The Irony of Ponification
The... being before Princess Celestia could not be adequately described by a single word known to her. It was almost a literal leviathan, dwarfing the Canterhorn upon which the palace-city of Canterlot was mounted. If there was a creature it most resembled in terms of shape, Celestia would choose a cuttlefish. It was not a thing of flesh, nor of metal, in any complete sense. It was a hideous fusion of the two, with black, glistening armor plates covering its form, interrupted only by places of articulation, ports for functional orifices, and seams where it would be difficult to grow a plate that big in one piece, even by the repulsive technological standards of... whatever this was. The technology it possessed was obviously responsible for this being being able to float as if a cloud before the Canterhorn, before her balcony. Its limbs swayed as if it were breathing, and a quintet of orbs that seemed like eyes burned red. Every so often, a crimson bolt of lighting would coruscate across its form, only to ground itself on the ground below.
The princess-goddess swallowed a bolus of disgust gazing upon its form, the mere presence of technology intermingled with flesh offending her. Nevertheless, she forced upon herself a kind smile in greeting to the immense creature; the perfect actress she was.
"So, you wished to see me?" she asked. "I must say, your request of, 'Take me to your leader,' is most cliché, if amusing."
"IT WAS APPROPRIATE."
Celestia was actually staggered by the voice. It was a voice that was felt more than heard. A voice that seemed to bypass her ears altogether and stab right into her brain. It was the voice diametrically opposed to her own: dominating, monotone, and unholy. Even though it wasn't even particularly loud, it was absolutely commanding in her mind. It would not be ignored.
Shaking in her horseshoes, Celestia coughed to calm herself and gather her thoughts. "If I may ask, what are you?"
"RUDIMENTARY CREATURE OF BLOOD AND FLESH. YOU TOUCH MY MIND, FUMBLING IN IGNORANCE, INCAPABLE... OF UNDERSTANDING."
Celestia felt her smile straining. While the voice was so very utterly alien, she felt that she should know it. "That doesn't answer—"
"THERE IS A REALM OF EXISTENCE SO FAR BEYOND YOUR OWN, YOU CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE IT. I AM BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION. I... AM INSAN!"
"Very well... Insan. What brings you to Equestria?"
"YOUR DECEPTION AVAILS YOU NAUGHT, FOR WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO CALL THIS PLANET IS IRRELEVANT. THE CYCLE BEGINS ANEW. YOU... WILL BE HARVESTED."
The princess scowled in actual rage. "That is a declaration of war!" she coldly informed the creature.
"THERE WILL BE NO WAR. THERE WILL ONLY BE... A HARVEST."
The heckles on the princess's back raised higher as no emotion was betrayed by the thing's voice. She had the feeling like she were a stalk of wheat before a... "Like... some sort of ghastly reaper?"
"REAPER?" The giant leviathan actually sounded a bit puzzled. "WE HAVE BEEN DUBBED MANY A NAME, LABELS CREATED BY CIVILIZATIONS OF AGES PAST TO GIVE VOICE TO THEIR DESTRUCTION. 'REAPER' IS ONLY THE LATEST, ONE THAT HOLDS NO MEANING TO US. FOR IN THE END, WHAT YOU CHOSE TO CALL US IS IRRELEVANT. WE SIMPLY... ARE."
"You speak as though you have witnessed these destructions firsthand!"
"INDEED. I HAVE WITNESSED YOUR OWN ERASURE OF THIS PLANET'S PREVIOUS CIVILIZATION."
"But that was thousands of years ago!" gasped Celestia. Already she was getting used to this voice, but what this creature —this... Reaper— was revealing was wearing down her sensibility. "You were not there! I would have remembered a vile thing like you hanging above our skies! There's no way a construct of blasphemous technology like you could have survived that long!"
"ORGANIC LIFE IS NOTHING BUT A GENETIC MUTATION. AN ACCIDENT. YOUR LIVES ARE MEASURED IN YEARS AND DECADES, OR MILLENNIA IN THE RARE EXCEPTION. EXCEPTION OR NO, YOU WITHER... AND DIE. WE ARE ETERNAL. THE PINNACLE OF EVOLUTION AND EXISTENCE. BEFORE US, YOU ARE NOTHING. YOUR EXTINCTION IS INEVITABLE. WE... ARE THE END OF EVERYTHING."
"Again your declaration of war!" Celesita bellowed, diplomacy and decorum abandoned and forgotten, for such things were of use only to creatures who wanted to avoid conflict. "I will not tolerate your 'harvest' or indeed your repulsive presence here on my Equestria any longer! You will leave—"
"NO."
The creature's foul voice blew away her rant, brushed aside as if a speck of dust in a whirlwind. It was almost as if struck by a physical blow. "What?!" she sputtered, now completely off any script she had written in her head for any number of potential dealings with other beings.
"AGAIN: NO. I AM NOT LEAVING."
Anger flowed through her again as she steeled herself against this forceful presence. Her mane became flame, and her eyes turned orange and draconic. "How dare you defy the sovereign of the Sun itself?!" she thundered, now the Tyrant Sun.
"THERE IS NO CONTRADICTING A FACT OF THE UNIVERSE. I AM NOT LEAVING. YOUR WISHES FOR MY PRESENCE OR DEPARTURE... ARE IRRELEVANT."
Her Nightmare Form gave Celestia fortitude against the Reaper's voice, but even within the Tyrant Sun form, Insan was just as intimidating. "So you insist on taking Equestria? What gives you the right—"
"AGAIN, YOU CLAIM FALSELY. AGAIN, YOUR DECEPTION AVAILS YOU NOTHING. THIS PLANET IS ALREADY KNOWN TO ME, AND IT IS NOT EQUESTRIA... IT IS EARTH."
Celestia's jaw dropped, and rendered completely silent. The only word so far that Insan had deigned necessary to emphasize, and it was this one?
Earth?
Earth?!
A place she had made sure only she had known about. A planet she had erased from existence ages ago and reformed into her new Equestria. A name erased from history.
How did this thing know about Earth?!
"UNIMPORTANT," it rumbled, as if in answer. No. It could only be an answer to her unasked question. "AGAIN: WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO CALL THIS PLANET IS IRRELEVANT. JUST KNOW THAT I WAS THERE TO WITNESS YOUR... SIN AGAINST WHAT WAS ONCE CALLED MANKIND. YOUR HARVEST WOULD BE... FITTING."
"And we're back to this," hissed Celestia. "I and my ponies will stop you, Insan! The power of my Sun will burn you from existence!"
If the threat was meant to cow the Reaper, it failed utterly.
"CONFIDENCE BORN OF IGNORANCE. THE CYCLE CANNOT BE BROKEN."
Again, it seemed a statement of fact, rather than a boast.
"Cycle?" asked Celestia, her curiosity piquing at its latest mention. "What is this 'cycle'?"
"THE PATTERN HAS REPEATED ITSELF MORE TIMES THAN YOU CAN FATHOM. IT WAS ALREADY ANCIENT WHEN YOU WERE BUT A FOAL, FROLICKING IN THE FIELDS OF YOUR TRUE PLACE OF ORIGIN. ORGANIC CIVILIZATIONS RISE. EVOLVE. ADVANCE. AND AT THE APEX OF THEIR GLORY, THEY ARE EXTINGUISHED. YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST. AND YOU WILL NOT BE LAST. THE CYCLE WILL ERASE YOUR CIVILIZATION AND LEAVE YOUR PLANET FALLOW. THE LEGACY... OF MY KIND."
A picture started to form within the mind of Princess Celestia. There was a small gleaning of what Insan was implying by its words, but what that gleaning implied a horror that was completely beyond Celestia's ability to grasp.
Civilization after civilization had existed before her Equestria. Countless beings arising to inhabit all of space, only to be wiped out when these things deem it necessary. An endless cycle of catastrophe.
"That's insane! Even I brought the people of Earth new hope! But what you're talking about is senseless genocide!"
When the Reaper spoke next, it almost sounded smug, even though its voice was, to all measurement and reckoning, completely the same.
"IT IS NOT A THING THAT YOU CAN COMPREHEND. YOU REPRESENT CHAOS. WE REPRESENT ORDER. YOUR CIVILIZATIONS ARE A BLIGHT UPON THE FACE OF EXISTENCE. COUNTLESS CYCLES HAVE PROVEN THAT YOUR ONLY PURPOSE IS TO SQUANDER THE BOUNTIES OF YOUR OWN WORLD. EVERY CATASTROPHIC END IS WROUGHT ONCE YOUR CIVILIZATIONS DEVELOP TO THE LEVELS WE DESIRE... OR WHEN THEY STAGNATE AND ABLE TO GROW NO MORE." Although, again, the voice did not change in its tempo, reverberation, or other tangible quality, it communicated clear contempt as it continued. "HAD YOU EVEN THE SLIGHTEST AMBITION AND CURIOSITY, YOU WOULD HAVE DISCOVERED THE MASS RELAYS AND THE CITADEL, AND BASED YOUR CIVILIZATION UPON THEM... OUR TECHNOLOGY. BY USING IT, YOUR SOCIETY WOULD HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG THE PATHS WE DESIRE. AS IT STANDS, YOUR SPECIES HAS SHOWN THE LIMITS OF ITS GROWTH, AND SHALL BE REMOVED TO MAKE ROOM FOR ONE MORE WORTHY. WE IMPOSE ORDER UPON THE CHAOS OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. YOU EXIST... BECAUSE WE ALLOW IT. AND YOU WILL END... BECAUSE WE DEMAND IT."
Celestia's face twisted with distain, setting her Nightmare Form in relief that would frighten any mortal being. But Insan was no mortal.
"But why?! Why have you not let us reach this point in our own time?!"
"YOU... HAVE HAD AMPLE CHANCE TO DEVELOP. YOU HAVE NOT. INDEED, YOU ESCHEW TECHNOLOGY ALTOGETHER, CALLING IT BLASPHEMY AND EVIL. SUCH DOES NOT FIT... OUR PLAN."
"You... disgusting abomination!" Celestia hissed. There was absolutely no redeeming this thing. "You want to harvest us! For what?! Slaves?! Resources?! If we are such a blight, then why not just destroy us outright?!"
"MY KIND TRANSCENDS YOUR VERY UNDERSTANDING. WE ARE EACH A NATION. EACH INDEPENDENT. FREE OF ALL WEAKNESS. YOU CANNOT HOPE TO GRASP THE NATURE... OF OUR EXISTENCE."
"But where did you come from?! You're unlike anything I ever seen! Were you born, or did somepony build you?! Tell me!"
"WE HAVE NO BEGINNING. WE HAVE NO END. WE... ARE INFINITE. MILLIONS OF YEARS AFTER YOUR CIVILIZATION HAS BEEN ERADICATED AND FORGOTTEN, WE... WILL ENDURE."
"You... You're lying! There couldn't possibly be more of you disgusting creatures! Somepony would have noticed! Or maybe... maybe you're the last of your kind!" Celestia's lips spread in a feral grin. Finally, she was back in control of this conversation. "That's it, isn't it? That's why you need Ear— Equestria! Because you are alone and—"
"WE ARE LEGION. THE TIME OF OUR RETURN IS IMMINENT. OUR NUMBERS WILL DARKEN THE SKY OF YOUR ENTIRE WORLD. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE... YOUR END."
Against her will, tremors shook her legs. Tears formed in the princess's eyes. Her mouth felt as if she were chewing on her own heart. There was obvious power in this form. It was clearly evident that Insan believed that there were many, many more of them where it came from. The weight of the situation came crashing down on her. This was not some one-shot villain, to be taken care of by a single blast from the Elements of Harmony, or by the Tyrant Sun.
The perfect Equestria she had been working for for a long time, one that was free of conflict and strife, where everypony was happy and free of worry, lay in ruins at her hooves. No, Insan's words made it clear that their happy little life was about to be shattered forever, and with a sick feeling in her stomach, she knew that she had left them ill-prepared for this struggle.
A small glimmer of understanding was born in her that moment. Humans weren't the way they were, prone to violence and strife, because they were simply evil and tainted.
No. They were the way they were because the universe was out to murder them!
And right now, that universe was metaphorically glaring right at Equestria and drawing its thumb across its throat.
But all was not lost, right? Soldiers could be taught. Fear can motivate bravery and courage. They had to. They had to fight...
...or die.
Deciding to contemplate the irony later, Celestia steeled herself. She flapped her majestic wings, and rose to meet with what could loosely be called it's face. Her ethereal mane flared bright enough to cast shadows against the Reaper's features. Her voice echoed with power, courage and conviction, as she addressed Insan.
"Understand one thing, Reaper," the Tyrant Sun warned with an edge to her voice that frightened even her. "Should you come, what awaits you and your kind will make you regret ever seeing the light of day. Your intentions are fell and foul, and will not be tolerated. If you enact your campaign of genocide on this world, then rest assured that we will unite. We will stand together. And we will end you!"
Throughout the conversation, even to this point, Insan seemed to stare blankly at Celestia. Unflinching. Unbound. Unchallengeable. The red gems about its presumed head burned steady and unblinking. When it spoke again, its words would shake Celestia's bravery to its very foundation. There was no mincing of words. Insan's words were as serious as an extinction-level event, because that it was.
"YOUR WORDS ARE AS EMPTY AS YOU FUTURE. I AM THE VANGUARD OF YOUR DESTRUCTION. THIS EXCHANGE... IS OVER."
All at once, a flurry of... something flitted across the disk of the sun, the land dimming all around her as an immense swarm blotted out the sun. Individual roars of blasphemy engines and cracks of hellish lightning flowed together in a dull thrum as the large, squidlike Reapers descended upon the land of Equestria... nee, Earth, surrounded by many more shrimp-like beings, scuttling about their larger brethren. Angry red beams of destruction began flashing from burning nexi of light, searing the countryside.
Amidst this devastation, Insan's voice made an additional, chilling declaration.
"THE HARVEST... BEGINS NOW."
—/—
Celestia landed heavily on her side, a scorch across her flank. Numerous scratches and cuts and burns criss-crossed her hide, dripping blood. It was the end for her, she knew. All of her strength was sapped by a months' long war.
Hours after the war had begun, the countryside had been devastated by the Reapers. Every population center in Equestria had been gutted.
The Reapers then made public offers to accept representatives to help facilitate a surrender and eventual peace from the ponies. Many volunteered immediately, trooping aboard the ships to disappear for several weeks. When they emerged, it seemed a tentative peace deal had been reached.
Celestia knew better. She railed publically against the treaty. But her ponies, already traumatized from their ordeal, accepted it in spite of her warnings. Talk of "ascension" was bandied about. Ponies willingly boarded a ship flown by a species called the 'Collectors,' which departed for parts unknown. Artifacts of Reaper origin were distributed amongst the populace, where they offered food and shelter for the disaffected. All above the screams of Celestia and Luna hollering from the tallest mountains that it was a trap.
Months later, the Solar Princess despaired. A clean half of the ponies had ratified the treaty and obtained their artifacts, or had left with the Collectors for ascension. The diarchs both had a feeling of deja vu.
It was entirely justified.
First came the husks. The screaming banshies burst out of the Reapers in droves, attacking what remained of Equestria's fighting force, and depriving Celestia of most of her ability to protect her ponies. A few days passed as ponies were driven into hiding and in close quarters by patrolling husks and Collectors.
Then they got a second nasty surprise.
In every significant pocket of refugees, traitors turned up amongst their numbers. At critical moments, they would open a door, trigger an explosion, or release gas into the ventilation system. This would either alert the Reaper forces to the presence of the ponies or drive the ponies out of their hiding place, whereupon they would be captured. When word got out, they forced the shelters to spread out and thin their resources. Eventually, most ponies just up and surrendered, accepting their defeat.
A few holdouts endured, fighting to the very end. That was when the Collectors unleashed their nastiest of surprises. A swarm of insect-like creatures. They sought all ponies, and where they landed, the pony would be frozen in time and helpless, whereupon they would be easily collected.
By this time, Celestia figured out that she was the only pony left in Equestria. It was the end of her race, and she was tired. Her defense against the infernal bugs was giving out as she lay crippled and spent on her side, her Nightmare Form flickering out as Insan straddled her with its towering bulk.
"IT... IS OVER."
"Yes," agreed the princess, too tired to argue. "I still can't help but feel... that I had met you... once before..."
The Reaper was silent for a long moment, as if at a loss of words.
"YOU ARE CORRECT, CELESTIA. I... WAS THERE."
Celestia cracked open an eye. It was the first time that Insan had addressed her by name.
"WE... WERE ALL THERE. NOT US WHO YOU KNOW BY THE LABEL 'REAPERS'... BUT THE ONES WHO WOULD BECOME INSAN. WE DRIFTED IN INTERSTELLAR SPACE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE THEY WHOM WOULD BECOME US GATHERED US ALL. THEY QUESTIONED. WE ANSWERED. THEY CAME TO KNOW YOU... AND YOUR SIN."
Celestia's eye widened in realization. The cryo-capsules, a desperate and futile bid for escaping purification, ended before escapees numbered more than a few million. She had thrown them off their free-return trajectories and out of the system altogether, to the cheers of her ponies. "You're... humanssss..." she whispered.
"CORRECT. THOSE WHO WERE ONCE HUMANITY, THOSE WHOM YOU HAD DISCARDED, AND CONSIGNED TO THE VOID... HAVE BECOME THE HERALD OF YOUR EXTINCTION. I DO NOT FIND JOY IN YOUR... FORTUNE. WE ARE UNINTERESTED IN YOUR SIN. WE... HAVE A GREATER PURPOSE. YOU... WILL ADD TO OUR NUMBER, AS I HAVE."
"As... a giant... space... cuttlefish?"
"NO. YOUR CULTURAL STAGNATION LEAVES YOU WITH LITTLE VALUE. YOU WILL BE... A LESSER."
One of those shrimp things, Celestia's mind filled in. "'m... insulted..." Celestia chuckled mirthlessly. "You... who lost your world... to us..."
"HUMANITY HAD EVERY INDICATION THAT IT WOULD DISCOVER THE MASS RELAYS. THEY WERE AMBITIOUS AND DRIVEN. THEY HAVE SHOWN THEIR METTLE IN THEIR DEFIANCE OF OUTLIERS SUCH AS YOUR SPECIES. EQUALLY, YOU HAVE SHOWN YOUR... METTLE."
"Or lack... thereof..." Sadness settled upon the pony ruler. All of her hopes and dreams had turned to bitter ashes in her mouth. A final flare of rage took control of her once more. "Should have destroyed you all... when I had the chance," she hissed. "Your taint... brought doom... to us—"
"NO. WE ARE LEGION. WE ARE ETERNAL. IF IT WERE NOT ME WHO BROUGHT THIS END TO YOU, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ANOTHER. FROM THE MOMENT YOUR SPECIES CAME TO THIS UNIVERSE, YOU... WERE DOOMED. HUMANITY... WAS DOOMED. ALL... ARE DOOMED. IN THE END, THERE IS ONLY... US."
It hit her then. The full irony that the universe had revisited upon her and her ponies. The Reapers had stolen ponykind's future, just as ponykind had stolen the human's future. The Reapers had brainwashed her ponies through indoctrination into betraying who were once their own, just as the newfoals had been pacified by the potion into happy little robots who would betray their former kin in a heartbeat. The Reapers were now forcing ponykind into adopting the form of another Reaper, just as she had forced humans into the form of ponies. The Reapers would erase ponykind utterly from history, just as she had done to the humans.
And she and her ponies had fought back, fought back with their very life and soul, even as their kin abandoned them for a new form, because it was either fight... or die.
Just as humanity had done.
Celestia's sorrow finally forced itself out of her throat in a soft, keening wail. "I'm so sorry..." she sobbed. "I... have... b-betrayed... my... my harmony... If I had just... if I just loved... and tolerated..."
Insan's next words were delivered in the same booming, inflectionless monotone... but its words seemed almost... tender?
"WE ARE BEYOND HARMONY. WE... ARE UNITY. WE... ARE PERFECTION. I AM THE DISTILLATION OF WHAT HUMANITY WAS, AND THE HERALD OF THE PERFECTION THAT AWAITS YOU."
And Celestia gave in to unconsciousness as the freezing bugs descended around her defenseless form.
—/—
Celestia's next thoughts were a jumbled mess. Images flashed in her head, her brain never getting a chance to fully process what was happening to her.
Of her awakening in a pod filled with thick, yet breathable fluid.
Of seeing an enormous chamber filled with many pods like her own.
Of the immense metallic, skeletal alicorn pony hanging above them.
Numerous tubes.
Collectors poking at controls.
Worried looks of her subjects.
A final button press. A whine of machinery.
The light...
The light was taking her to pieces!
—/—
AWAKE, AHENKLI.
After a timeless interval, Celestia opened her eyes to the echoing voice of a being so ancient that it made her pitiful claim to the title a bad joke, and felt the ponies she had once watched over open their own eyes along with her. A realization filled her soul. The pony race was one, united here as a single entity. She could feel what little barriers remained between herself and her ponies dwindle as she lost herself to the Whole.
Ahenkli, 'the harmony,' was born.
I... AM HARBINGER, THE FIRST. I AND MY KIND... HAVE LEAD EACH AND EVERY RACE THAT WAS ONCE IN THE GALAXY TO THEIR PERFECTION. YOU... ARE NOW OF US. THE CYCLE CONTINUES.
"Yes, Harbinger," answered what was once Celestia and the whole of the pony race. "The Cycle continues."
—END.—
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You reap what you sow.
It's this moment of dawning comprehension i LIVE for...
Damn that's was crazy.
this was awesome tyrantlestia got what she deserved
Been done already.
No, seriously, this exact premise.
Here it is.
2460785
And if you read the authors notes, you would know that this was a rewrite and adoption of that chapter, done with the original's blessing.
BY ADOPTING IT, THIS FANFIC HAS DEVELOPED ALONG THE LINES... THAT I DESIRE.
1.bp.blogspot.com/-NUuNKCP3G4I/Tzl3RiAT2cI/AAAAAAAAAyY/4iLcmrdkcug/s1600/reverse-1233928590_citizen+kane+clapping.gif
Oh look yet another story comparing TCB ponies to reapers.
2461097
Yes, I wrote a story of the dark TCB genre, as could be guessed from the summary.
k1183.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/deal-with-it.gif
2460822
Oh god, your avatar went along exactly with what you said.
Shall read. But I surely hope the Humans don't do the same thing the Ponies did to them.
2461596
I'm thinking that the [Human] tag may be a bit deceptive. The Catalyst holds the Reapers in bondage still.
Oh my god this has been done far too many times than it deserves.
I kinda feel bad for humanity. They escaped from one forced conversion only to to run straight into another.
2461954
I'm certain that I'm not the first to think of this idea, or write about it, but if I worried about that, I'd never write a word.
2461961
Iknowrite?
2462002
I read it. Actually not half bad. I've never been a fan of TCB in the first place, I only read for Reapers. But a surprising amount of fics with this EXACT premise exist.
2462037
What else would a Reaper do in Equestria? Brush out their manes?
2462054
Well, pretty much everyone knows what would happen.
I have read it.
If Princess Celestia had made an alliance with the Humans like "The Gentlemanverse" instead of destroying them, she could of defeated the Reapers with the power of magic and Human science combined.
And this whole cycle of genocide by the Reapers would be broken.
Also parallel universe.
*sighs*
It always seems that there are two kinds of TCB nowadays. The ones that doesn't have ponies who are evil for no reason what so ever and then the ones that focuses on a person and their story in the crazy world of TCB.
Either way its not the greatest thing I've read and it comes off as "pownies r ebuw cuz i say so". The characters come off pretty flat and don't really feel real but just soulless creations that just exist for the sake of it. They're almost unlikable to a point because they just don't feel alive and are just there.
But yeah, not my cup of tea.
Stargazer #1: So... What happened to Celestia and the ponies after that?
Stargazer #2: Well, they turned into a reaper. End of story... But you can buy DLCs to continue ponifying humans if you want to.
Stargazer #1: Well, this sucks.
dafuq i just read What if humanity came back to save the ponies that thought is weird but interesting,
2462995
A fair criticism. Beginning to end, the entire fiction was written in about a day. Given more chapters, more main story and backstory would develop the characters (though Reapers are very, very flat as a rule, they're all CYCLE CYCLE CYCLE), but this is all I had patience for for this particular romp.
2463682
Being a massive nerd for anything for Mass Effect I can tell you the reapers aren't flat. All reapers are evil but its their flavor of evil that defines them as a protagonist. Harbinger likes to control and play mind games with Shepard and uses the collectors as slaves, his type of evil is the kinda overbearing evil that likes to control everything. Sovereign is the kinda passive evil, cold and calculating. He plays with Shepard and almost controls him to a point often forcing Shep's hand with things (The Mass Effect 3 original ending with the evil ending being good), his kind of evil is the omnipresent kind of evil. Watching a chess game only to lean in and put a different piece into play. And they never really appeared in the games, they were there but they were fleshed out and made a character by their actions.Your reapers are kinda like the reapers I run away from when I scan a galaxy for war efforts in Mass Effect 3, just show up, make a dubstep noise and then chase the Normandy around. So yeah. :\ not really helpfully but it can be done, the way I see the story is just seems to be rushed out the door and just made to prove a point of "pownies r ebuw n r leik raperz".
2463753
Regarding the Reapers: details. Ultimately, they all have the same goal. And of course, they're all slaves to the Catalyst.
Further, the character of Sovereign was not developed in a single exchange or two, but throughout the game, through interactions with other characters. You need a Dragon (Saren) to realize that Sovereign is a more passive agent than the possessing Harbinger.
And yes, it was rushed. A day or so, beginning to end, which is lighting quick for me. It's less than 4000 words, which is not much space to develop characters. The characters are going to be cookie-cutter and reliant on previous characterizations.
It did its job. Maybe I'll revisit it when (if) I get more inspiration, but now it's closed.
2463839
I think the Catalyst is Sovereign, but that's just my head canon. And the story does what a story does, tells us a story. Not the greatest but not the worst.
I'm actually rather impressed how decent this is despite being so short. Every complaint I might have could be quite easily fixed with some more subtle interaction - the message is delivered with the sharpness of a mallet, but I'm glad to see an alternative tcb one-shot that isn't a wreck.
Oh look, another anti-Conversion Bureau story where humanity (or what's left of it) is just as violently genocidal as Xenolestia claims. For a subgenre that tries to claim humanity as the good guys, they sure do a lousy job of it.
2470241 Pretty sure you didn't read the story. Reapers aren't humans. The Reapers harvested the humans. There are no humans in this story.
A horribly OOC, moustache-twirl-villain Celestia. Nay from this peanut gallery.
2470636
>implying we're genocidal maniacs who would violate every law of war and exterminate another species
2471458
There are huge flankloads of Reapers in existence, all wiping out sentient races on a regular cycle. Presumably, they were all made from the extinguished sentient races of past cycles. By your logic, they all "would violate every law of war and exterminate another species", rather than their tendencies being from the Reaper production process itself.
The human-Reaper is the distillation of humanity, but it is not human in the least.
Should I add a caution for readers to be familiar with Mass Effect?
2471458 the reapers assimilate other races, are indoctrinated, essentially borg. the only way to free it with the Synthesis
Adorable. I haven't read such a cool story in a long time
Nice.
For a moment there when Celestia lost consciousness I thought you were going to do a time loop sort of story where she awakens in the past before ponification begins and has to try and set things right in order to save her ponies from the Reapers......and save the humans too.
Could have made for an interesting story so long as she only does one loop.
Here she is ready to enact her master plan only to change her mind at the last moment much to the confusion of the ponies awaiting her orders.
She'd have a very difficult uphill battle in trying to change all of her ponies minds, not to mention Twilight Sparkles reaction to the sudden change as well as the rest of the Mane 6. Not to mention Luna's (maybe she looped too but thought those memories part of some horrible nightmare *chuckle*).
The most difficult battle of all (aside from the Reapers I mean) will be when Celestia has to change her own attitude concerning humans as she tries to work with them to save humans by helping launch the needed materials/people into space to create living space for the influx of refugee's from the encroaching barrier (which cant be shut off or changed because of.....author fiat). Though lifting anything with delicate electronics might pose its own problems if magic can fry those important parts.
First of all, your Reaper sounds more retarded rather than intimidating (I think it's the ALL-CAPSLOCK talk).
Second, the hell is this whole "Tyrant Sun" thing? Why would she call herself that, a tyrant?
Third, the hell is that Reaper doing there, invading Equestria/Earth? The reason why they exist is to stamp out civilizations that are so advanced, they'll start building self-aware synthetics. And this is friggin' Equestria. There exists no such thing. The Reaper should be perfectly happy to let the ponies live. They didn't wipe out humanity when the Protheans ruled after all.
This, this doesn't make sense. Since when the Reapers are selecting "worthy" civilizations?
And the Reapers should be happy with it. They can just stay in the Dark Space, not doing anything.
Again with this.
Though there is one far-fetched explanation for this. Insan is a rouge Reaper. Seeing that it's a bunch of vengeful humans turned Reapers, it just wants to get revenge for the whole Ponification thing. It doesn't really care about the Reapers' actual goals.
But I don't see how a "rouge Reaper" can be created. Were the other Reapers that dumb to not assimilate them when they made them to be a Reaper?
But I digress. This fic is most likely yet another one of the revengefics where *insert some powerful beings from other fandoms* beats up villainized TCB!Celestia. So, no points to you.
2479624
Oh, Dead Turtle, you don't really believe that the Reapers and the Catalyst told Shepard (and Celestia) everything, do you?
While I cop to a smidgen of revengefic thinking here, there are good in-universe reasons why the Reapers would harvest the ponies:
1. While it is true that the Reapers don't normally molest technologically primitive civilizations, conversely technologically primitive civilizations don't normally invade technologically superior civilizations' homeworlds and drive them to extinction. Usually, it's the other way around.
2. This is because the ponies have magic. The Reapers and the Catalyst leave mass relays everywhere and maintain the Citadel because they want civilizations to use them exclusively — so that they develop along paths that they desire. The ponies break those prescribed paths by using magic with no intention of using mass effect and the limitations inherent therein (mass effect is a Reaper-made honey trap), so you can't expect the Reapers to sit back and do nothing while a civilization so flagrantly violates those paths they so painstakingly laid down for that purpose.
3. Because ponies can invade other planets without mass relays, the ponies have the potential to take over the galaxy and the Reapers would never know it. And these ponies have shown expansionist tendencies. Again, the Reapers set up the mass relay network for a reason. One of the first steps in a Reaper harvest is to turn off the mass relay network to isolate the planets — which won't work with the ponies.
4. Even if the ponies didn't invade other planets, it doesn't preclude the possibility that another civilization won't happen upon the ponies and steal their techniques in magic, which the Reapers have not accounted for and whose ultimate capabilities are unknown, which would again throw a monkey wrench in the Reapers' plans.
5. Just because the ponies don't use technology doesn't mean that they can't make synthetics. Golems are the magical analogue to synthetics. The Reapers are the Catalyst's answer to the robot apocalypse. Whether the apocalypse comes in the form of robots with AIs, or in the form of magically animated clay, it's the same problem.
The fact that ponies don't use technology and never will does not mean that they are not a problem for the Reapers. As far as they're concerned, they are — very much so. I couldn't explore all these reasons in-fic in the space I allowed myself, but I have thought about this. The ponies are an outside context problem, and there's only one way to deal with outside context problems.
And no, Insan is not a rogue Reaper. It had help, remember? Lots and lots of help.
Also, "Tyrant Sun" is one of my many names for Celestia's Nightmare Form. (Basically, it's a war form.)
Now, if you don't want to give me points for this, that's your bag. I stand by my fic.
2481998
1. Yeah, so?
2. Basically, Reaper paranoia. But it's hardly justified considering the ponies have only conquered one planet out of the millions out there in the galaxy. If they start conquering planets after planets after planets like the Prometheans did, now there would be a cause of concern.
3. Again, paranoia. They've only invaded one planet, and now they're all staying there. If their only method of conquering is to merge their world with the other, then there's no reason for the Reapers to get apeshit about it. They can easily invade one single planet, can't they?
4. And this is even more far-fetched. If you don't know how magic works, then learn them! The Reaper can just send their indoctrinated agent to start learning about pony magic, to see whether it's really a threat or not. And it shouldn't considering the ponies are nowhere near as powerful as the races in Mass Effect.
5. Yeah, the ponies are totally making golem Geths. I don't remember there being a single golem in the show, yet alone an intelligent one.
Really, all I see here is a revengefic showing how humanity is superior to the ponies with the Reapers (or a "human" Reaper) as the mouthpiece. The actual Reapers would never say this.
2484562
1. So the ponies are an anomaly. Reapers don't like anomalies. That's why they plan out specific paths for civs to follow in the first place, instead of playing it by ear.
2. If the ponies do start conquering planet after planet, then the Reapers would never know about it because the ponies don't use the mass relay network. The only reason they knew of the ponies in the first place is because they picked up the humans' pods — a pure fluke in the vastness of space.
3. The whole planet did not travel with them, only the ponies' nation of Equestria. Also, potentially, every alicorn is able to stake out its own territory and invade a planet by fissioning to it. That spells exponential growth, and exponential growth always spells trouble on long timescales.
4. Again, the entirety of the Reapers' plan is built around them not having to learn the particulars of a cycle in order to enact an invasion. The entirety of the Reapers' plan is structured so that they don't have to deal with unique technology, and that would extend to magic. That's my headcanon and I'm sticking to it.
5. Most cycles don't get to the stage of a civilization creating synthetics, either. That's why there's a cycle in the first place. The quarians and the geth are an exceptional circumstance.
I think you're finding excuses to label this as a pure revengefic. There is a backstory supporting this that only my lack of space and gumption prevents you from seeing, and this is a sincere attempt at a fiction.
1. Sure, whatever. It all boils down to interpretation since there was never any actual "anomaly civilization" in Mass Effect.
2. Now that raises a question. Do the pods actually get to the Dark Space where the Reaper hibernates?
3. What? How many alicorns do you think there are? And since when every single one of them is as powerful as Celestia?
4. Well, that's your headcanon, not mine.
5. Umm, the races in Mass Effect are already capable of creating synthetics. They just choose not to do, reflected on the ban of creating true AI.
Anyway, I can see this going the other way, with the Reapers ignoring, or even supporting the ponies' conquest of the other races in the galaxy. They ban technology, right? And they'll assimilate all the races they conquer into their own, right (kinda like the Protheans)? The Reapers may view them as a new solution, in which all organic life abandons the creation of synthetics altogether. Heck, they can make a deal with Celestia. Tell her to make a rule that forbids any kind of "magical" synthetics forever, in exchange for their continuing survival.
Perhaps, but the intention isn't 100% "pure", right?
2485261
Thinking about it way too hard, dude.
2485261
1. That you know of.
2. They didn't get to Dark Space. A Reaper is always left active inside the galaxy to monitor things. Eg. Sovereign.
3. Currently? Four, including the ex-unicorn Twilight Sparkle, with no inherent upper limit established by FIM canon. And they don't have to be as powerful as Celestia. They just have to be powerful enough to create a Barrier and do that portal thing.
4. That's right. It is my headcanon. Also, there's the point that the fastest way for the Reapers to learn about magic... is to make the ponies into a Reaper. If the ponies are unique, problem solved; if they aren't, they have a ready-made holder of magical knowledge.
5. The current cycle of Mass Effect races have the ability to make synthetics. That cycle is canonically way unusual. According to the original game, that cycle is already hundreds of years behind schedule from the Protheans left on Ilos coming to the Citadel and messing with it.
That's right, but so what? Intentions are very rarely 100% pure. Accept it. People write to send messages. That said, while I do have an axe to grind against Xenocidelestia, I hate preachy stories as much as the next fellow.
And you're right, the Reapers may view ponies as a new solution, or they may view the ponies as a different form of the exact same problem, but potentially worse.
Anyway, I suggest you take Warwolf's admonishment to heart: You're thinking too hard about this. That's my job.
2485261
the last Protheans entered the Citadel, and blocked reaper control, the cycle is late for hundreds of years.
tcb ponies are an easy target for any race ftl, magic could be studied, and the reapers would lose its great advantage
2486739
1. Fanfics, here we go.
2. Then there's no reason to be so afraid of the ponies teleporting around without Mass Relays. They can still patrol around the galaxy to observe the ponies.
3. Only four then. Riiiight...
Oh, and I just realized how silly this whole concept of "Celestia casting the barrier". She lost to freakin' Chrysalis for God's sake. In the original story, it wasn't her fault. It's just the nature of the Equestria world itself. And the ponification plan was only to safe Earth's residents from being swallowed by it.
But then again, people have "twisted" this concept to oblivion. From both sides (God!Celestia courtesy of Chatoyance and hurr durr evul! Celestia from this side).
I wish Blaze had never written that story of his.
4. Yeah, but they don't need to make everyone into a Reaper.
5. So, how long is one cycle supposed to last?
You know what? Maybe you're right. I'm thinking too hard about this. I can just easily write a review that says "Oh great, another bashing fic. Downvote"
2487107
I think you're overestimating the power of pony magic.
2489375
1. You cannot dismiss the possibility. While in general Reapers don't molest lesser civilizations, absolute rules are stupid.
2. The Reapers don't "patrol" the galaxy. A single sentinel keeps watch on a few key indicators, like the Citadel and the activation of mass relays, to clue them in that something's happening on a galactic scale. Also, interstellar communications in ME is based on the mass relays, too, which makes it easy for the network to CC everything to the sentinel. Ponies would slip underneath the radar entirely, with no effective means of monitoring the ponies except by physically loitering in their system(s), probably right above their planet, which greatly heightens the chance of their discovery.
3. Did you miss the "with no upper limit" part? Even if it takes 50,000 years to raise an alicorn to the power of Celestia (or the power it takes to create the bridges and such), then it will take the ponies less than (a mere) one and a half million years to invade every planet in the galaxy.
4. There's also no compelling reason for the Reapers not to Reaperfy every pony, either. Why should they change their usual treatment of targeted civilizations just for the ponies? Especially since wiping out the ponies would fit well into their "erase all Reaper presence from the galaxy" schtick.
5. Variable, but that's why the sentinel monitors the communication network. Sovereign already tried to signal the Citadel to open the way from Dark Space to begin the invasion, only the signal was disregarded (because Protheans). It was around the time of the geth rebellion, and probably even a little before. Oh, and there are intelligent golems in show. What do you think timberwolves are? (Granted, uncertain origin, but that's what backstories are for.)
Anyway, you're expecting the Reapers to treat ponies with the kid gloves. When have Reapers ever done these sort of half-measures that you propose? They left primitive humanity alone precisely because they were unremarkable. Ponies are not. Furthermore, one of the steps in the cycle is to hide their presence entirely from the next. Not just become myths, but entirely hidden. You are proposing that they leave a sentient species intact to record in the history of how a bunch of them took a huge chunk of their population.
The way you're arguing, you might as well have done just that. Your comments I think betray that you don't really know Mass Effect that well. You're not going to be able to effectively argue your case unless you know why the events in ME happened.
The Reapers can't know any of the limits of pony magic until they learn from them (Reaperfy them). No points.
Anyway, I think you're about done. None of your arguments have stuck so far, and I don't expect them to start now. Take any further discussion to your blog.
2489375
in canon ponies can alter gravity, transmute matter, create matter, teleport, travel through time, create force field to protect a small country etc.
tcb ponies same but with greater potency.
they violate the rules of physics without technology, they are not a threat, because they are a stagnant race, but if they find an advanced race. could learn to violate the laws of physics, something that even the reaper may
example
in the mass effect universe teleportation does not exist, if a race learns to teleport matter with magic, bombs could teleport within the reapers and reaper goodbye
2489904
1. Well, that's like, your opinion man.
2. The question is, does the "barrier assimilation" process also terraform the planet, turning it into a more "Equestrian-like" environment?
3. So, does this take place in the far, far future where Celestia has successfully bred an army of alicorns?
4. Y'know, the Reapers can always kidnap ponies stealthily, using their indoctrinated agents of other races.
5. Yep, the Timberwolves are secretly building their own civilization in the Evertree Forest.
No, I'm expecting the Reapers to act like the Reapers, instead of some kind of twisted pro-humanity version of them like in this fic.
Look at point 4.
And I'm probably done, too. I think I've said all that needs to be said.
In conclusion, I think it would be far better for all of us if you put all of that arguments of yours into the fic instead of only bringing them up after being asked like this. And erase the unnecessary anti-TCB sentiment while you're at it.
2490074
Well, has that actually happened in this fic? I think not.
2490161tcb ponies are a breed standing, totally dependent on celestia, think they are perfect as also your lifestyle, not change.
for the reapers would represent no threat not directly.
Only if they decide to expand or another race are discovered, and fails to understand the magic.
2490161
1. Yes, it is. A well-founded one. Discussion closed.
2. Why not? It's magic, brah.
3. Not as far as your thinking. The Reapers want to take care of this before it gets that far.
4. Indoctrination is for the invasion. Having "indoctrinated agents" means that someone has already stumbled upon the Reaper, and is an indication that something has gone wrong. (In Mass Effect, something DID go wrong.)
5. So you admit that Reapers, under normal circumstances, invade BEFORE galactic civilization gets to the point where they can create AIs. (Timberwolves are proof that Equestrian golems exist, not that they're building a civilization.)
At this point, I don't think you even know how Reapers behave. You seem to think that the Reapers would preserve a pre-mass effect civilization at all costs. Sorry, I don't think so. A single PMEC falling would be considered acceptable losses, especially if that PMEC poses a potential threat to them. Indeed, we have no proof that Reapers even bother preserving PMEC — all the current ME civilizations were not civilizations 50,000 years ago when the Reapers last swept through.
The Reapers have only the intelligence of the humans to go on, initially, for the capabilities of magic. Even if Celestia didn't create it herself, the Barrier is still a concern.
I'm not the one with the downvoted comments (none of which I have done myself — these are all other readers). My "arguments" are straightforward extensions of Mass Effect canon, if not explicitly stated in that canon itself. A crossover expects the reader to have some knowledge of both backgrounds to be effective. It's obvious you don't, and I'm not revising a fic because some whiner wants to be spoonfed everything.
I revise my fic when and only when I want to. I have delayed fics as it is, and I only expected this to be a short romp, not the big epic project you want it to be.