focus beyond the ripple effect of their meeting serving as this universe's divergence. Meanwhile, Moondancer is a main character in this story, but isn't even mentioned in the story's description.
- A Day in the Limelight: Diamond Tiara's family butler, Rudolph, is given some focus in chapter seventeen after Diamond's father sends him to watch over her slumber party.
- Demoted to Extra: Since Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are left largely unchanged from canon, they mostly take a backseat when they're not interacting with Twilight, Applejack, or Moondancer. Even chapters adapting episodes focusing on them, mostly shift the focus to what the mane trio are doing and how the events effect them.
- First Pet Story: During the events of "May The Best Pet Win", Moondancer also becomes interested in getting a pet and talks it over with both Twilight and Fluttershy. She ultimately adopts a baby mouse, which Spike dubs "Scamp".
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Moondancer is this to the Mane Six early on. While she means well, her more prickly and "logical" demeanor, combined with her skepticism over staying in Ponyville to study friendship, doesn't endear her to them and save for Twilight, none of them really consider her a friend by the end of their confrontation with Nightmare Moon. Notably, even Fluttershy lets it slip that she thinks Moondancer is a jerk. However, Moondancer does make an earnest effort to study it and her efforts soon enough start to pay off as the other ponies gradually accept her.
- Forced Transformation: Moondancer transforms Twilight into a dragoness by surprise as a demonstration of her research into dragons, after being put in charge of Spike.
- Hidden Depths: Fluttershy is an avid reader of Equestria's equivalent to manga.
- Honorary Aunt:
- Discussed and referenced by name, when Applejack explains to Twilight she's like family to them. After being asked by Applejack what her mother, Pear Butter, means to her, Twilight answers that she's is like an honorary aunt, which Applejack agrees with since she sees Twilight's mother, Velvet, as the same. Pear Butter later tells Twilight that she's like another daughter to her, but supposes "niece" is a better term for it.
- Later, Twilight declares herself Spike's aunt, though Moondancer and Spike agree to it. The latter even jokingly calls her "aunty" as they head out.
- Innocently Insensitive: Moondancer comes across as this to residents of Ponyville at first. At one point, she rather plainly asks Bon Bon to explain the differences between unicorn and earth pony views in a way that could have come off as very prejudice, if not for the fact that Bon Bon realized she was making an honest effort to understand their differences.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Applejack and Twilight still get their Cutie Marks after seeing the Sonic Rainboom, as Applejack realizes how much home means to her while staying in Canterlot with Twilight and Twilight teleports them both back to Sweet Apple Acres out of instinct.
- Despite some foreshadowing that Spike may never be hatched due to the point of divergence happening prior to Twilight's entrance exam, he is still brought into the world... but by Moondancer instead of Twilight.
- Despite Spike ending up as Moondancer's adopted brother and assistant, he still develops a close relationship with Twilight. This is because Moondancer brings her in to babysit him whenever she's too busy.
- Twilight still winds up taking over the Golden Oak Library after graduating from magic school, after discovering that Ponyville's library is closed down due to lacking a librarian. Spike also winds up moving in with her, but alongside Moondancer after Celestia leaves her in Ponyville to study friendship.
- The Mane Six still go through the trials they went through in the two-parter pilot and become The Elements of Harmony, even without Twilight being Celestia's apprentice. The only difference is that The Element of magic gets divided between Twilight and Moondancer.
- Interspecies Romance: Spike, a dragon, develops a crush on Twilight, a unicorn, which is similar to how he did for Rarity in canon, though Twilight quickly but gently lets him down. Not long after this, he gets into a relationship with Diamond Tiara, an Earth Pony filly.
- Morality Pet: Spike serves as this to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon after becoming their friend and later, Diamond Tiara's coltfriend.
- No Social Skills: Moondancer is even worse than Twilight was in canon by the time she arrives in Ponyville. While logical like Twilight, Moondancer is much more aloof, cold, and skeptical towards staying in Ponyville, which initially doesn't endear herself to the rest of the Mane Six, who regard her as a jerk. She only understands friendship as one regularly doing favors for another in exchange for favors from them.
- Not So Stoic: Moondancer acts pretty indifferent and aloof towards others most of the time, but there are moments where she acts more emotionally.
- After a mob of ponies snatches Spike away from her (they were all just trying to convince Spike to give his spare ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala to them, but Moon didn't know that at the time), Moondancer is left very shaken and, upon getting back to the Golden Oaks library, breaks down crying from a mix of worry for Spike's safety and her own social anxieties flaring up.
- Downplayed when Moondancer finds out Spike has started going to school. She is clearly jealous, as she felt she did an adequate job educating him herself.
- Only Friend: Twilight and Spike initially are the only people Moondancer really sees as worth giving the time of day. Thankfully, she warms up and starts connecting with others more.
- Point of Divergence:
- Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Velvet are close enough to the Apple Family to be considered honorary members.
- Pear Butter survives the accident that would have killed both her and Bright Mac, because her husband goes on the delivery alone (and thus dying like he did in canon) while she spends time with Twilight Velvet.
- The events of "Apple Lies" turn out much better because Pear Butter is there to offer a compromise between Granny Smith and Applejack — they simply explain to Filthy Rich ahead of time the short shelf life of their Zap Apple product and that he'll have to move it fast if he still wants to sell it. This prevents Applejack from having to go behind Granny's back and the apple cider deal with Filthy Rich goes much more smoothly.
- Twilight becomes more social and learns the value of friendship early in her childhood through Applejack, and thus is less anxious. She also finishes her entrance exam to get into Celestia's school before the Sonic Rainboom due to Applejack's support calming her pre-exam anxieties down, and Twilight simply requesting a different test after admitting she does not know how to hatch Spike's egg. This leads to Moondancer hatching Spike's egg during the Sonic Rainboom's magic surge and becoming Celestia's student instead. It also leads to Twilight being already acquainted with the rest of the Mane Six and Ponyville by the time of the pilot.
- Applejack becomes a better salespony with her mother's guidance, but her work ethic isn't quite as strong since she didn't have to pull the extra weight that came with losing both of her parents. She's also more open to new ideas on how to do things with her mother remaining as an influence in her life growing up, compared to canon where she is a staunch believer in tradition.
- Spike develops a crush on Twilight instead of Rarity after Moondancer briefly turns her into a dragoness. But unlike Rarity, who strings him along, Twilight talks to Spike about his crush soon after she notices him acting odd around her, and tries to let him down gently. This leads to Spike moving on and falling for someone who's more his age, Diamond Tiara.
- Pear Butter talks Applejack out of trying to get Spike's spare ticket to get into the Grand Galloping Gala to try selling their apple treats there by pointing out the flaws that Applejack overlooked in canon. Instead, Pear suggests that Applejack use catering, which would get them a big payout from Celestia without requiring them to try selling their wares to the ponies at the gala directly.
- Circumstances lead to Spike running into Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who both like the idea of having a dragon friend to show off and drag him into attending Ponyville's schoolhouse. This leads to Spike becoming the fillies' Morality Pet who serves as a Positive Friend Influence, which leads to him and Diamond Tiara dating.
- Spike's influence on the two leads to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, mostly letting go of their antagonism towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
- Moon Dancer manages to avert the Ursa Minor incident in "Boast Busters" by having a talk with Trixie after the show, and talking Snips and Snails out of their plan of finding an Ursa Minor for Trixie to vanquish. This leads to Trixie leaving Ponyville on comparably better terms.
- Running Gag: Twilight Velvet roping Pear Butter into her thrill-seeking.
- Shipper on Deck: Pear Butter is this to Twilight and Big Macintosh or Applejack. She's good with either option, though she leans more towards Applejack and Twilight.
- Ship Tease: Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash get some. When Fluttershy tries to explain some ponies like to be touched and some do not to Moondancer, she lets slip something that implies they have had some more "intimate" touching.
- Skewed Priorities: Moondancer seems more concerned with how Nightmare Moon's return will negatively impact her studies, rather than the danger she poses to the world.
- Slumber Party: Chapters sixteen and seventeen cover the events of "Look Before You Sleep" and still has Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity throwing an impromptu one while waiting out a storm. Though this time, Moon Dancer is also there and is the one to have never been to a slumber party before. (Twilight had been to them before with Applejack in this universe.) Meanwhile, Spike winds up at one himself with his new filly friend Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Who decide to have a little game of Truth or Dare?.
- Spanner in the Works: Twilight Sparkle is this to Princess Celestia's plans for her student, Moondancer, in this universe. Celestia's original plan for Moondancer is to go to Ponyville to make friends, which is what happened to Twilight in canon... except Moondancer leaves on her own while Twilight and co. follow her. This results in the Element of Magic being split between Twilight and Moondancer, a development Celestia didn't plan for and isn't entirely sure what to make of.
- Spared By Adaptation: Because she spent time with the visiting Twilight Velvet instead of accompanying Bright Mac on the trip that would kill them both in canon, Pear Butter survives, but is left a widow as a consequence.
- Survivor's Guilt: Pear Butter deals with this after Bright Mac's death, though Twilight Velvet helps her get through the worst of it.
- Thrill Seeker: Twilight Velvet is a self-admitted thrill junkie and often drags Pear Butter along on her little adventures, like skydiving and barrel-racing.
- Undying Loyalty: It's implied Rainbow Dash moved to Ponyville so Fluttershy would still have a friend during her early days there.
- Will They or Won't They?:
- Pear Butter tries to "subtly" press the possibility of Twilight and Applejack having feelings for each other, but Applejack refuses to give a clear answer as to where her interests lie. She later claims to want to find a stallion. As for Twilight, she hadn't thought about romance until Pear Butter put the idea in her head, except she wouldn't stop thinkin about it and doesn't know if she has any romantic feelings for Applejack or not.
- Moondancer has been in love with Twilight Sparkle since magic school, but Twilight doesn't find out about her feelings until Moondancer bluntly confesses in chapter twenty due to still trying to sort out her own feelings over Applejack. After chapter twenty-six, Twilight has decided to give her and Moondancer a chance.
