• The New Conversion Bureau Compilation Post


    Welcome to the special one year anniversary edition of the Conversion Bureau Compilation Post!

    The Conversion Bureau started life as a short, currently unfinished fanfic by Blaze which you can find here. It has since spawned a plethora of sidefics; the newest and freshest of which are published in this post.

    This post only features new or updated fics since the last update, but fear not! You can find more information or old favourites at:
    Check the new stories out after the break! I saved the best for first lol.


    Note:
    • All the stories in this post completely skip the pre-readers. Quality levels vary from excellent to not so excellent, but that isn't really the point. Ponies really love the Conversion Bureau, and taking a part of the world for themselves to build a story around is just great fun.
    • If you find any broken links or have any other problems or questions, toss me (Midnight Shadow) an email with "conversion bureau" in the subject somewhere.



    StoryAll the Kings Horses 
    Updated Chapters: 11
    Author: Cherry Rie 
    Description: Steel and circuits made her body strong and her heart cold.  But what is she without this shell?  If you stripped away the facade, what would be left to save? 


    Complete Chapters: 18
    Author: Krass McWriter
    Description: John Norris is another broken man in the last days of humanity. It has been years since he last left his apartment for something outside of restocking his food and water supply. Enter Azure Wind, a young pegasus colt, bearing a letter that explains he is his son. The two bond and much is learned by both in this light hearted comedic tale.


    New Chapters: 1
    Author: Krass McWriter

    DescriptionNot too long after being ponified, John must find a mate in order to maintain his pardon. So nine years after he was last with someone, he must venture out into the dating scene.

    Unfortunately, he has to deal with Field Trips, HLF remnants, crazy ex-PER members, even crazier mares and the horrors of a social life. No one said moving on would be easy.




    StoryRailroad Seven Three
    Complete Chapters: 6
    Author: Defoloce 
    DescriptionThe Barrier has made landfall at various points on the east coast of North America, allowing rates of egress to Equestria to skyrocket. However, with the encroaching wall of magic comes the dangerous no-man's-land of lawless roads and abandoned towns. The last few miles to Equestria are among the most dangerous for newfoals, and with the fresh overflow of emigrants, it often falls to small teams of humans, collectively known as the Railroad, to escort the ponies to their new paradise.

    StoryAftertaste
    New Chapters: 2
    Author: Microshazm
    DescriptionHonouring The Conversion Bureau's first anniversary I bring a story that is in no way a self insert.

    Waking up and feeling oddly refreshed at five in the morning. My dog seems to have played a trick on me, stapled a note on my cheek, no less. Maybe I can find my way out of this if I play along... 


    Complete Chapters: 4
    Author: Silver Tie
    DescriptionRevenge. A dish best served chilled, some say the flavor's all in the anticipation. An elusive dish, many have gone far to find it and spent much to obtain it. It can even bring ruin to all involved, including the one serving it.

    Ponies aren't built to handle such a meal, and few humans can stomach it. But what happens when a human becomes a pony to carry out revenge?

    Would you still take it?

    StoryGoing Pony
    New Chapters: 10
    Author: Chatoyance
    DescriptionRecruited by the Worldgovernment, a young woman is given a holocorder to document her experience of going through a Conversion Bureau, and her experiences after. This is the text transcript of her hypernet holofeed. This story takes place in Year Three of the expansion of Equestria.


    Story: How I Learned to Teach Newfoals
    Updated Chapters: 4
    Author: Berry Pony
    Description: Juicy Fruit is sent to Earth to teach the new converted ponies. Written in a single day for The Conversion Bureau Speed Fic Event. 

    Story: Don't Forget the Music
    Updated Chapters: 4
    Author: Les Pony
    Description: Nathan Kase, son of rock star Cooper Kase is ready to leave his dismal life as a human. There are some things about humanity that he wants to be rid of in a heartbeat, but there are just some things he can't seem to let go of. This is his mental toil about the things he stays connected to as he gets converted into a pony. 

    Story: Ten Days
    Updated Chapters: 9
    Author: Windchaser
    Description: A tragic accident robs Jay and many of his friends of their parents. Seeing no alternative aside from a life on the streets and poverty, they enroll in the Conversion Bureau program to emmigrate to Equestria. When Jay finds out that his close childhood friend and crush, Chloe, is going as well, he takes it upon himself to win her affection before the end of their ten day stay.

    StoryReality Break
    New Chapters: 17
    Author: Full Metal Pony
    DescriptionIt's not real, it can't be real. Ponies are just cartoons and some fanfics on the internet. The wings, the hooves... I'm just having a bad dream! 
    I wish that were true. But pain, friends, and a strange drink are telling me this is all too real. I'm a pony now and I think the world is falling apart.
    People, the end is nigh, the world has decided to go out with a bang, and it's taking us along for the ride.

    StoryMirror Match
    NEW Chapters: 4
    Author: Silver Tie
    Description:  Duke Cooper is, among other things, arguably the worst and unluckiest war-gamer in town. He's also one of the only ones left in town, thanks to Ponification and Equestria. 

    A brief drive-by encounter with the PER and some experimental Ponification Serum leaves him dead... for about 30 seconds. Unfortunately, he's signed up for Life Insurance with SDC, and they pride themselves on being prompt about insurance payouts. Payout is resuming life exactly as you were, five minutes before you died.

    Duke's always said the world needed more people like him; although, perhaps not so literally. 

    StorySimple Mistake
    New Chapters: 1
    Author: Avery Quillfeather
    DescriptionCyrus, a young man, living on the western seaboard of the united states is one day handed a vial of liquid of unknown effect and origin by a drug-dealer snooping about his neighborhood. He learns to live with hooves, a tail, a mane, and as a MARE. He deals with the social stigma of being a pony pre-conversion bureau opening and lives with the fact a decent majority of his neighbors are HLF members.

    StorySaner Half
    New Chapters: 2
    Author: Avery Quillfeather
    DescriptionAndrezei Kaifka. High-ranking Human Liberation Front member and Impovised Explosive Device expert has worked for the HLF for five years, since the Walls came up, each year adding to his mental strain and stress causing his mind to generate an imaginary double that pesters and peeves him not with insanity, but with logic and emotion. Andrezei goes about his daily life manufacturing pipe-bombs and flash.

    StoryA New Age, A New Life
    New Chapters: 2
    Author: BlueDWarrior
    DescriptionIt is the year 2080 CE, and the Global Population stands at roughly 9.5 Billion Humans. Gross overpopulation and rank greed has caused industrialization to run so rampant the very environment of Earth is threatened for all species left. The Singularity, a point where machines out produce men so much that men can no longer be employed, has caused the natural economic order of thousands of years to be.

    StoryWalking Man's Road
    New Chapters: 1
    Author: Videomaster21XX
    Description We've seen plenty of Conversion Bureau fics about humans becoming ponies, and adapting to Equestrian ways. But what do the ponies think when they first arrive here?

    Snow Breeze and her Twin Wind Frost, twin Pegasai, are on their way to run one of the first Conversion Bureaus. But our earth is a very different place from their Equestria. How will they handle the oddities of our realm? How will they react upon seeing the first ponified human?

    StoryMy December
    Updated Chapters: 1
    Author: Videomaster21XX
    DescriptionEdward can't make up his mind on what he wants to do. Become a pony? Or remain human? Worried about a past he can't forget, he finds himself standing outside the Bureau looking in on many a days. Hoping to find the answer he's seeking.

    When a pony with a mission suddenly pops into his life. He's forced to confront buried pains, and an uncertain future, as well as discover just how he ties into all of this...

    StoryAn Understanding of Sacrifice
    New Chapters: 3
    Author: Sonic
    DescriptionSet in the "Conversion Bureau" universe, Twilight learns about the American holiday "Memorial Day". Unable to understand why people would go to war in the first place, she tries to research the subject. However, unsatisfied with the lack of information, she seeks out a more unconventional method: magic.

    StoryThe Ballad of the White Rose
    New Chapters: 2
    Author: Billy Colt
    DescriptionA long time ago, humans walked the earth. They're all gone now, either dead or turned to ponies by the many "Conversion Bureaus." Now it's the ponies that govern the world, led by their goddesses, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Very few remember or give much thought to the days of humanity. 

    But sometimes things don't die very easily. Sometimes things linger, even if it's just a memory or a legend. Sometimes when an egregious injustice has been left unchecked, even a pony can get very angry.

    On the crew of the White Rose there are many such angry ponies, led by Firebrand. These are young students who have perceived an injustice and are determined to blow everything open with one blazing truth.

    93 comments:

    1. You know what Midnight? Maybe I will!

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    2. Especially since 4 of them are yours

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    3. I haven't read the Conversion Bureau yet, maybe I should!

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    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    5. Holy sheet im on here... Greatest day ever.

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    6. I just remember the original was pretty bleh...

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    7. Well, my morning mood has certainly gone down now. The CB is like a bad addiction. Everytime I think I've escaped it, it pulls me back in with its tripe plots, and numerous unfortunate implications.

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    8. @NoMoreSanity
      Yes, we all know some of these are pretty bad. Others are stellar. - that's why they're all lumped together. If you want something different, and don't feel a need to tar and feather with the same brush, then check out "the day the sky changed" or maybe "together". I have bad, bad ponies, sympathetic humans and plenty of weirdos to play with.

      Alternatively, the guide doc to writing your own is up there - the humanification bureau for example is a complete inversion. Go for it.

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    9. . . .

      I'm too hungover for this right now.

      Be back in two hours to decide whether or not I like

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    10. I really hate fanfics they are always either centered around the person's OC writing them or they are just converting some other story into the other. like terminator my little pony or silent hill pony. Why can't fans just keep the ponys in ponyville and just write a story that would fit there?

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    11. @Piper

      Then what are the writers called?... Super Eggheads?

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    12. @comickid

      sounds like "stop liking what I don't like" - although I get the feeling you've crossed wires with the "conversion bureau" movie, which is not what these fictions are about. This story universe, to my knowledge, predates that movie and is completely different.

      As for staying in ponyville and only writing about the ponies in ponyville, well, sorry for letting our authors have some, you know, authorial freedoms... good luck with the whole "write what I tell you to" thing <3

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    13. If this seems like too much, that's because the last compilation post was from last April.

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    14. @Derpmind
      Indeed! And this isn't all of it. Fallout: Equestria's side stories had the same problem. Plenty to enjoy though :)

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    15. I just wish the original story would get finished, or at least updated.

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    16. @Spicy_Noodlez

      We hold semi-regular TCB writing events, and the next one is rewriting and/or completing the original. I don't know what it'll look like, but it should be interesting. You can check out the fimfiction group for more info, or the ponychan thread.

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    17. *Promptly freaks out that AKH made the list*

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    18. Wow, I wasn't expecting both Devil's Diary and Ten Days to be put on here! Thanks, Midnight!

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    19. I must admit, I never liked the concept behind these stories, despite trying multiple times to get into it. Just not my thing, I guess.
      But now I am actually astounded by the sheer amount of material produced for this. I kind of knew that there were more than just a few fics to this, but that's one bloody long list, which just shows how much people care about the idea.
      Hats off to your dedication, guys.

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    20. Opening Week made it on here? I weep for the readers.

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    21. @Midnight Shadow
      I've gone through too many TCB stories on fimfiction to truly believe you, but I'll give those ones a shot anyway. Probably because I'm a gullible fool, but meh.

      Oh, I don't need a doc. I've actually been working on a deconstruction of the whole damn series for a while now, I just haven't had the balls to release it yet. Most likely because whenver I mention how I don't care for TCB on fimfiction, the commenters proceed to mutilate me. LOVE AND TOLERANCE, EH!?

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    22. Midnight Shadow posts more on TCB? Yes! I'm still waiting on chapter 13+ on "A Twist in the Tail"

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    23. @NoMoreSanity

      Honestly, if you've got a good deconstruction, go for it. We've got the turnabout-is-fair-play humanification bureau, after all.

      On the other hoof, for something you really hate, you don't have comment about it a lot...

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    24. @Midnight Shadow

      I'm insane. No More Sanity is insane.

      I know how he thinks.

      It isn't good. Trust me.

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    25. It's fascinating how polarizing this alternate universe really is. I mean, people put real *effort* into elucidating their like/dislike of this thing.

      I, for one, really enjoy the stories - going as far as making a sort of series intro video for it. Yes, they tend to be a bit misanthropic - but that's okay. I'm fully capable of looking at a detailed view of a single aspect of a thing and know that it is not the whole thing.

      Oh, and the video for anyone curious: http://youtu.be/eD2yWjUU1oM

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    26. Ya know, It kind of rubs me wrong when people call all TCB misanthropic. Yellowstone, YtS, Erac's works and An Azure Future have none at all, Whereas the humanification bureau runs the other way with it. Execpt of course from the characters who hold those veiws, but that's expected. I will however concur that it is a recurring theme in a majority of TCB fics, Chay's works having the most extreme examples of misanthropy. But c'mon guys, there is no reason to hate TCB as a whole. There's a little something for everyone!

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    27. @Valinye

      That's bloody awesome! Nice mix of good and bad from the humans there - wars, science, invention... short and very, very sweet.

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    28. @Krass McWriter

      there's misanthropic done badly (which is very easy) and... then there's being honest about how shitty humans can be (which is pretty hard). chatoyance's stuff is both the most and the least, as her humans are both good and bad, in the end the converted humans are more... human than the equestrians. Her world is dark, but a realistic dark. Understand the meaning, enjoy the story that much more.

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    29. TCB is really a concept more than a story.
      All the fics within it's scope use the concept defined in the original, but the stories, styles and quality vary wildly.

      My problem is that the concept itself goes against the grain of everything I like about the show and a lot of my personally held beliefs.
      Therefor I can't really enjoy any of the storylines set in it's universe.
      Therefor I resent TCB overall as being a concept that has taken over so many authors and stories.

      I also dislike the idea of writing within mass concepts like this (and FO:E) because it tends to be an environment not conducive to author growth.
      People who are into a mass concept tend to be too forgiving of poor writing due to being fans of the subject matter.
      A good story idea with terrible presentation needs constructive criticism, not fandom validation.

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    30. Still not sure about the original one. No offense to the author, but it came out as really anti-human and all that.

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    31. So much good stuff here! Want to just dive in. It's a shame real life is getting in my way.

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    32. @DPV111

      I dunno, still sounds like "stop liking what I don't like" from here. If you can't see story elements as author conceit then you must have a whale of a time hating on popular movies and tv shows.

      Agreed on the needing constructive criticism, but I also can't hate one somepony who is doing something they love and is quite aware of how much growing they need to do - and that goes for TCB, FO:E or fanfiction and fiction in general.

      As for "not conducive to author growth", I think you're dead wrong.

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    33. 'The Conversion Bureau' was not the best fanfic ever written, but it certainly did an outstanding job of morally ambiguous world-building; and that is a thing to be treasured.

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    34. @Nightmare Moon

      Aye, the original had a great idea (attractive for good and silly reasons both) but the skill of the writer wasn't quite up to it. I'm sure he didn't mean it to come over how it did.

      These are by different authors, you don't have to like or have read the original. For a good introduction to the series, Chat's stuff is great. For more lighthearted takes, see the spotlight-posted fics linked from the archive doc or searchable on eqd - yellowstone and last man standing.

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    35. Alright. Another TCB post to favourite and bookmark. Thanks Midnight.

      *Sees that like half the stories are Midnight's and Chatoyance's* Seems about right.

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    36. @Sotha

      actually, with 10 and 4, and the total only just above 30, you're about right!

      I was actually tempted to make a Chatoyance spotlight because I honestly love her take on the universe, but since this is my first compilation post for TCB, I won't be able to refer back to an updated compilation post for all the rest, so you get "hopefully everything since last time" - but I know I've missed a few.

      TCB isn't quite so organized as FO:E :)

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    37. @Midnight Shadow
      Chatoyance is definitely a good writer, and a lot of her concepts are interesting. But given how fundamentally I disagree with some of the views she expresses in her works I tend to find them a bit too hard to stomach personally.

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    38. @DPV111

      Wait wait wait. I don't mean to be rude or anything, but merely to point something out. You dislike idea of writing within mass concepts... because they tend to be environments unconducive to author growth, but you're talking about MLP fanfiction here. Is that not a mass concept itself?

      If anything, these types of stories are offering more creative takes on the mass concept of the MLP universe, breathes of fresher air for fans of the same subject matter.

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    39. @Midnight Shadow

      Yeah, I don't think he did as well, though the idea is still rather interesting. Oh well.

      Once I have enough time, I'll check out the ones you suggested. Thanks!

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    40. @Midnight Shadow

      I've actually only read a few of Chatoyance's works so far, myself, namely The Big Respawn and Euphrosyne (wow I spelt that correctly) Unchained. I feel pretty bad about it, but Windchaser has kept me pretty busy as of late.

      In response to HMorris73, from my understandably limited perspective, the only thing I have found a little difficult to stomach so far is the largely apparent degree of personality change in the ponification process. It is definitely interesting (so I'm not against it in any way); it's just a little disconcerting.

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    41. @Sotha

      Well, I don't understand HMorris73's problem, really - it must be a strange world to live in where he cannot separate fantasy from reality. It smacks of privilege. I guess it's the same as not eating at a restaurant run by a gay couple because you believe being gay is wrong, which is a personal choice. I just think it's a bit silly when fantasy is specifically designed to widen your horizons, so missing out on even taking a look at another viewpoint is kind of sad, really.

      As for the personality change - there is a reason for it. She described it beautifully in 800 year promise.

      Basically - not really a spoiler for anything - her headcanon is that Discord essentially created Celestia and Luna. As Goddess-level beings, they spent a thousand years of madness learning to control their thoughts to the point that they didn't murder every sentient life-form in the universe with a stray whim.

      They're still hurting from that - Nightmare Moon was Luna losing control, and needing a timeout to stop her from hitting the reset button.

      As such, the ponies in Chat's Equestria are the staff to Celestia and Luna's private insane asylum. The staff are kind, considerate, friendly. They're calming, they're a diversion for a goddess that could turn the world inside out for a joke.

      To welcome humans in, with their absolutely massive range of positive and negative emotions, would almost certainly result in a need for a complete universal reset, erasing everyone and everything from existence.

      So, her ponies are... passified. Yes, that's as scary and as horrible as you may think. The HLF have good cause for their rage and insanity. Their world and their lives and their futures are being stolen by a god from an alternate, earth-destroying dimension.

      See, that's why her stuff is so much better than most - shades of grey. The ultimate in horror, despite the fact that the output is a happy, well-adjusted long-lived pony with plenty of free space and forever to appreciate it in.

      Chat's ponies can't swear because their new goddess-princess has removed that ability, she's given them pony minds and hearts and they are no longer human.

      In returning them a state of grace, and giving them essentially Eden, they are both more and less than human, and looking at that is far more than just "oh gee I'm a pony now".

      Take that viewpoint, that understanding, and read her stuff. There are layers there, intentional stuff, not caught by those who just see "pretty shitty earth versus pretty pastel ponydom".

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    42. @Midnight Shadow
      Excuse me? Is it necessary to be so condescending? I didn't mean to say that I never enjoy fiction written from a viewpoint I disagree with, I just happened to have found it unpleasant in this case. Are you really comparing me to a homophobe just because I didn't enjoy her fanfiction?

      In any case though, I am glad to hear that there are more shades of grey about the situation in her later stories. Her earlier ones (and especially her comments on them) didn't lead me to believe that would be the case.

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    43. @Midnight Shadow

      I dunno, still sounds like "stop liking what I don't like" from here.

      Sorry, where exactly did I tell anyone that THEY shouldn't like what I don't like?
      I was just expressing my perspective. Defensive much?
      I don't care if you agree with me nor did I expect you would, but I would appreciate it if you would refrain from accusations not based in reality.


      Agreed on the needing constructive criticism, but I also can't hate one somepony who is doing something they love and is quite aware of how much growing they need to do - and that goes for TCB, FO:E or fanfiction and fiction in general.

      Where did hating on someone ever come into this discussion?
      An author who knows they are in need of improvement should practice writing and seek feedback. But this should be done privately with unpublished work. Publishing stories online for general consumption usually implies the author considers the story and writing "good enough".

      As for "not conducive to author growth", I think you're dead wrong.

      You do not consider an environment in which sub par work receives validation and little to no criticism one that could stung an author's development?
      It's in fact this same type of situation that gives fanfiction it's shitty reputation as a bunch of tripe drooled over by immature fans who wouldn't know literature if they were beaten to death with a book.

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    44. @Sotha

      While I agree that FiM is itself a "concept" under which all these stories are written, just look at the variety of premises and takes.
      It's not really a restrictive concept, it more of an open sandbox of characters ideas and geography.

      A concept like FO:E or TCB is much more narrow and limited in it's scope of continuity.

      I mean you can write a FiM fic about just about anything. You write a TCB fic that deviates too much and it's no longer a TCB fic, even though it's still a FiM fic.

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    45. @Midnight Shadow

      i'm not going to lie. What you said about Chat's ponies is just a tad bit disconcerting, and honestly if I was in that kinda situation, I'd probably rather face the end of the world as we know it then to go through the process, no offense to Chat.

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    46. @HMorris73
      Sorry. Didn't mean to offend. If I'm condescending you'll know it.

      No, I'm just saying I don't get not wanting to read a story which is a story and not a polemic. I can understand if it's the atrocious "left behind" series which is bad whichever way you swing it, where the whole basis of the story is just forgotten halfway through, or Ayn Rand where the main character pauses the narrative and tells us in ten solid pages, why his personal philosophy is better than anything you, the reader, can have if you don't agree.

      Characters in stories often have ideas and ideals that don't jive with your own, but not wanting to read because a character or setting doesn't agree with you the reader? I don't get it.

      I did not mean to imply you were homophobic - bad choice perhaps - but that is a logical peaceful protest against something someone may disagree with. "I won't eat here because I don't like you" is fine. "you should eat here because I don't like him" is not.

      A story though? I've read Oliver, where Fagin enslaves kids and teaches them to steal - an awful character, would I not read the book because he's a crook? I don't get it.

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    47. @Nightmare Moon
      That's the point - it's NOT all sugar, rainbows and kittens. Equestria and salvation comes at a price. It's supposed to be disconcerting, and too high a price for some. Maybe for many.

      Of course, those on the inside would not know the extent of it, and you're dealing with a true goddess in her works, one that really does love her subjects and is the ultimate law in her realm.

      Saying "I love the story but I'd really think twice because that scares me" means she's doing something right.

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    48. @Midnight Shadow

      I know, but still, I was probably better off not knowing that information. Knowing my luck, I'd get stuck as a pegasus, and I loathe flying, and I think I've stated a few times in other deals that I'd prefer to be a unicorn, since even the most mundane can use magic to hold things.

      Of course this cod just be me overthinking the stories and whatnot.

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    49. @Nightmare Moon

      You don't have to write her version of events - I don't, and I love her stuff. I try to be honest with my humans and honest with my ponies. Ponies can be jerks too, and humans can be amazing creatures. For me, when the humans become ponies, all they're losing is thumbs. That indomitable spirit is still there... they just spend less time killing each other over it.

      I wrote a blogpost on fimfiction about this, because some readers can't separate a plot point and author conceit in the story itself, and a deeply-held author belief that the author is trying to hard-sell.

      http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/4154 if you're interested.

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    50. @Midnight Shadow

      Say, thank you for explaining all of that. I'll definitely have to look more into Chatoyance's work.

      The whole "I love this story, but I'd really think twice because that scares me" is true, though. She must be doing something right, something interesting.

      I personally have my own ideas about the universe that I would write were I to ever write anything. The fact that different authors have different takes, that there is so much room to work with, is part of what makes the whole premise so interesting, or at least functional.

      I think we could be friends, you and I.

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    51. @Midnight Shadow

      I'll have a look when I can, my phone is incapable of viewing it.

      Also, yes, while the spirit is still there, to me, it seems like the person's personality is wiped clean during the process. That's the bothering part to me.

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    52. @Midnight Shadow
      I wasn't talking about characters' ideas and ideals so much as what I thought the major points of the stories themselves were based on what I did read of them plus the author's own statements. That said, your comments here have convinced me that I was (at least in some ways) too quick to judge and that they do have more layers than I first assumed. I'm still not sure if they're "for me" but I may give them another shot.

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    53. Just finished reading them all again... best six hours ever spent. Guess I have to go back to writing meow. Oh well.

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    54. @Norrikan But now I am actually astounded by the sheer amount of material produced for this.

      That's because this is the fanfic that everyone writes their first time out, regardless of their fandom. It's been that way for as long as I've been in the MLP community. (Since 1997, if anyone is counting.) It's either "Whoa, I've been magically turned into a pony!" or "Whoa, I'm a human magically transported to the ponyverse!" I mean, I'm not trying to throw stones here--that was the first fanfic I wrote too, many years ago. (And in retrospect, it was AWFUL.)

      Frankly, I think that is the reason fics of this type tend to be so bad--because they are so often by first time authors who don't really get how to "build" a main character. So they just use themselves. This is why it's almost always "teenage or 20-something guy gets turned into pony", not "80 year old widowed grandma gets turned into pony". (Which is too bad, because the latter would be more interesting.)

      I don't begrudge people who enjoy or write these stories. I firmly believe that everyone has to tell this tale at least once to get it out of their system. I do hope that people writing these will make some attempt to spread their wings and write about someone substantially different from themselves (and I don't mean "like me, only older and more BADASS!" Ugh.) Male author? Write about a woman being turn into a pony. Straight author? Write about a gay MC. Write about someone who has kids, has a nervous tic, or is afraid of horses.

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    55. I just wish... really, REALLY wish... there was SOME indications or labels on those stories, to know if those are Normal, Grim, etc-whatever...

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    56. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    57. So I had a look at Brony of Steel's story, I will admit, it's good, but after reading it, part of me doesn't want to read anymore of these fics.

      Ugh, it just probably wasn't to wise for me to start reading a Ten Rounds TCB fiction.

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    58. @Nightmare Moon
      Then read mine (its up here) and prepare yourself for chapters and Australian-ness.

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    59. @Da Bunnana King

      Okay, give me time to recover and do a few other things, mainly video recordings for tomorrow and such.

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    60. I never really like the concept of it, while a good story nonetheless, it strikes me as morbid in a huge way. Humanity selling itself out to be happy? While several hundred people would go for it. The Homeless, the discontent, the emos. Not everyone would sell themselves out like that.

      Plus, humanity as a whole is a suspicious lot, i have yet to run into a story that pits humans against the Celestia, not in a battle but against the mind. True, she is old, thus wisdom from age is taken into account, but most humans are not easy to understand.

      still, the story is a cult classic with a twilight zone mixed into it. Reminds me of the episode where the woman doesn't want to change to be the same as everyone else, but everyone else is pressuring her to.

      i think i will give it another go

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    61. @redskin122004

      The thing I'm wondering is if there is any of these TCB fics where afterwards the pony is discontent, though I kinda doubt it after reading what Midnight Shadow said.

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    62. @Nightmare Moon

      Highly unlikely, the story pretty much cemented the fact that you are changed forever, your very being, your soul itself.

      I guess that is why i found the story somewhat hard to read. I'm not very religious to begin with. But this seems rather horrifying to find out that someone you knew your entire life is no longer the same.

      I know if my pops actually went through this, and he changed from the grumpy, angry, but stubborn and tough old man that he is, to some sort of happy go lucky idiot who i can no longer joke with. I think i will be against it from the beginning.

      I guess what i am saying is that to throw away your very self for a piece of happiness is like making a deal with the devil or some sort of evil entity.

      but to answer your question, there is maybe two that i saw that are like that, but i am unsure.

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    63. @redskin122004

      Yeah, as I said, this is why I find this whole TCB thing a bit dodgy if you want to know the truth.

      I don't mean any offense to the authors since I'm skimmed through some of them and they are good, but part of me is still bugged by this whole concept.

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    64. @Da Bunnana King

      Yeah, me too! Funny how that works.

      Now where is Midnight at this hour?

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    65. @Sotha

      Writing or clopping but me... Im writing and you should all check me out (im on here just look for the SAS logo). But in reality probably watching ponies.

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    66. I must say, there's part of these stories that really gives me the creeps, and that's the PER. I know Chat's ponies are passive, but those are PASSIVE to the extreme.

      Ugh, it kinda reminds me of the Citizen Plus program from the third episode of the Back to the Future game.

      The worst part is, I don't think they ever get their comeuppance and they basically won from what I noticed, so yeah, I've been browsing a bit of the stories as you can possibly tell.

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    67. @Nova25

      So many lack tags, but we don't have any grimdark ones except, maybe, mine - and they state very clearly right at the top of said story.

      FO:E is basically all grimdark, tcb is basically all adventure.

      Since Grimdark is the one to avoid, you're pretty safe with any of them.

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    68. @Nightmare Moon

      I think there's room for some, sure - not all universes are the same, and a discontented pony could be a good story line.

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    69. @Midnight Shadow

      Yes, your deal seems to not hold the same as Chat's as Edge ((ironically who I was wrestling against in WWE '12 just now)) had a lot of them in that one story of yours.

      I just don't know if anything like that will get written, and it's beyond my capability.

      I kinda figure if any of the ponies would be like that, it'd be ponified HLF ones.

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    70. the future can be in manny ways unpredictable. It's posible to make a serum to canges human to pony. it's meatter of time

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    71. @Da Bunnana King

      Actually, I daresay it was almost three hours ago for me.

      @Nightmare Moon

      That would be rather cool to see, but sadly I am no raconteuse. Personally, I'd also be interested in seeing a TCB story set with a human world that is doing just fine on its own, and what might happen from there; if each slowly corrupted the other.

      @andmos

      I do hope you are not offended, as I mean it in jest, but you're right. Man is rather unpredictable, especially Manny, who, as Hari Seldon explained, as an individual, no one can account for. También es correcto. Quizá será posible construir semejante poción. Why did you bring this wooden collar, though? Surely you don't want to punish those that would become ponies? I mean, we're all just meat, and will perhaps remain meat for this time, regardless.

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    72. Alright. I'm rebooting my reading of Chatoyance's stories, beginning again at the beginning with The Big Respawn.

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    73. @Sotha

      It would be, particularly if it was from the view of a ponified HLF member, especially if something like Midnight Shadow used with those bracelets that he used for his Community Service deal or one that TheMaskedRiddler used as well that identifies such a person/pony.

      Cause honestly, there are so many different types of these TCB deals, that at I can imagine that at least one type is where the ponified humans retain their memories and such.

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    74. I hadn't realized so much of Chatoyance's stuff wasn't up before....for shame. It's all pretty top-notch, IMHO.
      This list reads an awful lot like my favs list on fimfiction, now that I look at it

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    75. @Nightmare Moon

      in FO:E, you write for the setting. in TCB, you write for the idea. Both suffer or flourish under the pen of the author.

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    76. The Big Respawn was a little distressing, as usual. Good, though. The expletives were certainly utilised well.

      It was interesting to see how must more acceptable the ideas were when Euphrosyne Unchained presented essentially the same information and ideas, just from a different perspective (well, at least until the very very end, which once again showed a total character shift).

      It is also interesting to see the subtle indications of the ideas presented in Midnight's summation of Chatoyance's views of the universe as presented in the stories, now that I actually have some (notably second-hand) knowledge of it.

      And we move on to the first I haven't already read: Letters from Home. Oh my that is so sad. It's a great tie-in to Euphrosyne, though, and definitely goes to show how a subtle shift in perspective can completely change one's ideas and views of certain things. The winners write the history books, after all. I'd certainly like to see something that goes to helping flesh out Hannah, though (and hope it's coming up).

      Oh, what deeds are good people driven to do.

      Poor Isaac.

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    77. I must ask, however, if there is any particular reason why Code Majeste is presented in this compilation post four stories early, when the rest of Chatoyance's works follow the order of publishing (at least on FiMFiction.net).

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    78. @Sotha

      That Letters from Home one did kinda irritate me, just a little bit, and just one chapter.

      I'll put it this way, I'm watching one of my favorite movies right now, Back to the Future, and to be honest, no, if I knew that was going to be wiped out along with anything else I liked.

      As I said, I can't imagine all ponies being content....well, in that universe they're pretty much forced to be from what I read, but...ugh, I don't know, I just don't know about these stories at this point.

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    79. @Sotha

      It's mostly because I screwed up the order, and didn't fix it.

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    80. Dont feel like writing... re-re-reads this whole list.

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    81. GAY!!! These gay people should all jump into a pit of burning snakes and die.

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    82. Oh I feel real good about myself right now. I did it I finally managed to get onto Equestria Daily.

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    85. [Crap, post got chopped. Trying again.]

      Most of us who've written TCB stories do so to explore different thematic chunks within the same basic Earth-and-Equestria-meet framework. We're not all interested in writing the same themes and we're certainly not a hive mind.

      I think a common misconception—and one TCB hasn't been able to shake free of since its early days—is that every story follows the same formula. Even worse, that every story is a self-insert "baby's-first-fanfic" type deal. This stigma was born from the reaction to the initial story, but plenty of people saw the potential behind the faltering execution and that is what most of us write from.

      A lot of the community aspect of it comes from us reading each others' stories, seeing an idea we think is cool, and then playing with that idea ourselves. As an example, when I wrote Ten Rounds a week after the original story was put up, there was no such thing as the HLF or PER, and the Barrier was just something that had kept Equestria separate from Earth. Now, almost a year later when I wrote Railroad Seven-Three, there is the HLF, the PER, and the Barrier is magically toxic to humans. I thought up none of those ideas, but they're in my story because I found use for them.

      I wish it were easier to know what you were getting whenever you click on a given TCB story, I really do. It can indeed be a crapshoot, and even as someone who's written TCB stuff there's plenty of stuff I don't cotton to. The themes and settings are so varied that you could be a thousand words into a story before you could know if it's something you'd want to stick with.


      Chatoyance is prolific and she enjoys exploring the improvement of human life in its transition to Equestria. For this, she's set up a heavily-crapsacked sci-fi version of Earth and turned up the color saturation a bit on the Equestrian side of things. Personally I don't care for how saintly the pony characters come off in her stories, but that's me. Krass's Azure Future is a slice-of-life story in more familiarized settings and with a bit more lightheartedness, and with my own stories I actually focus more on how ordinary humans (non-villainous ones, even!) would resist or reject the idea of conversion—even to their deaths—and why they would do this, going for some grit and tension along the way.

      I honestly think there's something out there in TCB for most tastes in fanfiction, unless you just absolutely can't stomach interaction between humans and ponies to begin with. The trick is sifting through to find a story you like, and that's a problem I'd like to see solved myself.

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