At the forefront of every change to ever come upon us as a species, there have been those who are willing to readily stand against it... and those who will readily fight those who oppose it. The entirety of human history itself is an example of this, and as long as there are those willing to refuse change, there will always be those who are willing to enforce it, no matter the consequence.
And so, at the pinnacle of humanity's Space Renaissance in the year CE 2051, the mighty influence of change was suddenly felt throughout the entire world. An anomaly: an unknown physical possibility prior to its existence, suddenly existed off the coast of Hawaii, and threatened to consume the earth, and the rest of the Solar System with it. It came to be known as the Friedrich Singularity: a portal to a parallel universe which in some ways seemed very much like our own, however, in other ways, this parallel universe seemed to differ from ours in every impossible way imaginable. The only way to pass through the portal, however, was to become one of the parallel universe's own in order to survive the harsh nature of their world. For once, regardless of race, gender, social status, economical status, political status, or otherwise, the entirety of mankind was faced with a single choice: convert, or die. For some, other ways of surviving the impending apocalypse existed in their minds. However, deep inside, they understood the choice that they would have to eventually make. The universe is nothing if not unpredictable.
The Ponies, the dominant sentient race of their world, offer conversion as a "simple" alternative to the end of the world. Conversion promises friendship, harmony, and a peaceful existence for all of those who wish to live on. However, one thing is for certain: Everybody lies.
To one young Nathan Frost struggling to cope with his new-found changes, these two worlds, and those who inhabit them, offer him nothing but pain and misery. Even his parents have seemingly abandoned him in his only time of need. He finds himself unsure of his alliances, which leaves only his truest friends standing by his side.
As is the nature of the world, change once again holds Humanity in its clutches, and as organizations rise up to oppose change... There will always be those who rise up to enforce it.
And soon enough, Nathan Frost will discover that he's smack in the middle of it.
Welcome to Project Vanguard, citizen. The world is changing, so why not help it along?
What is The Conservation Bureau
542287. It is John Coner and he's come to save us all DDDAAAHHAHAHHAA GET DOWN!!!!!!!
Now this is interesting. I like it.
hmmm.... interesting, it's different from other TCB stories and the ERD is worst Pony-related group.
and why do I feel like I saw those names in another fic...: Midnight Shimmer, Autumn Gale
Forcing family members into something like this is a great way to induce those affected into either running away or joining factions aligned against them. People don't like being told what to do, and they especially are willing to fight for their dreams. I could just as easily have seen Nate give himself to a life of resistance upon hearing the news from his parents—him and thousands like him. If I had to offer one piece of criticism, it's that the ratio of flashback to plot progression was a bit skewed. Flashbacks let you get through vital plot elements quickly, but if a lot of flashing back is needed to get the reader oriented, you may want to consider just starting the story closer to the beginning.
It's very refreshing to see a character have powerful regrets and resentment post-conversion. Too often getting converted instantly Makes Everything Okayâ„¢ for a character, or at the very least it puts them immediately on the road to recovery. Bitterness is awesome; it's a trait I call upon often in my writing, so I'm sort of biased to it, but I really want to see it fester in Nate, see where it takes him. I like the story so far! Keep it up.
542287
In a nutshell?
Humans are bastards, it's all our fault the Earth is fucked, and ponies are better than us and they can fix the world and blah, blah, blah.
Most of them are pretty much a big Humanity, Fuck No!
There's one or two that are aren't like that, but good luck finding them.
543756 well humans are bastards
Author, I thoroughly enjoyed the setting. The main conflict that the main character Nathan Frost is felt genuine and I loved how you forced him to undergo conversion against his will. Question, in your universe have the people that have been ponified are they lobotomized like the newfoals in the Chatoyance universe, (i.e. incapable of feeling evil and performing violence), or is the main character's situation unique due to not having a choice in being converted? If this trait is common I saw awesome much like 543621 said, it's quite a refreshing take on the whole conversion bureau universe. thank you for writing and please continue the story, I eagerly look forward to more.
543778
To answer your question, the converts of my universe are a bit in between. As I explained in my other story set within the same universe, the ponies have a higher negative emotion threshold, which means that negative emotions aren't as easily produced as humans are able to, and it depends on the situation they're in. Nathan, having to go through what he did, reaches this breaking point fairly easily. Gore, bloodshed, and violence are also hard on the newfoal brain as their mental state is rather complex at that point. Their previous Human consciousness which is transferred into the pony brain is basically overwhelmed at the change of setting. As a result of this, emotions can be overwhelming for them, and anything extremely mentally scarring can harm their fragile minds. After a while, they are capable of experiencing all emotions, but the threshold still exists. Besides, the majority that get converted want to rid themselves of their human nature, so most of them build up a secondary emotional barrier that prevents them from feeling the worst of human emotion. Going back to Nathan's case, he never really wanted to do any of it, so he kind of stays in the melancholy state that he's currently in. His mind doesn't want to accept its new existence as a pony, and the overwhelming emotion he's feeling is the rejection of what he is.
Also, another thing is that the Serum is made to alter the brain in this manner. It's a good idea, because it's not extreme, but it's also poisonous to someone like Nathan. The system isn't perfect in this respect, but it works the best in many cases besides the one such as his. They don't want greed and hatred in Equestria. This also explains why newfoals can't control their ponyisms because it's build into the serum. Hope that explains everything to anyone who might be wondering, and I hope that it isn't that confusing...
Hmm, this is good. A few goofs with grammar and narrative but nothing substantial. You even have the world building aspect of the story presented pretty well, though it still could be better. World building alone gets very boring very fast, a close call, but I think you just evaded that.
There are a couple of moments where you can feel, almost taste, Nathan's self-pity. Like this for example: "I still managed to cry every night just thinking about it all." --> In all honesty, that's a great line.
Jesus H Christ, may I please have some more.
543758
Easy enough to say casually but when it comes to work work of fiction the sheer level of misanthropy most TCB fics excrete can make you queasy. This one seems pretty good so far. It's not over the top in being either for or against either of the 'sides', one being for the conversions and complete annihilation of mankind with fics about how amazing it is to be a perfect pony and not an evil and heartless monkey, and the other side being disgusted by that idea and writing about them in parody.
I'd settle for the later but if this fics can find the balance between the two I'll be satisfied. No telling where it's going as far as I can see now.
557898 Im not talking about in the fic in real life humans are bastard coated bastards with a bastard filling
558022
Well then you should love this fic series and be a big fan of authors like Chatyance. But for the rest of us who are not so pessimistic, so misanthropic, and so very negatively focused to see the good in the world as much as the bad, such assertions as yours are only ever made lightly. So have fun with that.
558148 haven't read this fic don't think i will
I am pessimistic am misanthropic but i have built those on a past of evidence and that evidence shows that humans are evil little creachers that will stop at nothing till they are the only one left.
It is not enough that i should succeed it is that others should fail.
558162
I used to think the same as you but when I was in middle school and stupid. I hope you succeed then, though not at the expense of others.
558177 Im a senior in high school these kids will be the next generation of adults then i pray for the future because they are BASTARDS
Good, but... Frost? Grrr...
599812
Ha. Yes, I have bestowed him with the surname of Frost. I rather like that name.
This is interesting i like seeing it from a kids POV differentiation from his/her parents
wait... theyre looking for the NRPD vehicles.... oh boy this is gonna get crappy....
655485
They aren't looking for the NRPD vehicles, but the place they were tracked to in order to find the Vanguard participants.
655667
I understood that, I just went for a short comment is all
This is fascinating. I am looking forward to what happens next. I definitely am enjoying Nathan's examination of his situation. That is done well, and is filled with nice detail. I can't help feeling that his reaction to his ponification is a clever simile for the problems of adolescence.
Picture related.
thegeekydream.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/53935-double_rainbow-meme-puke-rainbow-rainbow_dash-throwing_up-vomit.jpg
Now please give me more because this is fucking epic.
A biology quibble: equine biology can do something human biology cannot - create all the needed proteins, B vitamins, and amino acids needed for life from plant material.
We humans are required to eat meat in order to gain these essential nutritive elements. It is surprisingly difficult to create an effective, purely vegetarian diet for humans, and the only way it is possible at all is thanks to millennia of technological cleverness - agriculture. Cultures have developed ways to be mostly or even purely vegetarian, but achieving this was not even a little bit easy. It took effort.
Humans evolved as hunter-gatherers, co-evolving with canines as our hunting partners. All primates eat meat, chimps, gorillas, all primates. They may only need to eat meat once a month, but they do, and they all hunt, and kill, for those missing nutrients their bodies literally cannot make. Eating insects helps, but in the end, real, bloody meat is needed. Human vegetarians die without a heck of a lot of technology - specialized farming and a culture that has gradually found the secret of mixing foods with complimentary proteins and complimentary amino acids. An example is eating wheat and rice and beans all together and at exactly the same meal. Eaten separately, at separate times, the proteins humans need cannot be created. It's tricky business. Fortunately the complexity is hidden away within the rules of 'traditional cuisine' and 'traditional ways of preparing food'.
If ponies could always eat meat, AND if their digestion was virtually identical, THEN they would be required to eat meat, and they would. They would possess canine teeth, as we do, and they would be forced to do what we do to survive - either complex rules of diet plus specialized agriculture, or hunting.
So, great chapter, but my science background choked on the biology inaccuracy. Equines are compulsory herbivores for two reasons: one, they can manufacture everything they need from plant material, and two, the mechanism of their digestion is such that the system that can turn grass and grain to all required nutrients is manifestly unsuited for digesting meat. Meat inside a compulsory herbivore is not digested properly, and would lead to bloating, flatulence, vomiting (if possible), diarrhea, and possibly even fatal bowel impaction.
Equines CAN eat eggs, however, and the protein is helpful to them. Many horse breeders do just that. The reason is that eggs are essentially single cells, and are very easily digested and absorbed even by a compulsory herbivore, unlike complex muscle tissue, which is to say, meat.
Another well written chapter that pulled on my heart strings and I have never heard of a total vegi taco before... that or chicken became a fruit/vegi when my back was turned. Anyhow keep up the good work brochompski.
Chatoyance.... killing this chapter in one wall-of-text
865654
Oh good. I wasn't the only one to cringe at that. I'm used to overlooking things like this when reading fanfiction, or anything really. Sometimes I cringe at pony fics that try to explain how Celstia can raise the sun or how a geocentric system would work and it just makes me want to rant about astronomy. They would be better off saying 'it's magic' and not going into it. But then you can't expect to please everyone so when touching an unfamiliar subject so inaccuracies like this are fine. I liked it anyway.
Anyway, I loved this chapter even with all that. I like the purpose that the whole "they can eat meat but culturally don't" has in setting the stage in this story, very interesting idea that the serum attempts to manufacture a disgust for meat in those ways and speaks to some darker undertones of your universe that are pulling me in and making me want more. Even though realistically it wouldn't make sense, as Chatyance explained, I could still brush it off fine because of the tone it helped set for the conversion process here. I'm getting the feeling that there aren't any black and white 'sides' in this and that Nathan has good reason not to trust the princesses as he does the HLF, and I really hope I'm right. It feels more centered on uncovering secrets of various groups along with learning to trust his friends in true spirit to the theme of the show.
I guess it's part of this weird future your story is set in but you'd expect there to be plenty of salads and fruit cups at a public high school cafeteria. Some schools try to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables in weird ways, like having signs all over pointing to the salads. Not to mention that plenty of kids out there grow up in vegetarian households or choose the diet for their own reasons and don't always need to bring their own food to do that. I think Nathan just went in the wrong line and instinctively ignored everything past the hot foods bar like almost everyone else.
865654>>867287
Well, I just changed a few words in there to make them sound a little more different. What I was trying to convey was that the Ponies in my story retain a combination of both Human, and Equine digestive systems. Like you said, Chatoyance, their biology allows them to create all needed proteins, much like terrestrial horses. However, you also have to remember that Nathan isn't exactly the most reliable source of information, and the whole Equestrian diet subject may be explained later on in clearer detail. Without the need to eat meat, there never needed to be hunters. But, the thing that I wanted to get across here, was that many stories make the native Equestrians completely unable to even stand meat in its entirety. In my universe, that is not the case. Nathan only explained part of the Equestrian diet; just enough to make his next point valid. I wanted to emphasize the fact that the Ponification Serum has many more implications.
On a similar note, I've been thinking. How does Applejack have a dog if there were never hunters in Pony society? I mean, they could've been domesticated in a different way, I suppose, but that's definitely something to think about.
867521
You did fine without the edit but alright. When movies makers get calls from ornithologists because the audio guys used bird sounds that weren't native to the location they don't always even bother to even reply, much less do anything about it. Neil Degrasse Tyson once told a story about his anger at the Titanic movie for showing the wrong sky for that very specific time and place and the lengths he went through to get Cameron's attention to the fact before they decided to fix it in a special edition later on. If there's a reason for science to be defied as foreshadowing, world building, or to further the plot, then it works for me. Especially with the implications of what the potion does and what that says about the people and ponies who made, distribute, and advocate it.
867521
Yeah - I always wondered about Winona too. How does Applejack feed her compulsory carnivore? Beans and rice won't do the job. An easy answer is - that's what her pigs are for. Ewww.... Does she do the slaughterin' and dressin' of the pig carcasses? Or do they just go hunt Fluttershy's bunnies? Um...
Maybe that's why we ain't seen Winona in some time - she finally succumbed to dietary insufficiency and malnutrition!
867858
Poor Winona... The pet that didn't make sense...
Nice chapter, keep up the good work...
I wish my stories could be that level of awesome, but I'm missing at least 12000 XP.
(I think I play too much Skyrim)
This is AWESOME and I can't wait till the next chapter.
870357 got the dawnguard exspantion?
i almost became a vamp lord in it .... untill they said it would remove my werewolfism BUCK THAT
also to all the ponies trying to exsplain things in the comments i say this. somtimes its better not to know and somtimes exspectaly with mlp related stuff it can be much easierly exsplained with ''its magic''
well.... now I see the reason for the Gore tag in this story....
2803849
I realize gore is a touchy point, but I wanted to thoroughly break the main character in this way specifically. People are brutal, especially the HLF, and I wanted to show that. Besides, it sets up some very interesting plot points for the future.
2804485
oh, I didn't mean it negatively.... I was just wondering with the previous chapters why Gore was in there... But I see that both Gore and Tragedy have earned their places.... and.... Id have to say you did a pretty good job writing in that gore...... Few have the courage or the skills to actually pull off that level in their stories.... and no I don't count Gore-fics as they don't make you feel.... except maybe the whole "You wanna vomit cuz it's disgusting and you are 100% sure where it's going to end...."
2805188
Heh, thanks. I just got a little scared, I guess..
865654 If they had peanuts they could get protein from them. Although they could probably get sugars to fix that downfall.
One of the few TCB fics that I actually enjoy reading, despite it not being pro human in nature. Unlike the Chayotance fics (which showcase the lives of -most of the time- willing converts), it shows what (at least in my opinion) what people who didn't want to convert would go through when forced. Good job.
I would have left and ran for my life if I was him
2804485
Those... Things do not belong to the HLF. They aren't deserving of that title.