25 Beginnings
Lily - 22nd of Midsummer ‘15 EoH - Afternoon
“He’s down! Medic please!” Princess Twilight called, chest heaving and voice showing even more exhaustion than her stance did.
“Psst! That’s you, Mad Mage!” Pinkie whispered into my ear before I even had an opportunity to start walking.
No wonder my half-brother married her. They were equally as endearingly irritating.
“Ja, on it,” I said quickly trotting forward.
I honestly never thought I would be obeying the commands of an autocrat. At least, not before I left Germaney. I had always thought it would feel as if I were being used. In Stalliongrad, it had been. In Equestria, it didn’t. With Twilight, following her orders felt like helping out a friend.
Quickly drawing alongside Twilight I gave her a concerned look. “Are you sure you want me to heal him? It might be better to allow him to die.”
Twilight shook her head, giving me a look that conveyed a ton of experience. “It’s never better to allow them to die. Yes, sometimes you have to… But it’s always best to turn an enemy into a friend. Especially when they are as powerful as he is. My friends and I have reformed an actual chaos spirit before, Lily.
“To me, Sacred comes across as naive but honorable, and he seemed to want to be working for good instead of evil. He deserves that chance, please help me give it to him.”
Well… When she put it like that and even used a please...
“Alright,” I agreed, critically eyeing the armored mage’s dull black plate mail. “Since he didn’t just disintegrate from that blast, I assume this armor’s material is magically resistant. So it will probably insulate him from magical effects to a certain degree. You’ll need to help me remove at least the helmet so I can get to work.”
Twilight frowned and bent down, searching Sacred’s neck for where the helmet began. “This could be difficult. It’s most likely arcanite, if I used telekinesis to just force it off, I’d probably have to use so much energy the force would break his neck. Also when the glow was going I could see that the helmet locks to the neck somehow…”
I bent down as well, helping Twilight fidget with the almost invisible catches and latches that formed a rather complex locking system. How did this stallion eat? He certainly wouldn’t be able to take his helmet off on his own… Then again, as a commander, he probably had a squire.
After a few minutes of puzzling, we finally managed to push one latch up, another down, and a third inwards, then slide all three latches counterclockwise until they lined up at the back of the neck, which finally allowed us to slide the helmet off his head.
“I get why a helmet would lock on,” Twilight grumbled as the two of us set the surprisingly heavy helmet down together, “but who they hay designs it like a puzzle?”
Sensing the question was rhetorical, I decided not to reply but instead to start examining my patient. He was fairly badly burned, which made perfect sense. The armor might protect him from the arcane energy, but not from the fireball that energy turned into, and his helmet had holes for seeing and breathing…
“So… Is he completely burned, or just a little burned with black fur?” Twilight asked in a tone that was only barely hiding distress.
“He has black fur. Most of the burns are around his eyes, nose, and mouth,” I answered, still examining him physically. “You shouldn’t feel bad about hurting-”
“Yes I should,” Twilight objected instantly, “what kind of monster would I be if I liked violence?”
She let out a relieved sigh as I moved aside to let her see his face clearly. “Good. Fire would be the worst way to go.”
“Burning is pretty bad, ja,” I agreed casualty.
Sacred looked like he was mostly fine. The burns didn’t look to be much worse than second degree, the real damage was probably scorched lungs from breathing in the flames. And also his eyes.
What the buck did that spell do to eyes? Face was burned, most fur scorched away, mane blackened. Normal fire damage… So why were his eyes glassy and crystalline in appear-
“Ohhhh!” I exclaimed facehoofing in realization. “They’re both glass eyes. That makes-”
“What?” Twilight asked, sounding very shocked. “He can’t be blind, he was tracking me while I was flying. They have to be arcane prosthetics.”
“Most likely,” I agreed. “Should I replace them?”
Twilight shook her head. “No. Just heal him please. We can ask if he wants normal eyes later. Given his armor, he probably intentionally replaced them.”
“Fair point,” I agreed as I closed my eyes and summoned up my magic.
The probing tendrils of magic revealed much of what I had expected as they spread through Sacred’s unconscious form. Scorched throat and lungs, lots of internal damage from blunt force trauma, shattered ribs. No big deal.
A few minutes of carefully applied spells and he was as good as new. I even decided to be nice and cause his burnt mane to fall out, and a fresh one to regrow. Once my work had finished, I took a step back to make sure everything looked right. After all, I had been working on somepony in a possibly arcanite suit. My magic could have been fooled.
Sacred was oddly handsome for a brainwashed army commander. He had coal black fur that included the shine of coal, a spiky burning coal orange mane with streaks of yellow in it, and with the glass eyes rolled around so they pointed outwards, a pair of dark red eyes which suited the chiseled features of his face and his coloration well. To my amazement, his horn was straight, though a tad slender and long.
“Huh… I expected the dark magic horn curvature,” I mused to myself.
“I should really see about getting him to let me examine his armor. If he was capable of that sort of magic without using Dark Magic for a power boost... ” Twilight mused to herself. With a quick shake of her head she turned to face me. “Theoretical mana battery improvements can wait. Is it safe to wake him up? I need to decide what to do with his forces, and it’s only fair he be a part of that.”
I nodded then blinked. “Hold on a second, his helmet doesn't have a horn sheath! How the hay-”
“Extradimensional space. Some unicorn guards prefer them to a sheath or slot,” Twilight said with a smile. “You don’t know much about magic besides medicine, do you?”
“No, not especially,” I admitted with a light blush, “but, yes, it is safe to wake him.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said giving me a polite smile before moving over to Sacred and giving his shoulder a gentle shake with a hoof. “Sacred, can you hear me?”
As Twilight gave Sacred’s shoulder another shake, two shadows of flying ponies passed overhead. I looked up in time to see Princess Luna and Princess Celestia turn and land a few feet away from Twilight.
“I’m glad to see you have everything in order, Twilight,” Celestia said walking forward with her wings flared regally.
I gulped, internally panicking as I tried to remember what exactly protocol was for greeting somepony of her station!
“Uhhhhhh!” I accidentally said out loud ears standing upright in alarm, as Princess Celestia turned to look at me.
Politely ignoring my distress, Celestia gave me a small smile. “Hello again, Baron von Maresburg. It’s nice to see you here, I take it you have healed this pony post-duel?”
I nodded. “Yes, your highness.”
“Excellent,” Celestia said as she turned back to Twilight. “I assumed their army destroying their own heraldry meant they agreed to a Duel of Champions to settle the matter. I’m glad to see they agreed to terms. Do you have any ideas for what to do with them? I assume they’ve surrendered.”
Twilight smiled, talking to Princess Celestia as if the sun-moving god of a pony were an old friend. “Actually, Sacred, er, the stallion in front of me, is the one who proposed a duel. He seemed like he was questioning his master’s orders… And had been for some time.
“He’s quite powerful, especially with his armor. I think he would make a great addition to the Solar Guard, as he’s apparently known nothing but military life. I doubt he would be comfortable as a civilian.”
Celestia nodded and began to speak, seemingly debating a course of action with Twilight. I wanted to overhear for simple curiosity's sake, but Princess Luna gently tapping on my shoulder with her left forehoof instantly shifted my attention.
“Y-Yes Your High-” I began only to be cut off with an eye roll.
“You saved my sister from serious injury. You’re a friend, and so is your half-brother, and your half-sister as well. So please don’t call me Highness outside of formal discussions. It’s Luna, Moony, or Moonbutt.” Luna objected giving me a small smile which was clearly hampered by physical pain. “I cast a very draining spell a few minutes ago. Do you know how to cure a migraine?”
“Er, well yes, of course!” I stammered, shocked by her statement. “I may not know much about the brain, but headaches and migraines are simple enough. Hold on.”
My horn glowed dimly for a moment as I cast the relatively simple spell, Princess Luna immediately sighed in relief. “Oh thank the Gods! I swore my eyes were being hammered out…”
“You’re welcome,” I said, still a bit shaken.
It was weird that a monarch considering me a friend shook me up despite my being friends with Dusk. But it was even weirder that even though I could acknowledge that fact, it still felt weird.
With a shake of my head I turned my attention back to Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight’s discussion.
“-that would be for the best,” Celestia said, nodding her head. “It would certainly free up a lot of Luna’s soldiers for her use. But we should see if this, Sacred will go along with the plan. I imagine his soldiers will listen to him more than us at the moment.”
“Excuse me, what this about my Guards?” Luna asked, having over heard as well.
“Celestia and I have decided to see if the er, Trixies will join the Equestrian Armed Forces as my own Guards. It’s probably about time I got my own, after all I can’t keep expecting you to provide patrols and troops for Ponyville,” Twilight explained.
“That would be a much needed relief for the Lunar Guard,” Luna agreed. “The Las Pegasus area needs a good monster purge but I don't quite have the numbers free for one right now. This is their commander, right?”
Twilight and I nodded.
“Let’s wake him then,” Luna decided, walking over to give Sacred a shake.
She took three steps before stopping in her tracks, eyes widening, and jaw dropping. “Heavens! Tia, he looks exactly like Mantle!”
“What?” Princess Celestia asked, eyebrows raising in surprise, then widening in shock as she came around to an angle where she could see Sacred’s face. “I… he does. It’s uncanny!”
“Whose Mantle?” Twilight and I asked together.
“Our youngest brother,” Princess Luna answered, shaking herself from her shocked state. “He was the Crown Prince when we were fillies.”
“If Luna and I had not become alicorns and won the people's support, he would have assumed Equestria’s throne… Er, Luna… Mantle was killed by peasants before we took the capitol, wasn’t he?”
Luna frowned. “Probably. It’s been so long… I think they trapped him in the palace with the other nobles present, before burning it down. But I don’t remember for sure. I do remember we spent a few years searching for him just in case he was alive.” Her lips formed a little ‘o’ mid sentence, “The Trixies are all clones.”
“He might very well be a clone too, and if he is, and if Mantle survived… I think we’ve just found the root of this thing,” Celestia said sadly, ears drooping slightly as she did her best to contain her emotions. “I-if he’s been alive all this time, we could have helped him! He would have been a terrible ruler on his own but-”
“We should ask him for confirmation, before we do anything rash,” Luna said, doing her best to keep calm.
“Agreed,” Princess Celestia er, agreed.
I took a sideways step towards Twilight, whispering quietly. “Er- Princess should we do anything or let them-”
“Let them have their moment, then bombard with questions,” Twilight said almost reflexively. “Do you have parchment?”
“No?” I said, tilting my head to one side. “Why?”
Twilight sighed. “It's okay, just remember everything you can, we’ll transcribe this later.”
… Twilight, you sort of scare me.
“Wake up, please,” Princess Celestia said as she gently pushed Sacred’s shoulder with a hoof.
Sacred groaned, shifting slightly with clinks and scraping of metal. The tired, need-coffee way that he moved meant he was mostly likely waking up from pure chance rather than Celestia’s push.
“Okay, alive… Helmet off…” Sacred muttered, pushing himself up on one foreleg. “Princess Twilight, I thank you for providing a he-”
Sacred stopped speaking mid sentence, artificial eyes dilating in surprise and fear as he suddenly had Princess Celestia looking directly into his face.
“Cool! They mimic real eyes!” I exclaimed with a grin, immediately blushing and quieting as Twilight gave me a ‘don’t ruin their possible moment!’ glare.
“Sorry,” I quietly apologized.
Sacred folded his forelegs into a bow, pressing his head against the ground. “Your Highness,” he said reverently. “Your Champion has defeated me, you may do with me and my forces as you will. I am sorry to have worked against your ideology, it clearly produces ponies of a higher caliber than my former master’s.”
“Rise, I have a few questions for you,” Celestia ordered.
Sacred quickly stood up. “As you will, Ma’am.”
“Are you also a clone?” Princess Celestia asked, eyes narrowing in focus as she clearly wanted to be absolutely certain she was not being lied to.
“Yes, all of Father's children are clones. Aside from some financial backers and very rare volunteers, we are all his creations,” Sacred answered, lips pursing for a moment. “I suppose, having surrendered, I should divulge the location of our head quarters. It is located-”
Celestia smiled at Sacred, cutting him off with a raised hoof. “I have just come from it, and have razed it. You and the soldiers under your command here are presumably the last of your organization. Various branches of Princess Luna’s forces began raids on your other bases an hour ago.”
Sacred sighed and looked down. “I knew Father was becoming a fool in his old age… But I did not think he was so far gone as to allow for a total destruction as he did. Though, I suppose most of it is on my head. I was his second… Did you slay him in battle?”
“He went down without a fight. I assume this, Father, was a litch of some kind?” Luna asked, interrupting her sister so she wouldn’t have to answer that question.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Sacred replied. “I am unable to tell you more. Father did not allow me to learn Necromancy.”
“Then the skull we recovered is his Phylactery,” Celestia said thoughtfully. “Luna, remind me to put it into Tartarus for storage later. Sacred, this is important. Who are you a clone of, do you know?”
Sacred nodded. “Yes Ma’am, I am a direct clone of Father. While all of his children share some of his blood, I am made as a copy of him. Hence my name shared with my predecessors, Sacred Shadow.”
Celestia nodded, face shifting to a subtle sadness. “I see… Do you know who Father was in life? Or how old he was?”
Sacred frowned, clearly seeing the same sad look on Celestia’s face that I did.
“Ma’am,” he asked, “this topic distresses you. I do not understand why you would weep for the death of an enemy.”
“Please answer my questions,” Celestia said, ignoring Sacred concern.
“I don’t think even Father remembered who he was before,” he answered. “I have scattered memories of my predecessors. As far as I know, not one of the sixteen of us ever knew his name. As for his age, it is at least five thousand years.”
Celestia nodded grimly to herself. Luna took a step forward, looking into Sacred’s eyes as she asked. “Do you know why he wanted to attack Equestria?”
“Yes Ma’am,” Sacred answered immediately. “Father insisted he was the rightful King of Equestria by birth, which is what got me to question him. If conquering a land would make him it’s ruler by right again, then surely the logic of ‘he who captures land rules it’ applies to other people as well, and therefore… Your Highnesses, did I do something wrong?”
Sacred’s question came as the stallion’s face showed a complete and total lack of comprehension of the concept of someone in power crying.
Lily - 2nd of Faust ‘15 EoH - Mid Morning (One Week Later)
I sat on Scootaloo’s couch, idly rolling my breakfast bowl around in my hooves. I hadn’t been able to sleep well for a week. I just had so many unanswered questions! Thank Faust Scootaloo was more than willing to help with snuggles or I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep at all.
My mind was so consumed with thoughts at the moment that I almost completely missed Scootaloo walking into the living room, her mane wrapped up in a towel.
“What’s wrong hon?” Scoots asked as she plopped down onto the couch next to me. “I was expecting you to follow me into the shower… Are you still trying to work through-”
“Yes,” I confirmed, cutting her off a tad rudely. “Sorry… Just… The Princesses find out one of their old family was alive too late to do anything to help him, und the vat grown commandos he made are being trained to protect the very city they were ordered to destroy. Meanwhile we still don’t know exactly what the laboratory under my clinic was doing in the whole scheme, so we can’t tell for sure if all of the Ashes were destroyed or not, und then there’s however your parents fit into this an-”
Scootaloo cut me off by wrapping one foreleg around my shoulders and pulling me into her barrel in a tight hug.
“Lily, it’s okay,” she said insistently.
“No it’s not okay! What if-”
“It’s been one week, if any of them survived they won't be doing anything anytime soon. And with Sacred’s help, the Princesses will easily be able to track down any remainders soon enough. The threat’s gone, dear,” Scootaloo soothed.
I bit my lip in thought, but sighed as I couldn’t find a flaw in her logic. “Ja, okay… Granted. But what about the lab und your parents?”
Scootaloo sighed. “Look… This is Ponyville. Something really weird happens every few months, and over time, you get used to it. Nopony is in danger right now, that’s all that matters.”
My ears drooped even further. “But if your parents were hired to carry you to term as a test subject-”
“The Lunar Guard took all the paperwork from the lab, right?” She asked patiently.
I nodded. “Ja… You know they did. You were there.”
“Is there any way the Ashes were not keeping records on who was carrying what for them?” Scootaloo asked. “If anypony else was helping them that way, the Royal Guard will arrest them as soon as the paperwork is all inspected.
“As for my parents… My mom’s dead and my dad is already in prison for life. What can they do? Put him into another jail cell slightly smaller than the current cell so that it can fit inside the first cell?”
“Uh… Well… I guess they can’t really do anything,” I concluded. “But it still feels like there is more to be done before everything is normal again!”
Scootaloo laughed so hard she slipped off the couch, pulling me down on top of her thanks to her tight hug!
“Hon, this is Ponyville!” Scootaloo exclaimed after her giggle fit died down. “It’s never normal here. In two or three months… Oh I don’t know, some living magic fog will roll in and hold the town hostage for hay fries or something. And then sometime next year Lyra will run into herself from another dimension who happens to be that fictional species she obsesses over, or something like that.
“The last few weeks are just what it’s like to live here. If you worry about every little detail, you’re going to go crazy within a year. We teamed up, solved the immediate threat, and now it’s up to the Guard to clean everything else up. We’re done! It’s go shower with your marefriend time.”
I felt my ears droop. “E-every few months?”
Scootaloo nodded. “It’s slowed down a little over the last few years. It was once a month when I was a filly.”
“This kind of craziness, will happen here, every few months?” I asked again for the confirmation.
Scootaloo nodded again. “Yes.”
“Every few months, my special somepony is going to ascend to demi-godhood, and something will attack Ponyville…” I groaned, leaning into my hooves. “What the hay have I gotten myself into?”
“Oh no! It’s not always an attack,” Scootaloo clarified. “Normally it’s just some drama that envelops the whole town. Like Pinkie’s World War Snowball, now that’s something that got out of hoof. And um… Me controlling the weather is weird by Ponyville standards… So yeah, I guess most of the time it won't be anything like this.
“My point hon, is that this incident is done, and life is going to lead us to the next one. Or if there is more to this one, it will happen when it happens and we’ll take care of it. So perk up, have some fun, come take a shower with me because that sounds fun.”
I pursed my lips, trying to find anything I could argue against. Honestly, all I could think of was one thing. “But you just showered…”
“Yes, because I felt all greasy. But seriously, I thought you’d follow me in. I was waiting,” Scoots giggled, booping my nose playfully.
“For what?” I asked, not quite get- “Oh!”
I felt a deep blush covered my cheeks, and shyly nuzzled into Scoot’s neck.
“There ya go, silly,” Scootaloo said, giving me a little kiss on the forehead. “So, are you over worrying about the Ashes? Can you accept that everything’s now in the proper hooves?”
I sat up and winced slightly. “Er, well… Nein. But I’m not thinking about it as urgently. I just… I think I’m used to a more calm normal.”
Scoots sat up and gave me a quick hug. “I understand. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Everypony does. And well… If you can’t, I’ll be happy to move somewhere within a short flight of Ponyville.”
I shook my head firmly. “Oh nein nein nein! You have a lot of friends here, and family, and are a part of the community. I could never ask you to move. I’ll just have to get used to things is all, I guess… This is just the weirdest possible way I could have started a new chapter of my life.”
I paused for a moment and looked over at Scootaloo urgently, ears standing upright in alarm! “One more important question! What did Princess Celestia do with Father's skull?”
Scoots shrugged. “I don’t know! I assume chucked it into tartarus… At least, for now. I mean that’s her brother, right? She’s probably trying to find a way to fix him. Hey, maybe you could help!”
“Ja, maybe, after they find a way to un-undead him,” I muttered to myself.
“At any rate, we’re not the sorts of ponies who would be working on destroying that thing. That’s Twilight’s job…and maybe also moms’ and their friends,” Scoots said with a small grin. “Seriously sweetie, it’s okay now. We can just relax and hang out together. How about we go out to the movies?”
I gave Scootaloo a long blank stare, hoping she understood what she had said.
Scoots cracked a smile. “Alright, fine. Let’s not summon another disaster. How about we stay in, snuggle up, and just have sammiches or something?”
“Well…” I said trailing off, unable to object.
Scootaloo was right. At least, if she was telling the truth about the frequency of weird things happening here. If this was just how it was, I needed to learn to live with unanswered questions and weirdness. Besides, it hadn't been all bad.
Yes, there had been a minor battle, dark hidden secrets coming to the surface, and the possible death of an evil creature. But I had gained a brother, met the love of my life, started my own clinic like I had always wanted, and made friends with the kinds people I had never thought I would have even met in person.
If that is what it was like to live in Ponyville for just forty two days, Faust only knew what a lifetime would have in store for me.
I supposed an interesting life is better than a boring one though, isn’t it? Besides, I knew one thing for sure, no matter what else happened, I’d have Scootaloo there to help me through it, and I’d be there to help her through it in turn. In the end, isn’t that all that really mattered?
Yes. Yes it was.
I leaned forward, wrapped my forelegs around Scootaloo’s shoulders, and gave her a loving kiss.
“Yes. That actually sounds like a lovely morning,” I agreed with a smile. “After that… Let’s just see where the day takes us.”
The End
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Oh no! He's a terribad OC... Meep, how could you?
All that aside, it's been a hell of a ride. Time to move on to the next big thing though. I hope you all enjoy it, because...
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/293/590/6f6.gif
Someone who doesn't want the helmet to ever be able to come off in the middle of combat? And really, Azur, he's a powerful unicorn and wearing the armor. He can probably work the puzzle-latch on his own.
Also, it makes the eye slots of his helmet much less vulnerable to have a solid glass orb on the inside instead of a pressurized membrane filled with fluid, with little else between it and the brain. Sacred did say he had been designed as a warrior, after all.
Ah yes, and here's the part I've been looking forward to. These folks come from a nightmare of Celestia's past, but this group in particular is not inherently evil, merely misled. They have done some awful things, though....
If he looks like this Mantle, and each Sacred Shadow is a direct clone off of 'Father'.....wonder how quickly they'll come to the inevitable conclusion from that.
Ah....they came to that conclusion immediately. Good, they aren't afflicted with 'Cartoon Background Good Guy' syndrome.
Completely derailed by a minor detail that pertains to his interests. Yep, Azur's a geek, too.
Celly.....I know you don't like killing (Even if you're damned good at it!), but this is a lich. He's not likely at all to be reformed. And almost everything you lock away ends up coming back later. Learn the lesson, girl! Some things you simply must destroy. And...there isn't anything left of him in there. Not after that long rotting away as a lich.
Welcome to Ponyville, Azur Lily. Staying long?
And so ends Lily's chapter of this grand arc. We've got a new benign wendigo in Ponyville, biomancy being re-integrated into the mainstream (with plenty of laws around it), a new clinic in the growing city, and a crack force of clone soldiers for Ponyville to get used to (and for them to get used to being around individuals). That was a very nice ending. Heartrending for the sisters, but at the same time cleansing for all involved. Hope we see more of Sacred Shadow, really. He's a very interesting guy, and it's pretty rare to see an overlord type genuinely focused on the greater good.
7151979 ha Oh yes, oh yes it is going to be good! I'm rather looking forward to this next story, after what Meep's mentioned about it.
7151818 Some form of government appears to be necessary, simply by way of human nature. I hope by "all governments are evil", you are at least willing to acknowledge that pure anarchy is even more evil...because humans just can't seem to get along without some form of government. Otherwise you get assholes killing people without repurcussions...at least until the mobs form to retaliate...which can lead to even more retaliation from other mobs if the person killed had friends who disagree with the asshole being killed...and the next thing you know, you either have some sort of government forming to mediate this, or you get chaos breaking out all over the place.
7152023
Especially when if the helm comes off, the horn is no longer linked tot he armor, and thus magic flow is no longer rerouted to all four hooves, allowing for multiple spells to be cast at once.
Also quartz is enchantable, those eyes see ALL of the EM, not just visible light.
Fuck that syndrome in the urethra with a splintered 2x4 covered in corse grit sand.
... Did that only come across just now? I hope not!
It's okay, Moonbutt's back. She's got this one.
Thank you ^>^ I plan on using all of these elements in future stories. So you'll see more in the future.
I agree putting Father / Mantle's skull in Tartarus is as dangerous on the long run as useless. Better to destroy it and let whatever tattered remainings of a soul he still has to rest in (relative) peace.
7152043 I don't think he understands that... How about we all drop the politics talk on this matter? Please?
7152046 It's basically being stored there until a way to destroy it is found. Phylacteries are VERY well protected, by design. After all you are only immortal because that object exists...
7152045
Of course not! But it's fun to reiterate when something like this happens.
A friendly farming community where the Sun is hot, the Moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Ponyville, Lily.
I eagerly await more of your writings and in particular David's experiences during this time, though Lyra's inter-dimensional adventures has me intrigued.
7152060
Indeed they are, just don't tell them that. We don't want their ego's getting any bigger...
7152060 I'm glad it has you intrigued. Because it's awesome, and it's up next!
7152071 Especially Luna's.
7151818 I took a second look and...you're making some statements about scarcity in what seems to be the wrong context.
First, equestria of this fic is not quite post scarcity. They are on the very cusp of it, to the point where they can afford to splurge on all kinds of social comfort programs, far more so than any real-life equivalent, but they are not yet past it: a unicorn who wants to acquire a ton of diamonds for whatever reason will have to work at it.
Second, post-scarcity does not mean that people-people interactions necessarily go away. Most people like to meet and talk with other people. When people interact, sometimes, they get angry. Sometimes, when people are angry, they have urges to do really nasty things, like killing. So, unless you want to be at an increased risk for getting killed every time you have a conversation with someone, you need something, or someone, to help discourage behavior such as killing. (I suppose if we wanted hard data on the subject, we'd look at the portion of people who are willing to murder if there's no direct consequence to the murderer, but are unwilling to do so if there is a significant penalty.)
You will likely want to have Someone, or something, to enforce an anti-murder stance.
Third, in many ways, post-scarcity makes having something at least vaguelyresembling a government even more important, otherwise you get some asshole deciding to acquire a large quantity of explosives and blowing up their city block or equivalent. If there's nothing to enforce some sort of rule, then there's nothing to prevent someone from acquiring such explosives. There's also nothing preventing the neighbors from acquiring 10-meter steel bunker houses, but the neighbors might not think of doing so. Or...lots of things, really.
Even the Culture has a few rules, and they enforce those rules. Killing someone without their permission? Say hello to a Slap Drone. It'll follow you around and physically prevent you from ever repeating the offense. They're a society best described as post-scarcity, anarcho-democratic-communist, space hippies. They're also post-singularity which I'll go into later.
Fourth, what Post scarcity does is it removes one major motivation for going to war: the need for more resources. It also improves quality of life. It does not, and never can, eliminate the need for government, or at least something vaguely resembling a government. Certainly not on its own.
Finally, you may be getting post scarcity confused with post singularity, which is about the idea that we design computers that can design better computers without any further human intervention, and at some point may or may not end in humanity being uploaded to the internet. It often goes hand in hand with talk of post-scarcity (because a singularity will most likely bring post scarcity about), but it involves concepts like Strong AI, Friendly AI (CelestAI, for instance, is an AI that manages to be extremely creepy by virtue of being not quite friendly; out and out grey goo scenarios are less creepy, really...), and "Frankly, we have a hard time saying or imagining what life will be like after we manage to bring one about." In a post-scarcity scenario, it's possible that the concept of government will simply be inapplicable, in much the same way that the concepts of farming are inapplicable to mining, unless you're a magic pony. Or like how the concept of extending your reach with a spear to be better in combat is useless when designing a rocketship.
It's over? Aw man! I'd love to see more from Scoots and Lily they make a cute couple, here's hoping they stay together and have some interesting foals. At least Lily can bio-engineer them if anything goes wrong.
Nice hope we see more of Lily in the future.. Destroy the last remains of their brother unsafe as putting it anywhere probably is not going to happen. Its not in their nature to destroy thier enemies outright
Glad to see their learning!
So everything is kinda sorta wrapped up, but still just open enough for more stories to follow, and do I ever hope we get to see more of this adorkable couple!
would recommend!
Still its bitter sweet that this story has come to an end, but it was such an amazing ride that I just can't be sad!
Finale score 12/10
Hmn. The real question here is who to ship Sacred with. (Surely I wasn't the only one thinking that?) And given the hopefully to be revealed backstory for Father, the family history involved might just inform the shipping solution.
Moonbutt, but only to the very closest of friends.
Ooooo, I like this idea. It also means Twilight suddenly has a very impressive military force given what Sacred was capable of. They wouldn't be individually as powerful as him, of course, but they're still likely to all be heavy hitters with combat optimized magics, and there are a lot of them. (Begun, the clone wars have.)
Here we go!
!
Well, guess that means Celestia and Luna are off the shipee list.
I'm with Lily, that is pretty neat.
Good plan regarding the disposition of the skull.
A younger brother for Celestia and Luna, interesting. I assume the "Ashes" name had to do with being trapped in the palace that was burned down by peasants way back when?
Yes, I think that would be the appropriate punishment.
Foreshadowing?
Foreshadowing.
Fun story as always, Meep.
It's always the long lost brother that turns evil isn't it?
i.neoseeker.com/mgv/60953/953/102/twilightcrazy_display.gif
Twilight scary? Perish the thought.
Very good story, nicely done.
7152466
Not just foreshadowing, Five Second Foreshadowing!
And speaking of foreshadowing...
Isn't that interesting...
See meep, I love your stories and all, but this one has a problem. Quite the big one, in fact.
It's marked as complete.
So, long live the queen resurrects next or will we see Lyra adventures in humanville?
Also, a moment of reflection, in were we think about the ramifications of purple smart having an army of Trixies
But NOOOOO! We can't live without azur.lily shenanigans! Why must you be so cruel meep, WHY YYYYYY
And you own us a raricret scene where he gets a new cloak & learns how to sewn. It she falls for the dashing if not quite out of this world Knight... Well, that's a bonus
7152295 7152368 You will see more of them, but that's the end of the segment of their life together that I chose to tell this time. Remember, I have an ongoing shared universe. All stories relate to others in some way.
7152060 I just remembered that's a Night Vale reference. Brohoof!
7152389
Just wait till they decide to get married...
Sky: "Ayna! Lil bro's planning a wedding. You know what to do!"
Ayna: "Ah shit! I've still got to finish working out the armor coating."
Sky: "It's okay, we have a week. I'ma go polish Big Sai."
I figured it was best to end it leaving people wanting a bit more. No need to go Portal 2 and try to over stuff things.
Thanks! Just for that, have some mild hype Alpha makes an appearance as a place things happen in next time.
Why do I have the feeling sooner or later Lily might regret admitting his shortcomings in magical to Twilight. I can see her trying to make him more rounded
7152466
No, no you were not.
So close that Tia isn't allowed to use it. "But why can I?" "You trapped me on the moon for a millennia!" "I... I thought we were over that." "We are. But you still don't get to use my close friends nickname."
Celestia has her Solar Guard, Luna has her Lunar Guard, Cadence has the Crystal Guard... Twilight needed the Arcane Guard.
Hummmm... Eh, yeah, seems about accurate.
Quite right.
Yes. And for the record that wasn't Tia's or Luna's fault or plan. Back when they took control the entire nation was in the middle of a French Revolution type peasant revolt. The current government was failing at the EVERYTHING and had been for about 3 generations...
But what about this?
Foreshadowing.
Thanks very much!
7152616 Who am I to decide? Just the author of this fictional world. Humans are by instinct, greedy bastards. Ponies are not. Ponies naturally prefer to share with others. They are a herd based species of prey creatures, they survived to the modern age via making sure the group was strong, greedy motherfuckers are rare for their species.
7152579
Yeah. It's like a law of physics or something.
Not counting shit Discord did (cuz that's it's own top ten list), what would you say the top 10 are?
Thanks! I felt this was about how a first month and a bit would go in Ponyville XD
7153233
Canon only?
Well lesson zero is clearly up there, as well as the town panicking due to a bunny stampede, not to mention what the CMC used to do
Pinkie Pie probably occupies the other seven slots by herself though.
7152998
I'm sorry about that, I realy am. But on the other hoof, this story was about Lily's first few days in Ponyville. It's about meeting the wierd people, seeing the sites, and of course, experiencing a Ponyville level disaster. It's a beginning to his life, not an end. So it needed to close like it did.
I'll give you a hint. Combine this with this and a dash of this for spice. That's what next. And yes, that could be both.
There will be more to come one day.
... Now there's an idea.
7153253 The great Snow Ball and Cupcake War of 4 EoH, in which many snowmen lost their lives to the Armies of the Pink.
7153203 Because one should never admit to a lack of knowledge near Book Princess.
Man, Lily needs to unwind a little. Someone call Dusk and the three of them can go out drinking (and get more piercings!).
I'm always a bit sad when a great fic ends up Compleat, but I'm sure we'll see more of these crazy kids. Thanks for sharing this, Meep!
7153272 Don't worry, this is a beginning, not an end. I'm an oldschool writer. I'd rather make 6 different volumes than one super long one. Hell this thing is 140k words! By technical definitions, it's as long as 3.5 minimum length novels!
Congradulations on finishing another great story Meep!
.
.
.
So, when's the next one?
7153467 As soon as I finish making it's cover art. I've had it outlined for the last 10 chapters of Lifegiver. Sooo... a day at the most.
7152616
7153229
Another one well done, Meep! As always, looking forward to your next installments.
the end
noooooo......
wait, other main story
The end
Nooo so much more to know! (But then I expect we will learn some of it at least in future stories.)
Great ending though, nice little cuddling and prepare for what will come in the future. I really enjoyed it but am sad it is over. :P Can hardly wait for Lyra!
7154336 I think it's the mark of a good story to leave the readers wanting more.
7154378
I couldn't agree more! So way to go on that. ^.^
Scootaloo's idea about her father might be interesting though alot of modern prisons are designed in smaller and smaller cells from teh outer walls to the individual cells the prisoners are kept in
7155101 Equestrian prisons are similar. You have the individual's cell, which is arranged with six other cells inside a larger locked area forming "huts" in a small "village" type area. The prisons are designed to force inmates to work together in those small units, forming communities to survive the prison condition. It's an attempt to make prison life reform individuals.
7156061 True reformation and no overcrowding like alot fo prisons
7156127 Prision overcrowding is generally caused by a nation's justice system being well... broken. Not building design. But yes, it's for that too.
Yay encore encore
10/10 would read again
7158145 I'm glad you liked it ^>^
7152090 Allow me to rebut. Or add clarification.
I brought up post scarcity environments because Meep made the argument that because this fictional world is set in one my preconceived notions of the world are irrelevant because in his mind a post scarcity environment is just so different. the analogy about spear reach and rocketships applying here. I disagree because you can't have a post-scarcity environment, if i'm understanding it correctly. Since the scarce things will just shift from raw materials to services and manufactured goods. Which is an entire side-note to the argument in the first place since what i thought it was about was my idea that Celestia is evil because she created and continues to advocate for a coercive force that silences any opposition to her rule.
Secondly, I was never making the argument that post scarcity would remove person to person interaction, I will say that it will significantly reduce it. From what i understand you're making the false dilemma fallacy by suggesting that with government there's plenty of discouragement and without it we lose all the protection, when there are other options. For instance would you want to converse, barter, be friends with etc. etc. etc someone you know is a murderer? Or a family of murderers or thieves given the choice? I wouldn't, If i was a business owner i wouldn't sell or buy from those people, they'd damage my image. In a free society that deterrent does not become, ill kill you if you kill someone else, it instead becomes if you kill someone no one will be willing to work with you anymore. The threat of ostracism is plenty, it's why a lot of what religious fanatics, and social justice warrior crap work. Because it preys upon ostracism.
Basically what i'm saying is that there is always something in place to "enforce" an anti-murder-theft-rape-assault stance.
I also disagree that the lack of limited resources would end up promoting something like a crazy person would be able to do. Smart people, would have their valuables locked away in super secure vaults, assuming that you would even care that your property is damaged, i mean its post scarcity you get whatever you want for free or next to nothing. If there really is that big of a risk for people to just decide to destroy shit, then that is what will get built.
Yes Culture has rules. the culture i propose would also be able to enforce them. Killing someone without their permission? Say hello to cultural exclusion, you just murdered someone and now, you are locked out of the community. Setting off the same triggers in your brain as torture does. This would be even more pronounced in a more herd like species such as the ponies. Also Anarcho-communist is an oxymoron. you don't understand anarchy if they aren't mutually exclusive.
Now on your fourth I agree. It does remove the major motivation for war. And theft, and murder. Assault too. What is there to gain, i got all the Doritos and mountain dew I need. And that makes a government much, much MUCH less useful. In order for a government to continue to exist there always needs to be some kind of threat to keep them in power. Whether it be poverty, drugs, possible war, etc and it needs to be the only choice, otherwise it's oppressive structures are revealed and it loses it's power. All governments do this, and when it runs out of threats it invents them. Of course it doesn't remove the need for government, since you can't remove something that doesn't exist.
Now your last part i'm not sure is relevant to the discussion. But lets go over it anyways. I agree that post-singularity is the most likely avenue to get to post-scarcity. Yes CelestAI is what most governments eventually become if given the chance. Every word given with an undercurrent threat to convey a simple message. Obey slaves. Or die. And I also agree that a post scarcity environment will make the idea of governance completely irrelevant .
Oh and as a side note really glad that i enjoyed this story enough to get into a complex political debate about it. Great work Meep.
7162680
Her mind, thank you very much.
Also you can have a post scarcity environment when labor is not required. And with Equestrian magic, there is little demand for labor. Merely a desire for it, as people do not like having nothing to do. Equestrian's 'work' is more like 'play' or a hobby. Most older ponies don't know that, there is cultural shift going on, but younger people have an idea that they raly don't have to work if they dont want to. But the thing is, Ponies do want to feel they contribute to their community, that's instinctive, so they will find a task they enjoy and do it.
The reason they can have a job relating to their talent and seem happy with their work is they do it for fun and to help others. They not humans. Their base motivations are not typically rooted in greed, but rather the general welfare of the group. Pony conflict isn't between neighbors, it's between neighboring communities.
7153229 I meant from an ethics standpoint. It's probably where this debate breaks down. For one thing I agree that self interest is a main motivating factor in humans. In the majority of situations most decisions are based on how will this benefit me. And i think that's where our viewpoints differ. You think that is fundamentally wrong, and that people should be forced to give charity. I believe that no one should be forced to do anything and that its only charity if given freely. In my mind the people that have the most to offer, in a free society this is mostly the smarter people, since they can generate the most value, the rich guy wants to become richer so he makes things that other people want by spending that money. Those people either already have money or are willing to pay their time and labor to get money and use that to buy the service that they want.The rich guy gets his money back and then uses it to harvest, gather, create etc. more of that good. The cycle continues, as the company gets bigger other demands are made known and either that company begins to sell that commodity or a new one opens up because someone in the previous company decided that they had enough capitol to attempt to fill that niche. eventually the fortunes that have been amassed due to selling people what they wanted, A win-win scenario, those people stop directly running those companies and begin to loan out their money to other businesses allowing them to be able to profit based on their demand.
Based on my understanding of your ideology what you're saying is that is wrong, and people need to be forced to make goods for others. That the sole fact of being alive is so grand that I need to fork over the profits of my company so that they can pursue interests that are too expensive or they aren't bright enough for them to fund it themselves. That they aren't clever enough to convince others of their own free will to give up their resources so that everyone can prosper. That kind of thing needs to be forced, according to you.
7152043 You're under the assumption that without government there is absolutely no repercussions for murder theft etc. That you need a coercive force to dictate what is right and what is wrong, that have the liberty to change the rules or break them so long as it suits them. I mean the only times I've seen "anarchy" is when a state took too much power too fast and people realized that it was bullshit, and since they didn't know any better(Since they've been taught their entire lives that might makes right, and that you just have to subjugate others to get what you want done, done, by living in a state) resorted to stealing and killing each other. And what is a government other then a mob that has established hegemony. Name one thing a mob does that a government doesn't.
7162797 Actually, my own beliefs are not a factor in this story. I'm defending a character of my creation's viewpoint, and my work yes, but this is not my political stance. You most differently would object to my actual political ideals as well, but these are not them.
IRL I'm a technocratic monarchist. IMO, there should be a single entity in charge of delegating the responsibility of keeping society running as efficiently as possible to a very small number of people who are intellectuals with degrees relevant to the field they set policy in. No one gets a say in anything except for the most learned and able to lead of a given field, and only within their field do they hold any power. I also believe the central authority should not be human, but rather an AI that analyses data and makes decisions based on a rise, fall, or flattening of rates of improvement within those fields.
This is because humans can not agree on a single course of action, nor is our species capable of setting aside biases, nor are we able to work strictly with data. As such, I do not beleave we should be allowed power over ourselves. We should leave everything to science.
Celestia, on the other hoof, is an authoritarian with communist-like mentality. She seeks to maximize the happiness of the most people possible She's okay with stagnation as long as most people are happy. Where as under my preferred system, the survival and development of our species is put above all else.