The worst possible people to bring into Equestria are... · 11:08am Sep 6th, 2017
...and before someone goes for a real life example, here's what I meant.
Meet Centorea Shianus. ('Cerea' to her friends.)
When it comes to interacting with ponies... given her personality, she's potentially something of a problem case. Cerea thinks of herself as working by a knightly code of honor. In this case, that means needing a lord (or lady) of the castle whom she can defend. She's quick to take offense on her lord's behalf, tends to react with her sword (flat of the blade first, and she's not allowed to carry a real one), and then winds up retreating into a corner while muttering apologies all the way, because she also tends to get into cultural misunderstandings with the same regularity as breathing. She's one of the world's greatest blushers, and gets a lot of daily practice in.
However, under the (occasional and actual) armor, she's a very sweet person. She cares deeply about people, if she can find someone to care about -- and her standards are rather high. She can have trouble admitting when she truly hates someone, burying her pure feelings under a facade of courtly manners. Romantically, she can go into a very public half-hour case of red-hot-face just from holding hands. Look beyond the near-instinctive weaponry and she's actually a gentle sort of soul. It's not easy to make friends with Cerea -- but anyone who manages to get past her defenses just might have a friend for life.
However, if you brought her to Equestria, Cerea might have an insurmountable problem. Because most of you, on looking at that picture, probably noticed her ears. That feature may have led you to believe that Cerea isn't entirely human. And you're right: she isn't. But when it comes to ponies, her species isn't an unfamiliar one.
After all, they've seen Tirek.
There's been a large number of stories about the impact a single human would have in Equestria. And humans can bring fear, panic, terror -- but those responses aren't necessarily instinctive. There's going to be concern, questioning of the new -- but it's unlikely that an entire settled zone would respond with a full-scale retreat, or automatic attempt to attack the mystery.
I'm not sure you could say the same thing if a centaur trotted into town.
To put Cerea in Equestria is to have everypony judging her against the previous example. A simple attempt to ask somepony where she is might trigger a full-scale stampede, possibly followed by a military-level response to what everypony knows is an extinction-level threat. Defending herself, staying on her hooves long enough to explain? She has absolutely nothing in the way of magic, and superhuman abilities are limited to increased strength and an enhanced sense of taste. We can probably find somepony who can keep up with her on the gallop.
The locals are terrified. Every instinct they have is telling them to do something. Does any of that include listening?
A human in Equestria might be in trouble.
A centaur is probably going to be killed.
Somebody write this story, please.
The fate of Tirek's homeland is uncertain; it was a wasteland even before he left. I'm imagining a diplomatic contingent from that country trying to come to Equestria and...
Yeah, definite issue there. Unless they send nothing but gargoyles. At least Scorpan left a good first impression, but even then, he's historically obscure enough to require Royal Canterlot Exposition.
Don't read a lot of comics these days, so I can't think of many examples. Some possibilities :
Spider Riders.
Dragons (thinking Smaug, from The Hobbit)
Etrigan (DC comics)
Nazgul (especially the ones from book 3 that had flying mounts)
The ponies' first instinct would be to apprehend, not to kill. Even Tirek went back to Tartarus. So at the very least she'd have the opportunity to explain herself before a judge (and possibly jury and executioner, as the Sisters would no doubt be called upon).
Good point!
Though even then, ponies are (canonically) pretty idealistic. They were hesitant to try redeeming Discord, but they went through with it all the same, and he once ruled Equestria and turned it into a play park for his own amusement. Granted, he didn't have anything like Tirek's impact on anypony alive today, outside of the mane six, so the mob reaction would be stronger for a centaur. But still, if any species is likely to try to rise above that, it's them. Even in Luna Eclipsed, they weren't trusting, but they didn't chase after her with pitchforks or anything.
I know what you're writing this in response to, though, and I agree
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On the other hoof, if she (or potential centaur diplomats) end up arriving on the side of the changeling hive, that might turn the whole situation around again. After all, there's one whole race of
kinda wimpyfriendly creatures who have been judged for what were primarily the actions of one member of their race.It probably helps that Cerea doesn't really look a whole lot like Tirek. The body shape is similar, but even then the obvious lack of horns for one might go a long way to appease at least the Princesses.
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Can you explain it to me please?
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Make that 'explain it to us'. As far as I knew, I wrote this because I recently saw some of Cerea's home series. But as we all know, the author always arrives dead...
I would have considered increased levels of plot to be the greatest possible fanservice.
One of my most hated media personalities was just arrested on federal fraud charges.
Sweet, sweet schadenfreude.
They would probably be fine with him given Scorpan
4660113
That's not a boy.
4660107 Oh...
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It's very frustrating. I wanted more cultural comedy about a society which had been suddenly forced to go multi-species, and what I got was a story about people who keep losing their blouses.
Also, the girls are supposed to be in Japan on the functional equivalent of a homestay student exchange program. None of them ever go to school.
4660113
Wut da!?!
So long as she wasn't sucking the magic out of ponies, she would be given the benefit of the doubt with maybe a little extra apprehension when it came to how the ponies reacted to her.
I can easily see the ponies running in fear from her, and locking themselves in their houses. Even a few brave souls going out armed and angrily standing their ground. But the ponies from the show have not, for the most part, been shown to be attack-first-and-ask-questions-later sort of sapients.
Unfortunately, it only takes one attacker to trigger their herd instincts.
So, I don't feel that it's very like to go bad, but if it goes bad, it's likely to go very bad. There's nothing worse than a good person convinced that they're right.
The first time she tries to gallop, she's going to knock herself out.
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I will downvote you through the server and bedrock until you land in 4chan.
Ah Monster Musume. On the one hand its barely one step up from hentai. On the other the harem protag Kurusu has an actual personality and quirks and you can actually kinda see why all the girls like him. Making it far superior to 99% of other harem mangas by that fact alone.
I'm more worried about Rarity's reaction to Cerea's clothing.
*faints*
🐴 There's nothing wrong with the way I look!
I'm a princess of Equestria and I need to talk to her now!
🐴 Help?
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For me, it's an incredibly frustrating series. The author has casually created personalities which could easily and endlessly play off each other for comedy, and what does he do with them? Fanservice. There are moments of shining inspiration, and that's what kept me from killing the disc -- but he could have accomplished so much more with a few extra moments of character interaction, as opposed to one more blouse ripping.
The name of the series is Everyday Life With Monster Girls. There is so much material in just typical household events. But that's not where most of the story goes...
Honestly? There's a part of me that wants to put Cerea among ponies just to have an environment in which she's taken a little. more. seriously.
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Well it was a ecchi comic strip and became that in the manga and anime. If your looking for something with a bit more world building I would suggest A Centaur's life. Pretty much a SOL anime with centaur people.
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As I understand it, Cerea's limited wardrobe is in part because she refuses to shop for local clothing, as doing so would mean letting someone find out what her sizes are. (She will also leave hoofprints across a long trail of concussed bodies if it means preventing people from discovering her weight.) Kimihito Kurusu, the reluctant head of this household, modifies whatever clothing he can find for the other girls -- not a casual challenge when you're trying to account for snake tails on up -- and has picked up some formidable sewing skills in the process. Cerea apparently just keeps redoing the same load of laundry.
So Rarity might be thrilled to get her field on Cerea (and one CDA note which may come up in Bree's sequel story is that Rarity designed the basic clothing styles for New Cynosure residents). But first, Rarity has to catch her...
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I sat go for it.
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The manga does go more in depth. If you want ecchi with character development, High School DxD
So the reaction ponies present to a random centaur is very heavily interpretation dependent. Ultimately, a story about her appearing in Equestria would be almost entirely about what the author thinks of ponies, and the girl would just be a cardboard prop.
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What if I blame Samey90?
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4chan.
The political section.
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But that's every story.
(Except for the one where ponies are running concentration camps to properly kill off the last humans. Because that's about what the author thinks of trolling.)
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Most. But not every.
At the very least, it's possible to write one where the new addition is not there just to demonstrate pony reactions, and it's even possible to make it a good story.
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Do you really want me to get inspired to write more political ponyfics? Because that way lies madness, and I won't go down alone.
So when are you gonna write this, Estee?
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If you go mad, I will consider it appropriate punishment for the first suggestion. So really, I don't have a problem with your becoming insane. Or more insane.
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Well, maybe it's possible for someone else...
I think the perspective I was coming in with was ultimate outsider. How do you carve out a place in a society where the myths are against you? And there was also the seed of an idea about the torture of getting what you wished for, because Equestria offers a role for someone who truly wishes to be a knight. It might be possible for Cerea to take up a Guard's (modified) armor and spend her life defending her lady -- while still being the only one of her kind in the world, falling back on duty for her bonds instead of friendship. No love, no children, and no way home.
Also, from Luna:
"Madame Shianus? Please understand that I of all ponies do not say this casually, so I request that you truly consider the source of the following statement. Your mode of speech? Is overly, ridiculously formal. Please acquaint yourself with the concept of contractions. Immediately. Good night."
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Well, that's fair.
Should I PM you the link when I'm done so you can downvote, or would you rather just pretend the story doesn't exist?
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Political story? I'll probably pretend it doesn't exist (unless, y'know, it's good). First concept? I'll pretend you don't exist.
So really, it's your call.
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If you’re that serious about it, you just have to write it.
I’m not sure I could justify it with a centaur when approaching with a strictly canon point of view, but hardly anyone but me works with a “strictly canon” point of view in the first place, and I fully acknowledge it isn’t a good idea, I just have my reasons.
Here’s some constructive input, just in case it might come in useful:
It could be worth it even if only for making a HiE story that technically does not merit the “human” tag.
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If you're going by the comics, Discord time-travels. No problem there.
Please don't write this until Flash rescues Twilight from Bowser. But if you're up to writing it, I'd be up to reading it too.
What about the changelings? Aren't they going through this right now or is it already over and they've been accepted by large?
I honestly don't know. The only episode I've watched in the past two-three seasons is A Perfect Pear.
Pinkie would drive her nuts.
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Have you seen Interviews With Monster Girls? - It's not SoL, I think? But it's something...
Crunchyroll, Funimation
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Or not, then, I guess?
I had thought it was generally a thought developing on from a story that had been on the new stories column earlier (and still is, in fact), that I noticed Estee's comments on. Hopefully without being specific enough to break site rules, it was to do with a human/Equestria conflict, and its reception was... uh... controversial?
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Oh, that? Either a troll author or someone who shouldn't be legally permitted to possess a paper clip. I'm going to say troll and for style, a really boring one.
(When I find someone who claims to be truly dedicated to total human extinction, I tell them I'll build a mass-killing facility, let them go first, and then they can trust me to take care of the rest. Oddly, no one's ever taken me up on it.)
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It kinda is
4660352 But wouldn't someone of that persuasion be utterly averse to trust humans anyway, regardless of the subject? If you think humans are that loathsome, you wouldn't want to depend on them or their integrity?
But that's what I guessed prompted thoughts on whether it would really be all that bad if a human appeared in Equestria, as opposed to a centaur.
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Dat story tho...
It's not even written well, never mind the retarded concept.
4660208
You mean /mlpol/?
4660215
No, we want to hold you down and have you write more Onto the Pony Planet. :)
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Eh, I think their problem right now is more that they're a hive-oriented society without a real queen to get them all moving the same direction as they struggle with the idea of individual self-identity.
Although I am still somewhat convinced that the brightly colored ones that don't eat anymore are just imago forms that are going to keel over by winter and lack a queen to breed with.
Eh, Friendship is Magic meng.
The Ponyfolk won't totally bug out because she's not a OVCS. (Obvious Villain Color Scheme)
NMM- Blue and BLACK
Discord- Brown and Red yes, but redeemed.
Chrissy- Green and BLACK
Sombra- Red and BLACK
Tirek- Red and BLACK
Starlight- Purple and what ever that shade is yes, but also redeemed.
Cera there is tan and yellow with a color scheme and work ethic closest to Dash with a splash of AJ. Not to mention NONE of those baddies would roll over and beg for a carrot like she would.