#pandemic pony

[residenthughes]

we have magic mike at home

pairing: leon kennedy x fem!reader

word count: 1.5k

tags/warnings: inspired by magic mike, fluff, pandemic is mentioned briefly, suggestive? (near the end at least)

summary: planning a wedding is never easy, especially under the stresses of the pandemic. leon wants to help you unwind.

notes: so, this is the fic i was meant to post a few days ago (whoopsies!) but i've had a very busy few days, so i'm quite glad to have had the chance to sit down and post this one 😎 not sure when i'll be posting again, but hope it'll be soon! enjoy :)

Early evening settles in, bringing with it a gentle night’s breeze and the aching sensation that burns the back of your eyelids. It’s a mere two nights before your quaint but glamorous wedding and you think the planning you challenged yourself to undertake is finally taking its toll. Needless to say, your husband-to-be, Leon, helped out in any way he possibly could, suggesting from the get-go to hire a wedding planner with the help of the generous salary you both earn. You politely declined however, citing the personal touches you heavily desired sprinkled into the details of your beautiful day to just remain between you and Leon - no one else. While this is mostly true, you couldn’t bring yourself to admit that forfeiting so much control in the hands of another individual wasn’t exactly something you were interested in doing. Especially on such an important day.

So, you start to plan your wedding and it’s so much fun. The freshness of a new project always is, particularly when a select bunch of your closest friends and Leon are the ones you bounce ideas between, creating a picturesque plan that ensures to capture the beauty of your faithful union in all its glory. You arrange and arrange, sifting through countless wedding dresses for the one, consuming cheeky amounts of cake all in the name of cake-tasting - all the bridal things. You find it truly fulfilling, being so booked and busy, particularly when taking into account how your regular life schedule takes a turn due to the pandemic. Though you remain ever the optimist when Leon checks in with things on your end, sometimes you find yourself out of sorts when the thought of how different things would be if there wasn’t a pandemic happening crosses your mind. Despite your initial discomfort, you would have agreed in hiring a wedding planner as the scale of your wedding would have required doing so, and so many of those who’ve not only touched your life but Leon’s too would be in attendance, rejoicing and celebrating the momentous occasion for what it’s worth.

It’s not as if the quaint outdoor wedding attended by a select bunch of those closest to you two didn’t have a special place in your heart, but when days are long and you feel such a disconnect from your norm, you simply cannot help the thought. Today is one of those days.

Immediately, you gaze down at the sparkling diamond encrusted ring that sits perfectly against your skin, a reminder of your sacred love and there’s a lightness in your chest at the prospect of the piece of jewellery accompanying you for the rest of eternity. The thought gives just a bit of comfort, even if you want so much more. You sigh nevertheless, pushing your glasses back onto your face and getting back to the sickening amount of emails that flood your inbox, put at ease knowing the end of your night will come when the email count reaches 0.

As you sit comfortably against the soft material of the couch in your shared apartment, nearby TV murmuring in the background, you don’t question when you hear the sudden loud of music. Leon returned home not long ago, peppering your forehead with smothering kisses and the promise of joining you after his shower. You do question the music though, when it’s unlike the familiar alternative tones of music that usually play as he showers but the sounds of Ginuwine’s ‘Pony.’ You can’t help but chuckle to yourself at the choice in music, shaking your head in amusement as your shoulders absently move in time with the beat. Your fingers pitter patter against the keys of your laptop, feelings of tension lessening before you hear the door of your bedroom open. You’re so engrossed with typing the last bit of your email that you don’t immediately turn to Leon, who exits the bedroom.

“New addition to the shower playlist, I see.” You muse, grinning as you hit the full stop button and turn to face Leon, face draining of its colour.

Now, in all the time you’ve known Leon, you’ve had countless encounters with him nude, the outline of his veins and bulge of his muscles something you can never tear your eyes from, as if you were seeing them for the first time everytime. His bare state is nothing irregular due to the circumstances, but you’re sorely mistaken. Leon, who you assumed would retreat into the living space in an ivory white towel hung loosely around his sculpted midriff, opts for something else, something else you couldn’t even have guessed.

Black leather crosses the expanse of his legs, flared out at the bottom and gripping his large thighs like a lifeline. A tawny brown belt holds the material to his hips, leather trousers hanging so low your line of sight is abundant in deep v-line and his butterscotch blond snail trail. His rock hard torso glistens as he steps out into the light of the room, strutting in with command as his hand secures the midnight black cowboy hat atop his locks, effectively shielding his eyes. You audibly gulp.

Yet again, another assumption in your mind is combatted. You were under the impression that Leon couldn’t dance, over the course of your relationship the man himself joking he’d have to oil his joints before utter destruction would take place on the dancefloor. This is not the case. Again. Albeit sheepish and amateurish, Leon steps towards you with seductive rolls of his gleaming torso, sleeveless vest outlining the flow of his movements as the long sterling silver feather necklace he adorns nestles onto the space of his cleavage.

At this point, you’re barely blinking, afraid you’ll miss a single second of the amazing spectacle, taking in every inch of Leon as he stops before you. In your trance, you must have placed your laptop somewhere, because it is long gone when Leon’s figure looms over you, suddenly making you feel so small yet so terribly flustered. In one swift motion, the cowboy hat Leon sports falls atop your head, half shielding your eyes. You’re quick to move it further upwards, eying Leon as he shimmes the leather vest down his shoulders inch by inch. Regardless of the overflow of lust that dilates your pupils and leaves you with dry mouth, your smile is innocently amused as you notice the rosy tint of Leon’s cheeks against the porcelain of his skin, lips fighting the timidity that very much craves a downturned smile.

The vest is off Leon’s shoulders and he’s shaking his hips in small circles to align with the lyrics. Lifting a toned arm up to the sky, he swings the material in slow motion, highlighting the shadows of his great muscles and overall being an absolute sex-god. You hear a smack off in the distance where the vest lands and Leon’s grabbing your hands, touch warm and sensual as he guides them onto his torso. Beneath your tingling skin, you discern the mould of Leon’s build - solid, lean and every explicit word that comes to mind. He’s so undeniably sexy, ushering you down the expanse of his toned body with heavy-lidded eyes, but so damn endearing. He tries his very best to settle into the serious stripper persona he’s adopted, but his hands are trembling and he’s biting his lips in order not to burst out laughing and you can’t take it anymore. An airy laugh empties out from the bottom of your belly, gazing up at Leon with all the love and happiness you can muster in your eyes. The instantaneous change in atmosphere is one Leon appreciates, chuckling under his breath as he listlessly keeps with his supposed choreography.

“When you said we have Magic Mike at home, I didn’t think you meant this.” you joke, not even attempting to hide how ludicrous this whole scenario is.

Leon snickers, still preoccupied with your hands as they rest on either side of his waist. “Seemed like a shame to not provide entertainment for your bachelorette party.”

He ghosts your hand over his snail trail, brushing past his cock quick enough for inaction but slow enough for you to make out the semi hard-on he’s working with. There’s a disgusting twist in your abdomen. “Channing Tatum can’t beat this real deal, now can he?”

Aided by the calmer sounds of the next song murmuring behind you, you’re simply confronted with the grapple of the literal context of your current situation. Your legs cross over one another, a rush of humidity showering over you as your front teeth sink into your bottom lip. You want Leon in every possible way, and are sure he feels the same, his desire face to face with you. But you can’t ignore the nuances that envelope you. Observing the long hours you spent organising your wedding, with no occasion planned to drunkenly celebrate together with your friends or seemingly reward yourself for your extensive labour, Leon took it upon himself to be there for you. As he always has been, and you honestly can’t thank him enough.

You press a soft kiss against Leon’s knuckles, peering up at the man who couldn’t be a better face to wake up to for the rest of your life. “I love you so much. Thank you - really.”

His lips curve softly and you’re falling in love all over again. “Don’t mention it.”

[beardedmrbean]

What’s an acceptable tip for a driver who delivers a $20 pizza?

A TikTok video purporting to show a DoorDash delivery driver in Texas swearing at a customer over the $5 tip she gave him has gone viral, sparking fresh online debate over tipping culture in the U.S.

“I just want to say it’s a nice house for a $5 tip,” the driver can be heard saying as he walks away from a home in the door camera video posted to TikTok earlier this week by a user under the name Lacey Purciful.

“You’re welcome!” the resident says, appearing surprised by the remark. “F--- you,” the driver responds before walking away.

“So how much should I be tipping for a $20 pie?” Purciful, who, in a separate post said she herself has worked in the service industry for over 10 years and tips “very well,” wrote in a caption.

Purciful, who did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from NBC News, said the driver was fired by DoorDash following the incident.

A DoorDash spokesperson confirmed that the worker had been removed from their platform. They said the company had also reached out to the customer regarding the incident.

“Respectfully asking for a tip is acceptable but abusing or harassing someone is never acceptable,” the spokesperson said.

“Our rules exist to help ensure everyone who uses our platform — Dashers, customers, merchants — have a safe and enjoyable experience,” they said. “We expect everyone to treat others with respect and we will enforce our rules fairly and consistently.”

The video added fuel to a growing debate in the U.S. over tipping culture, with some complaining current trends may have reached a tipping point.

“Tipping is out of control,” one social media user said, commenting on the video. They said they felt $5 for a $20 order was “more than” enough.”

“I doordash and most (not all) pizza delivery orders don’t tip. That was a Rockstar tip,” another user said.

Not everyone agreed, however, with some branding Purciful a “Karen” for contacting DoorDash over the incident.

One poster said they felt the driver should not have lost their job over the exchange, writing: “What he said was not right, but he didn’t have to lose job over it. Everyone is trying to make a living.”

Another commenter noted that the driver may have been concerned about mileage, writing: “Maybe $5 wasn’t enough.”

The COVID-19 pandemic brought consumer willingness to give tips, particularly during times of hardship, into fresh focus, with many ponying up to pay higher gratuities during the crisis, according to research.

Figures provided earlier this year to NBC News by payment processor Square showed the frequency of gratuities at full-service restaurants grew 17% in the fourth quarter last year from the same period in 2021. Meanwhile, tip frequency at quick-service restaurants, such as coffee shops and fast-food chains, rose 16%, according to the company’s data.

The apparent rise in tipping came despite a period of record inflation, which has eaten away at many consumers’ discretionary income.

While the pandemic appeared to spur widespread changes in tipping culture, the growing use of point-of-service, or POS systems, to process payments also appear to have made it easier than ever for customers to provide — and for businesses to ask for — tips.

In a survey of restaurant executives by industry group Hospitality Technology, 71% of respondents said using data to “understand guest preferences and behavior” was their primary reason for facilitating POS system upgrades, while for 57% enabling new payment options was the priority.

A recent Lending Tree survey found that 60% of Americans felt they were tipping more, NBC Boston reported. Around 24% said they felt pressured to tip when the option was presented, while 41% said they had changed their buying habits due to gratuity expectations and 60% felt tipping expectations had gotten out of hand. _________________

Door dash fired him, your opinion on tips aside that's not how you act to customers unless they are directly rude to you.

[itsamepatches]

"Today was a special day to watch the blooming of cherry blossoms, but things were slowly going downhill with an unusual breed of flowers bursting in place of the anticipated cherry blossoms - and these flowers aren't friendly to anypony; in fact, they infect ponies! This is definitely a Ponyville Petal Pandemic..."

Oh boy, I'm finally drawing ponies and baby dragons (can you tell I've never drawn them before?)

The stages of the (currently) unnamed "petal infection" will be posted in a separate post at a later date :B

Under the cut, I'll share some info about this infection AU of mine:

The mane six (6) are immune, thanks to the Elements of Harmony - Spike is also immune

The group is split into two: Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie -- Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. The reason they're split into mentioned groups isn't random, but rather how much (or how little) luck the characters have in most other infection au(s).

There are 2 different outcomes: Ending 1) happy (a cure is found; however, folks are/will be infected but won't die) Ending 2) bittersweet (a cure is found but there are deaths)

Discord's illness is related to the flowers

[ghostalservice]

A new collab from nomadsland (author of such hits as Old Bae Season and Throat G.O.A.T.!) and me, for day 16 of JanuAUry!

Ed Teach stands in the lobby of the Marriott hotel in Stamford, Connecticut, and wonders if he’s made a terrible mistake.

He’d picked up the hobby as a solitary pursuit. During stakeouts, at first, with a pencil and yesterday’s paper, a quiet diversion while he bided his time waiting for his suspect to poke their nose out of whatever scatter they’ve been lying low in. Years went by, and times had changed, and he moved to doing it on an app, and that had worked to soothe the wild shit in his brain, too, had helped him look like just another bored schmuck rotting his brain on his own pocket-sized idiot box.

And then the pandemic had hit and he’d retired, a double whammy of boredom and not knowing what the fuck to do with himself in the 900 square foot studio apartment that had been nice enough in the 90s but felt more like the pound by April 2020. So, yeah, he’d picked up the crosswords again, and had gotten pretty fucking good at them. When something had come up on his Twitter about a tournament, he’d ignored it at first, but it kept turning up, like a bad penny, and he’d lived in his own fucking brain long enough to learn to trust his instincts. So he’d ponied up the $270 registration fee and booked himself an Airbnb nearby because he’d seen enough stiffs with their throats slit in hotel beds and floaters with their throats slit in hotel baths and crispy critters who’d been electrocuted accidentally-on-purpose in hotel boiler rooms to last him a fucking lifetime, all right? So yeah, fuck the short-term rental market, but at least he could be pretty certain of not bunking down with the fucking Ghost of Strippers Past if he stayed at Cozy Ridgeway Nest (whole unit, 2 br, 2 ba) instead of the fucking Marriott. And now he’s here, rubbing shoulders with the damn intelligentsia, wondering why he’d decided taking his solitary pursuit public sounded like a fun idea. He’s holding a nine-dollar beer and standing in the lobby of the Stamford, Connecticut Marriott hotel on a Friday night regretting all his life decisions when he first spots him.

When he sees the blond guy, his brain can’t help but switch into full-on noir-novel mode, because sue him, he might be a retired P.I. but he still fucking loves a totally inaccurate portrayal of his profession full of stupid jokes and femme fatales.

He walked into the room like a warning, with legs like a stormfront and hair like sunlight on the waves. He lit up the room, but I could almost taste the air of misery that clung to him.

Yeah. Ed’s definitely read too many dime novels.

Read more at AO3!

[g5mlp]

Is there any info on G5’s performance financially? People have been saying it’s been doing poorly since 2021, but there hasn’t really been much evidence. There have been pictures and talk of stores getting rid of it through clearance sales and such, but I find that’s more regional thing; all of stores near me not only still carry MLP, but it rarely goes on clearance, too. To add onto the confusion, Hasbro themselves seems/claims to be confident and investing more money into G5. At the same time, they haven’t mentioned it in an quarterIy report since 2021. I don’t know what think. How do you personally think G5 is doing?

Hasbro has much bigger fish to fry, and they have been cutting costs for basically everything that they can. Wizards of the Coast is now the only part of Hasbro that isn't losing money and Hasbro still laid off lots of that division's staff in December 2023.

Because Hasbro is doing inventory reductions across all their franchises, and because a lot of people have switched to online shopping over the past decade, it's difficult to use anecdotal observations to judge MLP's success. There does seem to be a broad sentiment among MLP toy collectors that the franchise hasn't been doing as well.

The reason that MLP isn't mentioned in Hasbro's investor reports any more is primarily that in 2022 they changed their definition of "franchise brands" and started calling MLP a "portfolio brand" instead, reflecting that it was no longer one of Hasbro's seven biggest brands, but there could be any number of explanations for how that happened.

MLP's no longer been Hasbro's biggest "girl brand" since they got Peppa Pig in 2019.

MLP's growth was primarily because of Friendship Is Magic, and that growth mostly happened before 2015. (Hasbro avoids emphasizing revenue decreases, so that's probably why MLP's revenue wasn't mentioned as a dollar amount after 2015.)

The 2021 movie, My Little Pony: A New Generation, didn't have a properly measurable impact, because its originally-planned theatrical release was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Brian Goldner, who was Hasbro's CEO for about 13 years, died in 2021, and was replaced as CEO by Chris Cocks (yes, that's his real name). It's not clear if Cocks has made any good decisions yet.

It's obvious that both Hasbro and the MLP franchise have seen better days, at least financially, and Hasbro's level of investment into MLP has clearly been decreasing. However, the viral success of G4 isn't something that could be easily replicated, and G4 itself wasn't able to sustain its own viral or financial success. It would probably be fairer to compare G5 to other TV shows/toy lines based on standalone movies than to compare it to G4.

[teriwrites]

about me: a writeblr re-re-re-introduction

Hello! My old pinned post is officially over a year old and makes me cringe whenever I'm on my blog, so it's time to freshen things up again!

me

I'm Teri, I'm smack dab in the middle of my 20s and figuring out life. My writing is pretty exclusively original stuff, a lot of novels and a lot of fantasy, but I play around with various genres in short stories. Sort of a jack-of-all-trades in regards to hobbies - aside from writing, there's anything from baking to drawing with my ancient art tablet to cross-stitch to playing music to rambling around the patch of woods near my house to watching long-form D&D let's plays.

my goals

I recognize that every time I post something like this, it's with the intention of finally becoming as active on writeblr as I was during the pandemic. I also recognize I've never quite managed that.

So here are some more general goals to get me through 2024:

Finish my 2nd draft of Beyond Alder Creek

Write as cringey and brutally honest as I never allowed myself to as a teenager.

Speaking of, a large reading/writing goal of mine is to go back through every NaNo draft I've ever written (I've participated since 2011). So aside from just reading that and likely turning it into a whole spectacle on here for people's amusement, generally just survive reading through the writing from 8th grade. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks lol

Finally, I have a general goal every year of reaching 100K words, between writing and editing and the like, but I'd happily be a little looser with that goal if it meant getting through others.

And now, without further ado:

my writing

Before I get specifically into WIPs, a general overview of the kind of writing you can expect from me:

As I said, I'm a fantasy nerd. I love worldbuilding, both on a large scale (nations and cultures and political relationships) and a small scale (a magic shop in an otherwise contemporary setting).

There's not a lot of romance in my writing, but there Are a lot of transformational relationships and codependency. Friendships, siblings, guardians, general ride-or-dies.

Thought experiments. I've been trying to catch and indulge more in my 'wait, what if?' ideas. Sometimes, that's fun little snippets of silly ideas, sometimes it's a majorly emotionally heavy scene for a story I'll never write. Sometimes, it's coming up with ideas to 'combine genres'. It's all about expanding the range.

wips*

Beyond Alder Creek /// draft 2 /// tag: bac

Winnie Pewitt has never believed in the fae. That is, until her little brother disappears, and she stumbles upon a faerie ring on the edge of town. Inside, a man seemingly carved from gold suggests that he knows who took the boy. With everyone else around their hometown accepting her brother's fate as certainty, Winnie takes it upon herself to craft the perfect deal and enter the realm of the fae with her new companion in tow.

The Lies in the Legend /// draft 1 /// tag: litl

The fictional autobiography of an elven noblewoman who rose rapidly in station and influence from an unremarkable youth to a diplomatic powerhouse. Spanning centuries during the prime of her life, Lady Ghislaine Agassi charts the course of her career and reputation, and highlights the dangers of making myths out of our idols.

*Though these are my primary WIPs, I have a page that covers various other WIPs and projects that I've brought up over the past few years.

I think that about covers everything! As always, I can't make any promises about how the year will wind up and where it takes us. But I will say, I've actually been writing recently, and yk I'm just gonna ride that high.

And for fun, here's some random facts about me:

fun facts

I have degrees in psychology and music!

I've lived across three continents, but currently live in upstate New York for whatever reason lol

The animals I've ridden on the back of include: horse, pony, elephant, and ostrich. The horse was my least favorite. By far.

I got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a couple months after Covid landed stateside (in May 2020) and am Always ready to talk someone's ear off about it.

The first story I ever wrote was on PowerPoint and was about war breaking out between humans and aliens that had taken refuge on Earth after their planet was destroyed. I was 8. There was a Lot of Clipart involved.

I've never been published, but I once secretly planned out, wrote, edited, and self-printed a couple copies of a novel about my best friends and our college apartment. They received it for Christmas last year and loved it (or at least were kind enough to tell me they did)!

[brevityisnotmywit]

Waiting For The Worms

Rabid Pneumonia: Also known as Tar Lung, or Wet Lung. A respiratory disease that eventually attacks the brain of its host, driving them to violence.

The pandemic has been ravaging Equestria for five months...Twilight is running out of time.

(Content Warnings: Zombie AU, Gore, Major Character Death, Disease.)

Five months have passed since the initial outbreak.

One hundred and fifty three long days of fear and mourning.

Two hundred twenty thousand three hundred twenty minutes of desperate attempts to combat this sickness.

It took a few weeks before Twilight had identified the reason they had so much trouble containing the disease. It was something so universal, so basic…something no one could live without.

Water. This damned plague spread through fresh water. True, a bite from an infected creature would transfer it, but its main method of transmission was something every living thing required. It wasn’t even like the princess had meant to discover this. No, she had gone to refill the coolant tanks for her lab when she noticed it.

Some poor filly, lost in the pain of the sickness, had dragged her broken body to the banks of the river. This puzzled Twilight. By this point, it was clear that the little pony was in the final stages of Rabid Pneumonia. She would have been suffering from hydrophobia, surely. And yet here she was, gagging on the black bile flooding her lungs. After many long moments, the pathetic creature hurls herself into the stream, startling Twilight.

Of course she was aware of how often they had to fish bodies out of the reservoir. She’d just presumed that it was due to the rainy season washing them downhill…she had a new panel to run.

After that, they tasked the pegasi and dragons with getting the word out. All water had to be boiled and filtered before drinking. It helped, but not nearly enough.

Month two is when they had to accept that magic wouldn’t fix this. The four princesses had called upon Discord to work towards a spell to address this. Between the five of them, there was nothing they couldn’t do…or so they thought.

Tar Lung could bounce back from anything they cast.

Discord was particularly stunned by this. He certainly wasn’t used to putting in effort to get what he wanted. By the time it was clear that they would have to resort to modern medicine, the draconequus seemed to fall into a depressive episode. He’d blipped away, presumably to the fortified home he had built for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The latter had moved in after she’d lost her husband and their daughter…

Shortly after that, Cadence had heard of the illness reaching the Crystal Kingdom. She rushed home, only to report that she would be unable to leave her people. A week later, Twilight received the news that her brother had contracted it.

She scowled, and shook her head. If her magic didn’t help, that was fine. Twilight never let herself lose sight of the practical side of her studies. She was particularly skilled in chemistry. So she called upon anyone experienced in medicine. Earth ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, Kirin, Zebras, if you knew your way around a lab, you were invited.

Zecora had been a big help to their cause. She had convinced a few buffalo to join her, one of which was Little Strongheart’s daughter. The zebra made it clear that Twilight was to show the utmost respect to all who answered her summons. If the princess didn’t understand traditional methods, that didn’t mean they had no merit.

The implied accusation stung, but Twilight understood why Zecora made it. She’d definitely had moments of dismissing science she considered primitive.

As it would turn out, some of the biggest advances the team made began with the group helmed by the zebra. Their deep knowledge of the local ecosystem had resulted in significant breakthroughs. They hit a snag when the disease mutated again. The first documented jump was to the local population of timber wolves. They hadn’t anticipated it would be able to spread to plants…

Ink Rot meant a whole different threat.

Applejack wasted no time in assembling a crew to figure out why their crops had begun to die. Clearly it was related to the pandemic, but how? Tar Lung started as a respiratory disease, it shouldn’t impact this.

And yet, here they were.

Thankfully Ink Rot didn’t seem to be able to transmit to animals. At least, not like the virus could. It definitely could make you sick if you consumed too much contaminated matter. But it just resulted in something akin to food poisoning. The biggest danger was how it weakened the immune system.

Anyone recovering from Ink Toxicity was significantly more likely to contract Tar Lung. Even if they took every possible precaution. The sickness was getting stronger every passing moment.

Applejack was the one that suggested rain was no longer safe. After the outbreak, Cloudsdale had allowed the weather to self-regulate. They would do their best to prevent natural disasters, but their numbers had been falling to the virus at a significant rate.

As the storms rolled through, cases would skyrocket. Out of frustration, Applejack lamented that the petrichor smelled sour. Of course. Of course it was the rain. They couldn’t possibly boil every lake in the world.

The timber wolves had started to reach the final stages, so they would likely be drowning themselves like the previous carriers. Zecora had guessed that Ink Rot stemmed from their decaying branches.

Twilight issues a command to have Cloudsdale evacuated. She finds some comfort in the knowledge that Dash wasn’t around to see her home in this state…wherever she was. The princess tried not to dwell on her fallen friends. They both would just tell her to keep working on the cure.

A few days after the fall of the pegasi kingdom, Zecora caught it. The moment the acidic bile began to seep from her snout, she walked into a holding cell. She reassured Twilight from her glass cage that everything would make sense soon. The alicorn had everything she needed to save the world.

It was a rough few weeks, watching one of her most valuable teammates collapse under the strain of the sickness. Watching as it reached her brain, being forced to hear the zebra rip at her burning chest. The wet choking echoing off the walls…Twilight cried herself to sleep regularly.

She was failing her community. She was running out of time.

Which brings us to now. 

Five months.

One hundred and fifty three days.

Two hundred twenty thousand three hundred twenty minutes.

A brilliant flash blinds the princess. She scrubs at her eyes, squinting against the light. She’s surprised at who stands before her. The lord of chaos himself. Discord had returned. He looks exhausted. His thin mane had grown out, forming mats that swung heavily as he offered a half-hearted bow. His mismatched eyes were haunted…something was wrong.

“Discord?” Twilight asks softly, not wanting to startle him. The lab had too many delicate items to risk him bolting on her. “...What happened?”

It was clear from his expression that he anticipated the question. The draconequus knew she was a clever one. She saw right through him. As per usual. His voice is rough, as though he’d been screaming for hours.

“Observant as always, princess .” He spits out her title like the word is rotten on his tongue. “I take it you’re not getting anywhere?”

The jab digs into her spirit like an arrow. Twilight’s wings lift subtly, making her appear bigger. “We’ve made significant progress towards a cure. We’ll have our vaccine by the end of the year.” She snorts, flicking her tail. “Not that you care.”

The air shifts. Discord’s form distorts, chaos magic leaking out. The princess catches a glimpse of his true appearance. A twisting fractal, branching out into impossible angles and planes. He snarls, teeth rotating and multiplying endlessly. After a very tense moment, he reels his power in. The window into his reality closes.

The venom in his voice remains. “I resent that accusation.”

Twilight forces herself to stand strong. She was the only one that could fight him if needed. “State your business.” She snaps. “But I’m only going to warn you once. If you do anything to jeopardize our work, I will not hesitate to stop you. Keep that in mind.”

“Oh I’m so frightened, I just might shake myself apart.”

“ Discord .” She takes a step towards him.

“Ugh, you’re still no fun.” He rolls his eyes. Literally. Before Twilight can respond, Discord’s tone becomes serious again. “I’m here to help you.”

“You know none of our magic works against it.” The princess reminds him.

“ Yes . I am distinctly aware of how useless I appear to you.” He folds his arms, his tail flicking with irritation. “This whole thing has gone too far. You need someone that can get you anything in a matter of seconds. I am your obedient servant .”

He punctuates this with another, more dramatic bow.

Something’s happened, Twilight realizes. “Not that I’m going to turn you down but…why are you offering this now? You could have shown up at any moment, you know.”

“They caught it.” Discord states bluntly.

Twilight doesn’t need clarification on who ‘they’ are.

“I couldn’t protect them…I poured everything I had into keeping my-” He pauses, glancing away. “Keeping them safe from this. You know me, I could care less if this world implodes…or at least I did. I’m a selfish creature, it’s in my nature. I’m sure you understand.”

The princess nods, motioning for him to continue.

“...I can’t let them die, Twilight. I might not be able to snap this disease out of existence, but if I can do even the smallest thing to help expedite your work?” Discord meets her eyes, and she can see a hint of his old resolve. “I’ll make it happen. Just say the word…and please, we may be desperate, but let’s not forget our manners, hm?”

A harsh laugh bubbles up from Twilight’s chest. She can’t believe this is what it took to snap Discord from his isolation…actually, yes she can. This was perfectly in character for him.

“Alright. We can discuss details later, right now I need-” She was interrupted by a panicked Spike bursting into the room.

“Hey! Twilight, I’ve got a message from the Castle!” The dragon holds it out, allowing his friend to grab it with her magic.

She unfurls it, expecting a long update. What she does find, however, are three sentences that chill her to the bone.

‘The disease has breached the barrier. The Sisters are no longer with us. Please hurry…”

[bastardtrait]

Scooter Legacy 2020 - generations 1-9

ya know, I was gonna make individual posts about the old generations of this save, since they're coming here from their old home on dreamwidth, but I'm really lazy so we'll just go with the one. a primer post. why not.

for a bit of background, I started this save in the middle of the start of the pandemic, right after completing another legacy, and I blasted through this thing in like, 2 years? I had never felt so fuckin productive. let’s ignore the fact that stopped playing for 1.25 years after generation 8 though. okay.

to the shock of nobody, each colour-coded generation had some story that eventually just devolved into pure gameplay. listen when i tell you i'm a one trick fuckin pony, i mean it. here's what happened:

Generation 1: Percy Scooter and Sebastian Park. my founders. Percy was the sheltered only child of a rich old Chinese woman who hired Sebastian to be her butler and personal service worker. awkward enemies to lovers plot ensues. they had 2 kids: Ollie (who died as a child) and Josie.

fun fact: I was looking at my timeline and it makes perfect sense that Percy's mother, Francie Chen, would've been the younger sister of Chen Ruiyang (Lucky Legacy). they even had the same last name. so I made that canon. duh.

Generation 2: Josie Scooter and Matangi Silva. childhood friends. Mat left town to become a vet, and Josie tracked him down to continue their fledgling romance they had as teenagers. they also had a fuck ton of animals, one of which was the iconic Mayor Whiskers. they had 1 kid: Randy.

Generation 3: Randy Scooter and Collin Pix. Randy, Collin and Ripp Grunt from TS2 were roommates at a college that psychologically broke down students before selling them to aliens for Nefarious purposes. it was kind of a lot. they ran away to Sulani and had 3 kids: Willow, Xander and Landon.

Generation 4: Landon Scooter and Toro Katalunan. childhood friends that reunited as adults that tackled off the grid living together. their friendship and eventual romance persisted through awkward misunderstandings and island ghosts. they had two children: Kai and Sully.

Generation 5: Sully Scooter and Ori Delgado. Ori guided Sully through the jungle in the search of a cure for the genetic condition they were born with (I also brought this up during my flop reclaimed roots legacy). kissing ensued. they had three children: Luca, Brianna, and Damián.

side note: I also started a side story about the Strangerville mystery that coincides with this generation. this family went on to spawn Dakota Dinh, co-founder of the Lucky Legacy. it's all circular y'know?

Generation 6: Damián Scooter and Hari Rotan. I fucking hated this generation because it was Eco Lifestyle. I don't remember the story and I don't want to. they had two kids: Laila and Yasmin.

Generation 7: Laila Scooter and Kawahara Koichi. Laila, a giant fucking twat, goes to university and makes enemies with everyone except the anti-social weirdo that loves robotics. then they terrorised Evergreen Harbour together. they had one child: Xavier, who they sorta neglected ngl lmfao

Generation 8: Xavier Scooter and Fayrouz al-Dimashqi. my FAVOURITE! generation. Xavier, a traumatised individual, moves to San My and has his icy heart opened up by the warm and welcoming Fayrouz. unfortunately, he died before his time, leaving Fayrouz a widow. they had one child: Kaleb.

Generation 9: Kaleb Scooter and Natasha Deleon. Kaleb and his gf Jaesha, family vloggers, are pressured into a wedding for their viewers, which is being planned by Natasha, Kaleb's childhood friend. they run away together from Kaleb's livestreamed wedding. they had three kids: Aaron, Evan, and Naomi.

which leads us to where we are today, with Naomi and Taryn forming Generation 10, and Dexter about to launch Generation 11. let's see where this goes next!

[boliv-jenta]

I've tried to post this old fic from AO3 multiple times. I think Tumblr rejected it because it wasn't Pedro content.🤣

Bucky Barnes x f!reader

Easy read smut.🔞 Fluff in the end.

It was laundry day at the Avenger's compound. This was clearly evident by the man once known as the notorious Winter Soldier sat on the sofa wearing sweatpants with a hole in the knee and a pink My Little Pony t-shirt that Tony had bought him as a joke about his long flowing mane. Bucky had had his hair cut within a week.

Sam was sat next to him wearing a similar bottom of the barrel outfit. They didn't even notice you enter the room as they were too glued to their video game. You had decided to go do your laundry when they had put it on, despite their half hearted offer for you to join them. They tried to be polite and hide it but you knew it bugged them no end that you were effortlessly better than them at it.

"I only have half a load of whites. Don't think am going to make a habit of doing your laundry but do you have anything else I can throw in?" You had the laundry basket balanced on your hip. Your Hello Kitty short shorts and vest top on full display.

Sam answered with a quick "No, thanks!" while leaning forward on the sofa as his match became more intense.

Bucky, who had already lost and was reclining in his seat, sat up sharply. His eyes swept up you figure before meeting yours. "I might. Let me go check." He stood, passing unnecessarily close to you before walking off in the direction of his room.

You stood in the utility room sorting your laundry and thinking about Bucky moving passed you. You could practically feel the heat radiating from his body. He always smelled so good. Even in the stolen moments after a mission, when you both were covered in sweat and dirt. When his body would be pressed into yours as he took you roughly. The both of you using up the excess adrenaline in your systems. Since the pandemic things were quiet on the mission front. Who knew even the bad guys would take the precautions seriously? There was no excuse for you and Bucky to sneak off for a little 'stress relief'. You missed his touch but if you admitted that you'd have to talk about that fact that it wasn't just his touch that you missed. You missed him dropping his defences. You missed the sweet words he'd whisper in your ear in languages he didn't think you understood. You missed him.

You were jarred out of your thoughts by the sound of the door opening behind you. In the reflection of the metal splash back of the sink you saw Bucky enter the room and closed the door.

"Hey Buck." you called over your shoulder as you carried on with your work. Suddenly, you felt a hand grip the base of your ponytail. Bucky used it as leveraged to pull you flush against him.

"Don't you 'Hey Buck' me." He voice was low, his words were almost a growl. Maybe you should have been scared, you weren't, you knew Bucky wouldn't hurt you. You did grab at him instinctively to get him off you. His lower body pinned yours to the counter. He quickly grabbed your hands, held them both in his metal hand and return his other hand to your hair. He then pushed you forward until your upper body was pressed fully into the counter. The both of you knew that you were trained well enough to get out of his hold easily. If you wanted to that is.

He leaned over you. "You think you can just say 'Hey Buck' and act all innocent after what you've done?" Before you could ask what he meant by that he stood up. He released his hold on your hair and placed his free hand on your hip. He widened his stance to drop his hips level with yours. He pulled you back as he pressed his hardened length against your ass. You moaned at the feeling as well as the memory of what he could do with it.

"You think you can go getting me this hard and not do anything about it, doll?" His voice was strained with the effort of holding back from fucking you right that second.

"In my day women had more respect, they didn't go around showing off their assets, getting men all worked up." The part of your brain that would have called him on that misogynistic bullshit had seemingly taken leave of it senses along with the rest of your brain. All you could think about was him.

"What do you want me to do for you, Sarge?" you asked as innocently as possible. You felt his dick twitch at the nickname.

"You're going to be a good girl and let me used this pretty pussy to work my cock until I come." It was the first time Bucky had ever said something dirty, in English anyway. It had you practically dripping. He pulled your little shorts down and off your legs. His sweatpants quickly followed. He took his length in his hand ran it up and down your folds he hissed at the contact. You groaned every time his thick head brushed your clit. After a few more passes he finally lined himself up with your entrance. You both moaned loudly as he slipped the tip in.

Your pussy clenched around him, desperately wanting more. "Oh fuck, you're so wet. What's got you like this, huh?"

You could hear the smirk on his face as he spoke. In one smooth thrust he slid inside completely. You let out a silence scream and your knees gave way as he hit that spot deep inside. Wrapping his metal arm around your waist he took your weight and hoisted you up. He grasped your throat, tilted your head back to gain free access to all the spots he knew you loved to have kissed. As he worked his way down from that spot behind your ear to the junction of your neck and shoulders his thrusts were shallow and slow. He gripped your hips and leaned his body back to allow him to thrust deeper. You gripped the counter to keep yourself steady.

Considering all his big talk about just using you to get himself off, he seemed to be taking his time about it. You wonder for a moment if he had missed you just as much as you missed him. You thought about what it would be like to go on dates with him, to be able to touch him whenever you like, to call him yours. You trembled as your orgasm washed over you. Bucky groaned as he felt you come around him. In a flurry of movement Bucky pulled out of you, turned you to face him, picked you up and buried himself inside you again.

"I don't remember saying you could come." He spat as he drove into you hard and fast. All you could do was wrap your legs around him and hold on to him. You could feel every one of his muscles moving against you. You wanted nothing more than to run your hands over them but with the force Bucky was pounding into you letting go wasn't a wise move. When he finally started to falter you managed to loosen your grip. Moving back, you got a look as his face, contorted in pleasure. He was so beautiful. At that moment he opened his eyes. You both looked at each other. Despite being completely naked together, exploring every inch of each other's bodies, you had never been this intimate. Staring straight into your eyes, he moved forward and rested you gently on the counter top. His fingers threaded back into your hair as his hand gently cupped you face. He kissed you softly, his tongue rolled against yours. He'd stopped thrusting completely, content to just stay sheathed completely in your warmth. He kissed you gently, slowly, thoroughly for a long time before slowly beginning to thrust inside you again. This time his thrusts were shallow and rhythmic. He trailed his flesh hand down from your face, skimming his finger tips lightly over your nipple before slipping them between your folds and circling your clit. You moaned into his mouth as another orgasm began to build inside you. He stopped kissing you to catch his breath but kept his mouth hovering over yours. As you both neared climax, you moaned in unison. He pressed kisses to you lips, face and every bit of skin he could reach. He groaned deeply as he came. He continued to rub you clit until you came long and hard around his softening length. You both stopped dead when you heard a noise in the hallway. You tried to slow your breathing right down as Sam knocked on the door.

"Hey Y/N, when you're done doing laundry, Rhodes needs to talk to you." As Sam spoke both of you stayed as still as possible.

"Ok Sam. I'll be right there." You let out a sigh of relief as Sam's shadow moved under the door. You press a small triumphant kiss to Bucky's lips as he smiled.

"Oh and Y/N? Tell 'Laundry' Rhodes wants to speak to him too." Bucky hung his head as he realized he was never going to hear the end of this. You laughed as you jumped down to pick up your discarded clothes.

"Hey Buck, you didn't used to believe that shit about women dressing modestly did you?"

He chuckled as he put his sweatpants on. "No. I just figured since we usually only hook up when we're pissed off. I better keep you angry." You finished fixing your clothes back in place. "Maybe next time you want to hook up, you could use a more conventional method like buying me coffee?"

He half smiled at you. "Like a date?"

You wrapped your arms around his neck. "Exactly. You got a problem with that?" You sassed.

He wrapped his arms around your waist holding you close. "No, ma'am." He beamed at you, leaning in.

Before his lips could meet yours Sam banged on the door again. "Hey Laundry, don't even think about putting another load in, we've got to go."

Bucky slumped his shoulders in defeat. "I hate him."

You opened the door in time to catch Sam laughing loudly as he walked away.

[redstonedust]

aye fellow person rescued by the coast guard, what’s your story (if you want to share)? i was 7 and on a ring floaty and realized i was out too far and froze and my mom didn’t notice til too late lol. it was fine tho

IM GLAD YOU WERE FINE OOF. mine was very silly but i love telling the story hang on this is gonna be a deep dive bc the context around the rescue is far wilder than the rescue itself.

ok its like a year into the pandemic, mid august, and i MISS going outside.. i decide f*ck it, i'm going camping. i ask a discord bot which direction to go, get on a bus, and end up on a beach i only visited as a child. i'm like... hey. ive never been past the rocky outcrop at the end of this beach. i wonder whats down there??

the answer is more rocks. lots of large, slippery rocks. eventually i stumble across a wooden structure surrounded by trash that looks like someone was living there. i say screw it, set up my tent, and start watching a my little pony video essay while i cook marshmallows. a drunk polish man stumbles along the beach, sees me camping, and calls me crazy. i assume he came from the holiday park about a mile further down the coast. he wanders off in the direction i came from.

a few hours later, its dark, and i hear movement outside my tent. i'm scared sh*tless but i peek out and find out the same drunk man. he's bleeding profusely and missing a shoe. turns out those rocks were NOT kind to him. he's still drunk and wants to sleep in my tent and i'm like... okay no. so i pack it away, call emergecy services, and start helping him limp down the beach.

its around this time i find out that we've been completely cut off by the tide. while i'm on the phone he starts climbing the cliffside and disappears. the coastguard pulls in, i explain the situation, and get a ride back to safety while they launch a ground search for the guy. i later find out we were on like the most notoriously deadly stretch of coastline on my island and also this guy is notorious for disappearing and has had emergency services called on him like 5 times.

anyways i got a ride home and woke up to 15 texts from my mom asking what the hell happened because last thing she heard i was heading towards [redacted] bay and now theres local news about a couple of idiots being rescued. also they accidentally reported us as a couple. i have not been camping since. god bless.

[jessicalprice]

Gus

So to understand Gus’s role in my household, you have to understand my other cats. 

This is Lucy:

She was a tiny little shelter kitty when I adopted her, and it very quickly became apparent (this was in the before times, when I went to an office every day) that she could not be an only cat, because she was deeply sad and anxious being left home alone all day.

So I adopted a kitty she had been fostered with, who’d been kind of the big sister to the other foster kitties. Molly was very maternal, and helped my small orange fluffhead with navigating life.

Molly died from cancer when Lucy was 9. 

Lucy was pretty distraught. She stopped eating and spent her time wandering the apartment, searching and calling for Molly.

So I decided she needed a little brother (I wasn’t going to try to replace her big sister). A big, sweet, silly teddy bear of a little brother who’d keep her busy. Up until that point, I’d assumed all my kitties for the rest of my life would be shelter cats, but in this case I needed a pretty specific temperament, so I went to a Maine Coon breeder who focused primarily on temperament rather than size or coat patterns. 

And that was how I got Max. 

Lucy was very “thanks, I hate it,” at first, but she was annoyed, and annoyed is better than grieving yourself to death. And she comforted him when he would get scared the same way Molly had comforted her, and heaved a lot of big resigned sighs, and let him cuddle with her as long as he bathed first. 

So just as we were going into pandemic lockdown, I moved in with a dear friend, into her tiny rental house with a beautiful fenced in backyard and her two dogs and her cat. 

Lucy pretended to hate it (although she adored my friend), but Max was the happiest he had ever been, and probably the happiest he will ever be. He had a giant dog bro-friend, and my friend’s kitty was the cool older girl he had a little-boy crush on, and her elderly chihuahua was the matriarch of the household whose approval he desperately wanted but whose food he felt compelled to steal. He had a safe little Eden to explore with his friends. And he had two moms!

It was a pretty great year and a half for both of us, but I think I can safely say that it was absolute bliss for Max. 

And then I bought a house and we moved out. 

And Max spent several weeks in my closet, with his face to the wall, all day. He’d come down at night and eat, but he was obviously, manifestly depressed and grieving the loss of all his friends.

And then my housemates moved in, with their 18-month old boy kitty, and Max came out of his closet and was pretty happy again. They weren’t intending to stay long, though.

I knew Lucy and I weren’t enough for him. His ideal world is probably a commune with like at least 5 or 6 other people and 20 dogs and a whole bunch of cats (he LOVED fostering kittens when we were living with my friend) and probably some chickens and goats and maybe a pony. He has a lot of love in him and it’s more than Lucy, who’s a senior kitty, and I can satisfy.

When he’s lonely, he starts bothering Lucy a lot to play with him or cuddle him when she wants to sleep.

So I adopted Gus, Max’s cousin, who was about 18 months younger than Max. 

The thing I didn’t know when I arranged to adopt him was that during the pandemic, the breeder sold a lot fewer cats than usual, so she ended up with a house full of Maine Coons. She admitted to me that she didn’t have time to pay as much attention to the older kittens because she was focusing on the younger ones.

Gus’s siblings had all been adopted, so he was the only one left from his litter.

And it became apparent that he had been DESPERATE to be adopted, or at least to have SOMEONE pay attention to him.

Picture the little boy at the orphanage carefully making sure he is perfectly dressed every day and talking to himself in the mirror all gosh darnit, you are smart and you are handsome and you are HIGHLY ADOPTABLE and today is going to be the day. 

He had the most profound Polite Little Chap energy you’ve ever seen.

He was perfectly behaved for the entire five-hour drive back from the breeder’s, and then I put him in the guest room and gave him an hour to get used to the room and decompress, then went in there. 

Video here.

He was not sure if this was for real, or forever, but he was determined to make a good impression and not put a foot wrong and prove he was HIGHLY ADOPTABLE gosh darnit. 

Is this string for me? Do you want to play? Let me show you how good I am at playing! I can play very dramatically but will never, ever claw you! May I touch you? May I rest my head on your knee? Is this okay? May I headbutt you? 

He was so desperate to prove he was a Good Boy and I kept trying to communicate to him that he didn’t have to prove anything, I had already adopted him. 

If I looked at him, like at all, he would start treading the floor and purring.

I had planned to give him 3-5 days of adjustment time in the guest room, and in the house when Lucy and Max were locked up, before introducing him to Max, but Max was being all MAX WILL LITERALLY DIE IF HE DOESN’T GET TO MEET THE BABY and Gus was purring and headbutting the door, so I let them meet on Day 2. 

There were maybe 20 seconds of hissing and then they were best friends.

Growing up with like 30 other Maine Coons had given Gus pretty exquisite cat social skills, so he won cranky, suspicious Lucy over with shocking quickness.

He decided his goal in life was to be everyone and everything’s support animal, including machines like the dishwasher. Sometimes it makes a squeaking noise when it changes cycles and he always goes running over and puts a paw on it and makes encouraging chirps, like you’ve got this, friend, you can do it!

Anyway, the moral of this story is that every other cat I have acquired has, in some way, been for the benefit of Lucy and I hope she appreciates that. 

[thiziri]

‘An honour to showcase our work’: Princess Royal visits community stables.

The British Horse Society (BHS) recently welcomed their Vice-Patron, HRH The Princess Royal to a riding school in Birmingham to see how it is benefiting young people in the area.

Summerfield Stables is an inclusive community group with a core aim to ensure that all children and young people, regardless of sex, race, age or disability, in the local area have the opportunity to interact with horses, and the benefits this can bring.

This comes at a time when the equine industry’s riding centres and livery yards continue to face great challenges, with the BHS reporting a 15% reduction in riding schools since 2018.

“It was an honour to host HRH The Princess Royal and to showcase the important role that horses have in our community, as well as the difference they make to children’s lives,” said Georgian Urwin, Volunteer and Part-Qualified Stage 4 Coach at Summerfield Stables.

“Founded in 1970 by Roslyn Tedd-Urwin, for over 50 years Summerfield Stables has been an important presence in the community, offering opportunities for young people and volunteers which has been even more in demand since the Covid pandemic. Today, HRH has had the opportunity to see this first hand.”

The Princess Royal watched demonstrations from a host of the Approved Centre’s participants and volunteers. These comprised of an introduction to the BHS’s Pony Stars programme, which offers children the chance to discover, develop and nurture their love for ponies and the outdoors. Bobby, the BHS’s Equine Personality of the Year 2020 also made a star appearance.

HRH The Princess Royal heard from participants of the BHS Changing Lives through Horses initiative which the stables has been running since last year.

“It was a privilege and an honour to introduce our Vice-Patron HRH to Summerfield Stables and all those who work so hard to make it such a success,” said James Hick, Chief Executive Officer at the BHS. “We know that the horse/human relationship can be transformational for wellbeing, and it is great to champion those centres who are so passionate about providing all young people with their first interaction with horses.

“Together, we must continue to ride by the side of every equestrian and all those who care so passionately for them. Our riding schools are a critical part of this, helping to make sure they have access to education, horse care and welfare, practical riding tuition and most importantly, an inclusive and welcoming environment.”

© Your Horse | 7 April 2023.

[bonefall]

Do you have plans to add more wildlife? I'm early in research for Forest Territory wildlife and God, did they miss out.

There's PONIES, Bonefall. PONIES!!!

(I've been looking at New Forest because that's what it's apparently based on, even if it's not I'm still using it as a base point)

I do have a couple plans to add more fauna! Specifically, wild boars are going to be largely replacing many of the fatal encounters with badgers and foxes. It bothers me how badgers act like small bears, cats ducking and weaving under their legs as if they're huge, when they're barely larger than a cat.

"Then the badger roared!!" Girl no it didn't. I'll SHOW you a roar,

[guy who's only ever played spore: "getting some serious spore vibes from this..."]

But yeah if you look into British ecology, you are going to find a lot of places that REQUIRE semi-feral wild livestock. New Forest in particular is a great example-- first the pigs are sent out for 'pannage' to clean up acorns and nuts, then the cattle, sheep, and ponies are turned out to graze.

This is because these environments have evolved with these animals in mind. Moorland in particular needs regular grazing and/or burning, else it will turn into sparse woodland. There's even talks of reintroducing the European Buffalo, but so far there's one place in southern England with 3 individuals (it might be 4 now, but they were delayed in importing a bull because of the pandemic last I checked).

I actually moved out of New Forest for my redux though! I'm up north, and my tail is in Wales. It matched the bizarre geography of canon a lot more, there's no mountains in that part of England. Here I marked us on the map,

"Why exactly DID you move, Bones?"

The sun sets in the west The TNP journey sent them west to the ocean, because they have to be standing on a west-facing beach to watch 'the sun drown'. Soooo.... they can't have gone to Bristol, because you will see Wales across the Bristol Channel, and the sun will not 'drown'. Does that mean they went to Somerset?? They CAN'T have gone to Somerset, because...

Southern England is flat as a board There is no mountain in that part of Somerset. The closest mountain is Exmoor, in Western Somerset/Northern Devon. Either way, that's a long ass journey which makes it even more ridiculous that cats can travel back and forth alone. (Btw you could make this work, but you'd need to make the Journey a lot longer and harder... or move the starting point further west. There is also a cryptid called the Beast of Exmoor which could have been Sharptooth. It is described as a puma-like cat.)

Northern England is generally better preserved There's more forest coverage and conservation the further north you go, generally. The rivers are healthier, there's less invasive species, more rare NATIVE species, etc. It's not perfect (ALL of England got decimated ecologically by the Victorians and the Postwar suburban expansion) but it does give me more breathing room.

Not to mention that the Lake Territory looks just like the Lake District. For real it even has the little meeting island. Look,

[weimardamon]

I don't care that the popularity of the pony virus has already passed, I still decided to draw a Medic in the universe with a virus >:D

Here is some information about him:

Name: Ludwig

Profession:Doctor

Stage of infection: The first, but it does not progress further due to the fact that the Medic was in contact with Uber before the outbreak of the virus pandemic, from this his body entered into symbiosis with the virus.

Reason:? #? @?#?#?@?##?#?#?#?#?##?@?@?#?#?@?@?###?#?#?#?#?

Sleep:39%

Hunger:17% (He hardly eats, as he is developing a cure for the virus)

Small facts about him:

–In a state of hunger, the pupils dilate very much and can overlap the iris

–He can eat like people (usually infected people do this) Just like with ordinary food

, He gathered an entire sect in the main square of Two Fort, an entire fucking sect!!!

– At first he was considered zero infected, but then it turned out that he was not the first infected with the virus

[tallowandport]

https://www.tumblr.com/tallowandport/742177476402446337/the-mlp-infection-au-brainrot-has-gotten-to-me?source=share

Your au seems so intresting so far but gotta ask and sorry if this is spoilers for the story...just excited to see more and so curious:

Why would Celestia release such a devastating plague? Did the pony population get too big and she needed to kill some off in order to prevent overpopulation? If that guess is right, I'm curious if this will turn into a situation where Celestia is like "yes...yes the plan is working perfectly....ok maybe a little too perfectly...oh dear me, ok maybe I made this plague a little TOO strong because at this rate, ponies are going to go extinct...what have I done!?!?!"

Or was it originally intended to kill off an enemy of equestria buuuut it accidently reached ponies instead of the enemies and Celestia doesn't want to admit it was her because she knows it news that she caused a devastating virus and had planned to basically do virus warfare, the ponies would be VERY upset?

Or...those are just some guesses on my end on why Celestia would make such a horrifying virus and decide to release it. (Hopefully she was smart enough to make a cure so in the middle of the pandemic, she could pretend to be a savior and cure the ponies...if not or if the virus had evolved into a new strain that the cure doesn't work on due to the amount of hosts it had gone through, equestia is screwed.)

Also...two questions I wonder if Celestia thought about if she infected the ponies on purpose and not some accident happening when trying to attack an enemy...who is she suppose to rule if she had noone to rule over? How does she rule an empty kingdom? Bet she didn't think that tiny tibit through.

Still sorry for so many questions and stuff, just so invested in the story and curious about it and can't wait to see what happens!

Lol, no worries! I do actually have a rough draft of an evil monologue Celestia goes on about why she does this.

It is still a rough draft though, so I might change some details later, but here it is for now! I think this should answer all your questions.

Here's a transcript for accessibility:

[transcript]

This whole thing is Celestias evil monologue:

"Do you know how many times I've remade the world, Twilight? Of course not. Because this world is the only one you've ever known."

"I've done this so many times. At first, it was merely out of necessity. The first few worlds were destroyed by sheer accident and freak chance. Diseases, natural disasters, that sort of thing. And then it was War."

"I must've snapped at some point, maybe I lost hope? It's been so long that I've forgotten."

"The wars and conflicts got to me. I began destroying and remaking the world in order to get a fresh start, clear my head, make it perfect 'next time'"

"This world has probably been my best one yet. I even thought it could be the last one I'd ever need to make."

"But... Lunas rebellion a thousand years ago was the first worrying sign."

"I almost destroyed everything then and there, but then I thought... 'well, what world wouldn't benefic from a little interesting history?' so I held off."

Then, you came along, and it felt like my wish for conflict resulution could finally be solved... for the first few disasters."

"but then, conflicts just Kept Popping Up."

"You would solve one, and then an entirely new, unrelated, issue would present itself!"

"As if you were not a cure, but a magnet!"

"I can't let this go on. I am sick and tired of something always coming along to ruin my world."

"But I am also sick and tired of destroying the world like I usually do."

"So I decided on something different this time around... I thought releasing somethingslow and agonising onto the populace, something that'd make them destroy the world on their own, would be entertaining to watch... And you know what?"

"It has been the most fun I've had in AEONS."

[End of transcript]

Tldr: Celestias actually some sort of perfectionist God that's been destroying and recreating the world whenever something doesn't go exactly as she planned, and this time she decided to have fun with the destruction.

Ah, and as for why Luna, Discord, Cadence, and all them aren't mentioned is (for now, this is still a rough draft, this could change in the future) the fact they aren't actually gods, Celestia created them, too. And gave them the pretence that they had power.

Part 1, part 2

[eldritchbean-shapeshifter]

Meet the Bean

(I will be updating this post as I discover and draw my forms)

Name: Genna Brooks

Pronouns: She/Her & Shay/Ter

LGBT Status: Genderqueer, PanDemic (panromantic & demiromantic), Asexual (repulsed)

Nonhuman (NOT therian or otherkin)

Eldritch Shapeshifter

No True Form. Always more than meets the eye.

My forms/sonas:

Human

Toon Ink Demon (based on Bendy and the Ink Machine) - 3 variations

"Shapeshifter" (based on the Shapeshifter from A Hat In Time)

Pokémalgam - 2 variations

Luna Moth - 5 variations

Water - 5 variations

Ghost

Animatronic/Robot (based on Five Nights at Freddy's)

TV Head

Shadow

Plushie - 2 variations

Puppet (based on Welcome Home)

Glitch

Disassembly Drone (based on Murder Drones)

Golden Crowned Flying Fox (fruit bat) - 2 variations

Echo

AS (U avatar | based on Belle)

Maned Wolf - 2 variations

Eel mer - 2 variations (1) (2)

Howler (based on Ghosts Among The Wildflowers) - 2 variations

Yellow-headed Box Turtle (based on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) - 2 variations

Space/Nebula

Fae

Black American Shorthair Cat - 2 variations

Spring-Limbed Jester thing (I don't really have a good name for this one yet) (based on The Amazing Digital Circus)

Skeleton

Fluffy Skull Faced Creechur

Cryptid Canine

Striped Owl - 2 variations

Dragon

Slime

Reptilian Centaur

Ink Cap Mushroom

Bold Jumping Spider - 2 variations

Striped Skunk - 2 variations

Common Raccoon- 2 variations

Opossum- 2 variations

Bee - 2 variations

Void (based on Minecraft, lol)

Chocolate Ferret - 2 variations

Brown Rat - 2 variations

Otter - 2 variations

Purple Skimmer Dragonfly - 2 variations

Squirrel - 2 variations

Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel (yes, this one is different) - 2 variations

Raven - 2 variations

Anna's Hummingbird- 2 variations

Axolotl - 2 variations

Backrooms Entity

Snowflake Obsidian

Lava/Magma

Lightning Bug (Firefly) - 2 variations

Potato Bug

Moss

Cordyceps

Sunflower

To Be Named Poppy Playtime themed thingie

Fern

Acorn

Fire

Fox (specific kind currently unknown)

Scorpion (specific kind currently unknown)

Dog (Shiba Inu/Golden Retriever/Husky mix)

Wolf/Werewolf

Chromian (Prism World)

African Wild Dog

Jackrabbit

Personified Railroad Crossing

Dandelion

Sea bunny

Selkie

Pumpkin head

Snapdragon

Sakura

Cherry

Vampire

Candy Corn

Strawberry

Blue Raspberry

Phoenix

Pony (MLP FiM)

Pulsar Star

Blanket Critter

Worm OFF the String (with legs :3)

Music box

Wind

Geode

Eyeball head

Pigeon

Seagull

Griffin

Gargoyle

Frog

Gingerbread cookie

Soot sprite

Boombox

"Witch"

Squishy silicone cat lamp

Clock

Jellyfish

Flamingo