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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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I think Lero got one daquairi away from having Nurse Redheart having to bilge pump him then chuck a couple stabilisation spells to make sure he got to the next day, even if he could no loger see the sunrise.
Theres a reason its called Liver Failiure.
Very strange seeing Pinkies ness wandering between freinds, but then again, this Is Pinkie we are talking about. How is she at making trips from tree to barn and back as if there was no intervening space and harvesting multiple trees at the same time?
Beware killer HoneyBees?
So how mad are they going to be when they find out it was Celestia who orchestrated all this?
6402235 Foaming at the mouth
I think the feelings Twilight expressed here demonstrate why equilibrium has been the biggest HINDRANCE in her search for a cure. It'd be so much easier if the swapped were all still miserable, but with equilibrium...they're not. Meaning not only has Twilight not figured out the cure like she would have originally...but now she's having trouble WANTING to, since she's starting to see the swapped as separate ponies who she'd be essentially killing to save her original friends.
Show Twilight had it much easier given that it didn't take her long to find the cure.
It feels like a while but this was yet another fantastic read. Thank you.
6402937
And I must confess… that I did have this song in mind when I had Twilight say that line!
6404145
No need for the . It's a good song and I enjoyed the opportunity to be the first person to notice a minor reference (regardless of how intentional) for once.
Isn't the Pinkie Promise "Hope to fly?"
So, if the Swapped are running off their internal caricatures of the pony whose mark they have, what's the deal with the non-caricature internal representations they have inside them? You know, like the RD Lero met in Rarity's head, who was most definitely not the caricature Rarity was modelling herself after?
Even more fun, would the failsafe Swap-stabilization spell even fix the errors that are cropping up now? That option may be off the table.
Also, getting the Swapped to all say "yeah, go ahead and destroy me, I don't mind" doesn't eliminate the dilemma under most moral or legal systems. For one example, see the Rotenburg Cannibal .
I really don't know how you're going to pull this one off, Mike...
i.imgur.com/whNO032l.png
6404522
So, if the Swapped are running off their internal caricatures of the pony whose mark they have, what's the deal with the non-caricature internal representations they have inside them? You know, like the RD Lero met in Rarity's head, who was most definitely not the caricature Rarity was modelling herself after?
You are very right about the 'internal representations' they have inside them, Zontargs, (great to hear back from you, buddy! ) I'm not going to pretend that suddenly doesn't exist.
I guess I'll provide some real-life context about this scene. The 'caricature' angle was actually an idea one of my editors thought up. I was so fascinated by his idea, that I just couldn't help running with it, and explore some of its implications. All the same, you'll notice that I did have Twilight explicitly call it a 'theory.' The way I see it, the 'internal representations' simply slipped Twilight's mind, when she came up with her 'caricature theory,' in a moment of passive idleness. Oversights happen even to smart ponies!
Also, getting the Swapped to all say "yeah, go ahead and destroy me, I don't mind" doesn't eliminate the dilemma under most moral or legal systems. For one example, see the Rotenburg Cannibal .
"Rotenburg Cannibal?" Let's see… [clicks link, reads article] Oh boy, you really DO learn something new every day!
It's a very good point you bring up about how victim-okayed murder is still murder. You may be right: there may be absolutely no way for the good guys to emerge out of this dilemma without blood on their hooves, and all that remains is seeing who ends up getting thrown under the bus. Or maybe I can still pull a pristine white rabbit out of this messed-up hat. Though I am sorry the only solid answer I can give at this point is: "stay tuned for future chapters!"
One thing I will say: I was incredibly nervous that readers would accuse me of "breaking my own rules" by allowing Fluttershy to have her "fourth wall awareness." Which is why I'm so glad that (as far as I can tell) pretty much all the readers were cool with it, for the chance to explore the Swap situation from this new angle. Thanks, you guys!
...I am fairly certain that is not a word.
6405102
How would you suggest I rephrase that sentence it's in, then?
6405174
"Center?" It not only means what you intended, but you could also find it in a dictionary. It's a twofer!
6404736
Meh. Given that the Swap itself is clearly breaking down (not that it hasn't been a buggy mess since day one), having PinkieShy notice that pictures of pictures don't match up is rather believable. I mean, she doesn't run on normal logic on a good day.
6404522
6404736
As the editor who came up with the idea, I honestly hadn't remembered the 'internal Rainbow Dash' had shown up anywhere outside of 'ask the swapped ponies'. And unfortunately, as I'm on lunch at work on my phone, I really can't go verify if that's the case or not. If she did, show, then if my (admittedly faulty) memory is correct, it was in a dream sequence, so it may not be a literal representation of what was going on, or may not be real at all. And if it was, if I recall correctly, she was depicted as being alone, buried in Rarity's psyche, with no input or control over what Rarity does.
Really, I kind of think equilibrium is the moment they break through their own prejudice and misconceived notions of each other, and reach the real part of the other pony buried inside them. If we checked back in Rarity the Weathermaker's psyche, we'd probably see Rarity and Rainbow working together, now. Or maybe merged together.
Also, I think you might have misconstrued Fluttershy's statement. She doesn't want to die- she likes being alive, thanks- but doesn't feel right at loving at the cost of what's functionally two other pony's life imprisonment. Maybe it's better said as "I find ceasing to exist less ethically troubling than continuing to exist at the cost of two other ponies." Ideally, she'd love to find a way for her, pinkie and Fluttershy original flavor to all exist at the same time- hey, two more sisters, score! - but if it's found to be impossible, she'd submit to oblivion for their sake- they're practically family, after all.
6405218
Yeah, I supported this twist- while Mike came up with the idea of equilibrium, me and spinel were the ones to really expound on it's implications- I always saw it as the two halves of the ponies connecting to each other, and what a better way to demonstrate that than have Fluttershy gain Pinkies' awareness when they connect?
6405408 6404736
Chapter Twenty, as a direct result of mind-meld magic with Rarity. From both the context of the chapter and Mike's comments on the chapter, it was clearly meant to be a thing that actually happened, and retconning that would butcher the meaning of subsequent developments in Swapped Herd Bellerophon. So if you're moving away from that development in favor of the caricatures, be aware that you'll be digging yourselves an impressive hole in the middle of what had been the emotional heart of your story.
As for 'Shy, in most moral and legal systems her consent is irrelevant, regardless of degree, situation or specific meaning. Sorry, but that's not going to fly as a "get out of moral conundrum free" card.
6405533
I'll have to re-read that chapter, thanks. I'm not saying I'm retconning anything, just that things might me more complex than that.
Also... *checks* That chapter happens after Rarity reaches her equilibrium, so access to Rainbow's psyche is a given at that point.
Also, at no point in my statement did I state Flutter's preferences are 'get out of moral quandary free'. Just that is what her preferences are.
Also you're discussing the legality of someone consenting to be murdered. What's the legality/morality of someone sacrificing themselves for the sake of others?
6405612
OK, fair enough. As for your last point, depends on the system. Given the circumstances, some would consider it suicide, and some would consider that immoral/illegal, for example. In any case, Celestia's a hellbitch for bringing the situation about.
I really want to say I've enjoyed this. But I got dealt a bombshell that left me rather numb.
6404736 Cross my heart, hope to fly, not hope to cry. Got Pinkie's Pinkie Promise messed up there.
6407308
Fixed!
6404736
Ugh, I remember when that happened. Wasn't exactly in my neighbourhood, but you don't hear about someone cutting off and frying a guy's dick like a fish stick without going a bit green around the gills.
But yeah, there's a whole lot of ethical complexity there that comes from a wide number of backgrounds. It's no less complicated a topic in the real world either, you know? It's the whole euthanasia angle, the question of where it stops and where "assisted suicide" begins. Part of it derives from the concept of universal human rights - they are fundamental and inalienable. They can't be given up, traded, or deferred, in any way. Some things are simply wrong to do, no matter who it is done to or what they think about it. The only one with a right to your life is you. That's the mindset under which that kind of ethics operates. You're not disallowed from giving your life away, you simply fundamentally can't. You're unable.
And from there, it crosses into so many other questions. Measuring up one life against another is, to a degree, possible. If someone is threatening your life, you can defend it even at the cost of theirs. But the un-swapped ponies... they don't really have a life right now, don't they? They really exist more "in potentia," like an unborn fetus. But what rights can a potential person have, really? Can a potential person even be said to exist at all? As the author of the story, it's within your power to make an authoritative statement on that - you can with definiteness decide that yes, the originals still exist deep within the minds of the swapped and that the outside is really just an illusion, for example.
But in a lot of ways, that would really be destroying the point of it all. The fascination and complexity comes from the fact that there is no easy answer, no definite truth. It's one of those occasions where you can only make a decision on faith, blindly as it were, in the full possibility that you might have been wrong and will never know. You can only trust and do.
Honestly, you've kind of opened a huge can of worms by going to a place like this, but that's really what puts this story a cut above the typical Xenophilia-setting generi-porn. It does ask that kind of question... and then it doesn't provide any easy answers.
6281223 I decided a while ago I'd be switching to a downvote in the end if we don't get a satisfactory answer for what's taken Twilight so long to come to what I'm assuming will be the same solution from the episode.
Dude!
Nacho THE Brony!
6409275
S--sorry! VERY sorry, my friend! It should be fixed now.
6409332
Don't you worry, dude. Just kidding.
6407768
Yep, I've got a laundry-list of Things That Must Be Resolved (which I've ranted about plenty of times in the comments), and I'll re-evaluate my rating at the end accordingly. I'm really hoping that this fic doesn't pull a Background Pony and spend tens of thousands of words making promises it can't keep.
6405742
Yeah, no question, eventually she's going to have to answer for what she's done... though what exactly is the moral implications of "Accidentally triggering events that cause the creation and death of sapient individuals?" Ethics and Morality get complex and weird when magic gets thrown in the mix.
I think a better question is... why she did this. I'm fairly certain the level of misery that resulted wasn't her intent... so why risk it? Well, you actually got me thinking about it, and I think I finally stumbled upon a reasonable answer. No Idea when/if it'll appear in the story, though, that's Mike's department.
6406453
...You okay, man? Is everything alright?
6407462
Ultimately, from what we have of the ending so far, when a choice is made, it's not a question of whether or not it's necessary to choose, but we still leave the question open of whether or not the decision made is "right". I hope you'll enjoy it when we get there.
6407768
We've already answered the question as of why she's taken so long.
6409815
I can't promise you we'll respond to your points to your satisfaction, but we will make the attempt- and I can assure that they will be answered to our satisfaction. at the very least.
6410093
Not to my satisfaction. My point is, I don't buy her being this slow on the uptake, in any universe. The only answer that makes sense to me is that it's the "For Want of a Nail" result of Lero being there, inadvertently throwing her off the solution by helping Rainbow Dash too well, preventing her from thinking to send Fluttershy to help her. But I've never been under the impression this is what Mike had in mind.
6410140
Well, initially, it was fear- Lero's near-death caused her to hesitate in taking action out of fear of doing something else terrible. Instead, she buried herself in research, hoping that she could find some sort of foolproof solution already laid out for her, step-by-step. She was eventually pulled out of that state, and started taking some steps in finding a cure, but go frequently interrupted by various personal crises, monsters attacks, and assassination attempts. Now, she's following along with Lero's strategy- Seek Equilibrium, create a functional stability, so there's no longer a gigantic pressure of just letting her friends suffer and ruin each other's lives.
She's not coming up with the solution in the show because she's just not thinking in that direction right now.
6410279 All of which would be fine (falling under the same "For Want of a Nail" thing I mentioned, except 2561779 is on the record as claiming that, in his headcanon at least, she wasn't any faster in the show's universe, which I guess is what I'm really taking issue with.
So is this still in effect, or are we going to see some (non-jokey) acknowledgement in-universe that Twilight should have figured it out a long time ago and that Lero unwittingly sabotaged her?
6410093 I'm 1100+ miles away from my mother who's just had a heart attack.
6410377
Actually, he was stating it took much longer than the few minutes shown in the show- enough time for the Boutique and Sweet Apple Acres to start to fall into ruin- but I think they past that mark by now and are officially behind canon schedule. You'd have to ask Mike to be sure.
*Blinks, then looks around shiftily* N-no. Why, who have you been talking to?
6411340
Sorry to hear that, man. You need someone to talk to?
6412150 At my age I've come to realize that my parents aren't going to be around forever. I'm probably one of the oldest guys on here. I'll be 45 come late December.
6412384
Yeah, you have about a decade on me. Still sucks, though, man.
6412149
...Are we reading the same quote?
6412876 True.
6413019
Well, here's a question for you: how much time do you think has passed so far, in-story?
6418477
(Not who you asked, but...) Probably... A month plus however long it took Lero to recover and be brought back from the spider? AJ/FS synchronized to about a week, Kidnapping took two days, Heat was a week, Rainbow was about a week, maybe a bit more, Pinkie seemed to be three days or so; not long as she mostly solved herself, while he was working on RD. Add in a day for a date, and one for Lyra's return...
So being generous with recovery time and a bit of extra for lazy days, I'd say about two months have passed, give or take a week.
They have to go back. If your killing a personality either way then you have to return them to their original form.
"I must confess that I F͂́͊ͫͮͅE̔̓̈́͗̔̄Ḛ̺̬̹͛L̸̹̼̩̮̤̟̱̿͑ͬ̅̆ͮ ͍͉͙̘̹̄͐̓́Lͤ̌I͍̿͗ͯ̉̂́̚K̸͔̬̿́̆E̖̻͖̬̻̥̖ͪ̉̋ͩ͆͂͟ ̤͚͕̞͐̄A̙̠͙̤̬̩̫̅̀͐ͮͤ̎ ̷̜̽̐M͜ͅŎͣ͒ͧ̚N̷̖͚̓̇̎̎̈́S̶͛̔̏T̢̰͕͙͈̼̹͑̈̍̀͋E̛̤̟̝͎ͥ̀͂͌ͅR͔̪̖̅̽ͭͭͩ!ͣ̋̆"
6460052
Yep. Poor Twilight. (By the way, what IS that font, and where can you get it?! I see it EVERYWHERE!)
6461011
It's Zalgo text.
Here you go!
http://www.eeemo.net/
6479329
That's our Star! [CUE CANNED SITCOM LAUGHTER] But yeah, you're totally on the mark here.
One thing which Friendship Is Magic, in and of itself, has taught me as an author is that, as far as drama is concerned, sometimes the juiciest sources of antagonism and conflict ARE friends (and family.) An enemy is something you either vanquish or avoid, generally. Friends you bond with. And when a friend can utterly traumatize you while still sincerely REMAINING your true blue friend… that's one of the thing I wished to explore when I began writing Divided Rainbow.
You've turned the Swapped (capitalized out of respect for the fic, I kind of dislike the term... sounds so informal for this Starswirl horror spell)
It IS informal, isn't it? "Swapped." Such a commonplace, humdrum, unremarkable sort of term! And you're right about that other part as well, when all's said and done, Starswirl's spell is horrific. By extension, Divided Rainbow is a horror story, the longer you really THINK about the situation they're in!
I suppose I could've had them called "Frankensouls" or something even grimmer. But in the end, I guess I didn't want to name them anything too ghastly-sounding. Because I also wanted to explore the lovability factor of these altered souls. (Just look at Rarity the Weathermare!)
A 'Frankensoul' is an unequivocally negative aberration; only fit to be put out of its misery. On the other hand, "Swapped" is a blander, neutral-sounding term. Someone you just might be able to 'live and let live.' Someone you might even develop a fondness for.
I suppose I can understand your distaste for 'Swapped' being capitalized, too. But, well… continuously writing "Starswirl's unfinished spell," over and over again got to be tedious rather fast. "Swap" and "Swapped" use much fewer letters. And I capitalized the S because, to a certain degree, this thing is an <i>active force,</i> in and of itself… with enough awareness to be constantly tweaking its victims' memories. Lero regards it as an archenemy, like Frodo with his One Ring, (could you imagine Gandalf declaring: "This is the one ring.")
Thank you. Thank you so much. Reading stuff like this renews so much faith in this story of mine.
I've had a lot of real-life stuff to juggle, but I'm working very hard on the final equilibrium. Stay tuned! I'll finish this story no matter what!
6479823
Nah, I agree, in a way using Swapped is perfect, as is the way they generally refer to the spell as this lazy, obnoxious thing. I think I just have negative associations with the word personally (swap meet, wife swap, ... I can't think of a third example but those are enough, really). It's hardly a serious gripe on my part.
Thanks for the reply. ...You know, I was thinking something like 'this won't end like MMC anyway, Lero isn't in the show canon's dimension...' ...OR IS HE? That would explain AJ's line in the Cutie Mark song about '...give me a hand here...' So that's my random thought of the day... or anyway afternoon.
Hay, I don't want it to end like the show's version... I saw that already. I'm not complaining about it, but why end this the same way? Some people seem to be commenting on that. Hopefully Fluttershy doesn't remember the Mirror Pool after Lero's 'clone em?' comment... that'd get crowded. Though it would sidestep the murder thing... sorta?
I love that Pinkie is showing through better in Fluttershy, now. I get where 'Shy could interpret Pinkie as a jokester, given her own shyness, but it was never a huge priority for Pinkie, so that always bugged me. Without re-watching every episode, I can't recall Pinkie just telling a joke. Make a humorous observation or random aside that's funny in its unexpectedness? Sure, but a basic set-up leading to a punch-line? Nothing springs to mind; maybe they just weren't memorable for me.
Lastly, I have to agree with Spinelstride about Fluttershy not going mad from the revelation. It makes sense that Pinkie's half of her soul could handle it. She was easily the one best suited to Discord's lunacy the first time around. ...Hey, this Fluttershy/Pinkie equilibrium could make a great new friend for Discord, actually...
Best of luck with the real life stuff, priorities are often less fun than we'd like em to be. Finish this when you can do so the way you want. The ones who really appreciate what you're doing will still be here.