That right there is where this story all started. The episode that most people hated: Magical Mystery Cure.
When I watched that episode I was utterly blown away. But not by the alicorn stuff, nah, I was just fascinated by the first half the episode. I mean look the ramifications there! Dash gets Fluttershy's cutie mark and it forces her to live Fluttershy's life! And Rarity becomes a weather pony just because she has Dash's mark! What would have happened if Twilight didn't change them back, would Rarity have lost her horn and grown wings overnight so she could fulfill her cutie mark's destiny and be a weather pony? Or wait! what if a human got one of their cutie marks...? Would they be forced to become that pony to fulfill the cutie mark's destiny...?
Anyway, I had this idea and I just sat back and waited for someone else to write a fic about something like that. I mean, I certainly wasn't going to write it. Come on, this guy? Writing a fanfic? Haha, dream on universe. I hate writing and I wouldn't write a fanfic if my life depended on it. Anyway, surely someone else will write a fic about the cutie marks swapping, right? But alas, the weeks passed and all anyone seemed to write about at the time was Alicorn Twilight. I never found a single story about the ponies being stuck with the wrong cutie marks and their bodies transforming to fit their new lives. Damn, that was a really tantalizing story idea too.
So, a few more weeks passed and I was browsing the /mlp/ board one day last March. Then I saw something, they have an entire thread about pony transformation stories? Oooo, sounds tempting! I've always loved TF stories. I mean really, for literally as long as I can remember I've been drawn to them. Human to animal, animal to human, guy to girl, anything involving magical transformations I loved. So, anyway, I skimmed the thread and found some fantastic little clop stories here and there. However, after a few days I ran out of content. Damn. Why aren't there any long clop stories about pony transformations? And why are all the stories here incomplete? Bah, if I was an author I wouldn't stop updating until the story was done. And what's up with these authors that take >2 months to release one tiny update!? What the hell, I'd release updates every week if I had a story, sheesh...
In any case, since I was out of new transformation stories to read I started sharing my cutie mark idea on the thread to try and get someone else to write it. Everyone seemed to like the idea, but no one really seemed to care about writing. I didn't blame them, after all, I certainly wasn't going to write it either. I mean writing it myself would be... err....
Hmmm... I could do it the way I wanted....
When I started the first chapter, I was honestly only writing for an audience of like 10 people. But then a few chapters later, well... you all know the rest. Long story short, this has all been a wild ride and I'd never dreamed the story would even get a fraction of the success it got.
That's really all you guys though, you all seemed to love it so I kept writing. I originally wanted to finish the story after 30k words or so, but there was just so much excitement in the comments that I didn't want it see it end. And then lots of you then started to write side fics for it! That came totally out of left field for me. I'd never written anything before, and then all of a sudden you all turn my first story into this hub with it's own universe and everything... gah, I love all of you guys, come here!
But really, truthfully now, I want to thank you all for liking this fic and being so enthusiastic about it all. Like all internet dezains, I've always wanted that glimmer of internet fame. You all probably know what I mean. To be able to just enter a new chat room somewhere or make a post on a forum somewhere, and then see people randomly recognize my name. It's a crazy feeling, and this story let me have a taste of what that is like. Anyway, it's a small thing and I know that no fame lasts, but I'll never forget what it felt like to finally be that "somebody" in the vast anonymous halls of the internet. So to all of you, thanks for giving me that little taste. Now I can settle down knowing that I, ever so briefly, felt it.
Anyway, that's more than enough of my personal commentary that no one asked for, so here's something a lot of you did ask about: Will there be a physical book for sale?
Yes, there will be! Just not quite yet, give me a month or so for finals to get over with. But this summer I will begin the process of turning it into a printed book. The printed copy will probably be the PG-13 version, and I'll probably sell them at cost. Stay tuned to my fimfic blog, I'll release updates on how that's all going to work sometime this summer.
Final acknowledgements:
Everyone that wrote a side fic. Seriously, you don't know how much I love you guys. <3
Head editor:
Scrub. He lost countless hours of sleep rewriting much of my ramblings.
Mainstay proofreaders:
If you think my chapters have a lot of errors when they are published, you don't wanna know what these poor men have seen.
- Rustle my Jimmies
- Kaidan
Secondary revision proofreaders.
My chapters get published full of errors, and these people have sent me PMs with detailed fixes for multiple chapters.
- Elight
- Comrade Sparkle
- Healthbar
- Dogman15
Countless others have helped my by posting errors in the comments sections, and I sincerely thank all of you. You all know who you are, and you've all helped make the story better for those who read it after you.
Artists
- Sokolas. The artwork isn't technically Five Score fan art, but it's been my cover art since day one. Thanks for making a picture that just screamed to me "Human looking into a mirror and being shocked at their pony reflection"
- Shurikart I love this guy! He did over half a dozen Five Score pieces! Seriously, check him out, he's such a bro.
- Fruitbloodmilkshake / GreenPony32. Truly an epic picture showing the final scene of the main story line. GreenPony32 commission it from fruitbloodmilkshake, and I've been staring at the result ever since.
- Sugarush13 Inspired by some of the other art, Sugarrush decided to contribute her own art for the scene of Dash falling from the sky during the first Discord battle 25 years ago.
- littletea10 She only made one fan art for Five Score, but it really stood out to me. I love her Twilight and Shining.
- Forgemaster18. A touch more risqué showing some "horsey hips", but an memorable bit of fan art at that.
Well, that's the end of the credits, so I guess that just about sums it up everyone. Not much else to say, just be sure to give the story a thumbs up if you liked it. Thanks for reading everything, and thanks for sticking with the story to the end. Hopefully, you'll have learned something along the way, and I hope the story leaves you feeling differently about the world. So long everyone.
Special thanks
- Rainbow Dash
I did feel a bit inspired to write the whole 'humans with pony traits' things because of Dash here. It's strange really. Ever since I was a kid I could always predict the weather perfectly, and these past few days my friends have even slipped and called me her name. Huh, strange. Anyway, I'm headed out guys, thanks for reading the story everyone.
Gah, my upper thigh is itchy for some reason, I better go take a shower or something...
