For Your Protection

Coming back to this because I can, but I wonder how much of Daring's 'doing the wrong thing for the right reasons'/'toxic love' can be traced back to her feeling of self-importance? It's obvious she thinks highly of herself, and wants others to as well; even if Twilight Velvet ghostwrote the Daring Do books, they were still based off of Daring's adventures, who obviously found them impressive enough to sell to a ghostwriter/the public in the first place. Daring, up until she had to give up stealing artifacts in the name of good, was GOOD at what she did. She got in, got the treasure, and got out with relatively minor issues (seeing, at least, how she was always alive in the end to tell the tale). Ponies became easily and understandably enamored with her and her exploits. Then suddenly... she doesn't have that anymore. Sure, she can go to book signings, and there will always be doting fans who will love her no matter what, but it feels almost like she's lost her purpose. A few years later, enter Monte. (I'm kind of curious about how Daring and Doc found out Monte existed, but ignoring that for now.) It felt almost... right, or like destiny, to take Monte -- one last 'treasure' from a set of old ruins and ferocious guardian -- and raise him herself. It's a way she could continue to be relevant to her old adventures. It was like every day raising Monte was a new challenge, like she was almost back in the good old days. If she couldn't be an explorer, well, she'd be the best damn mother you'd ever seen. And she'd stop at nothing to try and reach that goal, perhaps not realizing that nicking treasures from sacred temples doesn't set the best precedent of respect and kindness that is needed for nurturing a child. It never even occurs to her that this might be something that she wasn't cut out for, because she's *Daring Do*. She can do anything. ...of course, that just makes it impossible to realize that she was in the wrong, when Monte eventually runs away. She genuinely can't imagine that she was at fault... it must have been Monte. She tried her best, didn't she? That's always been more than enough. Kids these days expect too much.

Colbyr

Oh man this seriously seriously hits close to home, and I really appreciate seeing such a grey situation surrounding parental abuse. Parents don’t always realise the stuff they do to make themselves feel socially comfortable can be so damaging on their children. My parents sure meant well when I was forced to wear feminine clothing when I was younger, in their minds it stopped bullying and adults being pushy, but in the end those kinds of things give kids a complex and bullying doesn’t stop anyway. Really love this addition to montys story

Not quite. The parents did press charges (and sue), but Daring and Cabelleron were able to successfully argue that the bite had been in self-defense. They privately pay the parents quite a bit of hush money to settle the matter. The biting incident was not the first case of Monty being harassed by visitors. Ponies come from far and wide to gawk at a living cryptid, and sometimes they get huffy when Monty isn't as entertaining as they expected, especially if they paid a lot of money to see him. Daring and Cabelleron are usually pretty strict with their "please don't touch the specimen" rule, buuuuut sometimes they're willing to make concessions for the wealthier visitors (who pay for more expensive experiences, such as getting autographed books by Daring or watching Monty perform magic). They urged Monty to please just "put up" with ponies, especially the younger ones, poking at him, grabbing his tail, pulling his ears, etc. In the drawing, Daring is being a little dishonest, even to herself. The primary purpose of the muzzle is so that they can keep profiting off Monty without ponies being too skittish around him.

Lopoddity

Was Monte ever lawfully punished for biting that one kid? Like were charges ever brought against him? (I don't believe he deserved to be locked up, just wondering how the family reacted)

Amber

They’re married :) They ended up bonding a lot after Ahuizotl revealed himself as a temple guardian and Daring Do’s books took a blow in popularity. I think they can have children (I wouldn’t be want to vilify people with fertility issues), they just didn’t want to, as they lead pretty busy lives and are getting up there in years (I headcanon Daring to be nearly ten years older than Rainbow Dash). Adopting Monty just kinda happened, Daring wanted to “rescue” him, and Cabelleron wanted the pony that a living baby cryptid would rake in.

Lopoddity

Question: So are Daring Do and Doc a couple? If so, are they unable to have kids? I feel maybe this is part of why they took Monty in, along with Doc finding him as a cash grab :(

Cerulean

Spike: *laughing* Hoo boy, you can't imagine what me and Thorax went through when Smoky's acid glands grew in! Even as a baby Bug had crazy good aim, almost took out my eye! Monty: *sad, thoughtful* Ah. Did you muzzle him, then? Spike: Huh? Uh.....no. We got him some cotton stuffies so he could chew and drool to his heart's delight. Are you....okay, dude? You need a hug or somethin'?

Lopoddity

holy shittt this hurts. I can only imagine that if Monty ever met Smoky's very doting fathers that seemingly celebrated and adored Smoky's "monstrous" qualities, it would dawn on him all the more how messed up this was.

Lory

These are all really good ideas! I think the story does work best if Daring and Cabelleron (and Monty) had no idea he was venomous. Reminds me of people who purchase exotic pets with no understanding of how to care for them. Really heightens the fear Monty must have felt, watching that poor kid collapse and start frothing at the mouth. What other dangers are hiding within him? Now more than ever, he’s aware of his fangs and claws and the fiery magic he barely has any control over. I see how the muzzle would even be comforting to him at first....but also a horrible reminder of what he is, and what he’s capable of. Something happens to turn Monte’s fear into resentment and rage, I’m still pondering this.

Lopoddity

Hi I still gotta gush about this bit again because I have Thoughts ™ Would Daring and Cabelleron have even known Monty had a venomous bite before this incident? Heck, would Monty? If he’s never bitten anyone before I wouldn’t be shocked if he wasn’t aware himself, or maybe at least unaware of how potent his venom was. The more I think about Daring and Cabelleron not fully knowing what Monty is capable of, the more understandable their actions become. Obviously, this doesn’t excuse what they did, but I think it does help show that their intentions were (at least originally) in good faith. After the incident, they may have realized Monty has the potential to be far more dangerous than they had previously anticipated, and at some point a muzzle does start to sound like a reasonable option, just because they’re not entirely sure what else to do at that point. That might also tie into Monty seeing himself as a danger too, if he picks up on his adoptive parents being concerned, almost scared of him. Especially as a young teen who doesn’t fully know what he’s capable of either. I just have Feelings ™ about this poor boy and about this family dynamic it’s so good

DragonCookies

Yep. :) Usually involuntarily. Monty purrs when he feels safe and secure, which is mostly when he's asleep in his own bed. Ahuizotl is pretty touched the first time Monty purrs in his sleep curled up next to him. He'll also do it when he's feeling affectionate, flirty, or just plain worried, like if one of his minions gets really hurt he'll fret and fuss and stress-purr all over them (it's said cats purr to promote healing). Oh, and also if he gets scritchies under the chin or behind his ears. He's largely unaware he does this, so when Smoky eventually (very amusedly) points it out, Monte's hella embarrassed

Lopoddity

Oh dear, poor Monty. Let me just say, I know something of how he feels, excusing his parents' behavior out of loyalty, even thinking that the behavior is normal. Monty didn't deserve to be brought and treated up like this. Nobody does.

SmilesPerHour

This is completely unrelated to the image but does Monty purr?

I feel like he and Pandora might be good friends. Both share the struggle of being 'monsters' in pony society and feeling the need to protect others from themselves.

I’m thinking now that maybe it was just a joke option Cabelleron made during their family discussion (he’d made similar jokes about muzzling Monty growing up, since the kid was so chatty). Cabs didn’t mean any true harm by it, even though it was kind of a fucked up thing to joke about and had always sorta secretly hurt Monty’s feelings- but again, these jokes were normal to Monty. He surprises his parents when he latched onto the joke as a serious option. Daring is concerned, while Cabelleron praises Monty for being a good team player, and goes to look through his old smuggling supplies to find an appropriate muzzle. Cabelleron is much more of a shifty character than Daring is, I hadn’t seen the episode where he straight up tries to murder Rainbow Dash. While I think he is “reformed” now, he still easily slips into criminal ways of thinking. Though he did love Monty like a son, he had the same cruelty-in-kindness thing going on as Daring.

Lopoddity

Perhaps the muzzle could have been a doctors idea and daring didn't see how messed up it was and think of a better alternative? I do like this evolution of their relationship

Melody Williamson

Yesssss I love these little character exploration bits so much, especially with Monty and the stuff he went through as a kid What you said at the end is definitely something that I feel isn’t acknowledged too much when it comes to writing realistic conflicts between two characters. That you can love someone deeply and still mistreat them. And that said mistreatment sometimes isn’t obvious until years after the fact, like how Monty eventually realizes. Basically the acknowledgement that this sort of stuff isn’t always black and white like a lot of stories might tell us is so good, your grasp of nuance is super solid and one of your best writing strengths

DragonCookies

Amazing drawings btw love your work 💕

thanku I was an awkward teenager not super long ago so I just take those blunder years and inject em right into my characters

Lopoddity

Good idea, I’ll see if I can swing it. :)

Lopoddity

I would like to see Monty burning that muzzle. Would be a awesome drawing

I'm always just??? So impressed at how you manage to communicate characters' ages, how the proportions and awkwardness in their stances make it easily evident how old they are. Also I... Have Thoughts about this post. Many Thoughts. (I will post them here tomorrow when I am hopefully less tired hehehe)

Colbyr

Wow this image hurts a lot...

Cam