Retconning The Snowverse · 3:48pm Apr 25th, 2022
Alrighty so, I've been thinking about this for some time over the past couple of years, and I've come to the conclusion that I want to make a change. That change is, as of now, to basically turn the Snowverse (which is what Without You takes place in) and instead of it being regular ponies, like it is now in the first story, and instead make it anthro.
The reason for this is because it would make a lot of things easier on me writing-wise, cause feral stuff has gotten difficult for me to write (vanilla ponies I guess) and with Without You being the only main story currently released, I figured why not make a change? Plus I enjoy anthro stories quite a bit, it helps to explain fighting scenes better for me, as well as explain other little doodads here and there.
Overall the story content wouldn't change much save for a few things that won't be missed, and it would help me explain a lotta things.
But your opinions matter, and I would love to hear your thoughts on it below.
Below I have a strawpoll for voting, with three options.
Straw poll for story decision!
Granted I'm not expecting a whole lot, but I would like to hear opinions and thoughts on a potential continuation of the universe, but it's anthro instead of regular ponies.
The test story is promoted with this blogpost! It is also my 50th story so I would love to see some feedback fro you guys 
Thanks again in advance!
Gotta wait on the story to post lmfaooo
I would be very devastated to see the story go anthro. There are enough anthro stories to begin with and anthro stories always feel like this, an obsessive-compulsive urge to turn ponies into humans by giving them hands and feet, something that goes against the very core of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. There are plenty of shows and movies with characters that are humans or anthros, shows with feral characters are rare, and yet some people in the fandom are still extremely determined to change their species and turn them into humans or anthros in their works, to the point that some creators even make exclusively anthro works, robbing My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic off one of the major things that make it unique and stand out.
There is a point when fanwork crosses a line and the anthro and humanized pony trend is what I think crosses that line.
This isn't problematic just because it alienates the work the fandom creates from the actual show, but also because anthro is, creativity-wise, always the lazy way out. An anthro pony can fire their gun at a zombie just fine with their fingers, but what if it's a pony who isn't a unicorn or alicorn and can't use magic to hold and fire a gun? Then you need to start thinking to find a solution for that problem and that can be complicated, but that's also where the creative value is. You have to find a solution for that problem and that means you can get creative with that.
How does a pegasus fire a gun? Or lock a door? Or use a first-aid kit and patch someone up who's been bitten or shot? Use hammer and nails to board up a window so that zombies won't get in?
Some authors just assumed that pegasi can use their wings like hands, feathers strong enough that they can serve as substitutes for fingers, and they had their creative solution with that. In later years, the show confirmed that then, showing Rainbow Dash, among other pegasi, using her wings to grab, lift and use objects.
And then you have authors who aren't creative enough and they just go the anthro way, give ponies hands and fingers and the problem's solved easily, because they can't think of something better, something innovative. Whether they aren't able to come up with something more creative or just don't want to do the effort of thinking about a creative solution, it's always the lazy way out to just turn ponies into anthros or humans to solve the complex issue of how a pony holds and uses things despite the absence of hands and fingers. It's what lazy or untalented authors do. And I know you're neither one nor the other.
So, in short, I strongly repulse the idea of an anthro version of "Without You". Even more so than I normally repulse anthro stories, since the story originally wasn't an anthro story and would only be turned into one later, it would feel like an even heavier blow than a story that is anthro right from the start. Of course the same goes for any sequels of "Without You", as the story of Rainbow Dash and Dee would continue in them, as well as any side stories about the universe.
Turning "Without You" into an anthro story would contribute to the alienation of ponyworks and it would mean you're using the lazy and convenient approach on a story. And I would hate to see you create only subpar work, after all the greatness I could read in "Without You", by choosing the easy and convenient solution for a complex problem.
There are so many more creative and better ways to write about a pegasus who fights zombies than choosing the convenient route of an anthro pony, including Rainbow Dash using her wings like hands, and I'd much rather see you use your creative talent and author skills to come up with your own, creative solution.
I love "Without You" and I'll still read the (original) story, but if you change it to an anthro story, I will not read any sequels or side stories that you have planned for the future. Anthro or humanized is the point where I stop caring and it would hurt to see "Without You" being turned into a generic anthro work.
I've read so many of you're stories by accident and have loved all of them if this is a change that would make writing easier on you then do it make the story anthro cause at the end of the day it's you're story and you're writing have a great day man and keep being awesome
Hello Dustchu,
Nice to hear from you again, you raise an interesting question with the whole feral vs anthro debate. I personally can see pros and cons with both ways. Doing it feral would keep the story genuine in respect to the MLP universe, but keep your writing more difficult than it has to be. Switching it to anthro would make things easier on you, but also introduces a few plotholes like would the show also be modified to match, or would this be like an alternate universe not fully connected to the show? If it's the latter, then I am of the opinion that it removes a part of what makes your stories special. The part of the story where the show was revealed to Dash made far more of an impact on her as there was no easy way to dispute that the show was not actually connected to her world, but if she was anthro and the cartoon was feral, then it would not have near as much impact then it would have originally.
I personally prefer the feral aspect, as that has not been done nearly as often as anthro, but I feel guilty for putting the extra work on you. So I will vote to keep feral, but I will have no problems with whatever you decide.
A possible compromise between the two choices, is to have Rainbow get caught by Umbrella and experimented on, that turns her anthro before being rescued or something like that. It would allow for you to introduce a new concept while making it easier on yourself, but that is just my opinion.
Wishing you a wonderful year,
SonicDJM
I just had an idea. I was reading this again:
The last four words are the important part. Instead of becoming anthro and growing hands, how about Rainbow Dash would use a special kind of magic to do all the things humans do with hands? I spoiler tag my idea for no one who will read the sequel gets accidentally spoilered for the plot if you use it:
Maybe Rainbow Dash somehow gets exposed to an experimental virus. And because she is a creature from another world and universe, one with magic, the virus has a different effect on her than it would on a creature from Earth: Instead of dying and getting reanimated as zombie or mutating into a beast that looks like the lovechild of Hiroshima, Chernobyl and Frankenstein's Monster, Rainbow Dash develops a strange, slightly Discord-like kind of magic that allows her to move objects and use them just by the power of her will. That way, she is from then on able to do all the things humans use their hands for.
That would solve the problem, prevent you from going down the easy and generic anthro route and fit in nicely with the "problems only magic brings". And doing that would also bring a lot more opportunities and potential for the plot than Rainbow Dash growing hands would.