Chapter 41 - Visions of the Future
Bob glanced up at the slim skylights, where the twilight deepened towards full night. Pegasi hovered near them, gazing through the glass with longing. The technicians had long since given up trying to curb anyone from using their abilities, so long as the earth ponies took care not to break anything, the unicorns didn't try to snatch any of the technician's possessions, and the pegasi didn't try to make it rain indoors.
He caught a glow out of the corner of his eye and turned his head. Sarah lay on her belly, reading a magazine and using magic to turn the pages. It had taken only a few hours for her to master the basics of using her horn, and Bob could not help but feel some anticipation. His own horn had started to emerge, just a small nub in the center of his forehead, but it already tingled with potential.
Until that was realized, all he could do was wait. By the late afternoon, his feet had more or less frozen with the balls bent down, and now the toes had started to fuse. He could almost see it happening if he stared at it long enough.
While he was not socializing with them directly, having his family nearby was comforting. Harold and Jenny lay next to each other, talking softly. Harold's tail was wrapped partially around Jenny's haunches, as if in a symbolic gesture of protection.
"You okay, Bob?"
Bob snapped his gaze back to Sarah, who looked at him with concern. Pony faces were extremely expressive, especially with those huge eyes. The end state of the transformation had not been what he had envisioned, yet now it was becoming increasingly familiar.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Bob said in a weak voice.
Sarah folded one fore-hoof over the other. "You sure?"
"I just want this to be over."
Sarah nodded. "I understand."
Bob wished he had talked to her more during her transformation. Talking to her now was a moot point, as she was as accepting of her new form as everypony else in the family, if not the whole shelter.
Bob averted his gaze when he heard approaching hoofsteps. A colt with dark blue fur and olive green hair had trotted over to Jenny, his tail tucked between his hind legs. They spoke softly to one another for a moment, and after some encouraging words from Harold, Jenny rose to her hooves. Bob's heart ached as he saw her trot away with the colt he assumed was James.
"Something else is bothering you, honey," said Sarah.
"I just ... I kinda miss not having some of my friends here, at least the ones I knew before. Jenny at least has James."
"This is about Tina, isn't it?"
Bob remembered the car trip they had taken to Breckenridge to get groceries when the vegetables and greens became scarce in the stores in town and how flustered he was when the subject of Tina came up. Now it just hurt.
"Have you spoken with her recently?" Sarah asked.
"Not since the morning we left for the shelter."
Sarah's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
Bob stared down at his cell phone. He had avoided turning it on that morning. "I don't want to bother her in case she's still upset."
"But that may be precisely why you need to talk to her," said Sarah. "You can reassure her that things aren't so bad."
Bob stared at Sarah, trying to convince his mind that she shouldn't be a pony and failing. "You were worried about losing your hands and your career."
Sarah smiled faintly, her horn glowing as she picked up Bob's cell phone in her magic. The phone wobbled slightly. "I imagine I can eventually operate tools and pick up artifacts with my horn given enough practice. I'm not giving up something I've poured my life into, Bob."
Bob had noticed that a distinct change had come over Sarah. He had asked Jenny about it earlier, and she said something about Sarah having her theories validated, but she couldn't give more detail than that.
"Are you worried about Tina?" Sarah asked.
"Yes," Bob replied in a low voice.
Sarah raised the phone further. "Then call her. If I had the ability to talk to Laura right this moment, I would, but she doesn't answer her phone. I'm told she's safe and healthy, but I won't stop worrying until I have a chance to see her for myself."
Bob stared at the phone for a long moment before he finally grabbed it. He turned it on and was about to bring up his contacts when he was notified of several missed calls. "That's Tina's number."
Sarah smiled. "You're not the only one worried about a friend."
Bob blushed faintly as he called. "Um, hi," he said in a quavering voice when it was answered.
"Hi, yourself," said a bemused Tina. "You sure you want to talk to me?"
"Tina, I'm really sorry," Bob blurted. "I wasn't trying to ignore you. I just ... I've had some issues, let's just leave it at that."
"You really do sound upset," said Tina in a concerned voice.
"Mostly at my own foolishness."
"Come again?"
Bob glanced at Sarah. She nodded and stood. She spoke softly with Harold, and they headed away together.
"You still there?" Tina asked.
"Yeah, sorry," Bob said in a lower voice. "I was starting to think I was a failure."
"Er, how?"
Bob glanced down at his feet. "I'm probably going to become a complete pony in another day, and I'm having trouble finding any reasons why that should be wrong."
"You're that far, huh?" Tina said softly.
"What about you?"
"I have a lovely cornflower yellow tail to match the hair, and my eyes have turned dark blue."
"I think those colors go together well," Bob said before he could catch himself.
Tina chuckled. "Such a charmer."
Bob blushed. "I-I didn't mean--"
"I think you did, because I feel the same way about you."
Bob's heart raced. "Tina, I've never dated in my life. Now I wish we ... that is ..."
"Bob, this will be over soon," Tina said.
"But not in the way it should," Bob said, but the words rang hollow when he felt his ears swivel and twitch.
"Does it matter anymore? Unless, of course, you're just not into wings."
"Wings?"
"That's what I've been told I'm likely to get next. Shoulders and upper back have been aching badly, and after they took an MRI of me earlier, they said the wing bones are starting to form."
"I-I have a horn," Bob said in a hushed voice.
Tina chuckled faintly. "Then we'll both have something to show off to each other when I hold you to that promise of a date."
Bob felt mildly proud of himself when he managed not to respond with "But I didn't promise that." Instead, he said, "I have no idea what ponies are supposed to do on a date."
"We'll figure it out. They tell me to expect fur soon as well. I'll text you what color it is so we'll recognize each other."
Bob didn't think that would be necessary. He was already starting to notice that many ponies had distinct smells that he could almost pick out from each other, and the ones from his family seemed more familiar. He imagined he might know her from just that. "All right."
"Have you heard from Laura? I can't reach her anymore."
"She's a full pony now," said Bob. "A pegasus. Um, like you're becoming."
"Sweet, we'll still have something in common, then."
"I'm hearing rumors that they're considering letting us out of here, that they're waiting for all the transformations to finish."
"I really hope so. I hate being cooped up like this." Tina paused. "Um, I need to go, my parents need some help. They can't quite stand on their own anymore. I think they're going to be fully pony by morning."
"I really hope to see you soon, Tina," said Bob.
"Same here," Tina said. "Bye for now."
"Bye."
Bob hung up and let the hand holding the phone drop to his side. For the first time since this started, he felt a spark of hope that things might just turn out right in the end.
After walking for almost a full minute without a word being exchanged, Jenny finally said, "So, hi."
"Um, hi," James said in a low voice.
"Now that the extremely awkward silence phase of this conversation is over, what did you want to talk to me about?"
James hung his head briefly, his ears drooping, before he finally looked towards Jenny and said, "I think you already know."
"I didn't get fantastic mind-reading powers when I became a pony, James," said Jenny in a testy voice. "Out with it."
"I wanted to talk about us."
"Us?" Jenny said with some surprise. "There's an 'us?' News to me."
"Stop it."
"I could say the same to you."
James took a few steps ahead, then whirled around to face Jenny. She stopped barely in time to avoid plowing her muzzle into his. "Come on, you're not seriously going to let one mistake on my part ruin this."
Jenny drew back a step in surprise, one fore-hoof raised. "Mistake? You call basing your whole relationship with me on how well I entertained you a simple 'mistake' that we can just ignore?" She pointed a fore-hoof at her head. "I don't even need these big eyes to see what kind of crap that is."
"You wouldn't listen to me enough to let me explain," James said in a somber voice. "You got too hung up on me referring to you as a filly."
Jenny had only barely remembered that part of the conversation. She could almost grasp the idea that it had been wrong, that she had been justified in being upset with him. Yet was she just inventing reasons to hate him?
Not that she could truly hate him. No matter what, she still wanted his friendship. "I'm sorry," Jenny said in a more contrite voice. "I'll listen now."
"What I meant was that it was what initially attracted me to you," said James. "You have to start somewhere in a relationship."
"I wouldn't know. I'm new to this."
"Join the club. Maybe you haven't noticed that I don't date much."
"I only know you from when we started hanging out."
"Exactly what I mean," James said. "Not that I wasn't asked. Several times. I turned them all down."
Jenny smirked faintly as she said, "That supposed to impress me?"
James slowly smiled. "I'll take that in the sense I hope it was intended. That's another thing I like about you: your wit. Even if everypony else doesn't like it, I do."
Jenny's smirk turned to a small smile. "Thanks."
"As much as I enjoyed the fantasy stuff, and I'd miss it if you never went back to it, it's not the be all and end all of why I like you."
"I just don't want you to like me for the wrong things," said Jenny. "Some of what you like may be me being a self-centered brat."
James sighed. "You're not--"
Jenny planted her fore-hoof on James' muzzle. "Save it. I don't really want to go into the details about it yet, but it's something I figured out about myself, and I don't like it. I want to change it."
James grinned. "If it helps any, I was mainly going to dispute the 'brat' part."
Jenny blinked in surprise, then rolled her eyes and shoved James hard in the shoulder. Had he been anything other than an earth pony, he would have been bowled over. "Wow, you run hot and cold, don't you? Play with my affections, whydoncha?"
James chuckled. "All I meant is, yeah, I could see Tina's point. That's what started all this, right?"
"Yeah, mostly."
"I can see where other ponies would see you that way." James ran a fore-hoof through his mane. "I guess I saw it from another perspective once I started socializing more. A number of the other colts in this shelter are schoolmates, and we talked."
Jenny's ears rose. "About me?"
"Yeah."
"You're such a shameless gossip."
James blushed faintly. "The point is, yeah, even if they agreed with Tina's assessment of you, they all had nice things to say as well."
"They did?"
James smiled. "They confessed that they weren't sure why they never said that before. It's not really important."
Something in Jenny momentarily yelled that it was important as hell. Why would they change their tune now? Yet the need for acceptance overrode it.
"All right, you want me to be brutally honest?" James said. "There's another reason I wanted to talk to you. My colt friends were making noises about approaching you. I wasn't sure if it was just as friends or, well, for other reasons."
Jenny rolled her eyes. "I'm not entirely sure what I feel for you right now, I don't need it complicated by ponies competing for my affection." She paused. "But I do know I feel something more for you than anypony else. I can't say what it will be like a month from now or even tomorrow."
"I'm not asking for guarantees, just a chance," said James.
"I'll consider that under one condition."
James must have caught the mischievous tone in Jenny's voice, as one corner of his mouth rose. "What's that?"
Jenny took a step closer. "You tell me what else you like about me," she said in a soft voice.
James blushed. "Your colors."
"Really?"
"Yes. The pink hair and the purple eyes just sort of does it for me."
Now it was Jenny's turn to blush. "O-kay, we're back to awkward."
"Sorry."
Jenny smiled. "It's okay. It's more a good kind of awkward. I'm just not used to hearing that kind of stuff."
James looked away for a moment. "Jenny, I don't know what's going to happen to us. I don't even know what I'll do with my life now."
"My Mom's fully intending to go back to archeology," said Jenny. "Says she can manipulate tools with her horn."
"And your Dad?"
"He hasn't said anything about it yet," said Jenny. "Other than he feels like he's in a better place now to help his father out. He's not sure why he feels that way, though."
"My father's been making noises about wanting to help out on his family's farm," said James. "I can kind of see his point."
Jenny had never really taken an interest in family affairs, but when Harold had started to talk candidly about his father's woes, it held her interest. Perhaps she was seeing a possible trip to her grandfather's farm as another adventure.
Jenny glanced behind her. "I, uh, better get back to my Dad. I've really been enjoying my time with him now that he's paying attention to me again." She snorted. "See what I mean about being self-centered?"
"That's not being self-centered," James said. "I've read in between the lines whenever you portrayed your father as a character in your stories. I knew you had something going on where you missed interacting with him."
"Maybe," Jenny murmured.
"I'm kind of the same way with my mother. All this has mellowed her out some. I'm hoping it's a trend, as we used to be closer, too."
Jenny slowly smiled. "So I guess we do have more in common than I thought."
"That's another thing I like about you. Your smile."
"Okay, now you're getting mushy."
James chuckled. "Sorry."
"I'll see you later, James," said Jenny softly.
James smiled. "See you."
"So none of you have any idea what I'm supposed to be?"
Laura's heart ached at the plaintive tone in Josie's voice. Despite the purple-maned midnight-blue-furred pony having wings, Laura hesitated to call the odd, bat-winged pony a "pegasus." It was clear she had none of the same instincts for the weather like Laura and her winged friends did, though she could fly perfectly well.
"It's bad enough I hardly get a chance to talk to anypony," Josie continued, her gaze shimmering. "Just a little in the mornings before I go to sleep and then in the evening like this when I first wake up."
"Have you tried changing up your sleep schedule?" Emma suggested.
"God, have I tried!" Josie said. "Do you know I can actually see in the dark? It's like I'm designed to be up at night, but I'm not sure why. If I just had more like me here, I'd actually enjoy it more. I never knew how beautiful the nighttime is."
"There's got to be more like you," said Joan. "I can't believe there'd be only one."
"I can sense there are others like me," said Josie. "It's kinda maddening, knowing they're out there, but I can't reach them, at least not yet."
"We should go directly to the source to figure this out," said Laura. "We should ask our caretakers if they know of any more night ponies like you. Kelly, can you make a note of that, please?"
Kelly nodded and levitated a pen to the notebook in front of her. She narrowed her eyes as she commanded the pen to write. It was a slow and laborious process, but she was getting better with each passing hour. Laura had considered trying to write with a pen in her mouth, but she thought this would be good practice for the unicorns.
She had Fred to thank for this arrangement. He had suggested keeping a journal of questions and requests. His point was that an organized front would be more respected.
"Maybe we should make a similar note for Steve," said Emma's father.
"Who's that?" Laura asked.
"An earth pony stallion with glassy hair and fur."
"Yes, I remember seeing him when the wall came down," said Joan.
"Yeah, he was feeling a little left out, too," said Joan's husband. "Though I know it's not nearly as bad as you have it, Josie."
Josie gave them a wan smile. Her father, an earth pony, gave her a hug. Josie wrapped a wing around him. "Thanks, all, I really appreciate the support."
"I feel confident that you'll learn what you can do soon," said Sadie. "If it happened for the others, it will happen to you."
"She's not the only one wondering what they can do," an earth pony stallion muttered.
"If they would just let us out of here!" cried the mare standing beside him.
"Everypony, I'm working on that," said Laura. "I'm getting anxious to have more space to stretch my wings in. If they acquiesced to our request to take down the wall, I think it's only a matter of time before they grant us this. The other shelters are likely getting more ponies by the day."
"How far do you think this is going to go?" Emma asked. "You think the whole world will be like this?"
Laura had not stopped to consider it. She had been so focused in helping the ponies around her that she had not looked at the bigger picture. Where cell phones were not made with hooves in mind, she had no access to the news. While she knew her unicorn friends would be happy to lend a horn, she wanted to remain focused; this was the first time she had taken on this much responsibility and didn't want to be distracted to the point where she would start doubting herself.
"I honestly don't know," said Laura. "But if it does go that far, we're definitely going to have to be let out of here so we can figure out how to live."
"What happens when all the food's gone?" Kelly asked. "I hadn't thought of that until now."
Other unicorns were also looking concerned, but the pegasi less so, and the earth ponies showed almost no concern whatsoever. Joan's husband waved a fore-hoof and said, "Let's not worry about that right now. I don't know why, but I have a feeling it won't be as big a problem as we're thinking."
Laura glanced to the side. "Fred, do you have anything to add?"
Fred smirked. "You seem to have all together."
"I know, but you were former military. You have far more experience than me leading other ponies."
"Different world back then, kid," Fred said in a subdued voice. "With the way everypony is coming together to deal with this, I'm hoping the kind of service I used to provide won't be needed anymore."
Laura couldn't help but hear a bit of a forlorn tone to Fred's voice. Did he feel like he had lost something dear to him? Laura had no similar situation that she could relate to. If anything, this was giving her purpose that she had lacked. She felt very close to grasping what she wanted to do with her life.
Just a few weeks ago, she had been close to freaking out about college. She had a full year to go in high school, thus she was shocked and dismayed when school counselors started sounding the drumbeats that she had to start thinking right now as to what college she wanted to attend, which in turn meant she had to know right now what career she wanted to pursue. For all the praise from her mother for being responsible, it hadn't stopped her from feeling adrift in this particular area.
Now it didn't matter anymore. Convention had been thrown out the window when she realized she could fly and make it rain. How could the choice of a college compare to that?
"The only advice I can give is this," said Fred. "Don't lose sight of the fact that we all have to decide for ourselves what we want to do with our lives. Sure, circumstance is such that we have to come together for support, but we all have our own dreams and aspirations. Believe me, it's not pleasant to have that taken away from you."
"At the same time, this is a golden opportunity for new goals," said Sadie. "Things are very different now. Nothing is going back to the way it was. We have to adapt. There are just some things we can't do anymore but many things that we can. Haven't all of you been told at some point in your life that you should play to whatever your strengths or talents are?"
A nodding of heads followed her remark.
"Then you can see that this is no different. Your strengths and talents have changed, thus your goals must change."
"Yeah, you got a point," said Fred. "But my point still stands. Ponies need to decide their own fate and not have somepony dictate it to them."
"Absolutely," said Sadie with a smile. "If ponies come together for a common good, it's because they believe in it, not because somepony is cracking the whip."
"I think we can all agree with that, Sunny," said Laura. "Thank you, Fred. I think that's good advice. I'm glad you're here."
"Not half as glad as I am," said Fred. "For more reasons than one."
Josie sighed as she hovered and looked through the skylight into the midnight skies above Lazy Pines. The sparkling vault of the heavens opened up before her enhanced night vision despite the thickness of the glass. With all the residents of the town concentrated in the shelters, light pollution was greatly diminished.
She looked down. A skeleton staff was on duty as ponies slept. She had almost hoped somepony would have insomnia, but it was like everypony adhered to a strict circadian rhythm: up with the sunrise and to bed after sunset. Or, in her case, the other way around. Even the glow of her laptop did not disturb them, though she was careful to keep the audio muted. She sorely wished somepony would adapt headphones for pony ears.
Josie flew down and over the sleeping ponies. She wasn't sure what prompted her to do this. She felt protective of them, as if part of her purpose was to guard them in some way. Just before going to sleep the previous morning, she had heard Molly lament about a nightmare she had. Josie had felt the strangest sense of guilt.
She returned to her bedroll. She managed to use her laptop in only the most basic way: grasping a stylus between her fore-hooves and tapping keys like a hunt-and-peck typist. All she could really do was surf the web, and that was becoming more difficult. Pages were taking forever to load as the masses flooded the network for whatever scraps of information they could find. There was also word of swathes of the internet failing from the sheer number of people sick with the flu and simply not reporting to work.
Do not despair, Josie.
Josie leaped into the air, wings beating furiously, her heart racing. Several technicians looked towards her with concern. Josie was about to say something when--
Please, do not call out. Do not disturb your kin.
Josie slowly settled on her hooves. She might have argued that they were not her kin because she was so different, but that argument rang hollow when she cast a concerned gaze over the others.
They are under your protection, Josie. You protect them from the terrors of the dreamscape.
Josie's eyes glistened. She had experienced night terrors on and off between six and ten years of age. Doctors couldn't give her an explanation for what caused them or what would make them go away. Despite not having had one in six years, she lived in fear that they would return.
Even when she could never stop them from happening to her, somehow she could ensure complete peace and safety in the realm of the others' dreams? "H-how ...?"
Hush. No need to speak. For now, just listen.
Josie nodded slowly.
You will learn how to do this in due time. For now, rest assured that they cannot stand up to your power any longer.
Josie let out a quavering breath. To finally, finally be free of them! To never worry again that she would wake up in the middle of the night screaming so loud that her voice was raspy for days. To never feel the embarrassment of an otherwise good-intentioned neighbor phoning the police and her parents having to explain yet again what their daughter was going through.
She wiped a tear from an eye and nodded again.
For now, you need to do something very important, something vital to those under your protection. You have a purpose in being different, and now it will be realized.
Josie's breath hitched as she inhaled, and she sat still.
You will see a vision. A wonderful, positive vision. A vision that will set ponies' minds at ease about the future.
Josie's heart ached to start. All she wanted was to know what she was and what she was supposed to do. She had envied the earth ponies and their strength, the unicorns and their magic, and the pegasi and their weather-shaping skills. They all had some part to play. Surely this was hers.
For a moment, however, she hesitated. She remembered Fred's words earlier, about finding her own destiny. She had wanted to protest that it was easier for him to say that. He had some idea what he could do.
What would be the harm in seeing this vision? Sunny was right in that their old talents were no longer matched to their new abilities. She needed to know what she could do first before she could decide on what she could accept as a purpose.
"I'm ready," Josie whispered.
Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and let it go.
Josie complied, and at once, she felt a calm settle over her.
You can sense them now.
The dreamscape opened up before her, a vast dark velvet blue realm of countless branching corridors descending into soft mist. Beyond these veils lay the dreams of ponies not just in the shelter, but in all of Lazy Pines. They were hers to guide and help.
Now you understand.
The revelation was so strong it almost hurt. She had been freed from her demons of the night, and now she could help keep them at bay for others as well.
Have you a connection to them now?
Had she been told what would happen, she would have complained that it was simply too many ponies for her to handle, yet now she sensed a strong connection to each one. She was more ready to do something than she ever was in her life. She nodded.
Then we begin ...
Laura stands in a forest, dappled sunlight playing along the ground. Birds sing in the branches, and the breeze is warm and pleasant. She should have not a care in the world in such an idyllic setting, yet something feels out of place. Her ears draw back as she sees she is alone.
She extends her wings and flies forward, and her ears rise as she hears something ahead. Hope blossoms, and as the trees fall away, she sees a small community. Earth ponies tend ripening crops. Pegasi shape and move clouds across the azure sky. Unicorns use their magic in a variety of ways, either simply passing tools and materials to other ponies, or easing the pain of an injury, or protecting the community from predators with enchantments.
Several unfamiliar ponies converge on her. She is a complete stranger, an outsider, and yet they accept her as their own. She is momentarily overwhelmed with gratitude for this kind gesture, but this is little more than par for the course for them.
She hears an alarmed shout from above. The rain clouds that the pegasi have been carefully shepherding towards the crops have been accidentally triggered over seed stores that need to be kept dry, and the unicorns have not yet finished repairing the leaky roof.
Laura launches herself into the air. She partners with the other pegasi, and they move the cloud to its proper place. They thank her for her help.
A commotion now rises from below, and Laura flies down to investigate. The earth pony at the head of the team minding the crops is having a disagreement with several other ponies. He has just doled out some of his harvest, and the other ponies are complaining about the paltry portion they were given.
Laura arrives in time to hear the other ponies pointing out how great his yield is, and how it is enough to feed everypony properly and have enough left over for the winter. The earth pony is embarrassed, and he quickly increases what he has doled out to the others. They accept their portion, smile, and touch hooves with the farmer pony. They head off, as content as they were before the altercation started.
Another pony appears at the edge of the community, and he is greeted as enthusiastically as Laura was. Yet the ponies of the village are suddenly confused and look at each other and the stranger questioningly. The stranger does not speak their language.
Yet another pony arrives. His language is different yet again, and his mannerisms are indicative of somepony with a different culture as well as tongue. The community is undaunted. They achieve simple understanding in gestures and pictographs drawn upon the ground, and the newcomers are welcomed. They are given food and shelter, and unicorns try to work out how to cross the language and culture barrier.
A warning cry is sounded from the ponies watching the approaches to the village. A large group of ponies is streaming towards them. They are bedraggled, some are injured, many look wary. Something has happened to these poor ponies, and they were not only hurt but on edge.
They need food, shelter, and healing. They will stretch the supplies of the community, and in their weakened state, they could easily be driven off. Instead, the community welcomes them and does everything in their power to help. Already, the more able-bodied among them are asking how they can help as well.
A distressed shout arises from a far corner of the town. Smoke rises from a structure that has caught fire. Laura doesn't hesitate to join her fellow pegasi in conjuring a rain cloud to battle the flames.
Yet the job is not left to them alone. Earth ponies use their strength to break down doors to rescue trapped ponies, while unicorns use spells to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby structures. When the fire is out, Laura assists with the others in checking for ponies who are hurt.
When it is all over, rather than lament the loss of the building, the ponies gather together in the failing light of day to celebrate the birthday of a member of the village, and their voices rise in joy and laughter,
As Laura watches, she hears hooffalls behind her, and a voice says, "What have you learned, Laura?"
She turns around, and her breath catches. Her eyes fall upon a large mare with gleaming white fur, and an ethereal mane and tail of pastel colors that flow as if driven by a gentle wind. She has a long horn like a unicorn, but enormous wings lay folded at her sides.
Laura is too awed by the appearance of this creature to respond at first, but finally she manages, "I'm not sure what you mean."
"Think back to everything that happened," the creature says in a motherly tone.
Laura looks back to the community. "I was alone at first, but I didn't want to be."
The mare smiles and nods. "A pony never needs to be alone."
"And the others accepted me without question."
"A stranger is simply a friendship waiting to be made."
"And then the cloud ..." Laura slowly smiles. "A pony always helps her fellow ponies."
"Yes, very good!" the mare says with delight. "What else?"
"The disagreement with the earth pony and the crops," says Laura. "Ponies never hoard, they always try to be as generous as possible."
"And?"
Laura looks thoughtful.
"The reaction of the ponies who felt slighted," the mare prompts gently.
"Ponies always forgive."
"Excellent! Keep going."
"The other strangers who arrived, the ones who didn't speak the language," Laura muses. "They were accepted as well."
The mare nods. "There are no barriers to friendship. What else?"
Laura thinks back to the arrival of the large group. "Pony communities always work together, no matter what the adversity."
The mare smiles. "And?"
Laura glances back to the burned out building. "Ponies always work together?"
"Yes, and every pony has a purpose," the mare says. "There is one more."
Laura looks towards the celebration. "Ponies always enjoy life."
"Yes, indeed."
"What does this all mean?" Laura asks.
"Bring everything together which you have just learned, Laura," says the mare. "You have wondered what purpose lies behind what has happened to you. You and your fellow ponies can do something which so many generations of your ancestors have longed to achieve."
Laura looks back to the community. Already they are beckoning her to rejoin them. She feels an eagerness she has not felt before. Laura looks to the mare. "You mean, ponies everywhere can act like this?"
"Can and should," the mare says. "Do you see now?"
Laura slowly nods. "Yes, I think so."
"You can have a world of peace and plenty," the mare says. "Think of the basic principles you have seen at work. They are actually quite simple: kindness, generosity, loyalty, honesty, and laughter. Think of an entire civilization based on these principles, Laura. This is what you have in your power to create, but you don't have to do it alone."
Laura's eyes glisten as she stares at the community.
"All it takes is faith," the mare says. "Faith in yourself, in your abilities, and in your friends. That's all you need to have a world like this."
For so very long, all Laura wanted was to make up for her failure with Jenny. Now she could go beyond that. She could help remake an entire world. Her eyes tear. She has a purpose now. She could move beyond simply making up for past wrongs.
She needs to know only one thing. "Who are you?"
The mare smiles. "You may refer to me simply as a Celestial Spirit. You have a wonderful life ahead of you, Laura. You have nothing to fear."
Laura smiles as the vision slowly fades to white.
"What have you learned, Jenny?"
Jenny is unperturbed by the appearance of the white winged unicorn, as she appears much closer to Jenny's own vision of such a creature from her fantasies. The creature's appearance is comforting, a sense of the familiar in a landscape filled with novelties.
Jenny is more hesitant than her sister to recount the tenets. She has seen everything Laura did, only with small details changed here and there to account for her being an earth pony instead of a pegasus.
"It's like a fantasy made real," Jenny finally says in a soft voice.
"It is no fantasy, dearest Jenny," the mare says. "What you see can and should be your reality."
Jenny turns towards the mare and thrusts a hoof towards the community. "But this doesn't happen in real life. It never does. Not this well, anyway."
"Now you have the power to change that," the mare says.
"But it's always been about me. I've never helped other ponies like this before."
"And yet you did just now."
Jenny remains silent.
"It is far easier than you think," the mare says. "You've already taken strides in that direction."
Jenny gives her a puzzled look. "I have?"
"Think about how well you now act around your fellow ponies. Think about how they feel about you. Have they not already forgiven you for your past actions?"
Jenny's eyes shimmer. "That's what James told me."
"Think of what you've seen," says the mare. "You were alone, but you didn't have to be. You were the stranger, yet you were accepted ..."
The mare summarizes everything that transpired in Jenny's dream, and Jenny stares at the community with a sense of longing.
"Kindness," the mare says. "Generosity. Loyalty. Honesty. Laughter. It's all here. It's all you need. That, and faith."
"Faith?" Jenny asks.
"Faith in yourself and your friends."
Jenny turns towards the mare. "In my fantasies, I always envisioned a world something like this, like medieval times but without all the disease and hardship. I figured, what was the point of recreating everything that made people miserable?"
The mare smiles. "Exactly! Now you understand. You can make that real. You can live it. You don't need to escape to them anymore, Jenny. They can BE your world."
For the past few days, Jenny wondered if perhaps her fantasies were all there was to her, that she was otherwise empty. Now they have become important again. They are useful again. SHE is useful again.
She looks over the other ponies. Something about it is still a touch surreal, but she feels she can ignore it. She has everything she wanted. She slowly smiles as the vision fades to white.
"What have you learned, Sarah?"
When Sarah first laid eyes on the white mare, she only then realized how different Twilight was from the other ponies. No one in her shelter sported both a horn and wings. She wishes she had been in a better state of mind to ask about it.
She looks back towards the community and remembers when her family first moved to Lazy Pines. For the first few days, neighbors took the time to introduce themselves. It seemed like a nice, friendly town, yet she never bothered to follow up on their kindness and become true friends with them. She even forgot most of their names.
"I isolated myself," Sarah says quietly. "I was always off in my own little world, even with regards to my family."
"A pony never needs to be alone," the mare says. "That goes for you as well as others."
Sarah looks towards the mare. "I haven't wanted to be alone anymore."
The mare smiles. "Very good. You are starting to understand."
"Is that what all this is supposed to mean?" Sarah asks. "That we're all supposed to come together like this?"
"Is it not the ideal situation? How else would you have constant support and encouragement? Isn't that what you always wanted?"
Sarah lets out a shaky sigh. She remembers the flood of emotions when Twilight confirmed her theories. Encouragement was severely lacking until that moment.
"You'll never be a stranger again, Sarah, only a friendship that has not been made yet ..."
As the mare recounts the other points of Sarah's experience, she is reminded of what Twilight told her. Another pony has turned them into something that they weren't before. Is this creature before her the real form of Sunset Shimmer? Sarah struggles to see the mare in this light. She seems kind and gentle, more of a guide than anything else.
"Are these not things you would wish for your family?" the mare asks. "Would you not want your family to show kindness?"
Sarah faces the mare fully. "Of course I do."
"Do you not wish them to understand generosity or loyalty?"
"Perhaps we have our faults, but I have always felt we strove for such things."
The mare nods. "Of course you have, Sarah. Just as I am sure you have taught them honesty."
"Yes, of course!"
"What about laughter?"
Sarah glances back at the celebration. "I don't understand."
"Life should never be so hard that there is little room for laughter," says the mare.
Sarah's eyes shimmer as she thinks back to all the stress, all the arguments, all the strife. She lets out another sigh. "Maybe that has been in short supply lately."
"It never has to be again. Not when you can count on your fellow ponies."
Sarah looks back to the mare. "But is this all there is? What of what I want? My career. My life's work."
"It doesn't have to define you anymore."
"I know. I just ... I want to decide my own destiny."
The mare smiles. "You still can. You simply need to accommodate a bigger picture. Do you not research how ancient societies work? Have you not seen how communities working together leads to a more successful civilization?"
Sarah remains silent.
"You will be living your life's work. Every pony has a purpose, Sarah. You will find yours very soon."
Sarah tries to keep Twilight's reassurances at the fore, but she still can't deny how she feels like she has neglected her family all this time. Perhaps there is time to remedy that and pursue her work. Maybe it doesn't have to be either one or the other but not both.
She feels a sense of hope as the landscape fades to white.
"What have you learned, Harold?"
Harold stares at the community for a long moment, his heart aching. "I miss the farm," he says in a low voice.
The mare tilts her head. "Indeed?"
Harold lets out a long breath. "This is the first time I've thought about it this way in a long time. All I could see was that final big blowup with my Dad. I had convinced myself that was the embodiment of everything that was wrong with me staying on the farm."
The mare steps closer. "Does this vision remind you of the farm?"
Harold's eyes glisten. "God, yes, it does. We knew the name of every neighbor. We knew their families. We kept each other apprised of everything that was happening, both the good and the bad. We never hesitated to help."
"Kindness and generosity in great abundance," the mare says softly.
"Yeah, it was."
"What about loyalty and honesty, Harold?" says the mare. "What do they invoke in you?"
Harold turns towards her. "Leaving the farm wasn't about a lack of loyalty."
"No, it wasn't. Consider honesty, then."
Harold lowers his gaze. "You don't have to tell me twice that I haven't exactly been honest with myself."
"But it doesn't have to be that way anymore," says the mare. "You have no need to hide what you feel when you're among friends, and a pony is always among friends."
Harold glances back to the community. The bit about the building catching fire hit him right in the gut. A neighbor had a barn go up, and his father dove right in to help, earning a permanent scar on one cheek when a burning timber struck him. He considered it a mark of honor.
"Do not despair, Harold. Your loyalty to your family is without question, and now you can truly protect them as you always wanted, for you will have a vast network of friends to call upon, just like your days on the farm." The mare smiles. "But never forget laughter."
Harold looks back to the mare. "Laughter?"
"Life is to be enjoyed. Do not dwell on past mistakes. They no longer matter. All that matters is the future."
Harold slowly nods as everything fades to white. "I'll try, I really will."
"What have you learned, Fred?"
Fred thinks back to his days in the army. Never in his life had he felt such a sense of belonging. The men he commanded were not just soldiers doing a job, they were his close friends. Yet this brought him full circle to the little girl who took all that away, and the pony supposedly behind it.
Fred turned to face the mare. "First and foremost, I'm a soldier. The last twenty years don't count, as I have no idea who or what that person was that went around using my name. Do I like what I see here? Yeah, I do. But what else is there for me? Where do I fit in?"
The mare smiles. "You say you are a soldier, so you know what loyalty means."
"Damn straight I do."
"And kindness?"
"Killing enemy soldiers is not exactly being kind," Fred says in a low voice. "Necessary, maybe, but sure as hell not kind."
"And what of your attitude towards the local people you are protecting?" the mare asks. "Is that not kindness? Do you not also feel generosity towards them when you can?"
"But that's the locals, the innocents," says Fred. "It makes sense to act that way towards them."
"Then what about a world with no enemies to fight, Fred? Can you see how that is possible now?"
Fred takes a deep breath. "You sure do paint a rosy picture,"
"There is no need for it to be anything but." The mare points a wing at the celebration. "Have you not seen such things even in the midst of war?"
"Yeah," Fred says softly. "Villages had all sorts of ceremonies and celebrations and whatnot that they invited us to."
"Then you know of laughter," says the mare. "Why not continue to experience that outside of war? Why does there need to be war?"
Fred has no immediate response.
"Let's come to the last one," the mare says. "Honesty."
Fred's gaze snaps up, and he narrows his eyes.
"Be honest with yourself, Fred. Do you truly wish a world where soldiers are needed, or would you prefer something like this, where you can play to your other strengths that do not require killing?"
Fred looks back towards the community. "So let me get this straight. You're saying that all we need to do is act like this, believe in these tenets of yours, and everything will come together into a paradise of friendship and happiness."
The mare smiles. "Yes, exactly."
Fred continues to stare at the other ponies as the word "honesty" repeats in his head. He has to ask himself: just how much honesty has he been subjected to in the past twenty years when an alien pony messed with his head?
Fred turns back to the mare.
"Horseshit."
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Thank you for that last line. I was squirming way too much from the sheer successfulness, then Fred turned it around.
Honestly, what Sunset is doing is very noble. But even looking from her perspective, it is wrong to forcefully ascend a species without permission, or an extreme, immediate danger that threatens their survival.
I don't know whether to curse you or praise you, because you have made a curse and a villain that I would jump up and down and beg to take. It's only because I see her motivations, and the intentional physical, mental, and emotional destruction of humanity, that makes me understand why she is evil.
YES!!!
SUCK IT SUNSET!!!
Go Fred call out that old nag Sunset! She definitely out of impersonating Celestia and I hope Fred tears her a new one for her attitude.
Well. That cliffhanger with Fred is going yo keep me occupied until the next time this updates. Awesome! Things are coming together and we're on the cusp of seeing what's coming.
So excited OuO
And we've come full circle with the indoctrination. Jesus this has reached a whole new level of creepy for me, and I don't think Celestia would take too kindly to Sunset for using her image to essentially plant a seed of rebellion in thousands of people.
ROW ROW, FIGHT DA POWAH!
I'm really starting to like Fred's character in this. From a disgraced veteran turned nutcase due to an abusive Sunset to badass who tosses the koolaid back to the bitch that offered it! Go Fred!
You know, these visions of a perfect world, controlled by ponies, with no fear, anger, or hardship, sounds like a deconstruction of all the stories that paint Equestria as a paradise that is a better version of our world. What many people who subscribe to that belief forget is that Equestria is not a perfect utopia. Ponies are prone to anger, jealousy, and all the negative emotions humans are, with the added danger that too much of it will give you power to take over the world. (See Nightmare Moon)
Don't forget dragons pollute hundreds of square miles when they nap, hydras happily kill ponies, along with manticores and anything in the Everfree. Sombra exists and might not be killable permanently. Discord exists, and as Sunset has figured out, most of these can't be defeated by normal ponies. You have to rely on six people you probably have never met, and you better hope they stay friends, even though somepony in their group seems to be arguing once a week.
If I ever had to choose between Earth and Equestria, I chose a world where almost any threat I face, I hold a counter in my pocket or under my bed. I would miss wings, magic, or strength, but I prefer my technology.
It took someone who has seen war to call on Sunset's bullshit. But then again, she's just the prized student of the divine leader of an Utopia. She knows Jack shit about misery and greed. She has absolutely no idea how much our world actually sucks.
Are you sure she came here in Afghanistan? Or is she that much innocent? Or does she actually not give a fuck about earth and only deludes herself in her quest to make equestria safe?
Oh, don't get me wrong, I live this story. This only delves deeper into the character of our villain. I can barely wait to see how this will further develop. Because damn
Sunset is going to be keeping an extra close eye on Fred now. A pony that resists her grand vision. Of note this is pure propaganda on her part as she has to actually sell this vision to all the ponies. They want to accept this and honestly even without some magical impulse to do so how many people would actually reject this vision of how the world could be? Fred knows to be on guard for someone selling him a greater destiny so he rejects it and that is likely the only reason he rejects it-the fact that he knows it is Sunset Shimmer trying to get him to follow her vision. He has a deep set desire for vengence on the pony that stole twenty years of his life from him.
perhaps "I just miss having my friends around" would be better phrasing?
Wonder if the less far along have learned that full acceptance is one of those stages of transformation. Tina when she says "you are that far" might mean more than just the physical aspects. They have watched their friends, family, and neighbors go through all the stages as almost all the town is fully transformed now. Likely increases their own longing to want to just be fully transformed as well so they can be like their those around them-a type of pure pressure that even normal humans would be feeling.
Wonder how long it will be before we get to have our Heather and Kevin reunion. Twilight isn't 100% sure on crystal pony powers so she will likely want to get a chance to get several of them brought to her which seems the ideal time for a reunion between Kevin and Heather.
Twilight of course is going to have to sell her idea to get the crystal ponies to help her and if those visions have started then the crystal ponies might be hesitant to aid in stopping the spread of ETS.
Good god. It's finally happened. Do it, Fred, Robert, Doctor Connor. You three are awesome. From LOPE: PAP, Consequences, and Get Me out of Equestria, Alex, WL, Chance, Jacob, Lauren Harris, TD Powell, and Micheal/Michelle would all be extremely proud of you three. All of them have encountered this crazy bitch in their own tales, and all of them successfully called her out on her bullshit. The big "A" especially, who stood the most to lose. S/he also became her best and closest friend of the bunch. They all became close companions of hers. It sure helps that in all of those stories, SS is more in tune to her EQG self, and is truer to her canon character overall, leaving her more open minded and with real vision to see the error of her ways.
None of them would agree to this, and the SS in those would likewise be appalled at this. All three of those tales have Equestrians being nosy, but they are usually responding to an immediate threat, not a supposed, vague distant one. A *will* rather than a *might*. Only in Consequences did they cause it by good intentions, but unnecessary gifts they gave that Earthlings did not ask for.
Seeing the insides of their heads is a nice change of pace. I thought too much magic would draw the attention of the great equalizer, and devour their souls if they became too numerous, too big for their breeches. I have repeatedly lamented the direct influences like equine terms in their speech and knowing exact temperatures, which cannot be instinctive like flight or levitation. You have still managed to one up it all by showing what's happening in their heads. So glad Fred, Rob and Connor have resisted, and two of them know exactly what's up.
Celestia's image being used to advance a cause she doesn't believe in will not sit well with her, even less than the cause itself. I'll defend LOPE: PAP Sunny, as she didn't agree with their course of action herself, only went along with it because of her own loyalty to Tia. Otherwise, she would have protested the Equestrians' intervention in that story all the way. And she spent the rest of time regretting her own input. Fortunately, the other stories did no permanent damage. Sending the human characters in the other two fics to Eques then bringing them back home to Earth would restore their shapes to normal, save those with wings who would still have those for the rest of their lives, regardless of which form they are in. They'd be wiser for the ware, have some forms of magical abilities, and altered hair colors, eyes, and a mark on their hip, but their basic shape would be restored. Their mental scars would likely heal over time, but it would take a while. This seems more permanent than that, and it is indeed the intent here. Where the players in that had recessed equine in them, even in minute quantities, these had none, and she is actively tweaking them, mind and body.
How dissonant this chick is from that one. There is a soul sucking being that will consume them all because of her here. In that one, her actions are the reason most ponies avoided having the life sustaining thaumic energy sucked out of them, leaving them a hollow shell. The demon in LOPE is by no means omnipotent, or even that powerful. He can only travel in more or less the same way we can. Only if you met him by chance, and let your guard down could he latch onto you and eat the thaumens out of you, leaving your body an empty shell. This doesn't sound like that demon, in that you can't avoid it once it knows you're there, and has its sight set on you.
As for immortality, Faust and Larson would disagree with you all. They would tell you they are no less mortal than any other horse. They began their lives as fillies like any other, and remained so longer than most ponies have been alive. They don't notably age by century, measuring a recent photograph to a black and white one made a century ago. Try millennia, and the tune will change. Aside from that, it's been confirmed they are no less vulnerable to injury and illness than anyone else. They are just that good at avoiding it. And lucky. Like the Twilight Zone's Queen of the Nile, and Walter Jameston.
That said, I like the idea of them being intricately tied to the sun, so so long as it remains, so do they. Supernova comes, they both die. The other three are live representations of Companionship and togetherness, of romance and Affection, and of redemption and forgiveness. So long as there are lonely ponies in need of a friend, the first will remain to do her duties. So long as there are relationships needing to be mended and wedding ceremonies and counseling, or dating advice, the second will live to do as she must. The third will continue to draw breath so long as there are people who want to turn their lives around, turn a new leaf. Her job is to see that they are given the second chance they deserve. In the big "A"'s case, s/he is bound by the continuation of sapient life. So long as anything hominid, equine, bovine, or avian remains, so does s/he. Tia did give him fair warning what he was getting himself into, not in enough detail, but continued asking if s/he was absolutely sure s/he wanted this. Now "A" is stuck with it for the rest of time.
I wonder if Laura is going to end up like him. End up in that place between both universes, then a place where they all meet, like the center of a wheel with spokes, then is past the point of no return. Either stay there for the rest of time, or come back changed into an avatar of one sort or the next. If so, I hope somebody warns her she doesn't want to go in there. Makes me think: I'd like a crossover where A and Laura meet.
Post Statement: Sadie Sommers? Try Shady Summers, as that name and aliases is far more appropriate for you once you can no longer hide your true nature. Try to make them adapt silly names composed of common words. Fred Turner is just like WL: He's not giving his name up for anything, like WL will only let her tightest circle of friends use her nickname.
Skipping most of the human chapters now. yes, they're brainwashed shadows of their former selves, don't need to repeatedly be shown, just want to see Twilight fix it already.
Not to say some of the issues and their resolution aren't legitimate, just that the vast majority is pony kum-by-ya herd bullshit. Thanks Sunset!
For me, this has gone far past the point of grimdarkness without light, dark dark dark, and I just don't care anymore.
8268171
Sunset doesn't give a crap. She believes that the pony way is the only way. She knows how dark humanity is but she is so crazy she thinks turning everyone into a pony will fix our problems. Personally I hope to flush her out the government claims that they found out about the biological attack and have sent a nuke over to Equestria. Let's see how Sunset handles it when she thinks she killed Celestia by her actions.
Brainwash is most dangerous spell.
8268422
It isn't 100% brainwashed. We know that she has made a very compelling vision for them and it is one that would likely appeal to them even without the transformation. We have Fred on site though who is going to be fighting this with all his efforts and it will be interesting to see how the ponies do with contrasting views presented to them. They are eager to latch onto something and I want to see what happens when there is more than one something to latch onto. Sarah seemed like she had a small bit of hesitation (not full rejection of the vision like Fred but small skepticism even if small). Again we are dealing with the two ponies Twilight has had direct contact with.
Still we have the lots of sides building; each with their own goals and/or agendas that may or may not intersect with others:
Twilight and Starlight
Sunset
Celestia
The non transformed humans
The ponies/transformed humans
Newly introduced likely insane ancient magic being
Devourers
Fred Turner
Star Singer
Transforming humans
Many of these share goals or are working together but these are the groups with their own personal stakes.
8268375
Do you have a link to the consequences fic?
Funny how many people think in black and white in the comments.
8268056
You chose a chance over a guarantee.
So be it.
oddly, this makes me think of
derpicdn.net/img/2014/1/19/528315/full.png
And this makes me think of something from another story.
- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Random
- Slice of Life
What happens when a dream come true becomes a Nightmare?8268631
When it comes to involuntary tampering of the mind, there's not many shades of grey to be found, if any.
Assimilate that, bitch.
Oh, this has to be the most delightful way this word has ever been used in a pony fic. But damn, these visions were really creepy. My mind kept playing some out of tune fairground music as backdrop... these scenes were right out of a horror movie with that kind of soundtrack. Especially the way most just accepted this saccharine kitsch. You write mind magic and indoctrination scary well and I had to think back to why Sunset is really doing this: create the largest ever mana battery to defend Equestria. A docile, mindlessly happy mana battery. Gah.
Anthony? About those snipers...
8268543
I could not, as I only have memory to go by. It does not appear to be uploaded currently. But I used to read through it everyday, enough to know what I'm remarking on. I should probably find a way to stop making comparisons, but that is far easier said than done to me.
On to the fiction, I think those three I mentioned many times are awesome, and I want to see them feed Sadie Sommers (I call her Shady Summers, a fitting aliases) her own medicine, or get to chew her out. I think that intervening is a good idea if there is some immediate threat, or something that is an inevitable occurrence. But in this case, nothing was wrong with Earth. Meddling was unwarranted. Yet I can see how this happened.
Sunny wanted to find an alternate safeguard for Equestrians to draw on should the existing ones fail, yet the dangers she expected were neutralized. She wasn't there to see them, so she didn't know as she made these plans, like Japs in the 1960s who were away in submarines and desert islands for decades without communication thinking WWII was still on. It was noble intent, yet she found out her home was safe. Still, she wants that redundancy, as she still thinks it won't always be enough, plus while she's doing this, she doesn't want her efforts to be for nothing, something I can grasp.
Finally, she thinks they need their own protection from magical threats, even though there haven't been any for millennia. She thinks they are long overdue. It never seems to occur that they are only in need of protection from them because they have their own magic in the first place. It seems this is some great equalizer that exists to keep numbers from exploding and overtaking the universe. A neutral, all powerful being that doesn't want anything becoming far too abundant, and will take measures to prevent that. As beings that favor external tools and machines over our own natural equipment our bodies came with, we place our own limits on ourselves that way. If suddenly we could fly, levitate, teleport, or dig large holes with only our bare hands, or by thinking about it, no tech needed, our numbers might explode, and nothing could stop us.
More down to earth, Sunset is disrupting the entire world's ecosystem and climate this way. In those fics, she has enough sense to leave the climate and ecosystem alone and let them run their own natural course, settle only what she needs to settle, and keep ponies' numbers stable. This Sunset Shimmer thinks no amount of ponies is ever enough.
8268422
When you've done what you can with the existing characters, you move on and try something that doesn't seem too derivative. Writing original chars is far easier said than done. When it works, it really works. Unfortunately, FiM fiction isn't the best place to look for that. Better to go to DA, or elsewhere. If it's not your cup of tea, well then that's that.
I enjoy it because SS is my favorite MLP related char, and seeing how many ways she can be utilized tends to hold my attention.
I just have to say how successful a writer you are in that you're VERY masterful in your ability to instill emotion in readers. I say this because I HATE your Sunset Shimmer SO much it's almost palpable.
8268375
LOPE? Last On Earth Pony?
8268663
What would you do presented with the same situation? You are comfortable in your body. You see those like you get along with one another better than they did before. You know your world is forever going to be different. And then you get this dream that shows what the world could be and it seems so wonderful and possible with what you have seen with values pushed that are nothing but positive (honesty, generosity, kindness, laughter). What do you think you would think?
8268736
You forgot loyalty.
8268767
Well, loyalty might not always be as positive. Generally positive but it is the more likely of all to go off into dark territory (all can). It is also the trait most likely to give any skeptic pause.
8268736
In that case, I'm not really me, am I?
If there were two of me, and one of them got ETS while the other one got to watch the whole process, the afflicted me would probably be fine with it whereas the other me would be absolutely terrified.
This is a hypothetical in the realm of the impossibility, but if I were one of those afflicted by the ETS, I wouldn't really be me, that's the problem. I'd probably be happy with it because I wouldn't be myself.
8268709
I have no idea what you're on about.
To sum up it best:Darkness Induced Apathy is where I'm at with the human chapters. If they had actual, meaningful, personalities I'd be fine. But reading them becoming Zombies...Shells...New-foals...it's beating a dead horse at this point.
I don't need a dozen stories about how the former humans are fucked, I need the situation fixed.
8268783
Would you know any better without brainwashing though? Since the only pony that does know that there is something up called it shit while dealing with how disoriented you would typically be during a dream. Yes they have had their minds influenced but it isn't to the point where they don't make their own choices. If they have any indication that there is someone trying to influence their decisions they can easily reject it. What she is doing with influencing their decisions with these dreams is basically an effective propaganda/marketing campaign. Twilight really needs to make her presence known and start presenting other options. The humans are too much in damage control worrying about other things to concern themselves with promoting their old ways of life to the ponies and aren't making warm feelings with the ponies by confining them to shelters.
Well we officially crossed the point of no return for the Tanner family, and Laura seems to be really close to getting a Cutie Mark, though it seems Jenny as finally gotten over her existential crises, though I'm probably going to have to put both Laura and Jenny down as a villain protagonists on the TV Tropes page for this after the next update and possibly Laura as Sunset's dragon. Also why is it that I am the only one working on it?
Guessing Fred is going to go running to Twilight with news of the dream. Wondering if Twilight and Starlight got the dream as well as Josie might not be able to distinguish them as different and they are close by. Between Sunset now likely being on guard of Fred and the fact he is likely to go running to Twilight with word on Sunset's dream. Sunset will likely see his trying to get word out happen so there seems to be a situation where Sunset might find out how close at hoof Twilight is right now.
8268056
The whole fic so far felt like a decostruction of some sort of various common tropes of this fandom. Transformation fic, equestria as an utopia mainly.
YOU TELL 'ER FRED!!
and now we see just why Sunset doesn't trust the Elements, She has completely mistaken just what the 6th Element is. Notice that in Each Dream she's installing the 5 basic virtues of Harmony: Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter and Honesty.. yet what does she put alongside these 5 elements? not the Magic of Friendship.. but Faith, something that instead throws away all notion of working together to instead pray someone else much stronger than you will save you..
8268010
Fred, please tell everyone that those dreams are propaganda. And everyone else, don't be stupid, please, just this once.
8269465
To late for Laura she has crossed the point of no return after all she feels the transformation gave her life purpose and that was before the dream, I would not be surprised if Laura gets a Cutie Mark before the end of the next day and at this point I am willing to bet that she ends up siding with Sunset in the long run, depending on how successful the dream propaganda is it might not matter what happens to Sunset as her plan might have just reached a point where it no longer requires her involvement, or it might not its just a possibility but one that needs to be considered.
8269498
Well there's always hope. And honestly from how this story is going I'm just waiting for something in the plan to backfire. If there is anything I've learned about humans and ponies is that humans are always unpredictable and there is always Murphy's law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Besides, we are still not sure what exactly Celestia saw in sunset's plans that could possibly be exploited or horribly backfire. I'm just hoping and praying and having faith. A little ironic now that I think about but it's the truth. Let's just wait next week and see where it goes from there.
8269498
While it is definitely past the point of no return for Laura on being a pony I do question her absolute loyalty to Sunset. There is one big thing that could lose Laura's loyalty to Sunset in an instant and that is the knowledge Sunset was responsible for the most traumatic event of her and Jenny's lives--the tornado. If that knowledge came out I think Laura would still believe in being a pony is best but she would betray Sunset to being captured at first opportunity. She would have her vengeance even if vengeance isn't a very ponylike thing to normally do. Laura would forge her own view for leading ponies still but she would side with the humans against Sunset in an instant if that knowledge came out.
8268850
I don't know how many times you need to be told this to grasp the sheer scale of influence here. There's been exactly one person in an entire town who's been able to resist, and he was told in very plain terms that someone's directly screwing with his mind, to be on the lookout for them, and that he was likely to be meddled with through his dreams.
Bob's suspected the same thing for days now, and Sarah's enough in the know that she outright recognized Dream Pony Christ as the perpetrator (I forget if she knew to expect a dream attack too) -- and both of them got overwhelmed anyway.
Based on what we've heard, it's probably a town somewhere in the five digits. When you have to look five orders of magnitude down to find any resistance at all, and can count all of him an one finger, this is far, far beyond the point of reasonable non-invasive influence. How many times have you read the line "he/she couldn't help but think X should have been important, but couldn't imagine why anymore"? These people have been borderline lobotomized to the point that they can barely exercise basic self-reflection and critical thought while awake and lucid, and are now being attacked yet again in their base subconscious. How often do you think clearly and critically while dreaming?
Good means nothing if it's not chosen with a clear mind. Sunset's ponies are basically talking, eternally drugged-up pets with vestigial personalities, many of which have been outright overwritten when inconvenient. Jenny's personality has very nearly been reversed wholesale overnight, and we've seen more than one normally reclusive person driven to screaming mental episodes. I don't know how much more evidence you need that this isn't transhumanism -- it's body horror.
Nice job, Fred. This starts the rebellion against Sunset. Then the whole world goes boom, ponies die, ancient evils get released, and everybody is fucked.
8269526
You go too far. You accuse them of being completely unthinking but 99% of the population has no idea what is going on and no way of knowing. They need to be told straight out who did this and why but everyone is afraid of causing mass panic about alien attacks and tipping Sunset off and having her bolt. I say let her bolt and let the governments deal with the panic. There is panic now and the governments of the world know what is going on and while it is worthwhile to capture or kill Sunset they are losing ground and will lose credibility when it comes out that they knew for some time before they said a word.
8269566
They're not unthinking. They're being actively prevented from thinking inconvenient things. If's anything, that's miles worse, because you have a mind, but it's not really yours anymore. That's why mind control is scary. We can comprehend outright death, but being puppeted so intimately...that makes our neck hair stand up on end.
Outing Sunset immediately does nobody any good. Right now they know where she is, she's under observation, and she's unaware they have her number this soon. If she gets spooked and bolts, or worse, catches wind of Twilight's cooperation with human officials, she would probably just go traipsing around the world happily sabotaging everything Twilight's trying to do to stall her genocide, and basically nobody would ever be able to track her down because she can disguise herself flawlessly as whoever she wants, anywhere in the world, and mind-trick her way past any sort of records that would imply anything fishy.
If we really want to get into the country saving face, Sunset's technically a hostile foreign agent who's committed the largest bioterrorist attack in human civilization. The fact that she's even being given this much discretion by the United States of all countries is nothing short of miraculous -- most likely owing to the fact that they know they can't contain her. They know very well that their only alternatives are to either work quietly with Twilight, or shoot Sunset without warning in a crowded quarantine room full of children (how's that for losing credibility?) and instantly lose Twilight's support in stopping the disease.
8269126
I thought producing ideal crystal is impossible? Something to do with entropy and absolute zero.
8269595
She can't just run anywhere. She has the same rules for teleporting Twilight does and far less magical reserves. She would not be able to flee the region very easily and at least people would be on guard for her. We don't even know if Twilight's plan will effectively work but whether Sunset is aware or not there is little she can do to actually stop Twilight from seizing the portal if Twilight has an army of humans at her back. Once Twilight has control of the portal she then has access to reinforcements which can both help hunt down Sunset if she is on the run and give Twilight aid with coming up with a solution. Sunset is most dangerous when given time to act unimpeded and Twilight needs to stop giving it to her. It is more a victory of moral than anything else capturing Sunset. With the portal in control Sunset is incapable of providing significant interruption to Twilight.
Plus if she bolts she can't be present pushing ponies to go the way she wants them to and ponies are more likely to resist her influence if they know what and who they are resisting.
8269624
While on her way to meet humans, Twilight mentioned that she could fly around as much as she wanted if she wasn't trying to avoid drawing attention or hurting anyone. Sunset would have no such compunctions -- she'd just go where she wanted, mind whammy anyone in the way to never remember it, and then walk away as somepony or someone completely different. Hell, she could infiltrate the very military installations that would be set up to impede her, doodle horse dongs on some stuffed-shirt general's face in his artificially-induced sleep, leave him with a fresh neon fur-job in the making, and walk out with their plans to use the EBS to stall the disease.
Or, you know, just go on a road trip and set up fresh uninterrupted outbreaks. She's already managed to infect about a sixth of the entire US population and send it abroad with a few weeks and one patient in a nowheresville town in Colorado. She may not be able to convert all of humanity by the time the Equestrian cavalry arrives in force, but she'd certainly have most of it past the point of no return, and would have had more than enough time to set a new cult that vastly outnumbers Equestria against them.
She's spent 20 years on and off of one of the world's most extensive and nuanced bureaucracies at will, and spent most of it mind-screwing a trained soldier into submission. Do you really think any number of walls would stop her? There are about five people between both worlds who could reasonably impede Sunset in any manner (at least until you start digging into villains and fickle deities); four of them are royalty, the fifth has thrown down with royalty to a standstill, and almost all of them would be reluctant to harm her. The rest of Equestria's forces would be an annoyance to her at best.
8269595
Your comments deserve more upvotes. You shall have mine.
There is only so much you can defend. Then you must draw the line. Wanting to sustain, defend, and preserve her home was noble and justified. Killing off another or making it a clone of hers, not so much. It seems to me, some commentators, or even voters have irrational, extreme mindsets, and lack critical, independent thought. Anyone who even suggests SS is in the wrong seems to get bad downvotes. They never seem to even suggest why this is so, it just is. I suspect these voters cannot even take criticism maturely themselves if they got it, and have extreme mindsets.
SS has been motivated by the potential destruction of her home and family, good enough. Then she did what was necessary to save it even if taking another was needed, justifiable from her standpoint. It's not justified when she wants to do it anyway for their benefit when it stops being for her own home and family, but because earth has no natural defense against magic threats. Threats that happen because there is too much magic, maybe?
This is not unlike what happens when you slowly get boiled in a pot, or HOT TUB. The temperature is slowly raised, you never know what is happening until it's too late. Drop you into boiling water outright, and you immediately jump out on reflex before you get your skin peeled off. Here, we see her line both motives up perfectly, when she only had one at first. Then she loses her original motive, but keeps the second, showing how easily you can have several motives, yet lose some, keeping none of the original ones, but keeping the new ones you acquired. She is misguided, and Tia knows it.
It scares me how easily some can miss this point so easily, and call us extremist thinkers, not taking note of the content of our thoughts.
If I remember from some of the conversion bureau stories, the last part was a "dream " which converted a human soul into a pony soul sunsets vision is close but I feel that Feds ability to outright reject the supposed utopia is that he has heard this same line from every human dictator that has ever lived. follow my vision and all your trouble will be solved . military people study history its a unavoidable requirement. I agree with soluna in that Faith is not friendship and thus Sunsets' harmony matrix in incomplete and unstable you can have faith in friends but can't make friends on faith alone.
Fred also maybe able to resist because he has the experience the real power of friendship when he was in the army . soldiers go to war for their country's they fight for the men and women next to them.