Tea and History
Princess Cadence walked through a large set of doors with Midnight on her back. As they walked in, they were greeted by several of Princess Luna’s Royal Guard who stood at attention. As Cadence looked around, she began to wonder if bringing only Midnight with her was such a good idea. Right now she was completely drained of her magic due to the teleportation spell she used to bring the two to the moon. Also, she had left her newly formed guard back in Canterlot to continue their training. If anything should go wrong then the two of them would be defenseless.
On the other side of the room, sat Luna on her throne. Standing before her was a brown earth pony with a white mane whose left foreleg looked like it was made of metal. The guards motioned to Cadence that she should stop.
“Your petition is… interesting to say the least,” said Luna. “But I have a great many concerns, Dr. Robotics.”
“There is no need for concern,” said Dr. Robotics in an elderly voice. “What I am suggesting would allow ponies to live almost indefinably.”
“By removing their brains and placing them inside the body of a machine,” said Luna in a short tone. “Some may find that unsettling to say the least.”
“But think about it,” said Dr. Robotics in an urgent tone. “If we did this, nopony would ever have to experience neither the pain of loss nor fear of death. You would never have to watch your subjects grow old and die. There would be no need for food or water. We could explore the universe ourselves!”
Luna closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before speaking again. “I take it you brought this to either the director or assistant director of the Science and Research Department?”
Robotics let out a cough. “Yes I did,” he replied. “I took it to Twilight Sparkle who looked at it for a moment before flat out denying me. She was worried about this like how we would have families and other such useless things like the emotion suppression chip. I tried to explain to her how important it was, but she just didn’t seem to understand. Then I went to the director, only to have Bunsen Burner agree with her. That’s why I’m here. The only pony that can override their short sighted opinion is you!”
Luna shook her head sadly. “I must agree with her on this,” said Luna firmly. Dr. Robotics opened his mouth to speak, but Luna silenced him by holding up a single hoof. “I am sorry, but the idea of trapping one of my little ponies in on of these mechanical shells while stripping them of their emotions is a sickening thought. There would be no point in living without emotions.”
“But Princess,” began Dr. Robotics before he had a couching fit. As she watched, Cadence noticed that the poor stallion was coughing up blood. Once it was over he wiped his mouth clean and began to speak once more. “We have cybernetic limbs like legs and wings for when we lose one of them. When our bodies fail, shouldn’t we discard them for something that would last longer?”
“I am sorry, but I have made my decision,” said Luna firmly.
“Princess Luna!” shouted Dr. Robotics causing all the guards to reach for their weapons. “I need this! I am dying! By refusing to help me with my research you will be sentencing me to death!”
“No,” said the moon princess. “I am sentencing you to live out the rest of your life like any other pony in the Republic. Now, please return to your home and do not continue this research.” Dr. Robotics did not say a word nor did he bow. Instead he turned him back and left in a fury. As he left, Princess Luna let out a sigh. She knew that he was afraid and would probably do everything in his power to stay alive, even something illegal. That was why, before this little meeting of theirs, she had ordered the LBI to raid his office and home. They were to seize all his research as well as locate any evidence that he had attempted to do this to another pony. If he had then he would be placed under arrest as soon as he got home. If he hadn’t, the LBI would continue to keep an eye on him for the rest of his life.
“Announcing Princess Cadence and her daughter Princess Midnight Blossom,” shouted a guard. Looking up, Luna noticed the pink princess carrying her adopted daughter on her back.
“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” said Cadence as she did her best to forget about what she had just heard. She didn’t understand what a machine was really, but she did understand the part of a device that could surpass emotions. The idea made her feel sick to her stomach. However, since Princess Luna had denied his request she figured that it was best just to move on for now.
“It’s not a problem,” said Luna as she walked over to the two. She then peaked at Midnight who had been doing her best to remain unseen. “Hello there little one.”
“H-Hi,” replied Midnight.
“Still nervous around other ponies I see,” said Luna. “Well maybe when Shining Armor gets here that will change.” At the mention of the stallions name Cadence did her best to hide her blush while Midnight began to jump on her mothers back.
“Mr. Shiny is here?!” she exclaimed happily.
“He is,” said Luna with a laugh. “In fact, he’s going to be your guide while you two go to check out Twilight’s home.” Luna then looked at a nearby clock and nodded. “But it will still be some time before he gets here since I wasn’t expecting you until later tonight.”
“Sorry about that,” said Cadence as Luna motioned her to follow her. The two princesses walked out of the throne room into a move cozy sitting chamber. The room was filled with book and what looked like a fireplace. What Cadence didn’t know was that it was a holographic fire mixed with a heater. On the ground were several sitting cushions as well as a table full of snacks. “It’s just that I wanted to get her before you went to sleep. I guess I made the assumption that you slept during the day.”
Luna let out a laugh as she used her magic to give her two guests some cookies and tea. “I guess I can see why you would think that. To be honest, it’s only during the winter months that we are awake during the night. When we first arrived here on the moon many of my ponies believed that we should truly become night dwelling ponies. This lasted for a very short amount of time however.”
“Why’s that?” asked Cadence.
Luna sighed. “Not enough hours in the night to get anything done during the summer. And think about this, one of the reasons my ponies like to stay up was to appreciate the nights I created. Here on the moon we see the stars all the time. So we decided we would be up during the time that had the most hours so we could get more work done.” Luna paused for a moment to take a sip of her tea. “Now then, what is it you want?”
Cadence, who had also been sipping her tea, to an epic level spit take. “W-What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
Luna smiled. “Cadence, have you forgotten who my sister is? She has used much more elaborate schemes in order to get the desired results. You, thankfully, are a bit less skilled in that department.”
“I guess I was being a bit obvious,” admitted Cadence with a slight grin. “Well you are right, I do need something from you. You see, after you shot auntie out of a canon she gave me the task of trying to get Equestria to accept bat ponies. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I still have to do everything in my power. Then I received a letter stating that two of your ponies might have taken a filly named Scootaloo. As I read the letter, I realized that there was one place that had bat ponies that were treated like any other pony out there: the Lunar Republic.”
Slowly, Luna set down her tea cup. “I see,” she said slowly. “I’m sorry but I really can’t help you.”
“B-But why not?” stammered Cadence.
“Because it was more of the situation that helped matters,” said Luna. “Back when I still lived in Equestria, many ponies feared and down right hated bat ponies even from those that preferred me over my sister. True there were some that were willing to give them a chance seeing that most of them belonged to my personal guard, but they were in the minority. Then, when we all left Equestria, my ponies were placed in difficult situation. In order to keep my little ponies alive I needed to create a small dome using my magic until they could make one using the materials we brought with us. This forced the earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, and bat ponies to all work together thus making them realize that while their appearances may vary it was what they had in common that mattered. They were all creating a new nation in order to get a fresh start.”
“So they decided to get rid of old hatreds,” finished Cadence.
“So to speak,” said Luna. “It didn’t happen over night and even after the first Dome was finished there were still those who clung to the old ways. Luckily they were now in the minority. Over time those feeling vanished.”
“So that’s how it happened,” said a disappointed Cadence. “I doubt I will get a situation like that.”
“I won’t lie to you,” said Luna sternly. “You have a lot of work ahead of you. It will take a lot of time and work. But, perhaps we can work something out.” Cadence raised an eyebrow as Luna took a bite out of a cookie. “Now I realize this might hurt your efforts of cooperation, but maybe we could put in place a system that would allow bat ponies the option of leaving Equestria.”
“I think that might completely undermine it,” said Cadence. “We need the ponies of Equestria to get over these stupid lies and make them see that bat ponies are no different from any other pony. That won’t happen if they all leave.”
“Perhaps your right,” said Luna. “But, if things look like they are getting worse or something feel free to send me a letter so we can work something out.” She then gave Cadence a very conforting smile. “Well, now that that’s settled, why don’t we have a nice friendly chat while we wait for Shining Armor?”
-x-
Meanwhile, over at that home of Twilight Sparkle, the entire household was busy. Shadow Blade was busy in the kitchen making everypony their dinner. While he did this, Twilight was giving Scootaloo a history lesson.
When Scootaloo first heard that they were going to be studying history, she thought they were just going to be talking about the stuff that happened on the moon. She quickly learned that she was very, very wrong. It seemed that the Lunar ponies seemed to consider events that happened in the pre-Equestria period as part of their history. Or maybe it was because Twilight was her tutor and was pounding as much information as she could into the filly’s head. Regardless, Scootaloo did her best to pay attention and ask questions when she didn’t understand something.
“Now when the three tribes finally came together, their main problem became how they would rule. Each tribe had come from a different type of government that placed high importance on different values. The unicorns came from a feudal system where their royalty were born into power. The feudal lords and ladies were given could do pretty much whatever they wanted in their fief as long as they didn’t break any of the kings laws and paid their taxes. Also, they were the first group of ponies to create a system of higher learning as well as fund groups that studied magic. The pegasi came from a militaristic government where the highest ranking officer was in charge. They believed in strict discipline and that every problem had a military solution. Finally, the earth ponies had a form of democracy were they voted amongst themselves who would be in charge. Sometimes this worked and they got ponies who took the job with the upmost seriousness. Other times, however, ponies who were simply the most likeable or funny got the job while having no clue as to what they were doing.
“In order to solve this problem, the leaders of the three tribes came together and formed a council. They believed that they could easily work together in order to solve any problem that came their way. They quickly found out that they were sadly mistaken. One of the first decisions that they made was land distribution. They discussed the issue for a total of fourteen days before deciding that the majority of the land would go to the earth ponies to be used for farmland. The unicorns would get the rest while the pegasi would go to create their own cities in the clouds. This did not go over so well with the pegasi and unicorns.”
“Why not?” asked Scootaloo. “I mean, it makes sense for the earth ponies to have more land.”
“Well, let’s look at it from their point of view,” said Twilight. “The unicorns were used to grandeur, the best of the best. They had given up their large estates in the hopes of getting newer and larger ones. Now they were being told that they had to settle with something smaller and more reasonable. Also some unicorns and pegasi wanted farm land of their own.”
“But I thought that all the farmers at that time were earth ponies,” said a confused filly. “Why would they want to do something they had never done before?”
“Well that has more to do with some of the other changes,” answered Twilight who was very happy at how involved Scootaloo was being. “Instead of trading bartering, the newly formed council believed that they needed a currency. That way the earth ponies would no longer be under the yoke of the other two tribes. Now, when this was announced many earth ponies believed that they would be able to live the good live. They could farm their land and make a fortune so that they could live like the unicorns did. But there were some unicorns and pegasi that thought the same thing. The unicorns believed that they could use their magic to make the crops grow faster as well as larger. The pegasi believed that they could control the weather and make sure that their crops always had plenty of sunshine and water.
“The idea of currency also created more problems. Like, how much should a pegasus get for moving the clouds? How much should the unicorns get for raising and lowering the sun and moon? Every decision that the council made was met with complaints and ponies pointing out why it wasn’t fair. Some say that the other two tribes out voted the representative from their tribe. Others claimed that it wasn’t fair that some ponies got stuck in roles they no longer wanted to do.
“Finally, after a year of nothing getting down, the three leaders looked to Clover the Clever, Private Pansy, and Smart Cookie for help. The three put their heads together and came to the realization that they needed one leader, a pony that could make objective decisions. So the three set out to look for a pony that wasn’t earth, unicorn, or pegasus. After traveling for two months the three found what they were looking for: an alicorn.
“His name was Molten Fury, the alicorn of the earth. It was his job to manage the flow of magma below the planets surface, keep volcanoes from erupting near villages, and so forth. They approached him, telling him of their situation, before asking him to be their king. Almost immediately he said no, that their problems were none of his concern. The three turned to leave when Molten Fury’s wife, Oceana, appeared. She had heard their plight and managed to convince her husband that they should help them at least for a little while.
“Their return to Equestria couldn’t of come at a better time. The unicorn nobles, who had grown tired of the council, had decided to stage a coup. These nobles where the laziest, most over privileged of their tribe. But, they had under their command a group called the Celestial Horns who were the ninety unicorns who moved the sun and the moon. Using them, the nobles threatened that unless the other tribes bowed before them they would shroud Equestria in complete darkness.”
“But didn’t they learn their lesson from the windigos?” asked Scootaloo.
“This wasn’t about hatred,” said Twilight simply. “Power was their soul motivation. Also, they felt safe since they had Clover the Clever’s spell. They felt so confident that they ordered Molten Fury to bow before them saying that he had no power over him. This was somewhat true since both Molten Fury and Oceana knew that they were unable to move either the sun or moon. It just wasn’t within their power. But, Molten Fury spoke with the Celestial Horns and made a deal with them. If they swore their allegiance to him and his wife then they would make them the new noble class. The Celestial Horns quickly agreed and the previous noble were thrown on their plots.
“For the next several years, King Molten Fury and Queen Oceana ruled over Equestria while forming its foundation. But, the two rulers knew that soon they would have to leave. But they feared that, if they left, the nobles might true to take over like before. As luck would have it, Oceana eventually gave birth to a filly whose special talent would allow her to move the sun all by herself. Molten Fury believed that his daughter would be the one who would one day take the thrown. Some time later, another princess was born who would eventually learn that she could move the moon. Queen Oceana spoke with her husband to make them co-rulers. Reluctantly, the king agreed.
“Now, knowing all of this is important for knowing about the Republic. When our nation was created, Princess Luna took aspects of the original three tribes. Like allowing ponies to vote on its representatives, stressing the importance of the pursuit knowledge, and a strict system. But, as the Republic was being made Princess Luna feared the whole thing might fail apart. She knew that her own greatest weakness was her short fuse. So to make sure she didn’t do something drastic in a fit of rage she gave up several of her powers to the senate. One power was to declare war. If Princess Luna ever wanted to attack another nation, she would have to go before the Senate and ask that they vote on the issue. The vote must be unanimous. Another power was the death penalty.”
“Has anypony every received the death penalty?” asked Scootaloo. As soon as she finished asking, Shadow stopped in the middle of setting the table and Twilight looked uneasy. It was clear to the filly that they were uncomfortable talking about this. Scootaloo was about to say never mind when Shadow walked in between the two.
“I’ll handle this,” he said. Twilight bit her upper lip, but nodded just the same. A moment later she walked into the kitchen.
“Before I tell you this, I want to make one thing clear,” began Shadow. “Not many ponies like to talk about this. Most of us consider this pony to be a monster and our greatest shame.” With that Shadow took a deep breath. “His name was Genetic Code, former researcher and Prized Student of Princess Luna.” Scootaloo’s eyes widened at that. She remembered the smashed statue at the school and the words written under it. Now she was going to find out what he did that caused such hate.
“Genetic Code was, at one point, one of the most respected ponies in the Republic. He had over come what some consider a huge handicap since he was born with crossbreed syndrome.” Shadow paused so that Scootaloo could take a moment to realize what he meant. Genetic Code was like she had been, born with both wings and a horn but unable to use either. “Now Genetic wanted to understand his condition. He studied like mad to come up with some kind of answer. It was this that caught the attention of Princess Luna and helped her pick him to be her next Prized Student. From what she could tell he had only one major flaw: Genetic hated to be reminded of his failures. In fact, he would go out of his way to destroy anything that turned out a failure.
“As time passed, Genetic became the top scientist in the Department of Science and Research. His field of expertise was genetics. For years he studied his own DNA and worked on a way to change himself into either a full unicorn or pegasus. Eventually he succeed, creating the method that we used to cure you.
“When he went to turn in his findings to the princess, he was stuck by a thought. Why couldn’t he become an alicorn? He had the wings and horn, so why couldn’t he find a way a use them both. After much thought he came to the theory that it was because he didn’t have any earth pony DNA. Without the strength or stamina that earth ponies are born with, his body would be too weak to use his wings or horn.
“After this realization, Genetic went before the princess with a proposal to see if this was true. Genetic wanted to use magic to influence unborn foals so that they would have the traits of the three tribes. Princess Luna was, at first, completely against this. However Genetic was persistent. He promised he would follow the book and find parent willing to volunteer. In the end, Princess Luna gave him her approval.
“About a year later, the twelve mothers who had volunteered gave birth. Each one of the foals had been modified to include earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn. Genetic Code had promised them that their foals would be returned safely. Then, once the tests were finished, there would be a way to change them back into normal ponies. So the parents left their newly born foals with a well trusted pony, not knowing the horrors that were about to happen.
“Genetic Code went right to work with his research. He tested their magic reserves, wing strength, and hoof power. Only three seemed to be able to use their magic and fly, but not to the same degree that a normal foal could. The others seemed to lack anything special. Seeing this as a complete failure, Genetic did the most unthinkable thing imaginable: he ejected them into the vacuum of space to get rid of them.”
Scootaloo couldn’t hide the horror on face if she even tried. How could anypony kill a foal, let alone twelve? Why did he feel he had to do this?
“The bodies were found quickly,” continued Shadow as he closed his eyes tightly. “Guards came to his lab, demanding that he come with him. He refused saying he had to make up for his last failed experiment. He was then forced out and brought before the Senate where he acted like he did nothing wrong. He didn’t even call them foals! To him, they were just failed lab experiments that needed to be tossed out with the trash. As the trial went on, the Senate found out that he had done experiments to the foals to see if they were immortal like injecting acid into ones veins.
“This broke Princess Luna’s heart in a way no pony could ever imagine. To see her own student commit such a crime and feel no guilt was bad enough. But she was the one who had given him the go ahead because she trusted him. She was responsible for the foals suffering and death. She was responsible for the parents pains. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at him as the Senate ordered his death. He died three days later, killed in the same manner as those poor foals.”
Scootaloo nearly jumped out of her seat when she felt a hoof touch her shoulder. Turning around she saw Twilight, who looked like she was fighting back tears. Forcing herself to smile, the mare told her that it was time to eat. They could move onto a different subject after dinner.
Stats
Page generated in 0.053 seconds
Total duration
819 users online
1,274,962 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I didn't know Cadence was a dude.
Ha, Cadance isn't subtle... Luna thinks. Distract with one goal, she can see. Spot the second goal, she can do that. She just doesn't realize that neither of these are Cadance's ultimate goal.
Wow nice chapter. I am geared up to see what is going to happen next.
Though I should say Cadence is a better manipulate the Celestia because she use is both emotions and logic.
Man Genetic Code was bad, now I see why people hated him!
Well good luck and best wish for the next chapter.
Except the brain will be still organical, and such with a limited lifespan.
If you want to "live" as a brain jar in a cold, heartless mechanical body, go ahead. It´s your life. Just leave the rest.
Great chapter. Wow so that's the story behind Genetic Code.
was there a spell on conversion magic? to say switch from unicorn magic to pegasus magic or to earth magic at will
And finally! FINALLY we hear of Genetic Code.
And what a bastard he was. You certainly didn't disappoint with him.
~Skeeter The Lurker
I like this story, but there are some things you may want to fix.
That should be "suppress".
That should be "cannon".
That should be "king's". Also, I found something that may be a problem.
That should be "life". Also, because I'm not an expert on this I must ask, how could the feudal lords and ladies pay taxes if they didn't have currency?
I'm pretty sure that should be "done" instead of "down".
That should be "throne".
And I'm pretty sure that should be "one's". I look forward to the next chapter.
Honestly I was somewhat disappointed that Genetic Code didn't die attempting to escape his sentencing. You know, by taking his prototype serum to make him an alicorn.
I felt bad for Mr. Robotics too seeing as he's been practically sentenced to death. I hope he causes a bit of chaos in the NLR which is seeming more and more like a villainous state.
Not to mention the NLR is more of Constitutional Monarchy with a bulkier Congress.
Mane 6 Comments:
I forsee cyber ponies, yay for the doctor who refrenced
3185634
I was asked for a Dr. Who referance
That was a well played idea for Genetic Code. And you're right about Sunset, the only other villain who came close to being like her would be either Chrysalis or Sombra. I say Chrysalis due to her sneaking in, replacing Cadence, and pretty much fooling everyone. And I say Sombra because of he not only blocked the memories of all the Crystal Ponies but his traps as well. The never ending staircase and the Door of Fears.
When reading the end Enchanted Banquet from Castlevania SOTN came on my phone XD wow the music there really fit the mood.
With Dr. Robotics- I kept hearing him not as a Dr. Who Cyberman..but as Dr Robotnik from the Sonic series. XD.
"I can make machines better than ponies! Please Princess, let me make ponies able to handle surviving in space! My own body surviving! I just need the funds..then I can do it to everypony!"
I get I got that wrong of course but still..both had to be geniuses of robotics for cybernetics..and in the SatAM storyline...he WAS a heavy cybernetic..
Delete, delete, del- cough cough. Sorry bout that.
You know, if it weren't for that emotion repression chip, (Why dear god did that seem like a good Idea to him?) he might have actually gotten something.
3188627
It's from Dr. Who
3189545
Doctor Who!
3189545 Ohhhhhh I was thinking more along the Lines of Ghost in the Shell.
Holy crap, Dr. Robotnik!
The end I cried.
this story is.....FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEXT!!!!!
(sorry for my english)
3188627
The suppresion chip was designed by Lumic so the human could endure the emotional trauma of being dissected alive and turned into a toastman.
Remember how the cybermen reacted when the Doctor nullified the chips?
Are...Are we going to see cyberponies?
Holy fudge face!!!!!!!!!! Cyberponies!!!!!!!!!
Delete!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!! I'M TO YOUNG TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...You didn't...
...YOU AREN'T...
HOLYSHITCYBERMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5087984 We are the Borg. Resistance is futile.
Just a heads up - in the convo with dr robotics, you swapped Cadence in for Luna
Placing a ponies mind in a robot? Sounds like a certain genetic lifeform and disk operation system I know.
5849307 It sounds more like Cybermen to me with the emotional suppression chip and the dying inventor.
6075302
I was thinking the same thing!
6075302 its the same as the 10'th doctor story where in a alternate reality they were in a person that was in that reality created something to keep him alive after his failing body failed. that same kind of person did make the cybermen and he himself became a cyber-controller after forcibly converting people through Bluetooth headsets.
episode details here: http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Rise_of_the_Cybermen_%28TV_story%29 , http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Age_of_Steel_%28TV_story%29
"Optional immortality for everyone? Screw that, the method makes me uncomfortable, so y'alls can just go die with the rest of the plebs. Immortality is princess-only."
"Unthinkable" is right, because that's just so ludicrously, laughably pointless evil that he clearly can't have thought about for even a second before doing it. That just makes that whole story snippet sound completely absurd and ridiculous.
Why do I get a feeling that genetic code is gonna be the secret villain in all this?
return to Equestria couldn’t of
couldn't have
soul motivation
take the thrown
6750677 If it was JUST living out in Robot Bodies Luna MIGHT consider it. The whole point of why she did NOT was due to Emotion Limiting/Negation. If you took that out, then the Robot Ponies could end up doing some messed up stuff due to lacking empathy.
Also, there are PLENTY of people that evil in the world. Look at Nesle where they say that having Drinkable Water is NOT a right. Some guys did a fake conference about a calculator that would give Corps an easy "Death, Pain, Suffering, etc. to Profit" calculator, and the Corp people were INTERESTED!
Hell look at McDonalds as a FANTASTIC example:
They KNEW that their coffee was too hot. OVER 500 people had been burned and they did nothing. An old lady got burned bad enough by her coffee and stuff that she required SKIN GRAFTS and MULTIPLE SURGERIES. So she asks McDonalds to pay her Medical bills. They refuse. So she goes to take them to court and offers to settle, then they STILL refuse.
Hell the Nazis performed terrible inhumane experiments on people to advance Medicine. They let people die of STDs, even after they had the cure. They let people die of frost bite for Medical purposes. It was so bad that Governments thought about burning the research, but it was decided that it was too valuable.
Hell one guy used children as prostitutes to blackmail US Government Officials for more money.
So before you say this kind of behavior is fake, you need to take a closer look at human history.
Heh heh. I see that doctor who reference...
6750677
He wanted to turn everyone into Cybermen...Just watch any Doctor Who episode...It never ends well.
Oh come on!
See, this is exactly the issue throughout the story! Luna supposedly has this flaw of her temper being very short. But then you write that she knew this and put mechanisms into play to work around it right away, compared to Celestia who sat around on her ass doing diddly-squat!
Well, I'll just assume most of the tale of Molten Fury, Oceana, and the nobles is Republic propaganda. Makes it a little more balanced.
8597173
The world and life are not balanced.
8777671
This is not our world.
This world-setting has actually been rather enjoyable to experience so far
3185066
Statistically longer life (since most people don't die of a brain problem), but yes.
As for the body... people will go through some VERY nasty things to live. Even within medicine you have amputations and chemotherapy.
A mind and soul are a person. A body is a means for that person to experience and act upon the physical world. Artificial limbs are inferior for their lack of ability, not for their materials per se. This is a prosthetic for the whole body. I see no reason to deny the technology on that basis.
...Or used your objections simply to the emotion-surpresion? I agree that is more problematic, especially for Ponies due to the probable link between emotion, magic, and morality. Even there, losing hormones or brain function are things that are reasonable costs for a patient to choose in order to extend their life.
In any case I am not saying that the procedure should be forced on anyone against there will, just that... well, see my response below.
3188627
The fact nobody questioned the necessity of just that part, rather than the whole thing indicates he had solid science, even if it wasn't explained to the readers.
That said I think Luna is "throwing the baby out with the bathwater". The ultimatum should have been, at most: "Given the precedent of Genetic Code, anyone access to this information will be closely monitored at all times... Perhaps even to the point of basically living in a very well equipped and comfortable prison to prevent them from sneaking the information out, or conducting experiments that are not approved and monitored. Find a good way to do this without the emotion-suppression chip, and these restrictions will be lifted. As for your condition... I might be persuaded to allow you to use yourself as a test case with said chip, but understand that I am firmly convinced it will render you into a very dangerous person you would be treated with all the caution of an incorrigible and dangerous criminal who bargained for prison instead of podding. Your new body will possess no means of locomotion until and unless you find a way to alter my mind on this issue. Probably by the discovery of a way to modify you to allow the removal of the chip. Similarly I will PERSONALLY review any other applications for this proceedure. Unfortunately we use those pods for a reason. Equestrian-style jails require far too many of our current situation. As such, I fear I will need to be extremely parsimonious with such approvals."
In Luna's defense I will say: "once burned, twice shy". Genetic Code was a monster and her student. Lots of impetus for her to over-react in the opposite direction.
I agree with the dying scientist that Luna would be responsible for his death... but along the lines of "bad decision" not anything close to "murder". To give some context: I actually wonder if the right of an individual to refuse life-extending medical treatment should be restricted in real life slightly more than it is. Understand, I consider many extreme hypotheticals.
The objection about a lack of foals though? That is simple to solve, although I don't blame the author for not realizing it. New Law: "Except in cases of life saving, no person shall be permitted to undergo brain transfer until the have had at least two children, and raised them to adulthood." ... and that is the most bureacracy-kludged and NEARLY the most ultra-cautious version. Options worth considering might include any or all of the following:
-Stallions may substitute sperm donation.
-Reducing the age required to "long enough to know if you want more foals..." Even if one takes the position that " one never knows" then when the mare of a couple hits menopause would do the job. This would also prevent impulsive youths from rushing into it. To go even further towards the younger sides one could say "until foals weened". That last would assume the artificial bodies would be capable of providing sufficiently tender care... I believe someone once created a device that could care for a baby's feeding, waste (no diaper, mechanism to remove waste). The baby's died for lack of.c>>3185066
Statistically longer life (since most people don't die of a brain problem), but yes.
As for the body... people will go through some VERY nasty things to live. Even within medicine you have amputations and chemotherapy.
A mind and soul are a person. A body is a means for that person to experience and act upon the physical world. Artificial limbs are inferior for their lack of ability, not for their materials per se. This is a prosthetic for the whole body. I see no reason to deny the technology on that basis.
...Or used your objections simply to the emotion-surpresion? I agree that is more problematic, especially for Ponies due to the probable link between emotion, magic, and morality. Even there, losing hormones or brain function are things that are reasonable costs for a patient to choose in order to extend their life.
In any case I am not saying that the procedure should be forced on anyone against there will, just that... well, see my response below.
3188627
The fact nobody questioned the necessity of just that part, rather than the whole thing indicates he had solid science, even if it wasn't explained to the readers.
That said I think Luna is "throwing the baby out with the bathwater". The ultimatum should have been, at most: "Given the precedent of Genetic Code, anyone access to this information will be closely monitored at all times... Perhaps even to the point of basically living in a very well equipped and comfortable prison to prevent them from sneaking the information out, or conducting experiments that are not approved and monitored. Find a good way to do this without the emotion-suppression chip, and these restrictions will be lifted. As for your condition... I might be persuaded to allow you to use yourself as a test case with said chip, but understand that I am firmly convinced it will render you into a very dangerous person you would be treated with all the caution of an incorrigible and dangerous criminal who bargained for prison instead of podding. Your new body will possess no means of locomotion until and unless you find a way to alter my mind on this issue. Probably by the discovery of a way to modify you to allow the removal of the chip. Similarly I will PERSONALLY review any other applications for this proceedure. Unfortunately we use those pods for a reason. Equestrian-style jails require far too many of our current situation. As such, I fear I will need to be extremely parsimonious with such approvals."
In Luna's defense I will say: "once burned, twice shy". Genetic Code was a monster and her student. Lots of impetus for her to over-react in the opposite direction.
I agree with the dying scientist that Luna would be responsible for his death... but along the lines of "bad decision" not anything close to "murder". To give some context: I actually wonder if the right of an individual to refuse life-extending medical treatment should be restricted in real life slightly more than it is. Understand, I consider many extreme hypotheticals.
The objection about a lack of foals though? That is simple to solve, although I don't blame the author for not realizing it. New Law: "Except in cases of life saving, no person shall be permitted to undergo brain transfer until the have had at least two children, and raised them to adulthood." ... and that is the most bureacracy-kludged and NEARLY the most ultra-cautious version. Options worth considering might include any or all of the following:
-Stallions may substitute sperm donation.
-Reducing the age required to "long enough to know if you want more foals..." Even if one takes the position that " one never knows" then when the mare of a couple hits menopause would do the job. This would also prevent impulsive youths from rushing into it. To go even further towards the younger sides one could say "until foals weened".
-To be even more careful and slow things down, require a medical verdict of "Not like to live more than 5 years with other treatments." in addition (or instead of?) the reproductive requirement. Which would mean most transformees would be the elderly. 3185066
Statistically longer life (since most people don't die of a brain problem), but yes.
As for the body... people will go through some VERY nasty things to live. Even within medicine you have amputations and chemotherapy.
A mind and soul are a person. A body is a means for that person to experience and act upon the physical world. Artificial limbs are inferior for their lack of ability, not for their materials per se. This is a prosthetic for the whole body. I see no reason to deny the technology on that basis.
...Or used your objections simply to the emotion-surpresion? I agree that is more problematic, especially for Ponies due to the probable link between emotion, magic, and morality. Even there, losing hormones or brain function are things that are reasonable costs for a patient to choose in order to extend their life.
In any case I am not saying that the procedure should be forced on anyone against there will, just that... well, see my response below.
3188627
The fact nobody questioned the necessity of just that part, rather than the whole thing indicates he had solid science, even if it wasn't explained to the readers.
That said I think Luna is "throwing the baby out with the bathwater". The ultimatum should have been, at most: "Given the precedent of Genetic Code, anyone access to this information will be closely monitored at all times... Perhaps even to the point of basically living in a very well equipped and comfortable prison to prevent them from sneaking the information out, or conducting experiments that are not approved and monitored. Find a good way to do this without the emotion-suppression chip, and these restrictions will be lifted. As for your condition... I might be persuaded to allow you to use yourself as a test case with said chip, but understand that I am firmly convinced it will render you into a very dangerous person you would be treated with all the caution of an incorrigible and dangerous criminal who bargained for prison instead of podding. Your new body will possess no means of locomotion until and unless you find a way to alter my mind on this issue. Probably by the discovery of a way to modify you to allow the removal of the chip. Similarly I will PERSONALLY review any other applications for this proceedure. Unfortunately we use those pods for a reason. Equestrian-style jails require far too many of our current situation. As such, I fear I will need to be extremely parsimonious with such approvals."
In Luna's defense I will say: "once burned, twice shy". Genetic Code was a monster and her student. Lots of impetus for her to over-react in the opposite direction.
I agree with the dying scientist that Luna would be responsible for his death... but along the lines of "bad decision" not anything close to "murder". To give some context: I actually wonder if the right of an individual to refuse life-extending medical treatment should be restricted in real life slightly more than it is. Understand, I consider many extreme hypotheticals.
The objection about a lack of foals though? That is simple to solve, although I don't blame the author for not realizing it. New Law: "Except in cases of life saving, no person shall be permitted to undergo brain transfer until the have had at least two children, and raised them to adulthood." ... and that is the most bureacracy-kludged and NEARLY the most ultra-cautious version. Options worth considering might include any or all of the following:
-Stallions may substitute sperm donation.
-Reducing the age required to "long enough to know if you want more foals..." Even if one takes the position that " one never knows" then when the mare of a couple hits menopause would do the job. This would also prevent impulsive youths from rushing into it. To go even further towards the younger sides one could say "until foals weened". This last one assumes the mechanical bodies are up to healthy child care (would explain more, but my tablet ate my first write-up of this part).
-To be even more careful and slow things down (for both individuals and the population as a whole), one could require a medical verdict of "Not like to live more than 5 years with other treatments." in addition (or instead of?) the reproductive requirement. Which would mean most transformees would be the elderly.
I think Dr Robot is a little confused over whether he wants to build a robotisiser, or a cyberpony. Neither is inherently bad, and Luna is being a bit of a plotface for denying him the opportunity to undergo the procedure himself.