Book One: Joy; Chapter One: Night Raid
"We're certain this is the place, your highness?"
Luna continued watching over the building in front of her. Like any building in Kludge Town, it was more or less a rundown shack, but it was a slightly lower quality rundown shack than its neighbors. The walls were a slightly dirtier shade of brown, and had a few more cracks than its neighbors. But more than that, there was a telltale sign that gave away the building's identity: Little pink wisps of smoke escaped through the windows and the chimney, a byproduct of the potion that was quickly becoming the bane of Equestria...
Joy.
On the surface, it was a simple thing: A potion that caused the pony or creature who drank it to be... happy. Extremely, blissfully happy. Happier than they'd ever known it was possible to be, if only for five minutes. And if that was all the potion had done, Luna would not have had a problem with it in small doses. A potion that makes a pony happy did no actual harm to anyone. But it wasn't what the potion did, but the side effects of the potion that were quickly becoming the ruin of a nation. It was the fact that Joy never actually left the body, and continued to accumulate as it was taken. The buildup of Joy slowly deadened the emotions of the pony who took it, so that once they took Joy, they couldn't feel happiness, or sadness, or anything else, quite as strongly as before. Within ten doses, a pony couldn't feel happiness without Joy, and would do anything, say anything, sell anything, to get more. Within twenty, the pony couldn't feel ANYTHING without Joy, and would even attack others to try and get just one more dose. And then the true horror began, as Joy lost its effectiveness with each additional dose, and at thirty doses, the poor, unfortunate soul couldn't feel anything, with or without Joy...
These poor, unfortunate ponies would sit around, doing nothing unless told to, their eyes glazed pink and dull from the drug. Unless told to do so, they wouldn't even eat or sleep, because they could not feel fatigue, or hunger. It was nothing less than a living death for any creature who became addicted to the drug. And there were creatures selling it in Luna's kingdom. And even worse, her guards had caught someone giving 'free samples' of the drug to little colts and fillies...
If Celestia had been there to see it, Luna had little doubt that her elder sister would likely have glassed Kludge Town in her fury at such a travesty. Doing something like that to children? Unthinkable...
Luna's reaction to discovering this had been... extreme, but more calculated. She'd force-fed the wretch a full thirty doses of Joy, one each five minutes. Once his eyes had fully glazed over, Luna began interrogating him regarding the potion: Who had it, how had it come into the city, and where was it being manufactured. And following that information had led to the arrests of dozens of dealers, the apprehension of the entire smuggling ring that had brought it into the city, and now, a black op to take out the manufacturing center of the potion.
Strictly speaking, Luna shouldn't be here: Kludge Town was lawless, and had no actual government to regulate it, but Equestria had no real authority to step in and dismantle this manufacturing center, since it was outside of Equestria's borders. But unless the core of this operation was destroyed, Equestria would have more smugglers, and more dealers, trying to infect the city with this... this cancer that was trying to eat away at the heart of the kingdom. Joy had to be destroyed, or Equestria would be wracked with misery forever. More importantly, Luna wouldn't be able to sleep until she was certain that this nightmare was over, one way or another.
Turning back to the guard who had spoken just moments ago, the alicorn princess nodded, then said, "I'm certain. I can see wisps of pink from the building: There might have been a spill. Distribute masks: We don't want anypony breathing the stuff, not after last time. According to the information we've been given, the building is a front. The real manufacturing center for Joy is beneath the basement. There's a complex hidden below where the potion is manufactured, and then stored until it can be distributed. Thankfully, there's only one such place on the entire continent: Whoever it is that first concocted the foul stuff, they've proven to be the only one who can make it with any kind of success. Anyone, pony or otherwise, who tries to make it either ends up with a toxic sludge, or an explosion. So at least, in that way, the operation is simple: No brewer, no new Joy. The entire operation will fall apart once we've taken this place down."
Luna took a moment to examine the building again: It looked deserted, but as she'd just said, it was a front. Once a week, a cart would pull up in front, sacks of bits and other coinage would be taken in, then food and supplies needed to manufacture the drug were taken in as well, and then crates of Joy would be loaded up, to be taken whereever it needed to go. A second wagon would come the next day, and currency would be loaded in, payments to the various dealers and distributors, and bribes for various government officials. None of the distributors went in, and the ones who loaded the carts were what was now being called "Joy-Dead", those ponies who had exceeded thirty doses of Joy, and as such, never spoke or discussed what was inside. Still, that didn't mean that there wasn't someone, or something, inside the building, if not the complex below, to deal with intruders. There would have to be some fairly formidable defenses inside to dissuade anyone avaricious, or desperate and Joy-hungry, from trying to come in and take what was inside. It would be best to scout out the interior, and see what was waiting for them...
"Have your soldiers on standby," Luna commanded, imperially. "I'll use my magic to sneak inside, and see what might be waiting for us. If I'm not back within half an hour, send for reinforcements, and don't attack until they arrive."
Because if the creatures had anything inside that could incapacitate an alicorn, even the fifty guards behind Luna wouldn't be enough...
------------------------------------
In a form like a whisp of smoke, Luna cautiously crept through the top-most window. The sickly sweet tang of Joy-smoke filled the building, but since Luna was currently intangible, it passed through her without harm. She'd need to be sure that her guards wore masks when they came in, however: Joy-smoke, the vapor released when Joy was exposed to open air, didn't have the effects of the potion, but it could accumulate in the lungs, and make breathing difficult over time... and like the potion, it would never leave the body on its own. The princess couldn't help but shudder in remembrance: A crate of Joy had broken open during a raid last week, and five guards had suffocated from the fumes, gasping for air in desperation with the princess powerless to do anything to help. Without the brewer, and their knowledge of how the potion was made, there was no way of knowing how to create an antidote for the stuff: The potion's composition was an absolute mystery, even to the best alchemical minds of the current generation, and any attempt to break it down to its base components using magic caused it to become a toxic sludge.
After checking to confirm the building was empty, the princess navigated down to the basement, and searched for the entrance to the main complex. It was the work of a few moments to find the trap-door, and a few seconds later, she was in...
She was glad to still be in the form of a cloud when she passed though the entrance: While only wisps of Joy-smoke filled the building, the manufacturing center was thick with it, enough to choke any pony who entered in seconds. And the Joy-Smoke wasn't the only thing that would choke anyone who entered: A powerful stench came from a dozen powerfully built creatures of varying types who lay dead on the ground near the entrance, looks of horror frozen on their faces, the cause of death seeming to be suffocation. They'd dropped dead, most likely running towards the entrance. It was hard to tell how long they'd been dead: Joy-Smoke kept the insects and bacteria that normally feast on dead flesh away. Thus, the normal stages of decomposition were not followed. They looked partially mummified, so they'd at least been dead for weeks. It was clear now, though, that there was much more than a simple spill here. A stairway leading downward beckoned deeper into the compound, Joy-Smoke vomiting up from it now that the trapdoor was open.
Fluttering down the staircase before her, it was several minutes before she came to a large chamber...
This could only be the storage center, she thought to herself as she took in the surroundings. Dozens of crates filled the room, stacked three times as high as Luna herself, arranged in cubes five crates by five crates by five. Perfectly ordered and organized. Dozens of creatures, masked, but with eyes glazed with the mark of the Joy-Dead, walked about, filled with purpose, even as it was clear that none of them had eaten in days, if not weeks. As she watched, two griffins hauling a crate between them suddenly fell to the ground, unconscious or dead, the crate bursting open and spilling Joy everywhere, dozens of vials shattering and releasing their contents all over the floor. Joy-smoke released into the air, thickening the already fog-like haze filling the room. Without skipping a beat, two other creatures came and began cleaning up the broken crate while a third hauled away the two griffins, tossing them onto a pile of creatures in a similar state. No one was directing these creatures, and all of them seemed to be moving on automatic, following orders given to them by someone who no longer saw a need to oversee them. And why not? The Joy-Dead would continue following orders until told to stop... or they dropped dead.
Moving further on, Luna came across a doorway which led to a very impressive looking door. Not impressive in a 'Do Not Enter' sort of way, but in a 'I Have Money And Power, Respect Me' way. Easing in, Luna was shocked by the sudden stench that assaulted her: A creature, his corpse so mummified that it was almost impossible to tell what he actually was, sat in a fine chair, clad in expensive clothing, an expression of shock and horror clear on what was left of his face. He sat behind the remains of a fine desk, the furniture having collapsed under the massive sacks of currency that had been stacked upon it. Similar sacks filled the room almost to bursting...
It took Luna a few seconds to realize what must have happened: This was most likely the kingpin of the organization. In order to cut production costs, he'd likely replaced his workforce with Joy-Dead, or OD'd his current workers with the potion, whichever was cheaper and easier, and ordered the now mindless workers to follow a complex set of instructions to continue the operation without oversight. Like automatons, the Joy-Dead worked... until they dropped dead from exhaustion or hunger, as whoever had instructed them had either forgotten to instruct his minions to stop to rest and eat... or had not cared if his workers had dropped dead. And if enough of them dropped at once, a massive amount of Joy would be spilled, and Joy-smoke would fill the compound in minutes. The compound was clearly not well-ventilated, or at least, not ventilated sufficiently to allow Joy-smoke to exit the facility quickly, so if such a massive leak occurred, it would kill anyone without a mask.
Luna looked at the deceased creature, clad in fine silks and bearing gold on his fingers, wrists, and about his neck, and remembered the dozen guards, all dead just a few steps from the exit. All the wealth in the world about him, she thought to herself, and in the end he'd have no doubt traded it all for a single lungful of fresh air...
The door behind Luna opened, and a pair of large Joy-Dead came in, pulled out a pair of the large sacks of currency, then walked out. They took no notice of their dead master, his corpse no more interesting to the mindless workers than the chair he sat upon. And why not? Their orders were to keep the operation moving, not to aid their master. Had the kingpin kept aware, un-Joyed workers on his payroll, someone might have warned him of the spill, and brought him a mask, as well as masks for the guards. Instead, he'd choked to death from the fumes of his own product, his own greed the cause of his demise.
And nothing of value was lost, thought Luna to herself angrily. Selling poison to children? The flames of Hades couldn't burn hot enough, in Luna's opinion, for trash like this. She turned away from the dead kingpin and his piles of blood money, and returned to the storage center. Following a group of Joy-Dead carrying crates of supplies, she made her way towards what she hoped was the manufacturing center proper. The brewer had to still be alive, or else the flow of Joy would have stopped. And if he was still here, he had to be Joy-Dead, or else he'd have just plundered the building i the aftermath of the spill, then crept out with a fortune in any currency he preferred.
That suited Luna just fine: Joy-Dead meant that he wouldn't be able to lie about how he'd made his foul product. She'd interrogate the scum, get all of his notes, and then she'd have the guards dismantle this facility. The fortune in currency would be considered lawful plunder, given that Kludge Town had no laws, and would be used to help the victims of Joy. They'd take the surviving staff to be treated, once an antidote to Joy was devised, and hopefully, the nightmare known as Joy would be over and done with. And if, perchance, along the way, the brewer were to accidentally get dropped from about ten thousand hooves above the ground, well, no one was going to shed any tears over the scum of the planet suddenly becoming a colorful stain somewhere in the badlands.
Luna mentally shook her head. No, that wasn't the way things were done. As... immensely satisfying it would be to do such a thing, Equestria was a nation of laws, and no one, not even the ruler of the nation, should take the law into their own hooves.
Besides, if she ever did such a thing, she'd never be able to look her sister in the eye upon her return...
Luna's thoughts came to a halt when she came to what could only be the manufacturing center for Joy. Beakers, burners, tubes, and other, stranger equipment filled the room. Components seemed to be loaded into equipment at one side of the room, and after being entered into the various devices and whatnot on one end, went through all of this equipment, and ended up as Joy in a massive barrel at the other end, to be released through a spigot at the bottom, where the vials were filled, one by one by a creature wearing protective equipment. There was a huge crack in the top of the barrel, Joy-Smoke spewing from it and filling the room, and no doubt the rest of the facility. So here was the true source of the doom that visited this place: They'd overfilled the barrel, and the top had burst open, exposing hundreds and hundreds of gallons of Joy to the open air. When Joy was taken, the vials had to be opened and the contents consumed quickly, before the stuff vaporized into Joy-Smoke. At least a hundred gallons of the stuff was now vaporizing every hour, but it seemed that ten times that much was being produced, if not more.
There was enough Joy being produced here, per day, to reduce every pony in Equestria into emotionless shells... and this stuff was being distributed all over the continent, according to her sources in other countries. Luna doubted that the kingpin had intended for so much of the stuff to be manufactured: There wasn't much profit in turning the entire world into Joy-Dead, and once enough of the population reached that state, the enterprise would no longer be profitable. But because the leadership of this organization was dead, no one was here to say 'Stop' or 'Slow Down'. The creatures here would keep manufacturing Joy until either the world was flooded with it, or they all dropped dead...
Luna's thoughts were interrupted when she heard the rattle of metal on metal. She looked down, and saw... a small filly, emaciated from severe starvation, walking about the room examining the equipment. A manacle was clamped around one leg, connected to a chain anchored to the center of the floor. The thick concentration of Joy-Smoke had dyed her coat, mane, and tail florescent pink, barring perhaps the area covered by her mask. The coating of Joy-Smoke was so thick it was even impossible to tell what her cutie mark might have been, if she even had one yet. Her eyes were the most troubling thing about her: They were the glazed pink of the Joy-Dead, but more so. Her eyes were practically glowing neon pink. Somepony had drugged her well beyond the thirty doses needed to reach this state, and set her to work in this drug lab. But why...?
Sudden shock and horror filled Luna as pieces slid into place, and she realized what was going on. Heavens above, Luna swore in her mind, the brewer was a five year old filly!
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Another story my friend? Don't you have a ton of other stories to update?
I'm just joking glad to see you writing again.
Edit: Poor little filly. I hope the joy-dead can be saved and given new life.
Sad thing is the filly probably just wanted to be happy when she created the potion and somepony saw a way to make money off of it and turned her into a slave.
The original potion probably had no side effects and the kingpin had the filly change the ingredients so that a pony would always want more.
8852254
You're right on all but one count: The potion always had the side effects. What else could you expect from the work of a five year old filly, no matter how surprisingly skilled with alchemy she might be? Given time and free will, she might have perfected the product, removing the harmful side effects. The kingpin didn't care: He saw a way to get a profit, and a massive one at that, and didn't care who was hurt as a result. In the end, though, he learned a painful lesson: "Men are not punished for their sins, they are punished by them." His own evil deeds spelled his undoing. He choked to death on his own product, because he'd replaced just about anyone who could have saved him with mindless slaves, all the while surrounded by enough wealth to buy a small-to-medium-sized country.
Robert: Heads...
Rosalind: ...or tails?
Robert: The sun...
Rosalind: ...or the moon?
Robert: A nightmare...
Rosalind: ...or a daybreak?
Robert: Astounding how such a seemingly minor event...
Rosalind: ...can make such a massive difference.
This story has quite the dark opening for something tagged as a comedy.
8852384
Remember, it is also tagged as dark. You were warned.
Holy poetic justice and moral ambiguity Batman!
I love it!
Joy is one of the worst fictional drugs, I have ever heard of. I mean, the consumer getting more and more zombie like ist bad enough, but the side effect...
It has more application as a bio weapon, at this point. You could overdose or kill quite a lot of Villian easly with it. ☠
In the words of Gomez Addams," Damn, it's good to have you back!"
This reminds me of the Doctor Who episode Gridlock. People take 'emotion' pills and turn into zombies most of the time. There was a pill called something like 'bliss' where they just forgot everything and kept taking this drug, staying in a mindless stupor of happiness all the time. That's what the Joy drug reminds me of. Please more of this. I love stories where Luna never became Nightmare and Celestia became corrupted instead. So much potential. I always thought of Luna as the more powerful magic user anyway. She has the power of the moon...and the stars. And the sun is nothing more than another star.
Jesus Christ. That kingpin's lucky he's already dead.
Well, if the roles had been different, Celestia would have been the emo whiner and Luna her much more mentally-stable sister who'd then wield the Elements and blast her into the Sun.
Then Lyra would have been the Element of Magic, Derpy the Element of Loyalty... and whatever, 4 other random mares.
*shrugs* What else?
Anyway, this is hardly just a 'coinflip'. There are radical differences in much much more of the characterization and world-building. It's a completely disconnected continuity.
It’s a bit darker than your previous work. Maybe even more than just a bit.
But it’s off to a very solid start. It’s such a small change; as small as a single flower. But even the smallest change over a long enough time....
i want more
The filly is Fizzlepop isn't she?
8854333
Nope.
8852339
You ever watch The Fifth Element?
Your comment reminds me of this:
8854540
Well, shoot. IDK then.
8853239
you're probably thinking of Lunaverse...
which already exists and looks far better.
8854333
Would have been my guess, so it's Lyra?
8854697 No, possibilities are limited by VARIABLES. And certain variables are quantifiable. To a reasonable degree of certainty, some possibilities can be excluded.
Unless Celestia is a polar opposite in personality to her canon self, we cannot expect her to behave the same as Luna did through perceived social avoidance. If Luna, however, remained the same, she would be far weaker in mental composition and incapable of successfully fighting back since she would identify with Celestia's personality issues. But, in that case, she would also recognize the issue very early on since she too would possess that ingrained vulnerability and take steps to mitigate it.
You see, changing the dynamics as this story does through one tiny event the results of which rest SOLELY on a character's personality and interpretation of, and introspection upon, said event actually does not automatically result in a similar outcome.
We're dealing with two very different ponies. Flipping a coin hardly matters when one internalizes all slights while the other externalizes. They have different coping strategies, different weaknesses. Having Celestia react like Luna only makes her a white Luna.
8854540
Well, that's disappointing.
Best princess gets the story she deserves? This makes me vary happy. I love all of the new possibilities this story has available!
Ahhh, the brewer is not only our protagonist, but also a child
Yeah, about that brewer
Luna if you ever find anyone actually willing to do that, i will finda way to drop them from that height
Yyeeeaaahhhhh, sucks right
Well, this looks like it will be an interesting story
Let's just hope this doesn't turn out with the canon Bearers being a buncha flanderized parodies of themselves to make way for the fanon Bearers.
8855412
Allow me, for a moment, to draw the main contrast between Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. Consider, for a moment, if the Daybreaker in Sunset Shimmer's nightmare were how an actual, living Daybreaker would act.
Nightmare Moon was a result of Luna feeling slighted because she was always in Celestia's shadow. Daybreaker, on the other hoof, is born from a desire to have EVERYTHING, and share nothing. All for Celestia, nothing for anyone else. Being denied the flower planted the seed of that unreasonable greed in Celestia, while in Luna, it planted the seed of an overwhelming jealousy. It would be years before the seed sprouted, and eventually bore fruit, but it all starts somewhere, doesn't it?
The irony is that for ponies as different as 'Night' and 'Day', falling to the dark side ends up creating a nearly identical evil overlord pony. Regardless of whether it is greed and arrogance, or anger and jealousy, the end result is more or less the same.
And yet, because of the fact that the emotions fueling of Celestia's transformation are so different from Luna's, Luna can't identify them, or identify with them, so she's unable to stop Daybreaker before it starts or talk her sister down afterwards, and is left with the same choice that Celestia had in the world we know. Making this decision hurts Luna, like it did Celestia, but ultimately made Luna a stronger person, like it did Celestia. After all, unless something new pops up in canon, sealing Nightmare Moon was Celestia's first act of self sacrifice as ruler of Equestria. However, a thousand years of Luna's rule ended up with a different Equestria than the one we know: Celestia is more motherly and kind-hearted. Luna is more formal and traditional. I won't say 'Stick In The Mud', since a thousand years have had a moderating effect on Luna, but as you'll recall, when Luna had her first Nightmare Night, she really didn't know what 'Fun' was. She's not that bad now, but she isn't Prankster Celestia, either.
But please keep an open mind with this story: The Butterfly Effect is in full swing, and changing just a few events in the past do more than just change who rules the kingdom a thousand years later.
8856646 Well that's the issue, Daybreaker was STARLIGHT'S notion. Celestia has never shown any sign of this greed, so we're just plopping that trait into her personality for the sake of the story. It's not a coin toss, as I said. To accept this story is to accept a typical fanon character inversion trope.
An entire version of the events leading to the alternate outcome for Celestia, including how her nature became selfish in the first place, could be written. And when it was done, we'd have to ask ourselves, "Why did we even bother writing this with the name 'Celestia' in mind? This isn't even that character at all."
Interesting so far, I hope you continue this.
8856646
I actually love the idea that both sisters were a lot more selfish before Nightmare Moon happened,
I would imagine that in an “Edge timeline” the princesses have a stronger relationship with each other, but they would be worse rulers for the rest of ponykind since they were never put on the road to become better people.
plus, they still have their fatal personality flaws waiting for a time to surface, even if it wouldn’t turn them against each other, it would still suck balls for all the little ponies around them.
8856927
And yet the franchise has done that very thing on two separate occasions, once with Daybreaker, and once in the comics with Mirror Universe Evil Celestia. Don't get so nettled at me for using concepts that are actually part of the canon, even if they're parts of the canon you don't agree with.
Look, I get that you're not super-buzzed about the initial concept of 'Celestia turning evil instead of Luna', since in your head-canon, that's impossible, but let's not get so caught up in a dispute over head-canon that it ruins everyone's ability to enjoy a decent story.
8858754
Everytime he shows up it hurts a story because he's just that butt hurt.
8858852
Yeah. And you know what's worse? Last week, he went and commented on What's Your Story, Morning Glory? You know, the fic that started my descent into depression that caused me to stop fanfic writing for a long time? He wrote this:
I wouldn't even have noticed it, if a fan hadn't pointed it out to me a few minutes ago. Alondro said that, on that story, regarding how he ruined my mood on X-Mas, on what could have been the last X-Mas I ever had with my father. And he only had the guts to post that on a fic that no one visits anymore, since he knew he'd probably get downvoted 1000+ times, and probably get banned.
He gives himself far too much credit, though: Compared to the jerks that spent X-Mas sending me hatemail just to be a jerk, he's less than a mosquito. Every wolf suffers fleas, and they're usually not worth the effort of scratching. But if he wants to try rubbing salt into my wounds, he's going to be the one left feeling salty.
8856927
HEEEEEEEYYYYY EVERYBODY, LOOK AT ALONDRO'S PROFILE. He's got four stories, and all of them have received more than 50% downvotes! In fact, one of them is so red that I can barely even see the green! If I had any stories that had that many downvotes, I'd delete them out of shame and quite writing fanfiction forever, but I guess Alondro has no shame whatsoever. Go figure!
And here's Uberdeathninja's stories! He's one of the most infamous trolls of the MLP:FIM fandom. His deviantart profile literally says that all Bronies should go and die in a hole! He has more stories than Alondro, they're all much more popular, and so many of them have so may upvotes that you can barely see the red at all! He even has more than twice as many followers as Alondro! One of the most infamous trolls of the fandom is a better MLP:FIM fanfiction writer, and is more popular, than Alondro! AMAZING! And here we are, and Alondro is trying to tell me how to write fanfiction! WOW! AMAZING!!! WHAT A REMARKABLE WORLD WE LIVE IN THAT GUYS LIKE THIS THINK THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT TO WRITE AND HOW TO WRITE IT!!!
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So please, Alondro, tell me all about how this is a terrible story, that all my stories are terrible, and what I need to do to change them. But...
Please remember, you started this. All I did was reply in an appropriate fashion. And don't expect any more replies to your comments: I'm done humoring you. If you post another comment like that one on any of my stories ever again, I'll repeat this, as a blog post to all of 2383 (and counting) of my followers will know exactly what you said and where you said it, and it will also let every one of them know your exact caliber as a writer. And if you keep doing it after that, I'll post it on YOUR profile, and then on every story you've written, and I'll pm it to every last one of your followers, so everyone on the site who has even a grain of admiration for you will know how undeserving you are of even that much respect. If you think I'm bluffing, try me. I don't care if it gets me banned for doing it: I will burn everything I've accomplished on this site to the ground in a sea of fire and salt if it means you burn with me. I can start again, write new stories, make new followers. I'm a good writer, it's easy. But you're not, and we both know that if you get banned, and deserve it, you'll just shrivel up and die. And there will be much rejoicing.
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Boom.
8858953
muhahaha! sick burn!
I would follow you if you ever got tired of FIMfiction and moved your work to another site like AO3.
your writing is a precious work of art
8855802
considering this line from the first chapter.
looks like it is not even possible unless they travel to a parallel universe at some point. so, thankfully not.
8858754 Ok, again... Daybreaker was STARLIGHT'S mental projection. Meaning we don't know what would set Celestia off or how long it would take because Starlight didn't and couldn't know herself.
And in the comics, the mirror world had BOTH Celestia and Luna being evil... as well as everyone else 'opposite', merely as part of a basic alt universe trope with absolutely no explanation as to how it got that way.
Again, not good arguments.
8858953 Popularity does not equal quality.
If it did, then we would have to praise Michael Bay as one of the greatest film-makers in history.
I can and will tell you that your concepts are severely lacking. As for my stories being downvoted, that's mainly due to the auto-downvoting of anything I write by those I've lambasted. Most of them never actually read the stories.
I also don't have as many stories because I have a very busy job which only permits me short periods of breaks which are not conducive to creating a long-winded narrative.
But the breaks are enough for me, as a speed-reader who can manage 10,000 words per hour, to quickly zip through and analyze the heck out of several chapters of most stories at a time.
So, rather than go on a little pedantic rant about how I have no right to criticize anything, you might want to consider that I've actually been far more patient and analytical with you than with the truly terrible writers I eviscerate mercilessly. I offered legitimate arguments, and your response has told me I was too tolerant. Very well.
Ask, and ye shall receive.
8860325
I see. Well, I have a question for you: If I block you, does that mean that I can't receive PM's from you, or are you rendered completely unable to comment on any of my stories and blog posts?
Because see, back when I was getting hate-bombed during that unfortunate X-Mas, I forgot I can block users. I could have spare myself a lot of headaches if I'd just done that before. But I remember now that I can do that. And honestly, after that little comment on 'What's Your Story, Morning Glory?', not a soul would blame me for blocking you. If blocking you doesn't stop you from commenting, well, I can always just delete your comments without reading them. You're not worth getting banned for, honestly. You're a toxic troll, and a cancer to the MLP:FIM fandom, and I don't need you darkening my stories anymore.
8863373
Every time. Every time I see Alondro in the comments I wonder to myself: "Why isn't this guy banned yet? Why doesn't he have more dislikes?", so reading this was a treat.
8860325
This is how you coast along through life, is it? Is this how you let yourself sleep at night? That you don't suck but people are just hurt because of your 'criticisms'?
Alright buddy you keep pretending people really take you seriously.
8865468
If he's 'critiqued' that many people, and did so harshly enough that their response was to downvote his stories, he should probably start keeping his opinions to himself. But let's look at facts: Uberdeathninja hates bronies, is a merciless troll, and does nothing to hide his contempt, but he still manages to write stories that get large numbers of upvotes. From Bronies. And as mentioned, he specifically states on his DeviantArt profile (that is easily reached through his FimFiction profile) that in his opinion, bronies should go crawl in a hole and die. And yet, here's Alondro, and his stories are unfairly downvoted? I'm sorry, but I'm just not seeing it: His testimony contradicts clear evidence to the contrary. Especially since at least two of his stories have over 500+ reads. If that many people have read his stories, but the overwhelming majority of the readers didn't even bother to vote, but those that did, decided to downvote it, that means that his stories are somewhere between mediocre and awful, and having read them, that's a fitting assessment.
Interesting so far, i’m looking forward to reading more, i doubt it’ll be easy to complete this story, so i support this endeavor with all my heart, i hope you will continue to do what you do and make greatness :3
8852668
The idea of it came from watching The Last Unicorn. The plot of the movie is kicked off by King Haggard, who as a young man saw a unicorn, something that filled his heart with such joy that he thought that he was going to die. Afterwards, nothing else in the world could make him happy. Nothing, but to see another unicorn. And to do so, he did the unthinkable.
Consider, for a moment, how rare it is for a human being to experience a moment of such pure, undiluted happiness. Now, imagine, once experienced, how much you'd sacrifice to experience it again.
Other parts are a bit more grounded in reality: Some drugs, when taken for the first time, have an effect on the brain and nervous system. The first high is intense, like nothing else you've ever experienced. But because of the effect of that drug, you'll never experience that high again, no matter how much you more take. But most people, not knowing better, try anyway, chasing after an experience that they'll never be able to recreate. Heck, I've heard of how, if a person takes ecstasy for the first time, it permanently alters their brain chemistry, and scientists still aren't 100% certain what that does to people in the long term.
Long story short, yeah it's a terrible drug, but people have ruined their own lives for far less than five minutes of pure bliss.
8886214
True, Joy is actually pretty realistic in a lot of point's. Even the zombie part is actually just a more powerful version of what actually happens with some drug addictions. Becoming unresponsiv to the real world and doing pretty much anything in order to get more.
Hearing where your inspiration came from is quiet fascinating. I would never have guessed the Last Unicorn. But I got a pretty bad feeling now that I know. Not about the story, but what could happen in it.
Equestria has a lot of Joy-Addict's, who can only feel happiness through the drug. Now, I'm don't know if Luna and Celestia have plans for some kind of rehabilitation center, but I doubt the whole idea of rehabilitation would work for anypony who took more than a few doses of joy. Considering it literaly kills the ability to feel, the more you take.
The production has stopped, so Joy is now limited. Storage will run dry fast, cause of the popularity. So now you got a few THOUSAND ponies who are going to start behaving like a combination of King Haggard and a desperate addict. Without the, presumed, possibility of 'curing' them.
It would probably end with a war over the remaining Joy, between the addict's. Addict's who barely have any emotion's and are going do become more and more desperate. Addict's who won't care about collateral damage. Who have access to what pretty much amount's to zombie's. Who are going to be ready to act like King Haggard did and do the unthinkable, whatever that would be in this context.
... At least that's the nightmare scenario. I don't know what your plan's are, but this whole 'shutting down the production and distribution of Joy'-Thing could end extremly bad for equestria and it seem's pretty likely, considering that King Haggard's obsession ended in his death. Joy is a parallel to Haggard's obsession, if I'm not wrong, so it could end just as badly.
Or I'm completely wrong. Whatever direction you take it, I wish you the best of luck.
Even more sinister than We Happy Few. Lot quicker at destroying society as well I suppose.
There will be no Joy in Ponyville tonight, for mighty Luna has struck out.
8858560
I think that's the important bit that makes the whole thing plausible.
I don't recall if the sisters ascended like Twilight and Cadence did, but it's a very common theme that mortals who become immortal don't automatically get the psychological tools they need to cope with it.
Outliving all your friends, things getting monotonous, etc etc, all contribute to something going screwy eventually. So it's not a question of why one was weak enough to crack and not the other, it was a question of which one was gonna crack first.
Having to fight and punish the person closest to you would be shattering, but it also provides the impetus for some soul-searching and the chance to rebuild yourself into a better person.
Twilight and Cadence are lucky in that they have the sisters to tech them how to deal with the long-term effects on one's psyche, but it's just as likely that each of them will have to pass through their own personal crisis.
In that light, it's not just possible, but likely for there to be an alternate timeline where Celestia goes bad instead of Luna.
Enough crack is indistinguishable from magic. Or.. was I thinking of something else?
9359673
Indeed, immortality basically insure you live long enough to become the villain, or at least, long enough to hit your breaking point.
It is very easy to see Luna as the weak link or the only overly emotional one, Because Luna was the one who lost it in canon and was send to the moon, and because Luna has not exactly been in great emotional shape in the aftermath since all the wounds are still raw for her. – Luna also didn’t even seem to understand what fun is, so there might be some kind of brain damage going on from the Nightmare or the Elements…
But Celestia has had 1000 years to mellow out, and to deal with her feelings about the whole Nightmare Moon thing and getting used to dealing with twice her usual responsibilities on her own.
Thinking about it, it is not hard to come up with a scenario where a younger Celestia has gone mad and has to be stopped.
I could see a younger Celestia being a bit more of a hedonist. Thinking about her current love of exquisite desserts and considering how much worse it could have been during the time when she indulged her whims to the point where she booby-trapped her entire castle because she liked pranks. It makes one wonder what kind of budget was set aside for ‘princess pampering’ back then.
Celestia also has a love of jokes and pranks at the expense of others, which is a lot less funny for the staff working at a castle that has been riddled with traps to entertain the princess with others’ misfortune. – I’m blaming Celestia for that one since she is still pulling pranks today while Luna apparently did not know what fun is.
Not to mention how everyone close to Celestia either becomes a neurotic mess, decides to rebel against her, or both.
With the notable exception of Cadence. Which might be because Cadence doesn’t seem to spend much time with Celestia, has her own job, is in a stable and loving relationship, and has an active sex life… or maybe Cadence is just some kind of saint, who knows?
9366551 The "active sex life" is what keeps her sane.^_^
I do hope this does continue.