Just wondering. I'm not really a fanfiction man myself.

I'm somewwhat picky about the fanfics I read :V

Salsa needs to recuperate with Fluttershy ;_;

World of Ponycraft had her as a resto druid (naturally, a tree).

Speaking as a former resto druid, she was a damn good one.

edited 14th Aug '12 12:19:54 AM by Pykrete

I wish we could trade. I'm staying up all night because I can't sleep. And it's already 3:22.

I have no idea what any of that is.

(I was more referencing the Barbarian's Rage ability in D&D 3.5. Which, by the way, can be used while in a Druid's Wild Shape. Raging bear druid FTW.)

Mystara's Little Ponies also makes Fluttershy a Druid.

Restoration is a druid specialization in World of Warcraft — namely, a party healer that deals in steady heal-over-time regeneration spells and general utility (hibernating animals, entangling foes, cleansing curses, etc). It's also notable for its top talent being the ability to turn into a Tree of Life, which is basically 20 seconds of spamming really cheap and powerful heals everywhere while the bad guys wonder why nobody's dying.

And as a party healer, it's also one of the more nerve-wracking jobs one could pick.

The other two specs are balance (offensive spellcaster) and feral (turn into bear/lion and maul things D&D druid style) but obviously those don't really fit her style.

edited 14th Aug '12 12:34:10 AM by Pykrete

Fluttershy can't be a 3.5 Druid because that would require effortlessly outshining the rest of the party from level 1.

I doubt that Fluttershy is a Diablo II Druid either.

Now reading: Computer Chess stuff on Wikipedia. I'm now curious to see if Twi ever learnt chess and if she's any good.

edited 14th Aug '12 12:39:11 AM by AceOfScarabs

It's balanced out by extreme neurosis.

She had a giant knight piece in both her tower and her tree library.

edited 14th Aug '12 12:40:57 AM by KylerThatch

well, I just finished reading the first part of The Vagabond. I'm not sure why I read it, as I shouldn't have been interested in it based on the tags, but read it I did.

and...well, it was a good story, make no mistake. Very touching. Just a tad rushed at some points. But I'm afraid such stories just aren't my kind of thing. I won't be reading the other two parts, I think.

edited 14th Aug '12 12:43:01 AM by Blissey1

I don't think Twi would have found time to play chess. She's probably read all the books on chess theory, but little else.

http://www.derpibooru.org/69394?scope=scped16ad1589470359475bd534363591c57f3c9c07c

@Ed: That's kind of plausible. Personally, I can imagine her learning to play chess casually because of Shiny, and then later she got into Chess theory as part of her bookaholic habits.

I think that's Twilight.

More like she didn't have friends to play chess with. Except maybe family, or Celestia.

I can see Twilight as the kind who everyone thinks should be good at chess because it's such a memetic Smart People Game, but winds up being terrible at it because she overthinks half of her strategy and leaves tremendous holes in the other half.

Also, Druid Fluttershy

@Kyler: Celestia would be difficult to beat at chess. Over a thousand years of experience makes her have a more advanced strategy pool than most contemporary chess players.

I can imagine Pinkie and Rarity being reasonably good at Chess. Pinkie plays instinctively so you can't read her moves, and she can be intuitive some times and oblivious to gambits other times. Rarity would probably play to her moods, so she'd vary her strategy from cautious to aggressive depending on her mood much more obviously than most.

edited 14th Aug '12 12:51:16 AM by AceOfScarabs

@story: Both of them, in a way. Twilight has OCD, Fluttershy has social anxiety.

Celestia hasn't played chess with anyone since Luna's banishment, since Luna was the only other pony able to match her skill. Twilight does reasonably well, but Celestia still has to go easy on her.

That's one other thing Celestia and Luna have in common. One of the first things they do together after Luna's restoration is bond over a game of chess. /headcanon

Luna was probably surprised by Celestia's sudden use of modern Chess strategies when they initially restarted their chess games.

Fluttershy knows a little about Chess from Rarity, but AJ and Dashie simply don't do such a complicated board game. Dashie prefers stuff like Snakes and Ladders or Checkers, and AJ likewise.

edited 14th Aug '12 1:00:19 AM by AceOfScarabs

Pinkie...would be unpredictable, but prone to making very unwise moves. Rarity would be okay.

I'd actually guess Applejack to be the surprise chessplayer of the group, for one simple reason. Winter. What else are you gonna do for hours at a time?

Good point. Dashie definitely doesn't do chess though.

I was going to suggest that Big Mac was the local chessmaster, but I guess AJ works too.

Granny Smith would be the best chess player in Ponyville :V

Now I want to see a fanfic where the Flim-Flams return with a chess engine.

edited 14th Aug '12 1:10:16 AM by AceOfScarabs