Friendship is Dragons
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Page 66 - The Worst Possible Thing
Author Notes:
I imagine the scene went thusly: Nightmare Moon came across the river as she raced ahead and thought it'd make for an insurmountable obstacle if properly prepared. All she'd need to do is rile up the local sea serpent (it's a wild river in the Everfree Forest; a sea serpent being present is a reasonable assumption to make). It wouldn't be difficult - she'd already done something similar with a manticore, and an aggressive sea serpent would be even more dangerous.
In short order, she finds the sea serpent of the river and whisks past him sharply, only knocking off a few hairs to get his attention. It definitely takes notice. She gets ready to attack again to further agitate the creature... when it breaks down into tears, lamenting the loss of its mustache. He throws such a fit, such great heaving sobs and tantrums, that the river is made almost impossible to cross by his thrashing.
Not what she expected at all, but... mission accomplished, one way or another. With time being of the essence, she moves on and leaves the serpent be.
And that's how Steven Magnet got his mustache chopped off.
Ah well, at least they shouldn't be able to get past this. I mean really, unless one of them knows some sort of spell to grow mustaches, then I don't see how they can catch up..."
Damaged Mustache which she wasn't expecting: Has no idea what to do.
Reads a book on Ursa Minor out of curiosity: Wins in less than 3 minutes.
(Ba-nanana-nananana BAT-MARE!)
Call MW."
Actually, given how eccentric the main characters are, Darkwing Duck really did make a better analogy.
Or at least, that's what I think is goin' on.
RD: Ugh, we don't have time for this! This stupid lizard is holding us up!
Fluttershy: He's a serpent.
Twilight: Wait, why do I have to make Perception to figure out what gender it is?
RD: Well it IS a reptile.
And I would think the gender should be kind of obvious because, you know, mustache.
http://www.infrno.net/forums/13-seeking-players-for-a-game/topics/431-fate-my-little-pony
Profession: Sailor is actually a better example of a skill that would fill in some gaps, actually. Since rigging a ship is a difficult task, and sure Thievery *could* be used for tying the ropes, but maintaining the ship and operating the many moving parts is not something a trained Thief would necessarily be good at.
It's not so much that Profession itself would be a blanket fix for all the gaps in skill usage, but that every character being able to train a profession would mean that you don't have to fudge it quite as often. The problem isn't Profession itself, it's that SO many skills got dropped when making 4e that it creates gaps you don't really foresee until you actually run into them.
Of course, they were limited by the air time...to be frank I think they easily could have made several episodes for each of the Mane Six demonstrating their Element, if they had been able to take the time to do so.
She doesn't have an episode all of her own, but she's had 1/2 or 1/3 of some of the best episodes of the whole show.
But I only kid. I think part of the problem with Applejack's definition as "Honest" and Rainbow Jack's definition as "Loyal" (when really she's honest and straightforward to the point of sometimes being offensive) was that I'm not certain they had the characters entirely worked out yet as of the first episode or possibly they just grew organically away from those original plans. This happens to series sometimes and as long as the growth is an improvement and not too abrupt it presents no real problem. Not that Applejack isn't honest and Rainbowdash isn't Loyal, I just probably would have switched them judging by their later actions.
Applejack is mostly dependable and eager to help out... but when push comes to shove, she just isn't genuinely loyal -- when it comes down to it, she'll put her own pride before her obligations to others, as in "Applebuck Season" or "The Last Roundup."
Meanwhile, Applejack is consistently honest in her dealings and habits. She rarely outright lies, and always tries to treat other ponies fairly.
As well, Rainbow Dash will not abandon her friends given the choice. In the abovementioned Last Roundup, she's the first of the ponies to suggest finding Applejack, and the most insistent on getting her to come back no matter what -- even when given the choice between rescuing Pinkie Pie and Rarity and pursuing Applejack, she makes the truly loyal choice to continue the pursuit. They knew what they were getting into, and they would have been lost for nothing if Applejack managed to escape. Her leaving Gilda is also very loyal -- she's willing to stick with her true friends, even if it means turning away from someone she knew for a long time and considered a friend, and who she definitely considered cooler than her pony friends. Loyalty is earned, and the other ponies had earned Rainbow Dash's loyalty, while Gilda had proved herself unworthy of it with her mean-spirited behavior and insistence that Rainbow Dash choose between Gilda or her other friends.