Pandinus Imperator (You can call him Pan, he won't mind) is knocked back in time during the Canterlot Invasion, and accidentally kills King Sombra on arrival. Instead of being executed, the changeling is surprised to find himself being hailed as a hero, and is promptly put on the throne as the new monarch, the Crystal Emperor. However, Pan now faces a great many problems, among them Celestia and Luna, who seem certain that the changeling is secretly up to no good, as well as several political factions secretly plotting to undermine his reign. There's also the tiny problem of the constant snowstorm that threatens to cut the city off from the outside world permanently.
The Crystal Ponies need a hero now more than ever before. Why did they get a changeling instead?
While not truly a part of Bucking Nonsense's Changeling-Verse, the same rules regarding changeling abilities and society apply.
Cover image provided by gabapple, used with permission.
This looks to be a great story! I'm getting a definite Terry Pratchett vibe from the humor and over-explanation of things. Also, I love the way that you base your changeling characters on actual insects. I have to say, you've very quickly become one of my favorite authors on this site.
Seriously, who downvoted this and why? I’m not trying to be a jerk here; I’m really asking.
4341436 I can vouch for that. I've just been reading another chapter of "Going Postal" before reading this. There are some similarities.
I support this the most of anything you do. I love fics where the main character is a head of state.
New story? Yes please!
Please (temporarily) abandon writing anything else and continue writing this because I WANT TO READ MORE OF IT^^
seriously this story has a pratchett vibe.
I really liked the 'Alternate Universe' explanation of time travel here. If it were to be possible, then I would think that's the only way the universe could allow it as negates things like Paradoxes.
It's a fascinating thought to imagine who'd be willing to use it if it was understood to work in that way. Would you be willing to live in an Alternate Universe, identical to this one in every way except with whatever changes you chose to make with your future knowledge, if you knew that from the perspective of everyone in the 'Prime' Universe, you simply vanished without trace & nothing changed at all?
Anyways, thats not really the point of this story, which I greatly enjoyed & definitely look forward to more. One minor issue though, will anypony in this time period know what a changeling is?
Regarding your opening explanation: http://xkcd.com/242/
Death by standing in the wrong place.
Wow, Sombra.
That wasn't going out with a bang. That wasn't even a freaking whimper.
He was just GONE.
Now that was fast GJ
.
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Sir Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite authors
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Albert Einstein once said that the universe does not play dice. He also said that only the universe and stupidity are infinite, and he was not certain about the universe. If it were possible for someone to wipe out the universe by causing a paradox, either intentionally or on accident, it would have happened by now
I imagine that the only kind of person who would use the spell at that point is either someone who sincerely did not care about the people in the present, or decided that being able to rule over an alternate timeline was worth it.
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This subject also fascinates me, whether you should have a stake In the events of an Alternate Universe, something that Sci-Fi shows tackle every now & again.
Say it's decided that unrepentant evil overlords like Sombra were to have the spell cast on them, giving both them & the world what they want with them having an (Alternate) Universe to conquer & the (Prime) Universe never has to deal with them again... would you...should you feel bad for condemning a world occupied by another version of yourself, your family & friends?
Sorry to keep on on this subject, it's not what the story is about. It just fascinates me.
I've got to say, I was skeptical of opening another story with the first reboot wave still unfinished. But between Pan's internal monologues, the possibility that Sirius could see development, and the question of how Nightmare Moon will come around, this "pan-dimensional" excursion looks like it'll be fun. Not to mention the possibilities for a dimension hopping crossover later on.
Bottom line, I'm liking the Pan-dimension already.
This is going to be a great story, I can tell. Definitely upvoting and favoriting.
This sounds totally intersting! I'ma read it and get back with you on how awesome it is!
All my yes. This guy is so doomed. He can't rule an Empire.
:3
This chapter was amazing! I laughed thoughout the entire thing! If the rest of the chapters are just as good as this one I will love every second of this story!
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Aw, you missed a perfect opportunity to say instead, "the last thing that went through King Sombra's mind was the front-left hoof of a changeling travelling at half the speed of sound.".
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Einstein, of course, was famously wrong about that. He disliked some of the emerging ideas from quantum mechanics about things that can only be calculated statistically, and "God does not play dice with the universe" was his pithy way of summing up his objection.
I've always been rather fond of Niels Bohr's mock-serious reply, "Einstein, please quit telling God what to do.", and history has vindicated the observations of quantum mechanics. Einstein's quote, while witty, was shown to be incorrect.
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I considered doing that, but that is coming dangerously close to becoming a cliche these days.
My personal philosophy is that one should not consider your own inability to comprehend the order of the universe as proof that there is not any. Just because we don't know the rules, doesn't mean that rules do not exist. We're just not at the point where we can figure them out yet.
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Ah, but QM does let us understand the way things work, it's just that for certain things, we can predict results only statistically rather than deterministically as Einstein would have preferred to have been possible to do.
I'm sure you've heard of the "half-life" of a radioactive atom of a particular isotope - the time taken for half of a sample of those atoms to decay. It isn't predictable which individual atoms will decay in a given time, but it is predictable how many will decay. (Note: it's not that it's currently unpredictable. QM implies that it's inherently unpredictable.)
Einstein's objection to "God playing dice" was based on this kind of probability result of QM not matching his preconceptions of the way the universe should work.
Just to sum up, it's not that we don't know the rule, it's that we know the rule but it only tells us the answer in statistical or probabilistical terms. The universe plays dice.
This must be continued! All Hail lord Shinybutt!
4341436 While I do see where you would get a pratchett vibe, I can't help but think of "Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
This is interesting.
Not a bad start. I look forward to seeing more.
My Body is ready for more.
Write more soon.
Please
If that's okay with you...
Fapfapfapfap... *pause*... fapfapfapfapfapfapfap.
Great start can't wait to see where this lead's.
Okay, aside from the numbers part (you should fix that. Google the rules about numbers in text.
Sorry, it's a writing peeve of mine
), this was pretty good. I'll watch.
I demand you stop writing this story and immediately begin work on the story with the Kazoo. I don't care how much political intrigue you put in this story, that AU is clearly the more interesting tale.
On second thought, let us not go to this alternate dimension. Tis a silly place.
a.k.a. the Emperor Scorpion... I see what you did there...
I used to bank there, but the interest rates were ridiculous
After reading the first paragraph of the synopsis, I wasn't going to bother reading this... until I saw the author. I fav'd it before I even started reading.
Glad I noticed it, this is turning out to be another masterpiece, Nonsense
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I'm sorry, but if I ever posted the story of Maurice The Mule And The Kazoo Of Wonders, the internet would explode twice. There are some things that the world is simply not ready for
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, thanks much for the endorsement.
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I will see your Megadeth, and raise you Metallica covering a Ronnie James Dio hit.
MOAR!!
i will be watching because this has caught my intrest
Well this seems rather nice. Two words of advice though. First: Space out your paragraphs so they aren't touching each other, this makes it easier for us to read (downloading the html file will work in the meantime, apparently). Second: Put thoughts into italics. Makes it easier for the reader to distinguish dialogue from thoughts.
Looking forward to future chapters!
"An object of that mass, and at that acceleration"
Velocity, not acceleration. I forget what you wrote after that and can't scroll up here, but the word you wanted was momentum.
fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/336/8/f/twilight_sparkle__for_science_by_sandshrew-d4hxw3p.png
I look forward to Celestia and Luna showing up in the next chapter.
Luna: "VIEL FIEND, PREPARE FOR... wait, where's Sombra?"
Crystal Pony: "This brave Changeling has vanquished the tyrant." *points to a shivering Pan, who is very scared of the two princesses*
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Oh, the princesses won't arrive next chapter, but they will pretty soon. And I have plans to make it so hilariously awkward.
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Corrected
This.
This could go places.
I will watch.
I did!
Indeed.
Amusing story so far. I'm not quite sold on some of the exposition, but at least it was still entertaining.
Oh I am going to absolute f*cking LOVE this..!
The name of the first chapter reminds me this:
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPGti_w-VKI]
I bet all the crystal ponies took Pan's glowing as a sign that he was holy and simply ment to rule.
Time travel and dimension hopping allows for the best stories.
Tell me, if the title of the fic a reference to Viva la Vida?
"Now the old king is dead, long live the king..."
Sweet chapter, can't wait for the next one, keep goin and stay golden^^