Corrupted Roots

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"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." -Friedrich Nietzsche

A brief fable about a child who walks a journey that none should travel, a journey that all must face eventually: the journey to face reality.

Interpret it however you like.

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Scribblestick

Scribblestick #1 · Mar 28th, 2013 · 1 · ·

Well, guess I'll be puzzling over this for a while.

Fluttershyfan94

Fluttershyfan94 #2 · Mar 30th, 2013 · · 1 ·

This was an awesome chapter, can't wait to read more of it...

Sky Warden

Sky Warden #3 · Mar 30th, 2013 · 1 · ·

Dead spirit, barbarian kings, monsters, the attack and the last two sentences. I think I get what you mean Night Shine. Even if my assumption is correct, you don't have to apologise for that, but maybe I get it wrong 'eh?

Beautiful language indeed. I did learn many new usages of methapors and figurative language. Thank you. Though I found some parts where you separated your paragraphs in a... actually there are better parts to cut them in. Overall, splendid.

Fimbulvinter

Fimbulvinter #4 · Mar 30th, 2013 · · ·

My guess would be that in order to survive, the ponies have had to sacrifice everything that made them ponies to begin with.
In that case, have they really survived?

Comment posted by Night_Shine deleted Jun 30th, 2013

Night_Shine

Night_Shine #6 · Jun 14th, 2014 · · ·

2346522 2334351 2343952 2344015

It's far past time that I confess what this story really means. Don't let the "interpret it however you like" fool you; I knew exactly what I was saying.

How did those bronies survive in the company of such monsters?
They were the monsters.

Before summer of 2013, I believed bronies to be the morally purest community on Earth. However, I knew full well what 4chan's reputation was. So when I heard from Saberspark's Ballad of the Brony that Bronies came from 4chan, I naturally assumed that they had risen from its dark depths to become something greater:

Several years ago, the brony fandom emerged from the depths of all other Internet fandoms, harkening a new era of harmony and of civilization to the untamed Internet. All of the other people fought and tried to suppress them, resisting the bringers of harmony, driving some of the bronies to give into their temptations and make [flame] war with the beasts of the wild lands, turning their back on the highest ideals of bronykind: peace and harmony. However almost all of the bronies refused to give in, protecting their lands from the monsters and beasts with their love and tolerance while not inflicting any damage in return.
All of that changed, however, when the moderators of 4chan had enough of the fighting and banished the bronies from their home. Instead of despairing over this loss, though, the bronies took heart and discovered a new land, spreading out into the unclaimed wilderness and taming it, eventually uniting under one banner: the Brony fandom.
As the bronies grew in number and in strength, eventually the moderators relented and allowed the bronies back into 4chan. Although nearly all of the bronies stayed in their new homes in other places on the Internet, many returned to the 4chan and still live there today...

And yet, I was curious why some bronies had returned there...

"That's it?" I asked. "But...what happened to the bronies who moved back to 4chan? What are they like? Are they any different from everypony else in the fandom? Do they get along with the other 4channers and the moderators?"

...especially given 4chan's reputation:

Nopony alive that had ever ventured back to 4chan would dare to speak of it, only attesting to the apparent horrors that could be found there.

But I realized, somewhere deep down, that bronies are just as insufferably evil as every other group of humans. All it took was something to prove it. I predicted that, if I would ever go on 4chan, I would lose my faith in the "Brony Ideal." That never actually came to pass...instead of killing off my faith in Bronies with one swift stroke, I simply let that faith die over years of disillusionment and cruel wisdom. Still, either way, the outcome was inevitably the same: surrender to depression.

Countless thoughts chased themselves in circles inside his mind, coursing like a deadly venom through his veins, poisoning his soul.

I had previously used a combination of MLP-based idealism and sleep deprivation to alleviate depressive symptoms. That no longer works due to the fact that I took the blinders off. It's kind of funny how much the truth can hurt.

Does the author's note make more sense now?

If you have read this story to its end, I want to sincerely apologize to you. What began as a very specific social commentary that I don't have the audacity nor the cruelty to directly say evolved into a cautionary tale teaching a lesson that I of all people hate with a fiery passion. The one and only reason I published this was because I consider this one of my best-written works of prose yet. If you DO figure out what the extended metaphor behind this story is, please forgive me [for calling you an irredeemable monster].

I'm really sorry if you don't care or otherwise didn't want to know, but I've been keeping the story's true meaning a secret for over a year and it still makes me uncomfortable.

Fimbulvinter

Fimbulvinter #7 · Jun 15th, 2014 · · ·

4547381 Never been to 4chan, and don't intend to start.

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