Roseluck is a pony who believes in Facts, and what she believes about them is that everypony saying something is true can only be the product of mass brainwashing. The free mind recognizes that Evidence is just a hoax with props. So if the government has asked ponies to temporarily wear masks in order to avoid spreading an illness? That can't be the real reason. Something is going on, and only the forces of Independent Thinking stand any chance of saving Ponyville from itself.
Of course, when it comes to the Flower Trio, Independent Thinking is also known as Fear-Addicted Paranoia. Everypony's been trying to tell them that for years...
Which proves the Conspiracy is just that widespread! To the soapboxes!
(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.)
Anyone seeking MLP-styled masks like the one in the cover image may want to start through Etsy.
You can write 8k words in ONE DAY?
She's trying to suggest carbon monoxide poisoning? This is the closest to a real thing they've come.
So they aren't actually insane, just selfish emotional jerks? That's nice.
Not bad. It must be nice to have such an efficient medical system. Hopefully the trio will learn from this and hopefully they could get some help.
Rather like fed-up griffons trying to make their own dominance chains, or humans who...
Well, goodness knows we have enough examples of those.
I have to love the mental image of the Trio mixing up which is which and accidentally trying to warn ponies about the actual truth. The sheer confusion that would ensue would do Discord proud.
Well, if nothing else, Equestria gets germ theory out of this mess.
Hmm. Do ponies even have toilet paper? Almost certainly not; the logistics for earth ponies... Changing diapers is bad enough. Plus, I doubt it works well with the local toilets.
That is Ankh-Morpork-level street agitation right there.
A terrifying glimpse into the mind (deliberate singular) of adrenaline junkies even more strung out than Rainbow Dash. At least she actually performs some acts of heroism. Thank you for the insight.
You know what the real question is? Where can I find that mask, I want one.
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Here you go. Other MLP masks are available at the main Etsy link in the long description.
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Thank you, now I can go shopping in style.
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Dang unicorns and their fancy-schmancy toilet paper. We scoot on our butts over the grass like proper earth ponies!
As for pegasi... beware clouds with brown streaks on em...
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I go with actual horse anatomy: no toilet paper is needed and locally, ponies use trenches. Bidets with scent-neutralizing water are occasionally called into action, but that means using a fur dryer after.
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Anyone can... But doing 8k words of finely crafted prose, in, actually about half a day, if the blog post was before it's actual start, takes focus and a clear mind.
Or something. Whatever, this is good!
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Adrenaline addicted, and got a lawyer to save them. And it's hard to get them into therapy.
Wondering about Daisy's mother...
They're also a mini-herd... Hmm... Developments in other stories...
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WOW. Sooo close!
And soo close to getting to something about cutie marks! Oooh, that dramatic irony!
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Well, they're in love, or lust... 'Cause this sure isn't just friendship!
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Hmm... Hoovmat hasn't went out of business yet...
I wonder if I've ever wondered what they think about the Secret...
As with seeing every downvote on Lootspheres as representing an EA employee, every red thumb on this story will be regarded as having come from someone who tried to inject themselves with bleach. And to quote my own recent tweet:
Oooo... I didn’t expect this so soon. We’ll have to check it out tomorrow.
With ponies this prone to conspiracy, it's a wonder that nobody has tried to convince them that there's actually a conspiracy to make them seem like loons in public. This conspiracy is naturally to cover up a different conspiracy, and is used to discredit anyone who knows about it.
I felt rage reading this. Well done.
This was a scary look into the thought of those idiots we see on TV. The chain of thoughts that leads to the unfortunate conclusion, it's very disheartening that there are people who do think like that.
And I like your explanation for why the trio act like they are, an addiction of the adrenaline caused by fear combined with a good mix of bad education and a heavy diet of underground conspiracy reading, making the brain go in circles...
There is no hope for them isn't it?
And a thumbs up for Spike being a good soul and helping out like that.
So, they paid 90 bits for a cardboard box. And when it fails to protect them through the next rainstorm it will be because They got to it while it was in the post. Because They obviously run the post offices.
Do Film and Flam have a new business going? One they don’t even have to go out in public for?
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One would expect that the Bidet was created long ago in pony culture, if only for the reason that there cant be enough clean green areas in a city to drag ones butt on, nor enough soft trees.
I just spent last night learning about the rabbit hole of madness that is QAnon. And now you drop this in front of me.
So here. Allow me to drop this in front of you.
imgs.xkcd.com/comics/conspiracy_theories.png
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Department Of
Could
Be Worse
*I* go with "They DO need someone to wipe their ass when they take a dump"
https://www.fimfiction.net/group/214857/triptych-continuum-rebooted
Estee, you never fail to please me. Another excellent work. <3
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Carbon dioxide. CO2, not CO.
I think the terms to describe the flower trio are "conspiratorial psychopathology" and "delusional ideation".
I had a good laugh when I realized the scene between Roseluck and Rich was a recreation of that viral video. The rest, unfortunately, was a bit hard to handle. I had to skim about 50% of this.
I read Pony for escapism. The very special mindset you've depicted between the flower trio is a very real Problem with a capital P in the real world. Reading that thought process spelled out like this keeps reminding me of the Problem this represents in the real world, so it just ends up being painful. It could still be worth it if there was a payoff at the end, but alas...
When I saw you wrote a fic about Pandumbic, I stopped everything to read this right away. I've read about your thoughts on the human condition through your fics and I know you have a lot of good things to say. I had hoped the flower trio would go through a short character arc to be knocked out of their special mindset, but alas... this was just a spotlight on a cracked egg on the floor. 'Here be a terrible situation; let's gawk.'
This fic is a seed you just planted in very fertile soil. There's a lot to be said about this topic. Would you consider extending this story to give the flower trio the help they desperately need? Or, to shine a spotlight on not just THAT they are wrong, but WHY they are wrong? Your words might help break someone in the real world out of the mindset.
Let's hope Ponies never invent the Internet, or Equestria is doomed.
There is one thing that the Flower Ponies reminded me of: don't do intense physical exercise while wearing masks, as it can actually restrict breathing.
Great story! Always love your stories Estee.
A couple years ago, I had the odd displeasure of encountering someone who truly believed the moon landing was a hoax. I was dumbstruck, and I mean that in the sense that I felt as though the dumb leapt out and smacked me. I didn't think I would ever meet one of them.
I almost asked the woman if she believed the Earth was flat, too, but by the time my brain had unscrambled, she was far enough away that I'd have been shouting for everyone nearby to hear.
Meanwhile, where I live, almost nobody is following CDC guidelines.
Keep it clean, folks.
This didn't upset me as much as I thought it would, even though I'd seen the video of that Karen telling the store manager she couldn't wear a mask because of "medical reasons." I guess I'm just numb.
I used to run a homeless shelter, and we had a woman there who seemed normal, but just talking to her for five minutes let you know she Wasn't. Quite. Right. She was convinced that anyone who whistled within her earshot was insulting her because she's Jewish, as well as any store that sold anything vaguely hexagonal. (Don't ask me to explain.) The fact that she wasn't Jewish never interrupted her conviction, and the last I saw her (We had to have her removed after she kicked another tenant) she was trying to arrange a lawsuit with the local grocery store for selling "hexagonal-shaped doughnuts." She told me with great pride she was going to get a settlement in the "trillions," so if I wanted my share I wouldn't kick her out. I had no choice.
So I've met people just as delusional as the Flower Trio. As long as I don't have to directly interact with people like that, it just makes me sad.
I feel kind of sorry for the Flower Trio here. They're somehow despicable yet distinctly pitiable.
So even the nut jobs have a soft spot for Cadance?
And the Flower Trio do have a point about a government were the top two positions can literally never be changed ....
The sad thing is, they put a lot of genuine effort into trying to figure this out, but with their logic pathways so corrupted they are fundamentally unable to conceive of a benign situation. They're capable of logic and critical thought, they came up with two real problems with the masks even, but their fundamental paradigms are so horrifically distorted.
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Honestly, I'm not even sure F&F would go to this level. I mean, they'd sell them telepathy-proof hats or summat, absolutely. But 90 bits for a cardboard box? That feels like too much even for them.
What a delightful piece of complete fiction that surely bears no resemblance to reality. Right? ...Right?
(...Well, I enjoyed the story, at least.)
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Or they could just not like this style of writing and want the site to know without a giant conspiracy being needed.
Wait a minute...
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I really don't consider my Hatedom to be a giant conspiracy. It's more of an outlier cult.
But I'm told the ceremonial sacrifices are to die for.
Or from.
One of those.
How in the world did they managed to get a subscription to the The Quibbler? (or more likely, three subscriptions). I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense, if only the small publications made in some ponies basement can be trusted, then a publication made by a mythical creature that they have been told doesn't exist must be even more trustworthy. The fact that it comes by owl instead of the post office just means it's harder for the conspiracy to intercept.
I do feel a little bit of sympathy for the trio, I used to be a conspiracy nut when I was younger (mostly dealing with aliens and the JFK assassination). They clearly can think logically, it's just that if you start with bad data, you can logically come up with a horribly wrong answer.
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I like to think that Discord produces each and every one of the Trio's magazines, and he amuses himself by trying to top himself every issue with a more absurd lie for them to come up with.
"Alright, let's see here. Hats are... no, wait, SCARVES are a Minotaur Conspiracy to make Ponies targets for charging at, because of the Waving-A-Cloth thing. And, let's see, Macaroni is now the larval form of... Invisible Hornswoggle Worms. All written out by mouth on, I don't know, banana leaves held together with dental floss."
This hurt to read.
Thanks. I think.
I just love the way you phrase things.
btw
warp?
You know, I can't help but think of Star Trek TNG where everybody is playing these addictive little handheld games that actually turned out to be mind control devices. In Equestria, there actually *could* be a mind-control device as a mask distributed by a-certain-unicorn-who-shall-remain-unspoken in order to put everybody under her command. It's a lot less work than the cutie-mark removal spell, after all. Then an injected potion to make the effect permanent.
Could it be we are finally seeing the effect of The Unicorn Who Shall Remain Unnamed?
(On the serious side, I find it terribly believable that the Flower Trio who believe so many other things spread through the air, so much so that they are the Hoovemat company's biggest
suckerscustomers, will then invert that belief when coming nose-to-literal-nose with a serious threat. Worse, because there are humans who parallel that anti-belief to the point where they think the current virus pandemic is a 'fake moon landing' kind of scam, and others on the other end of the spectrum who have happily built their own political power into mini-fiefdoms by fear over the possibility of mass death and catastrophe. Yes, I have several governors in mind there.)10244984
Policy of the trio: Four legs good, two legs bad.
This was definitely below your average. I think the problem is that you mostly referenced to real events rather than focusing on the characters, but if you just wrote this to get your frustration out that’s understandable. You are still a talented author. This was just a miss.
You know, a thought occurs: The Trio are already part of a conspiracy. After all, they're earth ponies. I can only assume that that only adds to their willing credulity. After all, if they've maintained the Secret for this long without the help of Scary Capital Letters, who knows what the SCL can do!?
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"Experimental megastreamers!"
"I didn't have time to color them before Nightmare Night."
Ah, a better case for Darwinism is rather hard to find.
I think it says something about the state of the world, though, that the Trio have failed to rile the usual level of soul-charring ire a they normally would inctie in me due to wilful stupidity; perhaps because there's just so much of it going around at the moment I'm just too tired to manage it.
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i mean... I can think of at least four unicorns that could refer to, so...
Outstanding work. Keep it up!
So, quick question. I remember in the another of your stories with sick ponies (the anthology) the Trio temporarily were a quartet. Whatever happened to her?
Estee, I hope this wasn't as painful to internalize and express for you as it was for me to read. Because wow, this was very painful to read. Nice work.
Also, is this not a part of the Triptych Continuum? It seems to have all of the elements.
A thought, the bit of the Equestrian prison system we saw A Duet For Land And Sky implied that it's an excellent therapy and rehabilitation focused program. How they grabbed the filly and forcibly ripped her mask off could be legally considered a form of assault. It's entirely possible that the best outcome for the Flower Trio is to have the book thrown at them to get them the help they need.
groan.
every time i read "conspiracy" i can't help but think of "the flat earth society org" and how they CONSTANTLY babble about a super-secret organization absolutely no one suspects the existence of that is officially named "The Conspiracy" that they claim has faked EVERYTHING...
but their babbling is SO obviously self-contradictory it's beyond pathetic!
a few examples: (get your face-palm protection ready)
"every book ever written has been faked by The Conspiracy this book proves earth is flat."
-the book is "Zetetic Astronomy" by Robotham, a psycho who made death threats against someone who PROVED him wrong.
"every photograph ever taken has been faked by The Conspiracy this photo proves earth flat."
-the photo was similar to this:
https://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2019_18/2844736/190503-ross-ice-shelf-al-1034_093f1bca4dcadc459bb2e69ded7ee157.jpg
"everything on the Internet has been faked by The Conspiracy."
-that's VERBATIM from their WEBSITE.
don't visit that site unless you have a strong stomach, the OTHER HALF of the website is pure profanity!
This was quite unsatisfying to read.
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Conspiracy used to actually mean something, sadly. MK Ultra is probably one of the bigger ones that was proven true, it used to require lots of digging and research too, now anything is a conspiracy.