Hello, I've been seeing people posting recently they're own "candidates" for humans that could/should go to Equestria, and I decided to jump into the bandwagon, but instead of just showing the picture and hope that someone makes the idea, I will also give a little explanation about who is the person, the idea I have for him and hear your opinions on the matter, ok? cool, now my first candidate is:

Justinianus I The Great

Many consider him the greatest emperor of the Byzantines (The Eastern Roman Empire), he ruled from August 1st, 527 - November 14th, 565.

He is considered among the "Last of the Romans" since no other emperor would be so close to bring the light of Rome to the Roman Empire and he managed to regain North Africa and a piece of the Spanish Peninsula before the end of his reign.

He managed to reform the judicial code (which is used as a model for today's courtrooms), constructed the Hagia Sofía (a marvel of Engineering and art), and managed to keep the empire afloat even after getting struck with the Bubonic plague (which killed a 1/4 of his Empire) among many other things.

He was also a Christian Emperor, he wanted to end the divisions in the Orthodox Church and as a proof of that, he was married with a woman of a different denomination (Theodora, who also deserves to be talked about), but even though he tried during his whole rule to unify the Christian church, he horribly failed at this.

Here are 2 sources if you want to get a general idea of how awesome he was:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justinian_I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_2E0RxVHH4&index=28&list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5Aq7g4bil7bnGi0A8gTsawu

Now, this is my idea, first let me present you this story: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/101737/my-little-crusade

Basically it consist in Equestria having to go to another dimension because DIscord decided to destroy the planet when he was slayed by Celestia, and they end up in Earth in the time of the Crusades.

My idea basically is almost the same, including characters (since this Equestria is 1000 years before the main series, that means no Mane Six, only Celestia, Luna, Starswirl the bearded, etc.) and transportation to Earth, but they would meet the Byzantine Empire, and thus Justinian (shortly after the reconquering of North Africa), Christianity is a thing (and by that I mean that Christian songs can be used to defeat Nightmare Moon, dispel Black Magic, etc.) and the story would center not only in Justinian's Rule, but also in how they would have their relationships with Equestria.

Of course, I have a few problems with the Idea of writing this story:

1.- The Research: I would have to research a lot of Justinian's rule, the customs of the time, the religious situation of that period (remember, this was mostly Christian Orthodox, not Catholic, here, the Emperor had control over the Pope in Byzantium, which makes it a lot different than Europe during the Crusades and the rest of the dark age in Europe) and the political state of the territories and kingdoms in Europe to get a better idea of how Equestria would face all of this.

2.- The ending: I don't want to write a story without a clear ending to not left it in limbo, and with that I mean that I don't know how (or when) to end the story, should I end it with Justinian or perpetuate it (as a book series) with the most important rulers of the Byzantine Empire (having Equestria in the mix would mean that over the course of the years, that Equestria, Europe and the Byzantine Empire would end up being radically different by 1453) until it's fall and having the Equestrians (along Columbus) to discover America? Too many things to consider...

So, what do you guys think? what aspects should be taking in consideration before and during the writing of this story? any opinion on the matter? comment below and let me know. I'll also be posting this in other places to get a bigger opinion on the matter.

Thanks for reading and have a good day.

I approve mate.

Me likes.

5065309
That's one hell of an effort post and a good pitch for a story idea if I've ever seen one. Props for that, dude.

It's certainly enough to interest me. I can see this work especially well as a "historical novel" style thing more than a fantasy story. The idea of having Christian liturgy be magically effective is interesting one, but I'd personally a bit worried about the story going overboard with this. I've read some very good books (actual books) that go this general route, but it's also something that's very easy to do wrong and turn more obnoxious than intriguing.

That part of the story can easily start sounding more like out of character proselytizing than primarily a story element. This is always a bit of an issue because, frankly, most people don't enjoy getting preached at when they're just looking for entertainment, whether that preaching is religious, political or moral in nature. Opinion pieces belong in blog posts, not stories.

So long as you (or whoever tries to write it) were confident that they wouldn't make that mistake, I certainly would at least give it a look.

5065339

I understand the concern, that's why I have to first research the history of the church to understand the way of thinking at the time and the different denominations of christianity at the time.

I also understand what you mean by proselytizing rather than having it as an story element, and as a Christian, it annoys me to see that the few stories regarding christianity aren't done well, but I think it can be done well if the religious aspect acts as a part of the story or the development of the character rather than the main point.

If this sounds confusing, sorry, I kinda sucks explaining myself sometimes, but I will leave a piece of story that (IMO) use christianity well:

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/64089/the-missionary

It isn't forced into the story or us, it's just a part of the main character and it's used as a way to drive his personality (it also helps that, as any human, he is a flawed character), but again, I prefer to make some research (and finish at least one of the stories I have in my head) before attempting something as big as this.

P.S.: I also have other candidates, but I'll write about them later.

5065388
I think the important qualitative difference would be to make it clear that it isn't a story about Christianity, it's just a story that contains Christianity as an important (and historical) setting element. Having it be primarily an adventure story that uses Christian ritual and acts of faith as a part of the fantastical elements of it would be fine, but digressing into debates about dogma and missionary work would probably not be. The former is just using it as a natural element of the time the story would be set it, but the second would make it effectively an allegory. I really don't enjoy allegory.

P.S.: I also have other candidates, but I'll write about them later.

Looking forward to it.

5065399

Then it would be hard, as I said, Justinian also tried to unify the christian church (and failed) and considering Equestria's magic, the religious debate would have to be a thing (the religious schism was a big influence on the life of the Empire, to the point that the "slogan" was "One God, One Church, One Emperor" and it also influenced in its eventual fall in 1453), again, I wouldn't make it THE focus of the story, but rather a part of it (there is a lot to chew on in this period, I would just have to find a balance in this).

Also some of those candidates are people of my country and I'm sure some of them could be found (at the very least) interesting.

5065418
I can see your point there. I have to admit, I was reading that more as background information on the character, I wasn't assuming that it would be actually part of the story. That really would make it difficult.

Personally, something I think always works well is to have characters simply behave Christian, rather than talk about it, if you see what I mean. Prayers at mealtimes, referring to religious ideas every so often, maybe make the occasional scriptural allusion and say "by God" a lot (even if it's technically blasphemy.) It brings across the tone and the intent well without becoming overbearing.

What do you think about doing it that way, instead? I think the whole thing about unifying the church, if it comes up at all, would be best played more as political intrigue with a religious motivation than as an outright religious debate as such.

5065427

Yeah, I can see that, Thanks.

5065439
My pleasure. If you end up writing this, be sure to notify us here. This genuinely looks interesting.

5065441

I will.

5065309 Not a bad idea. For research, if you want an easy start, you can look at Extra History's videos on Justinian's rule. Again, just a start. You could look more into through other, more credible sources.

-W.S.

5065887

You haven't seen the links I gave, right?

5066324 Whoops! My bad.

-W.S.

If you need help with making the story I can help, nit too much becuase you know. Finis bing up the next chalter which is becoming a problem because of my only(and largest god same problem) is my grammarand deciding where to cut the chapter off.. Give me a month and I'll have a premise and plot ready. The research ain't hard to do. I'll just grab my old history book and start having some fun. But if you already have a plot in mind I might not as much use. And for equestria. It might have to be filled with oc's or have it in star swirl era. It's a fairly good era of fun.

In all senses I love history and anything to do with it. I'll love to see what would go with it. :D

5066851

I swear I've just now found your reply, sorry for taking so long.

Go. Nuts. I already like your approach at historical moments and how Equestria meets this time periods, if you want to do a plot then go, if you want, we can discuss the ideas to see how it could go, PM me when you have everything done.

If grammar is your problem, then I could try to help, I can try to detect one or two grammar mistakes to help you if you want.

Thank you very much for the offer, and have a good week.