Chapter 68: What you were meant to Be
Phobia was glad she had wings and could perch on top of buildings, that saved her from some of the crowds; repeat some.
The streets of Riverview looked like New Orleans during Madi Gras or Times Square during New Year's Eve. It was a mass of ponies with a few humans mixed in. Even the tops of buildings were not safe havens from the crowds as pegasi swarmed on top of them to catch a break from the crowd below to the only slightly less crowded tops of buildings.
Phobia could only imagine the what the original townsfolk were thinking now about their decision to invite ponies into the town.
Their were lines reaching down the street to get into all the stores that the town had. Actual line monitors had to be put in place and the amount of ponies that were allowed in any at a given time was monitored closely so there would be space to move around. Phobia would not be surprised if every single one of those stores was sold out of merchandise by the end of the day. She was actually mildly shocked that the fishing and tackle shop had a line just like the others. What were ponies going to do with fish?
Another store front that was getting a lot of activity was the First Pony Bank. Loans were being made at an astonishing rate. There was an official from town hall that spent a great deal of time making his way back and forth between the bank and various vacant storefronts removing for sale signs and posting notices about incoming shops. A cheer went up when the Woolworth building had it's for sale sign removed and notice put up. A pegasus let the night ponies know that a grocer was planning on setting up a fruit and vegetable market in the large building.
In a short time the night pony couple decided to take to the air and see what was happening away from the packed business district. They saw that most of the rest of the town was no where near as congested with hoof and foot traffic, but was still very active none the less.
In the housing area there were lots of humans who were all looking at all the houses posted for sale. A few were actually being given tours by the owners. Many others had notepads or their cell phones out and were taking notes about properties that they were interested in finding more information about.
Moving out further into the completely non-operational industrial district they found a few ponies and humans doing the same kinds of note taking there as well.
They continued flying on the past this to one of the shelters for the humans. A few were standing around outside and looking on in interest as an older man hammered a sign into the ground. The night ponies flew down to take a brief look at what it said before taking off again. It was declaring that the school was looking to reopen in the fall after years of being closed, and giving a phone number for anyone with teaching experience to call if interested in a job, as well as declaring it would be looking to fill cafeteria and custodial positions.
On to the edge of town was the tent city, this like the shelter had few individuals actually at it currently, as most of them were running around elsewhere in the town. Phobia was shocked to spot Devon among those occupying the tent city. She would have to discuss that with her mom. That must be an oversight on the organizers' part that a human got put into the tents rather than in one of the shelters. There was nothing to do for it at this moment though so they didn't stop their flight.
Flying beyond the tents they came upon the farmland. There was a lot of fallow fields covering far more area than the actual town did. That was a good thing, those fields would be hopefully growing crops soon and very soon or the town wouldn't be able to keep up with the strain on food. There was no major chain grocery store in town and that meant less food coming in from the outside. There were over fifteen thousand mouths to feed between ponies and humans.
Thankfully there were already teams of earth ponies starting to look over the fields and seemed to be discussing what crops should go where. This had been one of the big sticking points of the ponies coming; the earth ponies were getting those fields.
A certain amount would be used for the production of hay, which would act as a ration crop. All ponies would get hay from the ration crop on a regular basis at no charge, and the rest of the crops would be produced for sale; with the town grocers and restaurants getting a discount on prices and the rest to be exported. Earth ponies they were assured could grow hay at a remarkable rate, eventually all ponies in town would pay a small hay tax for their ration and the tax would be used to pay the workers and costs of distribution. No pony would ever be left to starve, even if hay might make them wish they were. It was considered encouragement to have them buying other foods and frequenting restaurants. A pony could only go so long eating hay before they would do anything for an opportunity to eat something else.
They considered flying on further to see the sister towns that had received ponies as well, but the hour was getting late for them and they were supposed to meet Roger soon to take care of an important matter before they got married tomorrow. They turned in their flight and went to the house the family had chosen. Roger was waiting for them by the family car as they came down from their flight.
"I was starting to wonder where you two were at. It's past noon and know you must be tired. We can do this tonight if you want instead," Roger said.
"We'll get a little nap in during the drive there and get another nap in when we get there. Thanks for doing this," Phobia said.
"I know I'd be pretty upset if I wasn't at my daughter's wedding. Of course I'm going to help you get your dad to come see it," Roger said with a smile.
"Still, it's very last minute. He doesn't even know yet that the wedding is tomorrow. He doesn't really have anything else to do right now, but I'm not sure if he'll come or not," Phobia said with worry.
"I haven't met him, but I assure you that he'll probably want to be there," Roger assured her as she opened the door to the back seat. "Get in, get comfortable, and get your nap in. I've got the address and will wake you two up when we get there."
The two night ponies were asleep before the car even got out of the driveway.
"Alright we're here," Roger said as he gave each of the night ponies a shake to rouse them.
"Five more minutes...," Rosetta mumbled beside Phobia.
"You said he'd let you two nap inside. Come on, you just have to get up and walk a few feet. Tell him what's going on, and then you can collapse in bed," Roger said.
The two ponies managed to get themselves to their hooves and out of the car. Phobia stretched her whole body like you might expect a cat to do. Rosetta came up next to her and gave a sleepy nuzzle. They then walked to the front door and gave a knock. It took about half a minute before the handle and the rest of the door lit up in a blue magic aura and opened.
"Who's this?" Phobia's dad said as he looked up at Roger.
"This is Rosetta's dad, Dad. Mind if we come in? I needed to tell and ask you something, and then I Rosetta and I need to crash for a few hours. We had a busy few days and it will be busy again tomorrow," Phobia said before yawning.
"Of course, you know you're always welcome here," her dad said as he opened the door wide for them. He then looked at Roger. "I'm Tom, good to meet you."
"I'm Roger, likewise," Roger said with a smile.
The group filed into the living room and the two night ponies quickly took up spots on the couch, leaving enough room for Roger to sit. Her dad grabbed up the television remote in his magic as he walked into the room and muted the TV.
"Take a seat on the couch, Roger," Phobia's dad said as he went and took his typical sport on his chair.
As Roger sat down Phobia turned to her dad.
"Dad, we're getting married tomorrow. It isn't going to be anything big and formal. Just us and immediate family. We'd really like it if you came," Phobia said.
"Is your mother going to be there?" Her dad asked with a slight hardening of his features.
"Yes, she will be. I know you two don't want anything to do with each other, but do you think you could put it aside for a day just for this?" Phobia pleaded.
Her dad stared at them for a long moment before taking a deep breath and and letting it out.
"If she can manage to be civil for the sake of you for a day I can too," he finally said.
"Thanks, Dad. This means a lot to us," Phobia said with relief.
"So who all is going to be attending this shindig?" Her dad asked.
"On Rosetta's side it will be her parents, grandmother, two younger brothers, and her sister. All of them are human except for her sister who's an earth pony. On my end it will be just you, Mom, and Tonya," Phobia listed off.
"If this is just family why is that Tonya mare coming?" Her dad asked with a look of confusion.
"Um, I'll tell you, but you're really not going to like it," Phobia said with hesitation.
"Tell me what?" Her dad said with his expression darkening again.
"Mom and Tonya are kind of...a thing...together. It's been going on for weeks," Phobia said, nervous about the reaction that was inevitably coming.
"Tonya...as in Tonya who was your classmate, and was a boy named Thomas," her dad said slowly.
"That would be her," Phobia confirmed, still waiting for an explosion.
"And just to make sure I'm understanding the rest of this correctly. My wife has gone lesbo and they're screwing. As in my wife and that mare," her dad said in a growl.
"I'm lesbian dad, and about to marry another mare. Do you still have an issue with lesbians?" Phobia asked in a tight voice.
Her dad looked at the two night ponies and blinked. Looked like he was about to say something, then reconsidered.
"I apologize...I didn't mean...," he struggled for a moment with what to say. "She wasn't attracted to women before, you were. I know she is attracted to men because she was with me."
"I'm attracted to both, your daughter isn't the one that got me pregnant," Rosetta cut in. "Sunset is clearly just like that too. She was just closeted, like your daughter was."
"Okay, but it still doesn't change the fact that she immediately threw herself on some other person as soon as she tossed me away, and that this mare is the same age as her own child," Phobia's dad said defensively.
"Dad, at this point does it matter to you what Mom does with her life?" Phobia asked with a sigh. "The two of you are through; there is no getting around that fact. I struggled with it when I found out too, but I have to admit that Tonya seems absolutely devoted to Mom. She also does a good job with calming Mom down and stopping her from doing things she will regret. Remember that it was Tonya that called her out when Mom was going to deny you food."
"I do remember that," her dad answered. He then looked down at the carpet and sighed. "It's just hard to wrap my head around. You're right though, it's none of my business what she does. Tonya seems to be a decent person and I guess I wish her the best of luck with dealing with your mom. Lord knows that's not an easy task."
"So are you coming to the wedding?" Phobia asked hopefully.
"Yes, I'll be there, and I'll be civil. Just make sure your mother remains civil too. Better yet, tell Tonya to make sure your mother is civil if Tonya is really able to keep her under control," her dad said.
"Thanks Dad," Phobia said and then yawned involuntarily. "Rosetta and I really need some sleep right now. Mind if we all stay here a little while and when the two of us wake up you can ride with us back to Riverview? You can spend the night with us there and we can show you our new house."
"You have a house all your own already? You'll have to explain that to me after you wake up. To ahead and get some sleep. Roger and I will keep each other company and swap embarrassing stories about each of you while you do," her dad said with an honest smile.
Phobia rolled her eyes and then directed Rosetta to follow her up to her old room.
The old room was much as she left it, it even had the same discarded clothes on the floor. Rosetta had been here a few times now, but she still rolled her eyes at the room.
"I still can't picture this room as yours, no matter how many times I see it," Rosetta said with a laugh.
Phobia looked around it. "I suppose it isn't mine. I'm not the person who lived in this room anymore."
"Are you happy or sad about that?" Rosetta asked as she kicked away some of the dirty clothes piled on the floor.
Phobia laughed. "What kind of question is that? Of course I'm happy to be who I am today. I'm content with who and what I am, and I'm going to be married soon to a very pretty and sexy night pony."
Rosetta blushed a little at the compliment before she came over and kissed Phobia. She seemed like she was getting ready to do much more than kiss for a moment based on how she brought her hooves and wings up against Phobia, but she broke it off and stepped back before things advanced to that.
"I'm glad, and you make me very happy. I'm looking forward to spending my life together with you," Rosetta giggled.
Phobia felt a warmth in her chest as she thought about that. Tomorrow was the start of a new life elsewhere. There was still a lot of uncertainty about the future, but she was satisfied that this was what she was meant to be.
Phobia found herself once again in the dreamscape and instantly knew that Luna was near to her.
"Luna? Are we going to be doing some more training?"
The dark alicorn stepped out in front of her and smiled. "That we shall, but there is another matter that I must discuss with you first. I have a proposition for you, for your world has urgent needs that I cannot fill and take care of pinies back on my own world."
Phobia looked at the alicorn in confusion. "What kind of needs can I fill that you can't? What kind of urgent needs."
Luna looked at the stars of the dreamscape. "It has become increasingly clear the extent of damage Sunset Shimmer's vision has done to the ponies of your world. There has been a severe abuse of mind magic, and I fear with the large number of night ponies that other abuses will soon arise in great numbers. I have already had to put a stop to many such abuses and I cannot spend my entire time in your world's dreamscape to keep watch."
"So, you want me to watch out for abuses?" Phobia said while wide eyed. "How am I supposed to do that? Even if I caught them how would I stop them?"
Luna looked down with a serious expression. "I have picked out five others along with you to combat this problem before it becomes a plague. As for how...it requires a certain sacrifice on your part, but you will gain the abilities in the dreamscape that would be equal to mine."
Phobia backed up a few steps. "You aren't talking about trying to make me an alicorn or anything, right. I'm not up for that."
Luna laughed. "No, not an alicorn, something else entirely. And it would only be a position you held while asleep. You're waking life would continue down a normal path. This position is not one I give lightly, and it carries a heavy burden of responsibility to go along with power. I will not force you to take it if you are uninterested. As I said, there is a sacrifice to be made in taking this, but you could be an important force for stability with the night ponies and prevent things like the Sunset Shimmer's vision from ever happening again."
Phobia blinked. She wanted to preserve free will, and this seemed like what Luna was offering.
"I need to know a little more about this before I accept," she replied.
Luna nodded. "Of course, to explain further I have to explain what else I am in addition to an alicorn; the thing I am and I hope to make you is called a Dreamwarden..."
Story continues in Pandemic: Picking Up the Pieces
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threw
I would say " mind"
your
Not bad, in fact rather more enjoyable than the sequel (i've a bit of an issue with it, mentioned over there). I do have a few nitpicks, and the story definitely needs cleaning, you've a number of incorrect words and extra words scattered throughout, along with the occasional punctuation error. Easy solution I can think of to suggest is upload the chapters into Google Docs and let it tell you what it thinks is wrong, since it's free, and checks not just spelling, but word usage (Grammarly light basically).
Nits to pick
Name change, this shouldn't be too hard, as IIRC the biggest time sink in changing your name is checking that you're not wanted nor a terrorist, both of which would go through the Federal government. Since the survey is being done by them, that eliminates the middle man and allows them to issue ID cards that could shorten the process once state governments are back up and running. Physical material might be on short supply, but I can't see why the government can't source from any and all agencies, since unless it has preprinted fields or logos, it's just a piece of plastic. Sure, these wouldn't be instant cards, but it shouldn't only take days
Why didn't you have Bi-Lo move? The fact that they got started before anyone else, hired ponies and snuck stock in via unmarked trucks suggests a progressive or at least smartly greedy company, so I could easily see them set up an incubator store in Riverside (was that the right name of the town? Real town, or you could've been silly and called it Riverdale). Think a small grocery story focused on serving a primarily pony population while at the same time using the knowledge they gain from it's operation to adjust regular Bi-Lo stores to better accommodate their customers. That and being the first to cater to ponies can reap all kinds of loyalty.
Speaking of them moving, that means they could've offered Remedy a transfer and even a promotion, letting them start on their feet.
That's all that comes to mind, keep up the good work, this series is a great expansion of the universe.
9216324
Thank you for the praise. If you check the chapter upload dates in this one you will probably notice why each chapter is effectively a rough draft. It was written in a hurry as I was trying to complete it before the release of Aftermath.
Picking Up the Pieces is probably the most complex thing I have had to sit down and plan out. There is so much happening both in terms of what is given in POV and what is happening "off-screen" to account for, and so many threads to pull together without spoiling things before their reveal time.
9216442
And it's impressive, at this scale and rush i'd've expected to find more to nitpick, larger errors such as mixing up character names, repeat sentences and other bigger mistakes. I don't think of the nitpicks as errors per se, but more opportunities missed. I suppose technically they could be added in along with corrections, but that'd be a lot of work. Besides, it's very good the way it is.
9216324
Did want to address the name change thing because people assume it should be easy, and it should be. I had to do a name change and I can tell you about my experience. This is the South Carolina experience just to clarify.
First thing you need to do is call and request a name change packet from the DSS office. You can't simply go to the local office and pick one up, they will only mail you it. If things go quickly this takes two weeks to arrive.
Next, in that packet are two forms and two fingerprint cards. You have to go to your local police station and be fingerprinted ($25 cost).
Next, you fill out both forms they sent you and get them publicly notarized. One of those forms gets sent to SLED with your fingerprint card. The next goes back to DSS. The SLED one will be used for a criminal background check ($25 more) the DSS one will be used to check to see if you are listed as a sexual offender ($25 more). Another form will have to filled out asking for the SLED office to confirm the same thing as the DSS office.
When and if you get those all back (there is an if involved). You then have to fill out several affidavits stating your intention, and that the DSS and SLED offices aren't incorrect.
After you get all that together you have to go to the court and try to file. There is a $250 filing fee. The county clerk will review your paperwork before allowing you to file.
When I did this I was told to go have the get a fully typed up self created and notarized document from the prison system that I was not currently incarcerated in prison. I have no criminal record and never have set foot in a prison. This particular requirement isn't even a thing. It was something the county clerk made up on the spot to deny filing, and I was unable to file.
I then was required to redo every step exactly as I did them before, with all associated costs again. Only this time I had to hire a lawyer on at an additional $800 cost for the sole purpose if the lawyer handing the exact same documents (without the non existent document the clerk made up) to the clerk to be filed.
A court date was set several weeks later for a judge to review my request for a name change. The judge simply said they didn't have time to review the documents and rejected the name change because they didn't feel like it.
I now am starting the process over yet again, with all costs, only now I need the lawyer for $800 to hand in the documents to be filed, and an additional $1000 to have them represent me in court.
So no...name changes are hell.
9216684
Definitely the worst I've heard of. My partner was able to change his via usage, though that's off the table after 911.
That said, my idea was that the Feds do all the background check stuff, then give you an IDEA OF card that basically says the Feds have verified your identity, checked your criminal record and verified that you're not a terrorist, leaving only a rubber stamp from a judge required to finalize things. Sure, the state could throw up roadblocks, but between the volume and having to explain why they don't accept what the Feds say, I suspect they wouldn't just approve them.
9216684
Looking at my posts here, I figure I need to clarify/explain things. Looking at the fun you've had, clearly it's not easy there, in fact excessively and unreasonably hard (have you considered giving a shout to the ACLU, not likely that they'll do anything, but it's free to ask), but that's mostly because you're not important. No, really, you're only one vote, and only a small number of people change their names, so this nonsense goes unnoticed.
That said, the survey card isn't a name change, but proof of a Federal background check, and proof that you've adequately identified yourself to them. That said, when thousands if not tens of thousands of ponies want name changes, you're faced with two problems, volume, and the fact that someone will notice how obnoxious the procedures are. I guarantee you that there will be journalists who will try to make a name for themselves by blaming every elected official from the dog catcher right up to the governor for the flaws in the system. That will force them to make it easier at least temporarily... And then go back to normal once the heat has died down.
9218726
It is pretty much the case that they eventually simply start identifying the pony by whatever the pony identifies themself as. There are a number of reasons;
First it is simply a hassle arguing with ponies constantly about their names.
Second, they have a large number of ponies that don't want to even identify who they were as human, especially if they had criminal records, and there isn't any good way of finding out if they don't give the information since you can't even fingerprint or DNA test them to have a matching result against any person they had such information on file for, which was unlikely to begin with. They still need to officially identify the pony somehow though.
As for me just getting the stuff together again with lawyer. My county is known for being general bigots government wise. The state congressman for that county even tried to introduce a bill criminalizing being transgender a few years back, though it never was brought to the floor for a vote and instead shelved.
9218755
True, but I suspect that Sunset Blessing could... persuade ponies to admit their real identity and apply for a card, since the card will only be issued if satisfy the Feds, and these days, you kinda need ID to have a life.
As to your situation, lawyers cost money, and I'm frugal, hence if it were me, I'd go to the ACLU as you can get really good legal representation for little to no money ifn they take your case, and this kind of bigotry is right up their alley.
9272769
Okay, that state income tax thing definitely isn't something I would've thought to account for; the state I live in doesn't have an income tax, so we just pay the Federal one. Either way, I was halfway joking about it, considering your response to the other comment asking about the tax issue was literally at the top of the comment section for that chapter... my bad for not making that very clear, though. All I have to say on the matter is that if Wild is having 58% of her income withheld like that, then she better be looking at a pretty nice tax return come April; after all, it's not an uncommon practice to have the Fed withhold more than your actual tax as determined by your tax bracket just so that the question at the end of the year becomes "how much am I owed" rather than the two-pronged alternative which is "Do I owe, and if so how much?"
I kind of rate stories by how they make me feel through them. I'd say up to the enclave, it wasn't getting me much. From there to Tempest, it still really just wasn't hitting me much. From Tempest on though this story was really hitting me with the feels. Pandemic managed to get those feels all the way through. But some of these last chapters were getting me even more than some of the chapters in Pandemic.
I feel like the last 18 chapters were so good in comparison to earlier ones, I hope you do kind of a rewrite in the future of the earlier parts. I think there was a lot of cool stuff all the way through, but the execution of things toward the end hit much better. My wife kind of gave up on it in the beginning and I probably won't rope her into going on with it. But if you can map the skill you had toward the end here back toward the beginning I think this story could be more accessible and more people could realize how good it is. Maybe I could get her to try it.
Now I'm gonna go onto the sequel and holy moly I could swear it was 5 chapters like last week! You are the most busy author I've ever seen lol
With the spike in the ability to make me cry and get excited like you had toward the end of this, I'm pretty excited about trying the next story. Its 3:27 a.m. but I think It wouldn't hurt to read a couple chapters...
9290543
Just finished and agree, this story finished strong. Think in part it was character growth from the main character, she started off so bland but got more open and interesting as time went on. Still had a lot of characters in the story who I felt were more interesting (really wanting to see more Wild Growth).
It's all enough to make me want to read the sequel and I need to read it anyway since that's where I can actually find out why everyone over in the Aftermath story freaks out about dreamwardens. Read through this whole thing and we only get just the term mentioned at the very end.
9292353
I've started reading the sequel. Its very good. If you feel like I did about this one, you'll probably agree that its about the best of this right off the bat and only gets better as it goes on.
9301820
No problem I understand.
Normally I never catch grammar errors or someone else already reported it but if I look for them I can catch them....sometimes not always.
All right I’ll give the story a chance of a read I guess
9623471
No problem. Everyone has trouble when they're first starting out, and I think fixing the dialogue and sentence structure will get you a lot more exposure.
Is this some more anti Christian and Southern bashing propaganda bullshit trying to make everyone here look like backwards hillbillies? Because I've finally gotten sick of this Social Justice/"Liberal" garbage constantly shoved down my throut through the media. Especially the shit about how the LGBT movement are perfect and innocent "victims" when I can easily find articles, statistics, and social media posts about these same "victims" LOVE bullying and shaming everyone around them to accept their hedonistic lifestyles, hatred and exclusion of normal heterosexual people, and using the state to enforce administrative violence against the public.
You may think I'm overreacting, but I'm looking at the descriptions of the story and it already sounds incredibly one sided to fit a certain narrative.
9665547
Pride month really got you frothing at the mouth didn't it?
What are you even doing reading fanfics of or liking My Little Pony if you're this much of a douchebag? Clearly nothing in it aligns with your values.
9665890
What is there to celebrate about a corporate pushed astroturf campaign using people's sexuality as a way to sell products to rubes, or for another way for Far Left activists to push unhealthy lifestyles onto the public and children?
You can cry "you're just a bigot" all you want, but I used to support causes like that until I found out how it's not about human rights anymore like it was 30 years ago. The only thing left about the movement anymore is a bunch of dick heads trying to bully other people for not bending the knee.
And I'm not going to read another story about how all Southern or Conservative people are evil backwards hillbillies.
9665910
You're proving it just fine, no need to read a story for that.
Maybe try getting out of your little online hate bubble a bit cause you are shockingly ignorant.
9665919
pbs.twimg.com/media/D6f_8T3WsAEPuwZ?format=jpg&name=orig
pbs.twimg.com/media/D6f_8T6WAAALhx0?format=jpg&name=orig
pbs.twimg.com/media/D6f_8T5WwAAe3OE?format=jpg&name=orig
pbs.twimg.com/media/D6f_8T5W0AAAv3p?format=jpg&name=orig
Uh huh. Tell me again how you're an "oppressed" minority.
That smug sense of superiority you have only goes to prove me.
9665940
There aren't enough hours in the day to go through and respond to all the false right wing hit pieces written about trans women you could dredge up from the depths of breitbarts ass. Sorry not wasting my time caring about some screen shots you felt the need to have ready just in case someone called you on your horse shit opinion.
Go back to writing incest fics, you're not going to find traction here.
9665951
None of those screencaps have Breitbart in them. Just mainstream news publications from multiple countries. Nice try with the typical character assassination there. You're really showing off your hatred for outside ideas that goes against your possessive nature for a small minority of peoples sexuality.
All you people really have is chanting SHAME like some Game Of Thrones villains in their righteous indignation. You're not making a case for anybody with your mindset or the LGBT community. In fact, I've known a lot of people turning their backs on them out of shame of being associated with a group that's more anti-Free Speech and pro-pedophilia these days.
Nice job with the Kink Shaming too. So tolerant and Progressive.
9665964
So you don’t even read your own screen caps. First image bottom left is breitbart, top left in same image is an extremist xtian website. Good job, much like the story you haven’t read but you decided to come on here and post a bunch of garbage you don’t even ready what’s in the stuff supposedly used to support your asinine opinion.
You have literally nothing of value to say, just walk away and go read some incest porn.
9665910
So, why? If you're not even going to read the story, then why post a completely worthless comment on it that adds absolutely nothing to the discussion whatsoever? It's incredibly clear that you wouldn't enjoy this story, according to yourself anyway, so you don't really have any business trying to add discussion to a story that you can't actually discuss.
9665964
I only went as far as your first screenshot.
You have CBN as a source...this is Pat Roberson's news network (you know the textbook definition of a false prophet (so many false prophecies) and according to the Bible false prophets agent of the devil meant to sway majority of the faithful by appearing as godly men) and the network has in the past promoted ideas like 911 happened because transgender people exist. They have also sold arms to African militants to assist in genocides. I don't count that as a credible site.
Another has Breitbart listed on the screenshot as the source.
The one about the 55,000 fine I had to do some research on. Yeah the fine happened, but not for calling the person a biological male. What the person fined did was pass out fliers on a large specifically doing a hate campaign against the person which led to threats of violence and discrimination against the person. Not to mention it gave out private information. Every single right wing site left this bit of information out, they don't actually list the details of the court case in any of them.
The last I didn't track down, but I have seen these types of circumstances. If there is a transgender student in a classroom and no one is aware that they are transgender beyond the administration and teachers this is actually a form of child endangerment, you're revealing private information about the student that could lead to them being harmed. You don't need to agree about the student's gender, but there's no need to reveal that information unless you want to cause harm. She could have just said the student's name if she really didn't want to use the gender term. These are conscious efforts at public shaming which are unfit actions for a teacher.
9665985
You're not willing to entertain any ideas or do research that doesn't go outside of your Utopian bubble. There is truth in these articles, but people like you are blinded by brand name multi-billion dollar corporations that are run on deceitfully edited articles. These companies are unwilling to investigate or corroborate any of these articles. CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, etc. If they did, they could make millions more in debunking articles and nobody would rely on Snopes. (They're a biased source as well.) But they rarely take the time to investigate anything that doesn't coincide their own biases, like the Trump\Russia Conspiracy that was peddled for 2+ years.
Even Fox News doesn't take time to investigate such claims, so independent outlets have to pick up some of the slack. One of the other reasons why they don't is because of idiots like you will freak out with throw a fit in response.
Good job with more of the Kink Shaming. You're really showing how much of tolerant hypocritical "Liberal" you are. 👏 👏 👏 It's like you're protective of people who engage in certain real lifestyles that cause roughly 80% of a large part of their group to have STDs like Syphilis and believe in the same things as you, but shame anybody that has a fantasy fetish and doesn't believe in your world view. 🤔
9665991
Because I was interested in the sequel and thought "Oh, nice. This looks like a good story. Thriller, drama, some social upheaval with ponies in the modern world? Sweet. Let me check the prequel and- .... Oh God, it sounds like another Social Justice\Tumblr story that makes all Southern people seem like Klansman."
I live in the South. It's more nuanced, tolerant, and peaceful here than people outside give it credit for. So when I read the description and it's another Character Assassination narrative and bashing the culture where I live, would you be surprised at my reaction?
9666014
Here's something I want you to keep in mind: Most modern journalism is trash.
There is no such thing as the truth anymore, but is more bias and weaving narratives to fit an agenda. So you might be thinking "why would he cite these or go with these narratives?" I don't have real political allegiances, but I don't trust "Left wing" sources anymore after falling out from it from the rampant editorializing and pandering articles full of Social Justice and Progressive talking points. Namely, shaming white people and men. So just like you may dismiss Breitbart for their biases and inaccuracies (and I'm not defending them either), I'm also dismissing many mainstream websites like CNN, Vice, BBC, etc for promoting these ideologies in their articles.
I will say good job with the research you've done, I can commend you for that and will be moving away from CBN ever being a source again. I did find where that original article CBN said was from and it doesn't invalidate the original claim. Daily Mail is almost on the same level as Vice\Vox to me and several of their writers are yellow journalist trash, but it's better than nothing too.
9666485
1) Your repeated mentions of "kink shaming" implies "my kinks are okay, but yours are not," when taken into the context of, "criticizing a story that I have admitted to not reading."
2) Neither Innkeeper nor Lawra never cited any news sources; they simply reviewed the ones you used. They also caught you citing a source you specifically said that you did not use.
3) Halira lives there too. Keep that in mind before making hasty judgments. Her stories all have slice-of-life elements with characters from many viewpoints and moral alignments; she by no means bashes any specific group of people.
EDIT: 4) Is the main character homosexual or transgender at the beginning of the story? That impacts whether your CDC source is accurate and pertinent to the discussion, as it only focuses on the former.
9666485
I find it rather curious that you post so vehemently on a pony fic you fundamentally disagree with in so many ways. I won't make a value judgement on your opinions but if you want to go out there and 'fight the fight' why not volunteer for PACs and campaigns in your area then spend your free time typing reviews on a Pony fanfic you detest?
9666537
1. More like she's being a massive hypocrite for defending LGBT people, but whining about someone else having a certain fetish.
2. Yes, I know I didn't read those screen caps fully since its been a while, but that doesn't invalidate the articles themselves.
3. Just because someone lives here doesn't mean extremists don't exist here too. I live next to a major University and I've seen people from there protesting "Not My President" in the downtown area, defacing Confederate soldier monuments, and hosting Antifa events where they try to harass the local police. Thank god they're ineffectual here.
4. Refer to number 1 and it was a gotcha right back at them to try to piss them off further.
9666674
Reaction against a description that basically looks like a bad Twitter activist idea for a Pony story. (Yes, I've seen people on this site having worse story ideas or wearing their ideology on their sleeve.) Also, not many PACs, campaigns, or organizations exist that are fully anti-Social Justice\Progressive and still Liberal. Usually these places are called the usual buzzwords, "Racist\Fascist\KKK", and get reamed by government, financial, or corporate politics. 🤷
9666841
Ok. So you're identifying yourself as...liberal? I'm quite confused as to how you'd ascribe that label to yourself but I'll just shrug and imagine you think of yourself as fisically liberal and socially conservative or something and move along.
Here's the thing though. You've complained how many times in this fic about how much you hate it? One time? That's normal. "I am disapointed you did this. You shouldn't and should do it this way." Twice? Ok. Whatever it affected you. Maybe you were a fan of the other works they wrote? You're on like a half dozen now? I think you've made your point. The story and author isn't changing along the lines you want. You should probably move on. A sane person would move on. If you want a place to discuss your politics I'm sure you can find one in many other places that'll give you more of a place to discuss things.
I don't like the universe of these stories either, not for your reasons though, but I don't go into each one screaming the dozens of things I'd be TELLING the author to change just to make me happy. That is not normal behavior. If you're simply trolling you're doing a very uninspired job. If you think you're acting in a adult normal fashion you should realize most of the people here are rolling their eyes at each of your posts and think you're a clownish buffoon and should probably reevaulate your thought process on life in general.
9666864
I'll put it like this, modern "Liberals" and Intersectionality aren't Liberal.
"You're on like a half dozen now?" You expect me to not respond to a dozen responses (or attack posts), especially from the first one that sounded like another smug child who thinks they know better? That's just inviting a verbal fight.
9667636
So you suffer from a mental illness then. Gotcha. I'll just step away now nothing to be gained.
9667644
You can fuck yourself as well.
Seems that people always forget that voice to text is a thing whenever it comes to these stories abs using phones.
10612014
Sorry about a year late reply; this is more for the sake of future readers reading comments. I'm simply using your comment since it is worth knowing for anyone reading the story.
At some point, I'll go back and edit all my older stories. I do still do all my writing by phone, but I don't use voice-to-text because, honestly, I don't like talking out loud. I have to do it for work since I work as a phone representative, but I rarely say much out loud when not working, and most of my conversations at work are strictly business related. In private, I can go days without talking and know I have gone weeks without saying more than a dozen words.
As such, that's why my dialogue sometimes comes off as stiff and odd sounding, especially in these older stories. I feel like I do better nowadays, but it's still a struggle at times. Voice-to-text would probably make my dialogue even worse.
11566799
K thank u 4 the reply
An amazingly written story with good characterization, worldbuilding and of course some good trans rep/wish fullfillment.
Loved your story! Didn't think I would find myself reading about human to pony stuff but I am surprisingly both intrigued and engaged with the concept.
So happy to know there will be sequels because I really want more of these characters story <3
I wish I'd been more aware of this one when I was interested in the Pandemic series back when it was the height of popularity. I might've gotten on better with Picking up the Pieces if I'd formed the attachments to Phobia Remedy and Rosetta Stone and the others.