#look at those liiiines

[70roxy07]

I like this lil guy

[glottia-arts]

Beginning of the year end work dump, 2021 edition.

Hey, guess what, my writing makes a return! Since I do write from time to time, I might as well include it here despite how nervous I get.

I think that I'll always start off these year end things with writing now since I tend not to do as much of that as drawing. Plus, it's easier to group together.

As a warning: Most stories are not edited, completed or planned to be completed, have weird placeholder titles, and some were either quick ideas I wanted to get down or just got really into.

Flufftober 2021

What's this? Well, for October, I thought about participating in Flufftober 2021, but the second half of this year has been killer on me so that got shot. I at least had some ideas down for this. I also don't have every prompt I wanted to do written out enough where I'd be willing to post it.

This series of writing is planned on being completed anyhow, so I'll post them all at some point, either all at once or spaced out, not sure.

Prompt list and rules can be found here, so if you're curious about it, it's there for you to view.

Day 5 Watching the Sunrise Fandom: Star Wars Pairing: Qymaen jai Sheelal x Seer (OC) Word Count: 1,066 Warnings: None

YEAH, I MADE A FRICKING HUMANOID DRAGON RACE (to no one's surprise) FOR STAR WARS. I ALSO (somewhat) PAIRED ONE OF EM WITH GRIEVOUS, EVEN BEFORE HE BECAME A CYBORG.

This fic is a little... awkward. This is one of those ones where I kinda just went zip-zoom through to get the ideas down, I just have to go back and add the fluff between them so it's not so weird.

Anyway, minor info for my Priest/Seer: Her race is called Desdrada and they're shut off from the galaxy of their own volition, believing it is safer for them to do so. They also want as little to do with the galaxy to protect their companions, the Minema (dragon race I created), and give them the peace the Sith over a millennia ago refused to let them have. So, no one exactly knows what's going on in the outside world, minus the Seer's/Priests that have foresight. Of course, knowledge is limited that way, so that's when this Priest is allowed to be the only one to leave their home to venture out and see what's really going on outside.

Day 7 Meddling Friends Fandom: A Hat in Time Pairing: The Snatcher/The Prince x Aura (OC) Word Count: 1,094 Warnings: Mentions of death

It's been how many years and I still don't know how I'm gonna pair Snatcher and Aura? Yup. Honestly, it would probably have to be a combined effort anyhow considering Aura doesn't know the first thing about romance or when being flirted with and everything just goes over her head. Because of her set engagement at a young age that she took seriously, she practically grew up Ace and needs to break that mindset.

Snatcher has many headaches that like to show up and he can't ever get rid of all of them. It's worse when they start speaking and getting into his affairs.

I have no idea how this fic is gonna turn out and this might be one of the two ideas I'll abandon, but we'll see.

Day 22 Flirting at Work Fandom: MediEvil (Modern-ish AU) Pairing: Orell Lashier/Kesten (OC) x Hildegard (OC) Word Count: 1,756 Warnings: Mentions of severe medical condition

*checks the word count, notes on what to put in later, and looks at my previous writings* Yeah, I think this is gonna be another long one lmao. WHY CAN'T I EVER DO A SHORT THING FOR THESE TWO!? I coulda just been like "Orell slipped and fell into Hilda's arms and had to be cheesy about it like normal then she proceeds to drop him" but nope. ANGST THEN FLIRT WITH 4K+ WORDS (that's my estimate right now let's see how close I get).

As I've stated, there's angst then it will get to the flirt. On one hand, I'm kinda cackling thinking about it, on the other hand, I wanna be like "Liiiin, is this oooook? Es not too bad, right?". I always get self-conscious with writing certain romantic things and I'm honestly afraid that it might be uncomfortable or seem as sexual to others. It's worse when it comes to CERTAIN characters (I am eyeing the shiz out of Ravenhooves and Dan's personality while alive).

Anyways, Orell is a mess and gets himself into bigger messes which then makes everyone worry. He'll be fine, probably. At least he'll have Hilda and Teddy there for him.

Other flufftober prompts I have in the working that I'm not posting right now:

Day 19 Flowers Fandom: Metroid Pairings: Ravenbeak x Female Reader Toha Chozo Yeah, a reader insert, I decided to try it for once.

Day 20 Secret Crush Fandom: Star Wars Pairing: Darth Nihilus x Gender Neutral Reader This was actually the first idea I had for the reader insert and will take some inspiration from my own self-insert thing.

Day 30 Fall asleep on my lap Fandom: A Hat in Time Pairings: None, this is a platonic fic. This is just gonna be Aura with her new dragon form just being a mom towards Julia and all the munchkins.

MediEvil

Thoughts of a Hedge Word Count: 263

I just like making myself sad it seems, but despite how short this is, it's essentially done, just not edited. A small insight into the Hedge Griffin's mind.

Self Insert hours

Yes, I continue to be self-shipping trash. All of these are Star Wars too I just noticed lmao, so there's that warning. I've had nothing but General Grievous brain rot this year and never really did right down Mandalorian shenanigans.

As an overall note: I stopped writing these because once I saw a fanfic on Ao3 that also involved a self-insert Seer, I got self-conscious and closed up shop because of that fear of stealing an idea even if I had no clue it existed. True, I would not have posted these anywhere but Toyhouse if I did decide to share, but still. There are definitely differences between my ideas and that authors, but I still felt the self-consciousness kick in. For anyone curious, their fic is called "What's a fan doing in Star Wars?"

Despite my halt on writing these, still developed ideas, so a lot of these are no longer accurate in some parts more than others.

Battle for Kamino Word Count: 1,818 Warnings: Violence and Spinal Injury

Brief moment of when General Grievous and Ventress invaded Kamino to steal the DNA of Jango.

When I was reacquainting myself with the Clone Wars series, my mind stuck on this episode particularly for a reveal that the person who he recognized as his enemy was once Grievous's friend. My change to this is now after the Mortis Arc, but some of this is still relevant (aka, bone snapping).

Eggscavation Word Count: 6,463 Warnings: Mild Violence

This story shifts perspectives and is meant to do so often between mine and General Grievous's, but definitely has some moments with the Battle Droids (and would have with Atacon as well).

Let's invade a ship to save an unhatched dragon while simultaneously ticking off the cyborg. Nothing can go wrong (I didn't get to the fighting between him and the Jedi though so none of that actually).

Who's this Everon though? Well, that's actually Darth Nihilus, having given up his Sith title. In my mind, with him being dead, his hunger for the force wouldn't need to be satiated and he'd actually be pretty chill. He becomes further chill once he's shown friendship and actually is given a choice on what's done to him since being stuck in his holocron.

Gay Agenda Word Count: 2,058 Warnings: Mention of severe health condition due to trauma

I'M SORRY IF THE TITLE OFFENDS ANYONE BUT LIKE MY BRAIN JUST WENT OFF ON AN "Oh yeah, I guess I got one of those" AFTER I SAW THIS PATCH. I don't know why my brain latches onto certain things, I can't even.

Crossing the streams here because for my self insert thing in the Sequel Trilogy Era, Plo-Koon is not around and it's still too fricking early for Phasma to be brought in, so they're the only off ones.

I really don't know what to say for this writing other than there was gonna be usage of the planner to divide time up between the characters in this fic. The Line up would have been this:

Primeday - Boba Fett

Centaxday - Darth Vader and Captain Phasma

Taungsday - Darth Nihilus and Darth Bane

Zhellday - Plo Koon and Din Djarin

Benduday - Grievous

Time before the departure Word Count: 2,149

Kind of just a small interaction I thought of that could have happened before the start of the place of the Mandalorian. Mostly did it to remind me that Dar-Jee Dal has a son in this timeline and that'd he'd show up at the end of Season 1 of the Mandalorian.

Dar-Jee Dal is technically my and Grievous's son while Ethenol is our Grandson.

To briefly explain why Grievous is alive and not made of metal, that would do with the Kaleesh gods. I thought about how in Legends canon he'd go to them and beg to see Ronderu one last time and deny him but then wondered in a "what if" they were like "Lol, so how about this" and shove him back out of the either to suffer without her again. Ok, that just came to mind, but I thought it'd be interesting if they did give him the second chance anyway for some reason.

[i-dream-of-twilight-sparkle]

Chapter 17: The Royal Ball, Part 5 - The M.I.L.F. Club

Twilight returns to the table with most of her Canterlot friends, still without Moondancer as she’s probably going to be spending the rest of the night with her special somepony, Prince Theandri the 2nd. The ponies at the table notice Twilight has tears in her eyes, but also see she’s smiling.

Minuette: Welcome back, Twilight! You look like you might be in a mix of emotions, what went on over there?

Twilight: Nothing but liquid pride, Minuette. I am so proud of Moondancer right now…

Twinkleshine: So… what did they want to speak to you privately about? Moondancer did say you could tell us what it was, when you returned.

Twilight: Admittedly it was strange they even did that, but what basically happened was Moondancer confessed her feelings. Not for the Prince... since that was already known when he was at our table, but for me. It turns out Moondancer held a secret crush on me.

Lemon Hearts: I KNEW IT!

Lyra: Wha..? Lemon, you knew about this?

The rest of the group including Twilight also surprised that somepony else had known

Lemon Hearts: My name isn’t Lemon Hearts for nothing!

Twinkleshine: Heh, I thought it just meant that you loved lemons.

Lemon Hearts: Well that’s still true of course! 

But I always had that strange feeling that Moondancer wouldn’t have considered her courtyard party a bust and then become a house hermit, if she only wanted to see Twilight again platonically.

Lyra: I guess in hindsight that makes sense. If I had invited you all to a party, there’s really only one pony here that I would be upset if they didn’t go without saying why, and that’s Bon Bon. I’d understand if you all suddenly had other plans, but I’d want to know why my Bonny couldn’t make it.

Bon Bon: I would never abandon a party you hosted without telling you why, I promise.

Bon Bon gives Lyra a smooch, d’awww’s coming from the rest of the table.

Twilight: Does make me wish I was able to get telltale signs of romantic feelings easier. But I couldn’t quite help it, when I wasn’t even exactly into friendship back then either. It would of helped to have that even a little earlier, so I could of told the Prince I wasn’t interested, as I ended up just egging him on and probably added to his frustration on our “date”.

Twinkleshine: How did that confession go? And did Moondancer actually confess to you IN FRONT of her current date?

Twilight: She did, but that was actually what the Prince wanted her to do. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t betraying her true feelings, and if hypothetically I had decided I’d be open to give a relationship with Moondancer a try. Give her the decision to choose between us.

Lyra: Dang, he helped set that up... Even if that could of meant losing another chance at a special somepony?

Minuette: The Prince really is a nice guy!

Twilight: He sure is, he even said again in the hypothetical situation where me and Moondancer started a relationship here instead. He’d fully support us, Moondancer’s story really moved him to that point. But luckily for him I suppose, I never really felt the same way about Moondancer back then and I don’t really do so now either. The act of kindness he showed though makes me even happier Moondancer is ending up with him.

Lemon Hearts: Yeah, good for Moondancer. She absolutely has a keeper.

Twilight: Anyhow, thanks for the good, long chat all of you. I think I’m going to see my family’s table. Where my parents, my brother, Princess Cadence, and my niece Flurry Heart are.

Twinkleshine: No problem, Twilight. Always a nice time talking with ya.

Minuette: Seeya, Twilight!

Twilight and most of her old Canterlot friends wave off to eachother. And heads off to join her family, most of the rest of the Elements are also with their families tables while Twilight was with her Canterlot friends. Rainbow Dash for perhaps for the first time in a while had a nice chat with her parents, Rarity talked about gossip with her mother, Fluttershy sitting down with her parents and brother, and Pinkie had jokes aplenty to tell her sisters and parents. Spike’s immediate family is only Twilight, but he’s spending time with friends like Thorax, Ember, and Gabby. He’s just as much a part of Twilight’s family and would gladly join the table Twilight’s heading to, but he also wants some of his own individual time at the ball for himself.

As Twilight approaches her family’s table, it’s Flurry Heart who first notices she’s approaching.

Flurry Heart: Auntwi! Auntwi!

Princess Cadence: Yes that is Auntie Twilight, isn’t it Flurry! Hello Twilight!

Shining Armor: Hi Twily!

Velvet: Good to see you, at this lovely ball.

Night Light: Thank you so much for inviting us, we’re loving it here.

Twilight: Good to see you’re all enjoying the ball. I’ve been having a pretty great time myself.

On stage, the same Palace staffer from before comes up on stage

Velvet: Oh! Looks like you got here just in time for the next performance announcement.

Twilight: Sweet! I wonder who’s coming up next.

The crowd quiets down as the Palace Staffer reaches the mic in the middle of the stage.

Palace Staffer: Thank you all for remaining a wonderful audience, we are very proud to announce that our next performer is none other then the world renowned singer, Coloratura!

Big cheers are heard upon hearing Coloratura’s name, she’s super popular in Equestria of course. But even as far as Saddle Arabia her music seems to have touched many a heart. Particularly loud cheers coming from a certain apple farmer.

Applejack: WHOO! Let’s go, Rara!

Back at Twilight’s family table, they express excitement for this as well.

Velvet: Oh my gosh, I love Coloratura’s music. This is going to be awesome. I have all her records! Even... the ones that Coloratura has made public that she’s not proud of. She had a terrible manager during the release of those records, but she did have some pretty catchy tunes when she went by The Countess…

Twilight: Yeah, this should be pretty great

Some large palace guards move a huge piano onto the stage. In most cases, the Piano being brought out usually meant a particularly popular song was going to be performed.

Velvet: OOOOOH, Looks like she’s going to do The Magic Inside! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH

((Story continues after the break))

Coloratura walks out on stage as the whole audience claps. And she begins playing.

((The Magic Inside))

Rara: I’m here to show you who I aaaaam…

Throw off the veil, it’s finally tiiiiiiimmmeeeeee…

There’s more to me then glitz and glam… oh whoa…

And now I feel my stars aliiiiggggggnnnnnnnn…

For I had believed what I was sold

I did all the things that I was told

But all that has changed, and now I’m bold

‘Cause I knooooooooooow

That I am just a pony!

I make mistakes from time to time!

But now I know, the real me!

And put my heart out on the liiiine!

And let the magic in my heart stay true-oo-ooo

Whoa-whoaaa-a-whoa-whoa!

And let the magic in my heart stay true-oo-ooo

Whoa-whoaaa-a-whoa-whoa!

Just like the magic inside of you

And now I see those colors!

Right before my eyyyyes!

I hear my voice so clearly!

And I know that it is riiiiiiight!

They thought I was weak, but I am strong!

They sold me the world, but they were wrong!

And now that I’m back, I still belong!

‘Cause I knooooooooooow

That I am just a pony!

I make mistakes from time to time!

But now I know, the real me!

And put my heart out on the liiiine!

And let the magic in my heart stay true-oo-ooo

Whoa-whoaaa-a-whoa-whoa!

And let the magic in my heart stay true-oo-ooo

Whoa-whoaaa-a-whoa-whoa!

Just like the magic inside of yooooooou-oo-ooo

Just like the magic inside of yoooooooooooooooou

Coloratura’s performance is over and loud cheers and applause heard throughout the entire ballroom. She steps out and takes her bows after another well-received performance before she speaks to the crowd.

Rara: Thank you, thank you! It’s alway nice to perform for an audience whether they’ve been to a show before or this is the first time you ever listened to my voice. I’d like to thank the Royal Family of Saddle Arabia and Princess Twilight for setting up this absolutely fantastic ball. Though most of all I want to thank my dear childhood friend, Applejack for personally inviting me here. I owe her a deep gratitude for many things lately, so please give a round of applause for Applejack!

A spotlight shines on the table Applejack’ sitting and applause is done for the well-known apple farmer. Applejack sheepishly grins, blushes, and puts a hoof behind her head. 

Applejack: Aw shucks, it was nothing. She’s the famous musician, Ah just invited her…

Coloratura walks off stage and following up is the Palace Staffer.

Palace Staffer: Thank you so much for a wonderful performance, Coloratura. Absolutely lovely, we’re once again in another intermission before we go the next one. There are now only 2 performances left before we soon move on to opening up the dance floor below everyone’s hooves or feet to end the night.

Back at Twi’s family’s table, Twilight herself is clapping while her eyes are closed happily for Coloratura.

Twilight: Now that was indeed a fantastic performance, huh Mom?

Twilight realizes Twilight’s mom isn’t even at the table. In fact, Cadence is gone too. Though Shining Armor, Flurry Heart (Now on Shining Armor’s back), and Night Light are left at the table

Twilight: Shining, where did Cadence and our Mom go?

Shining: They went off on their own to another table, I think Cadence recently joined some sort of club that our mother is also in. And they decided that after the 3rd performance they’d move to have said meeting somewhere here

Twilight: Hm, I guess I’ll see what this club is myself. I’ll see you later, Dad and Shining!

Night Light: Bye, Twilight!

Her father and brother wave off to Twilight as she heads off looking for her mother and Cadence’s table. Though as it turned out, many of the Moms of Equestria coincidentally went off right after Rara’s performance finished. Windy Whistles, Cookie Crumbles, Posey Shy, Cloudy Quartz, Twilight Velvet, Princess Cadence, Stellar Flare, and Mrs. Cake. All of them told their husbands they planned on doing this, or in the case of Stellar she just went herself since her husband is still far away.

Soon though, Twilight finds them all at one large-sized table off on their own. Twilight approaches the table, and her mother is the first to notice.

Velvet: Oh hey Twilight! I’m happy to see you here! You’re just in time for Cadence’s first meeting with our little club!

Twilight: About this club, what exactly is this?

Windy: We’ll give you a guess, what do we all have in common… besides the obvious that we’re all mares.

Twilight ponders for a moment looking at the ponies at the table. And it becomes increasingly obvious with each member.

Twilight: You’re… all mothers?

Windy: CORRECT! Princess Twilight, and daughter of our very own co-founding member Twilight Velvet… you are looking at the M.I.L.F. club!

Twilight: …M.I.L.F. club? Should I even ask what that means?

Windy: Gosh! Why does everypony assume it’s something questionable whenever we mention our club’s acronym?! M.I.L.F. stands for Mothers In Loving Families!

Twilight: OOOOOOOOOH, okay… though how did this club even get started.

Velvet: Me and Windy Whistles are the founding members. We first met on another of my barrel riding and bungee-jumping escapades! And when things settled down, I Iearned Windy was Rainbow Dash’s mother.

Windy: And I in turn learned Velvet was your mother!

Velvet: So we thought of possibly rounding up the rest of the Elements of Harmony’s mothers that are still around and some of a few friends of yours as well. That’s why Stellar Flare, Mrs. Cake, and our newest member Princess Cadence are here too.

Cadence: Thank you all for letting me join! I’m not sure if I can be there for every meeting with an entire empire to run, but I’m more then happy to be a member.

Twilight: Not that isn’t cool that you’re all meeting each other, but what exactly does this club do?

Velvet: Simple! We just gather around, talking about what happened with our families lately. Maybe a little gossip, and sometimes even have field trips to stuff like zoos, bowling alleys, and more! I’d get more then Windy to also join me on some of the escapades I get into if I could, buuuuut I understand the others aren’t quite adrenaline junkies *grins sheepishly*

Twilight: That sounds great, but this doesn’t sound much different from just being friends.

Windy: Let’s be honest, most clubs are basically a group of friends hanging out. There’s not really much of a huge difference other then clubs perhaps being more narrow in it’s scope on what we do. But really, we just wanted to have a fun thing to ourselves.

Velvet: Besides, some of our husbands sort of have their own club together, though they deny it. And that’s when a big sports game is happening! Some of us are also into sports like me, Windy, and Cookie

Cookie Crumbs: I even married a former hoofball star!

Velvet: But we want to be fair to every member if they’re not so much into the big game, and can make some of them feel a little less left out. Besides, with enough scope... maybe our club will kind of find a purpose other then simply being a group of friends who also happens to be moms like… maybe… hm… I’m trying to think what our group could accomplish… but I can’t quite put my hoof on it…

Twilight decides to try to think and help out her mom, and comes up with an idea.

Twilight: Well... what if you used your club to the full extent of the Loving Families part of your acronym. Promote good parenting, list the do and do nots for young mares looking to become mothers, tell your stories of what it was like to raise me and my friends… though try not to share foal pictures too often…

The whole table giggles madly at that last sentence.

Velvet: Regarding our many, many combined albums of our kids’ foal pictures. We make no promises… *winks*

Twilight: Oh no…

Windy: But you are right! That is something we could end up doing as our club gets older and reaches out more.

Stellar Flare: That does sound like a good plan for the future.

Posey Shy: Sounds wonderful!

Cloudy Quartz: I’m not sure everypony’s going to take much from my experiences raising a family on a Rock Farm as it’s... an acquired taste of a lifestyle. But I’d be more then welcome and do my part.

Cookie Crumbles: I’d absolutely love to do what I can

Mrs. Cake: I’ll do my part as well!

Velvet: Yes, thanks for the wonderful idea Twilight. Though you know, this reminds me…

Twilight’s mothers looks smugly at her daughter

Velvet: You’re a mother too, Twilight. How would you like to join us?

Twilight: Huh? Well, I could… but aren’t I kind of unusual? You all gave birth to your children, I hatched Spike out of his egg and only years later I would consider him my son and adopt them, and I’m also a lone parent. That won’t feel… out of place?

Windy: Of course not! An adopted mother is still a mother, and so are single mothers.

Velvet: And at least some of us personally know how close you are with Spike. You very much embody what we’re looking for, you have a loving family even if it’s just you and Spike.

Twilight smiles as she looks around at all the mothers on the table eagerly wanting her to join.

Twilight: Ok, I’ll join. Is there some kind of initiation thing?

Windy: Weelllll… we do have an oath of membership. Albeit it’s just kind of a silly semi-professional thing we tried out, and nothing that necessarily needs to be said for us to consider you a member.

Twilight: I’ll still say it, if this is going to be a longstanding club. We should absolutely have some official wording and rules when including members. So please, let me take the Oath.

The mothers huddle all together and whisper

Cookie: So… who’s going to hold the initiation book

Windy: I think it’s only appropriate that Velvet takes this one. Twilight is her daughter after all.

Velvet: Yes, I’d be more then happy to do it!

They’re out of the huddle and finally Twilight’s mother faces her daughter, levitates a book.

Velvet: Please put one front hoof on the cover of this book, and with the other keep it raised next to your head. And repeat after me… I solemnly swear…

Twilight: I solemnly swear…

Velvet: That I have and will continue to …

Twilight: That I have and will continue to…

Velvet: Raise and support my children through thick and thin…

Twilight: Raise and support my children through thick and thin…

Velvet: Maintain a happy home to the benefit of myself and my children…

Twilight: Maintain a happy home to the benefit of myself and my children…

Velvet: And will to the best of my ability…

Twilight: And will to the best of my ability…

Velvet: Love, support and defend my loving family.

Twilight: Love, support, and defend my loving family

Velvet: I promise I will help prepare them for the future, that they so choose.

Twilight: I promise I will help prepare them for the future, that they so choose.

Velvet: To motherhood!

Twilight: To motherhood!

The initiation is over, and the entire rest of the table claps for Twilight. Who is now an official member of the Mothers In Lovely Families.

Stellar Flare: Very nice! That’s two royals in a row, they’re even going to be the only remaining active Princesses come next year.

Windy Whistles gets a jokingly sinister face

Windy: Yesssssss… mua ha ha ha ha! Our club now penetrates the highest levels of office, we’re like a… secret society or cabal who’s ultimate goal is… 

Then she suddenly goes all cheery again

Windy: Raising happy families!

The entire club at the table laughs

Windy: But in all seriousness, welcome to the M.I.L.F. club Twilight, we’re glad you decided to join us. Come on everymother, let’s give our newest member a big, group hug!

They all rise out of the chairs and surround Twilight with one big hug. Twilight smiling getting some love from her mother along with many of her friends own loving mothers.

Twilight: I suppose while I’m a member now, I can point you all to another good choice for you to recruit that I just met at this ball.

Velvet: Oh? Who is it?

Twilight: Trixie’s mother, Dandy Lion! I met her after Trixie’s show ended, she’s an absolutely peppy mother that Trixie herself loves very much. She’d be perfect for the club. I suppose there’s also Sultana Elona, but I imagine there’s a reason you haven’t got her down here right now.

Windy: Yeah, we tried to access the Sultana but they have guards to the halls towards the balcony where she’s sitting and might be awkward asking a royal to come down. Maybe one day we’ll see if we can get the Sultana to join us. That just isn’t going to be today, but we’ll more then happy to have both you and Trixie’s mom added to our ranks! Do you think you could get Trixie’s mom over here yourself?

Twilight: Sure thing!

Twilight sits up and starts on heading to Starlight, Trixie, and Sunburst’s table. Dandy Lion has been there the entire time getting to know Trixie’s friends and proving to them without a doubt that Trixie’s description of a cheery, supportive mother was accurate.

Twilight: Hey there!

Starlight: Oh hey Twilight, what brings you back to our table?

Twilight: Is it ok if I bring Trixie’s mom elsewhere for a little bit?

Trixie: Depends, where exactly are you taking her to and why?

Twilight: There’s a club of mothers of Equestria that includes my mother, and many of the other mothers of my friends. Including yours, Sunburst.

Sunburst: Ahhh right, the M.I.L.F. club. I recall my mother mentioning it to me.

Dandy: M.I.L.F. club… this isn’t some weird club that will want me to do provocative things will it?

Twilight: Don’t worry, Dandy. The acronym stands for Mothers In Lovely Families.

Starlight lowers her head and she looks away from the table and whispers to herself.

Starlight: In that acronym, is two things I don’t have right now…

Twilight: Did you say something, Starlight?

Starlight: No no no no, it’s nothing Twilight. Go ahead and go along with Trixie’s mom to that club’s table. Ahehheheh... (I will be seeing you tomorrow though, to help me out with this…)

Dandy: Alright, I’ll go! I’ll be back soon Trixie, dear!

Trixie: Ok mom! Seeya back soon!

Starlight watches Twilight lead Trixie’s mom to a table where other Moms are seated. She didn’t want to admit it, but even though she plans to get the situation with her Mom solved as soon as tomorrow, she still couldn’t help but feel a little envious of the members of the M.I.L.F. club and their children. Even if it turns out her Mom is around, and there was actually some misunderstanding of why she’s been gone for so long, and they have some happy reunion. She wouldn’t have had her mother for her entire childhood like most of the Elements of Harmony and Trixie have. She can’t redo her entire childhood, even if she does find her mother.

So as she watches the club’s table, and already she can see Trixie’s mom is laughing and probably already being set up to join this club. She just sighs and tries to look away, though suddenly she catches the sight of somepony who might at least be feeling similarly. She sees Applejack is on her lonesome, perhaps Big Mac and Sugar Belle left to have a little bit of a honeymoon by themselves at a different table. She too is looking at the club of mother’s table with a rather sad face. Starlight decides that maybe talking with a friend that feels similarly, even if not for the exact same reasons, since Applejack’s mother is known to be deceased.

Starlight: Sunburst and Trixie, I’m going to see Applejack for a little bit if that’s ok.

Sunburst: Sure, no problem Starlight.

Starlight walks on over and sits next to Applejack. Applejack still kind of staring at the M.I.L.F. club’s table doesn’t make her realize it until Starlight speaks up.

Starlight: Hey uh… Applejack…

Applejack yelps a bit in surprise

Applejack: Oh! Uh… Howdy… Starlight… Whatcha want from me?

Starlight: You feeling kind of left out, as the only one out of the elements that can’t have a mom over there?

Applejack: *sigh* ….Yeah, mah face made that pretty obvious didn’t it.

Starlight: I came over here… because I actually feel somewhat similar.

Applejack: Oh, is ya mother… deceased as well? Ah’ve never heard ah thing about her, come t’ think o’ it…

Starlight: I… actually don’t know… she disappeared 2 weeks after I was born. And there’s been no real hints or clues to where she is now. There is at least still a possibility she’s still around, but even if she is. I would of never had her around for my childhood like all the other mothers over there had been or at least will be.

Applejack: Oh gosh, Starlight. Ah’m so sorry t’ hear that… wait, ya’ll still have ya father right? Why hasn’t he told ya?

Starlight: To add to my frustration he refuses to tell me who she was. He finds every excuse in the book to get out of telling my mother’s name...

This makes Applejack angry.

Applejack: How dare ya father do that t’ you! He’s failing one o’ the most basic things ah good parent should be doing… Ah ought t’ go over t’ his table and buck him in the face right now…

Starlight: Exactly, that’s how I’ve felt for much of my life towards my father. Though please, don’t harm him. I don’t want my family drama to ruin a night like this.

Applejack: How many other ponies have ya told this t’?

Starlight: I’ve mostly held it secret for a long while. As I’ve had other things to focus on. But now that we’re finally in a place where we can get a bit of a breather. Perhaps it was time to finally take the time to tell more of my complicated past. 2 weeks ago, I told Trixie and Sunburst that I never knew my mother, and I then also told your little sister Apple Bloom and the other 2 Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Applejack: Ya’ll told Apple Bloom about this? That sounds like ah rather heavy subject t’ tell ah filly like her…

Starlight: AJ, you and her parents are dead. Kind of hard for her to avoid heavy subjects. Though I admit I would of spared telling her… If it didn’t turn out that my mom is likely connected to my Cutie Mark in some way.

Applejack: What do ya’ll mean by that?

Starlight: I told them how I got my Cutie Mark, and I knew that their group talent would perhaps help me at least understand things a little more. I could tell you too, but I think if I tell you it’d be better that the rest of the Elements, or at least just Twilight so she can share it with you later. And after the ball, so I don’t end up just dragging you all into hearing about my personal drama, while all of you are just here to have a good time.

Applejack: Gotcha, ah can wait t’ hear the story. But at least tell me what the CMC deduced afterward?

Starlight: Well… I suppose first I should just give the short version for proper context. Basically, I had a magic outburst in the basement of my home that was similar to Twilight’s during her entrance exam after trying a super powerful spell from a spell book only meant for top unicorns. 

Though unlike Twilight, I hadn’t been studying magic for hours upon hours as a filly, I just simply was born with raw power. And the CMC deduced that if I hadn’t worked for my raw power, then I had inherited my magic power from someone in my parents lines. My father’s line is however full of average unicorns, so that unfortunately points to it likely being connected to my missing Mother in some fashion.

Applejack: Oh well ain’t that one heck of ah summary… Starlight, Ah wish ya’ll had told me and mah friends this ah lot sooner. We would o’ absolutely been sympathetic… Ah bet Twilight would gladly do something with her genie magic t’ help ya’ll find ya Mother’s identity.

Starlight: I did actually finally think about that a little while ago, while talking with Sunburst and Trixie here at the ball. And I absolutely plan on getting Twilight to help me but again... I don’t want to force my family drama while she or anypony else here is having a good time. So, I plan to get her help tomorrow. The fact that I’ll have it solved one way or another has helped calm me down on this matter, though at the same time it means the day is moving more slowly. Because now I’m only just less then 24 hours from knowing the answer to a mystery that’s loomed over me my entire life. 

I may need a sleeping spell in order to even get some rest tonight, cause while I don’t know who my mother was. Whoever she is, I’ll get some actual solid answers about myself and the full context of my past.

Applejack: Yeah, that’ll be good. Ah hope ya’ll find ya mother, and ah also hope she’s ah good pony.

Starlight: I’m kinda scared about the latter if she is indeed still out there somewhere, but... Somehow or someway, I’m getting answers tomorrow... And I can’t wait.

Starlight and Applejack look on over to the M.I.L.F. club table one more time. Trixie’s mother by this point already having taken the same oath and received the same group hug Twilight received when she joined. Starlight looks over at Applejack, and proceeds to ask her a question.

Starlight: Applejack, what was your mother like?

Applejack just looks over to Starlight, tears welling up but also smiling

Applejack: Mah mother was the sweetest pony in all o’ Equestria…

Applejack would proceed to tell Starlight some stories about her childhood back when her mom Pear Butter was still alive to Starlight. If nothing else, being some of the few ponies there that couldn’t have their mom around for one reason or another. Starlight and Applejack gain a stronger appreciation between eachother, as they bond over similar circumstances.

UP NEXT: Chapter 18: The Royal Ball, Part 6 - Sweetie Belle’s Performance

[yourheartbeatonthehighline]

Hii Jo, my sunday was good, I didn't do much, watched tv shows and spend time with my family.

I don't know how to explain exactly because the sound of vowels is different but it would be something like Jo-liiiin (Jo as in joke, in as in interesting).

About your thesis that sooo cool, it must be very interesting to know how to analyze the movies that way, and is there a lot of difference between the first version and the current one? And how does feminism influence that?

I really like all the movies, I find it hard to choose I think it would be between the half blood prince and the deathly hallows.

Lately I'm not the best person to give you any music recs because I've pretty much only heard evermore, what's your top 5 on evermore btw? two I heard recently and liked: Garden Song by Phoebe Bridgers and If The World Was Ending by JP Saxe, but in general what I listen the most is pop

Ohhh and I love to read, I read books of all kinds whenever I can, I'm just not much fan of horror novels, and I'll take a look on those you said

I don't exactly have a question, but I'd love to hear a funny story of yours, whether from childhood or a current one, anything you want to tell me

I wish your week is off to a great start

-dra

that’s so interesting haha, ‘ie’ is basically just ‘ee’ in dutch. as for my thesis, I’m still doing my research at the moment so I haven’t started my analysis yet so I can’t give you an answer right now! I’m hoping to start my analysis in like mid- February.

okay I am going to check those out! my top 5 on evermore right now are (in no particular order): ivy, evermore, willow, long story short and marjorie. but I really love all and my top 5 really depends on my mood if I’m being honest. and you?

for a funny story... I actually find this very hard! okay so when I am explaining something I usually use my hands a lot and it’s something that happens without me thinking about it and I hadn’t given it much thought until about a year ago when my friends and I were at a restaurant (when we could still go to a one) and I was telling a story and they noticed that I use my hands a lot. and it was such a funny moment because as they were saying that I was still using my hands to explain something even though I was really trying not to. idk now that I’ve written it down it doesn’t seem funny but it was!!!! and it still makes me laugh so

have a great week dra!! 💛

[theinquisitivemug]

On Meryl Streep and MMA

(This is an old essay* from January, but I just watched "The Hurt Business" so my passions are re-inflamed! BEHOLD! *See "rant") Hello everyone! I just wanted to take some time out of my day to thank Meryl Streep for descending from her pedestal in the heavens to remind we mere mortals that Hollywood is a Xanadu of milk and honey and Mixed Martial Arts are for uncultured, plebeian swine who tape newspapers to their feet because they can't afford shoes. If you're not aware of what I'm talking about, here is her abysmal attempt at a joint Trump/Football/MMA roast at the Golden Globes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnQ6kVkRwek Nice job shoe-horning Football and MMA into your luke-warm Trump dig that's 2 months too late, Meryl. I love that she chose the Canadian and the Kenyan-born Englishman for her barb, as though there weren't any prominent Latino or Muslim actors attending that night that would be more relevant to Trump's proposed immigration reforms. There's also the unintended double-edge to that sword in that her point revolves around immigration being valuable to "real" art, or "THE" arts. Well if MMA isn't art, then I guess we better get around to deporting all of those goddamn Brazilians in the UFC. I heard they all have toxoplasmosis anyway. If you can think of something more condescending than getting on stage at an annual opulent celebrity circle jerk party to tell people what is and isn't art, I'd like to hear it. It's like when your parents would tell you that rap or heavy metal isn't REAL music, or when some rich asshole tells your that you need to get a REAL job. The best part is that she didn't even need to include Football or MMA to make that jab at Trump, but we're discussing an actress giving her opinion on politics, so I suppose not talking about things that you have no experience in is out of the question. Of course, there have been smug, short-sighted pricks telling the masses what is and isn't "art" for decades. In fact, I seem to remember that the majority of critics considered FILM to be a flash in the pan. You know... that thing that YOU do, Meryl? And, of course, they all ended up looking like fools. Then we had Roger Ebert tell us that video games aren't art. Now, depending on where you look and how you quantify film as an industry, the video game industry makes close to or equal to the amount of money that the film industry does, making him look like a fool. Are you starting to see a pattern emerge when someone critiques an art that they don't understand? No? Good, because I have more to say. I think it's pretty obvious why she chose to group Football and MMA together. She's trying to downplay them as some crass, low-brow couch entertainment for some stereotype white trash who drinks light beer, eats nacho cheese out of a can with a plastic spoon, sleeps on a couch-bed, beats their wives, and wears sweatpants to the grocery store. After all, why should NFL players get paid so much money just to run around a field and throw a ball when she has to work SOOO hard? For God's sake, the average yearly salary for an NFL player in 2015 was $860,000, while Meryl is making $825,000 PER EPISODE on The Nix. Oooooh WHOOPS! Guess we can't use that reasoning. Then again, her job is much tougher. She has to go through makeuuuup, memorize her liiiines, and have a director walk her through her performance in case she fucks it all up anyway! She doesn't even have to risk injury like those athletes do! She has stunt doubles for that. Now, you might say that Meryl wasn't dissing martial arts as a whole, rather mixed martial arts specifically. After all, only a complete idiot would try to claim that martial arts, practices that can be traced back to ancient fucking Greece and earlier, is not an art form. Only a complete, stuck up, uninformed, needlessly smug old cunt would say something like that... ... ...So let's examine what would make mixed martial arts somehow less worthy than traditional martial arts, like, say Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu? But wait, Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu has it's roots in Judo, and still operates on many of the same principals. Ahh shit, and Judo is based out an older martial art called JuJutsu. Does that make BJJ a mixed martial art? Is Meryl "I can act so I don't need to know how to defend myself" Streep willing to make that distinction? I think not. What about boxing? That's not a martial art per se but it is a televised combat sport. Do they get a pass? How about Olympic wrestling? I really need her to get back to me on this with her wealth of martial arts knowledge so I can know what forms of combat are considered to be artful in the eyes of an 80-year-old, out of touch elitist. One might also make the argument that she wasn't saying that martial arts aren't artful, but that these football and MMA television programs are not "THE arts," which was her phrasing. Well, in that case, she factually correct. MMA isn't a performance art. It's competition. It's REAL. There's no one to yell "cut" when you screw up. When you screw up in MMA, you GET cut. MMA has real applications outside of entertainment. If Meryl Streep is ever caught in a sticky situation, like say maybe an overzealous fan is stalking her, or someone breaks into her palace, or she gets stuck somewhere sketchy at night, maybe she can try using her "art" to get out of it. I bet she could pull off a Golden Globe worthy performance of a possum. In closing Meryl, your joke was poorly made, your delivery clunky, and your comments on MMA were either ignorant, drooling on the dinner table stupid, or both. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to drink cheap wine straight out of the box to express my contempt for you, you conceited cow.