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Author: Cold in Gardez
Description: Fluttershy's kindness to all creatures is legendary in Ponyville. When a freak storm blows in from the Everfree Forest, however, she and her friends discover the limits of compassion, and the dangers of living with your heart wide open to the world.The Proper Care and Feeding of Monsters
Additional Tags: Compassion, obstinance, episode style, the world is a cruel teacher
34 comments:
"episode style"
*is wary*
I think I'll wait for ratings. <.<
I was drwn in by the title. Sadly, this has no comedy tag. Darn!
Not bad.
very well written
Just in case you don't know, this is by the same guy who wrote that Michael Bay, movie style, revenge of the unicorn god-slayer fic.
That in itself deserves checking this out.
excellent as usual. Cold in Gardez has some serious range to his or her writing. To go from the Michael Bay parody to this bittersweet tale takes real talent.
I love lighthearted fanfics!
Keep the bravos up!
I don't usually read fanfiction—I like it, I just don't have that much time—but I started reading this and couldn't stop. Very good.
Awwwww. So sweet. Poor Fluttershy. She really has too big a heart to fill.
Wait, I regret what I said there...
I've just read the whole thing... :(
My favorite pony is crying..
D'awww. Definitely a good [normal] fic.
I had actually considered writing something similar to this, only using Toothless from HtTYD instead (anyone remember those two Fluttershy+Toothless pics from awhile back?). Don't know if I'll ever have time to write it, though, so I'm glad someone else had a similar idea.
I was worried when I saw "she and her friends discover the limits of compassion" and "the world is a cruel teacher" in the description, but I'm glad the story didn't quite live up to the first statement. I think Rarity was portrayed a little too cattishly, but the other characterizations were excellent; though I know it would never happen, I would love to see this as an episode.
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable." – C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
The writing was fine, so CIG's still par for the course on that one. The story itself, though... I couldn't really enjoy it. I knew what was going to happen the moment Fluttershy entered. You'd have thought somepony would've gone with Fluttershy into the woods, making sure she wouldn't be too kind for her own good; they'd know her well enough to see it coming.
Very nice little story. Enjoyed it enough. Not much to add.
Don't feel too sorry for Fluttershy. She'll get over this and have some good memories of Shale, and she'll know that she was there when he needed help.
The one you should really feel sorry for is Twilight Sparkle. She's forced to confront the fact that she basically traded her parents in for Celestia, and never looked back. That's a little harder to recover from.
It was written wonderfully, but I felt the ending was too short and abrupt. Apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed everything up to then.
D'AWWWW
Thank you. It was a great story.
It made me think- their parents, if still alive, must really, really miss them. sadface...
@WizardWannabeI think the abrupt ending sort of shows that things like parenthood end quickly
This was well-written, and the ending was both sweet and appropriate. I'm having a little trouble with Fluttershy's distress at the end, however. She takes care of animals professionally, including things like mice and songbirds that only live a year or two at most. Surely she's had plenty of experience by now with pets/animal friends leaving and/or dying? I'm sure she'd still be sad, but if she broke down like that every time one of her squirrels bites the bullet or one of the geese she's tended flies south for the winter, the poor mare would never stop crying.
That notwithstanding, I really did enjoy the story. Although it wasn't as upbeat as an actual episode, the general aesthetic was spot-on. Good work.
Wonderful story, five stars! I liked that the resolution wasn't "gargoyle turns destructive" or "gargoyle lives with Fluttershy forever", which were the two outcomes I was expecting when I started the piece.
@Cold in Gardez
I'm glad that I wasn't in the wrong for feeling more uneasy about that then what happened with Fluttershy.
@Chris
Shale turned out to be quite special for her, a small hint is located here: "Few were willing to spend the night with her, and it was an unusual experience, much like she imagined it was to have a foal."
While birds come and go, this was a time when she felt more like a mother rather than caretaker, as is evidenced by her question to Twilight at the end.
I think Twilight I hate to say it is being rather bias since she has a baby DRAGON as a friend! And dragons EAT ANYTHING.
Lately he had started imitating a statue.
Which Gargoyles naturally do.
She closed her eyes and thought of all the letters she had sent to Princess Celestia -- a mountain of parchment, dwarfing the pitiful few she sent her mother and father.
Indeed. The irony is how Twilight and Celestia's relationship is like that of a mother and child as well.
This was a beautifully written story. One of 1% that make slogging through all the rest worth it.
Is there a way to leave a comment on google docs? I'm not really familiar with how it works.
@Voodoo-Tiki
There is if comments are enabled, which they are not. However, if you'd like to leave another comment here, I'll certainly see it. Otherwise I can be reached at coldingardez(at)gmail.com
The only nit-pick was that there wasn't a proper goodbye from Shale, but that's also why the story is so good: it keeps things realistic.
Simple and beautiful. I wish I could write like this!
Thanks for that great story, CiG! As others have said, I could see this as an episode, and one of the better ones! For a second there, when Fluttershy first went into the forest with Shale, I had to stop and check the tags to make sure the story wasn't Grimdark! But everything turned out beautifully in the end, even if it was the melancholy kind of beauty that comes with sorrow.
This really does deserve more comments. Very well written and touching.
Okay, I was finally able to read this thing and I have to say that it was REALLY good.
Finally got to reading it and I thought it was beautiful.
I must say this story was well done. Teh ending was sad and I'm surprised it isn't labeled "sad".
@3p1c_d3m0n
Ditto, this is definitely a sad story, really solid premise and expertly delivers the punch to the heart that makes your eyes well up.
This wasn't what I was expecting from the tags, but I am pleasantly surprised. 5 stars, easy.
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