The
CONVERSION
►Bureau
CODE MAJESTE
By Chatoyance
4. The Lights Are Much Brighter There
Lillian Fogarty had no pony name. Indeed trying to come up with a cute and fun Equestrian name for herself was the last thing she felt like doing; so far her experience of being a mare had been anything but cute or fun.
Then again, she was not a mare, at least not an ordinary one. She was not even a pony, properly.
The pockets of the gray trenchcoat that covered her body were stuffed with colorfully wrapped Nanobars, the last she could find in the decaying rooms of the corporate agricultural complex. She had found scattered buckets and containers that had been filled with bitter rainwater to drink from; the water was tainted with whatever had drifted into the buckets over time but she had been desperate with thirst.
With the storm over, and nothing more she felt safe to take from the vending machines, Lillian had decided to leave the complex. There was nothing else for her in that abandoned place.
Endless, gray, dead fields of inedible wheat stretched out in all directions. The nightmarishly flat expanse of Probably Saskatchewan made Lillian feel more alone and lost than she had ever felt. All directions seemed the same to her; at least there were the remains of a road to follow.
The road was broken and deeply cracked. It was not made of modern plascrete but of concrete, and it was clear that the road had been built decades before Lillian's birth. Some parts had buckled and crumbled entirely, forcing her to step carefully around tilted slabs and chunks. The sides of the road were littered with ancient bottles, some still intact, and aluminum cans.
What she could see of the road seemed to go on straight to the horizon. She felt worried about just how far she would need to travel before running into... anything at all. At least, after the storm, the sky was remarkably clear; she could see blue here, the global smog layer not yet having filled in the brief window created by the rain.
As Lillian walked, she fell into a monotony driven trance, daydreams and memories compensating for the boredom of travel down an endless, perfectly straight road through flat, gray fields.
"Good on ya, Lill!" Her father was proud of her; she had just told him about how she had given her tickets to the Calgary Tech Faire to the cyborg twins. Everyone called them the cyborg twins, because of the implants and the support frames that kept them alive. They had such terrible congenital defects that without technology, they could not be alive at all.
Lillian had wanted to go to the Faire - some still called it the 'Stampede', though hardly anyone remembered where the name had come from - and she had worked hard to win the tickets by having the highest ZTA in her class. A high Zone Training Average meant that she could potentially have her pick of occupations within the BC subsection of the Northamerizone Corporate Production lists. Her father wanted her to keep the family tradition of having a job going.
Though they were far from the elite class, Lillian's family had held low level positions for generations. It was more than employment within the world corporation, it was a matter of family pride. The Worldcorporation tended to hire from established families. This was reasonable since there was no upward mobility any more. Lillian's family had wealth enough to afford education from Early Indoctrination all the way to Corporate Training - the countless masses had no such advantage, so they could never hope to have a job.
Lillian knew her father, Graeme, worried about her. He felt she was a bit on the soft side. This trait seemed to both concern him and endear her to him - it would have been more appropriate for her father to have scolded her for giving away an advantage. But the twins were moderately famous for their struggle to survive - one of the media outlets had done a story on them recently - and if nothing else Lillian's act of generosity and kindness would probably be seen as good strategic self marketing. Those watching would likely think her shrewd, communicating her willingness to be a team player and sacrifice for the benefit of the greater good - all traits the corporation valued highly.
But that was not why she had given them the tickets. They really, desperately wanted to go. The cyborg twins didn't get to do much that was fun, and Lillian didn't care about their recent publicity. She didn't even know them that well. It was just that... they wanted it so much! Both Étienne and Joseph had worked hard - FAR harder than she had - to try to get the highest scores on the ZTA, yet they had fallen quite short.
Lillian had seen them roll away from the posted scores on the holodisplay and cry, softly, in the corner. It had broken her heart. When later, after being declared the winner, after Onésime and Jeanne had sneered and made faces at her - they looked down on low-level corporate drone families - something in her raged. Lillian hated the constant fighting for status and position, that those who truly struggled ended up with little, while those had innate talents or the higher ranked parents ended up with everything. It wasn't... nice. It might be 'how things worked' - as her parents often reminded her - but it wasn't at all kind.
Lillian was sick of 'how things worked'. The way the world was didn't make anybody happy except those already advantaged. Lillian wanted nice. She wanted kind. She wanted a life where those who already suffered were not penalized further for being imperfect. She wanted something she didn't quite have a name for, something that hovered on the edge of her understanding. A not-corporate world. A world where people mattered far more than they did.
So she had gone up to them later and given them the tickets. They thought it was some kind of trick at first, as if the tickets were fakes, or that there was some hidden agenda going on. Somehow she had convinced Étienne and Joseph that she genuinely meant for them to have her prize, that it would make her happy to see them get to do something they wanted so very much.
They were still uncertain, even after that, and she knew they had checked the tickets to make sure they were real. They probably felt she was trying to horn in on their recent celebrity or something. That thought had made her feel sad.
It didn't matter, she had told herself. It didn't matter what anyone thought. She had done what her heart had told her to do, and somehow that made her feel closer to the world she wanted, the world she didn't have a name for.
When the Worldgovernment finally revealed the existence of Equestria to the masses, when the first speeches by Princess Celestia had been disseminated, Lillian finally had a name for her ideal world. Celestia's soft voice and gentle face had instantly stolen her heart; she saw in that royal countenance everything she had ever wanted. This was the princess of a land of kindness. More than anything, Lillian wanted to live in that world, and with ponification announced, with the Bureaus being built everywhere, she had no doubt as to her path.
Lillian Fogarty knew her future was to become a mare and serve that beautiful princess, her princess, Celestia. It was all she could think of, dream of, until she became a legal adult at nineteen. It was her deepest wish that she might even get to meet Celestia one day. She had practiced trying to bow on four legs long before her Conversion; she had gotten down on hands and knees, and pretended that she was meeting the princess as a pony.
She had seen the princess now. Twice. And neither meeting had been at all what she had dreamed of. No, make that thrice, if her Conversion dream was real... and it had felt real. Terribly real.
Lillian wondered what had happened to the poor PA, Olivia. She shuddered as she walked, remembering vividly how Olivia had been pulled away from the Conversion Bureau door by some invisible hand, Celestia's flowing mane filling the room.
This wasn't right! She shouldn't have let Olivia risk herself that way. Who knows what happened to her?
It was hard to believe that such a beautiful and seemingly kind creature as princess Celestia could be... so frightening. Lillian had trouble, even now, imagining her princess as a threat, as actually being out to hurt her. Maybe this was all a big misunderstanding! Maybe Celestia was really trying to help her, only she kept stupidly running away. Maybe she had misinterpreted the look on Celestia's face, and the feelings of dread.
What if doctor Treasen and the humans were the real danger, and Celestia had come to rescue her from them? Some humans did want to stop the expansion of Equestria, after all. What if Celestia just wanted to welcome her, to accept her as a sister alicorn? Celestia may have banished her own sister, but she had taken her back. Princess Luna didn't show up on the holoscreens as often as Celestia, but it was clear that she was co-ruler.
Maybe the best thing Lillian could do would be to just take the ring off of her horn and wait. Wait for Celestia to find her and appear. She could bow to her - like she had practiced - and beg her forgiveness for running away. Lillian imagined Celestia comforting her, giving her an understanding smile, and leading them both back to Canterlot, where she would be given her own room and taught what it meant to be an alicorn.
Lillian remembered her conversion dream. The crushing, squeezing nightmare, the cold, implacable stare. It had felt like she was being killed. It did not feel friendly.
But then again, it had only been a dream. No one had ever claimed that they had proof that the dreams were true experiences of a higher reality. They could just be dreams, nothing more, even despite the common elements.
Olivia had seemed to think that Celestia could not be trusted any more than humans could be trusted. Lillian just didn't know what to believe anymore.
Sounds from in front of her made her lift her head. Amazingly, there was a town coming into view. A town! How long had she been walking? The sun was low in the increasingly smoggy sky, it was getting close to sunset. Lillian suddenly realized that she was hungry. She briefly considered squatting down right then and there and polishing off her collection of Nanobars, but stopped herself. She might need them later, and the town might offer new possibilities. Also, she was desperately thirsty; eating the bars would only make that feeling much worse.
Her hooves felt sore. She had walked for an entire day. Wow. Lillian had never imagined doing that before.
Welcome To The Future
Home Of The Assiniboia Arcology!
The sign was broken and decades old. What it proudly proclaimed had never been built. When the Last Crop turned out to be the death of all wheat on earth - except that preserved in vaults, or grown in special, enclosed facilities - there was no longer any reason to build an arcology in Assiniboia. Saskatchewan had become a dead land, and hundreds of millions had starved to death worldwide. Lillian had studied that in her classes; the Collapse had many aspects, not all of them merely financial.
Now she knew, Probably Saskatchewan was Definitely Saskatchewan, and Assiniboia was still a small place. It had housed probably only a half a million people at its peak. Now, it was impossible for her to tell how many people still lived here, but it was clear that they had been busy; the shelters and buildings were made with surprising care and expertise, relative to the average favela.
As Lillian clopped down the street, the life of the town ran on many legs around her. It appeared that there was an equal mixture of humans and ponies here; she guessed that it was pretty much half and half. They all seemed to be getting along well, which was encouraging, and her new ears delighted in sounds of laughter and friendly talk. Perhaps Assiniboia was going to be a nice place.
Assiniboia was interesting for a post-collapse favela town. It had clearly once been entirely abandoned, then resettled afterwards by the constant, unchecked, Malthusian expansion of human population. The ruins had been rebuilt into quite a charming metropolis, with an astonishing variety of structures piled like toy blocks on top of each other.
Lillian passed one street corner where a reconstructed fast food building on the ground had been repurposed as a carpentry shop. Above it were cubical apartments and houses built of sheetmetal, old street signs and light-yet-strong foamcrete beams. At the top of the perilously stacked pile was a fishing boat-turned-penthouse supported by angled trusses. The entire mass loomed out over the street, connected by the endless over-street spiderweb of bundled wires and cables that supplied meager electricity and hypernet for two hours every day, an hour in the morning, and an hour in the evening.
On every level of every pile of the curious constructions were endless arrays of covered windowboxes. These had been carefully cultivated to grow anything and everything that could still be grown. It took great effort to generate living soil, and to keep it free of contamination. Each windowbox was a miniature greenhouse, covered with plastic bag tents to protect the plants inside from dangerous genetically altered pollen, nanotech particles, and the poison in the rains. Assiniboia was a city of hanging gardens, covered and protected, attached to the most extraordinary collection of eccentric dwellings imaginable.
Lillian had no idea where to go, or who, if anyone, she could trust. She was encouraged by the fact she had yet to spot a camera or see a drone in the air; perhaps Assiniboia was simply not of particular interest to the corporate world government. It was not an unreasonable thought - a lone favela built in the middle of the great wasteland of Saskatchewan that was the Last Crop. It was astonishing anyone could even live here; yet these people, ponies and humans both, somehow managed.
Lillian stood in an intersection realizing that she was completely lost. She was surrounded on all sides by the piled constructions and their associated little gardens, the streets busy with ponies and humans going about busy lives. Lillian felt desperately alone and directionless. What should she do now?
Something was softly sweeping around her left foreleg. She looked down, startled and slightly afraid. It was a cat. A dark black cat... no, more of a Prussian blue. A deep, dark blue. Lillian was startled; cats, like dogs, were uncommon to see at all - only the elite class could afford such animals anymore. Worse, there were so many poisons and dangers for small animals who might nibble or eat whatever they found that the owner of a cat or dog would need to keep the animal carefully sequestered away from the outdoors at all costs.
Yet here was a blue cat, purring and rubbing itself around her leg in the middle of in intersection in a favela town.
The color was not overly unusual; cats and dogs both had been genetically modified decades ago to express coat colors every bit as bright as the equinoids from Equestria. It had been a fad for a while, back during the gene craze. If anything, a midnight blue cat was fairly conservative. "Hello, little kitty! How nice of you to say hello!" This was the first pleasant meeting that Lillian had experienced since the PA, Olivia, helped her to escape the Bureau.
The blue cat looked up with nearly luminous, blue-green eyes, and studied Lillian's face. It almost seemed like the cat was sizing her up. Lillian felt a tear running down her cheek, soaking into her coat; it meant so much just to even have a cat being friendly right now. "Are you lost? Do you have a home? I have no home, little kitty. I am so very lost." Lillian bent down her neck and gave the cat a lick on the head, between it's deep blue ears. "Thank you for saying hello to me. It's the nicest thing that has happened to me since..." Lillian trailed off for a moment "... since I was... made."
The cat mewed at Lillian, and the expression almost looked sad to her. "Oh, little kitty, I wish I could find some friends somehow. Do you know anyone who could help me?" Lillian laughed bitterly at herself, inside her head. It was ridiculous asking a stray cat anything. Still, it was somehow comforting to just talk with anyone, even if it was a blue cat in an intersection. Loneliness and despair can drive a soul to seek comfort however they can find it.
The little cat suddenly turned and looked down one of the streets. It stepped forward purposefully, then turned back, staring directly into Lillian's golden eyes. It stared for a long time, and Lillian felt a strange chill down her spine. Cats are always mysterious creatures; one never knows what goes on inside their heads.
The cat turned and began marching down the street, slowly and deliberately. That was odd for a cat, but then again, with all of the genetic manipulations and designer engineering that had been done, cats weren't entirely cats anymore. At least not as they were described or shown in the old media. Lillian had no other ideas, so she decided to follow the cat. It was ridiculous, of course, but right now little in her existence made much sense to her in any case.
A gray pony in a trenchcoat followed a blue designer cat down the middle of a colorful, sprawling favela. This was life in the days of the expansion of Equestria on Earth.
Lillian didn't know when she had lost sight of the cat. She had been looking at the imaginative buildings and colorful efforts at decoration; when she looked down the cat must have run off. Oh well. It had been strangely comforting to have a traveling companion, even if for a short while. Once again she was lost in Assiniboia's maze of streets. Suddenly she realized that she was not alone anymore - she had been noticed and approached.
"You're wearing a coat!" the child was a human, beside him was a pony, a very young filly. The human was dark brown with a disheveled black mane and no tail, and the little filly was brick red with an equally messy golden yellow mane and matching tail. Lillian shook her head slightly; what an odd way to think about such things! Where had that come from? In the moment, she had thought it odd that the human had no tail. Suddenly she realized that she had for some time now been thinking of humans as 'other'.
"Um... yes. I... I think coats are cool! Besides... it was raining." Lillian felt glad that her first encounter was with young children, hopefully her stumbling words would not raise any suspicions in them.
"I like your coat." The little red filly smiled up at her; she was a cutie, make no mistake about it.
"Thank you... um..." Lillian didn't know what to call her. 'Little filly?', 'Kid?', 'You there?'
"I'm Simon and this is Amelie. We're best friends!" The young human boy stated this as if it were the most important thing that he could think of to say. Which it probably was. And, in this moment, on the run and alone in the world, it was somehow really nice to hear. Almost too nice to hear - Lillian felt her eyes trying to well up.
"Well, hello Simon and Amelie. I'm... new in town and I wonder if you know anyplace I could stay for awhile. Also anyplace I might be able to get some food and water." Lillian thought for a moment. This would be the place where she should rightly introduce herself to them, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to use her real name. Her mind was blank on names at the moment. For the life of her she couldn't think of a single name! "Um... I'm... uh... Graycoat. Graycoat the pega.... unicorn. Just like my coat, see?"
Damn, but she had almost messed that up. Hopefully she hadn't messed that up. She really needed some water and food.
"I know! I know!" The little filly, Amelie was prancing about excitedly. She must be very young, Lillian thought, though she had no way to tell. She knew nothing about how to tell the age of a pony by looking at it. She knew nothing much at all about anything, really.
"You need to sign up at the center!" Amilie stopped prancing and began to recite "Every citizen must register at the closest Supply Center... um... immediately upon entering any location!" Amilie paused and briefly squintched her eyes to concentrate. "Only in this way... can each citizen be assured of... ah... getting... having... no... receiving their Guaranteed Daily Provision!" The little filly seemed proud of herself; it was quite a mouthful to remember.
"Um... I'd kind of like to avoid going to the center if I can. I... don't like the taste... of the... um... fabricated stuff." Lillian scrambled for a good excuse; the center would have cameras, sensors and god knows what else.
"Yeah. I agree. That stuff tastes like crap!" Simon said the word 'crap' with some pride, Lillian got the distinct impression that he probably wasn't supposed to use that word at home, and this was his way to show off in front of Amelie. This seemed all the more likely when Amelie giggled and began chirping "Crap! Crap! Crap!" then giggling some more. Simon beamed, a job well done.
"Is there an alternative - some place I could get some real food, maybe a place to sleep? I don't have much of value..." Money had all but ceased to exist in the post-Collapse world; barter and trade were the norm, now. Lillian remembered her Nanobars. They were old, but they kept forever. Maybe literally. And they were in perfect condition. Maybe a treat from the past might be worth something here. "I have something to trade though."
Lillian bent her long neck back and dug her jaw into the deep pockets of her trenchcoat. She snagged a bar by the wrapper and pulled it out, dangling it between her front teeth. "Thee? Nanodars!" She couldn't manage the 'B' sound, but the children got the idea.
Naturally they wanted one. They really, really wanted one. "You can hath thith one to thare if you can take ne to a tlace where I can thrade the resth, okay?" Lillian put the bar back into her pocket. "I want to trade my bars for room and board. Do you have any ideas?"
"You could come home with me." Simon seemed almost like an adult in the matter-of-fact way that he stated the invitation. "My dad runs a store. He tells me to always be on the lookout for things for the store. You should talk to him." Simon was trying very hard to be a good businessman, which was really rather cute in an eight-year old human.
Lillian considered the offer. She had no where else to go, these children were friendly, and a trading store was probably where she would end up anyway. With little Simon, she had an 'in' already; she might as well go. "Great! Lead on Simon! Let's go talk to your dad."
"Me too!" Amelie was pouting at being left out of the conversation for several seconds, Lillian had never seen a filly pout before and it was unreasonably cute.
"Absolutely, Amelie! Lead the way too!" Lillian couldn't help but smile.
This seemed to greatly please the little filly, and she began to trot through the streets ahead of Simon. "Come on you slowponies! Come On!"
For the first time since she became a pony... well sort of a pony... Lillian began to feel hope. It was a fragile hope, based only on the possibly unreliable offer of a human child, but it was at least something. If she could just find a place to safely hide out, even if only for a while, maybe she could think more clearly about what she should do. Maybe she could reason out what was really going on. Or maybe she might find out something that could help. Time. She needed time - everything had happened so quickly.
It shocked her to realize that this was only her first full day as... what she was. She had been converted yesterday morning. There was no way she could hope to make a truly rational decision about her future right now. She needed time to think, to learn, to consider options.
Simon and Amelie were friendly enough. No one in the streets was taking undue notice of her; her coat was a little odd, perhaps, to some. But it was clearly not a big deal. Maybe she could get away with this, perhaps she could keep her true status hidden. That's all she needed to do, for now.
Lead on, little Simon, she thought. And Amelie. She giggled inside her head; can't leave out little Amelie. She might get upset and pout.
aww, glad somepony showed her some kindness, even if it's because they don't know what she really is.
Keep em coming Chatoyance
Awww.
That cat... It has large significance to me.
*Chatoyance Wrote:*
"she saw in that royal continence everything she had ever wanted"
I think you meant "countenance," but that looks like a spellchecker error to me.
"countenance:" Face, appearance
"continence:" the ability to control one's bladder and/or bowels
"continents:" Large land masses
Okay, there's some happy... how badly is it going to get smooshed next chapter?
I'm calling it: The cat's Luna.
"Midnight blue"
I'm calling that the cat is Luna now. Who knows what she is planning?
the cat is luna?
*twilight zone theme*
Of course the blue cat is Luna.
img151.imageshack.us/img151/6909/lunaev.jpg
127264
Cannot unsee, now that everyone's mentioning it. Now I'm gonna be thinking that too until it gets jossed or confirmed. Other explanation of course, is alicorn powers include the ability to actually talk to animals, even earth ones.
Wonder what Amelie's family is doing in a place like this? There've been other incidences of ponies living on earth after conversion, but usually they're helping out with another bureau branch, which would be bad for Lillian, so lets hope its some other reason.
127232
Alas, spellchecker is fail here. Continence is a real word, so it never shows up as wrong. But thank you - fixed.
127293
Oh, goddess, but I loved Sailor Moon. Thank you for that picture. That made me happy.
LOL, did everyone really call that cat reference, or is it just because they read the comments? You know what? That cat isn't luna. It's one of those exploding kittens. (Directions: Always keep at arms length)
Thanks for the update!
125399
Two Doctorates?
You actually wrote not one, but TWO theses and defended them both in front of a committee?
These aren't honorary degrees, are they?
Are you published? If so, in what journals?
For Christ's sake, how many years did you spend attending college anyway?
The reason why I'm sounding so skeptical is because I have never heard of a single other person who held multiple doctorates and earned them all through work in academics.
127333
It's dangerous to go alone! Take this. (hands you a kitten)
127382
That's because it didn't happen - remember the statement (Not Really). Of course I don't have two doctorates.
Nobel Prize, on the other hand...
Why do I have the unsettling feeling that her resemblance to Ditzy isn't a coincidence?
This can only end with sorrow...
Something I was thinking about moments ago:
In the being there were alicorns, and they were corrupt. Celestia and Luna purged them all, maybe absorbin their powers and life force or not. She then proceded to use her power to make the three pony races, and they were pure, but that did not come without a price. She watched over them, being the holder of all horrors for her children (Think 'The Giver'). When reycoat became an Alicorn, she saw all her work thrown out the window essentially and now seeks to tie up the loose end before the tapestry that took millenia to weave unravels.
Just my own oddball theory.
127616
Psst, Nobel and Prize are her cats!
127657
That would be hilarious and awesome in a really sad way.
Augh, rampant idea-tossing is so much fun! Chatoyance don't read this unless you're not going to let it influence you! The cat's Luna, Celestia doesn't actually want to kill her now she's awake (she made it through the first test) but she will either exile or stone her, and Luna won't stand for either (civil war, anypony?). PER are going to want her as their ascendant superiority made flesh, the HLF want her as a pawn because if she can be made to say Celestia's been hunting her, it'd mean war. The earth governments want her because who wouldn't want a tame goddess? The only people who are going to be her friends are humans who a) don't hate ponies and b) don't know what she signifies. Equestrians probably come built in with spy cameras, in that should one of Celestia's subjects see an alicorn, she would know.
The Elements are in no way, shape or form going to do Celestia's dirty work if they ever find out that Lillian isn't some raving monster, and I do not believe Celestia would easily let that chance happen (she might get angry and upset enough to mis-step, but that's a final gambit to use when all else fails).
There is one other option, one chance, but it is a very transcendental one - not as brash as merely finding a new universe for Lillian to inhabit, far more subtle and a lot more personal. I'm going to keep shtum about it until after this series ends...
As for what Midnight would do, well, if he found her, he'd probably contact Luna but he would never contact Celestia over it. That exemplifies the danger that Lillian presents - sedition against a goddess.
127316
I watched the DiC dubs on cartoon network when I was in high school and liked it a lot, but I recently started rewatching it with subtitles, and it is even better!
Well looks like someone/pony (oh wait both[dammit]) showed her kindness, well brace your selfs for the depressing chapter next.
127737
And this is the true beauty of creation myths - the power to engage the imagination in a pure, no holds barred fashion. After all, we are talking about apparently ageless cosmic beings who control the very movement of the heavens! Pretty much any idea at that point is not too far fetched for consideration, and this leads to amazing lines of thought.
127760
Yes! Really - while the pieces in play are very few, the game has the potential to, well, change everything. This I believe is the trepidation fic writers have with working with Celestia and Luna - they create an incredible wake when moved even the tiniest bit and it takes a pretty big body of water to contain the motion.
But I don't think this should limit anyone as these are stories - nothing more. The reader is free to acknowledge or disregard anything in it. But it works best if one simply enjoys it for what it is; a play with familiar names.
As for possible outcomes - I'm keeping mum as well. I have a personal dénouement that I'd love to see which is quite tricksy and very subtle - but this is merely an indicator of a well crafted story. I've become invested enough to desire a specific outcome for the characters involved, and this is a good thing.
123488
(going through some of the older posts here that caught my eye but I was too busy to properly reply)
Firstly, you'll see me always referring to the princesses as 'immortals' - the term 'Alicorn' bugs me because it is in essence calling a car a carburetor or referring to humanity as 'elbow'. Anyways...
Re: Immortal powers
Exactly. Having a being that is an all-powerful deity in a story arc is akin to simply writing "And Celestia wins - the end." Either that or the conflict has to be of such scope that the story cannot be personalized to the reader.
Fortunately, Celestia and Luna are not deeply defined so there is some wiggle room.
During the first few episodes of FIM I was asking myself, "What does a mare who can move celestial bodies need with a castle full of guards?" This started the gears turning...
My personal versions of the immortals are also very toned down from the 'norm'. While they do tend to be pretty potent magic users and the average pony certainly wouldn't want to tussle with one - they're no more special than any other Unicorn with an eternity to create and acquire spells, knowledge, and practice.
What the immortals do have though is some slight prescience - a side effect of immortality. This makes them more charlatan than deity though as their 'godhood' is really nothing more than carefully being in the right place at the right time, or making sure certain elements are in place, to ensure events play out in their favor. Played well, this can make them seem all powerful. And it is a very powerful tool in their toolbox for keeping the realm they oversee safe.
But, even this has limitations. Their prescient abilities would make them impossible to beat at chess, for example, as nothing is more than a few seconds ahead (unless it's two immortals playing chess - then one move might take a generation). Figuring out that you need to send your prize pupil on a mission to Ponyville, at just the right time to ensure the proper chance encounters, in order to recruit the right ponies to recover and wield the Elements of Harmony - before Nightmare Moon escapes imprisonment? That probably took months of walking lines of probability, putting just the right spin on small things to influence big things, and carefully herding events in the right direction.
And that is what makes Discord so dangerous: There's no pre-reading him - pure randomized chance changing the outcomes of things so quickly that the best an immortal can do is get a headache thinking about it... So, yes, he gets to remain a lawn ornament for as long as possible.
They are also deeply connected with their realm - an almost symbiotic relationship - and this is the source of their immortality. They can feel the health of the realm and influence it greatly. But they aren't directly in control and act more like the conscience of the lands the oversee. Both do tend to mirror one another though and if an immortal begins to suffer corruption, their land will show signs very quickly.
For a given area of land, some bigger than others, there is an immortal who governs it. Some lands are large enough to have more than one immortal - such as Equestria - though each will hold sway over a piece of the overall area. (this was all put together to explain the various SecondLife sims myself and a few others run)
I surmise that the Everfree Forest was in fact Luna's realm, and its dark and wild nature stems from her corruption and subsequent banishment. It will be interesting to see if the Everfree comes back in-line now that she's back.
But, all that aside, it just goes to show how creatively leaving things undefined can open doors for others. And, should anyone want to borrow any of this - feel free. It's just another take on the largely undefined princesses of Equestria.
128079
Exactly. Having a being that is an all-powerful deity in a story arc is akin to simply writing "And Celestia wins - the end." Either that or the conflict has to be of such scope that the story cannot be personalized to the reader.
Precisely the trouble I am still having (since I haven't finished it yet) with one of my very first stories "the elements of discord" which has no less than five god-level superbeings potentially duking it out - as I have said in my blog entries, I almost wish I hadn't started it when I did, but had I not then I doubt I would still be writing. I am close to finishing it, but I still seek one day to go back and expand it a great deal...
They are also deeply connected with their realm - an almost symbiotic relationship - and this is the source of their immortality. They can feel the health of the realm and influence it greatly. But they aren't directly in control and act more like the conscience of the lands the oversee. Both do tend to mirror one another though and if an immortal begins to suffer corruption, their land will show signs very quickly.
I like and use this trope quite a bit - the old saying is "the land and the king are one". This is something I could not help but use were I writing this story of Chatoyance's (I'm not!) - Lillian is a human, from the human realm, but she has been given (through whatever twist of fate) the role of goddess-level avatarism. For me, merely by staying alive, that power would be growing in her such that there would soon be no way for her to be eliminated without an instinctual fight which even at her untrained level could devastate much of the northern hemisphere. Even would Celestia turn away from direct confrontation to save her own image, she would have to be somehow contained and controlled. I've seen Akira, and the ending whilst bizarre was the only logical one. This is why such a story is difficult to write believably - as soon as you set up "this type of creature is immensely powerful" and "this character is now this type" you are engaging in world-changing storylines and you have to understand these changes cannot form the entire or focus of the story or it will rapidly bore. A good example of how not to do this is dragonball z and naruto. The former is a 20-odd minute cartoon with 10 minutes of "and previously!" and 8 minutes of "and next time!" and 2 minutes of shouting and things exploding. The latter takes something horribly powerful, castrates it and makes the viewer be drip-fed the impossible that happens at plot-convenient points with macguffin-power of the day.
I surmise that the Everfree Forest was in fact Luna's realm, and its dark and wild nature stems from her corruption and subsequent banishment. It will be interesting to see if the Everfree comes back in-line now that she's back.
I like this idea, but to me Equestria itself belongs to both Luna and Celestia - the Everfree is a result of the battle the two sisters had, and is a good example of what happens with two alicorns fight.
As to the word 'alicorn', well, it's getting into a fight about mythical beasts and the words used to identify them. Alicorn is sometimes used to refer to the horn substance itself, but it is also legitimately used to refer to the winged unicorn beast (as has also been noted, pegasus was a pterripus(sp) but is used to refer to 'winged horse' by most people these days).
I don't have a better word for a winged unicorn than alicorn, so when I want something else to use other than 'equine', 'insert name here' or 'winged unicorn', alicorn it is.
One problem the regal sisters have is loneliness and heartbreak from the deaths of all the non-family friends they make over time. Being able to meet an 'equal' is probably a fantasy entertained often when they were younger, and even though they may 'know' they can't allow it now, that won't prevent wishing for it.
Celestia, as the older and more experienced sister likely feels she must set an example, putting aside her own feelings for the responsibility of rule. Luna, as the recently forgiven sibling and much younger would be torn between loyalties. I think Celestia is going to need a shoulder to cry on, regardless. She is going to have trouble forgiving herself for her own actions on this, as she is weighing the 'greater good' not right or wrong.
I don't see death/destruction as the inevitable result in this. Secrecy is a possibility, as is voluntary exile, ambassadorship, and delay. This is an awful time for the sisters to have to deal with this. They are currently being overwhelmed by new arrivals who outnumber the existing population of all Equestria. Keeping that culture from falling over some unknown tipping point is likely high in Celestia's thoughts at any cost to her personal conscience.
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I like this idea, but to me Equestria itself belongs to both Luna and Celestia - the Everfree is a result of the battle the two sisters had, and is a good example of what happens with two alicorns fight.
Same here. I didn't mean to imply 'sole ownership', but more 'sphere of influence'. Equestria is Celestia's and Luna's realm, but I like to think each has her own personal garden, if you will. :)
As to the word 'alicorn', well, it's getting into a fight about mythical beasts and the words used to identify them. Alicorn is sometimes used to refer to the horn substance itself, but it is also legitimately used to refer to the winged unicorn beast (as has also been noted, pegasus was a pterripus(sp) but is used to refer to 'winged horse' by most people these days).
Agreed as well. I certainly meant no conflict - I merely felt I was about to get wordy and wanted to throw that out there as the Rosetta for the text; just in case.
All this talk about the Collapse has me thinking about Deus Ex...
...and how much I want JC Denton to come in and fix EVERYTHING!
But this promises to become a great story. I'm definitely going to track this. Keep up the good work!
MORE MORE MORE MORE AND EVEN MORE MORE
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I Know that number 1 is posible because there are sevral mutations that could explan this: Delta-32 for instance allows people to survive getting AIDS the duble sex mutation wich allows you to have babys and litraly make you pregnate if you have it and red hair (YES RED HAIR YOU IDDIOT)
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One problem the regal sisters have is loneliness and heartbreak from the deaths of all the non-family friends they make over time.
Very true. And loved ones... In a tale some time ago I explored the concept of an immortal falling in love and then out living the object of affection. It's some heady stuff to put yourself in that place, knowing full well what the outcome will be, but seeing the short term happiness and eventual misery as preferable to the eternal loneliness.
And, as a point of reference, you think there's some hubbub over Chatoyance turning a human into an immortal - try having one fall in love some time... Boy howdy did I get some 'constructive criticism' there.
It was because of that tale that I determined the immortals needed some gift to keep them from becoming emo-ponies simply out of built up self loathing - so I gave them a character flaw a'la the Unicorn from Beagle's "The Last Unicorn".
SCHMENDRICK: And you, you have no regrets, as I do?
UNICORN: I can never regret. I can feel sorrow, but it's not the same thing.
Basically, they simply are not wired to regret. Every decision is what it is and they will feel emotions based on the outcome; happy, sad, angry, etc. But they are completely incapable of regretting the act that created the outcome - it is in the past and immutable, and therefore whatever the outcome it will be dealt with in the here and now to either enhance or repair the result.
It seems a bit clinical, but the alternative is to play 'what if' forever - and that seems like something right out of Dante's Divine Comedy.
I wonder how long Lillian/Greycoat can hide before someone finds her? I can see a scenario involving some friends she makes buying her time to escape Celestia or some other group. If it's Celestia then we get a chance to see how she'll react to people defending Lillian either smiting them or brushing them aside (gently or forcefully). And if Lillian doesn't die, but ends up in Equestria as some sort of hermit after years of running since Earth is gone and she can't hide any more (unless she can survive in space (flying off to make her own paradise)) Will Lillian/Greycoat be forced to finally confront Celestia.
Also I find it hard to believe Lillian is the only for want of a better term Alicorn Runner/Fugitive/exile to escape the Bureau's. I can totally see her finding others or learning about the fates of some of the others.
There is something that I have always been curious about in Chatoyance's all inclusive Conversion-verse that this story has the chance to address and could add some more depth to Celestia.It is the sort've question that if answered would affect many fans perception of the universe in which Chatoyance's characters live, and be contradictory in some ways to many people's vision of Celestia. (But sounds about right for Chatoyance's Celestia, at least that's the impression I got.)
Anyways the question is Did Celestia cause Equestria sudden appearance on Earth? I remember that in the story Last Man Standing some sort of corruption/sickness was leaking into Equestria from Earth and the only way for Celestia and Luna to protect Equestria was to destroy the source by purifying it. Hence the Ponification of the Planet. I see an opportunity to show Celestia off as a Benevolent Tyrant in this particular story, perhaps explaining how she is willing to do whatever is neccesary to protect her Ponies.
ANYTHING . Even destroying another world and converting it's inhabitants all the while portraying herself as wholly benevolent.
Also this has been bugging me for awhile but is MidnightShadow's Twist in the Tail: Community Service also part of your fictional universe too? Because I love both of the Twist in the Tail stories and like to imagine them as part of it, R63 potion was confirmed in your world after all. Which would mean Bedlam exists there too, and Celestia is treating Bedlam a potentially godlike creature of chaos as a citizen who's done wrong and gets community service. Which kinda contradicts Celestia here treating another potentially Godlike being as a threat that must be killed. As the Daleks would Say EXTERMINATE!
Love this story! I can't wait to see what's coming next!
Any ideas when Ch.s 5+6 will be available? The story page says 6 chapters, so I know they've been submitted, but is there a pre-reader backlog or something?
127659AND BLOOD! LOTS AND LOTS OF BLOOD!
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I'm trying to provide a new chapter every day, and my release time is around 8:00 PM pacific time.
I write ahead of actual publication, gradually adding to each chapter over the day, as time allows. This also allows me to potentially add spot art, if I get inspired enough to draw it (or have the energy!). Also, I try to go over the finished work to correct errors and such; of course it is likely impossible to find every last one. I try, though!
My goal is to complete around 3000 words every day, more or less.
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yeah, thats true. they dont usually, but i suppose theres a first time for everything. they could be there on behalf of the agricultural aspect of the town, in afterthought of course. there could be a completely different reason of course.
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I'm going to end up finishing this about a week after it ends. It's just hard to read your stuff that much at a time for me. I mean, sure, I loved The Big Respawn, and read it all right away, and same with Euphrosyne Unchained, but to be honest, now that I know more about your world, it's difficult to want to see what's around the next - or even last - corner.
Can't sleep, so I'm finally getting around to continuing this.
A midnight-blue cat with green eyes. I have a feeling that this cat is not what it seems.
¡Cough!
¡Princess Luna!
¡/Cough!
I will be severely disappointed
whenif this does not end with Celestia grovelling and bawling out apologies.Lillian has shown herself to be intelligent, brave, resourceful, compassionate... She was a good human and she is a good pony and there is absolutely no reason for her to have to suffer like this. I know no one did this to her deliberately, but I am still outraged on her behalf.
And I think I'm not the only one. I think that dark Prussian blue cat has a lot of similarities to a dark Prussian Blue cat from an anime. Including the same name. It's not Usagi's cat, but I think I know who it is.
Wave a paw, Luna, if it's you.
I hope these other ponies aren't going to get into trouble for helping her. For pity's sake, Celestia, they're just kids! Lillian is just a kid! Help her, please!