"Whoa, time out!" Rainbow Dash shoved the spa pony massaging her flank away. "You let them cut open your eye?!"
"It was a little strange, but it seemed like it was a good idea at the time--"
"That's--Fluttershy!" Dash hovered into the air. "You don't just--altering your--this is your body! How could you do that to yourself?!"
The yellow pony smiled broadly, her chilling gaze meeting Rainbow's. "You know, a Whisper clawed my other eye out. My leg got torn off in a pirate attack. And hey, my wings were cut off and vivisected right in front of me."
Rainbow paled.
"Right in front of me," Fluttershy repeated. Her smile tightened. "Did you know there's a vein near the base of your wing that feeds blood to all your inner feathers? I sure didn't!"
"Fluttershy..." Rarity whispered.
She blinked, ripping her gaze away from Rainbow and looking over the horrified, worried expressions of her other friends. She let her ears droop with a sigh, rubbing her forehead.
"I... I'm sorry, Dash, you... I shouldn't be mad at you. But..." She looked back at the pegasus. "You have to understand, from my perspective I've been gone for longer than a year. I've... been through some... intense stuff. I... broke. A lot. I always picked myself up, but..." She shook her head. "The point is that I've changed, Dash. I've changed and... and this is part of me, now. I don't... I want to be back home, I want to tend to my animal friends and just, you know, go back to being the hermit I used to be, but...."
She rose her metal hoof.
"I can't forget what I've seen. Or where I've been. I... Maybe I've been hiding how much I've hurt, trying to be the old Fluttershy, and I can't say if that was for your benefit or for me. But... maybe I shouldn't have."
Rainbow took a breath, lowering to the ground. "...I should be the one saying sorry. I mean, I... Look, I'm uncomfortable with, you know, ponies who change how they look or things about them. Because, well... I'm awesome, and it's all natural. And the idea that somebody could become more awesome, or more pretty, or more anything just by slapping on some makeup--or by getting their eye cut open and putting in a magical miniature dream library thing--I... that's..." She shook her head. "I mean, I'm not blaming you, I'm not saying you're suddenly evil or anything like that. But it's just... if you can suddenly become better by just paying for a change, where does that put me?"
Fluttershy rolled her eyes with a small smile. "I can see where you're coming from, but you're starting to sound like a Cog. Don't worry, even with augmentation surgery nobody has managed to figure out how to break the sound barrier under their own power. You're still pretty awesome."
"Really? Uh, I mean, yeah. Obviously." Dash puffed up her chest. "Like I said, pure concentrated natural awesomeness right here."
"So..." Applejack paused. "Um."
The yellow pegasus gave her a look. "Yes?"
"...Ah can get ya needed replacement parts after... ya know, all that." She rubbed the back of her head. "But... did you... get any other sort of boosts that ya, um, didn't need? Anything like that nueroplexer thing?"
Fluttershy looked at her for a long moment.
"...A few," she admitted. "But I think I'll explain why when I get to that. Is that alright?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Just want to know how much ya changed, is all."
"A lot." Fluttershy nodded, settling back down as the spa ponies continued their treatment. "A lot happened. I mean, it didn't really hit me until Reinhild took me back to her apartment, but..."
"And here we are," Reinhild proclaimed, gesturing with an arm. "Home sweet home. I can have the nanofab make you nighter, or you can sleep on the couch until we get you a more permanent bed."
Fluttershy stepped in, looking around. "Um... nanofab?"
"Nanofabricator. Comes standard with the apartment." The fox stepped by her, gesturing to a small slot in the wall. "There are bigger ones in the factories and buyspots, these ones are really only good for disposables, like dishes and nighters--everything that comes out of it is meant to disintegrate in a day or two."
The pegasus shuddered. "I'm... okay with the couch."
"Alrighty."
Fluttershy nodded vaguely, staring at the wall for a moment.
"...this is really happening, isn't it?"
Reinhild turned to her. "What is?"
"This. Me... here. Just this morning I was tending to my animal friends, and watering the garden and... I was thinking it was nice for Dash to take Scootaloo to the Sisterhooves Social... and then suddenly the ship, and then I woke up in that.... cell..." Fluttershy ruffled her feathers. "I'm on an alien world, and... and I don't know how to get home." Water began to fill her eyes. "I don't know if I even can."
The fox winced, folding her ears back. "I... can you just... Mrrrrngh. Look, Fluttershy, this world isn't as alien as you might think. I mean, just because you're simulation-born doesn't mean you're not a vector. Everybody here has the same genetic code, we just also have... tech." She shrugged, flicking her smartboard onto what looked like a kitchen counter. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll set up a contract for spacers to locate the Equestria grotto--it's better than nothing, right?"
"...that would be nice," Fluttershy murmured, slinking onto the couch. "...Are you... really sure that Equestria is... fake?"
"Not fake. Simulated. A lot of reality is what we decide it is." Reinhild tapped the wall--a complex pattern radiated from her fingertip, various runes grouping into segments and pages. She looked them over and gave a low groan. "Oh for the love of--!"
Fluttershy stared at the strange writing that had appeared out of seemingly nowhere. "Is... this like the lightshow?"
"Wha--oh." Reinhild pulled her finger off the wall, and the runes vanished. "Not exactly. Almost everything we make our homes out of is a smart surface--incorporated circuits and micro projectors. They connect to the cloud, and we access that with our toggles." She indicated a small coin-like object between her fingers. "So, yeah, there are ads and all, but it's not nearly as bad as the lightshow. Think of it like... I don't know, a personal virtual office."
"That.... sounds useful."
"It's basically a necessity these days. We've got to get you a toggle..." The fox glanced at her, quirking an eyebrow. "Scratch that, you don't have any fingers, you're going to need a zipchip."
Fluttershy bit her lip. "...okay. If you say so..."
Reinhild looked at her for a few moments... before walking over and sitting down next to her. "So... I'm not exactly good with the whole emotional sympathy thing. I'm just letting you know that ahead of time. But I'm also going to say... that I'm here to listen if you have any questions or... worries, or anything."
"I don't mean to be a bother." Fluttershy folded her ears back, looking at her hooves.
"You'd only be a bother if you didn't do anything to make yourself useful," the fox replied. "And knowing about the world you're living in makes you useful, so you should never be afraid to ask me anything."
"...do you think I'll ever make it back home?"
The question prompted no reply, only silence.
Fluttershy sniffed. "I live a small ways out of Ponyville. My animal friends, they... they're smart, they'll know something's wrong... Angel will probably go into town to get help, but I don't know if even Twilight would be able to figure out what happened to me. And... and my family, they live in Cloudsdale, and.... I visit them, sometimes, but we don't talk much--they wouldn't know until my friends told them, and... I didn't even get to say goodbye, Reinhild, I didn't even know all this was going to happen, and--"
"It's going to be okay." The fox wrapped an arm around her neck. "I promise, it'll be okay."
The spa was quiet for a few moments.
"Reinhild really helped me those first few days," Fluttershy murmured. "She wasn't... exactly good at the people thing, but she explained... a lot about how that world worked, how... well, how things were bought, and made, and shuttled around. The nueroplex helped, of course. She was the one who convinced me to get that in the first place, though, so it counts toward her." She chuckled. "Also the one to figure out I needed superfood after I emptied her fridge the first time--I didn't know why I was so hungry, she chalked it up to something to do with the stunt I pulled on the ship."
"Fluttershy." Twilight put down her notepad. "I'm... so sorry you had to go through that."
"It was pretty horrible," the yellow pony admitted. "I mean, nothing bad happened--well, nothing worse then what had already happened, but being thrust into a whole new world? I guess you understand what that's like, going through that mirror. It was... overwhelming, in its own way. Not necessarily bad, they were all very friendly in their own way, just... different. Things that I thought I recognized, things that looked familiar, they... turned out to be just slightly different... it all built up."
Pinkie Pie stood up, walking over to her. "I am going to hug you until the bad feelings go away."
"Pinkie--"
"HUGS!"
Fluttershy let out a meep as a pair of pink forelegs wrapped tightly around her barrel. "It's okay Pinkie! I'm not sad anymore! It's in the past!"
"Then this will make me less sad!"
Lotus cleared her throat. "Miss Pie, while I appreciate your intentions, ze fact is I cannot give Fluttershy a proper massage while you are, how do we say, ensaring her?"
"Embracing," Twilight corrected absently.
"Ah, yes. Zis might actually reverse some of my progress," she added. "So, if you don't mind..."
Pinkie Pie reluctantly released Fluttershy. "Ah, phooey. I am still sad that sad things happened. Super sad."
"Well, good things happened too. Like... oh! When I told Reinhild about my special talent, she found me a job with the E.M.L.A. ground crews."
"Emily ground crews?" Twilight asked. "What's... that, exactly?"
"Environmental Monitoring and Logistics Administration. They're the group technically in charge of making sure the forests and plains stay stable, but they're a joint subsidiary of MarsCo and Progenitus." She noticed the look of confusion on her friend's faces. "Right... we don't have megacorps in Equestria..."
After a moment, she shook her head. "Well, that's not important right now. The point is, I got to go out and meet some new animals..."
Fluttershy fidgeted her wings, glancing around at the vectors sitting in the transport as she adjusted the camo shirt and saddlebags she was wearing. One of them, a tiger, leaned forward and looked her over. She shied away a touch--there wasn't much room in the passenger chamber, but there was just enough to back off.
"...Huh. You a blip?"
"Um." Fluttershy tilted her head. "I'm sorry, what... do you mean by that?"
"Nothing against blips," the tiger assured her, holding up a hand. "Just curious."
The pegasus kicked at the metal plating nervously, trying to process the question. It was clear enough that whatever blips were, they were common enough to not need explanation, but that he felt a need to assure her he had nothing against them... For a moment she wished she had taken up Reinhild's offer of accompaniment.
Then she took a breath and looked him in the eyes. "Well, um... If it doesn't really matter, there's no need for me to answer that, is there?"
The tiger leaned back. "Right, right. Sorry, didn't mean to offend. You're just pretty unique looking. I guess you get that question all the time, huh?"
"Not really, actually."
"Oh, geeze... Look, I guess we got off on the wrong foot." He stuck his hand out. "My name's Suchart Kearney."
She placed her hoof in it with a small smile. "I'm Fluttershy."
"...That's an... interesting name," Suchart mused. "Where are you from?"
"Equestria."
"No, I meant... what megacorp, who gave you your primary?"
Fluttershy took a bit to process the question, before finally giving out a small chuckle. "Oh! I'm self-taught. Equestria is a little distant from the corps." Her ears flattened. "I mean... I think it is."
"Oh." Suchart tilted his head. "That's... interesting." He looked around awkwardly for a moment or two. "Oh, look, landing light. Brace yourself."
The pegasus was almost about to ask what he meant when the floor beneath them jolted, causing her to let out a small squeak.
Suchart chuckled as he undid his restraints. "Not a fan of flying?"
"I prefer to use my own wings," Fluttershy replied, glancing out the unfolding boarding ramp. "I'm not an athlete, but they're there for a reason."
"...You can actually fly with those things?"
"Yes...?"
"But they're so small..."
Fluttershy trotted out of the plane. "Well, I wasn't the best flyer at flight camp, I'll admit, but I'm good enough to get around. And I was even on the Ponyville team for the Equestria games... well, really I was there to fill out the numbers, Rainbow was the one that carried the team."
"Rainbow?"
"Rainbow Dash, one of my old friends..." The pegasus stopped, breathing in the fresh air as she took in the tall trees and various flower patches around her. "Oh, my. It's so good to be out of the city... Do you all mind if I take a look around?"
"Our job is to check the local animal population," Suchart reminded her, fingering a red and white ball on his belt.
"Oh, I can start on that easily enough." Fluttershy smiled fondly. "Talking with animals is my special talent."
"....right." The tiger tapped the ball and tossed it in the middle of the clearing; it opened with a hiss and started pouring... something out onto the grass. "Well, just remember to check back in ten minutes. Think we'll have camp set up by then."
"Ten minutes. Okay." She nodded, hovering into the air and fluttering away. "I'll be back soon!"
"The rest of the week was basically just note-taking; talking with the animals, checking on their diseases, recording details. Because they didn't have magic, the vectors were surprised at how easily I handled the creatures around them." Fluttershy giggled. "Honestly, half the stuff they brought didn't even need to get used, because I would just lead a deer or a bear into camp for a scan. They were constantly checking to make sure I hadn't actually convinced some lateral or other to play the part--the tech-gal continually tried to figure out how I was screwing with her sensors, I don't think she was ever convinced I wasn't."
Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, I know I could never pull off what you do with the animals. Remember that time they stuck me in a cauldron?"
"Oh yes. I did get them to apologize, though."
"I know, I know. Still." Rainbow's ears went a bit flat. "It's... good to know it wasn't all bad."
Fluttershy took a moment to examine her. "...This wasn't your fault, Dash. This was all because of the Tether, and you had nothing to do with that. You couldn't have stopped it even if you were around when it happened."
"Well, still..." Rainbow flared her wings. "If I was with you, maybe things would be easier, somehow."
"There's no way to know," the yellow pony replied. "Best not to dwell on it."
The room was quiet for a few moments.
"...so, anyway, I got paid for doing that. And immediately used all that money to pay off the debts I'd gotten during that first week. Suchart even put in a good word for me with Progenitus."
"Progenitus?" Rarity tilted her head. "You've mentioned that before. What is it?"
"Oh, Progenitus is one of the top megacorps..." Fluttershy paused, looking around. "...I should explain what a megacorp is. Oh, how do I put this... Actually, Rarity, you own the Carousel Boutique and Canterlot Carousel, right?"
"Well, yes, to some degree. Honestly, Canterlot Carousel is more a joint arrangement between me and Sassy Saddles. She does most of the actual saleswork, I just drop by every so often to update the dresses."
"She's your employee, but she's also the leader of her own business, which she owns."
"Yes. Are you saying megacorps are some sort of... business arrangement?"
"Very much so. Sassy works for you, but she runs the business her way. Multiply that sort of thing by... a population of a few billion per four inhabited planetoids, and another billion spread out among starships, independent stations, smaller moonbases and inhabited asteroids, and... basically, everyone is working for somebody. The ledger trades stocks automatically, just to keep everyone in the system, but it's all a web of employment and employers, contracts and agreements..."
Rarity blinked. "I... can see why everything is about business over there. Has it always been that way?"
"Yes, actually. MarsCo was a corporate entity when it was founded, essentially a group of businessmen who wanted to ensure they had paying customers. And since they were on another planet, it was much easier to just ignore the governments of Earth... especially after they were killed off. The idea that everything is bought and sold is intrinsic in Vector culture--and I do mean everything. You can sell a few apples to buy a dress, you can auction off a home and procure a starship, you can cancel a few dozen contracts with your employees to free up enough creds to own a city, you can give your life to purchase morality."
Fluttershy looked at her hooves. "Everything has a price. The corps hand out free food and shelter, but it's basic, survival. If you want to live... you've got to pay." She sighed. "And sometimes, that means making others pay for you."
Fluttershy couldn't help but stare in nervous awe as the machine in front of her whirred and chirped, levered arms whisking thin bands back and forth in rapid procession. She'd known this would happen, intellectually--her time with the nueroplex had brought her up to speed on the concept of three-dimensional printing, and honestly it wasn't too far off the occasional summoning spell Twilight did conceptually. But she had put in an order for food--specialized food, at that--and here, this device was going to make a week's worth in ten minute's time. With no magic behind it.
And everyone around her treated this as normal.
And everyone around her treated it as a business.
Nevermind that she had made the order twenty feet away and been directed to the machine by a clipped mechanical voice. Nevermind that what she had requested was usually only eaten by individuals who had willingly let themselves become bulwarks of muscle. Nevermind that the people themselves were the result of artificial creation...
Things like this. Wonders like this, considered normal enough that Reinhild had trusted her, after only two weeks, to go grocery shopping on her own, and not stare in amazement.
And here she was, staring in amazement.
The machine chimed finished, and Fluttershy shook herself, taking a moment to settle back into reality. She quickly moved the assembled meal into her saddlebags, deciding to trot back to the apartment; the vectors gave her odd looks whenever she hovered into the air, almost as if she herself was the strange one, and she didn't quite like the attention. Besides, it gave her a chance to take in the cityscape, look around at the various animal people as they went about their lives, and... simply consider this society. She didn't want to stay--she wanted to go home, eventually, but for the moment she was here, and for the moment, she had to make do.
Distracted as she was by the world around her, Fluttershy missed the figure rushing out of the alleyway behind her, and was taken by complete surprise when a furred arm wrapped around her barrel and cold metal clicked against her head.
"Don't scream," a voice hissed in her ear. "Don't make any sudden movements. If you want to get out of this alive, you do exactly what I say."
The pegasus gulped, trying to twist her neck around--and felt the grip on her barrel tighten. Footsteps sounded from behind her, and her captor whirled to face the newcomer--a shaggy goat-faced biped who froze as soon as he saw the situation.
"Give me the codes," the voice growled. "Or yellow here gets a new hole in her head."
The goat tilted his head warily. "I don't have them."
"Give me the fucking codes!"
"I don't have the codes! I was hired to capture you, nobody told me why!"
Fluttershy's heart was pounding as she struggled against her captor's grip, trying to find some way to push out--all for naught, as the furry arm simply pressed tighter against her. "Well, I guess you're going to have to call up your contractor," the voice snarled. "Because otherwise--"
And suddenly her world was pain. Noise reverberating in her right ear, a sudden ripping sting followed by agony in the fold of flesh. She barely registered that the voice was still talking over the ringing she heard, all she saw was the goat holding up his hands warily.
But the same pain that deafened her sharpened her focus, gave her awareness of her situation, pumped her body full of adrenaline. One moment she was gripped tight and the next--the next the mongoose was pinned beneath her as she slapped his weapon into the air, and she wasn't exactly sure what had happened but as she looked into his face she realized he didn't either.
As Fluttershy's hearing began to return, she heard the goat saying something, the tone of his voice wary and warning. She couldn't quite make out the individual words, focused as she was on the mongoose; her eyes formed into an intense glower, one she had used on dragons, cockatrices, and fruit bats alike.
"I think we're done fighting... aren't we?"
The mongoose gulped, nodding once.
"Good." She stepped off of him taking a breath, and turned to the goat. "Could you, um...?"
"...what I came to do anyway." The goat stepped forward, pulling a set of hoofcuffs--handcuffs, she reminded herself, handcuffs--from his belt and clicking them around the mongoose's wrist. "Now you can either come with me to the CompuMax outlet or I can let the IRPF handle you. Your choice."
The mongoose looked from him to Fluttershy. "...I'll take my chances with CompuMax."
"Good choice." The goat glanced at the pegasus. "Uh... thanks for the help, sorry you got caught up in this. You've, uh, got a missing chunk of your ear there, you know?"
Fluttershy's hoof traveled up to the side of her head, feeling the ragged flesh; she pulled it back, taking in the red stain on it. "Oh. I... I should be fine, it's not... it looks worse then it is."
"If you're sure." The goat shrugged, giving her a last look, before shoving the mongoose forward. "Come on, buddy, let's go."
The pegasus looked after them as they walked away for a moment or two. She set about gathering her groceries, her trembling hooves putting them gently back into her saddlebags, and turned to head back toward the apartment.
Her eyes fell on the mongoose's weapon, still resting on the street. Almost without realizing, she slowly approached it, looking it over with large, dewy eyes.
After a moment, Fluttershy sat down, her breath heaving in and out. "Oh sweet Celestia--"
Nothing like that had happened before. She'd been in danger plenty of times, but nothing so intimately impersonal--she had always been up against threats to Equestria or, sometimes, ponies or animals that were upset with her for some reason--she'd never been threatened just because she was conveniently present.
And yet here, not an inch away, was a device that had torn her ear off just because somebody else couldn't deliver what somebody else wanted....
Fluttershy took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "I am safe. I am alive. I can... get better." With a faint twitch of her wings she stood, sparing the weapon one last look. "I can... get better. I will get better."
Then, softly, she continued on her way.
YAY its back!
Yes Rainbow, keep telling yourself you're all natural. It's not like you were born with the ability to do a Sonic Rainboom as a child when no one has been able to do one for centuries. It's not like Fluttershy could speak to animals just because she was born right or that Twilight was born with obscene magic power. Heck, roll down farther into the show and we have a pony born with massive bad luck, a natural born alicorn, two unicorns who lack the raw power Twilight was born with, and even Scootaloo who can't fly at the same age Rainbow did her first Rainboom. Sure Rainbow and Twilight worked hard to get where they are, but someone like Scootaloo or Sunburst can't reach their level due to not being born right. And Flurry Heart got a free pass just because. Frankly, characters/people like Rainbow have no right to complain about augmentation.
Most importantly is it,that a new chapter(at last) is here
It's alive! And Hoo boy, I'd have freaked out if I had that close of a call...
I'm surprised no one has checked Fluttershy's genetic code and found it far far out of sync with the local standards. Poor Filly though. She has gone threw so much in such a short time.
An update!? Fantastic! Also, welcome back! Going to have to read this when I get done with work. I've been looking forward to this updating for months.
8063964
You mean like steroids?
8063988
That may either turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing.
8064084
Not exactly. Rainbow Dash was extremely uncomfortable with Fluttershy's augmentations, but her reasoning was extremely flawed. She argued that she hates the idea that someone could buy improvements to bring themselves up to a higher level because she made it to where she is naturally. The issue with that though is that she (along with Twilight) didn't make it to where they are through hard work but being born right (basically the story of Cutie Mark Chronicles). There is no way Rainbow did what was thought to be impossible for centuries as a child (when no Wonderbolts have pulled it off for at least a very long time) through hard work alone. She was born right. Same with Twilight, the only reason she made it as Celestia's student is that she had a massive sell of magic that went out of control. Meanwhile you have ponies like Scootaloo who can't fly no matter how hard she tries (at the same age as Rainbow's Rainboom) and Sunburst who studies magic even more than Twilight but doesn't have the raw magical power to cast. Rainbow is basically arguing that augmentations are wrong because she got to where she was without them and they would let others get to her point but completely ignores that most ponies aren't born with the same natural abilities. Her idea behind being all natural disregards every advantage that she was given and acts as though it was pure hard work that got her to where she is. It amounts to the old they're just not trying hard enough argument that hard conservatives love to use to justify poverty, except even worse because someone like Sunburst could never reach Twilight's level naturally because of luck.
Edit: It's also extremely anti trans and gets into other body image issues, not to mention medical conditions as well.
what is this a crossover with? (sorry for bad english i am tired)
8064192
I certainly didn't mean for it to come across as anti-trans. It's more the idea of body modification in general that Rainbow is objecting to. She got where she was by hard work and exercise.
Wanting to give this a read but wanted to know, what exactly is this a crossover with and do I need to know the source material for it to make any kind of sense?
Wait, CQC? Does that replacement eye act as a Solid-Eye system? And continuing with the Metal Gear train of thought, did she assault that TTI Research lab mentioned in an earlier chapter by herself in an attempt to get home? Is Fluttershy going to be a one-mare army who is also very stealthy?
I'm done with the MG questions now.
Sorry couldn't resist.
Holy fuck yes!cdn.meme.am/instances/60775980.jpg
8064208
Seems like the basic argument against transhumanism.
8064208
Hard work and exercise certainly played a major role, but it wasn't everything. There is no way that as a preteen (while still small as well) she managed to do something that no one has for centuries through pure hard work. If a ten year old broke the world record for an Olympic event, no one would claim that it was pure hard work. She had a natural advantage being born with an incredible talent (even more so when Cutie Marks are taken into account, where your special talent can be bad luck, especially when four of the six Mane six cutie marks weren't earned, just kind of happened through coincidence/destiny). The first analogy that comes to mind is that she's the eight foot tall basketball player in a league filled with five foot tall players. Yes, the hard work is still very important, but she had a natural advantage through no work of her own and would be against the other players getting a treatment to make them taller as it would be unnatural and unfair to her.
Woah... it lives. Awesome!
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At this point, I think you're arguing just to argue. You've said the same thing multiple times with large paragraphs.
8064327
Sorry about that, I just find the super anti modification stance in real life to be rather disgusting and went a bit overboard. It doesn't help that I've seen plenty of cases with people born with great metabolisms that can eat whatever they want and not have to work out constantly mock people who have to work incredibly hard to get into shape, so Rainbow here pissed me off a bit. I'll back off.
8064299
As to Rainbow Dash being naturally born to do rainbooms, the response I have is "so what?" Take into account the long gap of time that passed between her first and second rainbooms. If she was simply "born right," then why couldn't she do another one until after years of training? She may have been "born right" to be able to reach the level of doing a rainboom almost on demand, but it still took years of hard work to actually reach that level.
Her objection is more along the lines of this, by way of illustration: She is a bodybuilder. She may have the right genetics to be able to sculpt her body in such a way that no one else has for a long time, but she still has to spend years of exact exercise routines, diet, supplements and medical consultations to actually get there. Compare this to someone who slaps down some cash and replaces their muscles with synthetic ones to get to the exact same point without all the effort. Or to go less extreme, someone who uses steroids to artificially enhance their muscle development beyond what they are naturally capable of.
There would be a world of difference between Scootaloo, for example, receiving augmentations that would allow her to fly as faster or faster than Dash versus getting augs that would allow her to just fly at all. Just like we allow athletes to compete with prosthetics that allow them to perform at the same level as other athletes, but not with prosthetics that allow them to perform better that other athletes for the same effort by giving them a mechanical advantage. Or why in professional racing, we don't allow vehicles using forced induction engines to race against vehicles that don't.
IT LIVES!
Why is the best scifi I read consistantly about ponies?
Very glad to see this still kicking. "Fluttershy" still has a lot of worldbuilding to do. Hopefully future chapters dont put up so much of a fight.
8064536
One: It could be argued that bronies are furries, depending on how you define that particular metafandom.
Two: The system and setting designers have repeatedly stated that it's a post-humanity sci-fi, which happens to have some a bit of anthro in it. It's furry in aesthetic, not in philosophy, assuming you are using the derogatory definition of "furry" specifically referring to casual intimacy and/or otherkin.
Three: You've got Woona in a shark suit as your avatar. You really shouldn't be objecting to this at all.
IT RETURNS!
neuroplexer
8064559
8064536
"No, LaBonez_ggg, you are the furries."
And then, LaBonez_ggg was a fox.
Very happy to see another update! I like how you are expressing the genuine concern of her friends.
A couple of recommendations.
The nueroplex helped, of course. She was the one who convinced me to get that in the first place, though, so it counts toward her."
The last phrase. Is that slang from the world she just left? If not, it should be rephrased.
"Well, still..." Rainbow flared her wings. "If I was with you, maybe things would be easier, somehow."
Not the right verb tense. Recommend.
"Well, still..." Rainbow flared her wings. "If I had been with you, maybe things would have been easier, somehow."
Worth the wait my man! I've been looking forward to an update for a while now, I'm real glad it's not dead.
what is this a crossover with
8064957 We have our ways... *ominous thunder*
...Which consist of just running with the first thing that came to mind.
Yeah....you don't go through what Flutters has an not change at an intrinsic level. It's like going on a military deployment, in her case as someone who was freshly conscripted: Anyone that does manage to come back....never truly comes back entirely. She may want to go back to how she was, but something could always trigger the training and experiences she had there.
It's nice to see the genuine concern of the other girls...but they really don't have the right frame of reference to really help her recover. They will want to have a military pony or someone similar come talk to her, since they're the ones that will know things she can to do help her re-integrate and avoid having flashbacks or lashing out if something trips an old behavior learned in the heat of life and death experiences.
New chapter! Yay!
This is actually pretty good. I finally found a furry something that isn't a webcomic!
8064847 It's a crossover with a newer Sci-Fi Tabletop RPG.
The World Building that they have is really awesome and in fact they even have a novel that they released as well for it.
Here's a link to buy the Basic RPG book. There's others out there such as the Race guide, which includes more information on Cogs.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/141683/Hc-Svnt-Dracones
Worth the wait
"Technically, a vein would be carrying blood back to the heart from your..."
"Being quiet now."
Generating magic in a universe without it does seem pretty calorie-intensive.
With Pinkie, either term can apply. Usually both do.
And... wow. We begin to see the sorts of experiences that shaped Fluttershy into what she became by the time she returned. Poor thing. Still, she adapted... though adapting back may prove challenging.
I'm glad you were able to hash out this chapter with the characters. Here's hoping they'll be more cooperative with the next one.
8065955 oh thanks this looks cool
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the RPG Hc Svnt Dracones
8068549 i honestly have no idea what that is
nitpick:
should be she
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They'd probably conclude that she's a Blip, they don't have standard Vector genomics either.
Heck, they're not allowed to have the standard Vector template because that would allow them to interbreed with other Vectors and nobody wants to deal with the liability issues of introducing a new species to the gene pool.
8064351 There are several flaws with your argument. First, comparing augments and prosthetics for the disabled is unfair. Scootaloo getting wing augments would put her on equal footing with other pegasi her age. Thunderlane getting jet boosters would put him over the average.
Second, it's an opinion. Rainbow wasn't being aggressive or hateful, just uncomfortable with replacing part of one's body with cold, unfeeling metal. Even then, she's not judging Shy for it.
While I disagree with her opinion, I can understand it. If you could just pay money and improve yourself, that would favor the rich. I don't think anyone wants a super bionic Trump.
Third, how the hell did you get anti-trans from this? Last I checked, robot parts aren't part of the process. That's a leap even Superman couldn't make.
8069936
I'll start with the last one first.
Rainbow isn't arguing against robotic augmentations, she's arguing against any kind of unnatural change, including makeup. And the reason she's arguing it is because she likes her body the way it is and argues she got it through pure hard work. What she said, she has issues with any change that isn't through hard work, including any kind of cosmetic surgery or the like. I find it hard to believe she'd be okay with plastic surgery to change appearance when she's against make up. Even then, there are less extreme body image examples. The biggest one that I've known people dealing with, that isn't trans related, are some women hated their boobs. I've known both those who hate how small they were and those how large they were. Rainbow's argument goes against either of them getting implants/reductions because it wouldn't be natural, but there's nothing else they could do.
As for it being just an opinion:
The fact that she had to clarify that she doesn't think Fluttershy is suddenly evil for doing something as minor as getting a very standard tool to help her survive, one that doesn't suddenly enhance any of her natural abilities that can be trained, seems incredibly harsh. It doesn't help that they have used an outside source to help them defeat enemies before, the Elements of Harmony (also the Crystal Heart, though the plan for it and semantics are debatable). The Elements of Harmony aren't part of their natural abilities, but was it wrong to use them against something they had no chance against otherwise? The same could be argued with the Rainbow Power forms. Plus, the entire thing had an "I'm not racist, but/No offense," vibe to it. I could see the argument that I'm reading too deeply into this, but I feel like I'd be insulting the author if I just brushed it off as something not worth caring about, especially after it got a reaction out of me.
Lastly is the prosthetic vs augment issue. Even ignoring her wording, at what point does it crossover? Let's say Scootaloo has a condition that prevents her from flying at all. What level prosthetic should she be given? If they can be trained, should she be given weak ones and have to work her way up? Should she be given ones equal to the average of her age, meaning she skipped out on working them to that point? What if they can't be trained? What strength should she be given then? Should she be held back to average level because it wouldn't be fair otherwise? Should she be given ones as strong as a Wonderbolt? Do you limit the cripple to preserve the elite, or do you lower the value of the elite by letting others reach their level? Plus, if she could get wings that powerful, why not give them to someone who isn't injured as well. Say Scootaloo can fly, only barely. Do you give her augments to catch her up to average? She would still never be able to reach Rainbow Dash's level, she'd need stronger augments.
Rainbow's level was only achievable through luck (either genetics or the right cutie mark/destiny), between the child Rainboom (something the Wonderbolts can't do, nor any other Pegasus), and how much we see her slacking (she's seen napping, pranking, bragging, and eating sweets way more often than training. Cheats like those as often as she does them would ruin professional athletes), so should other Pegasi, or even Earth Ponies or Unicorns, be denied the ability to reach that level because they don't have the right genes/destiny? Buying it doesn't seem any less fair than having to be born right. It also doesn't account for non-competitive use. Sure giving Thunderlane jet boosters would make him faster than Rainbow Dash, but if he used it for search and rescue or even just commuting, why would Rainbow care? It doesn't devalue her work, it just means that the speed is reachable in other ways, to the benefit of everyone. Plus, they wouldn't suddenly come with all of the skills Rainbow has developed (even if they come with the performance ability, the judgements would be lacking), and competitions would still have rules, so she'd be safe as an athlete until augments become the new norm, and even then there would probably be natural leagues/teams. It feels like a needlessly elitist attitude that holds others back for her own pride.
Anyways, I don't mind continuing, but please do it through PM so we don't flood the comments, unless it's just one last post. I won't be replying about this in the comment section anymore, as the author is already annoyed at the amount I've posted on it (and to be fair, I was repetitive in those and they were poorly phrased and organized).
media3.giphy.com/media/wsSssszJkPBYs/200_s.gif
Glad to see you updating again.
Excellent pacing this chapter!
Yeah... this just occurred to me, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you may want to add the Dark tag to this story... if for no other reason than that was definite nightmare fuel. Relatively tame nightmare fuel, but nightmare fuel all the same.
Sounds like Fluttershy got tossed through a blender during her time in Sol. Not entirely unexpected given the augs but saddening nonetheless.
Interesting point with the superfood. The stuff is basically edible jet-fuel and people are going to wonder what she uses all those calories for. Well… until they see her flying, then they will just be jealous.
Still waiting for the scene where she goes to have a limb replaced and they discover her genetics are too alien to replicate.
I don't know anything about Hc Svnt Dracones, but this is really hard to read. I'm glossing over or completely ignoring chunks of the story to grasp the few points I can before plowing forward.
If I had to compare to this anything, I'd say its like reading an over-the-top Shadowrun story written by an over-the-top Shadowrun character trying to sound like an over-the-top Shadowrun narrator.
But the way Fluttershy, let alone the other characters, act/react to the whole thing is the worst part. There is literally no context for pretty much everything Fluttershy is telling them, but they're completely shrugging it all off.
Hmm I wonder that is a cog.
That line got me.