Cadance and Twilight have discovered something about the Alicorn Amulet. Whenever someone rejects its promises of power, it weakens the Amulet's magic. In theory, if enough ponies should be tempted by it and reject it, it would destroy the amulet forever.
They summon the help of volunteers from across Equestria, in the hope of destroying it for good.
Project Lead/Lead Editor: cleverpun
Additional Editing: Kai Creech
All chapters written by their respective authors;
Titanium Dragon
No Raisin
Chris
FanOfMostEverything
Moosetasm
Kai Creech
nioniosbbbb
Sollace
Winston
Submissions are closed, sorry. I may, however, do another collaboration in the future. If so, I'll announce it via blog post; following me is the most reliable way to be notified. Or you can join the group. (Make sure to leave notifications on!)
oh I like this story, I like it very much. I look forward to seeing who else will face the call of the Alicorn Amulet.
And so it begins...
I actually haven't read most of the entries. This will be fascinating to watch unfold.
Woo! Here we go!
Like 8466970, I haven't actually read all of the chapters despite having written one myself, but I've liked the ones I've seen. I'm looking forward to reading the rest as they come out! If I can manage it, I'll even try to comment on the chapters as they're published; should be fun to see this unfold.
This quote is wonderful.
Looking forward to the rest of the entries!
8467232
I second your opinion, this wuote is wonderful.
i initially thought it was from an A/N i overlooked, hinting at the audience that Twily forgot to make sure the other test subjects would know the Amulet's temptation simulation trick.
It begins!
8466970
Me neither. This is going to be fun!
Great start and premise; I love it and have added to my favorites. Please, moar. And soon.
Cadence did underestimate the Amulet: what do you tempt a pony with, if that pony has everything they want? Why, show them losing what's most precious to them, and then offer the power to prevent that!
Luckily, she didn't overestimate her own strength of character.
Just imagine the standard "Dis Gon B Gud" folding-chair gif here.
8467833
i.imgur.com/NnoGhN1.gif
Collaborations are once again allowed by site rules? Cool!
This premise seems interesting enough, but couldn't all this have been avoided just by feeding the amulet to Spike? Or the Smooze?
8468119
The Amulet's directives and personality are a bunch of magic spells working together to make the magic-y equivalent of a computer I like to call an Automation Matrix, or A.M. If it were devoured, it could end up possessing the eater.
Or it could be indestructible, if you want to be boring.
8468435
If you really want to be boring, ask why these items are simply not thrown out of the planet. Like to the nearest gas giant, or even out of the solar system. Russell's Teapot is one of these thrown out artifacts, after all.
8468119 8468435 I think it's more that magic follows the law of conservation of energy. If one eats or damages a container of steam, then that doesn't mean its contents are also destroyed; they just seep and flow elsewhere. Perhaps magic works the same way. The energy can't simply be removed, it needs to be converted/spent to make it less dangerous.
8468720 Flinging something into space is grossly irresponsible. It'd be like shooting nuclear waste into space. Sure, it would stop being our problem, but something, somewhere will find it eventually. It might even make its way back: Halley's Comet loops back around to Earth every 74–79 years.
And who's to say it would even make it that far? If someone threw the Amulet into space, then someone or something might go after it or intercept it.
Security and disposal mean much more than just willfully ignoring something.
(Also, point of clarification; Russel's Teapot isn't a physical object, it's an analogy/philosophical argument.)
8468047 I read all the site rules regarding stories, and didn't find anything relating to collaborations. There is a rule about posting stories one did not write, but that is more for plagiarism; it specifically excludes stories with multiple/co-authors.
8468930 8468720
Shooting nuclear waste into space isn't responsible because it'll come back eventually; its because our method for getting to space is basically "sit on a cone filled with explosives and set them all off, but more with science," and if something goes wrong then that waste gets scattered throughout the atmosphere and might end the earth.
Technically, because everything happens once in infinity, it's possible that something would encounter the Amulet. But that's failing to consider how huge space is VS how small the Amulet is. If it weren't for the fact that this is a universe where genre convictions may or may not be actual physical laws, then throwing the Amulet into space would be a pretty safe bet.
Better question: Why didn't they use the Elements to destroy/ironically punish the Amulet when they found it? It's provably a threat to Equestria, limited only by whomever is using it.
I'm a fan of this new version. After reading version 1, I didn't expect the turn it took. I like how it went all Pet Cemetary there. Thankfully, she didn't bring her baby back.
8468930
8469228
If something is launched from the Earth at speed higher than escape velocity, it never comes back at all.
Why don't we humans on Earth do it? Because launching something in space, even at orbital speed (so that it at least doesn't fall back) is a pretty hefty sum per ton, even per kg, and there is a lot of nuclear waste.
On the contrary, if there was a small object as dangerous as Alicorn Amulet - it is entirely possible to launch it alone at escape velocity, see Voyager.
And Russel's teapot was my argument against finding the Amulet back. Cause it being not easier to find than said teapot.
I'm looking forward to reading all the chapters everyone else wrote that I haven't read yet!
This is quite the awesome idea! I will eagerly await the next chapter. ^.^
8469472 They could also drop it into Mount Burrodruin in the land of Maredor...
This sounds like it's written by someone in their teens or twenties who has no idea how memory works.
I've read other stories that make this exact same mistake.
Unless the obvious error in fact was the intent... in which case, though, why wasn't it the clue that Cadance picked up on that the scenario was the Amulet's doing?
See, that would've been enough for me. I know wayyyyyy too much to be fooled by any obvious lies.
I love this so far. Please continue it soon.
8469880
Like any dream sequence, it obviously is nonsensical if the character were thinking clearly. Of course it's obvious what happened for the reader.
8479684 But she was thinking about it and became lucid later while still in the dream.
We've already seen a number of times that pony dreams are very different from our own and can become even physical reality!
So the expectations that come with a human dream don't apply.
Well...fuck. That was hardcore. I hope the others are not quite so depressing
Well damn
With how this is going I'd say it deserves a "Dark" or "Tragedy" tag, far more than a Comedy tag.
Still a really good engaging story though!
honestly twilight, you may want to think of candidates more around the lines of Maud
Wait a minute; no you're not - Cadence was the first volunteer.
this very much reminds me of harry potter- specifically, the chamber of secrets, and how tom riddle tempted ginny weasely with the diary.
Nor do any of us, Moony. Blame the writers. It's basically become my mantra for anything stupid in the series.
Oh, I'm not a fan of this addition at all. I really loved the first chapter, but this thing of the Alicorn amulet having it's own personality and speaking to ponies is very strange to me and nto a good idea at all.
8486351
I agree... It makes no sense, and doesn't fit the setup of the first chapter at all. It's like a totally different universe, setup, and artefact.
On the other hand, if it was a stand-alone story, it would be pretty decent. Not awesome, but not bad.
8486258
You fool! It will give her the power to rule the greatest rock of all...the world!
Definitely a stark departure from what I was expecting, especially with regards to the Amulet's magical and social behavior. Not sure how to feel about this one.
8486468
You do realize this is a multi writer project, right? The person who wrote the last chapter didn't write this one.
8486631
Yes, I know. But when I used to do round robins online I tried to keep things in line with the other writers work. I'm not saying every writer needs to do the exact same thing as the Cadance chapter but this is a pretty big change.
And frankly if the Amulet is self aware and learns that ponies are trying to destroy it the way they are, why not just refuse to offer the power until they put it away, forget about it and future potential victims show up.
8486644
This chapter kind of explained all that. Cadence didn't know what to expect, while Moondancer did. Of course the amulet would take a different approach. Besides, who says the amulet can't change ponies perception of it?
8486657
A round robin that doesn't seem to fit is best done as a stand-alone. And, erm, you said that six times...
8486657
Bloody hell, we get it. And he does have a point; we don't have as tight a continuity as we arguably should. I don't thinks its as game breaking as this guy does, but we could have done more.
8486644
I assumed that it's very focused on getting a bearer, since it's what it needs to survive.
8486644 Perhaps the effort of existing is enough to drain the Amulet's power, if only slowly. Like 8486814 said, perhaps it needs a bearer to survive in the long-term.
8486210 Future chapters do focus on Comedy; I put the tag there preemptively. Although given the content of the first two chapters, I suppose a Dark tag is warranted.