Project FOG · 6:36am Jan 14th, 2015
Here it is. First draft, so lots of mistake, and not a lot of fine tuning. This short chapter is more of an exploration of the idea I had on my head. It may or may not actually appear if I ever decide on making the story.
Ever Ring didn’t want to wake up. It wasn’t a sudden, a spur of a moment thing. She never had those. However, in these darker days, she was finding less reasons to get up every morning. Maybe it was because she still remembered brighter days. Or maybe she unconsciously made the connections, something she could innately do, and that everything she knew was going to end. Or maybe, and most probably, it was her distaste in seeing how low Equestrian Ponies were slowly sinking to.
It took a moment before she finally decided to roll out of the bed. Landing on all fours, she looked out through her window. Her room, situated in one of the Wings of Canterlot Castle was high enough that she could see a wall of the glowing purple-pink barrier that cut off the coastal cities from the rest of Equestria. She could imagine the Royal and Lunar Guards mounting a defense. Maybe, hopefully, an attack.
Cloven, she thought with hate. The cursed race that came from across the sea, from the Gryphon lands. They were recently thought extinct until they attacked the Gryphon Kingdom five years ago. The griffins fought back valiantly, but not quickly enough to stop the spread. The Cloven had come to Equestrian shores less than a year ago, yet destroyed Manehattan, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia with such ease and casual brutality.
For Ever Ring, these dark days were all caused by Cloven. Equestria was still recovering from their previous war with the Gryphon more than a thousand years ago, where they inflicted such heavy casualties on the pegasi, the most warrior of ponies of Equestria. Nopony knew at that time, but the cost was more than countless lives. Five generations later, they realized that none of the other ponies could sire as many colts as the pegasi stallions did.
Ponies adapted of course. With Princess Celestia shouldering the burden, gaps to gender ratios were slowly getting closer. Princess Luna found herself again. Two more Princesses were crowned. Everything was going perfectly.
Then, the Cloven appeared. And a lot of ponies are now off to fight them.
Ever Ring sighed, shaking those thoughts out of her head. Taking her eyes off the view, she checked her knapsack, made sure everything was in place. Putting the bag around her, she made her way to the throne room.
A few levels down a flight of steps, she nodded towards two male Royal Guards. Judging by their nervous visage, they were just recent graduates. They looked at her nervously before letting her in without a word. Inside, Ever Ring spotted Princess Twilight. The purple-coated alicorn was talking with with an off-white unicorn wearing yellow glasses.
“Are you sure that’s necessary, Lady Château?” Twilight asked, her two-toned violet mane streaked with pink shook with apprehension.
“Our earth-pony stallion numbers are dying,” the unicorn replied, her light orange mane steady even when she moved her head. “While they are invaluable in the frontlines, we can’t afford to lose anymore. And our earth-pony mares are almost as strong as their male counterparts, much less valuable as well.”
Twilight grimaced. “Those laws were abolished by Princess Celestia, to promote equality between genders. And now, you’re asking me, as her student, to put them back in place?”
“Yes.” Château’s expression softened. “Princess Twilight, I understand your apprehension, but please consider this. With Princess Celestia still in deep sleep because of the Cloven attack and Princess Luna leading the defenses, we need to pass laws to ensure our survival. Even abolished laws. The mares are much more expendable at this point. We need to keep our stallions back, and making them exclusively working the fields is a logical step.”
The Princess frowned. “This will cause friction. I don’t even know if I can get the law passed.”
“Princess Twilight, you were the one that kept Equestria running in Princess Celestia’s absence. You were the ones that created portals that linked our cities when the Diamond Dog raids were getting too much, the very same portals that were used to evacuate our cities when the Cloven attacked. You are considered a true hero of Equestria, and if you can explain the situation, I am sure the citizens will understand.
Princess Twilight sighed, closing her eyes. “Princess Celestia will not like where we’re going. Reviving the old laws, not to mention the morally questionable Project?”
“Questionable it may be, it’s also necessary,” Lady Château replied. “We will ask for forgiveness when the time comes. However, we do what we must to survive.”
Princess Twilight nodded gravely. “I’ll get the proposals done.” She looked at Château. “Thank you, Lady Château. Sometimes, I don’t know where I would have been without your guidance.”
“I live to serve, Princess,” was the unicorn’s reply. Twilight gave her a small smile before walking away, and Lady Château waited until she was out of audible range when she made her way towards Ever Ring, her face losing it’s softness, eyes glinting coldly behind her spectacles. Stopping in front of Ever Ring, she ordered, “Progress report.”
Ever Ring took a calming breath before replying, “We’ve put boosters of varying strengths in the food and drinks of the ten subjects. Any adverse reactions, we will be there to record.”
“Boosters? Not the Transmogrification Potion?”
“Considering that the last potion we used only drove the last few hundreds of subjects insane, I thought it rather prudent to use an established potion to create baselines,” Ever Ring replied. “The Booster has studiable effects, and easily replaceable, unlike the Transmogrification.”
Château snorted. “There is no need to get soft-hooved on the animals. They are numerous in their world. They can afford to lose thousands.”
“It’s not about softness, my Lady,” Ever Ring replied carefully. “It took time to… obtain the subjects. It’s getting increasingly difficult to get more, and the last experiment, we made negligent progress. We have to study first the effects of magic has on—”
“Yes, yes, I get it,” Château replied with a scoff. “I will ask for another report next week. Let’s see if your method will work better. In the meantime, I will have more agents obtain additional subjects for your use. Don’t disappoint me, Ever Ring.”
“I won’t, my Lady.”
Dismissed, Ever Ring made her way to the dungeons, which was now her floor. It wasn’t dark, dank, and smelly as it was in most stories. Almost unused during Princess Celestia’s time, the dungeon was more of a time-out room for really unruly ponies. Now, it looked like a hospital wing, something to give Ever Ring the illusion of sterility, of cleanliness. Even then, it would never cover the truth that whatever was being done here. The white walls, bright lights, and even shining steel didn’t allow Ever Ring to fully pretend that they weren’t experimenting on obviously sapient species.
When Ever Ring entered the receiving area, a yellow earth-pony mare with green mane greeted her. “Hey there, boss.”
“Five Stars,” Ever Ring replied. “You’re early.”
“Obviously,” she replied, smiling widely. “Took a look at our patients. Boosters are working pretty well so far.”
Ever Ring gave her a look. “Tell me you didn’t touch them.”
“Not yet,” Five Stars assured. “You promised me I could indulge after you get the data, so not going to waste that chance.”
Ever Ring sighed, and moved towards her office. Placing the bag on her desk, she took out her quills and parchment before moving towards the cells. Five Stars followed closely behind.
Cell One had the subject with the highest concentration of booster added to his food.. Ever Ring studied him. The subject was laying on the floor, naked and had no coat. Instead, he had yellow-white skin, blue eyes that looked at them with confusion, and dark yellow mane. He seemed to be struggling with the restraints.
“Please,” he begged. “Clothes. Cold.”
“Oh, dear,” Five Stars said. Walking towards the subject, the earth-pony laying on top of him like a blanket. He reacted pretty strongly, his limbs redoubling its efforts against the restraints, but at least he stopped shivering. Instead, it was Five Stars doing it. “Wow. He smells really good.”
“Five Stars, not yet,” Ever Ring hissed. Taking out her notes, she looked at the subject. He looked even more confused and stony. “Hey!”
He looked at Ever Ring. “Please. Let me go.”
Ever Ring hardened herself before saying, “We will. We’re trying to find obtain as much as information as we can so we can bring you home. How does that sound?”
Five Stars rubbed herself on top of him, making his eyes glaze slightly. “O-okay.”
Ever Ring took a deep breathe. “Let’s start simple. What’s your name?”
“H-Harry. Harry Larson.”
So, it's now obvious what has changed. I also think that changing perspectives per chapter will work on this kind of story. What happened to the Gilda, or the others in Feathered Heart? The changelings?
And yes. I can smell controversy. Well, not a lot, just a little.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed that.
2721641
I felt familiar characters was the way to go, to show how different they are. Also, reading it again, I missed a few words, and skimmed on the details. Lol.
Well, it sounds... grim. Not really sure that sort of AU will be my cup of tea, since I prefer your romance.
2721672
It's cool.
And yes! It actually felt grim? I was going for that.
Breeding camps, eugenics laws? Pony Nazism? Cloven? What happened to Ever Rings Gentleman?
I sure to Heck hope this is alternate universe.
Commence read.
Hm. Interesting things.
2721685
Yes. As last blog stated, this is a Want For Nail. Hopefully you caught on what changed.
2721693
Thanks. I am still undecided whether to write them thought. XD
A very dark turn of events. I wonder if the relationship between Earth and the world that Equestria (I will never accept that Equestria is the name for the whole planet, nor will I accept 'Equis'. That's just lazy writing) has changed.
That being said, I'd still be interested in reading this, so long as it isn't just an excuse to write a BDSM clopfic (and I know that your sex scenes aren't there just for the sake of sex scenes).
2721714
Officially, I named it Tellus. And no. Just showing why GMverse as we know it won't happen in this AU. XD
I'd read this. I'm a fan of ShortSkirtsandExplosions, and this story reminds me a bit of his dark work like Last Tears in Tartarus.
Reminds me of Warhammer 40K.
2721747
Huh. That is actually a good source of inspiration. I haven't written anything this dark, and SSAE does do depressive stuff.
2721811
Hopefully, if I ever write this, I hope I can make the world as rich as that.
2721927
You're well on your way to it with G4M and Feathered Heart. Plus, the Cloven are like a mixture of the Flood and the Tyranids. With those precedents and examples to build on, you've got a great start.
...Wow...
This AU certainly looks dark.
I like it.
It doesn't sound like the ponies are doing to well here. If humanity finds out how to reach Equestria they could wind up in serious trouble... And I would be okay with that.
>Transfiguration potion.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
2721967
Yeah, but having a great start is easy. Follow through is the bitch. XD
2721982
Heh. Everyone seems to like it so far...
2722574
... and our first negative.
No worries. If given a choice, I probably wouldn't read it too.
2722741
That's a good plot point to play with.
2722745
XD It does exist in regular GMverse, though unlawful to use because of it's consequences.
I'm a little confused. I gather this will be AU, but how will it differ from the normal verse?
is it a 'what if' scenario where the humans didn't turn up when the did in the normal verse and so weren't there to help with the cloven when they showed up again?
2722761
As long as you don't overprice your merch, you'll be fine.
Well, you've certainly piqued my interest. Dark stories like these aren't something I would normally go for, but I might be willing to for this. I'm big into alternate history/what if stories (I love Harry Turtledove) and this is something along those lines.
2722776
Yes. Twilight never accidentally opened the wormhole to Earth. This is a possible scenario.
2722786
I wish I had merchandise. Speaking of merchandise, what would I even sell?
2722803
Love that author, even if I haven't completely read his series yet.
2724175
Shirts with the G4M logo, perhaps plastic or die-cast models of Feathered Heart characters? If you wanted to, you could make a tabletop game. (pls no grey kniggits)
2724351
Heh. I guess I can see that. Shirts and die cast models... well, the latter would probably be more on the griffin side. XD
2724912
Hence why I think going this way is the perfect way to show how the Gentlemanverse can basically be reversed. All it needed was Twilight to actually get the portal right the first time around. Granted, details need to be worked, but as of right now, I want to finish off what I have before going all AU.
2724175 K, thanks for clearing that up. this should be interesting.
2724978
Posters, too. Don't forget the posters.
2725069
Please don't make it sound like it's a confirmed story that I will be writing in the near future.
2725112
XD Recruitment posters?
Equestria needs You!
[Picture of a man in suit]
Are you man enough to be a Gentleman?
2725297
In small print: "Only those eighteen and above may register. See local Gentleman handler for contract, and information on other restrictions. Audition may result in erection lasting longer than four hours, and if so, admittance is assured."