Story Scraps 4 · 2:41am Oct 18th, 2019
Alright folks, we're in uncharted territory now. This story idea didn't even have a name when I stopped really adding to it. It's not even a fully coherent plot, the middle part, of course, being the sticking point for me. Initially I wasn't sure if it was too big for one story and needed to be split into two or not.
Let's start with a basic premise then. A television turns on, where Prime Minister Starlight Glimmer regretfully announces that Princess Twilight Sparkle has vanished. The authorities do not suspect foul play, and there is no evidence to suggest that she has temporarily gone on an undisclosed trip or not. As a dear friend though, she hopes that the Princess will return safely.
Now then, it's forty years after AJUO: Apocalyptica. It's been twenty since that broadcast by Starlight Glimmer. The world's balance of power was radically shifted with the return of the human population. After being gifted a mountain and surrounding parcel of land by the Equestrian government, the humans swiftly constructed a new capitol city named New Providence. Politically new to the scene, there is an undeniable undercurrent of racism from them towards the other species, as they literally are responsible for uplifting them to sentience, and the only reason they don't own the planet outright is because of their temporary extinction. This, naturally, has created some hostility between them and other races. To put it in perspective, imagine if in the modern day Classical Rome just popped back into Italy, and attempted to overtake the EU by sheer argument that the member states were simply the descendants of barbarians, and so it was necessary for the culturally superior Romans to be at the head of the organization. This doesn't stop them from inviting trade and scholars to come to their city-state though, and the world is soon overtaken by human technology. Internet, cryptocommerce, medical treatments, shuttle craft, advanced prosthetics and cybernetics all become common place. The only exceptional technology they have refused to put further investment or research into is full-fledged A.I.
The city of Ponyville. A bustling metropolis, home to hundreds of thousands of many members of different species. In the suburbs of this city stands the Apple Farm, now a full-fledged local business. Their breweries are renowned, and their cider is sold throughout the continent. The apples, while still sold, are a limited market nowadays, as when it comes to food most would rather have 3-D printed Atom Forge fast food. Applejack still works the fields out of habit, even if machines could do it better, because it's nostalgic, and it gets her mind off her situation. She's the last of the six left. All the others have passed on now, Pinkie having been the last. Now it's just her. She helps out in the community to keep her mind off her impending mortality, and the fact that she feels useless. Machines run everything better, even the damned company the family was forced to make. For someone who's defined herself by her work ethic her whole life, the adjustment has been hard. She did come back into the public spotlight for a bit when some ponies were doing a dramatization of her's and her friends' lives for network broadcast. The voice actress they used for her CG double put on a horrendous version of her accent, and after seeing how they ruined her friends, she couldn't stand to be involved in the production any further, even in consultation, and for no amount of money.
The story really begins when Applejack heads down to the Crusader Embetterment Center (financed by a foundation the CMC created later in life to help nurture, protect, and guide young fillies and colts while they try to discover where they belong) and is met with a young unicorn doing community service. Her name is Twilight. Twilight Twinkle, specifically. Her coat is pink, and her mane is white/platinum blonde, with a single streak of purple in it. She had been sentenced to community service for corrupting the hologram banners of a local business. She pointedly calls it cyberactivism. Applejack offers to help her if she needs anything, but is rebuffed. The sentence is a racket, and she'll be out soon, either due to an appeal, or because she'll hack the records to say she served her time. The older mare is troubled by her attitude, and as she leaves she thinks to herself that she's nothing like the Twilight she'd known. Then again, the name has become very popular, even before the Princess' disappearance.
I'm not sure how I would have gotten to the next plot point I want to cover, so instead here's some other characters to intrigue in rapid fire. Posey, a Changeling Candidate who had a really strong connection with Fluttershy before her passing, and so created a composite disguise based on her that she walks around in like it's her own skin. She's the daughter of Big Mac and Falena/Cheerilee. Firefly, Corrections Officer pegasi that's handling Twilight Twinkle's case. She's not satisfied with her job, but got shoved into it after snitching on another cop to Internal Affairs who were bought and paid for. Even with the bad wrap, she still means well, even if she acts like the bad cop to Twilight.
At some point AJ and Twilight were going to be chased by the authorities, including Firefly. Wasn't sure of a specific reason, but AJ takes Twilight Twinkle and Posey to Twilight Sparkle's castle. Ever since her disappearance it has been dormant, but AJ knows it will be their ticket out of trouble. The roundtable turns into a holographic map, and crystalline controls reach towards the chair she's sitting in. Eventually AJ remembers how to disengage the castle's crystal umbilical cord from the earth, retracting the entry foyer and allowing the castle to float into the air. As she tries to steer the castle away from the authorities, she realizes she doesn't remember how to engage the transport mechanism. Twilight takes a look at the console and effortlessly activates it. An event horizon is beamed in front of the castle and it flies into it, but not before Firefly manages to get to a balcony and hangs on for dear life as they're sucked into subspace. The fact that she travels into subspace without shielding does trippy things like augment her natural storm powers and give her a vibrant, glowing blue mane and tail. She initially tries to arrest AJ and Twilight, but Posey and the others are able to convince her that the charges are trumped up, which she empathizes with. She eventually joins the team.
The overarching plot of the story was going to involve an invasion from the East by the triumvirate of Djinn Lords Tirek, Scorpan, and Grogar, along with their emissaries and hench-beings, the Sirens. The government is of course trying to keep this under wraps, while also keeping tabs on whoever made off with Twilight's old castle. A mysterious pony whose face is always covered meets with the four protagonists, warning them of Starlight Glimmer. She proves helpful multiple times throughout the story, as it turns out Starlight Glimmer is the one trying to capture the four, as well as being responsible for the assassination of Twilight Sparkle. Yup, Season 5 Evil Glim Glam. Instead of being an inexperienced cult leader though, she took her manipulative nature and skills and instead went into politics. (This isn't a relevant critique on how power attracts those who deserve it least *wink* *wink*)
Some years before Twilight's disappearance, Celestia and Luna jointly abdicated, and allowed a transition of government to a republic according to popular demand. The decision was not without it's detractors. Of the five Princesses, Luna was the biggest proponent for maintaining the monarchy, and Twilight also wasn't sure that Equestria was ready for a republican form of government. Cadence was more positive to the idea, and Celestia was more concerned that with the radical changes both political and technological she would be too slow to act according to the people's increasing demands, especially since she was dealing with topics she didn't fully understand. Flurry Heart, only admitting after the fact that she did so out of a lack of self-confidence, chose to side with her mother. The Princesses were kept on as advisors, but had no say in the day-to-day running of the government any longer. When Twilight disappeared, both Celestia and Luna vanished from the public eye, both fearing that the idea of 'no suspected foul play' was a lie. Celestia disguised herself as an Earth Pony and took up her first name, Dawn, again. Luna, both intrigued by and suspicious of the humans, took on human form, and became a teacher named Selene.
Some are aware of Starlight Glimmer's machinations, or at least of the government's less than transparent nature, and thus an underground group has sprung up that commits acts of cyber-crime to prevent exploitation of the populace as a whole and exposing the current regime's less than savory nature. Some were original characters, like the son of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia (you say magic lesbian spawn, I say two donor parents and a state of the art gestation pod) named Treble Forte, who looks uncannily like Vinyl with the addition of two mechanical prosthetic human arms attached to his back, perfect for playing music, fisticuffs, or displaying physical gestures of discontent at his peers. He fills the tech/repair role. His odd friendship pairing is an Anubian Diamond Dog. Articulate, worldly, with a strange sort of mystique. Sadly I could never decide on a name for him, but he was the guy you'd want in a melee/fracas. Basically, this guy was Teal'c from Stargate. Double Diamond is also in this cell, acting as the infiltrator and saboteur (also a mole/double agent for Old Glim Glam.) Moondancer is the resident hacker, and while she does act as comms/control on missions, her personal goal is tracking down the creator of their movement. They were offered membership individually, always at a distance, and never in person. The person who started this resistance movement against Starlight is only known as Sister Eldest, or Big Sis. Though, all things being a mystery, Moondancer's not even sure if Big Sis is a woman, or an individual person at all. The group has encountered Twilight's mystery mare before, but don't know anything about her either.
Can you tell that I start by making interesting characters, and then working a plot around them?
There are plenty of other characters too. Megan makes a return, now a monster-tamer, and because of Lyra has innate natural magic. Her preference is totemic animal magic. Rolling around by making a magic construct around her in the shape of a pillbug, breathing fire through a dragon's mouth, and even at one point summoning the aspect of a Tatzlwurm. There's a Changeling named Javier, who seems to operate directly for Big Sis, but also has no idea about her true identity. His objective seems to be tracking down what happened to Twilight Sparkle, and he's the one that uncovers the assassination order by Starlight Glimmer.
Old Glim Glam was afraid of Twilight intervening in her plans to use human intervention to technologically advance Equestria to the point that they weren't needed anymore, and that with superior magic and technology she would conquer the other races, including the humans. She in private even admits to being fascinated by the time of Sol Invicta and the Solar Cult, but found the weakness was that Equestria's fear was directed towards Sol Invicta and would have become unsustainable in the end had Celestia not turned away from that path. No, instead the fear needs to be projected outward, so that ponies have a motivation towards conquest; if not for pony supremacy, than because otherwise they'd surely be taken advantage of and re-enslaved by humans.
A raid is performed by the Resistance on Canterlot's depths, where the RSD still does research, only to discover a section of it has been devoted to suspended animation chambers, all of them filled with copies of Starlight Glimmer. Old Glim Glam has been hopping realities, taking other versions of herself hostage to use them as magical batteries, empowering herself to levels not unlike that of an alicorn. The mysterious mare is actually Starlight Glimmer as well, but actually is Starlight Glimmer Prime, the one from the show. Twilight Sparkle from that reality sent her to this one to restore universal order by ensuring all the other Glimmers get back to their appropriate universes. So there's both Evil Glim Glam and Good Glim Glam. Now everyone gets to be happy/annoyed.
I never really got far into constructing a plot, so I'll just go ahead and spoil everything. Twilight Sparkle was shot by a sniper using a bullet filled with the alicorn killing Marigold Option. Bunsen Burner's legacy lives on in his terrible work. Before her magic gives out, Sparkle remembers what happened to Celestia in Revival of Chaos, and essentially reformats herself (or if you prefer, regenerates like a Time Lord) to be more like what is needed to fight a tyrant: charismatic, opinionated, and a more cynical worldview as opposed to her own more overly-positive one. Losing her wings and identity, Twilight Twinkle stumbles away from her castle, an amnesiac for several months, before she settles into a new identity, which she has been in ever since, unaware of her previous self. In a battle between her and Tirek (remember, he was suppose to be in this too) he absorbs her magic, putting her into a catatonic state. When her friends are put in peril, she rediscovers the epiphany that friendship is magic, which reactivates her dormant power. Sprouting her wings once again, Twinkle/Sparkle defeats Tirek. After the fact, she has to come to terms with her combined memories/personality, but she is a better friend after this, especially to AJ. The Princesses had come out of retirement to fight the Djinn Lords, and while Celestia and Luna do go back into hiding, Flurry Heart begins to look into discrete ways of helping the resistance.
The extra Glim Glams are discovered, and Old Glim Glam is forced to show her hand prematurely, launching an invasion on humankind. The humans respond and retaliate with a massive army of war droids. Both sides, however, are simultaneously sabotaged. All their systems, war droids, ships, satellites, weapons platforms are all taken offline. No flesh and blood thing would be able to coordinate this. Big Sis reveals herself at last, and is in fact Dinky Doo, Ditzy Doo's droid daughter. I was going to have her be in the background throughout Old Glim Glam's sections waiting on her, serving tea, etc. That's right. The reason war was averted? The butler did it. I'm such a basic b-, fellow. Dinky Doo, who has hundreds of thousands of hours of recorded footage from her own eyes, and with years of dirt on her 'owner,' broadcasts it for all the world to see. Old Glim Glam is on the run, but Moondancer uses her hacking skills to make her and Double Diamond's life as close to a living hell as possible (DD wooed her to find out what she knew about Big Sis, and poor Moony fell for it)
After Old Glim Glam left the Equestrian Parliament in shambles, there's a power vacuum to fill. Cozy Glow, a Junior Representative, looks like a promising candidate for new party head. Twilight Twinkle meets with Celestia as she tours Canterlot Castle one last time, since she never got the chance to before she had to go into hiding. The both of them meet with Dinky Doo, who tells them that they can rest for now; her eyes watch everyone, and she'll know when trouble's coming. Celestia and Dinky Doo get into a philosophical talk about governance, and how her scope of vision and power make her even more powerful than Celestia ever was. Dinky agrees, but she's willing to be restrained if it means she can have relationships like what she had with her mother. THE END
That's it for that story idea. I wanted it to reflect more of G1, which is why I sort of made a hybrid amalgamation of the G1 cast and some characters, along with the G4 situations left in the world from the AJUO trilogy. While I do feel sad that neither this nor Apocolyptica will really ever be fleshed out, I am glad I got to share them at least with you all.
So, what happens now? Closing time? One last call for alcohol, so finish your whisky or beer? While it is true I don't have to go home, I don't think I can stay here. FiMfiction has been a nice place, where I made some acquaintances and friends, and which helped me explore my creative writing skills all those years ago. It was great. My time in this fandom has been unforgettable. I'm a different person because of it. Perhaps even a better one too. That being said, I think this time in my life is over. Work/mediocrity calls, with the tempting call of taxes, mortgages, and mid-life crises. Will I watch G5? I honestly don't know. I sort of gave up near the end of Season 8 on FiM, and I haven't even touched Season 9 at all. I'll probably still get them on DVD whenever those drop (Taking your time I see, Hasbro.)
So this is it I guess. This old rock needs to roll towards stranger lands, if not greener pastures. Wherever you're from, whenever you read this, know that I had a hell of time writing when I did (most of the time anyways,) and that the worlds I explored were amazing. I'll still be around to answer feedback and comments for a while. Who knows, maybe I'll join a group to help people edit stuff or toss ideas around. For now though, my pen goes down and stays down. I wrote garbage, but it was top tier garbage, and that's liberating; nothing's worse than writing a hit and having to follow it up.
I'm getting my coat and heading to the door. This is Hustlin Tom, signing off. Peace.
Well, I was hoping this would turn out like Admiral Biscuit's blog, but I guess not. You'll be missed. Fanfic is needed even more after the series is canceled than while it's running.
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I know what you mean, and I really wish I had more enthusiasm for writing and the time to do it, but I felt tired for so long, and while writing these Story Scraps was a nice return of sort, nostalgic even, I just can't do it. I feel terrible having to write this even, but I haven't had any spark for a while, and life has demanded more and more of me. I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses, but...yeah. If this experience in writing has taught me anything, I appreciate more of what the people who do this professionally have to deal with.
Thanks for reading my posts though. I appreciate the time you took to read it.