This story is a sequel to Pandemic
Six months ago, the world humanity knew had been irrevocably shattered in a way they would never have imagined. ETS -- Equine Transformation Syndrome -- had arrived, a powerful transformation spell attached to an otherwise ordinary flu virus. Only with the assistance of Equestria in the form of Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer had ETS been stopped from transforming all of humanity into ponies.
Humanity had been saved, but at a cost. Hundreds of millions of humans had been fully transformed into ponies, and many did not want to go back. The United States was hit especially hard, with over a quarter of its population as ponies. Friction between humans and ponies, Earth and Equestria, has been growing. Families torn apart by ETS had yet to reconcile.
The collision of worlds that the pandemic had brought had only just begun.
Updates weekly FOR NOW -- may switch to every two weeks in the future. I will announce as such.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Shimmerists need to be introduced to King Sombra.
Nice! Looks like we've got some cool storylines set up. I'm particularly looking forward to the Crusaders possibly coming to the human world.
And here we go.
Nice to see you back and the story is as interesting as ever. If you are interested in a custom cover art again like last time I am open for commissions at the moment. PM me is you want to talk about it further would love to work with you again on it.
And as just a reminder here is the link to my DA
https://www.deviantart.com/amalgamzaku
9061943
And Nightmare Moon and Starlight Glimmer. Their rhetoric seems entirely based on 'ponies are perfect, humans are not' conveniently ignoring that by making that claim alone they're no longer perfect.
It made it extra interesting that Strong made the comparison to white people calling black people niggers. Because looking down on humans as imperfect creatures who would be so much better off if they would just become ponies, he is essentially looking down on humans in the same way as those who look down on black people as niggers.
AT LAST! I am so glad that the sequel has finally begun! And there is SO MUCH to unpack! I am going to be re-reading this chapter several times over to digest it. My only problem is the title, which I find to be severely lacking.
Good start.
Still, please please please don't make Bright Future a Sunset Shimmer 2.0 or anything like that. Please.
9062087
Highly unlikely, if for no other reason than it would be a repeat of the same plot. That would make for a boring story.
9062055
I completely agree, man having a immortal or even ageless Earth Born Princess will throw politics into such a bind. Humans would never accept a pony leader this early on but further down the line? Ya I can see that happening if they manage to co-exist and bring about a techno-magic civilization, all the thirst for knowledge and innovation of humans with the strong moral tenants and magical brilliance of ponies. Something that could easily surpass Equestria
well as long as there no terror attack by ponies murdering with there magic or showing ponies can be bad as well I mean some of there spells are dicey and there are few rotten things in Equestria like it scary about that reformation spell even Luna mentally "guide" a pony in their own mind has made a nightmare to punish herself mentally, transformation magic, don't get me started on the monsters and artifacts.
plus Equestria does have a bit of a balance problem with that many species that sometimes take six very special artifacts to help them with there a bit sheltered with how often it can go wrong.
9062055
Let's not forget Sunset created the Influenza "programming" according with her distorted, inflated views of ponykind. In "Pandemic: What you are mean to be" sidestory local batponies are shocked when they find out their Equestrian counterparts are discriminated.
9062055
Going to have to agree with you. Heck, the overall sentiment appears to be the people would be better off as ponies. Its only a few more logical leaps till you have ponies forcefully transforming people. Getting some real conversion bureau vibes here.
When the viewpoint switches back to Twilight, I hope we get to see the responses of the other nations on Equestria to Sunset's bioterrorism. Here's to hoping we some realistic diplomatic consequences of the whole situation.
9062110
Which to another potential boiling point: The death of Sunset Shimmer has elevated her to holy martyr levels among the Shimmerists, and because she's no longer there to either be shown just a fallible pony who made the wrong choice, ponies like Strong can play the "she would have been our alicorn Princess!" card with little the earthside ponies and humans can do to argue against. Celestia knows and can, but she seems to be keeping public appearances down. Probably at the request of the governments given how she embodies the mare from the initial vision.
Congratulations Tattered Wing, you've successfully gotten ponies elsewhere on Earth prejudiced against night ponies. Keep up the good work!
Guess that means news ended up leaking, was kind of inevitable.
Sequel HYPE! Let's do this!
I can already tell things are going to go seriously downhill from here. Still, it's good to see cooler heads prevailing among the ponies, at least for the moment. And what's this about a potential ascension?
You bet your ass I'm tracking this.
9062184
Ya that is the worst thing about martyrs when it comes to fanatics, i feel bad for Celestia who got put into this position. Though I kinda hold her accountable for some things i still think she is another victim of sunset who wholly represents "The way to hell is paved with good intentions"
I hope the human/pony couple can work it out, there really needs to be a successful mixed couple to help ease the tension between humans and ponies and a married couple like that would go a long way even if it is only 1 or 2. May not seem much at this time but later others will look back to them and see it is possible and that is all that is needed.
Yeah. You might want to add an ellipsis to that.
Well I guess that they just need to meet Price Blueblood to see just how self centered ponies can be.
The Pandemic TV Tropes Page now has a folder for this story as well as the original please help to flesh it out.
OMFG! WHO DISLIKED THIS?! WHO?!?!
its alive
9062368
Possibilities for people disliking this:
1. People who just don't like stories set on earth with ponies.
2. People who never read the first story and looking at this one just decide they're lost, and don't bother to look at the original.
3. People just being general asses
4. A subset of the people in group three, people who want to make their stories look better by disliking other people's stories.
5. Someone who comes up with some technical linguistic reason the story sucks because the author didn't describe something to the full of their satisfaction or something silly like that. Might be a subset of group 3 again.
6. Person who just didn't jive well with the story for whatever unknown reason.
Take your pick. The likes far outpace the dislikes so not a big deal.
It's great to see the story continued, i'm pretty sure it'll be even better than the prequil and can't wait to read more
note: in the story you wrote founder, where i think you ment flounder
9062320
blue blood fine but I think ponies with the mindset like the chancellor neighsay or those other more normal ponies that don't follow the pillar to be good ponies are more dangerous than a petty pamper prince I think Spoiled Rich and the misinformed noble has more bite misiformation is key to disaster and enough ignorance can be annoying
I love how you can bring out differing perspectives so well. The shimmerists, lunites and harmonists all have their good points and a decision will have to be made soon.
9062522
7:......profit?
OH BOY I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!
Please let there not be a cross-species civil war...
9063149
I wonder what such a war would be called.
Equus–Sapiens War? Or is it Ferus–Sapiens, even Caballus–Sapiens?
But Equestrian ponies aren't Earth-Earth horses, so the binomial name should be different, though Equus might stay.
I’m gonna remember this quote. Something is going to happen, I can just tell. It was too conveniently placed at the end of the chapter to not be important.
I wonder about ponies from the rest of the world. I'll bet most of them have been executed.
The argument seems intense. Ponies vs. (re)Humans.
In a realistic situation, as much fun as being a pony, I probably would've sided with humans in the long run. I understood that, while the pony humans are generally much happier, they brought everyone else down. I would've shook my head in disappointment if I was witnessing the ponies discussing like humans were their enemy and a great evil while forgetting that they were once human themselves, with other humans as part of families, immediate or extended. And some drop their nationalities, politics, heritage simply because they aren't of the same species - a big dilemma is that a 'getaway' or 'safespace' requires enforcement as well, which means politics and problems.
Of course, I cannot force anyone to undergo rehumanization, but consequences would still apply. We're heading to war, at this rate. Which seems to be the plot of the story. If this gotten me this much into this, then I am making it clear I will watch this story closely. Well done.
9063175
Homo-Equine War
or the Sapiens War
This is a good start. Very nice set up. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
It would be rather interesting to see if there are those out there that are trying to become or make an alicorn.
I can see SOME of where your going with this already, the bigger question becomes: Will some of their ideals translate back to Equestria or not, and will it cause friction in the long-run on Earth?
wow this is a chapter to start a huge story.
just the first chapter has put down a foundation for so many different ways this story can go and i see some battle and i am afraid to say i see loss in the story.
this story is going to be going places we the reader can not even think of.
Yep this is going to be super good.
And then the furries rise to defend the ponies!
And then yiff them...
You know I'm right.
Kinda hoping this story has a scene where Twilight confronts the short-sighted idiots who ordered Sunset's death and, after an argument, causes their heads to messily explode in a fit of rage; it would serve them right for basically proving that humand, unlike ponies, can't be trusted to keep their word. Wouldn't mind something like that happening to Anthony, either, soulless drone that he is....
Hmm. In this situation, I would take a look at Native American reservations, and make policy that is heavily inspired by that. You have people who never leave the reservation, and some that go out into the world.
Pony magic is really the issue. Humans fear that ponies could overpower them with a power they don't understand. Plus, as you've alluded to, they can terraform on a massive scale, moreso than humans ever could. Climate change just skyrocketed, but nobody knows which direction, and change is always scary to humanity.
The last issue is the fact that transformed humans were brainwashed, to the point that their soul identifies as pony. That is the reason so few ponies are rehumanized. Forget gender identity, these people have species identity problems. The perfect answer would be to recreate Sunset's spell to only take away the mental parts, but Twilight wouldn't open up that can of worms to mess with a spell she barely understands.
Well well well, here it is.
Glad to see the sequel taking shape, and it's just about as realistic as I'd hoped. And well done for giving a good overview over the current national situation together with regional and local issues and also focus on very specific things like Molly. There's already a lot of uncomfortable suspense in that latter situation whihc mixes well with the tension in the broader setting. Also no black and white contrasts so far.
Well done! Very much looking forward to more.
Why do I get the feeling that Strong Hooves' characterization is a not-so-subtle dig at all the "WAAH! HUMANS ARE CANCER! I WANNA BE A PONY!" Brony-in-Equestria/TCB wankfests from the early days of the fandom?
No, you're not, you lying sack of Shimmerist shit.
Also, considering that many of the transformed ponies at the meeting are still technically U.S. citizens, even if there's some early Jim Crowing going on in the Limited Pony Homestead Act (or, at least, the perception that the LPHA is a kind of ponified Jim Crow), one would think that the government would rightly look down on the destruction of government property (the drone) by citizens engaged in civil disobedience.
9063774
Yeah, probably.
9063943
Um, that's harsh. Not only is that completely out of character for Twilight, but why the hate for Anthony?
9062814
I would have gone for:
7. Take over the world!
The time of waiting payed out. I finally can read a good MLP Fanfiction again ^^
9062027
Thank you, I will keep that in mind. I want to post a few more chapters first before I settle on an idea for some better cover art.
9064153
Not an intentional reference, but I can certainly see how it can be interpreted that way.
9064384
Yeah, but Twilight HAS lost her temper before. If nothing else, it would be immensely satisfying to see those short-sighted bureaucrats' heads burst like overripe melons. Again, they pretty much proved humans couldn't be trusted to keep their word.
And why the hate for Anthony? Simple: he's a soulless government stooge, who was far too much of a big-picture thinker for my tastes. Besides, when the order came through for the sniper to kill Sunset, he bent over backwards for his superiors instead of realizing that such an action could jeopardize relations with Equestria, growing a spine, and telling his bosses to go buck themselves. It's because of THAT Twilight didn't trust them with the transformation reversal spell; this whole situation could have been avoided if Anthony had had a backbone.
9064641
Anthony disobeying an order at that point might well have been considered treason and ended in his arrest with someone else who was going to be harsher with ponies put in place. That might have ended up worse in the long run as they would have had someone much less cooperative there dealing with Twilight as she tried to find solutions afterward. Anthony at least had some level of respect for ponies, unlike any random hardliner he might have been replaced with.
9064665
Even so, he was still a government stooge. And like I said, I DON'T like big-picture thinkers; if you'll recall, some of his proposed solutions in the previous story ran roughshod over the transformed humans' rights.
9064583
Thank you for responding it is very much appreciated , don't worry I can wait in the meanwhile and understand that you would need time to think about it. Good luck on your writing.