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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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[Insert obligatory comment celebrating the release of a new chapter]
5970681 [insert appropriate response with pony emote]
5970719
5970681
[Insert comment about how happy I am to have gotten it out, probably with a shitty horse meme]
I want more!!! I wanna see Trixie go berserk and beat the shit out of every single one of them for kidnapping Steven.
5970719
[insert immature rant about how the writer is taking too long to write a chapter, and continue to complain about things I'm getting for free]
5970936 Insert sycophantic plea to read my side-story in the intervening time grumblegrumblegrumble
Edit: Seriously though, give it a look.
Trixie's reaction when she discovers that stephan has been captured.
Achivement unlocked: heads will roll.
5971035 That... is accurate. Only on a smaller scale, and a lot more heart breaking.
[insert angry rant about how much I hate the loyalists and want Stephen to be rescued and/or escape and for Trixie to get her revenge] How many more chapters are going to be in this story, if I may ask? Or at the very least, how many will be in the Catseye Arc and how long will it take to finish?
I'm not real keen on kidnapping/capturing story lines, never have been regardless of context or setting. I'll just skim past those parts until something interesting pops back up.
Blame all those RPG games I've played in where the DM/GM knocks all the PCs out and you lose all your stuff and you got to fight you way out for "drama".
5971132 I think there's liiiiiiiiike... one more chapter. Then we'll move on to a timeskip and the chapter Final Days.
5970719
[insert my insane laughter because why the living hell not?]
5971379 Sooooo...three more chapters total or just until we reach the final arc?
And now my heart will be on the edge of my seat until this story arc is finished.
The so-called "Loyalists" don't know how to make the Conversion Potion, do they?
Catseye is a civilian, not a military leader, thus it makes sense that she has more reservations about what her strategy expert is suggesting. To be sure she is effective as far as she goes, but she isn't military.
Wonder if seeing Stephan getting along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders just fine would cause some of the ponies to doubt that he's complete evil through and through. Perhaps, but not enough to actually do anything about it probably.
As we wind down to several confrontations that will probably be quite epic, I can't help but play the music from this video in my head.
Or maybe I just like that music, oh well.
I was thrilled to see a new chapter for this story as it is one of my favorites in the whole fandom (perhaps even ranking into my top 5, at the very least it's in my top 10). Thanks so much for continuing to write (and thanks also to all the other folks who help write, beta-read, and write add-on stories to expand the universe, you all are so awesome!!!) I am also very impressed with how you incorporate elements from the new episodes of the tv show, even as new episodes air. It's very clever and admirable.
The scene with Rarity and Fluttershy talking about Stephan was delightfully entertaining. Stephan's mixture of cracking a gut laughing/being slightly touched by Fluttershy, was very nice to see. I gotta wonder though, what Main-Verse Cheerilee is doing right now. Maybe she's just continuing on with her life as usual, I wouldn't be surprised. Marcus probably actively tries to avoid her so he doesn't "spoil" her life as a schoolteacher.
A part of me does wonder just how much of a chance that the Pony rebels have. While competent, it's been explicitly pointed out how ponies have been living a pretty comfortable existence (comparatively speaking) for most of their recent history. As far as military prowess and tact goes (along with the ability to adapt quickly to changes on the battlefield) Humanity beats the ponies hands down (at least, the ponies who haven't had time to learn how humans think, to really understand what it means to be human). You might say that the Pony Rebels have been preparing for humans so they might "know" how humanity thinks, but I don't think that's true. What they "know" is an extremely biased, racist (or speciest), hateful, and stereotyped caricature of what a real human being feels and thinks. Thus, I don't think they really "know" how a human thinks in the same way that the people/ponies who take actual time to get to know and befriend people do.
All in all, a very good chapter that is no doubt a lead in several other good chapters that I will no doubt enjoy. If I have any further thoughts worth mentioning, I will post them in another review.
5971622 Till we get the final arc.
There is literally no way we could possibly end this all in one chapter.
That's... my god, they are so fucking screwed. At least two Elements of Harmony are present, and the rest only a train ride away. The Princesses and the PHL will come down onto the area like a hammer, and Trixie has a lot more experience at espionage--and noticing guilt--than lucky little Short Fuse is. I'm personally hoping on a more Trixie- & Elements-focused resolution, though, so we can get a nice look at how the six have been progressing through their training. Or just those Rarity & Fluttershy, if need be. Their combat potential isn't as... immediately obvious as Rodeo Tree Kicker, Rainbow Nuke, Pink Q Jr., and Dr Strange.
Incidentally, that reminds of something I've been wondering about. I know she was looking into studying the Elements of Harmony, but is she involved in any further research in runes an whatnot? Somewhere earlier it was mentioned that the PHL had a nasty lack of fully, properly trained mages because Celestia kept snatching them up as soon as they left school. With her knowledge in magic, ability to memorize things, and general hypercompetence in anything academic, it seems that she would be a bigger contribution to the war effort in designing new uses for runes--the Elements can only be spread so far, but life-saving runes will help entire armies.
I imagine there will be... strain... between the various factions when they find out ponies abducted Stephen. For the most part the Elements and the PHL (most notably the PHL ponies we know) have stayed away from one another. It would be nice to see a first meeting where the PHL still has the strain of looking at ponies with faces they want to kill, but not the immediate need to fight like we saw with Marcus or the barely-there restraint keeping Stephen from killing Celestia.
I don't remember if this has been brought up yet, but has Twilight been taking advantage of the New York Public Library?
5972191
I like your suggestions. I think we should probably do the stuff you stated in your comment.
... And Twilight Sparkle reading human books in New New York and forced to be dragged back to training could be hilarious. Like she spends her entire weekend just reading them... even until Monday. They find her and take her away from the books, she gets a little upset and but agrees to go back to training.
Oh, you bastard, ending on that cliffhanger.
[Summons Protoss force to... deal... with these so-called loyalists. Painfully.]
5971862
Well, you can go Gainax.
Personally, I just want the tyrant to come to equestria just so Catseye can see the mistake she's made.
The look of betrayel on her face would be sweeter than any chocolate cake baked with sugar coated sugar
shit.
5971775
Of course not...
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/wordgirl/images/9/92/Liarjack.png/revision/latest?cb=20130324025629
If they do... All the humans and ponies will be screwed (ponies as well because of potion 2.0)
5970781
[Insert comment on how Doctor Fluffy's avatar looks like a keter class SCP]
[insert comment on wanting to hug Doctor Fluffy's avatar]
[insert Botaglove class psycopathy]
Ahhh balls on a stick! Major got taken! by those damned loyalists... little fuckwads.
They'll get what's coming to them, soon enough *plots*
Awesome work on this chapter you gaiz~ Nice to see this awesomeness!
Man I hope to see some of the stuff I saw in the comments, specifically Twilight and the Public Library
Hahaha.
Awesome job yet again!
Ahhh balls on a stick! Major got taken! by those damned loyalists... little fuckwads.
They'll get what's coming to them, soon enough *plots*
Awesome work on this chapter you gaiz~ Nice to see this awesomeness!
Man I hope to see some of the stuff I saw in the comments, specifically Twilight and the Public Library
Hahaha.
Awesome job yet again!
Ohhh boy. I don't want to even think about what mind games Catseye is going to try. And I really do hope she hasn't created some kind of imitation ponifier potion. That would be horrifying. Especially if it doesn't work properly...
Though I'm getting kinda tired of her "Oh how awful humans are" spiel. Every single race in every single medium in every single story that ever existed has shown problems at some point in their lives. From outright alien invaders to stupid, blind idiots who poorly handle day to day issues to lunatic elder God monsters to body snatching freaks, every single race in all of fiction has shown they've got skeletons in their closet or did stupid stuff to some degree. Even the supposedly good ones. After all, the Asari lied about their past and besides being condescending, they let their daughters waste CENTURIES boozing and partying it up, sleeping with anyone they want instead of teaching them to focus their lives on something that will benefit the galaxy. The Guardians of the Universe had fascistic streaks, which is a BAD IDEA for people who craft an intergalactic police force. Hell, the supposedly wise Kryptonian race was blind to the fact their own planet was gonna explode, they had worn out the planet too much.
So to ask people who are essentially hicks, we lowly humans, to be perfect people who have never so much as littered is ridiculous. Nobody is perfect. And certainly not the people of Equestria. Now, even if we overlook the pettiness of people like Trixie or Gilda or those snooty Canterlot folks and only focus in on the bigger threats...and even if we ignore Sombra, who, evidently according to the comics, wasn't a true pony, that still leaves Sunset and a certain "Equalizer" as full-on pony villains who don't have any real mystical or demonic background...they were just normal magic users who were just good enough at what they did to make other people's lives miserable or twisted, and then used that to make themselves more powerful and got to levels of power equal to straight up super villains. The things they did... evil. And yeah, Sunset's goals were pettier at first and she eventually redeemed herself. But Starlight? Nope!
Ponies like them prove that Equestrians can be JUST as awful as humans. And of course Catseye might claim that she isn't doing what she's doing because the humans are just different from them, but because they're far more hateful than ponies and more cruel and the like. Yeah, Hitler used that same tactic with Germany to describe the Jews, it's called propaganda. Reducing people to a THING to just be stamped out is just plain sick.
Though I doubt she can recognize her hypocrisy. Cognitive Dissonance infests many villains like her. They always fail to see their own faults even when others point out they do the very things they claim to despise others doing.
5972565
We've made the Spectrumverse a whole lot darker than the show in order to prove a point. And it is to Friendship is Magic's great credit that it's displayed great competence in tackling some pretty heavy themes. That said...
th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2013/084/a/c/mane_six_hug_by_mehoep-d5z8nq8.png
Look at the above picture again. Do these look like beings who live in a world where things like war, pollution, sexual abuse and institutionalised social injustice are an everyday reality? MLP is not Mass Effect or Fallout, Nick.
Which is why I and many of the other writers were glad to return focus to Ponyville and the Mane Six in this chapter. The Catseye Arc is meant to be more "cartoony" and light-hearted in comparison to the rest of the story (bar Discord) before darkness sets back in. And set back in it will...
P.S.
Props to TB3 for Steven the River Serpent's funny cameo! He really should be credited for that especially in the credits at the head of the chapter.
5971862 Yeah, you make a valid point.
5972234
Thank you! I like to think that I'm better at coming up with ideas than I am at writing them (there's a reason I've only completed silly one-shots so far...), so I'm most flattered that you think they're worth using.
5972374
YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS
5972651
I'm aware of that. Their issues are simpler because their world is simpler. It's much like that show Scrubs. There's an episode in which JD and his friends are having a lot of issues and JD has to inform the creator of the show "Cheers" that he has lung cancer. And he wishes that life was more like a sitcom.
So the rest of the episode is in sitcom format, going full comedy. The episode seemingly ends with everyone's problems neatly wrapped up...until the patient suddenly goes unconscious and into full arrest. JD is then jolted out of what was just a real long fantasy, pointing out that, in real life, unlike in a TV show, all your problems can't be solved in thirty minutes. That sometimes nice people get hurt...and that good people don't always get better.
It's important to remember the same applies to MLP. Of course they have it easy, their world is designed just the same way a show like Cheers is: most of their problems solved in about 22-30 minutes. A lot of people tend to forget that. Though this realization may be too meta for anyone in the story.
It would be funny if these "loyalist" were told by Spykoran that Equestria was saved by a Human and wouldn't be the way it is now with out humanity.
5972521 It's actually the Celebrated Human Calf, found in a book about weird stuff from... around the same area as Light Despondent. Picked entirely cause I thought it'd be ironic for Conversion Bureau writing.
Fucking loved that Gravity falls reference. Are we going to be seeing Dipper or Mabel in this at all? Oh maybe Bill is watching from the sideline with his deer teeth?
New chapter... New cover art... Life is good.
...wait, why is Mane Celestia's mane pink? Does the artist know something about Celestia's upgrades that the general fans don't?
Nice job it was definitely a chapter that seemed to be meant for Stephan and Trixie now that she has more involvement in the story and even got a bit of lead over her boyfriend when she pawned him off to the crusaders. Though it seems like she was a bit behind him but at least she still seemed to get her share in the spotlight regardless. Writing of her, I'm betting now that the next part of this will be focusing on the spy and her attempts to save her boyfriend, because whatever Catseye and Strategy were planning it sounds like the perfect job for her to rescue him from their clutches. I'm also somewhat glad that Catseye has really developed from a long way when she was originally meant to be taken away from the police while screaming and ranting about the "evil humans corrupting Equestria." Glad that she isn't such a straw "mare" any more.
If these idiots don't get some righteous cathartic justice very soon, I'll be quite upset.
5972651
Yet.... if they decided to exterminate humanity (which is often the case in a Pro TCB writer's story) the ponies would have proven themselves to be just as (if not worse) evil than humanity. An egotistical race that believes themselves to be superior above everyone and forces everyone to become them is a really nasty species.
If the ponies were so good and moral they would never even consider xenocide (turning humans into ponies by force) the answer to save humanity.
I see this ending something like this for Catseye.
5978182
Sometimes I wonder if we are confident enough to let that speak for itself.
One reason why, in my opinion, Not Alone is the best anti-TCB story is because most ponies weren't depicted to be deliberately evil so much as painfully oblivious to the implications of what they were doing, at least to begin with.
I enjoy Spectrum especially for its uniqueness in having rebel ponies fight alongside humans against Xenolestia. And also for its willingness to go the extra mile on pretty much anything. But I feel there are moments when the story piles on the Empire's villainy just to make mankind look good by comparison.
... So I'm happy to have joined Team Spectrum around the time Catseye was introduced, since, whatever other comments around here may say about looking forward to sweet revenge, I relish the chance to help in developing antagonists with motivations beyond mere spite.
5978690
Got us there. We do have the tendency towards doing that. ...Gotta get in more villains for Light on the same level as Sylvia. I'm pretty sure she had her regrets in what she did. Now I just need someone from the empire that didn't need to brainwashed, but not because they were EVUL.
hate
hate hate hate
HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
ALWAYS ANGRY
ALL THE TIME
THE ANGRY HAMMER OF JUSTICE SHALL FALL ON THESE DIMWITTED HERETICS
5971379
5971132
Four, actually.
Don't worry; two of those are 40% ish complete.
5979295 ....Heh.
I'm reasonably certain that they'll need a closed casket for Catseye once Trixie finds out what she's done.
5978690
Uh, the ponies in that story while they have good intentions are still no better than the Reapers from Mass Effect. They are just a little more soft about it.
Though, it begs to question if humanity could not stop the advance of the barrier... but the ponies stop the barrier themselves. With many humans committing mass suicide, starving to death and crying over the loss of their homes and countries.
The ponies stop the barrier due to them feeling really horrified on the suffering they inflicted on humanity by advancing the barrier. And go back to non forceful ponification, leaving the rest of humanity alone if they don't want to become ponies. And even supplying food aid to humans, but many humans spit in their faces and refuse to eat it, thinking it may contain ponification potion.
All the while the humans rage at them by wanting their lands back and many humans want revenge on the ponies.
5980205
On reflection, what I consider to be quite a strong element in Not Alone's favour is its treatment of morality. You can call someone a "Reaper" or "Nazi" as you wish, most people in the real world, other than full-blown sociopaths, don't commit evil purely for the sake of evil. When you look at history, or indeed almost any instance of human interaction, you'll find that people will act like bastards if they believe it's the only way they've got to defend what they see as the good in their lives.
And that means I can't really hate the Loyalists. I don't want them to succeed, of course, and if I were a character in this story I'd probably be fighting tooth and nail to keep them from getting what they want. But stepping back from that and adopting a narrator's perspective on the issue, these are just scared, misguided people who think they're being invaded and want to protect their own. In other words, they're driven by very "human" flaws, not one-dimensional sadism.
... For goodness' sake, guys, we aren't talking the KKK here. The worst these ponies have done so far is to say some mean but sadly half-true things about humans, and to kidnap a single soldier, whom most of them don't even wish to kill. As for Catseye, it's been made clear she actually wants to be a pony.
5980240
I wasn't talking about Catseye and her companions.
I was talking about the ponies from Not Alone.
5980254
My point being that the ponies from Not Alone were not portrayed as all being single-minded, malicious caricatures with the sole intent of harming others, because that isn't how the vast majority of people work. And so it follows that Catseye and her group shouldn't be painted with that brush either, not if you want anything like a plausible depiction of why these ponies are opposing our heroes.
5980387
Well yes. The TCB Ponies think what they are doing is good by their perspective and the humans are evil for wanting to become ponies. Catseye herself thinks humans are evil for turning down the gift to become a pony.
The 'evil' human faction HLF think themselves as heroes of humanity. Which the TCB Ponies helped create in the first place. Yes, there are humans like the HLF in real life, but the TCB Ponies made a lot more of them.