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Joined September 2011
After the end of the Earth, a group of Newfoals form a society to fight back against their forced ponifications. Working against their new pony brains, they seek to bring Celestia herself to heel and force justice for the slights they feel they have endured. Soon their organization grows beyond their imagination, and Equestria is changed forever.
I'm not sure what to make of this story chatoyance.
on the one hand It's well written, the designs are creative, and I'm not sure I've seen a CB story like this before so congrats on creativity.
on the other hand you lay the whole 'ponies are superior to humans' thing on way too thick. i know i shouldn't complain about that considering it's a comedy, but it seems like this 'anti-human' theme has appeared in EVERY one of your stories. it's starting to get a bit creepy.
I'll reserve judgement for now though.
I am sooooo weary of the 'ponies are superior' thing. Listen: My schtick, my core premise is that Equestria is paradise, and ponies are angelic. That's the deal. That is what I saw in Season One, and it is what made me love MLP:FIM. The innocent kind, sweet, friendship literally is magic, better than life, lovely - but still exciting - Equestria is the one that caught my heart and soul. That is the only Equestria I write about. Equestria Prime, original Equestria, where the ponies only know love and kindness, and Celestia and Luna are deities that brought order to Discord's Chaos. THAT IS MY ANGLE.
Just accept it. That is my vision of Equestria - a world that would be worth being an afterlife. A world better and sweeter and kinder than our own in every way. There is no use complaining about it - it is the entire basis of any love I have for the show, for the characters, or for anything at all about these cartoon ponies. The second that dies in me, that is the day I stop writing here.
So, if you are going to read my crap, you are going to have to accept that my particular take on Equestria comes (almost) strictly out of season one, and purely out of the episodes where everypony is nice to everypony, and the only threats come from the Everfree. That is my deal, deal with it.
I deliberately contrast that perfect beauty with a realistic earth in order to gain contrast. Light and dark. Heaven and relative hell. That is my gig. That is what I do. That is the very core of my writing soul.
If you read Chatoyance, you read an Equestria that is fairyland, heaven, samadhi, dreamland, and perfect beauty. That's all there is to it. What they've done in season two to make the characters mean or cruel or human... that doesn't exist for me. It's all midichlorians to me, ruining The Force.
Accept it. That is MY Equestria. Just roll with it. It's a happy, fun place.
Honestly, I don't...no Can't understand why people could complain about the way you treat Equestria in your universe. You have just as much right to see equestria through your own special color of lens if you choose it. Frankly, if someone doesn't like it then they should just stop reading, the story doesn't appeal to them in whatever way they'd like it to, and complaining about your stories as a whole just seems...wasted.
Anyway, I certainly enjoy your writing, and this one looks to be shaping up quite nicely.
And that's why I like having every interpretation of Equestria represented in TCB.
My personal interpretation is going to start flowing out more in some side dialogue for my story, but to not try and hijack the thread I will just say that the Royal Sisters want controlled growth and dynamism in their society. They just want to make sure things don't get stagnant and boring, while ensuring things don't also get chaotic and uncontrollable.
In regards to this story and the general tenor of debate regarding others and you, I just have to say this:
What in the holy night's sake...
I seem to be on a Team Rocket kick right now. I think doing my PER story made me remember how much I loved Jessie and James and Meowth, and their back stories and personalities. They were just my favorites, once the episodes that defined them as people showed. I always just wanted to hug them all and make it better, you know? Thank you for noticing that reference in there! Yay!
Yes, you are right! I should just answer such issues with 'it's a story, relax!' and not worry. There is no way I can please everyone. If some have a problem, then, well, they have a problem. I'm just writing happy little stories here.
Yeah. Thank you. That helps.
I got sick of your writing style, what with its complete seriousness on all topics and such, so now I'm incredibly leery of anything you write.
This was kind of the last straw. It seemed like a pleasant sidestory kind of thing, but the 'and Equestria was changed forever' at the end of the summary hints at some sort of overarching plot, and after Code Majeste, I don't think I can take much more of that from you.
If the organization was just this little thing composed of a few ponies in a backwater town not really doing anything except get into trouble, then maybe I'd read that. But as it stands, I can't bring myself to even click on the first chapter.
Just figured I should say why I'm not reading any of your stories anymore before I finally unfollow you or whatever the hell you call it.
"If the organization was just this little thing composed of a few ponies in a backwater town not really doing anything except get into trouble, then maybe I'd read that. But as it stands, I can't bring myself to even click on the first chapter."
That's... exactly what it is so far. It seems we should be expecting some slapstick.
Ahh, this really brightened up my day
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I did set out to analyze their point of view from a philosophical perspective; how their complaints are reminiscent of culture shock moving from a ‘Closed Society’ into an open one. That was, up until I reached the mantra and fell out of my chair laughing in nostalgia.
The aspect of whether Newfoals would actively 'rebel' (in so much as a pony can) is something I've wondered about for quite a while. Personally, while she is broadly righteous, I don’t see Celestia as exactly benevolent, cultural genocide and her over arching reasons behind Earth's annexing an avenue I'm probably going to pursue in the epilogue to akh. Either way, I find myself somewhat rooting for their underlying cause, even though I can see this becoming utterly silly as time goes on.
As a side note, I begin to wonder if ‘EveryBODY’ will become Equestria’s first meme?
>>644427 You know what? I'm sick of, of... of stuff happening, too. People keep writing all these stories that have these crazy epic adventures, and when they only focus on one character, that character experiences these damn changes, just because of the stuff that happens in the story. Well, you know what? I'm not going to take it any longer, and I don't think you should, either. Let's make like a tree and blow this joint!
This is absolutely hilarious. I had actually wondered about the feelings of involuntary newfoals, which I felt had been somewhat overlooked in most of the CB stories. This is a look on the comic side, so I don't take it as a seriously as his royal highness the King. Quite frankly the moral premise of your CB stories is pretty consistent, and well known, so I kinda feel surprised that some people still get bothered by it: it is a plot element just like magic. Live with it.
chat usually has the thought provoking contrasting story on earth side. midnight has the "newfoal adapting to equestria in a hillarious manner" side. krass blends the two together with his own sillyness
and me.. i see myself as more of a "what would this charicter do if this happened" type of guy..
a person may not like one or the other.. but with this.. miniverse that has spawned from a single,simple, and even now not complete story..
there is loads to choose from.
some play the humans as the heros and the ponies as the zombie invaders.
others play the ponies as the heros and the humans as the biggoted great apes.
out of all of them i think that chat has the fareist representation of the miniverse.
she has charicters that have struggled through the hellhole that mankind has created based on what has/is happening today. she shows bad humans and good humans, bad newfoals and good newfoals.. and even the bad equestrian every so once in a while (like the one who got the residents of summerland caught there.)
if the haters want someone to fight.. i say come to me.. because with chat you are fighting a losing battle.. at least on mine you can insult my spelling and grammar.
Team Rocket mantra. Sniff... I started gaffawing after the first line. I said to myself "it can't be!", but it was. I read on and litteraly laughed out loud on the train. Other serious, near to fifty, working on their laptop, business men like me tried not to look at me. Let them. I laughed all the way through. And I read each word slowly, savouring ean one.
Thank you Chatty!
>>644010 for once chatoyance, we are in complete agreement. to quote the almighty GRRM "they can keep their heaven. when i die, i'd sooner go to middle earth." edit: okay, maybe not complete agreement. infact the only thing i agree with you about is the 'heaven' thing.
>>644134 that mantra only applies to some things. like for instance, try to sit through 'my little fetish' with that mantra. you'll end up trying to claw your eyes out in, ooh, about five minutes
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>>644608 technically, the term is 'his royal majesty the king.' highness refers to princes or princesses while your grace or your majesty refers to a king or queen.
I know this supposed to be a satirical piece, but Chatoyance is still rather effectively underscoring the common story element of ponification leaving parts of a person behind. Chair being physically unable to speak a certain word is rather horrifying in a 1984 sort of way, like he's a Martin Scorsese movie being shown on network television. It's like some kind of censorship of the soul, and the comedy for me lies in the fact that that isn't even what the ponies are mad about.
What they are mad about doesn't even matter that much. The fact is that they are malcontents, they feel something is wrong deep down inside them, and that something must be done, but they're not even able to know what those things are. They seem as though they should be happy, but they are not happy, and they're holding up different puzzle pieces to the hole to see if it fits.
In the meantime, though, hey, ice cream!
Dude, you get a 'royal' when you can show me your face on some money. Elizabeth gets a royal cause she's on most of bills and coins in my pocket. It also doesn't hurt that she looks a lot like my mother, although that did cause me some confusion in my childhood.
BTW - "your grace" is for Dukes and Duchesses, (and Bishops, I think.)
Do not worry, Defaloce, I will endeavor to show the deep, indecipherable emptiness that existentially crushes these poor Newfoal monstrosities as they confront the dark and insufferable horror that their ponified brains literally cannot begin to express.
That, or it's a wacky comedy and will end in laughter and friendship. One of the two. I give you my word. Pinkie Promise.
So far it's ended in ice cream, so, if this pattern of escalation continues, I think you're on track to arrive at one of those!
I didn't really mean to imply that this is the pony version of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream*, but I like to share things that occur to me as I'm reading. As a further example, it was amusing to me to imagine Celestia issuing mandatory enjoyable, high-paying jobs and attractive romantic partners like some kind of bizarro caste system, and that is why the ponies are complaining about things one wouldn't normally complain about.
*the title of that would be I Have No Cake and I Must Party, © 2012 Defoloce Enterprises Ltd. All rights reserved.
The way you say that makes me sound like I'm the tops when it comes to funny
Everyone knows I only Write the most serious of fics!
Also, I dont know if you actually take AAF as part of your universe, but you wrote him in before so wouldnt he be the second millionaire or higher? Forgive me if Im mistaken.
>>644159 "I'm just writing happy little stories here." Well, this one seems like that so far, but if one looks at your TCB-stories as a whole... I approve the complaints (though most, if not all, have already been disclosed weeks or months ago), because you yourself have made it clear that you, the author behind the fics, think your portrayal of Earth and its people is realistic if not even optimistic. Because of that you can't just say "it's not me but merely the characters I created" anymore. Now it haunts you, and you must live with it -- even with the (truly and truthfully) happy little stories.
Then there are the comments about the other end: how canon is your Equestria? Y'know, like I could start with: "TR eats all the pie and stays fit, WTH!?" You go: "You notice the amount of pastries Pinkie Pie consumes?" I say: "But she obviously has bulimia." You: "Listen to yourself. Bulimia, please be kidding." Me: "Twilight certainly threw herself back to shape, when she had that brunch with the Apples." Oh, and how about there's a newfoal, whose name had been (insert profanity [it could happen, I can picture a Bulgarian named Fuckwitzk])? Could anypony say, or even think, his/her name? This is a bit more dumb, but I approve the complaints about this as well, as well as the responses, of course (remember the mantra...).
Enough pointless rambling, I want to say something about this fic too; about these two chapters. When I began reading I thought to myself: "Let's see if there's been any development in her writing." I'm aware that you've written loads of other stuff before, but still we were all first time pony writers not too long ago. Then I couldn't come to any quick conclusion and stated: "Probably yes, but The Big Respawn is still my favourite, how 'bout that." But could this be my new favourite? There's the joy of putting such an adamant storyline into a framework of magical ponies -- and succeeding in it as well. The writing also is solid in other areas (excluding the rabid use of ellipses). That's a very nice first chapter. But then there's that mindboggling introspection right at the start of the second. Firstly: it completely turns the narration around to something that's not the first chapter that I just read and liked. Secondly: I could've just gone with "Bucket moves dung. He always looks down." Now I'm afraid we'll get more trivia about the other OGs too! I don't want that! I want to fill in the gaps myself (however, I am aware that this is fanfiction that most people gobble by the dungcartload, and that kind doesn't really want to spend their time with gaps)! The rest is good, not quite sure if the chair-part works, but surely some ice cream will make it better.
I hope this comment makes any sense.
You know, as much I'm enjoying the comedy of this story, I really could see a serious version of it being done. AKA, a story where people with LEGITIMATE reasons to be pissed about being forcibly converted (really I want to slap the lot of them here silly, except maybe Bucket. He needs a hug 
).
Alright, you win. You win everything. Between that carpenters testimony of how horrible his gold, beautiful wife, and loving children life is now, to the denialist Payne, who kept his human name as an act of defiance but took up the name 'Royal' due to his coat... OH LORD!! Royal Payne, and you delivered it with such incredible subtlety. And then you swiftly followed up with Golden's lack of human need for violent payback, as it had been replaced by, oh the HORROR, a need to fix problems and sorrows with thoughtfulness.
I'm so glad you gave comedy a round two! 
You know what I would 're-invent' if I went to Equestria? Pizza. Seriously, I would not be able to live the rest of my ponified life without Pizza. I would miss meat lover's though....
Now if you'll excuse me, I feel the urge to go listen to Double Trouble from the 2BA Master album FOR SOME REASON.
I remember a quote somewhere from wh40k...
"The more I understand Xenos, the more I research them, the more I grow to hate them. It's not because they're green and slimy, or because they don't speak like us, it's because they don't understand hate. They're incapable of good old, honest Human hate." (It went something like that)
Gonna have to let this pass, but it's still well-written, so I won't downvote it or anything silly.
Yes, that is basically the quote. I don't remember though, if it was in the latest 40K book, or the last edition, but it was a great one. Have you seen my army, the Vas'Quez Tau? I am overly proud of them, and their backstories...
I am utterly honored that the author of Dames of the Tea Table would be here. I would recommend everypony go read Gabriel's works right now. It's OK. I'll wait.
Wow, great huh? Now you know who I am referring to with regard to the dark unicorn in the embroidered Cloak, her lime green maid-like companion, and the pale white and pink friend also in a cloak. I wonder why Fancy Pants didn't bring his usual plus one? Hmmm... maybe he was afraid of offending her?
Yes, my favored author, this was absolutely a tip of the old Borsalino to you, very specifically. That you would be here to see it, only makes me so very, very glad.
>>645240 "Just figured I should say why I'm not reading any of your stories anymore before I finally unfollow you or whatever the hell you call it"
& "Read it. Found it bland and boring. Trust me, it takes disturbingly much to disgust me. Disturbingly, disgustingly much. "
Okay, well at least the latter comment had some content in relation to this particular story itself, but really. You said you were going to un-follow, you said you weren't going to read it....and that you were leaving......
You stayed, you read.
No one strapped you down Clockwork Orange style and MADE you do it, you're eyes weren't held open against your will. (*) So to you, and to others out there who come here simply to insult the authoress, I have only two things I wish to ask of you. First off, if you don't like it, just don't read it. Simple. See? There must be hundreds of other ways you could be spending your time and energy, that do not include bashing someone you've never even met over a work of Fiction that you personally dislike.
*
And in the words of Thumper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I71cY9Ysy5U
>>660120 Celestia isn't opposed to Earth Culture. Artistic, Musical, non violent forms of entertainment are certainly not censored. Why folk keep thinking that Celestia would throw the baby out with the bathwater is beyond me, the scope isn't wide based. A very specific, very focused thing was changed. Most who underwent that change are HAPPY about it. It's been argued that such happiness is fake, artificial, and too saccharin - imposed upon them against their nature and against their will. But isn't that what happens in the Heaven mythos of most cultures? I mean, when Heaven is reached, will there be violence? Fighting? Anger? Complaints? No....why? Well the enforced behavior there is (usually) constant praise of the Deity that created it....talk about monotony.
"All sane people hate noise; yet they have tranquilly accepted this kind of heaven -- without thinking, without reflection, without examination -- and they actually want to go to it!" *
* paraphrased from Letters From The Earth by Mark Twain
This version of Celestia shows that she might indeed just do that, and as for those undergoing the change are mindwiped and from what I've seen, somehow linked with Celestia in order to force them to be happy, and then you got the people who are forcefully converted by the PER who again are mindwiped so they're forced to be happy...
How Ralph and those other HLF members managed to counter that in the other story is beyond me, but not like it matters since they died.
First, for some reason it has you down as replying to someone other than me while you quote me and I get an email.
Second, your comment is the only place that second quote appears. I didn't read this. I also don't believe I was bashing Chatoyance. I actually think she's a brilliant writer. I just don't think her style of writing is for me.
>>660649 My apologies. Your comments seemed to be very negative, and as I stated - if her writing style isn't for you, then just don't read it.
I get very protective of those I love, most especially Chatoyance. I have seen her get attacked too many times, maybe I've developed a chip on my shoulder.
If I misinterpreted and leaped to an inaccurate conclusion of your intent based on the limitations of a format in which tone cannot be adequately conveyed (most of the time), then again, I offer my apologies.
I still think, though, in the spirit of Equestria itself, for which this site was originally created - Friendship and kindness being the over-ruling tone and all - the "If you can't say anything nice" [or even constructive] comment should prevail. Perhaps refraining from comment would be the better part of valor.
Your comment doesn't give constructive criticism in any way that I can see. Your opinion is expressed, yes, clearly so. And you've certainly every right to that opinion. We all have authors/authoresses we like who don't always manage to please us with every work they create.
Having the ability to express your views is one of the advantages of this forum, and of the internet in general. That we can do so, in a moment, and with a certain degree of anonymity, can sometimes move us to do so without stopping to think of the impact our words might have on those with whom we're trying to communicate.
There are people behind these avatars. Living beings with feelings that can be hurt. I have seem Chatoyance hurt, it's not something I want happening again - hence my defensiveness. Perhaps I reacted from a gut level impulse without forethought, here, myself. It happens to the best of us and despite our own best efforts at times.
All I'm really asking is for you to try to convey more of the above mentioned respect for the perceived brilliance you decry than to dwell on the negatives or disappointments. After all, something keeps you coming back to read more, even despite yourself.
Something moved you enough that you felt the impetuous to bother posting a response, at all - many don't bother with the latter even if they read the stories. You gave some of your time and energy to communicating with an author of a work, a thing that is more and more accessible these days. (I can remember the author of a book having to be sent any mail through an agent, publishing house, or other third party - and the chance that they would ever actually see it themselves was lean).
When you share of your time and energy, have the words you say reflect what you mean - and there are ways of saying even negative things with more kindness than I've thus far encountered in your posts here.
Thank You. Aedina
P.S. As for the posting and notification problems you are having in my replies to you - I haven't a clue as to how/why they're happening or how to stop them.
>>660443 Alright, I can see your point of view on this. This version of Celestia is a little harsher than some of Her other incarnations. But so far She's shown mercy, tolerance, and kindness even to those who've crossed Her, when circumstances allowed Her to be lenient or the perpetrator unwitting or unwilling of their offense. Anything that can hurt Her ponies (and yes, She sees them as HER ponies, the way most sovereigns throughout the ages have seen their subjects) is not to be allowed. If no threat is imposed, at all, and no threat likely to arise, ever - then She will at least do her best to ignore it and let it go, if not give it Her blessing.
Wait, wasn't this group formed for legitimate grievances about forced ponification that the newfoals actually had? It seems like they've lost sight of that and are now given to putting on some kind of weird minstrel show for the native Equestrians. At first it seemed like they were upset but couldn't express it. Now it seems like they aren't really upset, they just feel as though they should be and are playing it for laughs. I know, I know, it ends in happiness and friendships and ice cream, but there's still a tragic subtext throughout the entire TCB setting, even when one is shooting for lightheartedness.
I'm also curious about your take on this last bit of Earth left. Given the rough location of the Zero Point, as you put it, that would mean the origin point of the Barrier in your universe is a few hundred miles NNE of Hawaii. Were the events of South Africa ever explored in detail in a prior story of yours? I don't understand how Hot Topic was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other humans and then suddenly he was a pony in Equestria. Something about scoops? I'm not getting it.
Mass Emergency Conversions. It was mentioned in previous chapters, and in other stories by me. At the very end, what is left of the Worldgovernment panics and decides to forcibly rescue the last humans crowding together on the tip of South Africa. In the very first chapter of this story I first alluded to it. They just scoop people up in big vehicles and spray them down in order to prevent a mass burning of the remnants of humanity by the encroaching Barrier.
So in the end they weren't even allowed their choice to die? The highest level of human authority, in the eleventh hour, adopts the tactics of the PER whole-hog? Even the most live-and-let-live bone in my body is saying "damn, that ain't right."
Did Celestia know of this beforehand? Actually, instead of bombarding you with questions I guess I should just ask for you to direct me to chapters in your other stories which outline the events of South Africa. I'm really interested in this, and I must have totally missed it on my first read-throughs.
I'm only just dealing with South Africa in this story, Defoloce. It's my first stab at it. Oh, It's been in my head the moment I first thought of where Equestria would expand from, what the other point on the globe would have to be. I have mentioned the government doing early Mass Conversion Ssweeps in the Northamerizone in other stories - that is how the eponymous 'Teacup' from Teacup Down On The Farm enters the story, for example. As each zone meets it's last moments, the local branches of the Worldgovernment panic, and do Mass Conversions. However, the reason why is special.
You see, when I've made fuss about how my stories are ANYTHING but misanthropic, I mean it, and I have gone into that whole hog. My future humanity really does care about people, unlike the real world. In my future, the elite of the world, living like gods, still actually acknowledge kinship with the working classes, unlike the real world today. That is why they feed and water all of humanity, even though they are not forced to, unlike today, in the real world, where most humans go hungry most of the time. My future humans are fantasy humans, noble, kind at the root, even the most greedy of them.
Because of this, unlike our real world today, my future humans simply cannot sit and watch hundreds of thousands of people just... die horribly. My future is one where standing in front of a bulldozer would actually stop the driver from just killing you. In my future, they don't let the third world - the majority of humanity - starve and die like flies. So they can't just let the Barrier burn humans alive and kill them with thaumatic radiation. Those too stupid, or too righteous, or too whatever to save themselves, are saved against their will, in much the same way that a man overboard will be rescued from drowning, even if he is too drunk, or insane to save himself. That is their thinking in my future world of More Noble Humanity. They actually value life, deeply, truly value life.
I know this is a fantasy. If I wrote my CB stories how I truly think Man and government would work, countless billions would just burn in thaumatic desolation. The news would be forcibly censored to prevent the true scope of the horror. Billions upon billions would meet their end flash-fried by the Barrier rolling over them, because they are too poor to be able to even afford the transportation to run away. Imagine millions in a given area, walking, limping, running from the Barrier, falling and being burned to crisps, all while the rich elite sit on Ark-Ships out at sea, partying before finally converting to live in mansions in Equestria (part of their deal with Celestia to allow anyone to be saved at all)
That was too dark, and most readers, I reason, would be too ignorant of history or current events in the world to accept that kind of writing. So I deliberately, consciously upped the ethical stats of the human race, especially of the upper 0.001 who rule, who truly rule (not figureheads like politicians) such that we have a world that is unreasonably kind to the poor. A fantasy world, very unlike today. A world where every human life is actually considered -for real- some shade of sacred. That is also why there is no war at all anymore in my CB future.
So that is the reason for the scoops - for the big vehicles scooping up the last holdout humans and forcibly just spraying or gassing them into ponydom, to prevent their little lives from being snuffed out. It is utterly unthinkable in the real world, unless some political force demanded the appearance of 'caring' - scoops would cost resources and wealth and effort that the rulers would see no point to. They would just go - "let the idiots die, it's what they want anyway, fuck'em."
No, in my fanciful tales, the wealthy elite still see humanity as something more than just the slave subspecies that exists for them to use. In MY world, Dick Cheney and Henry Kissinger never called the majority of humanity 'useless eaters'. My CB universe is one where Man is just a little bit more concerned with humanity as a whole, and individual human lives. My humans are better than reality, in my stories.
Also, it makes for drama - without the Mass Emergency Conversions, you can't have that many Newfoals converted against their will - the PER isn't that good at what they do. Not by a long shot. So to make up for that, I let the conscience of the Worldgovernment elite (conscience! As if!) take up the slack.
That's the scoop, on the scoops.
As for Celestia - she is all powerful, omnibenevolent, but NOT omniscient. She would not have been able to imagine any creature failing to take her gift once all was known. She had no concept that the majority of our planet was (as it is now) desperately, crushingly impoverished. She could not know that we have arranged things that way, and allow that to happen. That would be unthinkable to her. So, we can imagine her horror and shock, once the universes were in collision, to find that billions - even in my better world - would end up dying from her actions.
Then again, with her immortal view, she would rationalize it as a mercy, in the end. Remember that in my stories, I clearly admit that without magic, there can be no gods, no souls, and no afterlife. Just the endless oblivion of being a chemical machine, of being meat.
My stories do not grant the cosmos of Mundis enough magic to permit spirits to truly exist - much less wizards, unicorns, elves or the Tooth Fairy and Santa. In Celestia's observation, every converted sapient is one less lost forever to the dark. That was her promise to the horrified Willelmus of England, 800 years in our past.
My Celestia always keeps her promises. Always.
>>662979 It always saddens me when readers don't understand where Chatoyance comes from. It saddens me, too, when I have to admit that her future human world, as dark as it is, is as realistic as it is.
It saddens me when otherwise intelligent types rant and rage about it. I'd tell it to Chatoyance, but these are her stories, so instead I have to say it to the readers: these are just stories, you really should just relax. If it makes you angry, then just... switch it off. Go read something else. Part of why I write silly, soft, sweet fluff is because I write to escape. It cheapens my stories, to be honest, when I don't take them seriously. Then again, I don't see why I should take anything too seriously, least of all myself.
But those nebulous readers, the confused and angry, I don't understand why they do. This story is silly as well as being a gentle chide to those who look at heaven through this strange pony-shaped lense and think it horriffic. Those same people are more than likely the types to sit in a church every sunday and pledge undying obedience to a god which drowned the world without remorse.
It makes me sad, and I'm a bystander. It makes me want to quit writing, ever again, and I'm only an observer.
If you want to get angry, go get angry about the Syrian government shelling civilians, or the government's thugs beheading, raping and murdering women and children, leaving their bodies to bloat in the sun. Go get angry about landmines that vaporize legs, or rubbish pits that poison the young as they fish through filth for scraps to sell. Go get angry about the sweatshops, where the workers suicide or get brutally beaten up, imprisoned or just plain disappeared when they protest for an increase in their meat ration.
There are a million REAL reasons to get angry at things in this world, don't get angry at a silly story, or the person behind it. You're spoiling it for me, and I'm selfish enough to get pissed about that.
First off, I want you to know I'm flattered that you felt my question deserved such an in-depth response. That must have taken a bit of consideration—if not time—to put together, and I thank you. You explained a lot about how the Chatoverse works, using the Real World™ as a point of reference, but in your examples, there are people who want to get ponified but are prevented from doing so. The South African situation, however, is full of people who chose to die and are prevented from doing that. The motivation behind their choice matters little—whether they were vehemently anti-pony, didn't find Equestria appealing, or simply had no desire to give up their life as a human, the fact stands that, from the very beginning, the choice to convert is an utter illusion. It was gonna happen anyway. It's the very definition of paternalism, and benevolent dictators are dictators still. But that's the way it is in your stories, I get that. That's how it goes down. If you in the Chatoverse, you gettin' hooves. Also eventually ice cream.
I've thought about why this topic in particular is so interesting for me, and when I looked back on the two stories I'd written for TCB, I noticed they both had humans who chose to die on their own terms, even in the face of suggested or forced ponification. I realized then that it's at the core of what drew me to TCB in the first place. Who would choose death over ponification? Does it matter who, or why, or under what circumstances? The important thing is that the choice is there, and it's a real one. Let's not forget that, in the original story, the choice wasn't between pony or death. It really was between going pony or staying human. That doesn't generate much tension on its own, though, so I played with the idea of ponies forcing humans to convert. It was my version of the expanding-Barrier idea which came shortly after.
Between South Africa and the events of Ten Minutes Aftermath, I can see that universal salvation is a big theme in your stories (even though the question of what constitutes "salvation" is begged). I took elements of that and put them into Railroad, most specifically the Aftermath idea that death is not a choice in itself: all must stand before Celestia and say "yes" or "no" to her face. That's about as far as I was willing to take it. I can think of few ways of stating "I don't want to be a pony" stronger than standing defiantly in front of the Barrier and letting it atomize you. When these same people come out the other side as a pony, however, all of their fundamental malcontent is whitewashed away. Nobody is accountable for anything that happened, and nobody cares. Everyone is saved, even if they were saved against their will. Even the basic dignity of saying "no" and having that choice respected was denied them. Both Celestia and the Worldgov people are spared the guilt. Time for ice cream.
I remember saying in another comment for some other story that an effective story makes you feel things, even if the feelings you're getting are not fun to have. Hell, the entire Newbery Medal system seems designed around finding books that make kids sad and then putting a shiny circle on the cover. They do that because sometimes you'll feel sad, or angry, or helpless, and that's a part of growing up. We can't feel content all of the time; we have to question and analyze our own feelings, how certain things make us feel and why we feel that way about them. Chatoyance's stories bring my opinions to the surface and makes me want to share them with the author, and I can think of no better praise for a writer than that.
The fact that I have questions and am interested in Chatoyance's stories should be enough to separate me from the people who just bang out "misanthopy genocide grrrraaaah" into the comment box over and over. I lay out my concerns to Chatoyance and she takes the time to reply to them, and I like to think it's because she cares about how her stories are being taken and what people think of them. I have questions not because I'm trying to catch her in some kind of logical checkmate, but because I really am interested in hearing the thoughts behind the choices she makes in laying out her stories. If I just plain can't stand what I'm reading, then I certainly do stop, and that's happened plenty of times, believe me.
I'm not angry at the story for existing and I'm not angry at Chatoyance for writing it. I was confused, yes, but that falls more on me than on the story. With Chatoyance's explanation I see that I jumped the gun in asking about South Africa, but with the huge back library of her stories I assumed that I had missed or forgotten something. Again, I realize that this is meant to be a lighter story, but that doesn't mean that I as a reader am required to ignore any heavier questions it raises for me. Right now the best I can do is try and express how I'm perceiving what's being set out before me and how I'm interpreting the events. I do this to help put Chatoyance in the best position possible to address my thoughts. The discussion I'm having isn't really so much to do with this specific story as it does with the Chatoverse at large.
As far as I am concerned Railroad takes place in the same cosmos I write about. I thought that was a fantastic story. In my cosmos of 19 billion humans, only 8 billion make it to Equestria, when all is said and done. It's just too big of a task. There is room for every story, after a fashion.
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