An Azure Future Part 3:
Once more! With PLOT!
John Norris checked his watch. It was that time. Again. It had come early this time around, but he had another mouth to feed now and it was his fault. He should’ve calculated for increased usage. It was time to shop for groceries. John shuddered, A chore most loathsome. He mentally kicked himself for lack of planning.
He walked up to Azure’s room, the pegasus was asleep. He let out a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was his son to accompany him on his godless mission. He went to his room, hit a few numbers on the keypad to the hidden room, gathered an impressive sum of bits and loaded them into his backpack. He scrawled a quick note explaining where he was going, what to do in an emergency and what to do if he never came back. John headed out the door, pausing to observe the room for what may be the last time.
John made his way out of the dead apartment complex, it seemed desolate and forbidding as he walked down the stairs. The doors slid open silently as he approached. He was finally outside. The high noon sun blinded him instantly. How he hated the sun. He ducked into the parking complex across the street and let out a sigh of relief. That was close... The parking lot was full of cars collecting dust with red X’s on them
He made his way through the mausoleum of cars, truck and motorcycles to his personal modus of transportation. It was older than him by far, but a classic 2015 F150, One of the last gs engine models released. He unlocked the door with his key, having lost the clicker long ago, and got in the driver seat. He turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. He put it in drive and headed to the market.
He reached the market after a short drive, and parked in an empty spot. He turned off the truck and dewelled in the silence of the cab for a moment or two. Letting out a sigh he readied himself mentally and exited the truck.
The grocery store seemed like an indomitable fortress of doom to John. What horrors lie within, awaiting me, this time? He braced himself one last time and headed inside.
“Hello!” Exclaimed a bright yellow pony at the door.
Oh god.
The name tag read Sunny Smiles and Her cutie mark was a smiling sun. Not very creative with names, this lot. John observed.
“How may I help you today?” The yellow pony beamed. It made John’s stomach churn.
How I despise social interaction. “Uhm, yes. I need some help with the impressively extravagant amount of groceries I will undoubtedly be purchasing this evening. It usually is about three carts full, and I have some trouble managing that amount by my lonesome. So, if it is not too much trouble, I would like to ask if I could get two helpers to be in charge of the other two carts while I shop.” John threw up in his mouth a little bit. Oh god, she’s going to yell at me. I asked for too much... Why can’t I just suffer in silence? Why do I bother others? John’s face, instead of betraying his true emotions, just displayed a cheesy smile.
“Oh, why that would be no trouble at all sir! Let me go get someponies from the loading area, they shouldn’t be occupied! No problem!”
OhgoditsworsethanIthought.
She was back in a few moments with two colts following behind. The one on the right was a pegasus with a deep green coat and mane a few shades lighter than his coat, his cutie mark was a simple brown box. his name tag simply read Soarin. The one on the right was a white unicorn whose cutie was a rusty dolly. His name tag stated he was Twink Express. “Hello again! This is Soarin and Twink! They will be assisting you today! Just let me know if you need anything else byeee!” Sunny Smiles came and went like a flash of lightning. “So... Uh... Grab a cart I guess?” They simply grunted in reply. John twitched nervously at their reply. “Well then, lets get started!” He exclaimed. John headed off and started snaking through the isles.
I should grab more of a variety of fruits, vegetables, and just food in general. I wish I knew what Azure likes... Ah well. I don’t want him to experience the horrors of this place, everyone silently judging... giving me LOOKS... John shuddered. The first aisle held nothing of interest to John, It was just various cooking utensils. He merely used it to get to the back wall, where all the produce and meat was. How there was still meat in stores when the majority population was vegetarian never failed to astound him. John just took it as good proof that there were still enough humans around to market it and farm it. As long as there is meat in the market, mankind isn’t going to be extinct any time soon. He thought with some pride. He grabbed a substantial amount of the freshest meat and produce, filling his own cart to brink and even placing a small amount in Soarin’s cart. He noted their confused and just slightly horrified looks. They don’t mean harm, they don’t mean harm, they don’t mean harm... Okay. I’m good now.
A short trip down the cereal aisle and John had managed fill Soarin’s cart to the point the pegasus was starting to struggle with it. He had gathered a good amount of meat, a truly impressive array of various produce item and now only had one last aisle. Snacks and soft drinks. He ventured down the aisle. He cleaned the store of its entire supply of Diet coke. What little room was left in Twink’s cart was filled with an assortment of snacks. He moved to check out.
“Thats a lot of food mister.” Noted the cashier pony.
“Eh. I stock up.” After about twenty five minutes, silent except for the beeping of the scanner, the process was done. John paid and made his way to his truck with the help of Twink and Soarin. He thanked them for their help and loaded up the bed of his truck. He unlocked the truck and opened the door, what he saw horrified him. He had left the headlights on. His heart sank. He jammed the keys and turned the ignition but no luck, the battery was drained.
John shouted a string of profanities. He had a trickle charger back in the apartment. The apartment ten miles away. No choice but to walk John gave. Welp, I ain’t gonna get there by magic. John checked his watch and the sun, it was four o’clock and it was already starting to get dark. He started down the walkway.
It was a brisk evening, by Californian standards. Not too many ponies out and about right now. John observed. He turned his attention skyward. Only a handful of Pegasi too. Usually its pretty lively up there. There was a faint siren crying a few blocks from John. Some things never change. He looked towards the sound and saw black smoke rising on the horizion. Welcome to California, home of the Fire Season. Winter wrap-up? No thanks, we prefer to put out brush fires. John was lost in thought when a gray unicorn approached him.
“Hello sir!” The gray unicorn exclaimed, surprising John.
John jumped. “Where’d you come from!”
“Places.” Stated the unicorn motioning to nowhere it particular with his hooves. “I’m from ‘Ponification for Earth’s Rebirth’, Or P.E.R. for short.” Fuck. John had heard about PER. Humans had HLF and various things like it, ponies had PER. This is very no beuno. “I can tell by the look on your face that you HAVE heard of us. I’m here to talk about... Ponification.” John was in a bad spot. Then John was unconscious.
John snapped awake. He didn’t recognize his where abouts. He was tied to a stretcher. Leather straps kept him in place. He tried them with a small tug. They were strong. He looked around. There were syringes and a cup of potion on the small table next to him. The height of the roof suggested that this was a warehouse. It was kept very sanitary. The whole thing reminded John of a doctors office. Well. This just keeps getting better.
“Oh! You’re awake! I was SO worried my friend over here used too much force, but don’t worry, he’s being... taken care of.” As if on cue John heard a painful scream tear from an unseen room somewhere down a dark hall. “I assure you that he won’t be making that mistake ever again.” The Unicorn beamed.
“So, who are you and why are you doing this?” John asked plainly. I just want to go home...
“Oh! My stars, how rude of me! I’ve yet to introduce myself! I am Gray Crusader, and I run the orange county chapter of PER. I heard there was still a human in this sector, and I just had to make sure. A few questions and well placed bits and I’ve finally found you! as for why I am doing this, you are familiar with our purpose correct? I believe we had a good number of believers come to your apartment numerous times before.” John knew. The almost daily assualts on his door. The zealous ponies telling him how he was holding mankind back by remaining human. How being human holds back humans is just a bit odd. He could almost recite the pamphlet from how many time they read it to him.
It was a simple train of thought. The ponies had come bearing peace, tolerance, and came from a pristine land. They promised to make the rest of the earth like their land but humans could not survive the process. PER’s goal was to eliminate the human race via ponification or other means if it came to it. Their exploits were infamous, When princess Celestia caught wind of the organization, she announced that there were to be human preservation areas set up, areas free of magic where humans could live, SoCal being one of them. Most of the PER disbanded that day, but some diehards remained, bent on ridding the human race.. “So, you scoured the town looking for the only human left living in it to force ponification on it? Really? You guys are crazier than I thought.”
“Hey now, I prefer to be called forward thinking. You know we’ve sworn to make way for this planet’s purification by removing the human race. Either through ponification or other means.” Gray smiled.
“Still crazy.”
“If you insist.”
“You know Celestia said she would be erecting human preservation areas right? Areas free of magic where humans could live.”
“Ah. Yes, but as you may remember, our goal is the complete restoration of earth. As long as there are humans, this planet will bear the scars they have made.”
“You... There is nothing I can say. You’ve set your mind in stone on this matter. You can’t fix stupid, you can’t fix crazy, and you’re crazy stupid.”
Gray laughed in response. “Now,” stated Gray, levitating the potion toward John. “Let’s get started.”
_________________________________________________________NOTES:
And then, OUT OF NOWHERE, plot. Whatever that is.
I NO BE GOOD AT MAKING PONI NAMES.
Yeah, Azure’s not in this really, but you now what? Whatever. Its only named An Azure Future.
Shout out to lightsideluc for helping me with probably reason for the run-in with the ponify now group
As always, Comments, thoughts, and what’d you like to see can be posted in the current TCB thread or emailed to me.
Your'e back
106668
>implying I left and this isn't just a compiliation
I am so loving this, and so desperate to see it continue. This really is a fascinating work, and the current twist quite surprised me. I look so very much forward to seeing where this story goes.
Love this story. I'm always happy to see it update.
come grab your friends and go to very distant lands jake the dog and finn the human. yeah i got the joke.
"mister bad got it good but this an't his naborhood he's takeing over." is what i have to say about per
"human remnants" ? laying it on a bit thick aren't we, princess?
Also damn you, now I have to go re-read it again to remember who "gray" is.
107632
That speech took longer for me to get it to a point where I don't hate it than it did for me me to et EVERYOTHER PART COMBINED to a point I like.
(I wrote this between about Five days of actual writing. Three of these days was that sppech.)
I am not very good at speeches.
If you can fix it, please. Help a brother out.
106985
I have looked at this seven times at the time of this post, just to make sure it actually happened. Why? That takes some explaination.
As you may or may not know, I am a US Infantry soldier. I fight the fight. I go out there with my friends and make the sacrifices that keep my country free . I stand ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. I do this so that not only my country, but the whole human race may reach a new glourious heights in peace. I believe in us as a species and as individuals.
Now, I love your style. I love your works. I hate your future. It shits on everything I and my friends fight to protect. In some cases died fighting. Now I'm no thin skinned ass hat, I'm ok with the world being shit. Its just that every chapter of everything ever given your stamp of approval never shuts up about how shitty humans are. Wether it be a character trying to get away from their human past, or a human being an asshole or what have you. It was in tolerable levels in 'The Big Respawn' but its nigh unbearable in all your other works.
That being said, I am deeply flattered that you think so highly of my quaint little fic. As I have put out earlier, the remaining updates will be here soon after they are on ponychan.
107950
That's a bit harsh, and is as overly praising of the country you love easily as much as you say Chatoyance's stories shit all over humanity. You're the descendant of immigrants that has caused what would be called mass genocide if it was taught more, you galavant about the place as an invader of other foreign countries that your government claims to be "liberating" in the name of peace when the real obvious cause is money, wealth, power and oil. You're a privileged white male in one of the most well-developed countries on the planet, which has amongst the highest teen pregnancy and suicide rates in the world, which has spent the last fifty years trying to ignore that it segregated half the population according to skin colour and still segregates the other half based on reproductive ability, in some cases treating them like cattle, and has within its own borders what amounts to a third world country and quite possibly one of the worst levels of public health care and education around.
Excuse me, get off my lawn.
I know I am privaliged. I know America is one the best places to row up, hell majority of us have cars, a roof and money in our pocket! That's the top 8% of wealth! Suicide rates? Yep. I walked in on friend who did just that when I was younger.
Now was I really being unfair? All I said was I had a problem withjust a small detail in her stories. I even explained why. If I was to be offensive, I would have said choicer words.
Chatoyance, I do not mean to offend and apologize if I did. I merely intended to clarify some thins. I think your stories are some of the best amon the TCB fics. I can't wait to see what you cook up next.
Sometimes wisdom can come from the silliest of places. I think of the first 'Men In Black' movie, the line "A person can be smart, but people are stupid." That fairly sums up my attitude toward humanity.
I think an individual has the potential to be more than just a murderous naked ape, and I revere personal devotion to honor, justice, loyalty, and above all, compassion. Humanity has some marvelous ideals, just wonderful ideals.
But I honestly don't think we, as a species, can live up to those ideals, at least not for long. I think history so utterly bears out my premise that it just makes me sad to even delve into it. We're hunter-gatherers, no different from anyone 50,000 years ago, only our evolved tendencies and biological directives are no longer useful, and indeed work to destroy us, now that we have technology.
If we controlled our reproduction, shared resources equally, dropped all cultural and religious affiliation and strove only with pure reason and pure compassion, Earth could be a stable, self-sustaining paradise. We've had 10,000 years of agricultural bounty to accomplish this, and all we have done is built empires out of blood and misery so that an elite few can enjoy living like gods while the majority of humanity barely scrapes by.
I think that 10,000 years is long enough to make a true judgement of the soul of a species. This is why my stories depict our world as it currently is, only hypertrophied; the horror made larger, more visible, and more obvious. But I have changed nothing; my future is our present, just with more people. I write about our world now, 'twenty minutes into the future' as Max Headroom put it. The favelas are now, in most nations. They are starting to form in the US, as our economy finishes dying off, as our empire falls.
I may despise the human animal but I do not hate the individual. Humans cannot help what they are; they are products of their biology; it drives them to excess, domination, violence, selfishness, greed, and acquisition. These are all traits that would be a positive good on the veldt, 50,000 years ago; a tribe led by a sociopath would eat well and have many offspring - they would be successful. But that success would come at the cost of the misery and death of any other tribe they met. This is our operating system as a species. This is why the world sucks so badly; why we do not live in a Star Trek wonderland right this minute. This is why the streets of my home, Olympia, are covered with starving, homeless families clutching their ragged children on rainy, cold street corners.
I am not offended; I applaud any person who tries to do what they think is right and good as best they can. I once thought that something could be done to save this silly world; I know what that feels like. I remember how fiercely I once defended the virtue of Mankind myself, long ago. I bear no ill will to any soul who still thinks Man has some redeeming value as a species; I just respectfully disagree - I think the animal is hopelessly broken.
Maybe, one day, we can fix that broken nature; perhaps through genegineering, singularity, or some as yet unknown intervention to change the essential human essence. My own hope is represented through my love of Conversion Bureau stories; the ponies of Equestria are a symbol for me of some potential total change that might save humanity from itself. I'll never see that world; all I will get in my lifespan is a world of increasing poverty, the loss of my country to fascism, and most likely total economic collapse. All against a backdrop of perpetual, global war. This is now. I see it every day.
How could I not write about the impossible hope of getting to become a creature better-than-man and going to live in a fantasy land. It embarrasses me to say it but it is basically the same thing as imagining that heaven is real. I write heaven porn.
And, ultimately, so does anyone who writes transformation stories. What is the point of being turned into a pony, except that the idea is exciting - and it excites because it is functionally identical to being turned into an angel; suddenly one is innately kind, part of a group that accepts almost unconditionally, governed by an incorruptible eternal authority. It's childhood really: mommy Celestia will kiss the boo-boo that is the Earth and make it all better.
Every Conversion Story is really about wanting the worldview we had as children to somehow actually come true; the world suddenly really is truly good, people are truly good, and authority is truly good and magic is real. That is not reality at all. Not in the least. I think every Conversion Bureau author, deep down, is a person angry that the world they believed in as a child turned out to be a lie. I think that is our common, basic motivation with this subgenre. Ponies let us imagine that good world once more.
Every Conversion Bureau story depicts humanity as nasty and the Earth as awful. Some just depict it more starkly than others. I'm in the starkly obvious camp; Krass Mc Writer puts a little more lipstick on the pig than I do. But, let's face it, the only real difference between our visions is that I am more 'in your face' about it. I'm rude about it; Krass is kindly towards humanity; but the world presented is still far less desirable than Equestria - it cannot help but be. If Equestria was worse, there would be no story; humans would universally fight it because there would be no temptation to go pony.
And Equestria can be described as better because -whether we believe in humanity or not- the fact is that Earthly life is pretty sad. This is not a new realization. We've pretty much been inventing pretty fantasy worlds since the first shaman stood up and proclaimed an afterlife.
Krass and I really write the same, exact thing. I'm just angrier, so I depict the dichotomy between Equestria and Earth in sharper, more black and white terms. I can see how that anger in my works could piss some folks off.
And for that, I am sorry, Krass. I do write dark, angry visions of the humanity; visions magnified so all the warts show clearly. I know that isn't kind; though I do think it also isn't false, either. Still, I am sorry if my work pisses you off at all. That isn't my intent, if that means anything.
Of course I like your work, Krass: you write well, your characters are fun, and I adore the relationship between a pony and his father. I like your world, and I like your vision of humanity too. Why wouldn't I?
It's delightful!
108522
Heh. You know I've been to legitmate 3rd world shitfests. I've seen war. I still believe. But I know opinions and the like are best when exxplained and not pushed, and any further would be pushing it. You see the world in a way I just don't. I think this should be left simply as that.
And I am surprised that anyone likes this. I always am surprised anytime someone tells me I do l somethin good. I very rarely like anything I write. I can only think of maybe three works across the entirety of about five years of attempting to write that I am satified with. Two are poems, the other isn't AAF. Don't get me wrong, I am quite fond of writing it and the story as a whole, I know it can be better and that is why I'm shocked people like it. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing, and people liking it in its imperfection is just odd to me as its writer. I'm sure my story is actually quite a good read, I've been told it is enough times at least. Its just isn't as good as it can be is all. That fact is undeniable. Now imagine how surprised I am when some actually good at writing says they like it. When I first saw it, I stared at it for a good while out of disbelief.
Oh, and before I forget, who does your cover art? Its quite lovely, and I would like to get some done for AAF. I have what I want in mind, I just suck at drawing.
109001
I do my cover art myself. I never feel like I am very good, so I really appreciate the kind words! Tell me what you need - what sort of image you want to convey, what mood, or what scene - and I'll try to do art for you. Let me know if you want text in the image, like I do for my own stories or not, and what kind of style you wish; realistic or more MLP cartoon, that sort of thing. I'll give it a go, anyway!
I do want to reiterate that you really do have a good story going here. I'm not saying there aren't things that struck me wrong a bit (Chapter 8 was a little bumpy for me), but then I feel even more strongly about my own works. I always feel like I am a total failure when I publish a chapter; all I can see are the things I think I failed at, or the things I feel I should have done better - or worst of all, like 'how can I even think I have the right to dare to stick my crap out there at all?'. I have lots of self doubt.
I think you are a very good writer, and that your story has power to it. Please feel more confident; one thing must stand as true no matter what - you have people following your story and clearly enjoying it! That is a reality that kind of denies a lot of self doubt, right?
I have read that there is only one crime for a writer; to be boring. You are never that. Quite the opposite. So be proud of your work!
109232
http://bit.ly/iwMxoA This is a link to the Improved part 1. Its quite simple really, Azure on John's 'doorstep' (Though it being a condo penthouse, its more of a hallway) holding a letter in his mouth. A full description of this is in said link.
As for part 8, I'm actually rewritin this as we speak. I have CQ tomorrow. Stuck in a room with nothing to do but write. I should Get it finished by late Friday as latest.
A saying that I find to be quite true in regards to writing: We are our own worst critics, for only we know what could've been.
Elde was so OCD during my reading to her, that all she could think of were those three cartfulls of groceries. She was happy to meet the first appearance of Grey Crusader, too. That was an exciting moment for her.
well that happened sooner then expected....and in a different way too
Add a line something along the lines of "Most of the meat will go in the freezer, but he took a lot less fruit and vegetables. He once tried buying bulk "fresh" fruit, and had to haul 300 lbs of rotting tomatoes after the first week."
Fresh fruit spoils... unless there's some sort of magic preservation going on with the fruit in TCB.
No. WAY! This guy has social anxiety/OCD, which is taking the form of what is called "mind reading", where the subject obsessively worries about what others might be thinking about him, based off of his own worries and sometimes irrational fears. Am I right? I had this for awhile until I worked on fixing it.
So is this the birth chapter of the PER?
Right now you have a combined total of 300 ratings, a nice even nonprime number
Im such a horrible person >:)
nooo jhon nooo