I honestly don't know why this crossed my mind but after reading "Her Last Possession" by Chatoyance I began to wonder, "What if you want to take your pet with you?" Knowing what I know about the ponification serum in Chatoyance's works that would likely be a no but would there ever be an instance where you could? I'm planning on doing a story where a man is faced with that decision, escape to Equestria alone OR stay human and die on earth, with his beloved cat.....or maybe both could escape?

7280312
In (at least my version of) The Conversion Bureau, pets are not able to enter Equestria until near the end of the eight year time period until the earth is gone. Around year five, the Barrier becomes intelligent enough to convert small animals successfully. At first, it can only do mutie-rats and insects, but within months it works up to the very few remaining cats and dogs, both wild and domesticated. Virtually all other animals are extinct already. The Barrier never has the time required to learn how to convert anything larger than a small dog before the world ends.

Only the very wealthiest of the wealthy, the true elite, would have one of the last remaining natural domestic cats or dogs. Collectively, there are only about fifty individuals left in all the world. They are repeatedly cloned, because there are not enough specimens left to actually breed successfully without massive genetic errors. They are effectively both extinct species, but preserved via cloning for sentimental and collector reasons.

The lesser elite and some rich Twopers (Green level or higher) would have artificial cats and dogs. These pets have genegineered, vat-grown, biological skin and muscles and organs, but possess a machine crafted titanium skeleton and quantum chips for a brain. They are programmed with RealPet behavioral routines, come in designer colors and fur patterns, have learning-capable neural nets, and deliberately limited lifespans. They can be renewed, though, with a new flesh subscription, for those that have grown attached to the artificial personality of their pets.

These artificial pets cannot be converted and enter Equestria. They are absolutely doomed. Well... until Luna, who has read books enough to understand human technology, takes pity on them in:

Little Blue Cat

This story does not take place until late in the game, so there is ample room for a tale about a person who will not part with their artificial dog or cat!

7280320

I suppose I'm still a little lost on the whole idea overall. After a person is ponified, are they taken to the barrier and they cross over there or do they wait for the barrier to come to them. But eventually the barrier does have the ability to allow domesticated animals to enter Equestria? If that is the case, then perhaps my idea for a story will work although the main character, who I am modeling after myself, is not wealthy.

Chances are our ideas of how the earth will be as year eight approaches is likely different in your universe compared to how I am planning on taking my story. I'll be sure and check your story out though, it sounds interesting.

7280323
May I recommend, if you find you like Little Blue Cat at all, this work to learn - in one go - virtually everything you need to know about the Conversion Bureau universe -

27 Ounces

This work provides a solid grounding in the story universe!

7280312
You could also become a pony and stay with your pet on Earth until the last possible second. Ponies aren't forced to cross the barrier, they just can.

7280323
You could also make your own Conversion Bureau story, one that does not run on the same rules as other's.

7280312
Unpopular opinion here probably, but Chatoyance's version of The conversion Bureau is not the original. Theirs is just one version of how it can work.

Before hers there was only a general idea of how things worked, and pets wasn't really brought up. So you can make your own rules on how that goes down. It could be easier for animals to cross over, given they do exist in Equestria. Maybe magic is able to integrate with them easier and allows them to live in Equestria. Humans have to become ponies because no such creature exists in Equestria and thus our forms are incompatible with the world.

That does bring up the question of what happens to horses/ponies of our world. That's be weird if you really loved your pony and wanted to take her with you, only for her intelligence to begin increasing and she starts talking to you. That could be an interesting story.

See what works for you and go for it. Remember that you don't HAVE to be boxed in by others ideas. That was one of the joys I got from this universe.

7280509

That does bring up the question of what happens to horses/ponies of our world. That's be weird if you really loved your pony and wanted to take her with you, only for her intelligence to begin increasing and she starts talking to you. That could be an interesting story.

I would read that. Make it a discussion on animal rights.

7280509 I am going to very much agree here - you don't need to 100% follow Chatoyance's vision - or anyone else's - 100%, even if you do use it as a starting point for your own universe. That said, I wholeheartedly recommend anyone doing worldbuilding to examine not only what related works have done (In addition to various TCB tales, I also recommend exploring Starscribe's Ponies After People stories), but also the broad strokes of what all of your changes and decisions imply. For your topic, would an animal need to be converted? If so, what would that require, and would that divert resources away from human conversion? And if they wouldn't, why not? Is there something specific to humanity that causes us to be unable to survive in Equestria without it that does not affect other species - and what would that be?

7280509

I have begun to write it and I do have my own plans on how it will work. It will involve Equestria initially being a pocket universe that forms in the South Atlantic where there is an anomaly in the earth's magnetic field and then began to expand outwards....slowly but surely. The main character, who will be much like me, will be one of the deniers. He will be the type that not only considers such a thing as scientifically impossible but will also view it as a way for "The new world order" to control people and despite having seen addresses from the princesses on TV and even newfoals, he will see it as all computer generated. It won't be until he loses family to the ever expanding barrier and then honest, like minded co-workers having him take them to the nearest bureau that will cause him to start to give it a bit of validity.

He will then go to the bureau with his cat but they will tell him that he can't take his cat with him across the barrier so he goes home, 200 miles away. Now I know this will likely go against how TCB stories work, he will be visited by Princess Celestia in the night and will be given a note that will give him permission to take his cat with him across the barrier after conversion. I do have other ideas that will likely conflict with many TCB stories, such as the main character asking about what he would do as far as work in Equestria, but I figure that if I don't have to build it solely around one TCB universe, I'll go ahead with it.

7281061
Honestly I feel as long as you are enjoying writing your story, that's all that really matters.

7281081

That is all I need to hear. I know it likely won't fit into many TCB universes but hey, my whole ponyverse is radically different so why should I use someone else's TCB universe?

7280664

That's be weird if you really loved your pony and wanted to take her with you, only for her intelligence to begin increasing and she starts talking to you. That could be an interesting story.

- double quote here ..

But I (as someone who lives with my dog, and talk way too much (according to some) about non-humans as non-human animals in our world) definitely read nearly everything written by Chatoyance as seriously questioning current {abusive} state of human/animal relations. Because I apparently simply can't read it with my eyes closed. So, my recommendation is to read I.D. - That Indestructible Something from cover to cover ... Again, I don't think this specific universe - The Conversion Bureau by Chatoyance was set like it was set just for lulz - it shows how things we take for granted today can be vaporized in relatively short time frame. Yes, humans are adaptable animals ..problem is, 'we' can adapt ourselves into very...hard to recovery from corners/situations. And yes, animals dies first, because they have no big way to protect themselves (and their self-protection often just trigger even more ... wrong things on them). Not all humans like it this way - but very few CAN _effectively_ protest such actions ... This is again one of my biggest problems with current humans - they can be pushed into doing or supporting very ...sad things. And I have no (usable) idea what to do about it ...

Also, on-re-reading I.D. I wonder (in some muted horror) if I still have something pony important inside me, or it all was quietly annihilated some time ago already ....
[quote"A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us."

- Franz Kafka] - guess I personally have no other way but try to live by [and enact] this maxim.. even if apparently many humans have ...troubles ... reading AND understanding AND acting on knowledge gained from books (in ethical sphere, technology a bit simpler)