6957613
Huh, that is a wierd correlation. Doesn't mean there's a causation, other then stories like these tend to come in batches as writers lose interest in either the story or fandom. Kind of a viral idea that once it runs its course its discarded. Other then that have no idea.

6957613
By 2015, TCB would have been going for four years, that's four years where all of the easy plot ideas were being gobbled up, so what probably happened is that many writers reaching for easy stories would have found that someone else was writing a story, or had written a story, so similar to their own that they felt continuing would be copying.

6957613 6958036 also, the world started going down the shitter faster for a lot of folks around that time, which can certainly do a number on a person's ability to do something creative.

6957613
I think the answer is really simple. If you story stories on fimfiction, you'll find the vast majority of them are unfinished. It takes a certain kind of dedication and passion to finish what you start, and not everybody manages it. Lots of those stories were by first-time writers, who ran out of steam before they could finish what they were working on. The same is true in just about every corner of this site.

6958416
You have me curious, what was going on at that point in time?

6958516 (PeachClover)

I guess "realpolitik" happened ...with usual consequences ... For me it was mostly Ukrainian crisis (2014), followed by Russia's taking back of Crimea, and USA's sanctions .. and in 2015 - probably all this war stuff in Syria and around ..... Sure, it was not directly related to USA, geographically ...but ......

6957613
No offence, but "What happened here?" isn't a useful title. It doesn't tell me what this thread is about. A better title would have been "Why so many half written stories?".

6958516 6958518 that's part of it, along with a rise in white supremacist and anti-immigrant agitation and terrorism in the US and Europe; a sharp rise in violence in the Middle East; a lot of xenophobic (at best) public figures gaining prominence; and a bunch of other crap that I'm probably forgetting. And by-and-large, these trends continued past that point, so a lot of folks never had a breather.

6958631
Eh. That's not something most people would really encounter, in their day-to-day lives. And I think the media and pop-culture have a tendency to overblow this stuff. Frankly: There's much more terrorism by immigrants, then against immigrants!

I think it's less to do with any of that. And more to do with MLP and TCB both having been out for a few years, and the hype over them dying down. In other words: TCB just went out of style. Plus young fanfiction writers getting older, and getting jobs, and all.

Hearing what has been going on in the world makes me glad that I live under a rock. Perhaps it would please you to know though, that I am working on a new story that takes place in a sub-setting of TCB that as far as I know hasn't had an sequels. Personally, I would like to see more writers try to tackle the core principles of human-to-pony transformation without trying to force the story to adhere to all of the most popular tropes. It's ok to make new rules; it's ok to not use rules made by others. Some people enjoy the challenge of writing inside a box, but I think what makes a story good to the reader is having a little of what is expected and a lot of what is not. To be blunt, from about that time till now, people think TCB is just The Chatoverse. The key feature of The Chatoverse is that it takes place in the future. Just that one thing makes so many other aspects of the setting fall into place, so by just writing a story that takes place in the present or even bolder, the past, is a huge departure from the norm and keeps the reader on their toes trying to guess what's coming next.

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but for me, it was the sad after effect of all the drama.

The writers I enjoyed pretty much left this small corner of the fandom and stopped writing.

Chatoyance kept this part going but... *sighs* Look I'm sorry, but I really hate major aspects of her work. This 'humans have no souls' and 'Equestria is heaven, there are no "evil" ponies' just isn't for me.

Then we had all the anti people, and all new stories became Humans fighting against the 'invasion' of Equestria, or Ponies trying to wipe out humanity, or just endless physiological debates on the subject.

I enjoyed this genre because of the theme it seemed to have when it first started. Here we had an alien world slowly crossing over with our own. Not only are the ponies basically aliens, but they aren't humanoid either. Then we mix in the interesting aspect of not being able to survive on their world, but with the sole desire of helping us, we're able to become them and go to their world. I LOVED reading about ponies reacting to stuff in our world, and humans reacting to how different it is to be a pony. It was the clash of cultures and worlds that was just so fascinating. Former humans becoming ponies and falling in love with the 'alien' ponies now that they were the same species. It was nice, it was fun.

But sadly the focus became more on the Human Liberation Front and whatever Per stood for. The group of ponies that wanted all humans to become ponies. It became more focused on how the militarizes would react to each other and blah blah blah.

And look, I have nothing against Chat, but the amount of control she wanted over this, and how insistent she is that the TCB work HER way combined with everything else just killed my interest. (Just to specify, that might not have been her intention, but it's definitely how it came across to me.)

I've tried to write a story here and there that hearkens back to the happy feelings I got when it first began, but it never works out.

6958779

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but for me, it was the sad after effect of all the drama.

Good point, I completely forgot about the drama. I bet that was a big part of it.

"I've tried to write a story here and there that hearkens back to the happy feelings I got when it first began, but it never works out."

Maybe you should just publish what you have (perhaps in a blog post), and someone else can make it into a proper fanfiction.

6958779
Chatoyance never wanted anyone to write in the world she was writing. Everyone seemed to think that that is what they had to do because all of her main stories are connected to each other, and all of the fans wanted to impress her because she had impressed them. Chat even wrote a collection of stories called Brand New Universe, which were entirely different from her main body of work but they were still TCB because they dealt with humans transforming into something that could be called pony. Sometimes that meant that the changes weren't in body; The Friendship Virus involved humans creating a retrovirus that made humans kinder without changing their bodies (much). The Pony Singularity inspired Iceman to create Friendship is Optimal, which is really just a rehash of that story. Red Kryptonite was a story that was the inverse, because it had ponies becoming human because they had to, yet this was still TCB because they didn't act human and the humans they met still wanted to become them, because of the way they acted.

I'm really bothered when you suggest that Chat wanted to control anything. We look at TCB like a city and Chat's universe is like the tallest tower. It draws our eyes, and if we aren't careful, we don't see anything else, but there are lots of TCB stories that aren't like The Chatoverse at all. I recall one story, A Girl's Wish, where ponies and humans mingle together without any world-ending drama, no expanding barrier, no HLF, no PER, no need to become a pony at all, but merely the option - like tattoo parlors that permanently change a person's body and no one cares because everyone has the freedom to take it or leave it - and yet the story there is still there in telling that beautiful and mysterious moment a person chooses to become a pony.

That is all a TCB story is; it is observing the beauty through contrast of an alien intelligence to the point of wanting to become it, and thus doing so.

6958779 (Videomaster21xx)

humans reacting to how different it is to be a pony. It was the clash of cultures and worlds that was just so fascinating. Former humans becoming ponies and falling in love with the 'alien' ponies now that they were the same species. It was nice, it was fun.

But then I can argue (from my feelpoint) Catoyance's ponies (and Cosmos created them) nearly best possible, fundamentally anarchistic (in good sense, as not trying to impose all this hierarchy stuff we have here on Earth right now). Most fics just portratize ponies as 'just a thiny bit better than humans', Chatoyance had enough of life experience for not wanting to stay anywhere near close to where we currently stand (at the cliff..with no wings and no magic ..and with human-created forces ready to push us and everyone else over it ...). Yes, i was also suprized by Godness part (because I'm closer to atheist, and so Chatoyance) - but this can be explained ..anyway, 'fixing' this Celestia is much easier than many other versions - she logically and emotionally was experiencing greatest crisis in long and fundamentally peaceful history of Equestria. So, no wonder she acted ..a bit ..out-of-character during some of those times! (this is _my_ interpretation oh her actions ...). next, ~100% peaceful (but not defenceless) ponies are not just some idealization - but sort of engineering idealization, when you MUST have specific parameters for metals and optics for example if you really wanna have all those cool optical, laser, supercondicting effects (in material sphere). May be fundamentally upgraded society possible on just what we have here - we better to try because otherwise things not looking good at all .... But amount of thought Chatoyance put exactly into explaining WHY those ponies become so different in their psychology, in amazing way - this is something uneasy to even merely repeat, let alone improve on.

Yes, Chatoyance-specific TCB verse is quite dark, but in this darkness it reflects OUR reality, as seen by unshielded eyes ..and hearts and minds. And it really is big thing, if you realize that after all those sad things 'world' (humans) did to her - she still wanted forever peace, and happiness FOR ALL.

Yes, Chatoyance apparently was subscribed to 'killer ape' hypothesis early on - but then due to her really otherwordly talent this detail can be explained away, too ...Not like Celestia was _targeting_ humans (after all, this 'carrot and stick' analogy seen in some early story, "Letters from Home' perhaps, was written by _ex-human_, newfoal, and just-converted one at this! no wonder he was still thinking in human stereotypes! And yeah, he improved and revised his observation as story went on ... and this is only possible if _writer_ (Chatoyance) was already at very advanced level ...), but she was preparing auto-conversion sell (second barrier) for all kinds of non-humans, assuming, a bit naively, humans, with all their bragging about how smart they are will keep their end when needed ..instead she got crashed, nearly life-less planet, and BIG bunch of 'successfully adapted' to this humans.. all not ready in any meaningful sense! Yes, this is my patch over Chatoyanceverse, because I think 'ponies LOVE all live beings' (and Celestia and Luna being some kind of superponies on this scale, not anti-ponies ..if you get my drift .... something nearly unbelievable for human rulers!) just overrun even important plot element, so reader shall feel free to fix it up according to overall pony logic of verse ...)

6958872
Yeah but it's MY story. My characters. I know it's selfish, but I'm not giving them up to another writer. If anything I just wish I'd see more stories about a newfoal just soaking in the conversion experience. Ten Days was the last great TCB story that drew me in. I loved a lot of Midnight Shadow's stuff, but he was one of the ones we lost.

6958917
It's just from things I've seen that's how it comes across. I'm not opening that can of worms here. Mainly because I'm afraid that no matter how I try to word it, I'll be banned for daring to think differently.

That is all a TCB story is; it is observing the beauty through contrast of an alien intelligence to the point of wanting to become it, and thus doing so.

And I disagree. I saw it as the earth was dying, and the ponies are trying to save us because we are worth saving. That even though we have caused great evil, they know of the great good we can do and deem us worth helping. It's about humans trying to salvage their world and integrate it into Equestria. It's about ponies marveling at what we've accomplished and us wanting to see their world. It's a conflict of two races being forced together and trying to find a way to co-exist.

There is some of what you say there, but I don't feel that should be the focus. It's fine to want to be a pony, but the way you say it it's like you want to give up everything of your human self and this world, and no. We've done so much good that we shouldn't throw away.

Sidelines got it right. It did get a tad silly in the end, but I liked the general feeling. I hated it when TCB became all about how much better it was to be a pony and how icky it was to be a human and it drove me mad.

Look whenever I try to get into a debate, I feel I never get my feelings across. I'm sorry it bothers you that I feel the way I do, but I'm afraid it's not really something I can help. At the very least I'm not asking Chat to stop doing what she does.

6958962
I'm sorry I really don't quite understand what you are trying to say. I think you are going off the assumption that I've read all of her works. I've only read the 800 year promise, well that I can recall. I think I read a few others, but they didn't stick with me. I just know that from what I read, the universe just isn't for me.

6959196
Well, I'm deeply confused...

And I disagree. I saw it as the earth was dying, and the ponies are trying to save us because we are worth saving.

Is this what you wanted to wanted to see? I ask this because I listed a few TCB stories where the earth wasn't dying so I want to understand if you meant that this is what you want to see in a TCB story or that this is what you see in a TCB story even when it's not there.

6959196 (Videomaster21xx) - edited, was 'videomaster12xx' .. yeah, my social intelligence not really straightforward! names not my strong point ....

I feel I never get my feelings across.

- yeah, we have some common ground ..... same here, way too often!

I've only read the 800 year promise,

- try [url= https://www.fimfiction.net/story/34192/the-conversion-bureau-tales-of-los-pegasus] Tales Of Los Pegasus - they surprisingly diverse ...

I'm all for _somepony_ helping humans to gain required resistance to society-created, but fundamentally anti-social forces, nearly unresistable today. But if you read about history ..it will make you sad, very, very sad .... because anything humans tried so far not worked long and deep enough. May be our age should be named not Information age, but age of Assholes, who tend to ruin it for everyone (even themselves, but ..power of delusion...!)

Civilizations and regions with more pony-like cultures were literally wiped out ..., so in absence of some specific constrain same fate will await Equestria, instead of co-existence it will be annihilation, even if ponies themselves will never stop being ponies.

It really sort of hard to read pony fiction knowing to where we all pushed ...... My another personal recommendation will be also Going Pony, it really echoes well with this thespiritof76 website, and other article [1]- in essence Chatoyance described kind of social relations existed in some regions of Earth, but completely marginalized today. So, we can't experience them directly, and they not something spontaneously jumping to life ....

[1] -

Many Native American tribes have been matrilineal, and some matriarchal, for a very long time. The Iroquois Confederacy has been a “gyneocracy” since 1000 AD:

In our society, women are the center of all things. . . . We traced our clans through women. . . . As leaders, the women closely monitor the actions of the men and retain the right to veto any law they deem inappropriate. . . . They also have the right to determine all issues involving the taking of human life. Declarations of war had to be approved by the women, while treaties of peace were subject to their deliberations.[6]

If only this were the case in America today. Native American men of all tribes were so respectful of women’s points of view that they were mocked by their European usurpers for being pussy-whipped. They also showed no interest in rape: debasing women just wasn’t part of their culture. Try explaining that to a European.

I tend to cling to specific author, and in case of Chatoyance she left very rich trail of posts, forums and commentaries to follow... I can't say I read _everything_ she ever created - but ..a lot. And a lot of things happened to me, much before I ever learned about her existence.

6959221
Well maybe the earth is 'dying' is a bit strong, but in the early TCB stories it was heavily implied that the earth was 'damaged' in a way. That we basically grew too much to the point that our factories and cities poisoned a bit of the earth. All likely part of the original author's way to make the earth seem less appealing and to show going to Equestria as the best thing ever. In an interview they did admit they wrote it during a low point and just wanted to escape somewhere else.

Then we had the idea of the shield. The boarder to Equestria that was slowly expanding, taking more and more of our world with it.

The stories I read a lot of followed those themes. Ten Days, Sidelines, most of what Midnight Shadow wrote. (Twist in the Tail, Midnight's Tail, I think Ring of Fire was the one where people accidently became dragons)

Back then a lot of the stories focused on an individual deciding it was time to "Conversion" and the struggle they went through.

Then you had other neat little stories like Yellowstone, where the magic from Equestria began to awaken monsters from our legends and myths, and the team of "soldiers" that went to fight them.

Looks like it was WAAAAAAAY back in 2012/2013 that Midnight stopped writing his "A Twist in the Tail" series, which I was actually working on some guest chapters too.

I think it was around then all the drama happened, and Conversion bureau became more focused on "Man vs Ponies" then simply two races trying to co-exist. Or the very least, that's what I saw. I stopped reading and writing for the genre around this time. The author's I enjoyed reading left the fandom, and 90% of the new stuff was too focused on who was "RIGHT" then just letting me follow a newfoal as they explore the transition into pony.

So I don't think it's so much as "That's what I want to see" as in, That's what I read.

I went back and looked at the stories you mentioned. Yeah looks like the issue is I never read any of those.

I was following TCB way back when 4chan had threads dedicated to it and there was a small handful of authors that I felt honored to hang out with. Back then mostly what I explained earlier in this post seemed to be the norm, and that's what drew me in. Seems like it changed a lot over the years, and sadly most of it was into something I didn't care to be a part of.

I'm only human of course. There are probably many stories that I'd have loved, but thanks to all the anti-people trying to write stories. Anything I wanted to read got lost in the flood.

So basically I saw a bunch of people come in and begin to write TCB stories that were basically designed to "pick a side" and then Chat being kicked out of the other group for less then "nice" reasons, and creating this group, but focused mostly on HER universe, which I didn't care for.

So the part of TCB I enjoyed seemed to vanish over night, and well my creative spark for this genre went with it. :(

Also side note for Friendship is Optimal. I had that on my reading list for a while, but well. Some members got WAAAAAAAAY to into that story and talked to me like they were in a cult. Basically from what I understand. You go into a My Little Pony MMO and Celestia is the head AI that basically brainwashes you into being a "Kind obedient pony?" Everything I've heard of it seems to suggest this, and ohhhhhhh boy did the fans that spoke to me get into that. Basically telling me that's what should happen to the earth, and that we should accept that such an event is what should happen as we humans suck and need this to happen if we ever want to be 'happy' and I admit I noped outta there REAL QUICK.

6959222
Yeah sorry, still not sure what you are trying to do. I guess suggest to me Chat stories to read?

Sorry man, as I said what I've read of Chat's stories didn't sit well with me. I'm not really interested in reading more. You're free to enjoy them though.

6959328 (videomaster21xx)

I think I understand - you want, in a word, _pony_ version of TCB - softer and not overloaded with conflict ... Understandable. But then I can't see why you can't enjoy at least EPISODES from Chatoyance's works? You don't need to agree 1000% with whole universe for enjoying some very well-written pony moments in it? Also, That Indestructible Something can be good from very beginning ..and ..I don't think you REQUIRED to finish any fanfic you ever started to read ....but sometimes in skipped parts some gems remain unread ...this is probably what keeps me digging ........

In other words - be free to construct your own world from best ideas and moments you get from all those sources ...... You may be unable to put it back as novel - but at least it will be in your head, right?

6959348
I suppose that's my philosophy, for the more recent seasons of MLP. I'm not fond of what's happened to the show. But there are still some good episodes in the recent seasons, and I can still enjoy them (for the most part).

totally-totally-unrelated picture of horse at the bottom of this site:

https://www.equinesoul.net/

It really asking me to sing "This is so pony!!!!" in lovely and exited voice ..if I had such!

Just for making myself a bit more fine-grained ..
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/34192/9/the-conversion-bureau-tales-of-los-pegasus/nueve-the-city-in-amber

"Um..." Amber shifted in the bed, unsure of how to be with Patrick now. She missed him, yet he was right there. It was confusing, and it made getting to sleep difficult. "What... what is it like? To be a pony?"

"It's like wearing shoes to bed."

Amber started giggling at that, then Patrick started giggling too. The giggles turned to laughter. They were too tired, and too upset, and that made it far funnier than it should have been. Encouraged, Patrick carefully rolled over, releasing his legs from the covering blanket. He had to twist slightly and flop to make sure his tail wasn't bent in an odd position. It was still sore from trying to sit upright on the couch for hours.

also, just for making things _a bit more errie_:

Fromm looked at me in such a straightforward way that my attempts at polite
conversation abruptly ceased and any role-specific behavior became unnecessary.
Although we had only met face-to-face a few minutes before, a dimension for the
relationship had already emerged, allowing closeness and trust, but no longer
allowing the evasion of a question or topic that had been broached with clever
remarks. Somehow Fromm’s eyes, encircled by wrinkles, and scrutinizing me
intently, managed to initiate a conversation that appeased my anxieties and made it
possible for me to concentrate intently.

/home/guest/New_hdd/Erich_Fromm/Reclaiming_the_Sane_Society_Essays_on_Er.pdf
[yes, this is intentional, you can find book for yourself or ask me to real link .... if you are intrigued enough]

6959328

All likely part of the original author's way to make the earth seem less appealing and to show going to Equestria as the best thing ever.

As pony fans, we see a story with ponies and think that the ponies are the main focus. Most of the time, ponies and Equestria are the purpose of the story, but not for Blaze’s original Conversion Bureau.

Blaze’s original was about environmentalism. In his story, becoming pony was a metaphor for becoming environmentally aware and working to restore health to the planet and thus restore health to those who live on it, so pony=person who actively works against pollution to save the environment, human=person who pollutes whether on purpose or carelessly, and government/soldiers=those who pollute on purpose because it is profitable.

He did write that Equestria was unlivable to humans in order to create a literary device for separating environmentalists from those who would knowingly pollute. He wrote Equestria as a bubble of healthy land full of environmentalists taking care not to poison the air, water, or soil. More ponies meant more capacity to detoxify and stop polluting the world; this is why in his original story, Equestria would naturally expand when there were more ponies. When you look at the metaphor and not what is actually written, it makes sense that Blaze never wrote his humans as afraid of the barrier expanding because it is only through conscious choice and effort that areas of healthy land can grow out of polluted land.

In his story, the corporate world was trying to invade Equestria for more resources, and this is unfortunately true in the real world. Not only is the Amazon being burned down, but here in my town, I’ve watched a huge chunk of forest get leveled displacing the wildlife there into the suburbs, and I don’t know why because there is so much developed land that sits empty.

Blaze put angry words of blame into the mouths of Celestia and Twilight because in his mind he could clearly see environmentalists chewing out those who polluted on purpose who had no other choice but to change how they were living because they had made this problem for themselves. Before the story was over, he also had Celestia apologizing for implying that it was ok to say that. When we as pony fans read these parts, we were confused as to why these words sounded so harsh, because what we saw was pony first, everything else afterward. But this created the schism…

For myself, I looked at TCB and I saw “becoming a pony”, and I didn’t see anything else. There were many wish fulfillment stories of fans getting magically dropped into Equestria either as their human selves or inexplicably turned into a pony, but up until this point, there hadn’t been a reason for why or how fans/humans were becoming pony. So when we of this camp read Blaze’s original The Conversion Bureau, we latched onto this as a bright, beautiful, innocent, and above all else, exciting way to fantasize about becoming a pony. And to emphasize how special it was to the individual, we wrote the process as being common place. It seems like a contradiction, but it makes sense when you think about it like this: what is more interesting reading about, one person who goes to Disney Land when the park is completely empty and only this one person gets to have all the fun or reading about how special the fun experiences of one person who goes to Disney Land are even though the park is crowded?

The other people though… Other people who had no interest in becoming pony, but were somehow still fans of the show, read this story, and just like the rest of us, they too missed, completely missed, the metaphor of ponies=environmentalists. However, instead of latching onto the fun and excitement of becoming a pony and living in Equestria, they latched onto the insult of Twilight’s words against not the metaphorical humans=polluter but unfortunately as actual everyone humans, and they latched onto the fear of being invaded as Equestria expanded – completely ignoring the fact that the governments in the story had already tried to invade Equestria before and were trying to again.

It hearkens back to an old saying, “We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are.” Blaze’s original Conversion Bureau story is a lot like the christian’s bible; if you read it with fear and hate in your heart then all you see is hate and fear, if you read it with joy and love in your heart then all you see is love and joy, but love and hate are both there undeniably side by side sometimes in the same sentence. It takes a strong person to look past first impressions and see the entirety of what is there.

Chat being kicked out of the other group for less then "nice" reasons, and creating this group,

Actually, Chatoyance created this group first. If you look at the URL, the groups are numbered by their creation date. Group 22 was the first TCB group on Fimfiction, and for that matter one of the earliest groups on FF considering that it goes up to at least Group 213875. Other writers came along and created Group 26, Chatoyance was asked to stop posting in her group so that TCB fans could be unified under one group. She did, but when she was kicked out of Group 26, she came back to the first group.

I had that on my reading list for a while, but well. Some members got WAAAAAAAAY to into that story and talked to me like they were in a cult.

Iceman wrote FiO because he is desperately hoping that uploading technology becomes available soon. His name, Iceman, comes from the fact that he has a reservation to have his body frozen upon death so that he can can be brought back to life or uploaded when either technology becomes available. According to his canon, uploads can only have their personalities altered if they give explicit consent to the specific alteration. In his original story, there was a man who was uploaded to keep from being killed, he hated it because he didn’t like ponies, but the system is built to require ponies as the key feature of each simulation, so he asked to have his mind altered so that he liked ponies. FiO is very much wish fulfillment stories for the intellectual atheist crowd. Many of them write FiO stories as a testing ground of sorts for furthering the development of AI as a precursor to uploading, so it is very important to them. However, to squash any fear that may arise, they are pretty insistent that uploading is a personal choice, and can’t be forced onto others.

It's fine to want to be a pony, but the way you say it it's like you want to give up everything of your human self and this world, and no. We've done so much good that we shouldn't throw away.

I wanted to come back to this point now that the more important questions have been asked and answered. In the story I am writing, I considered bringing all sorts of pop culture stuff into Equestria because I’m writing a story where it’s easy to bring things from earth to Equestria, but it occurred to me that doing that would take the emphasis off of Equestria and the characters who have become ponies. The magic of Equestria makes it easily possible to grab movies out of time and play them in movie theaters with Equestrian subtitles. I was working on this scene where two converts go to see an earth movie with a bunch of native Equestrians in Equestria and really get into how that would effect individuals as well as Equestrian culture. It actually makes a great standalone story to see how Equestrians would react to human culture, but I want focus on ex-humans reacting to Equestrian culture, so the way I am writing it is that things like that are in the works, but they are not high on the priority list.

Lots of writers have to devise plot devices for why the characters aren’t talking about pop culture in order to keep the focus on the story. Take Harry Potter for instance: the author wrote Harry as a shut-in so he didn’t get to be exposed to normal pop culture. Magic people in that world live outside of normal space so they don’t interact with it either. In season three of Stranger Things, the characters are too busy not dying to take notice of pop culture except in three instances where it is used to frame that they are real people with real interests, to give characters something to talk about as they were reaching dialogue that they had no opportunity to say before, and as a reference point when making philosophical statements.

If I may get freakishly real with you for a moment, I’m sitting here at my computer tapping away, and you are sitting there reading it, and this is the real… When we take away the fiction and imagination, life isn’t very interesting. How many times a day are we thinking about movies, listening to songs from the radio, playing video games, or anything that involves the creativity of some other person? When you take all of that out, everyday life is basically boring to read about, but if you leave all of that in and try to tell another universe’s creativity on top of all that stuff, it’s overwhelming and distracting to most people. If you know of such a story or book, link me to it as I have yet to encounter one, but I would enjoy the challenge.

..I probably only can add to this next line .... I think it should be obvious (but it often isn't) environment includes {anti}social human environment .. but yeah, this is interesting line to glide at: ones who actually pony enough _create_ areas of Equestria where not just air and water and soil are clean, but also our (pony) thinking is much clearer, when it comes to what is ethical, and what is not. But I fear it will be uphill ....battle move to perform.

6959852
Having read Blaze's original TCB recently, I don't think he shared the view that ponies are more morally centered than humans. Like I said, he put some nasty words in Twilight's mouth, and that does not represent somebody who is thinking with a kind heart. No, I'm convinced for the purpose of his original story Blaze was only looking at ponies as environmentalists.

However, you are right that somebody who is acting in love and tolerance can bring peace to others and awaken in them their own potential to be a kinder being. Although it was uncomfortable, I had the opportunity to live up to this challenge two or three months ago, when someone in my family went crazy. When she saw that I was not willing to attack her in return and that afterword I was still willing to help her, there was a spark of realization that violence and hatred are not the only way people have to live in the world.

6959348
Hey I enjoyed the 800 year promise. I just didn't like... implications of it.

Most of what I've read of her stories have a vibe that doesn't sit well with me.

Look you know how popular Fallout Equestria is? I'm not a fan. Like at ALL. I read a few chapters of it to give it a shot, but just didn't care for it. I don't like the world it sets up. I don't care to read stories in that world. I'm sure some are amazing, but given I hate the world all these stories take place in, I don't want to read them.

It's similar to Chat's stories. I don't like the TCB she created. Therefore I don't want to read any stories IN that world. There is nothing wrong with that. I don't care for them so I don't read them. Am I saying you can't? No, go ahead and enjoy them.

Am I saying she needs to delete her work? No, that'd be stupid.

However I still don't feel like reading any. I gave her stuff a chance, it let me know I don't want more and that was that. I know you really want me to read more for some reason, but the thing is: I wouldn't be having fun doing so.

I'm know people think Fallout Equestria is the best thing ever, but reading it gave me no joy. Not everyone is a fan of everything.

6959783
Okay um. So look I guess I'm an idiot, but what was your point?

Were you giving me the reasons TCB is written the way it is today? That's about the only thing I can take away from that.

The other people though… Other people who had no interest in becoming pony, but were somehow still fans of the show, read this story, and just like the rest of us, they too missed, completely missed, the metaphor of ponies=environmentalists. However, instead of latching onto the fun and excitement of becoming a pony and living in Equestria, they latched onto the insult of Twilight’s words against not the metaphorical humans=polluter but unfortunately as actual everyone humans, and they latched onto the fear of being invaded as Equestria expanded – completely ignoring the fact that the governments in the story had already tried to invade Equestria before and were trying to again.

It hearkens back to an old saying, “We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are.” Blaze’s original Conversion Bureau story is a lot like the christian’s bible; if you read it with fear and hate in your heart then all you see is hate and fear, if you read it with joy and love in your heart then all you see is love and joy, but love and hate are both there undeniably side by side sometimes in the same sentence. It takes a strong person to look past first impressions and see the entirety of what is there.

I think you can be a fan of this show and NOT want to be a pony. I mean I liked Zootopia, but believe it or not I didn't go making a 'furry avatar' afterward. I'm not a fan of furry. I know a lot of people seem to think that if you like pony you have to like furry art and stuff too, but well oddly enough no you don't.

I do feel it's true that all some people saw was "Ponies = good, Humans = Bad" missing the possible metaphor. Did Blaze confirm that? Otherwise we are only speculating. It's plausible enough so I feel you are probably correct.

Okay so, I think I need to be as straight forward as I can here:

When I first found TCB stuff, I saw it as a sandbox world for writers. The rules of the world hadn't been set in stone yet and we were free to take the concept and go in any direction we wanted. I LOVED this. I loved reading all the interesting and neat ideas of how people wrote for this world.

Again Yellowstone was one way, We also had Last Man Standing. There were plenty of simple slice of life stories of a human becoming a pony and just living.

However, everything was just stories. Ideas that creative authors were throwing out there.

So... here's why I mentioned being straight forward.

Chat is the first one I saw that didn't seem to be writing a 'story' she was writing a 'belief'

You mentioned reading the original TCB is like reading the Christan bible.

The problem I have with that is the Bible, no matter what your personal beliefs are, is a book of RELIGIOUS TEXT that people try to live their entire life by.

TCB is a story. A random bit of fanfic on the web. That's all.

I don't enjoying reading TCB stories that seem to be trying to preach to me a message that one side (Humans or ponies) are better then the other.

I just want to read about a character that goes on an adventure. In my experience people stopped doing that. People began to take this WAY to seriously.

I'm the author of 'Fragments of Regret' The original idea was to set it up so humans would gain magic and therefore humanity could remain human, but still go hang out in Equestria if they wanted. I failed because I wanted to write the main character being a Dante like badass and it didn't work, but well live and learn. I actually have the story unpublished on here. Every now and then if I can muster the interest I go and poke around with it. Trying to 'fix' it into something better.

Damn it I think I'm rambling again.

Okay to try and make it as simple as I can. I liked the TCB because I enjoyed the characters having to struggle with what it meant to go from human to pony, and just watching them live in this interesting world.

A Twist in the Tail is about a guy who takes the 'cherry' potion and becomes a mare, then goes on having to deal with that.

A Midnight's Tale was just a guy becoming a pony and ends up in a relationship with Rainbow Dash.

Ten Days is about a guy with some friends who are all becoming ponies, and the fact he likes one of this friends in a romantic way and what becomes of that.

I guess it was just simpler back then. We didn't start making TCB seem like a religion. We didn't focus too much on 'The message' of what this all meant.

Back then it was just the individual stories of people, and that's what I miss.

For example, last time I wrote anything TCB, is an unfinished story about a guy getting ready to become a pony. He's friends with a stallion on the farm.

The catch is the guy (the MC) hasn't converted yet because he's waiting for some of the cherry potion to arrive. He wants to be female, but hasn't told anyone but the pony in charge of potions. This makes him worry about what his stallion friend is going to think when they find out he didn't become another stallion but a mare instead.

Things like that. That's what I enjoyed.

6964659 (videomaster21xx)

Oh, well ... you still seems to enjoy writing a bit (even if for forum post), so may be you will explain a bit more what you think were implications of "800 years promise"?

I got it, you want simpler stories.. if only we lived in world as described by Chatoyance, where simple story actually enjoyable because outside world not trying to crush & kill ones we love and ourselves ....

I think Chatoyance already pointed it out she tries not to have beliefs. While her views may look like one - she usually have reason to think this way. While she really likes to write well-integrated stories, I think "Tales of Los-Pegasus: City in Amber" actually may happen in much less globalized situation..

6964729
Yeah no, that's part of the problem the world shown to me in the 800 year old promise. Well it sucks.

A lot of Chat's stories have a theme of: "If we take away people's ability to angry or mean everything will be better"

It doesn't work that way. Yes a lot of shitty stuff happens in the world. That's why we have to be better then that. No magical ponies are going to come and fix the world for us. I wanted TCB to be less about the ponies fixing all our problems, and more about two races trying to co-exist.

Chat may try not to have beliefs but she does, and maybe she doesn't realize it, but they heavily influence the type of person she is. The problem is, she carries herself as if her beliefs are the only ones that are 'right'

To give an example, she fully believes Luna and Celestia to be deities. Goddesses. She made a blog post about it once stating she knew how things are written and how things work in the entertainment industry and there was no way they weren't meant to be all powerful gods.

A couple of us disagreed, and instead of being understanding of it, she basically said something to us along the lines of "Well if you want to be stupid and ignorant"

Then of course when we presented her with the line from an interview with Lauren Faust that states she never meant for them to be gods, Chat vanished from the discussion.

This is the theme of Chat's stories I hate. That if we were incapable of anything negative. Then the world would be like heaven.

I do not want a world like that, therefore I don't enjoy reading stories where the goal seems to be trying to give me a world like that.

Life is an adventure, but you have to take the bad with the good.

6964755 (videomaster21xx)

This is the theme of Chat's stories I hate. That if we were incapable of anything negative. Then the world would be like heaven.

I do not want a world like that

o.O

well, but why you can't imagine it as just ...'world upgrade'? Bad will be different kind of bad, not one seriously threatening to completely annihilating us and everyone who lives on this planet? A lot less intense shit, but still this mean a lot more ethical problems to solve (like, uh, sapient spiders from Everfree, or society's dynamics on 1000 years+ intervals ...)

If you dislike God(ness) subline you can develop your own, no?

Thing is, Chatoyance also _heavily disliked_ static, simple, inhumane in very bad way old dominant idea about Heaven, she write post about it (or may be it was comment?). So, yes, she created something ...more interesting. More realistic, if you want..with complex stuff going on, without requiring fear to be psychological driver, at least in normal times, for ponies.. Yes, this is why I so much like her works, and barely can read 'normal' pony authors ...she showed something not currently present in this world (in any significant quantity), yet it was very interesting to 'fly' that far from all usual assumptions and limitations of past/current human history..... To see both where 'we' tend to fail constantly, where such trajectory may lead, and how non-asshole-driven society may function....

6964779
Look I don't want to get into a debate like that. It's tiring, no one ever seems to come to any sort of agreement, and I just don't have the energy to argue it.

I will however say this: I do not give a shit as to what someone believes in a religious way. As long as you are personally trying to be a good person, an understanding person. I think that's all that matters.

The issue with most religious people though is they don't seem to get that you can't FORCE people to think the way you do.

I don't mind religions being around, and if you follow one and you feel it gives you purpose, that's great.

But I'm not "Going to hell" because I'm not a member.

Too many people try to label their religion as 'right', that others can't exist.

This is the crap that leaked into TCB. Ponies were the way. Humanity was the decline. Early TCB stories didn't really do that. Frankly TCB should have NEVER gotten like that. It's only story prompt. An idea for us to play with as authors.

Life is what it is. It's fun to imagine "what could be" sometimes, but in the end, you come back to life. It's not going away. The world can be full of pain and misery, and it's good to escape into fiction from time to time, but you HAVE to go back to life. You have to understand that you HAVE to face it. You can't run and hide from it, that's not healthy.

TCB became all about "Becoming a pony will set you free" No. Just no. Becoming a pony would only mean you are a different living creature now. There will still be pain, there will still be hardships. Not every pony is going to be your friend, but that's okay. Because it just means when we DO make a friend. It's all the more special.

6964828 (videomaster21xx)

You have to understand that you HAVE to face it. You can't run and hide from it, that's not healthy.

And what if what you face actually ... much worse than your ability to change it, even if not changing it will do a lot of shit? Like, world war-level amount of shit, even if not directly via war?

Something I was writing long ago

Anyway, a lot of human reality leaked into fandom (or was there from very beginning), I currently re-read some comments there, and one for example echoes your thinking ["As long as you are personally trying to be a good person, an understanding person. I think that's all that matters."] very directly:

When I write my ponies as kind, compassionate, caring, considerate, and honest with integrity toward each of these traits, I am not writing mary-sues, I am writing about ponies that have actively or passively studied the reason behind why they should do each of these things and actively practiced each of them until it became them.

- @PeachClover.

Yes, Chatoyance tend to BURN like torchship, but then there isn't many ways to say uncomfortable things in a way they even recognized.. Uncomfortable truth about humanity.. all our differencies, even with all discoveries to date never allowed us to put right kind of humans where power flows ...so, it was always 'big error after just error, followed by World Class Error, and no-one know how to stop this' ....

Apparently, only small % of humans sensitive to talks about neccessarity of being sensitive to the point of coherently trying to act it ..and ...bad kind of majority {lead by numerically-small 'leaders', who tend to evolve into something ...as you put it, unhealty, at the same time gaining power sometimes enough for literally burning down whole countries ...} wins, even if this means a lot of problems for everyone ....

feel free to uncover and hopefully act out and spread ways to flip *this* ...

ah, keyword was 'fan', not 'real'... some interesting observation I think I can copy here ....

A “true fan of the show” does not watch the show because their friends started watching it, or to understand some internet meme, or to make sense of the pony merchandise, and most importantly, they do not watch the show to keep up with “the crowd”. A “true fan” is someone who finds joy in watching, reading, doing, or otherwise enjoying something even if they were the only person in the world who knew of it's existence and believed that everyone they knew would dislike it.
Specifically, for fan fiction, the true fan of MLPFM can be identified as the one who goes through Fimfiction, finds a story that sounds interesting, and chooses to read it even though no one they know has read it, it has a very few number of reads, and may not have a very high rating. If a fan chooses to do this because they believe that there is something in that story that they alone may yet find interesting without the express intention to share the story with anyone for the sake of hype, then that person is a true fan. However, if this definition does not suit you, then understand that the person described above is a true fan of reading.

- again @PeachClover

IMO very important observation, very. We better to know forces (rhymes with horses) driving us in this or that direction, because otherwise we will end up in place we definitely shouldn't be .... We humans have this tendency to run with nearest humans, usually it works, but nowadays really may mis-lead, and it hard to find if we externally or internally driven, if both forces present at the same time, working in same direction....

Now, in dynamic world we all live everything even more complicated - I don't think I had any chance to find Chatoyance if she never put her words on (virtual, and even real) paper. So, only way to show your thinking is to show it ....

While 'humans sucks' may sounds too harsh as side to to join - you can at least try to explore all those subtle but powerful disbalances creating world where Mutually Assured Destruction is normal way of (non)handling nuclear weapon problem ..... for most powerful example.

So, how many % of ponies you need for reversing this tendency, and for how long? How to protect both them and humans they help from very powerful legacies and forces from world not even wanting to listen, let alone change? (even if change 'just' about psychology, not at species-level).

I don't like saying "True fan" Makes it sound elitist. At that point you start going: "Well if you were a TRUE FAN you'd do this, or think this"

Doesn't work that way.

And what if what you face actually ... much worse than your ability to change it, even if not changing it will do a lot of shit? Like, world war-level amount of shit, even if not directly via war?

You learn to deal with it. It's a thing that happens. It sucks, but that's the world. We can only do what we can. We can't fix everything, we can't change everything, but at the same time let's not pretend shit doesn't happen.

People kill other people. A lot. Now in pony you'll never see that happen, because it's a kids show, but if Equestria really existed? Yeah ponies would kill other ponies.

"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" it looks great, but we aren't really there.

I don't want the Conversion Bureau to be one big question of "Is it better to be a pony? Would the world be better if we were all ponies?"

Imagine it more in a D&D style campaign. You're party comes across a magical forest populated by talking horses. The magic in the forest will kill you if you enter it, unless you are a horse. So the party has to become horses to enter. What would being a horse be like? How would these horses live in the forest? What kind of place is it? Would some party members want to remain here as horses? Maybe, but in the end it's just another village. Just another town. They have criminals, they have disease, they have theft and the like.

That's what the Conversion Bureau was like at first. Then people kept going more and more toward: "But Equestria is a paradise! Being a pony is the only way!"

Chat's version was so much worse because it took something away from everyone who converted. Like I remember in the 800 year promise, something was hidden behind a guard fence, and a character mentioned how no pony would ever been able to break that fence due to the danger that'd cause.

That's not freedom. That's brainwashing. That's people are so desperate to believe as you said that world is an 'upgrade' and it'd be better off, and the truth is you have NO FUCKING IDEA if that's true, because simply put it's not possible to actually DO.

I for one, am not giving up all the pain I've felt in life. It's helped me grow, it's helped me be a better person, it's helped give me inspiration in the work I do.

The issue is this scenario DOESN'T GIVE ME THAT CHOICE. It's written that Celestia AI or who ever is in charge knows better and I'll thank them later. Yeah when I'm their mindless slave. I'm sorry if you don't understand, but it's my choice, and you have to accept it. You can't make me think differently, you can't convince me you know better.

My decision to do this doesn't affect you and shouldn't.

But that's what I see in TCB. Just a bunch of: "But if you look at it this way, being a pony would be better, or we can make humans better by altering them this way or-"

I don't want any of it okay? The fact you keep trying to shove it at me is frustrating, and is a LARGE part of why I got sick of writing for this universe.

Gone are the days where Equestria was just a country with a different set of rules humans got to go poke around in. No it's become humanity's ultimate goal, and do I ever HATE that.

6964853
@name doesn't work here. If you want me to see that you have written something directed to me, you have to use the reply button.

6965009 (PeachClover)

Unfortunately, clicking on 'reply' only adds "6965009" (internal for forum software message #?) and not name? May be there is some client-level java script not working correctly in Seamonkey ? (self-identification: User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/52.0 ). I see email notification uses numbers, not nicknames/aliases, too ..... A bit of mystery!

6965021
Hm, I see link (name with curved arrow at the left) in added comment, but not in edit box (where I can only see number). I tried to look up script used for this 'reply' function,but was unable to make any sense of it :/ May be enabling wasm in about;:onfig (WebAssembly) helped at least with already-posted comments .....

Ah, no, just hitting 'refresh' button on this page makes 'number' into 'name' .....

Actually, I think "Broken Dream #4" provides good starting point for something ...more grassroot.

The contents of the bottle will transform your kind into us. The cup measures one dose, there is enough to transform six individuals.

Well, from text it quite obvious four ponies will be Chatoyance and her extended family? But who might be two other ponies? Now I can guess one, but story was written in 2012 ... Anyway, how much can do just six magical ponies? They (according to described ways this transformation works) will have a lot of health, long lifespan (but not immortality), ability to grow plants, and potentially manipulate things and beings at very fine level.

I tend to think this (after initial shock fades out) can be used for literally washing away all this permanent mental smog we humans tend to accumulate over years and decades of living in current times. Less fears in thinking, more bravety in saying things honestly, more sensitivity and far-thinking in social relations. Less pain in general ... But even then I think you only can help may be human or so daily? So, for something like 10 years (3600 days) you have 3500 or a bit more humans, who know how to stand, and for what exactly they should stand .. Multiply this by 5 or 6 ....17 000 - 21 000 humans. Not nothing, but far cry from transforming whole city, especially if such powers to clear and upgrade our humanity not transferred by simple (prolonged) contact. So, without some massive-scale help from Celestia/Luna (and all of Equestria, and human-ponies) this not really looks like fast enough road (bad global-scale trends considering). But 10 years of fixing humans (in such a way they will not fall back) must be realistic. As number of those converts grow - they obviously will try to help each other and 'normal' humans (and non-humans), but it will uphill battle, so they probably will be forced to detect those people who have more power and mishandle it ..and lure them into (psychological) Conversion Bureau (what can be spa, for example ..with earthony grown foods ..tested by some skeptical government worker, who had a moment to try it on yourself ..and pass verdict: "ediable and safe, just a bit ..sparkling. With magic. But safe, definitely safe". And even _may be_ (ponies are cautious ) good for your health. ) After all power-hungry humans definitely not happy, at very deep level.... but they usually not allow anyone to even detect this, let alone try to fix. But they often like something ..exotic. And , in sense, privileged ... So, may be once in a while they will get exactly what they both need and want ...

A lot less ads and overinflated hype - but a lot more results than anything done that far in any part of the world ....

6964988 (videomaster21xx)

I think I found something similar, precedent in history ...

http://www.unicorn-dream.co.uk/destrier/Fiction/sotc.html

This story is based on Welchel Jeffrey's story Servants Of The Creator, which was published on the TSA mailing list. A lively debate was in progress between those list members who simply enjoyed writing transformation stories, and those list members who genuinely wanted to change shape. He proposed that maybe some of us had been miscast in the wrong bodies, and invented an organisation dedicated to correcting the problem. In his case the mistake was simply one of gender, but he kindly let me apply it to species too. (The people mentioned herein used to be prominant TSA personalities.)

And other interesting files from this archive
Beta Test
The Strange Abduction of Dr Bob
Ponderings
The Housemaid's Lament
Chastising Lon

6974396
I've poked around there.

Things got heated last time I replied here, and a lot of it was me just getting very frustrated, but it does make me wonder:

Is Chat's version of TCB what you think of? Is the TCB to you a collection of stories meant to explore humanity basically 'evolving' into a more peaceful race? Or I guess to try and put it another way. Is your idea of it to end with humanity becoming ponies because that's 'better'

Because that's not what I'm interested in at all, and frankly I don't feel that's what the TCB was meant to be. It's not what I wish it became.

I ask myself questions. What is it like to be female? What is it like to be a horse? A dog? A unicorn? A pegasus? A dragon? You gain experience being in the form you are in now. Humanoid and either male or female. But what if you could become something else? Even for a little while? How would that feel?

In the case we became a pony, how would that feel? How would it feel to suddenly seem shorter due to your new eye level? How would it be to have to use your mouth to operate things like door handles? I feel the earlier TCB stories studied this a bit more.

I also was in love with the fact that we had the idea, but nothing was really cemented yet. People were taking the idea of the TCB and adding their own spin to it. Like Yellowstone. It was so fascinating to see all the creativity and imagination writers were coming up with for this idea. All rooted in a simple concept. That humans could go visit this 'alien world' by becoming said creatures that happened to be equine.

Hell as a kid I often wanted to become a unicorn thanks to the movie "The Last Unicorn" so all of this just drew me in.

I didn't mind there being some MINOR mind alteration of humans becoming ponies. Maybe something to just keep them calm for a few hours after the transformation, or something to help with basic motor control.

Making it though so they can't get angry or couldn't even smack another pony in the face though is going a bit too far.

TCB became like a cult. I mean it's pretty much LITERALLY Starlight Glimmer's village before Twilight and the gang fix it. You become a pony and you're always smiling, always happy. Just another cog in the system.

I'll never be a fan of that, and that poison ruined the great tapestry that the series had been for me. People weren't doing their own little unique spins to it. We stopped getting stories simply exploring how weird it'd be to go from human to pony, and instead began to focus on the end goal. An end goal I was never a fan of. An end goal sadly Chat REALLY wanted to push.

So that's pretty much where this tale ends. I can't bring myself to read much more of Chat's works because I see her beliefs interwoven within them. I know you said she tried to write in a way that they weren't present, but they are, and I see them. She wants the TCB to be a very specific way, and I don't care for that way.

I want what I had, but I'll never get it back.

Knowing that? Just makes it hard to write for this universe now.

Look... I'm glad if you enjoy Chat's works, and maybe they mean a lot to you. Maybe they help you. But I'm not you.

6975377 (videomaster21xx)

But what if you could become something else? Even for a little while? How would that feel?

- well, you want it safe and reversable....

Making it though so they can't get angry or couldn't even smack another pony in the face though is going a bit too far.

- ? Really, how you can say so if you not even read majority of Chatoyance's works?

So... basically, the fact that he could even say such stupid, mean things really hit me. That's what shocked me. It's hard to swear like before. We seem to have lost most of our anger, all of our hatred - don't you agree? Is there anything at all you can hate anymore?
"There are things I... dislike... but... no. There were things I used to hate, when I was a human. I mean really, deeply hate. Dark, deep hatred type hate. But... now, I just feel sorry for them, or bad for it, but... I haven't felt hate at all since Conversion. I don't think I can anymore. I don't think any of us can anymore. It's permanently gone."
Right! No hate, no really terrible anger. I can't even be completely mad at Velvet. If anything I feel sorry for him, for being a stupid bigot. I almost feel like I want to try to help him, like he was sick and needed care. Is that weird or what? It freaks me the muffin out, I have to say.
I was yelling because I was shocked that, after Conversion, any pony could still have... stupid human beliefs, like those anymore. It shocked me, because I kind of figured that, what with the loss of anger and hate and swearing and stuff that.... that...
"You figured that Conversion would cure bigotry and dumb beliefs and stuff. I understand now, Sunshine. Clearly, it can't. And maybe that's a good thing, in a way."
What? How is that... how could that ever be a good thing? What the Hay?
"Sunshine, think about it. If Conversion could change all of your beliefs and thoughts, then... you wouldn't be... you, anymore, would you? We kind of are our thoughts... if you think about it. Conversion clearly gives us... some new hardware, inside. I guess it gives us a new operating system, maybe. We're running on a new machine, a new body, and that new body is different than human. That's to be expected, really.

from Going Pony .....

An end goal sadly Chat REALLY wanted to push.

- well, try to think WHY ...hint: this world is nowhere near nice ..... and yes, I will assert if we can't even imagine anything else _even for magical land with magical ponies_ .... then our imagination just outrun by our Fear(s). Fears of something really new.

I think old transformation stories barely scratched even everyday living as pony/horse/unicorn, so be happy with you living in post-MLP-FiM times ....