Gilded could get into massive trouble if anyone in a position of importance learns of his plan. Oddly enough, I'm kinda hoping it'll come back to bite him in the rear—perhaps literally. The fallout from that should be very sweet indeed!
Also, Lightning Dust is a good choice for this story. Spitfire and Rainbow Dash are too high-profile. With Lightning Dust, he has a chance to continue his plan without too much interference. At least for a while.
5028185 And since Lightning was last in the pet shop with her entire nervous system disabled and rewired to work via remote control, I'd think she'd show up sooner or later in the hands of a stallion someplace.
Not to say the mane series couldn't use moar Lightning after she was given the inability to move by herself. :D
Come to think, has anypony seen the new artist, Phathusa, on this site?
Gilded could get into massive trouble if anyone in a position of importance learns of his plan. Oddly enough, I'm kinda hoping it'll come back to bite him in the rear—perhaps literally. The fallout from that should be very sweet indeed!
Oh yes, Gilded is well aware of how toast he would be if some of the things he's doing became known to the Caribou. As much as he supports the Caribou regime, Gilded is a ludicrously rich noble used to doing whatever he wants, including bending the law. He has contingencies in the event he's discovered, but those plans could easily fail and land him with sever punishments if he's caught.
Also, Lightning Dust is a good choice for this story. Spitfire and Rainbow Dash are too high-profile. With Lightning Dust, he has a chance to continue his plan without too much interference. At least for a while.
Petty much my reasoning as well. Not that he wouldn't go for either Spitfire or Rainbow Dash if he thought he could get away with it, but as you say, both are too high profile. Lightning Dust he can keep hidden away and draw no real questions or comments; just another pegasus mare nobody likely remembers.
5028268 Hmm, haven't seen that pic, but good to know. I suppose its well enough I planned for this to be non-canon with Fall of Equestria anyway so I wouldn't have to worry too much about those kinds of details.
5028268 Phathusa, well I've seen some of is artwork it's pretty good I love this one: 548413 But the one you're talking about I don't see it; is it on e621 ?
5028786 It is a bit funny that you have chosen Lightning Dust not because of all the reason mention are coherent, but Lightning Dust resembles a bit like Gilded Cagen I mean there manners of "I will get what I want even if it means to sacrifices someone" Gilded Cage is ok to sacrifice the freedom of a mare to have what he wants and Lightning Dust is ok just to have a child that she wont even really take care just to fly under restricted terms, so there are both kind of devilish. But Lightning Dust wont stay on those terms, she is (in my mind) traitorous once she will taste again the pleasure of flying, she could put a trick on Gilded Cage to acquire more freedom.
5032238 Sorry if I'm not clear I'll rephrase it What I'm saying is that Lightning Dust and Gilded Cage are alike because they have almost the same method to obtain things without any scruple. If you have read chap 2 (spoilers) Gilded Cage is proposing to heal her wings
5032819 5033177 I've thought about Gilded going for Fleur, though he could probably buy her off Fancy Pants. Hadn't thought of Nurse Redheart, though she could be a candidate. Gilded's next acquisition is going to a unicorn though, just so he has a mare of each type. He could go for Fleur for her beauty, or maybe Sunset Shimmer or Trixie for their magical talent, or as someone mentioned earlier Vinyl s a possibility. Still thinking it over.
5038909 Good to know. Heh, I guess it'll be inevitable that Gilded will end up with a red collar on the roster, if only because his focus is the talents of the mares. Black collars are a preference but he can accept a red collar as long as her talents are good enough to be worth preserving. Sunset Shimmer is basically the closest substitute he can get to Twilight Sparkle, who's out of his reach.
5038419 I'd go with either trixie for her magic like you said no main six but their rivals that did the same just lost in the end or just go with fleur for her beauty or do one now and later down the road do the other I'd perfer either one though
5038419 Buying Trixie could open an opportunity for some epic-level cruelty. How?
Just imagine: Gilded explains to her how he plans to preserve the greatest talents of his generation... and then puts a chastity belt on her. "You, on the other hand, have no talent worth mentioning. It's anal only for you now; better get used to it." Since Trixie's running theme has been constant failure, this would tie in perfectly.
5049695 Okay, I'll admit it, it's horrible, but that did make me laugh. Fortunately for Trixie that kind of thing isn't Gilded's style. Not to say he's not capable of cruel jokes, but someone would have to do something to specifically earn that from him. Also, its arguable if Trixie's failures are due to a lack of talent or just pure bad luck. Strictly speaking any unicorn whose cutie mark represents magical skill is rare, and while Trixie isn't the magical dynamo that Twilight Sparkle is (or was, in the Fallverse) it was pretty clear from the get-go that Trixie still has magical talent superior to the everyday unicorn. Then again, Sunset Shimmer also clearly has magical talent, and none of the baggage Trixie has. On top of that she's also the only other confirmed pupil of Celestia, suggesting Sunset could be on par with Twilight Sparkle's talent. It'll be a tough choice between the two, since I like both.
5056602 About Trixie's failures: I actually think it's neither. A general theme of FoE has been the perversion of what Equestria was before. That's why Twilight lectures about how being a slave is the best thing ever, why the athletic Rainbow Dash is almost always restrained in some way, why "miss professionalism" Harshwhinny is a brainless purple collar pet... and why Trixie is being made to fail at everything; because her thing before the Fall was claiming to be better than anypony at any given task. The regime is using this to break her spirit by putting her in situations where the only possible outcome is failure.
I actually think Sunset Shimmer is far superior to Trixie in ability. We've seen her use some pretty advanced magic—she can teleport, for example. If memory serves, a grand total of two other characters were shown to possess that skill, namely Twilight Sparkle and Discord. We haven't even seen the other princesses teleport. Now think about that for a bit! Sunset does have her own problem: she's stupid. By which I mean they made her stupid. Gilded could reverse the process, though I don't know whether a Sunset Shimmer with her full intelligence restored will remain a red collar. Or if she's going to be come dangerous for him. Sunset is a smart girl, very smart. However, he can also dangle the threat of having her smarts taken away again over her head^^
5060249 True enough, it does seem the Fallverse is as much about twisting virtues as it is just about the sex. In Trixie's case it would make sense that they'd be breaking her down by constant failure. One of Gilded's greatest weapons, though, when it comes to controlling the mare's he acquires, is offering a reversal of that. He tempts them with a chance to get back what's been taken; Octavia her music, Lightning Dust her wings, and in Trixie's case her ability to perform magic. If he did acquire Trixie he'd use the temptation of being a successful, talent magician as a means to control her.
Then again, the same temptation would be the case with Sunset Shimmer, though less focused on being praised for talent and more about just having raw power, which seemed to be Sunset's motivations prior to any events in Fall. You're quite right that Sunset Shimmer would be a far more dangerous mare to own than most others, because if Gilded did restore her magic and her intelligence he'd need to be very careful in monitoring and limiting her use of magic to keep her from escaping via teleportation. He'd need a firm grip on her mentally to prevent that, providing something so tempting to remain with him that the chances of Sunset running would be minimal.
...Hmm... You know, now that I think about it, one thing Gilded would consider a prized possession out of his reach would be an alicorn. All alicorns, though, are out of his ability to own because they're all already taken and too high profile for him to even try to purchase. But what if he researched a way to artificially replicate alicorn ascension? That would be a rather tantalizing carrot to dangle in front of Sunset. Promise that if she's cooperative with him, he'll find a way to turn her into an alicorn.
Just an idea, but I can't think of a more potent form of temptation to offer a power hungry ambitious sort like Sunset Shimmer than alicorn ascension. Of course Gilded could just be lying through his teeth about such a prospect being possible, but he could probably make it sound convincing enough.
5064586 Gilda... huh, I'll admit she hadn't even remotely occurred to me. Mostly because Gilded's goal here is preserving talents via impregnation, so not sure how well that'd work with a griffin. I guess in some headcannons hippogriffs are a thing. Hm, but what talents does Gilda have that'd set her apart from any other griffin Gilded might acquire? He'd be more likely to go for one of the unnamed female griffins who were shown in the background during Equestria Games, since they'd at least in theory be exceptional athletes.
Still, I'll think about it. Certainly not a possibility I'd considered before so thanks for giving me something new to consider.
5060923 The possible ascension as carrot is a great idea! Just the right thing to motivate Sunset Shimmer. Even if she suspects he's lying to her she'll probably stay at least a little while to make sure nopony else is about to tamper with her intelligence again.
5065402 Well, she was a junior speedster, and from what we've seen she has enough ability for somepony like Rainbow Dash to appreciate it. She probably didn't perform at the Games because she didn't give a f...eather.
If not that, then there's always claiming she's part of an exceptional family in some way; in that case the basis would be there, but she didn't care enough to use it to its full extent. And be it only to be exceptionally good-looking for Griffon standards.
5066852 I suppose if I really want to put Gilda in there it wouldn't be that hard to construe a reason for it. Hmm, the griffins got conquered just like Equestria did, right? I could go with the angle that Gilda distinguished herself as an exceptionally talented fighter during the war the Caribou must've fought to conquer the griffins (since no Crystal Heart to corrupt and make the fight easier, and the griffins don't to our knowledge rely on a super-powered ruler or artifacts for protection, so it'd be easy to image the griffins would put up a more significant fight than the ponies did). In that case Gilded's plans for Gilda would be to preserve her warrior talents with the promise that if she serves him he can provide her an opportunity down the road to get some payback on specific Caribou. Again he might be lying, but revenge strikes me as the right kind of thing to tempt Gilda with.
Really good I must say. Besides i have a thing for such stories I like your writing style, ideas and the main character. Really good work and I hope to read a new chapter soon. Don't think about the dislikes. I know that a lot others like this story and I am excited to see what comes next.
Gilded could get into massive trouble if anyone in a position of importance learns of his plan. Oddly enough, I'm kinda hoping it'll come back to bite him in the rear—perhaps literally. The fallout from that should be very sweet indeed!
Also, Lightning Dust is a good choice for this story. Spitfire and Rainbow Dash are too high-profile. With Lightning Dust, he has a chance to continue his plan without too much interference. At least for a while.
5028185 And since Lightning was last in the pet shop with her entire nervous system disabled and rewired to work via remote control, I'd think she'd show up sooner or later in the hands of a stallion someplace.
Not to say the mane series couldn't use moar Lightning after she was given the inability to move by herself. :D
Come to think, has anypony seen the new artist, Phathusa, on this site?
5028185
Oh yes, Gilded is well aware of how toast he would be if some of the things he's doing became known to the Caribou. As much as he supports the Caribou regime, Gilded is a ludicrously rich noble used to doing whatever he wants, including bending the law. He has contingencies in the event he's discovered, but those plans could easily fail and land him with sever punishments if he's caught.
Petty much my reasoning as well. Not that he wouldn't go for either Spitfire or Rainbow Dash if he thought he could get away with it, but as you say, both are too high profile. Lightning Dust he can keep hidden away and draw no real questions or comments; just another pegasus mare nobody likely remembers.
5028268
Hmm, haven't seen that pic, but good to know. I suppose its well enough I planned for this to be non-canon with Fall of Equestria anyway so I wouldn't have to worry too much about those kinds of details.
It is good don't change continue like that.
5028268
Phathusa, well I've seen some of is artwork it's pretty good
I love this one: 548413
But the one you're talking about I don't see it; is it on e621 ?
5028786
It is a bit funny that you have chosen Lightning Dust not because of all the reason mention are coherent, but Lightning Dust resembles a bit like Gilded Cagen I mean there manners of "I will get what I want even if it means to sacrifices someone"
Gilded Cage is ok to sacrifice the freedom of a mare to have what he wants and Lightning Dust is ok just to have a child that she wont even really take care just to fly under restricted terms, so there are both kind of devilish.
But Lightning Dust wont stay on those terms, she is (in my mind) traitorous once she will taste again the pleasure of flying, she could put a trick on Gilded Cage to acquire more freedom.
5032138 What in hell are you talking of? Lightning like all female pegasi no longer has wings.
5032238
Sorry if I'm not clear
I'll rephrase it
What I'm saying is that Lightning Dust and Gilded Cage are alike because they have almost the same method to obtain things without any scruple.
If you have read chap 2 (spoilers)
Gilded Cage is proposing to heal her wings
I have an idea for next chapter what about fleur de lis for her beauty genes or red heart for medicine
Just a thought ....
5032819 Maybe if he kills Fancypants... Oh, spin-off idea. X3
5033177 I never said kill him cause he could have got bored and moved to rarity you never know till the author says so
5032819
5033177
I've thought about Gilded going for Fleur, though he could probably buy her off Fancy Pants. Hadn't thought of Nurse Redheart, though she could be a candidate. Gilded's next acquisition is going to a unicorn though, just so he has a mare of each type. He could go for Fleur for her beauty, or maybe Sunset Shimmer or Trixie for their magical talent, or as someone mentioned earlier Vinyl s a possibility. Still thinking it over.
5038419 Just so ya' know: Sunset is red. :)
5038909
Good to know. Heh, I guess it'll be inevitable that Gilded will end up with a red collar on the roster, if only because his focus is the talents of the mares. Black collars are a preference but he can accept a red collar as long as her talents are good enough to be worth preserving. Sunset Shimmer is basically the closest substitute he can get to Twilight Sparkle, who's out of his reach.
5038419 I'd go with either trixie for her magic like you said no main six but their rivals that did the same just lost in the end or just go with fleur for her beauty or do one now and later down the road do the other I'd perfer either one though
5038419
Buying Trixie could open an opportunity for some epic-level cruelty. How?
Just imagine: Gilded explains to her how he plans to preserve the greatest talents of his generation... and then puts a chastity belt on her.
"You, on the other hand, have no talent worth mentioning. It's anal only for you now; better get used to it."
Since Trixie's running theme has been constant failure, this would tie in perfectly.
5049695
Okay, I'll admit it, it's horrible, but that did make me laugh. Fortunately for Trixie that kind of thing isn't Gilded's style. Not to say he's not capable of cruel jokes, but someone would have to do something to specifically earn that from him. Also, its arguable if Trixie's failures are due to a lack of talent or just pure bad luck. Strictly speaking any unicorn whose cutie mark represents magical skill is rare, and while Trixie isn't the magical dynamo that Twilight Sparkle is (or was, in the Fallverse) it was pretty clear from the get-go that Trixie still has magical talent superior to the everyday unicorn. Then again, Sunset Shimmer also clearly has magical talent, and none of the baggage Trixie has. On top of that she's also the only other confirmed pupil of Celestia, suggesting Sunset could be on par with Twilight Sparkle's talent. It'll be a tough choice between the two, since I like both.
5056602
About Trixie's failures: I actually think it's neither.
A general theme of FoE has been the perversion of what Equestria was before. That's why Twilight lectures about how being a slave is the best thing ever, why the athletic Rainbow Dash is almost always restrained in some way, why "miss professionalism" Harshwhinny is a brainless purple collar pet... and why Trixie is being made to fail at everything; because her thing before the Fall was claiming to be better than anypony at any given task. The regime is using this to break her spirit by putting her in situations where the only possible outcome is failure.
I actually think Sunset Shimmer is far superior to Trixie in ability. We've seen her use some pretty advanced magic—she can teleport, for example. If memory serves, a grand total of two other characters were shown to possess that skill, namely Twilight Sparkle and Discord. We haven't even seen the other princesses teleport. Now think about that for a bit!
Sunset does have her own problem: she's stupid. By which I mean they made her stupid. Gilded could reverse the process, though I don't know whether a Sunset Shimmer with her full intelligence restored will remain a red collar. Or if she's going to be come dangerous for him. Sunset is a smart girl, very smart. However, he can also dangle the threat of having her smarts taken away again over her head^^
5060249
True enough, it does seem the Fallverse is as much about twisting virtues as it is just about the sex. In Trixie's case it would make sense that they'd be breaking her down by constant failure. One of Gilded's greatest weapons, though, when it comes to controlling the mare's he acquires, is offering a reversal of that. He tempts them with a chance to get back what's been taken; Octavia her music, Lightning Dust her wings, and in Trixie's case her ability to perform magic. If he did acquire Trixie he'd use the temptation of being a successful, talent magician as a means to control her.
Then again, the same temptation would be the case with Sunset Shimmer, though less focused on being praised for talent and more about just having raw power, which seemed to be Sunset's motivations prior to any events in Fall. You're quite right that Sunset Shimmer would be a far more dangerous mare to own than most others, because if Gilded did restore her magic and her intelligence he'd need to be very careful in monitoring and limiting her use of magic to keep her from escaping via teleportation. He'd need a firm grip on her mentally to prevent that, providing something so tempting to remain with him that the chances of Sunset running would be minimal.
...Hmm... You know, now that I think about it, one thing Gilded would consider a prized possession out of his reach would be an alicorn. All alicorns, though, are out of his ability to own because they're all already taken and too high profile for him to even try to purchase. But what if he researched a way to artificially replicate alicorn ascension? That would be a rather tantalizing carrot to dangle in front of Sunset. Promise that if she's cooperative with him, he'll find a way to turn her into an alicorn.
Just an idea, but I can't think of a more potent form of temptation to offer a power hungry ambitious sort like Sunset Shimmer than alicorn ascension. Of course Gilded could just be lying through his teeth about such a prospect being possible, but he could probably make it sound convincing enough.
What about Gilda? Get some griffon.
5064586
Gilda... huh, I'll admit she hadn't even remotely occurred to me. Mostly because Gilded's goal here is preserving talents via impregnation, so not sure how well that'd work with a griffin. I guess in some headcannons hippogriffs are a thing. Hm, but what talents does Gilda have that'd set her apart from any other griffin Gilded might acquire? He'd be more likely to go for one of the unnamed female griffins who were shown in the background during Equestria Games, since they'd at least in theory be exceptional athletes.
Still, I'll think about it. Certainly not a possibility I'd considered before so thanks for giving me something new to consider.
5060923
The possible ascension as carrot is a great idea! Just the right thing to motivate Sunset Shimmer. Even if she suspects he's lying to her she'll probably stay at least a little while to make sure nopony else is about to tamper with her intelligence again.
5065402
Well, she was a junior speedster, and from what we've seen she has enough ability for somepony like Rainbow Dash to appreciate it. She probably didn't perform at the Games because she didn't give a f...eather.
If not that, then there's always claiming she's part of an exceptional family in some way; in that case the basis would be there, but she didn't care enough to use it to its full extent. And be it only to be exceptionally good-looking for Griffon standards.
5066852
I suppose if I really want to put Gilda in there it wouldn't be that hard to construe a reason for it. Hmm, the griffins got conquered just like Equestria did, right? I could go with the angle that Gilda distinguished herself as an exceptionally talented fighter during the war the Caribou must've fought to conquer the griffins (since no Crystal Heart to corrupt and make the fight easier, and the griffins don't to our knowledge rely on a super-powered ruler or artifacts for protection, so it'd be easy to image the griffins would put up a more significant fight than the ponies did). In that case Gilded's plans for Gilda would be to preserve her warrior talents with the promise that if she serves him he can provide her an opportunity down the road to get some payback on specific Caribou. Again he might be lying, but revenge strikes me as the right kind of thing to tempt Gilda with.
Really good I must say. Besides i have a thing for such stories I like your writing style, ideas and the main character. Really good work and I hope to read a new chapter soon. Don't think about the dislikes. I know that a lot others like this story and I am excited to see what comes next.