Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
I actually thought about having a pony shogun type, but then I quickly figured that the alicorns can all but shoot beams from their eyes. They really are gods, so having another pony in control would be a little silly.
No one ever saw the emperor because he was so busy raising the sun every day. Celestia might not actually be in the palace; she could be hidden amongst the common ponies while the shogun - maybe a dragon - keeps everypony from looking behind the curtain.

Doesn't fit with your role for Celly in the story though.

True that, you could say that I just like making settings!
I'm dealing with more minor characters right now and their backgrounds aren't as important. However, in time I will get around to actually discussing the Apple family and Rarity's family (whatever their name is, need to think up a name... The "Boutique"? Baah...) and their conflict and Fancy's band aid attempt to fix it will be apart of the prologue.
Rarity Belle doesn't sound hateful.

I want it to be specific, detailed, and make sense. Something more then

"These two families hate each other... I dunno, because of something or another..."

While avoiding the dreaded info dump.

"Exposition Ahoy!"
What's way more powerful than explaining where the feud started or what it's about is to show it. Have Applejack burn down one of Rarity's buildings in an introduction sequence, drop a cool one liner, and then cut to an angry Rarity. Have a few ineffective Fancy Pants soldiers show up to stop her, but have her demolish them kung fu villain style. We dunno how this feud started, but that doesn't matter - we know exactly where it goes from here.

I was doing some light research into the early yakuza, the mafia in general, unions, and guilds to help go through different things organizations/guilds/clans/families or what have you would fight over and which would fit for the story. Even if it is distilled down to a few lines after the fact by Fancy during a truce banquet scene, with most of the actual scene spent showing that the families are still hostile as well as a meeting between Applebloom and Sweete Belle.
I know to the general reader it won't matter much, but I will always fear that someone out there there will be a odd guy much like me, who will snort and say to himself, "He couldn't even be bothered to think up a pause-able reason for the families/clans to be fighting! Couldn't he do some light research?!"
Someone insulted someone else's momma and then a building got burned down and now the other guy has to retaliate and no one's backing down. Escalation until the airship's on fire and you've lost your hat. Honestly, thinking up casus belli's in feudal Japan is the easiest thing.

That's a great idea for a scene, and I have the perfect place for it in the plot. Originally for the introduction of Pinkie Pie I was going to have her on a tour/inspection of Fancy's mansion, which would be interrupted by the sound of a gunshot caused by a skirimsh between Rarity and a sneaking messenger Scoot and Pinkie rushing to the scene.
However a tea scene would be better for dialogue and characterization. I can imagine after a somewhat delicate and nice period of time during tea, Fancy offering Pinkie a "welcome gift", to test the waters. Something light and non-offensive to test the waters and which could easily be taken as a pleasantry since she only arrived yesterday. Pinkie, being the extreme non-corruptible zealous sort, basically-
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Well ok maybe not literally but you get the idea. (Then again, according to the meme, the Japanese name is literally "Return Tea Tables" so maybe it would fit....)
Do not show restraint when you're doing a visual gag. Have her flip that damn table because that'd be hilarious.

She begins listing the charges Celestia has leveled against the province and which are under investigation. Fancy will deny everything and state that while that may have been true in the past the province is now at peace, non-violent.etc. Only to be interrupted by the noise of the musket shot.
This way the character and motivations of Fancy and Pinkie are out in the open and out of the way quickly during a short scene change between the main fight scene between Rarity and Scoot. Perhaps with the scene cut happening with Rarity taking aim, leaving the idea and suspense with the viewer only to have it come back to the fore suddenly with the gunshot noise and the scene changing back to the action. And have Pinkie and Fancy showing up after the action has ended, only having the destruction left as evidence.
Or it could just interrupt the action. I dunno.
Depends on the execution, but this could work.

Responses on Pinkie and the backstory.

Thus I figured they would probably be somewhat hostile to Pinkie Pie and then I rolled with it using the first season finale as a guide and also how Pinkie wanted to prove herself as competent in "Baby Cakes". But now that you've pointed out, blanket reactions in a group are bad, some of the palace ponies are probably hostile, some not. However, I believe that most would have trouble taking Pinkie Pie seriously. She hasn't been educated like a true top of the elite and is an outsider of mediocre skill levels.
*Nod*

As for if Pinkie had adjusted to high society, I can actually see that if given enough time. However, I imagine that Pinkie Pie would have only have been in the palace training for 1-3 years, rather then raised up from a early age like canon Twilight in Canterlot. As a side note, I was going to add a line that she had already got her party cutie mark some time ago, but then I realized I didn't know if Samurai-Equestria had cutie marks. After all, there is less magic and a theme that is developing with these characters is that who they truly are (their passions, loves and wants) are often hidden behind a mask. A outward honest appraisal of who they are really wouldn't work. Besides they wear clothes anyway. Maybe the cutie marks are just extremely private? "Hey baby, what's your mark?" being a common sleazy pick up line.
This is one of the common justifications I've seen for clothes in Equestria - it adds mystery and allure if you're not broadcasting the fact that you're a baker on your ass. So using clothes and masks as key images will give you a lot of power and a really cool explanation.

Everything else seems fairly reasonable!