Story Notes: Under a Synthetic Sky

General Thoughts:

Some years ago, a writer by the name of NotOneFuck wrote a story, now unfinished, called ‘All Too Real’, in which Twilight and her friends find themselves transported to a world where ponies are synthetic companion-servants. It explored the emotional impact on our favorite band of six, and was a fascinating concept - although I’ve also been fond of the concept of ‘ponies as Von Neumann Probes designed to settle worlds’ since I encountered it in a brief greentext an even longer time ago.

The origins of this story can be firmly said to lay at the crossroads of these two points of inspiration, maybe with a touch of other ‘synthetic pony’ ideas that have cropped up from time to time.

NoteOneFuck is gone now.

I haven’t spoken to them in ages.

I can only hope this story can stand as a sort of tribute and thank-you to the people who first introduced me to the ideas. 

Two ‘prototypes’ for scenes in this story also exist; the story elements surrounding Ahuizotl originate from one, while in the other I drafted an early version of the initial conversation between Crenelle and Guerro, although in that case Crenelle was a traitorous alien. When rewriting this into a proper story, I decided it would be more thematically appropriate if Crenelle’s partner was a pony as well, creating a contrast between horrified Twilight and the 'loyal assistant'.

Thematic Thoughts:

What measure is a slave?

How much is learned, and how much is programmed into us?

This story hinges on those two questions. Different readers, I expect, will react with anything from appeal to horror at the idea of ponies as synthetic companions, depending on their views on the topic. And that’s deliberate. Perhaps this story shares a bit of DNA with the questions some Star Wars fans have asked regarding whether Droids - which are frequently quite near-human - are functionally slaves.

Are ponies simply prone to friendship, or are they programmed to be collective as a colonization success strategy?

Trivia:

• Crenelle is named for the defensive works atop a fortified wall - appropriate for a protective pony.
• Zucchara’s name is a modification of the Italian word for sugar.
• Guerro is a corruption of the Spanish word Guerro, 'War'.
• Chania is made up, as is Grizeta. Peyquarasa is an anagram of another character’s name. I'll be impressed if someone figures it out.
• Among the creature's Twilight observes on the street is a Keythong ('wingless griffon'), an Asian dragon ('long, snakelike, and with a ruck of mane about its jaws'), and a 'pack of miniature dragons', which is a vague shoutout to a rather adorable series of artworks for a game called 'Flamecraft'.
• Itzcoatl is the name of a famous Aztec ruler, referred to as the Tlatoani. Aside from the creature, Ahuizotl was also the name of another such ruler, living about a half-century before Itzcoatl. Itzcoatl literally translates as ‘obsidian serpent’, driving her characterization here, although the real figure was male and not a direct descendent of Ahuizotl.

Art Credits:

The image of Twilight Sparkle's Cutie Mark is taken from official Hasbro content. The Cravat Sector Investigation Bureau badge, I created.