The
CONVERSION
►Bureau
CODE MAJESTE
By Chatoyance
The characters of John Norris and Azure Wind from An Azure Future are used with the permission of Krass McWriter
10. I Am I Said
John walked back from the kitchen, his firm-handed grip pushing a bar-cart load of beverages. He had swept through the stainless steel cabinets, racks, and all three refrigerators, chucking whatever looked vaguely appropriate onto the cart. There were several rare vintages of wine - if they even drank wine - some incredibly expensive, aged whiskey, that was mostly for himself, just in case, and a large selection of fruit juices and soda. His pegasus son Azure liked those, and probably they would too.
John normally didn't bother putting on the feedbag for clients. The usual way of things was that he would make sure his clients took him out for a good time instead. This served two important purposes; one, it was a free good time, and two, it established just who was courting who. Inevitably clients wanted a crack at John's figurative ass in the end, so he made sure he got kissed first. Then he made sure he was wearing his impenetrable plastic ass.
But these were not normal clients, and putting on the feedbag was absolutely appropriate in this case. Primarily because the clients were ponies.
And not just any ponies; John Norris was entertaining the royal sovereigns of Equestria itself.
They had appeared, without warning, in a sudden and somewhat startling flash of light. John felt miffed that they hadn't bothered to even call first - royalty, always acting so goddamn superior, like they owned the place - right in the middle of his penthouse. When they had arrived, Celestia and Luna had completely blocked John and Azure's view of their fifth watching of The Lion King. Azure enjoyed cartoons, and this had been the very first one John had ever picked out for him, so there was some sentimental value to the rewatching - and besides, frankly, John found the whole 'dramatic entrance' thing a bit on the rude side.
Still, they were clients, and they had bits to spare, and Azure certainly found them entertaining, so, what the hell - if pony princesses made his son squee, then he could put up with them.
At the last moment, John reasoned that pony princesses probably wouldn't be chugging straight from the bottle, so he tossed on a few bowls and glasses for good measure. Just in case. What the hell was he supposed to know about entertaining alien royalty? Trundling the cart into the vast living room, he saw Azure showing off his collection of Wonderbolts paraphernalia. The expression on the Princesses' faces was priceless. They were bored completely out of their royal skulls, desperately trying to be nice, and that was utterly fine with John - he decided to push the cart a little more slowly. It wouldn't hurt for the great Celestia to fully appreciate his son's favorite pair of Wonderbolt PJ's.
Always good to make sure the client is a little off base.
"Sorry for taking so long, your majesties, I have some liquid hospitality to offer; we have everything from fruit juices to some truly excellent wines and even some whiskey if you are so incli...."
"Human John Norris. I require your services for a matter of great importance to both Equestria and your own world. To say that this is a matter of life and death is not an exaggeration. But I require the most absolute discretion on your part. This is a matter that must be kept absolutely secret from both our worlds, a matter both private and profound."
Excellent. Secrecy always pays more, and Royal secrecy probably pays best of all. Not that John actually needed money; he was worth billions of bits, his wealth already converted into Equestrian currency - but that was not the issue. The thrill of a good deal, the satisfaction of coming out far ahead still tickled something in John. Besides, maybe he would have the chance to show his son just how he had earned his money. That kind of knowledge could only help the boy in the long run.
"Discretion, like all commodities, is available - and because you are royalty, I will give you a discount." John smiled pleasantly; inside he grinned. Looking down he could see the look of shock on his son's muzzle, he could almost hear his son scolding him for being so flippant with the Royal Princesses Of Equestria, but he could also see admiration in the little indigo pegasus's eyes. Admiration that his dad wasn't intimidated by anything.
"You are the creator of the artificial intelligences that cover your world, is this correct?" Celestia was being surprisingly direct and severe in tone tonight, not at all like her press conferences, all filled with smiles and loving looks.
John poured Azure a cup of pineapple juice and mixed it with some soda water; instant sparkling pineapple soda!
"Thanks dad!"
John shook his head at the princess. "No. I didn't create the software, I bought the company. I realized Intelligent Designs had the leading edge, and I bought them out. I got a lot of brilliant people for my investment, and they made artificial intelligence finally work. I own the basis for all artificial intelligence in the world."
"I should like to get to the point, then. Could we have some privacy, John Norris?" The princess seemed insistent. John noticed that her sister, Luna, had so far said nothing, and seemed to be uneasy for some reason.
"We are completely private, princess. I own this building; I have recently had numerous safety and security measures installed throughout it, this penthouse is my private dwelling and it is as isolated as it is possible to make it. Just a moment..." John looked up at the ceiling, high above them. "JIVES: housekeeper. Maximum security protocols. Full lockdown."
An artificial voice, deep and mellifluous, sounded from above. "Of course, John."
"I've just asked the house to seal us off. Nothing can get in or out; sensors will warn us of any approach, and we are shielded from any form of electromagnetic espionage known to Man - and I mean that. I have friends in the corporate government. Magical espionage is more your forte, you will have to take care of that. We might as well be on the moon."
The princess called Luna seemed to slightly twitch at that. John suddenly remembered what little he had learned about Equestrian history from his son's homework. Oops.
"I meant... your son, actually." Celestia seemed increasingly impatient.
"This is Azure's home, and he is my business partner. He stays."
The indigo colt looked up. "Business partner? Since when, dad? Really?"
"Since ten minutes ago when Simba was interrupted by two ponies that don't know how to knock. I want my boy to learn what I do, this is the perfect opportunity. He is my liaison to the pony world. You need my help, or you would not be here. I need my son's help, that's why he is here. Package deal." John wore his all-negotiations-are-over face. It was a formidable face.
Apparently even to a princess. "Very well, John Norris." Princess Celestia looked down at the pegasus on the couch. "And Azure Wind." Raising her head again she continued. "You are both to consider yourselves sworn to secrecy about everything I am about to relate; nothing of what I say may ever be communicated to any other being, be they Equestrian or Human for the rest of your days. No failure in this matter can be tolerated."
John always felt that princess Celestia looked just a little too sweet on the holoscreens; right now she just looked severe. It was a special kind of severe that John knew well. His father, a military man, had been able to pull off that look, and John could not help but cringe ever so slightly under it. Right now, Celestia looked like his dad, and it was a little creepy.
"Agreed. Azure, do you agree to keep Celestia's secrets with your life?"
Azure seemed more than a little intimidated. "I swear to keep princess Celestia's secrets... uh... secret, for the rest of my life, so help me... Celestia. And Luna."
John noticed a small, sly smile from the moon princess at that. Heh.
"OK, we're sworn in. So what is the problem, and what do you need from us?" John motioned for Azure to come join him on the big couch that sat in the middle of the large room. It was a sprawling leather monstrosity that predated the Collapse.
"It has been a recognized concern that the Conversion process could potentially create a new alicorn; a being like my sister and myself. The probability of this was infinitesimally small, but not impossible. This event has happened. Right now, a newfoal named Lillian Fogarty exists, somewhere in the human world, and she is an infant alicorn."
Azure let out a soft "cooool..." John considered what this meant for a moment, and why the princesses of Equestria would even be bothering him with this.
"You can't find her, can you?"
Celestia seemed mildly impressed. "That is correct, John Norris. It is absolutely imperative that she be found, as soon as possible. This is what I have come to you for. It is a vital necessity that the alicorn be found. Her power is rapidly growing and soon will be beyond her ability to control. she is a danger to both your world and mine; she will soon be capable of nothing less than the destruction of your entire species. Your own survival and the survival of your son, and all you hold dear depends on assisting me to find her."
John stood up, his mind racing. He may not have created the key to artificial intelligence himself, but this was not because he could not have; he simply did not have the temperament to be a proper programmer. He definitely had the intelligence, and then some. The situation was obvious to him.
"You don't want the world government to know there is a rogue alicorn on the loose. She's missing because she's choosing not to be found - she's running from you. You can't use the government to find her for you - even though they have eyes everywhere. Almost everywhere, not here." John pondered a bit. "You somehow know about my backdoor, don't you?"
This decidedly did impress the princess. "Comet Tail was not wrong about you. That is precisely what I want of you. I have been told that you possess a secret spell that can cause every artificial intelligence on the planet to become your spy; to relay to you all that they have seen and heard. If the alicorn is anywhere that the works of Man are, you should be able to secretly locate her. Is this not so?"
The backdoor. Once John had taken possession of Intelligent Designs, he had made sure the core AI program had a number of deliberate weaknesses known only to him. He had made several different teams of programmers each construct parts of his backdoor under the assumption that they were doing a separate project for the world government. He had taught himself just enough to be able to take their work and install it using a script. In this way he could be sure that he, and only he, had a secret key to every AI that used Intelligent Designs's core breakthrough, and that was reasonably close to almost every system on the planet.
There were two backdoors, actually. A known, universal all-purpose override and the big one, The unknown real doozy that would probably make a planetary pariah out of him if anyone ever found out. Nobody ever had; John was still alive, and that was proof by itself.
Problem was, if he ever dared to use the deep backdoor, there would be a real chance that the event would be discovered and traced, and if that happened.... well. John had a contingency for that, but it had originally involved a glass of whiskey and a gun sandwich. Dammit. He wasn't just on his own anymore; now he had a son to think about.
John desperately needed to think about this. He also desperately needed a cigarette. "Let me consider this for a moment. I need a smoke - I'll step out on the balcony for a bit, alright? Son?"
"Dad?" Azure was clearly shaken by such weighty matters, but he was holding up well, as expected. He was a good colt.
"Maybe the princesses would like to see your file of pictures and video of the Wonderbolts?" John smirked as he opened the great glass door to step out onto the balcony. Heh.
* * * * *
The bleeding body of Lillian Fogarty, alicorn, hung magically suspended in the night a meter above the tiles of a dark courtyard. Drops of crimson splattered on the tiles of the abandoned penthouse. They shone with the light that came from the next building over, another penthouse, inhabited and with power, light shining from its windows. Ripples and distortions within the very fabric of reality coruscated about Lillian's wounded flesh; powerful unearthly forces were at work.
The tiny entry hole on the right side was already beginning to close. The large exit wound on the right, with the coil of pink intestine, began to pull politely back inside of Lillian's body, allowing the torn flesh to begin to pull itself together and mend. Lillian wasn't dying at all; now she knew she could not easily die even if she tried. Her body had begun mending itself at an astonishing rate the very moment she had been shot. She had no way to know that she would heal; she had fallen victim to panic as any ordinary pony or human might do.
Being shot though, even for a biologically immortal alicorn, was not at all pleasant. It was awful!
It was also painful, and Lillian couldn't bear waiting for her body to repair itself. Without thinking, driven by the horror of her situation, she had simply... expanded. It felt like floating to the top of a swimming pool. As she approached the metaphorical air, above, her power grew, and the less she felt her body, and the more light and free she felt.
Waiting around to heal was such a foalish thing to do. Especially when the alternative was so obvious and simple!
Lillian realized that it would be so much more comfortable to just reach into the statistically larger number of potential alternate versions of reality - almost any nearby splay would do - and make a copy of the abdomen of that universe's version of her own body, then overwrite her own body with the copy, while automatically adjusting for any discrepancies between the position of cells, arteries and veins.
Briefly, Lillian's barrel and abdomen shimmered - she had taken a larger than necessary swath, just to be sure - as the perfect version of her flesh replaced the injured one. It tickled slightly as the edges matched up. The entire procedure took a tenth of a second in real time, because Lillian figured that the less she exposed her extradimensional cross-section - the one that expanded as her power expanded - to view by Celestia, the less likely the princess would be able to get a fix on her position.
She knew she had to have the self-repair event take up some real-world time or the cell walls wouldn't seal properly. She figured that a tenth of a second was sufficient, and she doubted Celestia could catch her in such a short space; the princess would be caught by surprise. Oh, the healing would be noticed; Lillian couldn't prevent that, but she seriously doubted it could be tracked. After all, Celestia had other things to pay attention to besides her.
Within the accelerated bubble of private time she had set her consciousness inside to perform the repair on her body, Lillian suddenly realized that it would be trivial to just turn her physicality sort of inside out, like inverting a stocking. If she did that, her flesh would turn to the stuff of magic itself, and she would become truly immortal and capable of any shape or form. She would be beyond all destruction entirely, because she would be beyond all physical law. That was what the princesses were, that was what Discord was, and once she had become that too, she would be completely beyond any fuss Celestia wanted to make. The sun goddess would basically just have to go and suck it, because there would be absolutely nothing she could do about the situation at that point.
Just a little twist, a little turn in that... other direction, the one perpendicular to the world. It would take no effort, no effort at all. No more pain - well unless she wanted to feel pain for some reason, who knows, eternity is a long time after all. Maybe pain would seem fun after the first eon, just as a change of pace, kind of how spicy food burns the tongue but it's fun to eat anyway. She would never have to get tired, she could never be hurt, never be trapped... well that wasn't exactly true. There were a few ways to imprison even a being made of pure magic. Magic could be crystallized, for example, and... there were a few other tricks, too.
That could be a problem, then. Celestia could get her sister to help her, and then it would be two on one, and Lillian wasn't sure she could handle that. She could end up like Discord, who she could sense, barely, behind the interface between Equestria and Mundis. She could end up crystallized. What ordinary eyes would see as being turned to stone. That would be very, very bad.
But, oh, how good this felt! It was beyond wonderful to be so intelligent, so aware! Things that had eluded her understanding were trivial to her now. Everything she had ever experienced was available to her newly perfect mind - every tiny sensation, every thought, every sight and sound. She could replay any memory at will. And she could focus on any one event, anywhere she wanted to. The temptation just to go looking with her new abilities throughout space and time alone was almost like a hunger.
But she could concentrate on only one activity... maybe two, if they were small... at a time. And that was her vulnerability. She could be distracted, caught unawares; that is how she would be undone, ultimately, if Celestia still wanted to do so. And Celestia was older and far more practiced. That was an issue. There was no denying that. Even though she now saw that her very worldline was being guided in some fashion by her higher, alicorn nature, even that was not enough. Fortuitous coincidence was not even close to being a sufficient defense against a being like Celestia. Or Luna.
Lillian still had a little more personal time left in her localized bubble of unreality. She had offset her consciousness by several thousands to one with normal spacetime; the magical tenth of a second she had created was not over yet relative to her. She spread her awareness out a little to 'see' her surroundings - her flesh was floating a meter above the courtyard where she had crashed, there was blood on the tiles marking her arrival.
She had missed the penthouse with the light on inside; instead she had landed on the next building over. Tendrils of her consciousness assured her that the building her flesh hovered over was empty. She would not be disturbed where she was by anyone. Good. She was safe.
Now, what should she do? Should she invert her existence and go fully immortal? The draw was strong, but she did fear Celestia, and there was the matter of learning to control her power. Right now, anchored by being mere flesh, just barely tapping her potential, she felt in control. But if, after conversion to pure magic, things were as different as they had been made out to be, she could end up destroying untold numbers of innocent beings entirely by accident. Even in this expanded state, Lillian cared about other living beings. Indeed she cared about them even more; they were all so terribly fragile and so desperately brief.
It was then that the realization hit her. It filled her expanded consciousness like some tiny bit of trivia, an obvious thing any supernal being would naturally know, but it hit the part of her that was just 'Lillian Fogarty from Surrey' like a punch in the muzzle.
The universe of Mundis, Earth's universe, had almost no magic at all. It had a tiny trickle, just a bit, tucked away between subatomic particles like so much forgotten pixie dust, but compared to Equestria it might as well be nothing at all. And that was a terrible, unimaginable tragedy, the most awful thing Lillian had ever realized in her entire existence. Now she fully understood why Celestia was so determined to help the poor humans, and why Equestria had bothered to invade the earth.
Humans were intelligent, fully self-aware, fully conscious, fully sapient beings. But they had been so unfortunate as to arise in a universe without any magic to speak of. Souls were only and purely magic. If anything at all in all of existence was a magical thing, a spirit, a soul, absolutely, completely was. These poor, naked apes were self aware, they understood their mortality, but they were little more than chemical machines. For this species, in this universe, dead... was dead. When the machine stopped, they stopped, and that was the end of them. Each precious one of them was an entire cosmos of dreams and thoughts and hopes and fears just by themselves, yet all were nothing more than chemicals and electricity banging around a primate skull.
Conversion turned that chemical robot into an Equestrian - that was the real reason behind powering the nanomachines of the ponification serum with the miracle of Equestrian magic. It wasn't merely to avoid conservation of mass issues, or to sidestep entropy, or to avoid generating heat. No. Ponification serum was what it was so as to infuse and transform those chemical, molecular-machine human minds with a truly living lacework of real magic, so that they, as ponies, could join the eternal herd. The true purpose of Conversion was to grace the poor ape robots with nothing less than souls.
Lillian reached out, far out, and found the group that had shot her. She bore them no ill will at all. She pitied them, those Human Liberation Front humans. She swept her expanded, magical consciousness over and through them, and found... nothing. Just molecules clicking mechanically into each other, nerves pulsing, neurotransmitters squirting across synapses. They had no thickness in the extra dimensions, no spirit duplicate of themselves flowing inside their living meat. They were self aware, but were just meat machines. It was too horrible, too awful to deal with.
Lillian snapped back to her perch just above and beyond her hovering flesh body. Those poor, poor creatures, with all their hopes and dreams and beliefs, yet they were just chemical machines from a mechanical universe, doomed to die forever. All those lost minds. All those lost selves.
If she hadn't gone to the Conversion Bureau... oh, sweet Celestia... she'd still be one of them. Even if Celestia killed her body now, she was part of the herd. In another Generation, in some guise, she could come back. She could always come back. Or, she could do... other things. If she wanted to.
It was just too cruel. Mundis, the universe that Earth was part of, was just too cruel! It was the most terrible cosmos imaginable. Just enough complexity to allow a creature to rise up and understand that it was doomed. It was beyond cruelty.
No, it was worse than cruelty; cruelty implied a being acting with malice. Mundis didn't even have a villain - a Big Bad chuckling over what it had done to the little naked apes. The true depth of the Earth's horror was that there wasn't even anyone to blame. Mundis, Earth, just was. Humans simply were, because they had risen accidentally from the thoughtless, uncaring physical laws of their mechanical universe.
The only thing more awful than being hated is not even mattering at all.
Lillian, overcome with sadness, with pity, drew herself down, back into her alicorn flesh. She shrank away from the painful, terrible knowledge, the horrible awareness of those poor, poor billions out there, all just wanting to exist. Just to exist! Such short lives, with nothing awaiting them. It was too much to bear. She could no longer face it, she did not want to see it, and if she expanded into pure magic, she would have to see it all of the time. Just like Celestia. And Luna, too.
No wonder Celestia had deliberately caused Equestria to expand into the cosmos of Man. No immortal being could permit that kind of unfairness. Yet even against such a thing, Celestia insisted that ponification be a matter of free choice. Lillian couldn't comprehend that right now. All she knew right now was how much it hurt to know the things she now knew, to understand the things she now understood. It hurt far more than the power felt good. It hurt more than the power to make dreams come true was worth.
Lillian forcefully sealed her consciousness back inside her pony body, and flattened down the part of her that stuck up into higher spaces. Like all ponies, she still had thickness, she was part of the eternal herd, and always would be, through all generations to come. Her dreams would never be lost, her personality would never be dissolved into nothing. She, was safe.
Those poor, lost billions! The countless generations lost forever before them, before the age of Conversion Bureaus. All the minds, all the people, all the humans who had ever lived. The aching empty horror was too much. But more than any horror was the sadness of it all. Lillian cared so deeply about everything, everyone, and it was just so unutterably sad and unfair.
The private bubble of time popped. Lillian slipped the ring back over her horn with simple ease. She gave the binding ring a little snap with her will, so that it slammed firmly against her skull, the velocity finishing the job after her power was sealed away.
Thankfully, the memory of what she had seen was fading. She wanted it to fade. More than ever before, she wanted to just be a simple mare of Equestria, living a simple life of love and friendship. Any lust for power she might have had was no longer there. She just wanted the nightmare to end. Lillian was crying again, the terrible truth of human life barely an echo in her mind, yet the sadness remained. Lillian was bawling like a lost and wounded child, only now, for the first time since she had begun her journey, she was not in any way crying for herself.
* * * * *
John had dropped the cigarette almost immediately. He moved to a more shadowed place, away from the glass doorway, and watched in awe as the rippling forces ran briefly down the hovering, upright shape. The wings and horn were clearly seen, even at such distance, though he had needed to blink several times to reassure himself that he was not hallucinating.
Not this time, anyway.
The alicorn - Lillian something, Lillian Fogarty, that's what the princess had said - floated down like a leaf into the courtyard of the building over. The next building over. It couldn't be chance. There was weird stuff going down right now, and it may even be over the great and powerful princess Celestia's head too. The alicorn was sitting there, hunched over, shaking. John tried to listen very, very carefully. The city was very silent at night now; with so many people either gone or gone pony, the constant drone of human machines was absent. Was that... crying? It was. John was sure of it. Faint, all the way across the gulf between the two buildings, but in the quiet night there was no mistaking it. The fearsome, dangerous, rogue alicorn was... crying.
That put a different spin on things.
Celestia had given the impression that this alicorn was some terrible threat to the world. The poor, weeping little filly over there did not seem like a dangerous rogue element to John. She seemed more like an unfortunate girl caught in a bad place.
Then again, Celestia had mentioned something about uncontrollable power destroying worlds...
To engineer a solution to a problem, one must first know the variables. John decided to find out some of those variables. Somehow he knew... he just knew that the alicorn would remain where she was. That was odd. That was very odd. But then, all of this night had been odd. As was his usual wont, John decided to just hang the sense of it and roll with things.
He quietly slipped through the glass door, back into the room.
"...and this is Spitfire doing a barrel roll! Whoo! Didja see that?" Azure was very excited. He was able to share his favorite thing with his favorite princesses! What a fantastic night! Living with his dad was AWESOME!
John could not help but quietly chuckle. Celestia was doing her best to appear interested, and Luna... Luna seemed for all the world to be... enjoying Celestia's predicament. There was some complicated crap between those two, John decided.
"One billion bits, delivered to my son when he reaches whatever the age of majority is in Equestria. Plus another billion upon delivery of the precise location of the alicorn, which I can provide to you in exactly fifteen minutes." Fifteen minutes should be enough time. Just enough to either get his bits or what he really wanted. "Oh, and one more thing, and this is not negotiable; I get to meet the alicorn and talk to her for ten minutes, in private. If this condition is fully met to my satisfaction, then I am willing to forgo the payment of the second billion bits."
Princess Celestia whirled up from the frontmost couch, the one closest to the screen. She used her wings to aid her, in an instant she was standing before him, eyes narrowed, her pupils small. Still, her voice was soft. It was very controlled. "Have you found her?"
"I can find her, I can tell you exactly where she is. To the meter. But first, I need to know some information. I cannot find what I do not understand. AI systems don't see the world the way organic beings do, princess. They scan and probe on frequencies and wavelengths nothing like how we, or at least I, see the world. I need to know what they have to look for, and it can't be as simple as 'look for a pony with a horn and wings'. It doesn't work that way." John tried his best to present his 'Helpful Knowledgeable Guy' persona. Inside his heart beat fast; he was lying to magical beings here, and he did not know how much they knew, or could know.
But it was pretty damn clear they couldn't sense the proximity of their target just across the street! That little factoid alone was information the world government would kill for. Good thing he was sworn to secrecy then; he might have been tempted to sell it to them.
Celestia eyed John. It was clear she wasn't buying everything he was saying. Worse, she hadn't complained about his outrageous price - that was a very ominous sign. A client that had no issue with price either didn't intend to pay, or had not been given a price high enough; either situation meant some kind of regret was going to be his. "What, exactly, do you need to know?"
John's mind already had the vague notion of a scheme for his own ends. In his life he had made money the old fashioned way - immorally and unethically. But there was one thing he couldn't overlook, ignore, or let slide - a child crying. That alicorn was no rogue monster; she was a little gray filly, obviously in over her head. Celestia had stated that she was a newfoal; she probably knew nothing about why she was being hunted by the princess. Newfoals, by and large, didn't know crap.
"What makes an alicorn different from a unicorn or a pegasus? They certainly look like both sewn together, but it has to be more than that. I need to know the real difference. No AI could possibly work with something so vague." That was a blatant lie. It would be trivial to tell all the artificial intelligences in the world to look for a pony with both wings and a horn. It was a simple AND operation. Even John could write that, all by himself.
Celestia looked doubtful, for a brief moment, then brightened. "Understand that it is my prerogative to erase what parts of your memory of this night I deem necessary."
John already expected this. "Agreed - but only after this situation is resolved, and not before. That is my condition."
"Very well." Celestia was too easy to negotiate with, and that bothered John. "The difference between an established alicorn and a pony is not something that any machine on your world could ever perceive. Fortunately, we are still after an infant alicorn, before she has achieved her true form. The thing that makes her different, besides having wings and horn, is her carbuncle."
Carbuncle. Wasn't that some kind of terrible skin condition? Or maybe it was a jewel. John had heard the word before. "Explain this carbuncle in detail. Leave nothing out. What is it, where is it, and what does it do? I have to understand it to find it."
"In a normal unicorn, the horn channels the magic they use. There is little else to this; an extension of their brain underlies the horn and directs it. But an alicorn is different." Celestia began to pace the room as she spoke, her glowing mane of light rippling in literally unearthly winds. "Under the horn of an alicorn, an infant alicorn, one still flesh and blood as you know them, lays a unique organ. It is bright red and at first quite soft, like a tiny heart."
Celestia stopped and looked levelly at John. "That is the carbuncle; it is magic made flesh. Over time, as the alicorn grows into her power, the carbuncle crystallizes. It becomes more and more dense, and more and more solid. In time it resembles a great ruby. When the stone is complete, when the last of the carbuncle has become solid and perfect, a change begins. The material world cannot tolerate the contradiction; magic is change and motion and life, and the crystallized carbuncle is magic made solid, frozen, unchanging and unalive, and the paradox pushes the alicorn entirely beyond reality as you know it. The alicorn becomes living magic itself. Like me."
And with that, Celestia was no longer a great pony with wings, crown, horn and shining hooves. She was entirely like her flowing, immaterial mane. In front of John flowed an impossible living splotch of light, pulsing and rippling in shades of violet, sea green, teal, and blue. A palpable superintelligence, ancient and alien, inhabited the chromatic region, powerful beyond all comprehension. He felt as if he might be swept up into the endless, sapient field of color. It felt as if he were staring up into a terrifyingly infinite sky, one into which he could tumble at any moment, unbound by gravity, to spin forever in helpless, perpetual freefall.
John bent forward and clutched his head, his hands over his eyes. But Celestia wanted to make a point, and his action had made no difference. She was still there, visible, overwhelming, whether his eyes were open or not. "OK! OK! Enough! Celestia! Enough!"
John pulled his hands down. He was shaking. The pony princess stood in front of him, her usual, pony princess self. "Can you find the alicorn now, John Norris?"
John controlled his breathing, as best he could. His heart was pounding. He looked over at his son, still on the forward couch with princess Luna. "You OK, sport?"
"Uh... yeah? Dad? Are you... alright?" Azure didn't seem like he had experienced the same moment at all. That was probably for the best, John reflected. Yeah, definitely for the best.
"Oh, just great, son. Listen, you be nice to Auntie Luna, alright?" This got a startled look out of the moon princess, which distinctly helped regain John's personal bravado.
John turned back to princess Celestia. "No. I can't. Not yet." John was entering dangerous waters now, but what the hey. Shoot the rapids. "What happens if this carbuncle is damaged or removed?"
Celestia wore a strange expression. "Why do you need to know that?"
"Machine intelligence cannot make small distinctions. Either a thing is, or is isn't, if I don't account for a set of possible intermediate states, I could get nothing back even if the alicorn was staring the damn thing right in the sensor." That too was a blatant lie; the whole point of artificial intelligence was to get around just that, to make decisions like a human might.
"If the carbuncle was removed or damaged, the alicorn would temporarily lose her powers, but would simply regrow the organ. Do you imagine that she may have bumped her head?" Celestia may have been mocking John, it was hard to tell. Her voice was always so calm and pleasant, and filled with gentle humor. It kind of annoyed him.
Now it was time to go for the kill. The big question. Oh well, what the hell. "Can anything interfere with that? Any material, any radiation or nanotechnology or anything at all - would anything stop the organ from regrowing, or block it?"
"Well, if it didn't have room to reappear, it would have to stop growing because the carbuncle serves the alicorn not the..." Celestia stared at John for quite a while. "I think school is over, John. Please find me my alicorn now."
One thing John understood was the art of the deal, and when negotiations were over. He was very good at such things. "Of course, princess. I believe I can find your alicorn for you now. You have been very helpful and very indulgent. Thank you for your kind assistance." This was absolutely 'Pleased To Be Of Service' time.
John stood up, and smiled broadly at Princess Celestia. Behind her was the large glass door that led to the penthouse balcony. As he had expected, the weeping figure, a pale gray speck against the dim smoggy sky was still there, across the street, exactly where she had been before. She was probably still crying.
"Well?" Celestia was kind of funny when she was impatient. John was enjoying the struggle inside her to remain sweet and calm, and soft of voice, when surely, she must be fairly annoyed by now. In this moment, he, John Norris, held all the power over the regent of an entire universe - he had what she wanted and no price was apparently too high. He could just grin at her - but not too long. No, not too long. Still, one of the benefits of the job. He'd have to tell Azure about it later. Much later.
"Directly behind you, across the street, about sixteen meters, same altitude." It was all John could do not to burst out laughing.
Owned...
John... you bastard.
That was a moment of awesome worthy of Harry Dresden himself.
Okay.
Okay.
I'm like shaking right now. Freaking...
... yeah, this is me when I'm not in that super politically correct grammar-Nazi guy. And also me when I've received a huge emotional punch. Or maybe it's more like a twist; a terrible, wrenching, nervous twist.
I... arrgh.
I think what did it, what really got to me this chapter, was that line of thought. That... path of observation that Lillian took. That... scares me. For a reason I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps in a way it's because I'm not supposed to; because I'm mortal and to think like that, to think like that is... kind of contrary to what I am. Or maybe it's that I'm afraid that what she's saying is right. Maybe it's both.
I... it's weird. It's like... all this time I've been afraid FOR her.
But now I'm afraid OF her.
Once again Chatoyance, your ability to spin up such beautiful spans of literature is awe-inspiring. If I hadn't already given you the 5 stars, you'd earn them. Really looking forward to what comes next
First things first:
AAAAWWWWWWWWWW YEEEAH
Waitaminnit, NOW THEY'LL FIND ME!
Moving on, delightful twist. I can't wait to see where this goes from here. Oh multiverse, you so crazy.
Always a pleasure to see you update.
Oh that was delicious!
If there's one thing finite mortality teaches a species, it's how to really think on their feet. John is such a wonderful example of this trait.
lololololol
Now that I am marginally more calm let me elaborate, because my last comment, while heartfelt, was probably not very constructive or helpful or even telling of very much except that poor little Lysander is easy to freak out. And that sometimes he's capable of sounding informal.
I've been staring at the beginning of this sentence for several minutes now, wondering how exactly I want to phrase this, and to be completely honest, I still don't know. Ultimately, the epiphany scared me, I think, because it falls squarely under Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. And Man doesn't know it, strictly speaking, except us, except the readers, by proxy. It hurts Lillian, it hurts and it scares her enough that she wants to forget it--and in a way that's a relief, a huge relief. But we as the readers--never mind you, the writer--have to stand and accept that, we have to rationalize it--and can we? I'm not sure we really can. It hurts to try. It hurts to entertain that thought.
For a moment... for a moment, in this chapter, when the ring was off, I think I could finally really see things from Celestia's perspective. In a way, that's rather like only learning not to touch the stove after burning yourself half a dozen times, I suppose, but better late than never. That scared me--that moment, that possibility, however short-lived, that Lillian would do exactly what she was told not to do, that she would expand so far she could not contract again, that she would cast aside everything that still made her who she was.
That terrified me. Made my skin crawl. I found myself literally begging aloud for her not to.
So call me a late convert if you must. I can finally see things from Celestia's perspective.
But that doesn't mean I think what she wants to do is right. In that respect, I will side with Luna.
This will end soon.
That thought scares me, too.
I actually find this chapter disappointing.
Part of it is the intrusion of John -- a character who I find generally dislikable, and I have trouble either understanding or sympathizing with, who comes from another story that I never liked nearly as much as this one.
The philosophy about humans not having souls is interesting.... Intellectually it's an interesting spin, but in some ways not very convincing. The quest for immortality seems far too epic to be wrapped up so neatly, and the Eternal Herd sounds almost more scary than enticing. Plus, there are other possible ways of approaching the problem other than ponyfication. The fact that we have AI in this setting suggests a few transhuman/extropian options.
Maybe that's the answer to the question Lillian wondered, about why Celestia wouldn't force ponyfication on anyone. Celestia might know there are (or were) other possible destinies for humanity, some of them potentially much greater. Then again, given her seeming ignorance of technology, it's hard to see how she could even understand something like transhumanist theory.
john is best human
Again, poor Lillian, and Poor TCB Humanity.
MASSIVE "Lovecraft was RIGHT!" moment there.
No need for Cthulestia and Nyarluna, just _knowing_ what Lillian knows... cosmic horror a-plenty.
dat godly princesess pony just got PWNY PWNED
I can see John as a supervillan, holding Equestrian hostage with a super weapon, and demanding billions of bits from Celestia in exchange for not blowing her country up.
I'm going to have to agree with 141895
The character of John is more than a little bit intrusive. I understand that this is a cameo from another story but it feels very out of place here. Maybe if he had been established in some manner earlier in the story it might work a little better but it just seems to come out of nowhere here and it's jarring, especially so close to the end of the story. Also, I honestly don't see Celestia as the type to grovel at the feet of humans for aid. That just makes her seem lazy and weak given how incredibly powerful she's supposed to be.
Also, just throwing this out there, I SERIOUSLY disagree with that philosophy about humans and souls. Just saying.
The troll just got TROLLED
About souls: We're reading fiction here. If it's possible to imagine Humans having no souls, then it's possible to write it in a story. The truth is that here in the real world we really don't know if souls exist or not. This kind of speculation should be helpful, since the other option is just to not think about souls at all. I don't see Chatoyance trying to say this is how I see things, instead this is a look at a very scary possibility.
And I would say more about other stuff, but I'm half asleep....
We're in for an awful confrontation in the next little while. We have someone who simply wishes to keep breathing versus someone who can't see any other solution aside from destroying her.
Not my favorite chapter I have to say. It seemed to introduce too many issues that aren't really important at this point. John's observations of the Celestia/Luna relationship is a cross between being trite and awkward. Though the two of them have disagreed about the fate of Lillian, the way John looks at them makes them both seem petty and vindictive. Maybe I'm reading to much into it.
I did enjoy Lillian's perspective, for a moment I thought she was going to unleash a huge amount of power and force ponify every human just so they could have a soul and no longer be violent machines. Thats what I would have done in her place at least, free will and consequences be damned. From a moral standpoint I dislike the thought that humans are without souls, and that ponies are better than us because they have them. Which is strange for me because in every CB fic I've read I've been very anti-human.
One thing that made me wonder, and I'm just making a bunch of assumptions here so stay with me, it seems like Lillian believes now that Celestia purposely had Equestria collide with earth just so she could give the humans a chance to be saved. Is that knowledge that is part of some collective consciousness that Alicorns have? Or is it just the first logical conclusion that Lillian came to after learning that humans don't have souls? Or maybe that isn't want happened at all and I misunderstood that part.
Ah sweet Luna Lillian is losing it...
This chapter was perfect. That is all I can really say.
I'm afraid I find myself strongly objecting to a large part of this chapter, and yes, that is the part about humans not having souls. I realize that, by practically their very idea, that CB fics are very anti-human, but yeah, this concept crosses a line for me. The whole 'ponies are better than humans' thing has always been a bit grating to me, but I found your version of the CB world to have that toned down quite a bit by few things, chiefly that Earth sucks and is by this point actually dying and being subsumed by Equestria, meaning ponification is pretty much the ONLY way out unless you like suicide sandwiches. In this world, the offer of ponification means a guaranteed ticket off a dying planet, not to mention a chance for an actual future.
The second thing was having ponies like Windfeather show up to show as that ponies aren't perfect either, and can be just as mean spirited, bigoted, and heck, downright murderous as humans. The guy knew that by abandoning newfoals he'd be pretty much killing them, as it was shown that Summerland was the ONLY newfoal group that didn't succumb to the eventual withering of the exponential lands. I thought this really toned down the super anti-human theme, as it gave us a pony antagonist for (I think, sorry if I've missed a CB story before that did this) the first time.
As others have pointed out, this IS fiction, so I'm not going to throw a temper tantrum and ragequit this still good story over this, I, myself, just believe that all living things do have a soul of some kind, and the implication that we don't is objectionable to me. And no, I'm not a super-religious type either, before someone backlashes me with that.
Ok, soapbox aside, John has some balls pulling that on Celestia. Probably lucky he doesn't get sent to MARS for that one.
I assume he's planning to do or at least suggest a course of action that would remove Lillian's carbuncle and keep it from regrowing? Given who she is in the future(past?) I have a bad feeling about the results of such a procedure.
I should probably respond to all the wonderful comments; thank you everypony!
First, the inclusion of John Norris: I needed him. Or, if not him, some human damn close to being him, for what... well, what is coming up. I could have invented an original character to fit that need - I think by now I have hopefully demonstrated that I am not slow about creating original characters. But I thought about it. If the character I needed had John Norris's background, his skills, his talents, and his position... why the hell not just ask Krass to use John Norris? Besides, it fits with my wish to make my take on the Conversion Bureau a Big Tent, which has room for most of the other authors to feel like their stories could have happened in the same place as my stories. I am trying to shore up the walls of a large, self-consistent mythos, one we might all share. Nobody has to think their story exists within my vision of the CB universe - heavens no! But, I want other writers to feel free and welcome to think that way if they should wish to. I want to include, not exclude. That's all. Well, as best I can, anyway.
Besides, seriously, human John Norris and his pony son Azure effin' rock. If you haven't given An Azure Future a decent chance, do so. The interspecies father-son relationship is charming, and John is a fucked-up goofy goober that can still get shit done. He's awesome.
One of the big issues raised is why I brought in the whole concept of souls. Allow me to explain my reasoning.
I enjoy the strong contrast, in the TCB stories, between the bright, shiny pony world and the dark, noir, hard human world. I pump up the contrast on this in the same way I would up contrast in a painting I am doing. I make Equestria as Ideal as I can, and Earth as Dark as I can - though not entirely Grimdark; that's too far. That's why I carefully paint that humanity has finally solved world hunger for instance, despite the endless poverty.
Equestria is a magic world. Earth, is not. Another contrast, and an important one. Yet, so far, no author I know of has really examined what that ultimately means. It's a huge deal, as big, or bigger an issue, than whether Earth is one big Crapsack and Equestria is one big Sugarbowl. Having a character briefly have access to ultimate knowledge is, well, just about the perfect moment to deal with such a cosmic issue, and it serves beautifully as a reason why any being would give up ultimate power; because the pricetag of true knowledge hurts too much.
Bottom line, though is that spirits are magic. There is no dividing line between magic and religion; they are the same thing. One religion's truth is another religion's occult magical nonsense. Standing outside any particular belief, all become equal; all religion is magic. Souls are magic. They have to be. That is all they can be. If a person believes they have a soul, then they believe in magic. I'm not making any judgement of that here; in my story, I'm claiming magic is real (and it happens to also be friendship!), but, the consequence of magic being real is... souls and spirits and goddesses like Celestia and Luna.
As to Humans being soulless chemical machines, well, I took a look at the two worlds. Equestria; teleportation, levitation, precognition, transformation, violation of entropy, violation of conservation of mass, creation of reality, alteration of reality, walking on clouds.... it's basically one of the highest-magic worlds in fiction.
Earth, what have we really got? Absolutely zero actual proof of anything magical whatsoever, but a huge, vast collection of stories, anecdotes and unprovable, brief experiences. I fit into the latter category; my own life has been filled to the brim with experiences that, if I accepted them, would instantly put me into the 100% I BELIEVE group. But I know none of them can be proved to anyone, not even myself. No evidence, just experience, shared or otherwise. For all intents and purposes, Earth might as well be a completely zero-magic world. That's what makes Equestria -or any fantasy world with magic - so damn interesting. We want that. Because we clearly don't have it.
All of this adds extra poignancy to the factions fighting each other in the TCB universe; each thinks they are doing the right thing, and maybe they are, but behind it all is the horror that it isn't just green grass versus grey concrete - it's magic versus mechanism. I see in this a metaphor for the internal battle of every person; belief versus reason. I am incapable of belief, which is equivalent to being ponified. It would be so much nicer to live in green grass. But I can't. Never imagine that TCB stories are incapable of deep existential depth; the whole story world is the perfect place for it. It's like the Conversion Bureau genre was MADE for exploring such deep concepts.
It's so sad that CB stories have been often dismissed as silly wish fulfillment. They are not. Stories about bronies dying or waking up in Equestria and bonking the Mane Six are wish-fulfillment. The Conversion Bureau is a deep, vital, dangerous space for writing dangerous stories that say powerful, disturbing things. That's what makes CB stories unique. That's why I love it so much.
The Conversion Bureau, as a mythos, vastly outstrips its origin. It is much larger than being mere fanfiction. I'm serious.
Lastly, as to the issue of whether Celestia and Luna are nice, or naughty, or petty, or perfectly benevolent - remember this important thing about my stories; I write the viewpoints of individual characters as though the characters were real people, and they view things only from what they can know or what they can see.
If Celestia and Luna seem like bickering petty sisters to John, that is because that is all John has seen of them. He's never met them before, he hasn't spent any time with them before, and he absolutely has never seen Friendship Is Magic. It doesn't exist in the Conversion Bureau universe because they are actually living it. It isn't a cartoon, there. It is real life to them.
So John can only know what he sees, and that will almost certainly conflict what what we imagine or know; the same is true for all the characters. Every character will have a different impression of... well everything. One person can only see what they can see, and know only what has been revealed to them alone.
When we look through John's eyes, Celestia and Luna are sisters with issues. Maybe that is true, maybe it isn't. But it is all he knows, because it is how he interprets what he thinks he sees. That is his view. I am sure Azure, his ponified son has a completely different view; he probably thinks the princesses are perfection itself. They paid attention to him and seemed to love his Wonderbolt collection. This is called 'Theory Of Mind' and I apply it in my writing. You will see others not as I see them, or as you want to see them, but as the characters themselves see them.
We have at least one more chapter to go; maybe two if I can't squeeze everything into one chapter. You might note this chapter was over 6K. It was a big 'effin chapter. Sorry about that. There was a lot of events, and I couldn't figure out how to break them up smaller without giving you petty 1K chapters, which suck if you are waiting for the next update.
This story needs a duck
142584
Vi a duckt?
142584
142602
Duck tape.
SuperFrodo: 1
Chatoyance: 0
So way back when, in the final chapters of ‘The taste of Grass’, I got to wondering if the whole turning ponies to stone thing was a weakness on Celestia’s part. Maybe as a suposedly benevelent being, she can’t stomach the idea of having killed a mortal,
Then we come to this explanation of the nature of Equestrian souls and I find myself in the following lodgic;
“Awsome! That makes a crazy amount of sense to me, in a way explains of an awful lot more than just- wait, so death is not the end in Equestria... So execution is meaningless... and being apart from the Grate Herd is abhorrent to those who know of its nature... so being severed from the grate herd would be the ultomate punishment, given that it is a fate worse than death-OH MY GOD, Windfeather!”
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Chatoyance, your explanations have given me a lot of food for thought. I've never gotten deep into the CB stories or mythos, so some of my unease is probably just coming from unfamiliarity. Many of the underlying assumptions of CB seem opposite of my own. There's nothing I enjoy more than turning assumptions upside down. I'm almost tempted to write my own CB story as a counterpoint....
Let's imagine Celestia and Luna are not even close to being goddesses, but instead are merely ponies with centuries of experience and more magical power than most unicorns. Let's imagine earth is a mess, but not to the point where ponyfication is the only obvious path to survival -- and other factions are still pursuing their own future visions. Let's imagine there has always been magic on Earth, but humans (lacking unicorn horns) have always been lousy at tapping into it.
I think it could work. Everything would be less one-sided, at least. Unfortunately, the last thing I need is another big writing project stacked on my plate.
142832
I've had many similar ideas, but I'm really bad at writing and making a big story based in that alter-CB ~verse is an effort that's beyond me. If you or anyone else have an inclination to try, here's some of my crazy ideas of how the Conversion Bureau thing would happen: Since ancient times, the greatest scholars of Ponykind have strived to create a means of turning the outward Harmony shared by all Ponies (a unique magical force of monumental power) inward, which would create a healing spell that worked off of Ponieness itself, such that entire limbs could be re-grown and even genetic disabilities could be cured. It has always been utterly impossible, until the ancient gate of Stonehenge is re-opened. At the Stonehenge Conference, a meeting of minds attempting to understand the two universes and the impossible, near-incomprehensible bridge between them (cue crazy scientists salivating) a discovery is made: The Human's plasma-nano forges, combined with the most advanced Equestrian magi-tech, (techno-babble ahoy!) are capable of synthesizing a compound that can be charged with the power of Harmony and then release it into flesh. The rapidly-created serum actually works, undoing birth deformities, curing blindness, reviving crippled limbs. All who partake of the serum are completely healthy Ponies afterwards. A true miracle, a cure for the very worst of bodily harm. Everything but age and stupidity can be healed by the potion (thought the worse problems do need some doctoring.) The problem though, is not that this only works for ponies. It's perfectly capable of helping all, but to be healed is to become a Pony forever. Drama, naturally, ensues.
Yet again, here I am with ideas and no execution. Hopefully someone gets better ones from reading mine. Anyways, besides the big health-thing, this setting could easily have crazies after the Philosopher's stone, relations with other species besides just Ponies and Humans, intrusions of Cuthulu, and super-ancient Human artifacts of broken power being rediscovered and remade by the usual crowd of power-crazy beings.
I might post this on the Ponychan thread later if anyone think I should.
Hands down favorite chapter so far. The whole "humans have no souls" thing seemed contentious in the comments, but I loved it, myself. Also, I loved John as a character. Seeing someone who is very human in terms of self interest, but not an evil, malicious bastard is a pleasant change from 99% of the stories here. Although you only introduced him this chapter and probably won't have much use for him in future chapters, you managed to make him a complex, interesting character.
Nice job with this one. Can't wait to see how you end it.
142602 koth_viaduct, to be specific.
img.ponibooru.org/images/f1/f194f57ac411799acd02bbb94e097715
I HAD TO
Every time I think I begin to understand the mechanics of Chatoyance's universe, he throws a curveball that destroy's my previous preconceptions that I had built up.
Adding John Morris was a stroke of genius, I imagined you'd throw him in at some point, he's too good a character not to use. Krass's excellent depiction of John was brilliant, the fact he didn't have to use his A.I'S and simply wrangled answers out of Celestia was brilliant. I imagine wiping John's memory would be pointless as his house's A.I. is likely recording everything too. John just comes off as that kind of guy, he's got plans upon plans .
The whole Human's have no souls since they're composed of magic is... deep. Do other Equestrian lifeforms have souls? Like Griffins? They can walk on clouds so I imagine they do, probably all together as a great flock, and Dragons eat Gems and breathe fire that can send letters so they've got souls too.
I think a better way to go with the souls would've been to have them lingering on Earth, unable to interact with the world around them. Fighting and bickering with one another. No heaven, hell or respite. And worse is that over time they go mad, over the fact they're dead, some grow angry and powerful and become poltergeists. But most merely fade away depressed. Then you've got the dome which has souls flocking to it, before Lillians eyes she would see a great exodus of spirits making their way to what she'd assume was Equestria. Of course that's just an idea I have partly inspired by Anne Rices work.
142580
Don't apologize for long chapters, I love long chapters. Its a real shame that a lot of my favorite stories always seem to have such short installments, so its nice to see a great big chunky chapter.
It's long comments time! Let me think of something... Uhm ... No ... That won't ... But maybe ...
Great story!
142602
Why not a chicken?
Wow. Out of the DB stories, this is without a doubt the deepest and most enthralling one. Each of Lilian's revelation were a feast to the mind, and this one makes no exception; and while I don't share the "humans have no souls" visions, it wedges perfectly inside the scenario you have created of the birth of order from Chaos, and the nature of magic. It truly is a wondrous picture you have painted.
Gotta say, I LOVED John in this chapter, he's a human that's actually human in his drives, methods, and also cockyness :p Plus a magnificent Lilian as always!
Also, if you wanna know why it's so easy guessing the ending to this tale, it's mostly because of the protagonist's colors: it's too immediate to think of Ditzy by looking at her, and that is precisely the reason why OCs avoid already-used color schemes like the plague. It has nothing to do with your writing (which has been excellent so far, maybe except for the part where she was hosted by the PER guy, I was getting a little bored by the lack of plot advancement)
Cannot wait for the grand finale! ^^ Let the MAGICKS happen!
Okay, I think I can post something more coherent now.
Regarding souls, this was essentially what I was expecting. I think I posted earlier in this story about how a pony soul was being created during conversion. How did I come to this conclusion? It seems to be to be pretty self evident in the way Equestrian magic works.
On Earth, anyone who has studied science will see a trend of increasing reductionism. The more we learn about something, the more we can reduce the axioms we have to assume as true. Everything can be broken down into a mathematical result of some very basic rules and some random starting conditions. Many phenomena, like consciousness, will some day be fully understood as the emergent result of some basic computational mechanism the brain uses. The form of things in this world emerges from the functioning of basic rules applied universally.
In Equestria, however, form defines function. Magic makes things conform to will. Matter reshapes itself to match the idea you have for how it should be. To me this is the fundamental difference between magic and physics, the influence of form and will. A universe like this can support the existence of form separate from a given arrangement of matter, and that's what a soul is. A self that is above and beyond your material composition.
Why would I expect Earth to not have the same magical souls that Equestria can support? Because we have no evidence of magic. We never see form or will changing anything. In Equestria, magic is observable. You can see and test it. You can have a science of magic. It makes perfect sense for Equestria to have souls and Earth to not have souls.
138111
you my good lady really do know your Lovecraftian horror
just read 1-10. awesome story throygh and through. it always sucks when youve beem reading so lond and story ends. this story is in my personal top 10-20, probable 10.
MOTHER BUCKER GET MORE STORY AND GOD DAMN FAST um...if it is alright with you
142889
I think people get hot and bothered over story-content and equate that with "author is now lecturing me". The two can sometimes be the same thing, but it's not a valid complaint that "the story world does not line up with my own vision of my real world". If Chatoyance did it like Ayn Rand... ugh. Rand has her characters just more or less call a time out and preach to the reader for five or six pages on exactly why their "personal" philosophies are so great right in the middle of an important scene.
142580
Thank you for the look into your process Chatoyance. I do relish the fact that you think things though so completely - it adds a lot of depth to your stories.
While I'm here, I just wanted to say that the fact you wrote a story longer than my own, which took about 8 months to complete, in ten days is insane. Especially given the quality. I also find it quite embarrasing.
But good on you, I do not know another author who can pull off such a stunt.
Lillian's revaluation about the nature of existence in our universe seems to have hit a lot of people much more than it hit me. I'm already an atheist, so simply being a self-aware biological robot of sorts is something I've already thought plenty about. Unlike Lillian, I find the mechanical nature of existence fascinating. The fact that simple chemical compounds can; without the aid of supernatural beings, magic ponies, or giant space gods; take such complex forms is the closest we'll get to magic in our universe. As Carl Sagan said, “The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together.” Even magic ponies don't really compare to such complexities as sentient life arising from amino acids. In Lilian's place, I'd probably quickly distract myself watching radioactive compounds decay and marveling over how close (or far) people came to understanding the functioning of the universe.
This is Azure's home, and he is my business partner. He stays." <- Orphaned quote.
Well, I'm a little bit... completely lost. Who is this Norris guy and why does he have an impenetrable plastic ass? Celestia and Luna aren't seriously at a brothel while the worlds are at stake, are they? And if so, what is the guy's son doing there?
And this is when I decided I don't like John Norris. If you think you can do something amazing but you don't even try... I'm not a fan of yours.
Brilliant chapter, don't really know what else I can say about it. John is one crafty dude.
The timeline works only in a TimeyWimeyWay, so I suspect Doctor Whooves will enter this story. I suspect that Doctor Whooves will play a part in this story, bring about much of what we seen so far and Doctor Whooves and Ditzy Doo will move to Ponyville someteen years before Friendship Is Magic Part # 1 and have 2 daughters named AmethystStar and Dinky Doo by the end of this story.
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Good to see authors point out other stories to read.