• Published 8th Feb 2012
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Equestria: A Flux Tale - Star Sage



A Tiny Human lands in Equestria. Why? What? Who? Questions to be answered, and a quest to be found.

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Q & A(Chat with the Author)

Okay ladies, gentlemen, and others on the net, time for something I’ve wanted to do for a while. Since there are a few questions I keep getting asked, I’m going to do a quick FAQ in this part, and then a character list next, and then continue on with the story after that. This will be updated as I’m asked other questions I think you might have at this point in the story, or otherwise I would like to see answered myself. So, without farther ado, the questions.

1) Where did this story come from?

Well, in truth, it’s based off an interactive story on Writing.com started by Typhlofang, titled My Little Pony: FiM Shrink Interactive. Yes, it was a fetish story, and got me into writing this. No, the fetish part of this is no longer important, and is mostly downplayed, and used to create some situations for the human. However, as you might guess, this originally had no plan, and no story. In fact, originally, it ended with Octavia eating you inside a PB&J sandwich, and that was it. I liked writing it so much though, that I decided to keep it going, and I think I’ve done pretty well so far.



2) What was up with that golden cloud thingie in Chapter 27-29?

I thought I explained that pretty well, but I seem to have confused a few people, so I’ll just state it out and out here. The cloud was a leyline cross point between dimensions. Basically, it was a place where two dimensions touched enough for you to interact with another version of yourself from an alternate Equestria that suffers from Rule 63, meaning everyppony is the opposite gender. The pony with the other version of the human was male, but there is a reason for that, one that’s a spoiler, so no I’m not telling you.



3) How does the human’s power work?

Well, that’s complicated, and one I’ve tried to answer a few times. If you notice, the other version of himself tried to explain it, but then something happened. He tried to explain it to Dr. Whooves, and then something happened, and DawnChaser tried to explain it, and then something happened. In all three, I wasn’t planning on that stuff happening, so I think the story just doesn’t want me to explain it. Well nuts to that, here’s how his pow-*And then the Fire Nation attacked*

No, no it did not. I am explaining things, even if I have to drop kick Lord Sozin himself! *Proceeds to fight Fire Nation troops, wins, and gets to kiss June, the bounty hunter, because she’s awesome.*

Anyhow, the power is Flux, or Phenomena Fluctuation. Flux exists in deep space, and are places where reality is fluid, where all possibilities exist at once, and are caused by energy buildup in that section of space. In essence, it’s the power to do anything, so long as the energy to do it exists.

In specific, he has three powers, though to date, he’s only used two.

First, the Power to Create. If you think of reality as a big equation, with numbers shifting, then this is the power to add numbers to your side. For instance, he wants to possess Voltron’s sword, he just needs to envision it, and then add the power that’s shaped by his desire to his equation. While he’s holding it inside his field, the Power to Create maintains it, but when he lets go, the universe finally notices the extra numbers, and nullifies them, by spreading them around to rebalance the equation, which is why they seem to pop the way they do. The energy inherent in their creation is literally being spread around, it’s also why they leave little dots of light behind when they pop.

For those curious, the energy attacks don’t have the same thing happen because there’s much less energy in them. The power of a blast of magic, is much less than that contained in a magic sword, plus the universe hates the breaking of the law of conservation of mass. Still the closer the object he’s making to reality is, the easier it becomes. Which is why magic weapons and armor are easy, but he had to focus so hard to create mecha(It becomes easier once already made once, because the possibility of the object existing is closer to normal)

Second, the Power to Change. This is probably quite a bit scarier, but is one of his abilities. If the above is him just adding to his side of the equation, this is more adding to both sides of it, so that the universe accepts the new numbers. This can do things like the Plant Growth spell, which he altered the way the universe worked for a few hours to allow the plants to grow like that, which is why there was no magic present for the Professor or the Princess to sense, because it was literally the universe working as it should, at least for that moment. It can also allow him to overlay the Alchemy physics of Full Metal Alchemist to allow him to do things he sees there. Mind, the lightning effect electrolyzed all the water on his skin, and inside the open parts of his body, like his throat, nose, and ears. It’s why he was smoking when it ended.

Now, this one is scary because, if done perfectly, so that the equation balances, the change will be retroactive. As an example, say he wants a wall to be green, and makes it so with this aspect of his power, then everypony will remember it as being green, even if that makes no sense. It’s harder to achieve this effect than creation, but the closer the change is, the easier it is to make the change work, and the easier it is to make the equation balance perfectly, making the change retroactive.

Third, the Power to Destroy. The most horrifying of his powers, as this one is completely retroactive. Think of this as adding negative numbers to both sides, until both sides of the equation are zero. Though it can’t actually change history, the perception of history will have been altered, to make it so that no one questions why something happened differently. To continue with the wall example above, it will cease to exist at all, and though there’s now nothing there, and the structure is less stable, no one will question why there’s no wall there, and may even make excuses for this fact.

If you’re already thinking about this, then I’ll answer this, yes, the Princesses, Discord, and other ‘God’ Level beings would be aware of the change, because their perception of reality is bigger than a mortal, and so they can actually see the Zero, where others wouldn’t. Still, even they might forget details. Just think if he used this on Twilight, or anypony else he doesn’t like.

The good news, I don’t think the human is evil enough to use this power, or that he’s even aware of it. Better than that, this requires the most energy of them all, and is thus, the hardest to use. Even better than that, I’m a happy writer, and barring that Discord bit, don’t plan on having grim dark in this story. If you’re wondering about the bad news…well, you’ll just have to keep wondering.



4) Why is Discord so different in this fic compared to others?

I really was surprised with the number of people who asked me this one, especially since this one is an interpretation thing. Still, since it’s been asked, I’ll answer this by listing out the versions I’ve seen, and what I think the reasons there are behind them. Some of them are based off the VA, Mr De Lancee, who played Q in the modern Star Trek, but what most forget is he evolved over the course of his existence, and even he can be interpreted differently, depending on the episode and your own prejudices about the character. Anyway, Discord.

The Fun Loving Trickster. This one is based off him always laughing, always smiling, and seemingly just enjoying the joke that is life. He doesn’t seem to notice that his jokes harm others, and the people who believe this one will say he’s just misunderstood. Myself…well, remember those windows we saw? Remember how, for the most part, they were literal scenes we’d seen before, like the Six blasting Nightmare? Now remember that Discord’s got a picture of him holding three ponies over open flames by puppet strings…yeah, not fun.

The Spurned Lover Out For Revenge. This one depends on how you interpret his lines to Celestia, and I must admit, there does seem to be something there. However, rewatching the scene, I think he was just playing with her myself, using the lines like that to make her mad, rather than really feeling anything.

The God of Evil. This one is the one I obviously take away. Think about it, really. It’s obvious that if he’d wanted to, he could have just killed the ponies at the beginning, given how easily he manipulates them, but he didn’t. He wanted to break them, to turn them against themselves, and then laugh at their misery. He mind raped the first five, solely to make the sixth a miserable wreck. That’s evil, in no uncertain terms, and that’s the Discord I see.

Worse, as I stated, the events of Progress are somewhat canon here, because he claims Luna sent him to the bottom of the World of Dreams, where every day passes like it was a year. She put him in the worst possible position, as even when he was statue, and Luna was on the moon, the two were at least aware of the world around them. Now though? He was completely cut off, for hundreds of years(He’d been stone for over a year, though how much over I’m not saying), only having himself and his own imaginings to talk to. If he weren’t evil when he went in, he was crazy when he came out.



5) You mention other fics as canon with yours, why is that? Are you just a hack who steals others ideas?

Indeed I am. Though in reality, it’s just, when this was thought up, those were the fics I read, and enjoyed, and as this was going to be just a fetish story, I was going to include elements of them in the fic itself. It ended up growing beyond that, but since I still enjoyed them, I kept those elements in, rather than trying to retcon them. For those curious, the fics involved in this one are…
Progress, up till the part where she seals Discord, at that point, the timeline diverges, mostly because in this interpretation, after that, she started to take on the full duties of the Princess of the Night, including taking her own Court.
Vinyl Scratch Tapes, these I found as a single audio drama on Youtube, and recommend them all. However, the second season came out while I was writing my fic, and it went in a completely different direction with Trixie than I needed, so again, this one diverges a bit, after season 1, Vinyl tried some booster for her equipment, and it burned down the studio. BTW, this does mean there’s radio and even telephones in Equestria. That might or might not be important.



6) How does Discord withstand the Elements of Harmony?

I thought this was obvious, but since I did get this question, I’ll say it’s because his first barrier, the one that blocked the Vector Cannon, refracted energy, and that, to my eyes, is what the Elements of Harmony are, pure energy. Good energy, yes, that doesn’t destroy, but changes for the better, but still, energy. He appeared to be stone using his own powers just to mess with the ponies, since that’s the kind of guy he is.



7) How did the human take away Discord’s powers?

Mostly because he’s a human, and the ponies are ponies. Originally, Discord was sealed in stone because neither Celestia nor Luna were willing to kill(I doubt the Elements would even work for someone with Killing Intent), and so they couldn’t do it. When Twilight and her friends used them, they knew that he would be sealed in stone, so even if FlutteRage had taken over, this was what they imagined would happen.

The human, in the meantime, was aware that sealing him in stone was just a temporary band aid on this particular wound in the world of Equestria, and he would need a more permanent solution. He’s also not willing to kill, but since he knew the Elements could remove evil, in the same way they shattered Nightmare Moon from around Luna, he figured if he got them inside, where Discord’s evil power lay, it would nullify them. It worked, and he’s darn lucky it did.



8) Why hasn’t Octavia tried to use the human as a sex toy yet?

This one is usually phrased differently, mostly in the variant of why I haven’t had them have sex, with the asker forgetting about the size diff, but the point stands. Until he got big, he couldn’t have been anything other than a toy for her, and now that he is big, it still won’t happen, because it stopped being that type of fic a long time ago. You want clop, it’s on the net, this one has become a human in Equestria story, and I think a darn good one.



9) How did the human use the Element like that?”

Essentially, he used Change to alter them so they worked through his blade weapon, but only after taking their power, and their potential into himself. In doing so, he saw the history of them, and understood them better, allowing him to make the best use of them. They cannot be used in anger, they can only be used to help, and at that moment, helping everyone meant taking away Discord’s ability to hurt them, forever.



10) Why so many OCs? Also, how many of them are yours?

Originally, I’d intended the action of the fic to take place in Ponyville, but thinking on it, the Princesses would be more important to the overall plot than anypony else, so I changed that. Doing so meant the Mane Six were kind of not going to be available all the time, and since I wanted my OC in the story, I decided to add him, then moved the fic to Canterlot.

I did try to keep the Six in the fic as main characters, but…it’s hard to get them to act out the roles I needed. So I dropped them, and added ones who would, a mentor figure in the Captain, a researcher in the Professor, and the Doctor to a degree, and some fun pals in Vinyl and Octavia. Overall, I’m happy with them, and enjoy them.

Some of the OCs aren’t mine though, here’s a list of the cameo’s so far.

DawnChaser: My personal OC, and my presence in the story. When I need to alter a scene, I put him in and take full control.
Frazzle Dazzle: My girlfriend’s OC, and basically a fun loving girl who works with yarn made from gemstones. I thought that since she does crochet and gem wouldn’t make good thread, but would make good yarn, she would be interesting.
Deasly: He belongs to a user of the same name. The guy who inspired me to write my own stuff, and a lot of fun besides. Notice he’s usually the voice of reason.
Tailfire: Typhlofang’s pony. He was the one who made the interactive of which this was originally a part, and asked for a cameo. I didn’t want to say no, and I even got to name him, and basically make his personality from scratch, since he had no fic presence, just some vore comics that Typhlofang had had made with him.
Pyro: The Pyro King’s pony. A user on FiMFiction who asked, and then did a chapter based off one of mine that I liked, so I decided why not. He’s actually been a lot of fun to play with, so I don’t regret the decision at all.
Everypony else: Mine, from the Captain, to Rex, to Diamond Eye. All mine, and thus, my toys to play with.



11) Can I have a cameo?

Well…um, if you ask nice, maybe? I did leave the positions of apprentices open(Notice that three of the four so far are in that group, to keep them all together), so I can add. Just don’t expect huge roles out of this. Still, if you want, ask, the worst I can say is Clatu Berata Nicto. And heck, fresh blood is always fun, so more often I’ll say yes, though you should have at least some idea of the pony, how he/she acts, and looks, and their history and Cutie Mark.



That’s it for the Q and A today, if you have anymore questions, comment, PM, or ask for my email, and if I think it’s a question a few people might have, I’ll update the FAQ. Next, a character list.

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