Fuuuuuuu- Man, these stories hurt so good. But what I have to know is: was Celestia, in some way, involved with the deaths at the feast, or did she arrive after everything went down?
So EVERY tree in the forest is a body? Or did some of it spread after only a few more were added? And why did some of them die and some of them turn? Gah, curse you and your amazing world building! I need to know more!
I realize that all this comes from a dark, dark place in your mind but please, please, please continue this freely if you can find a way to draw inspiration without sacrificing a bit of your soul or sanity. Please keep expanding this already intriguing and epic world!
The sexual content is a complete boner killer for me (Nothing to do with the writing, but rape combined with the undercurrents of the story kill it), but the story itself is wonderfully twisted and grimdark.
This is astonishing in every respect, as cosmology, as horror, as wonder, as awe. This series of stories is a sublime work, in equal measure loathing and beauty. It is, without any question, the most unique and astonishing of all transformational pony stories, and I say this with all the love in my heart for the marvels of the Conversion Bureau subgenre.
It is a dark and terrible joy for me each time you offer another chapter, and to see this finally on FimFiction only gladdens my heart. Sometimes wonder is a twisted tree, and here your gardening has grown strange and brilliant fruit, sweet as sugar, yet poison too, the taste of fearful night.
This touches heavily on the philosophical question if the self, are you still you if your brain and memories have been completely reshapen? Are you still you if your brain cells are renewed and replaced every few years? That's an idea that messes pretty hard with my head.
You weave a tragic tapestry, Incog. So much happens in each chapter, the saga doesn't seem to have an end in sight.
Luna is especially interesting because of the darkness in her heart. The thrill of the raid and the battle was especially gripping. She was already showing shades of powerful aggressiveness and dark desire. The fact that her will was so ironclad, even in the room with the raven-haired human, says much about her. I was afraid she'd give in to the desire, and it would've made for a rather sickening sex scene, to be honest. But she remained resolute, and that's certainly a relief. Celestia gave in, which was surprising, and took on the shade of a Greek Goddess for awhile. Flawed.
I look forward to reading more. The story takes more twists and turns as you fill in the gaps and back stories in a seemingly chaotic order. Now we know that at least part of this started thousands of years ago, and this past couple of chapters was ages ago. And if every tree in Ever Free is actually a body, I could never look at it the same way again. Chilling, but masterfully done.
The brushstrokes of your artful imagination and skill are awe-inspiring. Never run out of paint.
So much juicy background in this chapter, answered a lot of questions and raised a few more. This is turning out to be one of the most horrifying and fascinating things I've ever read, and the only "humans in equestria" story I have ever enjoyed in any respect. I can't decide whether I want to be disgusted or moved to tears, or both. Go on...
299975 The part with Derpy was actually mind-broken Lyra, but that's what makes this the best kind of feedback to help me improve. Thanks, and I'm glad you're enjoying it.
345491 Go with both. Might as well keep your bases covered.
345190 Wow... all I can say to this is: Thank you.
The 'why did only some die' seems obvious: Those were the ones with the belief that dying as a human and themselves was better than living as something and someone else.
My god... I... The Garden of Everfree... became the forest...
I swear... I read Luna's speech, imagined it while I did, considered for a moment that the trees just reproduced by themselves into the forest over the decades. Gazed over the line "May another tree never be added." again.
The implications hit me, the canonical size of the forest came next, and finally, grim empathy.
Huh. Honestly, I had just thought the humans had added some degree of their world's nature to the trees, resulting in the trees being a bit more independent than the Equestrian norm. Take a millennium, and you've have a forest. But after examining the comments... Yikes.
In any case, this is an incredible take on the HiE concept and a wide, wide number of different aspects of the canon and fanon. I look forward to what new developments you make in this story.
It's been a while since I first read this, but I only just recently got a fimfiction account and I feel compelled to gush a bit. I absolutely love the characterization in this series; the author has done an amazing job making believable, sympathetic characters and showing us their rather complicated motivations, rather than just telling us outright. When Luna interacts with humans, you can feel her shame over her roll in what has happened to them. I even get the slight feeling that she almost hates them - not for anything they've done, but because every time she looks at one, she's reminded of one of her greatest failures. She couldn't have had any idea what would happen to them, of course. It was completely outside of her realm of experience. But, guilt is seldom a logical emotion.
Younger Celestia is an interesting character as well, especially in contrast to the version that we all know and love. She's clearly much more mischievous and impulsive, and it doesn't take much of a leap to conjecture that it was this very incident that lead to her adopting a much more reserved and cautious ruler-ship style in the future. I also kind of like it how it's ambiguous just how much she had to do with the tragedy the night of that feast. While she presumably wouldn't knowingly have anything to do with such an event, it's not at all unreasonable to think she might lose her mind as readily as anypony else, if she wasn't prepared for what would happen - and how could she be?
And yeah. I'm with everybody else; I shivered at the Everfree revelation. That was a genuinely disturbing moment... but, in a profoundly powerful way.
I could go on like this for a while, but this is getting pretty long already. So in conclusion: Thanks for an excellent read. There are a few fics out there that I literally check for updates every single day. Not because I expect them to be updated anywhere near that often, but just because they're that good. This is most assuredly one of them.
500750 Thank you. Comments like this always make my day, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story.
Unfortunately, chapter six (I still think of Springtime as five) will probably be the better part of a month in coming. I'm still at the outlining stage and it's threatening to be the longest chapter so far.
There's no way to say this without sounding either condescending or like I'm fishing, so I apologise, but if you favourite the stories or watch the authors that you're interested in here the site will keep you posted on updates. Still have to log in, but may save you some time.
I'm never sure if people are being rhetorical or not. If you were: bail out now!
In case you weren’t: I strongly suspect that a good part of it is that HiE stories innately carry the seeds of either ascension or corruption, or both, depending. Granted, things like mine or, say, the Conversion Bureau are a bit literal-minded. Still, even the most mundane story about someone going to Equestria, meeting the cast and being happy can be seen as a trip to heaven. Arddun Lleuad (as a well-known example) has the fear of being a corruptive influence drive the first two thirds of the story.
The other part of it, again in my opinion, is one of conflict. The way I learned it is that an author has to be “willing to punch his characters in the face.” Figuratively, of course.
Usually.
The entire first episode of the series is a constant stream of this happening to Twilight. The problem here is that we love Equestria and it’s hard to hurt it, but the story dies if we don’t.
Assuming the above, problems come in if an author tries to skirt the edges or, worse, answers the question of “why are there humans in this story?” with “Why not?” You wind up with an elephant in the room or never really dig into the story being told. But if you go down into that pit and embrace what’s down there, you’ll find fallen angels and wounded gods, wars for the soul of heaven and odysseys home. Change the wording and these are old stories we all know in our bones, regardless of ethnicity or creed.
The price is that you won’t emerge clean, and my pit happens to be particularly nasty.
507398 Honestly it was half musing half rhetorical, but your answer is fascinating regardless. You points about 'punching the characters in the face' rings true, and the depths and extremes really do create a much stronger, lasting effect. You really illuminated my question perfectly. Though it also helps that your fic is so well written.
This is a horror story and I can't look away. Aliens abduct you from your home and treat you like an animal. Mars needs women and men apparently. So what happens they end up kidnapping a dangerous human that can fight back? What happens when the humans on earth realize what's going on? Implications for disaster are frightening.
Fuuuuuuu- Man, these stories hurt so good.
But what I have to know is: was Celestia, in some way, involved with the deaths at the feast, or did she arrive after everything went down?
So EVERY tree in the forest is a body? Or did some of it spread after only a few more were added? And why did some of them die and some of them turn? Gah, curse you and your amazing world building! I need to know more!
I realize that all this comes from a dark, dark place in your mind but please, please, please continue this freely if you can find a way to draw inspiration without sacrificing a bit of your soul or sanity. Please keep expanding this already intriguing and epic world!
The sexual content is a complete boner killer for me (Nothing to do with the writing, but rape combined with the undercurrents of the story kill it), but the story itself is wonderfully twisted and grimdark.
I love it and will definitely keep reading.
This is astonishing in every respect, as cosmology, as horror, as wonder, as awe. This series of stories is a sublime work, in equal measure loathing and beauty. It is, without any question, the most unique and astonishing of all transformational pony stories, and I say this with all the love in my heart for the marvels of the Conversion Bureau subgenre.
It is a dark and terrible joy for me each time you offer another chapter, and to see this finally on FimFiction only gladdens my heart. Sometimes wonder is a twisted tree, and here your gardening has grown strange and brilliant fruit, sweet as sugar, yet poison too, the taste of fearful night.
Please continue.
This touches heavily on the philosophical question if the self, are you still you if your brain and memories have been completely reshapen?
Are you still you if your brain cells are renewed and replaced every few years? That's an idea that messes pretty hard with my head.
You weave a tragic tapestry, Incog. So much happens in each chapter, the saga doesn't seem to have an end in sight.
Luna is especially interesting because of the darkness in her heart. The thrill of the raid and the battle was especially gripping. She was already showing shades of powerful aggressiveness and dark desire. The fact that her will was so ironclad, even in the room with the raven-haired human, says much about her. I was afraid she'd give in to the desire, and it would've made for a rather sickening sex scene, to be honest. But she remained resolute, and that's certainly a relief. Celestia gave in, which was surprising, and took on the shade of a Greek Goddess for awhile. Flawed.
I look forward to reading more. The story takes more twists and turns as you fill in the gaps and back stories in a seemingly chaotic order. Now we know that at least part of this started thousands of years ago, and this past couple of chapters was ages ago. And if every tree in Ever Free is actually a body, I could never look at it the same way again. Chilling, but masterfully done.
The brushstrokes of your artful imagination and skill are awe-inspiring. Never run out of paint.
Cheers,
~Cleff Scratches
So every... tree... Oh, God.
s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/photos/images/original/000/171/083/tumblr_lr2hblfM1s1qifbtz.gif?1318992465
So much juicy background in this chapter, answered a lot of questions and raised a few more. This is turning out to be one of the most horrifying and fascinating things I've ever read, and the only "humans in equestria" story I have ever enjoyed in any respect. I can't decide whether I want to be disgusted or moved to tears, or both. Go on...
Well not the best but not the worst story, it was ok its kind of spooky to think about the everfree forest naow
299975 The part with Derpy was actually mind-broken Lyra, but that's what makes this the best kind of feedback to help me improve. Thanks, and I'm glad you're enjoying it.
345491 Go with both. Might as well keep your bases covered.
345190 Wow... all I can say to this is: Thank you.
344656
The 'why did only some die' seems obvious: Those were the ones with the belief that dying as a human and themselves was better than living as something and someone else.
365286>>344656
There certainly is a lot of that, but the bigger culprit is abuse and internal hemorrhaging.
My god... I... The Garden of Everfree... became the forest...
I swear... I read Luna's speech, imagined it while I did, considered for a moment that the trees just reproduced by themselves into the forest over the decades. Gazed over the line "May another tree never be added." again.
The implications hit me, the canonical size of the forest came next, and finally, grim empathy.
I never expected this... Not this...
Huh. Honestly, I had just thought the humans had added some degree of their world's nature to the trees, resulting in the trees being a bit more independent than the Equestrian norm. Take a millennium, and you've have a forest. But after examining the comments... Yikes.
In any case, this is an incredible take on the HiE concept and a wide, wide number of different aspects of the canon and fanon. I look forward to what new developments you make in this story.
I must say, this is a very interesting story. I look forward to the next chapter.
It's been a while since I first read this, but I only just recently got a fimfiction account and I feel compelled to gush a bit. I absolutely love the characterization in this series; the author has done an amazing job making believable, sympathetic characters and showing us their rather complicated motivations, rather than just telling us outright. When Luna interacts with humans, you can feel her shame over her roll in what has happened to them. I even get the slight feeling that she almost hates them - not for anything they've done, but because every time she looks at one, she's reminded of one of her greatest failures. She couldn't have had any idea what would happen to them, of course. It was completely outside of her realm of experience. But, guilt is seldom a logical emotion.
Younger Celestia is an interesting character as well, especially in contrast to the version that we all know and love. She's clearly much more mischievous and impulsive, and it doesn't take much of a leap to conjecture that it was this very incident that lead to her adopting a much more reserved and cautious ruler-ship style in the future. I also kind of like it how it's ambiguous just how much she had to do with the tragedy the night of that feast. While she presumably wouldn't knowingly have anything to do with such an event, it's not at all unreasonable to think she might lose her mind as readily as anypony else, if she wasn't prepared for what would happen - and how could she be?
And yeah. I'm with everybody else; I shivered at the Everfree revelation. That was a genuinely disturbing moment... but, in a profoundly powerful way.
I could go on like this for a while, but this is getting pretty long already. So in conclusion: Thanks for an excellent read. There are a few fics out there that I literally check for updates every single day. Not because I expect them to be updated anywhere near that often, but just because they're that good. This is most assuredly one of them.
500750
Thank you. Comments like this always make my day, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story.
Unfortunately, chapter six (I still think of Springtime as five) will probably be the better part of a month in coming. I'm still at the outlining stage and it's threatening to be the longest chapter so far.
There's no way to say this without sounding either condescending or like I'm fishing, so I apologise, but if you favourite the stories or watch the authors that you're interested in here the site will keep you posted on updates. Still have to log in, but may save you some time.
Thanks again.
Why are all the best HIE fics so interestingly horrorfying?
Garden of Everfree? You genius.
I'm tracking this.
503564
Thank you.
I'm never sure if people are being rhetorical or not. If you were: bail out now!
In case you weren’t: I strongly suspect that a good part of it is that HiE stories innately carry the seeds of either ascension or corruption, or both, depending. Granted, things like mine or, say, the Conversion Bureau are a bit literal-minded. Still, even the most mundane story about someone going to Equestria, meeting the cast and being happy can be seen as a trip to heaven. Arddun Lleuad (as a well-known example) has the fear of being a corruptive influence drive the first two thirds of the story.
The other part of it, again in my opinion, is one of conflict. The way I learned it is that an author has to be “willing to punch his characters in the face.” Figuratively, of course.
Usually.
The entire first episode of the series is a constant stream of this happening to Twilight. The problem here is that we love Equestria and it’s hard to hurt it, but the story dies if we don’t.
Assuming the above, problems come in if an author tries to skirt the edges or, worse, answers the question of “why are there humans in this story?” with “Why not?” You wind up with an elephant in the room or never really dig into the story being told. But if you go down into that pit and embrace what’s down there, you’ll find fallen angels and wounded gods, wars for the soul of heaven and odysseys home. Change the wording and these are old stories we all know in our bones, regardless of ethnicity or creed.
The price is that you won’t emerge clean, and my pit happens to be particularly nasty.
Thanks again
507398
Honestly it was half musing half rhetorical, but your answer is fascinating regardless. You points about 'punching the characters in the face' rings true, and the depths and extremes really do create a much stronger, lasting effect. You really illuminated my question perfectly. Though it also helps that your fic is so well written.
Huh. I'm not one much for clop, but I'll keep an eye on this.
Fairly decent for an HiE, as well.
The garden of Everfree... It started with five... And then another... And another... And another...
The entire forest being one giant graveyard of stolen humans is certainly a horrifying thought
This is a horror story and I can't look away. Aliens abduct you from your home and treat you like an animal. Mars needs women and men apparently.
So what happens they end up kidnapping a dangerous human that can fight back?
What happens when the humans on earth realize what's going on?
Implications for disaster are frightening.
You ask me to like,favorite? NO I don't think you would like to have your identity stripped away.. HELL NO SICK!
No one died in the raid? Pity.
"There is nothing so truly terrifying as a perfectly just man."
- George R.R. Martin
RAPE! YES!