R&R update and a look at an idea I've had rolling around in my head. · 3:32pm Jul 26th, 2014
R&R is where it usually is, almost finished and waiting for Loyal to find time between her busy schedule of work and working on her own stuff (seriously guys, don't bug her, she's doing her best with a ton on her plate). On the bright side, an artist friend of mine, WeaselK (paid for at a 'preferred author's discount') but he needs money so you guys should totally give him some work!) has made a picture or two for the upcoming chapter (or at least begun them) so that's a treat for you guys. Speaking of which, here's a preview at one of the pictures, it's unfinished, but the other one is too much of a spoiler so you'll just have to enjoy this one.
Anyways, onto that idea I've got rolling around in my head, this is going to be an 'all me' project and hopefully it will update/get done faster then R&R because of that without suffering from the quality issues that R&R had when I first started it. Tell me what you think of this preview, keep in mind, this is not nearly the final draft and things are likely to change.
INTRO
Codex Entry-Equestrian Contact
In the year 2125 humanity came into contact with its first encounter with an extraterrestrial species after activating the Charon Mass Relay. This species was on the verge of space flight themselves, though they had not yet reached that point beyond outbound probes. We now know them as Equestrians, however at the time, they were given the moniker ‘ponies’.
To the surprise of many, if not all, humans a great deal of Equestria’s natural biosphere was made up of creatures that they had long ago consigned to be creatures of myth. This group consists of dragons, unicorns, pegasi, gryphons, and a large number of others.
Alongside those oddities, one thing and one thing alone stood out despite the utter impossibility of the existence of the creatures. That thing was Magic. Almost every being living on the planet Equus was gifted with an extraordinary natural energy that they called Magic. With this Magic, they were capable of performing great feats, unheard of even with humanity’s new access to Mass Effect technology. (For further information about Magic itself, click here)
First contact between the two races (the other nations of the world were not yet on the same scale as the Equestrians were and were thus not approached) was tentative on the part of both parties. Humanity, having learned its lessons well from its own history of interracial introductions, and Equestrians having a long list of prior meetings with other races... though never one quite as advanced as Humanity.
Surprising to all involved, things went relatively smoothly with the two sides coming to a peaceful, and very generous treaty.
The humans wanted access to the Magic along with Equestria’s abundant natural resources (Gold, gemstones of all nature, silver, extremely hard metals) and the Equestrians wanted technology and access to space travel.
The eventual result of the treaty was the governing body known as the Equestrian/Human alliance, originally spearheaded by Princess Twilight Sparkle. (More information about Princess Twilight Sparkle, or the others can be found here).
One important caveat of the treaty was the belief that for every step humanity took towards galactic dominance, the Equestrians took the same step. This lead to the creation of many technological advances as well as the introduction of split Equestrian/Human ground forces. There would always be at least one Equestrian for every human of a force with the exception of the role of ship Captain (Which for obvious reasons remained a single human or Equestrian position).
After the addition of their newfound allies, partners really, the Alliance continued its policies of expansion and colonization up until the year 2157 and the reactivation of Relay 314 which brought them into contact with a much less... docile alien race. (More information of the Second Contact War can be found here)
Chapter 1
Commander Gleaming Horizons looked down at her hard suit clad hooves anxiously, looking for any of the telltale signs of decay or dents. She let out a long upwards breath, the air moving comfortingly through her short cropped red mane, she knew that she wouldn’t find any faults in her armor but... given what was happening today, she wanted to make sure. The white furred unicorn mare let out another breath and closed her eyes for a long moment, calming herself as she listened to the light humming of the Normandy’s drive core.
Sitting on the table beside her was the blue compact form of her Magi-assault rifle, the only gun she ever took into combat with her. It was a beautifully designed gun, all clean lines and without a hint of dust or grime. It had carried her and her partner through the Skyllian Blitz, earning them both the Star of Terra and the Equestrian Sun.
Speaking of her partner...
“Are you still down here Gleam?” a familiar confident voice asked from behind her. Gleam blinked and turned to see her partner standing there.
Commander John Shepard was a good looking soldier, brown hair cut regulation length, blue eyes that a girl could get lost in if they weren’t careful, and a jaw so chiseled that he might as well have been a vid star pretending to be a soldier.
“Am I?” Gleaming replied, giving him a slightly raised eyebrow as her horn glowed and her Magi-rifle rose from the table before slotting comfortably onto her back.
“Guess you are,” Shepard said with a light smile as he glanced down at the unicorn who while wearing armor, was about half as tall as him. “So, you ready for this?”
“Not really,” Gleaming answered, shaking her head slightly. “I mean, this is probably the most important day in Alliance/Turian diplomatic history. Who could be ready for this?”
“Come on Gleam, that’s not the right attitude,” Shepard said giving her a tap on the shoulder. “You’re Gleaming Horizons, the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz, top ranked N7 operative, and damn if you’re not the sexiest mare in the galaxy to boot! Get it together girl, you can do this!”
Gleaming rolled her eyes at him. “John, you hold all those titles too, well, minus being the sexiest mare in the galaxy anyways, and I’m pretty sure that that’s something that Princess Cadence holds, not me,” she told him dryly. “Actually, how the hell are you so calm about this?”
“Oh, I’m freaking out in my head just like you are, I’m just way more talented at hiding it then you are,” the man replied cockily, earning him a magical swat to the back of the neck from Gleaming’s horn. “Oi!”
Gleaming snickered as the pair entered the elevator together and Gleaming reached out to press the up button. The mare let out a long breath as she steadied herself for what was coming.
In reality, she didn’t have any real reason to be freaking out. It was just a shakedown run. Go to Eden Prime, pick of the cargo and leave. Nothing all that out of the ordinary, certainly nothing to be stressed over. Still... Gleaming couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more going on then what they’d been told. You didn’t send a Spectre on a ‘simple shakedown run’ and both she and John knew it. Especially if it was a Turian Spectre.
Like I said, let me know what you think, I'm always open to suggestions/comments about stuff I may have (probably did) screw up or ways to make this more interesting/engaging.
-Ed2481 out
i like the new story idea so far seems good i'd definitely read it
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
Hyoe, ALL OF THE HYPE.
Seriously Ed, you have a good thing going here. I've seen your writing evolve from grammatically incorrect yet still entertaining fallout crossovers, and now look at you! You're juggling stories like mad!
Good luck buddy! And put in some assurance for L2L too!
i.imgur.com/fn84NtQ.jpg
I like it. Makes me want to see more of the wider world reactions. Also now I am fascinated with the status of the other races like Griffons and Minotaurs and etc.
If they could be turned to join us they could become powerful allies.
Count me in as a reader, that's for damn sure.
I'm always up for more Ed works. This one sounds great.
Didnt read that first chapter but the concept alone is intreaging.
The Turian are certainly in for a wilde ride.
i like your story idea so far
(it take place in mass effect 1 story and will go through mass effect 2 and 3)
also is it (me being stupid) a sequel to r&r?
2317841
It's a retelling of the first game with a few twists and turns. It is not in any way related to R&R
Picture isn't working for me...
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Brilliant
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2317878 Me, too.
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Sorry guys, it's working for me, I'm not sure why it isn't for you
2317903 Maybe you could upload it to a different service?
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It isn't letting me because he gmailed it to me and for some reason that's not letting me put it up as a URL which is apparently the only way to attach things to a blog... I don't know why. I'm not a computer person...
2317941 Alternatively, you could right-click the image in the browser and save it locally.
I like what I see so far and would be interested to see where it goes from there.
2317941 could you at least tell us what it is?
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I picture of Shepard meeting the Dragon Ambassador... I'm going to try and get the picture working by tonight and I'll reply again once I have.
So, Twilight was a princess by the time of first contact? So the Mane 6 would all be several decades older by the time the events of this story come around, I take it. Interesting way to go, and it also makes me wonder about potential tweaks to TIM's characterization. Assuming that he has the same role and values as in the game continuity, does he see the human/pony alliance as a valuable asset to improve humanity's standing in the galaxy, or as a debasement of humanity, being so tightly partnered with 'livestock'? I'll certainly follow this when you get it officially kicked off.
I do enjoy parallel continuity crossovers but am becomming tired of Mass Effect fics that I get additcted to either dying or getting into full alternate canon retcons rather than basic AU continuity.
Yours probably won't have the latter problem.
My only issue would be that since this takes place quite a ways in the furure there will probably be relatively minimal canon FiM character interactions. Which is the main reason I read FiMFic. Not to dis the ME side but I don't care enough about ME to read ME fanfiction if it's not a crossover.
this is amazing you sir deserve a moustache
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I'm probably going to rework the timeline that I established, apparently the first contact war happened only thirty years after the first human space flight so... I'm going to be needing to use some of my worst enemy, MATH to solve this and depending on what I come up with, the Mane Six may or may not be alive, though I'm thinking they will be... This is why it's a rough draft at the moment.
2317941
If the picture is on your gmail account, only people who are logged in on that account can see it, even if you paste the URL somewhere else. You should rehost it. Here's a guide:
Right click the picture, and select "save". Put it somewhere you can find it ("My Pictures" or "Pictures" is a good bet on Windows), with a name that makes sense to you. Then, go to imgur, click "upload images", then click "browse your computer". In the new window that opens, go to where you saved the image, select that image's name (click on it once), and click "Open". Click on "Start Upload". You'll see a progress bar, then you will be redirected to a page with the image. Off to the right is a bunch of options to share the link. Look under "BBCode (message boards & forums)". It starts with [IMG]. Copy that whole line, then paste it into your post. Everyone will now be able to see it.
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Thanks Snowy! I am NOT a computer (or a code) person so that was a big help to me
Anyways, the picture is now on the blog, enjoy
So this is humans making contact with Equestria and no on else? I know this isn't the same universe as R&R, but this still feels like a disappointment, since according to you, Equestrians and humans have nothing to worry about diplomatically. Do you see how this kind of kills the tension for your other story?
2321434 Thanks
2321439
What? They make contact with everyone else, they just meet the ponies first and establish an alliance. I'm not sure how that destroys tension.
I like this idea. I like it very much and would absolutely love to see it come to fruition. 8D