PRISM, PRISM: An introduction
PRISM, PRISM is an anthropomorphic story inspired by and set in the milieu of the classic STAR TREK series created by Gene Roddenberry and the wonderfully enjoyable My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic series by Lauren Faust, the excellent (If somewhat grim!) Fallout: Equestria story by the talented Kkat, and last, but by no means least, the good people at Hasbro.
In the original series Captain Kirk and the crew of the good ship Enterprise had the opportunity to interact with their opposite numbers from an alternate universe that was essentially a flip-flopped mirror image of their own. The episode was titled, appropriately enough, ‘Mirror, Mirror’ and it showed how things can turn out when people make the Wrong Choices.
The Mirror Universe, as it has come to be known, was a polar opposite of the benign and constructive Federation. It postulated a Galaxy dominated by a power-centric Terran Empire that conquered its rivals rather than incorporating them into its being, founded on the principles of might makes right, xenophobia, and intolerance…the banes of our much-touted ‘Human Condition’.
This story is a further expansion on that topic. The mirror of our conscience, to further the analogy of the original story, shows us the mirror image or ourselves. We can choose to act on what the mirror shows us or not, make that person in the mirror more presentable… or smash it and have done. Become someone better or not.
But the light that makes the mirror work is made up of a vast spectrum of colors. A mirror throws that whole spectrum back at you but a prism, on the other hand, reveals the individual colors that make it up. A rainbow gives us a hint at the beauty that is otherwise not realized in the light that surrounds us and is taken so often for granted.
The Prism Universe… as I am pleased to call it… can be thought of as one of those separate colors, (Pink, perhaps!) part of a glorious whole that combines to make up the Light so beloved by the philosophers. Other eyes see different sections of that vast spectrum and the day will yet come when we, as a species, can compare notes with the Others about what they see in Friendship. Such was the vision of Mr. Roddenberry and Ms. Faust.
This story is a lighthearted romp with occasional moments of weirdness, a fantasy, a foray into the timeless realm of ‘What If…?’. Quantum Physicists are in a better position to make a ruling on the existence of parallel worlds in parallel universes. I go nowhere new in that regard. This is a story about People and People are People whether they wear pastel fur or not, whether they have one color of skin or another, whether they practice this form of politics or that. All of us shine in the Light whatever we are, let us try to shine brighter. …This, too, is the vision evoked by Mr. Roddenberry.
It is vogue, these days, to cast the tale of Star Trek in an alternate universe. In that spirit I have tinkered the tale of Equestria as well. May the fans forgive…or at least tolerate… me.
In this latter-day Equestria, history is divided into two eras. The most ancient era, which encompasses the events of the series, is referred to a ‘Before the Change’ or ‘B.C.’. The latter period, now over twenty-two centuries in duration, is designated ‘A.D.’ or, ‘After Departure’. ‘What Change?’ and ‘Who departed?’ are fair questions. Let’s peer through a magic prism and see what might have happened…
For millennia Celestia and Luna ruled over and protected a gradually growing and prospering population. Pegasai, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies worked together to build a civilization. The work was hard. Magic was a great help but was, by its very nature, unreliable or inefficient. Useful in the broad context, it often falls short in dealing with more precise and specific issues. Magic can light lamps but it cannot build a house. It gives solutions but not understanding. It fell to the Earth Ponies to make tools and develop Science to improve their lives. With only their heads and hooves they began the long climb toward an Industrial Society. The Princesses were sympathetic but were unable, or unwilling, to do much to change things. When the challenge became too much for the industrious Ponies they were able to fall back on Them for help.
As time went by Ponies multiplied and spread across Equestria and the Earth itself, founding new realms from Roam to the Neighmericas to Horsetralia. So many cities full of Ponies of all walks of life and all of them turning to Canterlot for guidance and assistance. In the fullness of time Celestia perceived that the Ponies had become too dependent upon Herself and the other Royal Alicorns. Her Little Ponies were growing up and the time had come for them to assume the responsibility for their own destinies… Thus, after centuries of debate, She Came to a Decision.
Twenty-two hundred years ago Celestia and Luna decided to leave. They told Their Little Ponies that they were not abandoning them. They would go elsewhere and wait and any Pony could find them in the end if they truly wanted to. Like Twilight Sparkle, the entire Pony race were set to a Task. They would have to learn to work even closer with each other in Harmony and Friendship to bring to fruition their potentials. When the Ponies found their Princesses again they would report on how they had done. Such was the Covenant. It was a hard task, but one Celestia felt her Ponies could perform.
With the Covenant came a Last Gift. One that would allow Ponies to better cope with the world without relying on Magic. The Change. On the eve of their leave-taking the Moon was risen one last time. All over the world Ponies slept to the tune of a mystic Lunar lullaby while Celestial Magic flowed across the world... When they woke they no longer walked on four legs. They became bipeds and now possessed hands! The changes to their physiology, for obvious reasons, prompted a even greater emphasis on clothing since now all their previously concealed bits were so prominently displayed! The world now spun around the Sun, the Moon spun around the Earth in accordance with fixed physical laws that no longer needed constant oversight …and things would never be the same. With this ability to better wield and make tools the slow simmer of Equestrian Industry burst into a roiling boil.
Whether it was a consequence of the Change or not, when the Princesses left a certain portion of the inherent Magic of Equestria left with them. Certainly for centuries to come Magic waned in strength and Science came into supremacy. Only in the last few centuries had it begun to make a comeback. …Given the nature of the ensuing centuries some historians debate on how much input Discord had into crafting the Last Gift.
The Princesses were gone but their memory remained but became more and more apocryphal as generations passed away who were eyewitnesses to their existence. Time, practicality, and the social upheavals of twenty-one hundred years conspired to make them, in the end, mere legend.
Two hundred and fifty years before the events in this story a group of well-meaning Scientists and Politicians made an attempt to improve Pony Society by improving Ponies themselves by selective breeding and genetic enhancement to produce a ‘superior’ Pony. But, as has been observed in Later Days, superior enhancement produces superior ambition, arrogance, and greed. The ‘Superponies’ ,as they were called in the late twentieth century, were intended to be quietly introduced from behind the scene. They were to unobtrusively inserted into positions of power and influence to be unveiled in triumph when they proved the theories of their creators. Instead, these Ponies looked upon the others as a lesser breed and were impatient with the slow moving plans their creators had laid. The Superponies turned on their patrons and declared themselves openly. They declared their intention to rule the world as was their right by virtue of their superior condition. All other Ponies would submit to ‘Optimization’ or be destroyed. The Eugenics Wars had begun.
What followed was the bloodiest, most grim chapter in Pony History. Equestria… the world… was nearly destroyed in thirteen horrible years. The Augments were put down but it took generations for Ponykind to begin to recover. The destruction was widespread and indiscriminate and the legend of the Princesses and their Golden Age became little more than a legend of hope in dark, dark times. Canterlot survived mostly intact but was little more than a collection of quaint, revered architecture by then. The pragmatic survivors of the Wars turned their energies toward healing the world and unifying what was left of Ponykind.
Among the survivors was a theoretical physicist named Starbubble who finished a line of research instigated before the War and created the first practical faster-than-light drive out of the ashes of the destruction. His test flight attracted the attention of a fusion-powered starship from the planet Vulcan. They had been observing Earth for decades but refrained from making contact on ethical grounds. Starbubble’s flight piqued their curiosity and they landed and initiated Earths First Contact. Starbubble shared his discovery with them and, a few decades later, The United Federation of Pastures was born and Ponies ventured into Space… with one eye cast looking for a familiar, beloved face in the darkness.
Enjoy the story and take from it what you will. As for me, I’m pleased to present it as a tribute to several of the things that I love. Let us then peer into a magic prism to catch a glimpse of what might have been had the dreams of Roddenberry and Faust coincided…