It's fanfiction all the way down.
Rarity finally has a chance to make dresses for a princess! All her friends will be so jealous.
Heaven below but what above?
A world without Masters to love?
A world without Celestia's order?
Things beyond the system border?
Are we just to sit in fear?
That what was far will soon be near?
Something, something must be done.
Wars unwaged must now be won.
Our noble star can bear no rival!
Above all pony survival.
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"The knife let’s everypony know"
"The knife lets everypony know"?
"her magic to lift her own dresses’ elaborate train"
"her magic to lift her own dress's elaborate train"?
"to hang colorful panners off their porches"
"to hang colorful banners off their porches"?
"In the visitor’s hall below"
"In the visitors' hall below"?
"She compared wings with a pegasi"
"She compared wings with a pegasus"?
Ah, I was wondering. Okay, to be fair, I was wondering a number of things, with estimated probabilities rising and falling through the story, and I still hadn't reduced it to what it was by the time that was revealed. But still, yeah.
So, here's a question, though: was anyone at all at that party, except Rarity, organic? Because I'm kind of inclined to think that the answer is in the negative...
8935525
All fixed!
Well I didn't want to give away the reveal too soon!
Do you want the secret author headcanon answer? Because in the story it is supposed to be ambiguous.
8935531
"Well I didn't want to give away the reveal too soon!"
You succeeded, I think. :)
"Do you want the secret author headcanon answer? Because in the story it is supposed to be ambiguous."
...Hm. Well, yes, definitely, but I'm not sure if it's a net want.
...Eh, yeah, I'd like to know what you think, if you don't mind. :)
But the story does indeed leave it ambiguous, I think; I believe I detect a lean in the evidence, but there's nothing conclusive.
8935563
Glint is real. She really is the last Princess of Griffonstone. She is also the last griffon anywhere. When she dies, her species will be extinct.
She doesn't know.
She was abducted by aliens, who took her to their strange and advanced homeworld, and informed her she existed to entertain the Masters, these little equine creatures. She struggles with the pain, but thinks that if she's clever, maybe she can swing a ride home and be reunited with her people.
The machines wiped out her people after abducting her, to prevent them from eventually becoming a threat to Equestria.
8935574
...
Okay, wow, I'm glad I asked, because that was almost entirely unlike what I was thinking! :D
Bears some similarities to one of the hypotheses I was considering earlier, if I remember correctly, but yeah.
...And I still don't know whether any of the guests were organic! Though it now seems more likely.
...And now I'm wondering why they saved her. Just because some ponies considered it desirable enough to meet a real princess? And it's Rarity she lives with. So... if that's the case, I guess congratulations are in order for her: in this world, she becomes one of the very, very few people to truly stand out from the crowd.
...And now, does she know? Something, it seems. Perhaps that Glint is not allowed to leave. But I doubt all of it.
edit:
...I mean, again, though, just wow. With all of those ponies, there are likely hundreds of thousands who'd want a princess, alien, or both. And for robot alien princesses, sure, just turn 'em out, give them unique backstories, and if there isn't one for everyone, that's because it's been judged better to limit the supply a bit to encourage socializing or something. But real ones? Leaving aside some sort of awkward and expensive alien nobility captive breeding program, that's one of those things with inherent scarcity, a "good" in limited supply even in an otherwise post scarcity civilization. And out of all the ponies who could have gotten her... it's Rarity. I mean, even if she got her because it came down to a random number generator and blind luck, that's still pretty exclusive.
Neat story, Jaxie! The trademark ambiguous ending is just your style, though I think I prefer my own headcanon to your explanation, if that's all right.
Personally, I imagined that Rarity was a robot (which I'm pretty sure she is), but I thought she might be a retired familiar who finds happiness in a purpose, even if that purpose is just a pageant. Or else that Rarity was real, but still plays out the pageant to give herself something to do, since no real ponies particularly need her services (since there are so many others who will do just as well). The bit you have about Glint being the last of her species seems an odd thing to assume... why bother keeping her alive when the rest of her species is dead? For what purpose would they keep her alive and in the dark about the truth?
But in any case, another enjoyable read centering on this sad, dystopian world. Someday, I'd like to return to my own take, but that'll have to wait a little longer.
8935563
Jeez, between me and Jaxie, you're keeping busy today, Reese!
8935649
My hypothesis on finishing, if it wasn't clear from other spoilered text, was that Rarity was organic, Glint was a robot, and the party guests might all also have been robots, more of Rarity's "dolls" acting out a drama of her own creation. I wasn't sure on the organic/robot proportions of the guests, and I'm now vaguely remembering that the machines may somewhat disapprove of ponies associating mainly with machines rather than other ponies, but it still seems possible that either she was so insistent they gave in or that she has organic friends who mostly or entirely weren't there on this particular occasion.
8935650
I mean, I have been doing things today besides reading. Just a lot of that too. :)
8935649
That's totally alright! Death of the Author.
FWIW, the canon I think most people will walk away with is that Glint is a robot made to think she's a princess.
Rarity wanted to make dresses for a princess, and Spike would prefer not to lie to his master.
That's it.
Why not keep her alive? It's not like she's hard to feed or take care of. She's basically just a big pet that makes Rarity happy. When Rarity eventually gets bored of her, Spike will just suggest it's time she go rejoin her people.
8935649
Why do you taunt me so? ;-;
8935657
Yep, that was one of the possibilities I had in mind too.
8935665
Well, I haven't forgotten about it. Just been... sidelined, shall we say.
8935663
"When Rarity eventually gets bored of her, Spike will just suggest it's time she go rejoin her people."
...Which in context is some rather ominous phrasing.
Though I wouldn't actually expect her to be sent straight back to them, if there's someone else on the wants-a-genuine-princess list who can have her without word getting back to Rarity.
8935684
Indeed. She will continue to be useful until she has outlived her usefulness.
Or hey, she might be a robot. Death of the Author. :D
8935749
Indeed. :)
And it occurs to me, it might even be both, depending on how the machines feel about duplicates, before or after her death.
Oh, by the way, I don't remember whether I mentioned or thought of this before, but did you ever read a book called Don't Bite the Sun? I did years ago, and it suddenly occurred to me that there are a few similarities, at least based on what I remember.
8935932
I never did! Are you recommending it? Your recommendations tend to be pretty good.
Huh! Another lovely, and kind of chilling, story in this universe. Time for my personal take on What's Happening In This Story (TM)!
Glint is a real live griffon, but she might as well be a doll, living as a honored guest / helpless hostage / interesting conversation piece in a society vastly more powerful than her own. And she has no idea how many of the guests at the reception were real ponies, and how many were Rarity's dress models. At times, she thinks the robots are probably more alive and real than the living, breathing ponies like Rarity herself.
8936102
Well, as I recall, me of howevermany years ago it was thought it was pretty good! And while I don't own a copy to look at now, I'm not remembering anything about it that's making me think that past me had terrible taste. So, yes, with that in mind, I think you might want to check it out. :)
(I seem to recall that what I actually read was that and the sequel bundled in a single volume, but the first one is, well, first anyway, if however you view it, if you do, only has them separately.)
Oh, and thanks. :)
Well, that was a great example of understated unpleasantness.
Rarity really likes her dolls, regardless of whenever they are robots or not, she loves them. On her own terms of course.
And poor Glint is currently the favorite doll. The question is, is she "real" and keep like some sort of endless trapped "guest" on a foreign planet? (the part where she looks as the city is beautiful sad)
Or, is she a robot programmed to fully believe she is an alien?
I am not sure what situation is the worst; if she truly is an alien, it speaks volumes about their societies indifference to anything but their own entertainment that she is living with Rarity as she is, with no attempt of any clear diplomacy or even attempt, the line about how reaching space is hard is rather ominous.
On the other hand, creating a robot who is fully unaware of what they truly are, while it fits with the 'verse previous stories dictating that the robots will be exactly what the pony wants/needs, has some really horrific existential issues for poor Glint when Rarity gets tired of playing with her.
Either Rarity is a synth or they have dramatically extended pony lifespan. My money is on the former.
I realized something is off about Glint during the reception, mostly because Rarity was heading it. The scene with Rarity fitting a dress and rehearsing etiquette was plausible enough for a "shortly after first contact" scenario, but the reception did not fit that interpretation.
8935574
Huh, I'd have dismissed this interpretation right away because of Occam's Razor.
It does promote an already disturbing story all the way to horrifying, though. And this way it's got a Friendship is Optimal vibe to it.
Not as tight.
It seems obvious that Spike is Rarity's familiar, which would mean that Rarity isn't a synth.
If you discount the poem I'd say that Glint is likely artificial. Given the poem (and the author's comment), it gets much more worrying. It does seem quite unlikely that Rarity would get access to an alien princess though- that's gotta be something in high demand with an inherently limited supply. Seeing as how the cleaning bots didn't show up until Mr. Shooting Star left, it seems likely that he's an organic/master. And unless the robots come up with some sort of extended lies, the masters are going to be asking about the aliens and not liking the answers.
All in all an interesting story, but not one of my favourites. Definitely getting some Friendship is Optimal vibes though.
Fascinating. Loving the ambiguity at work. Anyone could be organic. Anyone could be synthetic. (Well, aside from Spike. Probably.) The meaning of the story as it plays out has so many different possibilities, the sheer variety of interpretations is almost enough to keep me from thinking about how horrifying most of those interpretations are. Another great entry in the saga of this setting. Thank you for it.
I assume the yaks were exterminated without gathering any pamperable samples.
Since the story is all about doubting the 'reality' of the life forms...
I regret to inform you all that they're ALL artificial, and merely consist of digital words in this fanfiction database.
That's the problem with these sorts of stories; they demand the audience grasp disbelief rather than suspend it, and the only possible conclusion becomes that none of it is 'real', because it really isn't.
I'm never led to believe in, or desire to believe in, the existence of any of the characters. Willing suspension of disbelief is impossible when the tale suggests I doubt everything about its own validity in the first place.
8935574
This would answer the question of who the robots were meant to assist...
8935663
I'm almost sure I gave you my Death of the Author rant at Bronycon.
I think the Alt Universe tag makes this story too ambiguous to speculate about. If there were no Alt U tag, I could use what I know of the poniverse to eliminate possible interpretations: Griffins aren't from another world, Spike isn't like that, therefore this is in Rarity's imagination and she's probably (as it says) a filly playing with dolls... etc.
I should know--I'm a
lh3.googleusercontent.com/NEgSM_nBRmfJoFNWwlp0yk3yhDemTB4J6aN6kijROY8t4ZpHAdROp57l7b-Me1xiL8kmKD87xULHW46lhy1L9mSQoIJPAydA3A62ayp0VWESb0hKudljaAKq0JOP3L6IzoSebk0V
With the Alt U tag, anything is possible. When you make an alt-U story ambiguous--espeicially a short one, written using the fan-fiction convention of relying on the canon universe to give context--that context might as well not exist, and every hypothesis I might float is consistent with some possible alternate universe. So the story becomes a Rorschach text (a thing for readers to project their own stories onto) rather than a story to interpret. That's not wrong, but it's not what I personally want out of a story.
8935932
Hey! I read this book based on your recommendation.
It was pretty good. ^_^
9562929
Oh, hah! Apparently I completely forgot about mentioning it to you here when I mentioned it to you in the comments of that blog post. :)
Glad you enjoyed the book!
This sounds really sketchy.
Oooh! I really liked how the ending made me scroll back up and reread the first few paragraphs in a different light.
9684669
The bit about telling her not to touch her throat also takes on a certain menace!
Cover art by Baron Engel, originally posted to Deviantart.
So Celestia cares only about organic ponies, not organic intelligences. Poor griffins. The background to these stories is extremely depressing.
10372691
She's a machine. Rules as written.
Alright, so Rarity is racist, adores aiding minor foreign diplomats in seeming regal, Spike is jealous of this of course, ponies live in really big towers, breed like rabbits, and hate fun; alien princesses are weird and squawk and screech at moments when birds don't, and Rarity likens it all to playing with dolls, since she's not important enough to make dresses for pony royalty like Prince Blueblood.
It's a... cute story, I guess?
Not sure what the point of putting it in Future Space Equestria is.
Read this in 12 AM. Either I'm too sleepy or too stupid to get the dark undertones of this story. Is Glint an actual doll and the Canterlot tower is just a playset or is Glint the "slave" kind of doll made to serve Rarity like what Sombra did to the crystal ponies?
Is she living in a post apocalyptic Equestria where she is alone for decades and all her friends are dead and she tries to cope by playing with dolls? Also idk why the Equestria here has a futuristic setting.