This story is a sequel to An Earth Pony's Guide to Magic
When Pinkie's sisters dig up an ancient living weapon designed to fight Discord, they don't know that they have unleashed a massive threat to Equestria. How will the Princesses and the Mane 6 fight a force that keeps growing stronger and which they don't want to harm? After all, how can Pinkie fight a creature with her sister's face? (A sequel to An Earth Pony's Guide to Magic, though probably possible to read without having read the first fic in the series)
Chapters (6)
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! THAT WAS BUCKING AWESOME!!!!!!
Tracking, will read later!
-Minty
Looks interesting so far. Pluto is hilarious.
Mare, Conformity is really picky about hair
I can't wait to see her meet Rarity
Off to a promising start!
1452290 Thank you...but you seem to have not favourited. If you enjoyed it that much, wouldn't you want to be notified of chapter updates?
1452330 Thanks. I'll be glad to hear what you think when you've done so.
1452434 Thank you.
Pluto: I am not "hilarious". I am respectful of protocol and am understandably frustrated by the fact that I'm being forced to learn about the alphabets when I actually have an important job. Nopony appreciates what I do. I bet that Hades never had to put up with this. And Mortis was too busy trying to ensure that those who didn't survive Discord's reign were at least granted peace to deal with Celestia's rubbish. Cadance is lucky that Uncle Eros died before she was born. She gets to be celebrated. Everypony's thankful to the bringer of love, but nopony goes around saying, "I am so glad that ponies die." Makes one feel rather unnapreciated. I am the final rest, the last judgement, warden of Tartarus and guide to Elysium! DId nopony learn anything thse three days?!
Sorry about that. Pluto was feeling a bit annoyed (don't tell her, but I think it's good that you find her hillaious).
1452506 You have no idea. If you think she's picky about hair now, she isn't even done yet. Of course, she's picky about everything.
Conformity: WHAT YOU CALL "PICKINESS" IS MERELY A HEALTHY APPRECIATION FOR PERFECTION! WE DO NOT TOLERATE ANYTHING LESS THAN ABSOLUTE UNIFORMITY! WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT A PONY IF THEY CANNOT EVEN KEEP THEIR MANE STRAIGHT, SYMMETRICAL AND UNIFORM!?
1459768 Thank you. I hope that it doesn't dissapoint.
I REALLY DON'T LIKE HER MANE.
Not bad, not bad at all. Loved the inclusion of the wizard of the crystal mines in the list Pluto read.
Also, Pluto, lighten up. ;) Conformity... pretty scary, all in all. Although if you think about it, Granny Smith's hip is now all healed...
A Rainbow streak landed in their midst. “There’s a huge white patch on the ground and it’s growing towards Sweet Apple Acres!” Rainbow reported.
IN TARTARUS' GATES?!?!!?!?
And I think there would be a moment of confusion on this being the CURRENT Starswirl, not the one from the history books.
Conformity wouldn't be SO BAD, if it wasn't obvious that she wasn't just spreading unity and uniformity but also EATING the ponies she converts. She's not just applying a template, she's DEVOURING them.
SO SPEAK TO US AND WE WILL LEAVE YOU AND APPLEBLOOM UNHARMED!”
She doesn't CONSIDER IT harm though. She considering it healing.
And how can she consider her style of assimilation a GOOD THING if she knows that it won't keep Discord in check like she was CREATED to do if she devours the Elements Bearers?
WE ARE CONFORMITY!
why does she bother saying 'we' when they're all just vessels for the same entity?
What does COnformity even plan to DO with herself once she's eaten everything?
What would this do to Parasprites? OR THE VIRUSES AND GERMS IN THE AIR? Butterflies?
...no two of my guards.”
Which means her guards have ceased to exist rather than becoming part of a whole like Conformity keeps claiming.
You can't turn a glass of purple dye back into two glasses of red and blue dye.
"Your unity is death! You don't bring together the ideas and emotions and feelings of those you absorb! You just harvest their raw knowledge, abilities and talent! If Granny Smith and Big Mac's hearts were really a part of you, you'd never be this HEARTLESS about this whole thing!"
1463447
CONFORMITY: INDEED!
1464798 Thanks and yes, technically that's true.
1469649 Wow. This is an honour. Let's adress these:
IN TARTARUS' GATES?!?!!?!?: Technically, just in front of the gates themselves.
And I think there would be a moment of confusion on this being the CURRENT Starswirl, not the one from the history books.
For Celestia? Perhaps. Celestia's well aware of who the current Star Swirl is though, so I doubt that it would be hard for her to figure out.
Conformity wouldn't be SO BAD, if it wasn't obvious that she wasn't just spreading unity and uniformity but also EATING the ponies she converts. She's not just applying a template, she's DEVOURING them.
Pretty much. She's not exactly pleasant. She doesn't really see it that way to that extent though.
SO SPEAK TO US AND WE WILL LEAVE YOU AND APPLEBLOOM UNHARMED!”
She doesn't CONSIDER IT harm though. She considering it healing.
That she does. But she's smart and is trying to manipulate them into giving her more time to complete her plans.
And how can she consider her style of assimilation a GOOD THING if she knows that it won't keep Discord in check like she was CREATED to do if she devours the Elements Bearers?
This will be explained next chapter.
WE ARE CONFORMITY!
why does she bother saying 'we' when they're all just vessels for the same entity?
She thinks of herself in plural due to her multiple bodies.
What does COnformity even plan to DO with herself once she's eaten everything?
Maintain a world of absolute order.
What would this do to Parasprites? OR THE VIRUSES AND GERMS IN THE AIR? Butterflies?
You saw a bit of that with the apple tree. They too would eventually become species of a single individual named Conformity.
...no two of my guards.”
Which means her guards have ceased to exist rather than becoming part of a whole like Conformity keeps claiming.
...Sort of. There peronality has indeed ceased to exist and so has Celestia's connection to them. It was something that sepperated them from other ponies and was thus purged. Their bodies and minds have merely been altered though.
You can't turn a glass of purple dye back into two glasses of red and blue dye.
Not normally, yes. But remember that the setting is rather idealistic.
"Your unity is death! You don't bring together the ideas and emotions and feelings of those you absorb! You just harvest their raw knowledge, abilities and talent! If Granny Smith and Big Mac's hearts were really a part of you, you'd never be this HEARTLESS about this whole thing!"
Nice quote. May I use it?
1470361
You are free to use it. And Conformity is just a glorified eating machine with everything else as her meat.
She's not assimilating, she's consuming.
She feels nothing for Applebloom or Applejack in spite of their elder brother and grandmother having been eaten by her. If she was REALLY out for her INTENDED purpose, than those feelings of love towards them would have spread among her bodies like Lyra's horn did!!!
White is in fact ALL colors, so at least that makes sense with their intended purpose!
Not to mention she's not becoming one bit wiser with all the different points of view she SHOULD be getting, but in fact doesn't even TRY to assimilate. She just reaps their knowledge and abilities. She doesn't even try to increase her wisdom with their different points of view.
So basically, she's not even fulfilling her intended function.
I would suggest dividers or extra empty lines for when there's a scene change. It kinda got confusing near the end whenever they moved quickly from place to place.
Other than that, I like where this is going.
1470361
If you are going to quote bits of people's posts in your reply its a good idea to make sure that your stuff is distinct from theirs, there area few different ways (coloured text, a different typeface, ect) but the best is probably to use quote tags. They can be inserted either with the quote button above the "Add Comment" field or manually as {quote}{/quote} (replacing the curly brackets with square ones)
1470561
I'd disagree, Conformity was intended to counter Discord's chaos and seems like it would be a perfect job of that. Of course the fact that pure order is just as bad as pure chaos means that the cure is no better, and arguably worse given that Discord seemed to like keeping ponies around as individuals (they are more fun to play with that way).
1471337
Except Discord's chaos WASN'T pure. It had sadism and selfishness put into the mix.
This story seems to drive home the fact that order is NOT harmony.
Her order is not perfection, it is negation. It shall bring stagnation to the world, and deny the harmony needed for life. Her "unity" is nothing more then that of the grave.
I await the next chapter.
I am pleased that this story is generating so much debate.
1470561 Thanks! Your points are valid, but again, she doesn't see it that way. It should be noted that Conformity is INSANELY stubborn and that this was actually a deliberate design choice as it was meant to be a defense against Discord's mind rape. She'd see incorporating the viewpoints of others as succoming to the corruption of individuality. But again, Conformity DID NOT turn out as intended. She was an act of desperation by two alicorns who weren't even able to work together as their lifespans didnt overlap.
1470706 More line breaks. I'll try bear that in mind. I may even edit a few more into this chapter later. Glad that you're enjoying it.
1471337 Thanks! I didn't know that.
1471349 This is true. Technically, Conformity isn't pure Order either. For one thing, it's tainted with absurd amounts of arrogance.
1471543 Exactly. Glad that you're enjoying it.
1472933
That's actually rather said when you think about it. Is Discord a sadistic monster instead of a benign trickster because of his NATURE or by CHOICE? Conformity didn't have any choice on how she is. Everything about her was decided for her. She can't even CHOOSE to follow her function in a way that would bring about transponyism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism joining the whole of the traits of all pony minds until a single understanding consciousness that ENCOMPASSES all and LOVES all is born.
Instead she'll just eat and eat until she's the only presence in creation and NOT EVEN LOVE THE gods who created her, only cherry picking traits that suit her goal of devouring everything rather, than the larger goal of an order tainted by love the same Discord's chaos is tainted by sadism. Never loving or creating anything.
Conformity is NOT Instrumentality. Instrumentality was the breaking down of the barriers between all human hearts.
And pure order and pure chaos are BOTH neither good or evil by their definitions. BOTH are as likely to cause harm OR good. Discord was a sadistic jerk.
Were dealing with a ponyfied smith? Quick someone find neigh-o! The pony matrix is in danger!
Well, this is off to an interesting start. Can't wait to see where this goes.
I just caught the joke in the title!
1474880 yes
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This Conformity is actually rather terrifying, in concept. Good old fridge logic
This chapter seemed a bit hastily done to me. This is mostly improper formatting and the pacing being a little faster than most stories. I noticed a few times where, "One person was speaking," "And then a second began on the same line." Also, there might have been a few missing page breaks. For example, the first transition to Ponyville looks like it could use a little more space between it and the previous paragraph. Spelling was good as far as I saw and the story itself is enjoyable, so you're doing that right.
In short, more spacing your lines, please.
1473208>>1473210 Yes. Let me put it this way, I view Conformity as evil, but not completely vile, like Discord. She has some well-intentioned extremism going on.
1474880 She IS a bit like Smith, isn't she? But I'll be honest, she was inspired more by the Borg. She's ConBorgity as opposed to DisQord. Though, while Discord is more evil than Q and hasn't demonstrated as much power, Conformity is meant to be a little more sympathetic than the Borg while arguably being more powerful.
1482006 Hope that you like the result.
1482188 Glad that the joke isn't completely lost and that Conformity is provoking some emotinal responses.
1485635 Hmmm...I DID have to reformat when I imported. I'll have to relook at the source to try rectify the problem.
1485646 Good luck!
Pluto is best OC alicorn.
I do like the idea that there are quite a few alicorns out there besides Celestia and Luna (and Cadance).
...
Borg Alicorn, Doctor, Tartarus, Death-Alicorn, Sailor Alicorns, history of Discord, Octavia cousin of Pinkie Pie, a lots of evil lords, attack of white-clone-alicorns...
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/410/250/5d2.gif
Another comparison is how in D&D the mindflayers THINK the Elder Brains works, and how the Elder brains ACTUALLY work. The mindflayers think that when they die and their brains are graphed onto the elder brain, their identity and thoughts are absorbed into the group mind. In reality the elder brain just harvests any useful knowledge and wiped the rest for space for itself. Not that it's about to tell any of the LIVING mindflayers that.
Conformity sells her methods like they're the former, when she's not even trying to hide they're the latter.
1486082 Glad that you like her.
1487340 From the fact that you faved, I'm guessing that this is a good reaction.
1491277 I wouldn't put her quite on the level of an elder brain, but you make a good point.
I really need to get the next chapter up so that you guys have more to work with.
New Chapter!
“Oh! It! Is! On!” declared Rarity before charging forward.
Why stop her? Touch her, she's zapped, elements of harmony rendered useless.
PRINCEPS . . Emperor Tarot, twin brother of Imperatrix, tarot of the Empress.
“T thought that I was the
“I thought that I was the
WE NEED HER ALIVE IF WE ARE GOING TO ACQUIRE THAT STARE OF HERS!
Why not eat her on the spot?
Vulcans don't have laughter in their culture, and they're hardly evil for it.
1537927
Because she only wants to release Discord after she believes she's more powerful than him.
Thanks. Fixed.
See above.
Vulcans supprss their emotions (for admittedly good reason). This includes positive emotions like happiness. That is what is being reffered to here. A world without laughter is a world without joy. Hardly a Utopia.
"That's as many as four tens. And that's terrible."
And think I get it: A logic-based construct goes maverick with "Remove all (humanity) to protect (humanity)."
So, like the AI from that one Will Smith movie? I think Gargoles did similar, too.
1538167 Hal was operating under the same paradox in 2001 - he wasn't allowed to lie to the humans but they couldn't know about the extra parts of their mission to Jupiter, so no humans = no conflict.
THERE WAS MUCH YELLING WITHIN THIS CHAPTER
1538167 It is indeed a similar idea.
1538288 Royal voice...No wonder Celestia phased it out.
1538288 As one of the proofreader, I can say that the original version had even more.
Anyway, I'm glad to see you got this chapter up. I'm really enjoying it so far.
Really? You need a better way to portray the Canterlock than Capslock; it winds up being too hard to read for long passages.
1538966 would Unreasonably large text be an improvement?
1539803
Or doing proper or mock smallcaps. Like Death from Discworld. SOMETHING LIKE THIS, I SUPPOSE.
The "lower case" caps were set at [ size=10 ] [ /size ] (Remove the spaces from between the brackets and what's in them.
1539818 I see what you are saying, but Death's voice always reminds me of something being engraved in your mind, not barreling one over with the force of his speech.
The problem is trying to convey great volume without resorting to 'he boomed', ' she roared' 'the voice echoed off the surrounding countryside', and the like.
Plus I bet Confy likes all the straight lines involved in Capital Letters
1539818 Hmmm... I can try something like that. Not sure how I'm going to translate that to the fanfiction.net version. Doesn't help that Conformity currently can't use real Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. She's just doing an imitation, which is why hers isn't bolded.
1539886 This is also a good point.
I like that nickname!
1538167 Yeah, Walkabout was a really good episode. And I thought the bit from Pony POV series was a lot like the speech to the AI at the end of that, and so was this.
1542751 is that the one where Dingo ends up wearing a nanite colony as power armor? That was some trippy stuff.
1543432 Sure is. Conformity, here, has reminded me of said nanite colony from the start. "The order you propose is that of the grave!" something like that.
Conformity reminds me very much of the Borg, with assimulating and "resistance is futile" and all that. I loved how it was trying to convince the elements of how wonderful it's ideals are and it couldn't find a way to include laughter.
1544055 Thank you. Conformity was indeed inspired by the Borg, just as Discord was inspired by Q. But just as Discord is not identical to Q (much as somebronies forget that), Conformity is not identical to the Borg.
Wow. I kinda feel... sorry for Conformity there. And really sorry for Justitia. *Shudders*
“A lot. Son of Entropy and Havoc, Discord was the most powerful draconequus of his generation, partially due to the fact that he killed and ate his brother, Destruction, as well as his father’s avatar. Discord’s front left...”
Alex Warlorn is HERE and didn't even mention a reference to his own series. Then again, Alex also appears to be nerdraging over specifics.
*shrug*