So, the 'aspect' of the protagonist is... are... time loops. And when the largest single loop got closed off, her loop, the aspect was closed off? Huh. Would more cosmic spectrum stone allow for another 'ascension' with the correct applicable aspect, or no more alicorn at all for dear T'hamra?
A lot of stuff was wrapped up in a short amount of words. I almost want to say it seems a bit rushed.
Also a lot of stuff rather unsaid but implied: All the sapient races were, in fact, descendants from humans who transformed themselves to avoid the spell some other human had cast in the past.
The protagonist had herself sealed away...? For some reason? She claims she had memories, but at the same time was asleep. She had then gone back in time and made the others her anchor that kept the past version of her alive? Hurts my brain trying to parse it, and I think hurts the others too.
Sad, this story is coming to an end soon, I imagine? I'd have loved to read more in it. Of course, it raises a good question that the reason Celestia and Luna are still Alicorns is the magical constructs they are still attached to are still around. Twilight is an Alicorn because of magic (friendship?), so if that friendship ever goes...
7422067 If it seems a bit rushed, then that's only because writing out a conclusion long-hand would have ended up with a 100,000 word story involving our dear Jillian Pratt that would have covered about eighty years of history and involved a world of perpetual twilight full of howling ghosts, or something.
And no, the world inhabited by the ponies has almost always had dozens of sapient species, that come and go with the ages. Very few humans became anything else, though if they had, they'd have been a lot of 'one-off, unique' creatures a la Tirek and such. Discord's madness, for instance, did insulate him from the ages.
The sad truth is, sometimes a story has to just end. The circle closes. Break for cake and ice cream.
Huh. Spacial-temporal loops aside, this has been a very good story in my opinion. It also made me think, so bonus credit for good story writing for you.
ya the time loop thing in the end their was confusing. i still Think it was a fantastic story thumbs up from me. but i was not the biggest fan of how you handle the time loop thing.
Oh my gosh! I am ever so overjoyed to see this actually worked out :) I know. I know. Not constrictive at all but you have given us the most amazing read of our lives... At least my life... First time in a while I am honestly looking forward to the epilogue... I'm truly satisfied with this story.
7423023 It was subtle, I'll admit. Somewhere after Little Celestia and Tham'ra giving him the blanket excuse that Tia was a filly because 'of magic', and him replying that 'because of magic' was a problem for other ponies too. And that with a robe and a beard, nobody's to know the difference or care.
"You have an exceptionally fine beard, Starswirl."
Aw, I was looking forward to Sparklebutt teaching The Witch of Paradise Estate about "proper unicorn sorcery". It would have been a good way for them to bond.
I'm very confused about WHEN this extra time where she became God happened, though. When did she depart Equestria and come back? Or did she? What is the relationship between Tamara who saw Magic that led to the extinction of humanity in a botched suicide attempt and Tamara, the struggling writer with a dimensional rift in her apartment?
Also, the workings of this planet fascinate me and I want to know more.
I think I had more to say, but I forget what it was for now.
7424685 Eee... less 'god' than the 'a god am I' trope. Having by necessity the most experience with magic, followed by her small social circle, and humans already being 'unbound' in their magic due to not having grown into it as a species....
Frankly, most every story involving Equestria, my headcanon involves it being on a very old world. The cosmology -that is, a geocentric cosmology that could possibly work- is pretty intricate. That's what you get, I suppose, when you go from accepting the world as a backdrop to a bunch of stories to thinking of ponies as their own, alien species.
...Damn it, now I have to write a story with pre-prehistory.
Oh come on, you know that's not the important part of my question! (Haha, I have been 'd.)
pre-prehistory.
Funny enough, I don't even care about who or what the precursors were (from their perspective) so much as more details about the colossal magitech mechanisms that they built and how much still survives. Like, if you were to write Twilight and Tamara's Arcane Archaeology Adventure where they sally forth with the intent to revive some of this world-spanning machinery, I'd be all over that.
7424897 Do you happen to have a link or something that gives all of this in a linear format. Please start from the actual beginning because I think I understand what happened but I can also be incredibly far off. Like I'm still not sure if this pony earth is actually earth thousands of years old or not.
Powered through this over the past two days... only to discover the only chapter left to be written is the epilogue?
Still, I have to admit, this is one of the better fics I've read on fimfiction in the years I've been here. Also helps that your time travel concept is similar to my own
7547393 Since we seem to be going by D&D schools…all those healing/resurrection spells were necromancy until the "Conjuration (healing)" propaganda took hold in 3rd edition.
Ugh, stable time loops. The worst kind of paradox.
after I woke up from being hit in the head with that book," I said, waving back to where I'd tossed it in the well, "I was over twelve thousand years old.
Wait, never mind. No time loops here.
This story was okay, I guess. I liked it when she was spending time with the ponies who took her in, in the distant past. Also when Twilight was crossing over into the human world, and sharing customs. The rest was kind of ehh... my OC used their superpowers to save everyone but they wouldn't listen so she was so alone. One thing I... noticed, was the idea where if you try to change fate, not only will fate refuse to change, it'll screw with your life until you wished you had never questioned it. Just like in Feeling Pinkie Keen! So show accurate!
You're a very good writer. I fear you may like some things that I do not like, however, so I can't be very enthusiastic about this story. But I like how you can describe a scene well enough to really bring the viewer in, and how believable and identifiable your characterization is. I admittedly skimmed through the end, but... well, I'll just say that I have genuinely adored your story at some point in its lifetime.
I had to read this bit twice to understand it, so for those who come after me, as I am given to decipher it now:
We have Tamara live life for 25 years normally. Then she goes to kill herself - however, as she is failing at drowning, she suddenly has insight into MAGIC. She returns home - where her friends are confused at her insistence she's been gone for two months - and begins teaching others true magic. Eventually this starts causing Bad Things because People Are Allergic to Magic, so all the magic-using humans are shunted to Sola ~12,000 years pre FiM. She then sleeps through most of this time because Humans Fucked Things Up, including casting the healing spell; during this time Dan & Linda transform themselves to avoid the healing spell, as it seems one of its effects is to occasionally fuck up your memories. Eventually she wakes up, sensing the time rift, and goes to close the loop, shunting herself back to the very beginning where the story starts and the book whacks her. Then we experience the story as it is till now - where she finally has the past told to her, and then after talking with her spirit-self, she casts one last time fuckery spell to give her younger self the MAGIC vision...and to give Lauren Faust the inspiration for FiM. And now we are where we are now. Woof. That was complicated.
The more important question : I would hope, with 1,000 years of practice, Tia has figured out a way to do a complete gender transition. Because some of us want babies that way, damnit!
I'm a little confused with the time travel, if someone could help me out. After discovering magic, taking magic humans to the other world etc, she then goes to the start of the book. But is this not paradoxical to that previous history just mentioned? How do humans and her friends develop magic if she disappears to equestria before it happens?
11506207 Basically the Tamara of the story is the 'old' one - the 'original' her during this time is still off in the mountains where she has her suicide attempt. Once she wakes up / recovers, she returns home and starts teaching magic, while being confused at everyone mentioning her doing stuff that Future Tamara did, but everyone chalks it up to 'her memory is funny sometimes' and it's forgotten.
So no, no paradox, there's just two Tamaras present on Earth for the Earth parts of the story and otherwise it's all a stable time loop
Definitely an underrated story in my opinion.
Time Travel always confuses me but I didn't mind it cause I loved me the main character and her interactions with everyone.
Kind of sad I didn't get to see her punch some minotaurs for naming her Faust.
Holy shit... I actually understood this chapter... And it was glorious!
So, the 'aspect' of the protagonist is... are... time loops. And when the largest single loop got closed off, her loop, the aspect was closed off? Huh. Would more cosmic spectrum stone allow for another 'ascension' with the correct applicable aspect, or no more alicorn at all for dear T'hamra?
Awwww...There are still loose ends and adventures to be had!
A lot of stuff was wrapped up in a short amount of words. I almost want to say it seems a bit rushed.
Also a lot of stuff rather unsaid but implied: All the sapient races were, in fact, descendants from humans who transformed themselves to avoid the spell some other human had cast in the past.
The protagonist had herself sealed away...? For some reason? She claims she had memories, but at the same time was asleep. She had then gone back in time and made the others her anchor that kept the past version of her alive? Hurts my brain trying to parse it, and I think hurts the others too.
Sad, this story is coming to an end soon, I imagine? I'd have loved to read more in it. Of course, it raises a good question that the reason Celestia and Luna are still Alicorns is the magical constructs they are still attached to are still around. Twilight is an Alicorn because of magic (friendship?), so if that friendship ever goes...
I FUCKING CALLED IT!!!
...Kind of?
7422067 If it seems a bit rushed, then that's only because writing out a conclusion long-hand would have ended up with a 100,000 word story involving our dear Jillian Pratt that would have covered about eighty years of history and involved a world of perpetual twilight full of howling ghosts, or something.
And no, the world inhabited by the ponies has almost always had dozens of sapient species, that come and go with the ages. Very few humans became anything else, though if they had, they'd have been a lot of 'one-off, unique' creatures a la Tirek and such. Discord's madness, for instance, did insulate him from the ages.
The sad truth is, sometimes a story has to just end. The circle closes. Break for cake and ice cream.
It's here!!
And well worth the wait!
I'm sad to see that it's almost over, though!
Huh. Spacial-temporal loops aside, this has been a very good story in my opinion. It also made me think, so bonus credit for good story writing for you.
this is such a great weird story unfortunatly time paradoxes and implied world wide cataclysms are difficult to write out of
ya the time loop thing in the end their was confusing. i still Think it was a fantastic story thumbs up from me. but i was not the biggest fan of how you handle the time loop thing.
Oh my gosh! I am ever so overjoyed to see this actually worked out :)
I know. I know. Not constrictive at all but you have given us the most amazing read of our lives... At least my life...
First time in a while I am honestly looking forward to the epilogue... I'm truly satisfied with this story.
The ending's approaching I guess. Hope there could be a spinoff~
Anyway, I'm so glad this updated!
7423023 It was subtle, I'll admit. Somewhere after Little Celestia and Tham'ra giving him the blanket excuse that Tia was a filly because 'of magic', and him replying that 'because of magic' was a problem for other ponies too. And that with a robe and a beard, nobody's to know the difference or care.
"You have an exceptionally fine beard, Starswirl."
"I do, don't I?"
7423066
Ah, I see. Rather subtle indeed. Thanks.
Aw, I was looking forward to Sparklebutt teaching The Witch of Paradise Estate about "proper unicorn sorcery". It would have been a good way for them to bond.
I'm very confused about WHEN this extra time where she became God happened, though. When did she depart Equestria and come back? Or did she? What is the relationship between Tamara who saw Magic that led to the extinction of humanity in a botched suicide attempt and Tamara, the struggling writer with a dimensional rift in her apartment?
Also, the workings of this planet fascinate me and I want to know more.
I think I had more to say, but I forget what it was for now.
Pro: I think I followed it. Most of it anyway...
Con: I have a headache now.
7424685 Eee... less 'god' than the 'a god am I' trope. Having by necessity the most experience with magic, followed by her small social circle, and humans already being 'unbound' in their magic due to not having grown into it as a species....
Frankly, most every story involving Equestria, my headcanon involves it being on a very old world. The cosmology -that is, a geocentric cosmology that could possibly work- is pretty intricate. That's what you get, I suppose, when you go from accepting the world as a backdrop to a bunch of stories to thinking of ponies as their own, alien species.
...Damn it, now I have to write a story with pre-prehistory.
7424897
Oh come on, you know that's not the important part of my question! (Haha, I have been 'd.)
Funny enough, I don't even care about who or what the precursors were (from their perspective) so much as more details about the colossal magitech mechanisms that they built and how much still survives. Like, if you were to write Twilight and Tamara's Arcane Archaeology Adventure where they sally forth with the intent to revive some of this world-spanning machinery, I'd be all over that.
Cool. I still want a explanation. Time travel makes my brain hurt.
Sequrl?
New Story?
Question Mark?
7424897 Do you happen to have a link or something that gives all of this in a linear format. Please start from the actual beginning because I think I understand what happened but I can also be incredibly far off. Like I'm still not sure if this pony earth is actually earth thousands of years old or not.
Loved the story so far, a nice plot that keeps you guessing without being too convoluted.
Great work.
Powered through this over the past two days... only to discover the only chapter left to be written is the epilogue?
Still, I have to admit, this is one of the better fics I've read on fimfiction in the years I've been here. Also helps that your time travel concept is similar to my own
Simply great!
I could not stop reading until now!
7547391 True i suppose, except that typically one wouldn't be TAUGHT about Necromancy (for obvious reasons) and wouldn't need to know about it.
And besides, it would ruin the acronym.
A work of art.
It's also nice having a story where there just are some trans people, too.
…but there's no epilogue?
:sadluna:
7547393
Since we seem to be going by D&D schools…all those healing/resurrection spells were necromancy until the "Conjuration (healing)" propaganda took hold in 3rd edition.
Nice Date U
NU ICED TEA
UN-ICED TEA
AU-ENTICED
7547630 I don't remember making this many typos...
On the other hand, good eye!
She ends as an alicorn again doesn't she?
Ugh, stable time loops. The worst kind of paradox.
Wait, never mind. No time loops here.
This story was okay, I guess. I liked it when she was spending time with the ponies who took her in, in the distant past. Also when Twilight was crossing over into the human world, and sharing customs. The rest was kind of ehh... my OC used their superpowers to save everyone but they wouldn't listen so she was so alone. One thing I... noticed, was the idea where if you try to change fate, not only will fate refuse to change, it'll screw with your life until you wished you had never questioned it. Just like in Feeling Pinkie Keen! So show accurate!
You're a very good writer. I fear you may like some things that I do not like, however, so I can't be very enthusiastic about this story. But I like how you can describe a scene well enough to really bring the viewer in, and how believable and identifiable your characterization is. I admittedly skimmed through the end, but... well, I'll just say that I have genuinely adored your story at some point in its lifetime.
I had to read this bit twice to understand it, so for those who come after me, as I am given to decipher it now:
We have Tamara live life for 25 years normally. Then she goes to kill herself - however, as she is failing at drowning, she suddenly has insight into MAGIC. She returns home - where her friends are confused at her insistence she's been gone for two months - and begins teaching others true magic. Eventually this starts causing Bad Things because People Are Allergic to Magic, so all the magic-using humans are shunted to Sola ~12,000 years pre FiM. She then sleeps through most of this time because Humans Fucked Things Up, including casting the healing spell; during this time Dan & Linda transform themselves to avoid the healing spell, as it seems one of its effects is to occasionally fuck up your memories. Eventually she wakes up, sensing the time rift, and goes to close the loop, shunting herself back to the very beginning where the story starts and the book whacks her. Then we experience the story as it is till now - where she finally has the past told to her, and then after talking with her spirit-self, she casts one last time fuckery spell to give her younger self the MAGIC vision...and to give Lauren Faust the inspiration for FiM. And now we are where we are now. Woof. That was complicated.
The more important question : I would hope, with 1,000 years of practice, Tia has figured out a way to do a complete gender transition. Because some of us want babies that way, damnit!
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
I'm a little confused with the time travel, if someone could help me out. After discovering magic, taking magic humans to the other world etc, she then goes to the start of the book. But is this not paradoxical to that previous history just mentioned? How do humans and her friends develop magic if she disappears to equestria before it happens?
8008413
Thank you for hard work! Truly an interesting plot and I wouldn’t know it without you.
Too bad it’s the writing itself is too dried to keep me reading till the end.
11506207
Basically the Tamara of the story is the 'old' one - the 'original' her during this time is still off in the mountains where she has her suicide attempt. Once she wakes up / recovers, she returns home and starts teaching magic, while being confused at everyone mentioning her doing stuff that Future Tamara did, but everyone chalks it up to 'her memory is funny sometimes' and it's forgotten.
So no, no paradox, there's just two Tamaras present on Earth for the Earth parts of the story and otherwise it's all a stable time loop