When a fantasy world’s story ends in fire, the gods of the humans sacrifice everything to send the last remnant of their charges to a new world, beyond the reach of their powerful enemies.
The humans who had lost everything are now given a new world to explore, but will the hazards of the Everfree prove too much for them? And how exactly will the Equestrians react to their new neighbors?
Will the humans adapt to their new gods, or will they die out twice?
This is my first fic, I wanted to try something I haven't seen before.
I can't improve without criticism. Feel free to point stuff out.
Chapters (19)
Fairly nice idea, and a unique way to actually cause interaction between them and the ponies, what with trying to summon a 4-legged herbivore.
Looking forward to seeing just what happens.
“It’s Year One.”
I panic.
You know, I don't understand why RD doesn't just fly off. Oh well.
Oh, and the magic sounds A LOT like Patryn Runic Magic from The Death Gate series. Although they know how it works, mostly.
This is fantastic.
Bahaha
This is an awesome story.
Good chapter, but it ended on a weird note.
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You had a point about the ending... Here's hoping the bad puns tie up the scene better.
Next chapter should be up sometime today, barring unforeseen complications.
Cool. Reminds me of when Celebi turns into a giant fuckin gargoyle in Pokemon 4ever.
WTF this is so good how does it have so few views and likes?
I think he is plenty powerful because his specialty lies in fire magic and burning things and they are in a forest with plenty of burnable things as their opponents, pit him against something resistant to fire and *poof* there goes this advantage and hell be average at best.
So did he just try to incinerate a deity?
That's going to be one hell of a story to tell if he managed to pull it through.
2732247 Only if he lives through it, but considering one of the triggers needed was his death...
Hmm. Good. More please.
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One of the triggers was his death, it had more then one in case the god notices what he is planning and kills him.
It was a safeguard to ensure it goes of anyway, also Sophia said that they cannot be harmed by the flames they conjure so the biggest danger for him here is the absence of oxygen the fire causes and maybe the smoke.
Just so you know.
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Thanks for letting me know.
I'll see if I can't come up with a change of title I'm satisfied with. Though if anyone has suggestions, I'm willing to entertain a few.
2746865
It Takes a Town? It Takes a Species? It Takes the Lotion Out of the Basket and Puts it on It's Skin or Else It Gets the Hose Again?
I don't necessarily see anything wrong with having the same title as another work but for honesty and courtesy sake, you might want to poke at the other author to be sure he's ok with it. If not, well, it's up to you if you want to honor him with a title change.
Also, some readers might be irritated if they find this when searching for that and some might be apt to call shenanigans even when none are intended. So there is that to weigh as well.
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I don't disagree; if I can't come up with another title I like, I'll ask him if he has a problem with me using it.
"It Takes A Village" has a couple layers of meaning to it as a title, as do most of my chapter titles. I'm hoping to think of something else that rolls off the tongue, is descriptive, and has that same depth.
Swapping "Village" out for a synonym just doesn't do it for me.
Exprosions, lots of awesome and action, and now Dissy talking with one of the most chaotic races ever? I say good sir, this is a good story!
2747169 It Takes a Species
Would you believe I made a list of possible titles 30 items long?
Time will tell, but I think I might like this one even more than I did the old one. It's a bit more descriptive, even if it does lose some of that symbolism.
Hehe, with that name change, I had thought this was some sort of old story that I followed ages ago, and forgot about.
Discord seems fine, I guess he wants his own peeps to play with.
Discord is alright - I'm more worried about the trope of 'Celestia knows of and hates humans' that's been done to death.
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It's a good deal more complex than that, but I'm rather hesitant of revealing the inner workings of the situation. 'Spoilers' and all that.
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I'll stick around but I absolutely detest the whole 'Celestia knows about humans and hates them because they are EVUL (except my 'not self insert for reals gaiz' self insert protagonist who is the only good one and I'll ship him with all the
ManeMain 6 because he is the best)' ... thing that some people end up going into.If this goes that way, I'm out! Just saying.
Please don't go that way.
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I feel that I can avoid giving anything major away by saying the following:
[REDACTED] neither Celestia nor Luna perceives humans as evil, but [REDACTED]
I have no plans to ship any characters...currently. We'll see if the plot demands it later.
To my knowledge, none of the characters are self-inserts.
This fic adheres to canon (if only my interpretation of it) up until Twilight gets wings, and is in fact set some time after that event. (At least I've outright said it now.)
I look forward to having you aboard. We'll see how long I can retain your interest.
Damn. I hate those three's better than you attitudes and speciest views..... I hope they get what's coming to them....
James Mender... you monster. Messing with their minds instead of trying to explain the situation? I know he meant well, but... Well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Discord... opposing brainwashing? Celestia and Luna being implied to resort to it? Huh. Interesting reversal, having Discord being more of a "good guy" than either of the other two. I guess the Equestrian gods can't really be sorted into "Good", "Evil", and "Balance (or Order or whatever)" like the humans' old gods, can they? I mean, Discord has done terrible things in the past but he's the good guy here, while Celestia and Luna are generally considered to be "Good" yet their original intended response to this development is, well... monstrous.
The only things that are slightly upsetting to me are:
1. Celestia, Luna, and Discord as gods, something I despise in FiM fics... Though I suppose given that the displaced humans were from a traditional fantasy setting that had gods as well, and that all of these gods (including Discord, Celestia, and Luna) are not of the omnipotent and omniscient variety but instead are simply very powerful beings this is more forgiveable. On the other hand, they are implied to have power over the afterlife, which is pretty worrying (though again I suppose this fits with the traditional fantasy setting as well).
2. Celestia and Luna being implied to be willing to use brainwashing/mind control in the name of Harmony... Eugh. Maybe it is because I just played the original Fallout but I can't help but thing of the Master and his Unity.
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That is applying human concepts of good and evil to an alien race. Whatever is Harmonious is Good, whatever is Dis-harmonious (not Chaotic, just that which threatens Harmony itself - even an excess of Harmony sometimes) is Evil. That is the Pony Way. If enforcing brainwashing is Harmonious, then it is Good (Princess Cadence causing love to flourish when it would have died).
However, I agree with the point about them being 'gods.' I never liked that in my reading, though I am forgiving when it is done right.
Oh this should be fun! I think that reformed chaos is a fitting representative for humanity. I eagerly await sensei Discord's words of wisdom.
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Eh, you can say that about any moral system... And to be fair I suppose that would be true. No such thing as objective morality, after all. Of course, that means that old school Discord would not have been evil, since he could have defined "Good" as "anything that amuses me" and "Evil" as "anything that doesn't amuse me". Likewise Nightmare Moon could have defined "Good" as "Eternal Night" and evil as "Not Eternal Night". Yet for some reason everyone seems to be comfortable with labeling them and their actions as "evil"...
We each of our own personal moralities, and my personal morality places brainwashing as the ultimate evil, even worse than death. I despise it utterly. Any use of it by Celestia or Luna automatically places them in the "evil" category for me.
Besides, I don't find it unreasonably to apply human concepts of good and evil to an alien race, given that the alien race in question is modeled after humanity to the extent that besides their different bodies they are virtually indistinguishable from us. That is, they are not sufficiently alien in mind to make it so that our own labels of good and evil are inapplicable to them.
2772370
Well, I'd say Old-Discord and Nightmare Moon are frequently labeled evil for two reasons. First, because they are antagonists in the show, and are not shown in a positive light. Second, if one transplanted their actions to our world, eternal night would kill everyone, as would Discord's chaos-spree. Things that result in global extinction events tend not to go over well.
Of course, in the world of the show, these things might not result in widespread death, because cartoon physics, so it's much more of a gray area. Causing widespread discomfort isn't quite as frowned upon as death, after all. Of course, both villains were essentially attempting coup d'etats, which is hard to justify unless you can paint Celestia's rule in a particularly unsympathetic light.
I have seen a few fics that try to sympathize with these two characters, but I find it rather difficult to make them seem like the good-guys without pushing it into Alternate Universe territory, given the source material we have to work with.
On the subject of this particular fic, I reserve the right to remain silent, but will point out that there is no Alternate Universe tag.
Just found this story and I'm happy that I did. I like it, and to chime in on the current conversation:
1.)Discord saying that the pony sisters do something isn't really a basis to make a factual claim about what they do and don't do.
2.) even if they do 'reform' people, it's possible that it's along the lines of the elements of harmony, *purging* the "negative" aspects and leaving you still there, just without your bad side (turning discord to stone since his "negative" aspects are all he was) and not so much brainwashing.
3.) at the end of this chapter I thought to myself, "oh god, what have you done." So kudos for that.
2949439 Life has been demanding lately, but I should have something within a week or so.
After this week (finals week) is over I should have time to devote to this again.
Nice chapter. I like the whole fiasco going on, definitely be looking forward to more.
i hope this story will show the light and playful side of humanity other then the cold and serious type humanity all the time were complex after all and designing magic wonder fun~! how many will there be from dark scary magic to healing perhaps or tricky fun from shape changer or power of the mind o that be fun so many kinds!
Just to toss in my opinion, is like to see a necromancer. Story-wise, I really like it, and the multiple viewpoints helps. Though maybe put a viewpoint in for Discord? Still a great story!
Well then, seems Discord here is a teensy weensey little biased. Not that I'm saying anything, nope, not at allohgodpleasedon'thurtme
2998405 Oh HELL no, Necromancy wouldn't fly. Grogar anyone?
And then everyone gets random powers, that they receive when they discover their true calling.
2998526 pardon? Grogar? Maybe I'm a little confused. *googles grogar* oh. I see what you mean.
They should just go for intention based magic, ala snap your finger and if you have enough power stuff happens.
Just like Discord only less all powerful.
This is amazing!
I'm already hooked.
5 bits says he turns them all into cats, being natural predators and obviously a more familiar carnivore, the ponies would be able to comprehend their... diet(?) a bit better.This would lead to better understanding between the species considering ponies seem to be fine with griffons, also semi-feline predators. Also considering the responses from the characters to discords question, this seems most likely. Although they may not undergo such drastic changes, maybe just take on some feline aspects. Who knows besides the author really? So, FORWARD UNTO MORE CHAPTERS!
maby discord will make some leylines different for fun later on when he find out about the one color. but for my guess with the magic i bet ya he gonna make the magic be adapted to suit there live's better that my guess i bet rodin will give a good fun input on what he would want magic to do other then peaceful it be dangerous while fun and useful a little of a and b he the fun one remember? looking forward to that you know i bet sophie and discord would be good friends one day and her input will be fun and cute on what she would want magic to do children think of such wonderful fun things think she would hug the big kitty discord?
And suddenly everyone was cat!
Or he gives them the power to shoot cats out of their hands!
Or he gives them the power of the internet because we all know the internet is all about cats (and Porn)
Thees one ees confused about why you keep mentioning cats. Khajit is not a cat, Khajit is Khajit.
... huh. Hail Discord indeed.
A'course, I'm all about 'Death to the Gods' and such myself but if this continues, I don't see any problem with the whole 'god' bit.
yeah for happy moments and then the bad news happen!
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I'm more of a "dethrone the gods and take their mantle up for yourself" kind of guy but if the gods are cool dudes i don't have a problem with them.
And am i the only one seeing some of the humans becoming total zealots of Discord who have to be held off from doing stupid stuff?